If anyone in my audience feels a calling to run for public service, he or she should do so. Whether it's the local school board or the governorship of a state, any governing body needs good people. More on this tomorrow.

In the meantime, where does one draw the line between public service and trying to derail God's plans for the world? There are actually Christians who believe that, by righteous living and a national repentance by all godly people, they can stay the hand of God from clearing the world of ITS religion and politics in favor of His OWN religion and politics. (Otherwise known as the Tribulation.) Is there no choice between the two extremes of not doing anything to help one's own citizens and imagining that one has the power to derail prophecy? ALL the good choices lie between these extremes.

In the meantime, here is our Lord and Savior in the garden of Gethsemane, wrestling with a similar dilemma: 1) quitting the Plan A salvation strategy, and 2) acquiescing to the terrifying will of His Father. What would Christian activists have done had THEY been aware of our Lord's struggle?