Why bother praying for our Political Leaders and our Government? What good can come from it all? Isn’t it kind of redundant to spend even a short time praying for these people?Since retiring from active pastoral ministry in the church, I have launched into a brand new arena of ministry. That brand new area is serving as a support to our Members of Provincial Parliament. In Ontario we know them as MPPs. In other parts of Canada we know them as MLAs or Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Women and men from our province have knowingly placed themselves in situatuions where they are making huge decisions that deeply affect the entire population of our provinces. They are among some of the most powerful people in our communities. But they are human and they need support.
I used the word “support” a little bit ago. In our church language we call it “Chaplaincy” or a “Chaplain”. That is a little fancier name – but carries the same meaning as “support”
In my case, with God’s blessing, I am able to conduct this ministry by supporting myself. I do not raise extra monies to do this task. Amazingly the finances are all looked after by “My Boss” – God.
Each morning I pray for each MPP in Ontario. I add others to that prayer list as I am prompted or word comes from some that need prayer. Ministry wise I have never been more fulfilled nor more busy. Good things have happened as I reach out and am available to people that need help.
Each morning I attempt to publish the name and information about each of our Ontario MPPs. This is done on a simple Blog at http://prayforleaderstoday.blogspot.com/ Within the Blog a Prayer is included that encourages readers/followers to pray with me.
The response to this simple effort has been very interesting. Not only are people in churches reading/checking on this Blog – but also our MPPs and staff are doing so. They all want to know what is happening and who is watching what they do.
Personal…
Serving as a Pastor over 35 years I know what it is like to get into hot water. There were times that as I thought I was doing what was the right thing to do – I was caught in the middle of the muddle by conflicting groups. No matter what decision I made or what statement I attempted… I was going to suffer as a result.
(I could list hundreds of example but will leave them to the book in which I eventually will tell the whole truth. It could be a hot seller as names and issues will be outlined clearly… and I will not be under legal pressure to suppress me… all those that fired the darts of fire will be dead by then. Oh Boy!)
As a pastor I entered the position at the beginning of my duties in a church. My passion and excitement to do the best job possible was always there.
In every case I was voted upon by a congregation that had asked me to consider being their minister. After careful consideration and much prayer I allowed them to “vote on my name”. If the vote was higher than 66% I would consider the possibilities of working with and for the congregation – lower than that was a clear signal that this is not a good idea.
In every case where a vote took place it was indicated by the strong vote that we should go there. Over the 35 years the vote percentage remained very high. Some places went as high as 100% - others as low as 87%. The last church we served in gave us a vote of 98.5%.
But while doing the task at hand I would not keep that high approval rating that was given at the beginning. Some times following an explosion in the church groups – my approval rating would drop drastically. If the opposing groups would have been able to carry out the old way of dealing with things or people that they hated – I WOULD HAVE BEEN STONED to death. I would have been a Paul the Apostle to say the least – stoned many times over for saying or doing things that were objected to.
Pastoral Ministry is not a nice thing to have to do. It has hidden issues that you can never talk about – if you did some one could or would sue you. If you did you would or could destroy lives. Oh yes there were good parts to celebrate and many wonderful things to take part in… But… there were times that you simply wanted to die rather than face the angry Mob. I shudder even now after one year away from it all… with the things that happened under the banner of leadership.
Political Circles of MPPs and Their Staff Members…
Within the Province of Ontario at the present time there is a huge political issue brewing in our Health Care Ministry and service.
A short while ago Premier Dalton McGuinty made an appointment of Sarah Kramer to a very important place leading a division of the Health Care Ministry – entitled “eHealth”.
Sarah, a very capable leader, entered her new position with a burst of energy and excitement. She made things happen. And “Yes” she spent some money. And DEFINITELY she raised some ire of opponents to what she was doing. AND IT ALL EXPLODED. She was let go…fired for doing the job she was asked to do with her expertise.There were other appointments made and more fur flew – more people were let go over similar issues.
At this point it is a nightmare in our Province. The Premier of our Province is taking heat now that he has not known for a long time. Opposition folk have demanded that the heads of other leaders would be chopped off as well. They want the Minister of Health to be fired as well – step down – be forced out for the over spending that Sarah Kramer.
Yesterday Sarah Kramer attempted to tell the truth and gave a Press Release for all to read. I am publishing it entirely at the end of this posting – for all to read. With this PR statement by Sarah there appears to be a huge issue behind the scenes that is simply hidden. And whoever takes the leadership of this volatile department will have to face it. Hidden people have done – and are doing – horrible things with our money.
And guess who is responsible? The Premier and all his counter parts in the ruling party – The Liberals – of course. I mean after all... the media has uncovered partial truths and told part of the story… just enough to sell more papers… and Sarah Kramer is GUILTY as they charged her.
My reaction to that is BULL! I have served in Politics for 35 years – and you can’t pull that one on me! There is way more to the story than what is said by loud people… WAY, WAY MORE.
So that is one of the reasons I that I feel so compelled to pray for leadership.
I may never get a chance to tell Sarah Kramer how I feel – and I doubt that she will ever read this Blog… BUT Sarah Kramer I care… and I pray for people like you. I also pray for people that may follow you in this unlovely position.
I know what this is all about. I was a Pastor and I worked in a CHURCH!
And the Political Leaders that approved the Hiring of Sarah – need even more prayer… That is why I support them with one simple prayer each morning.
"Heavenly Father, I pray that “the Leader’s Name goes here” would know your great blessing for her/his Life and Work today. I ask that the staff working in the Riding Office and doing the work for the community would also know God’s blessing on each one of them. May this day be a GREAT DAY for each one and that they would know “the peace and prosperity” that we pray for them. ~ Amen"
~ Murray Lincoln ~
Source:
Sarah Kramer’s Press Release… August 13, 2009
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2009/13/c4908.html
Sarah Kramer’s Press Release… August 13, 2009
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2009/13/c4908.html
Statement by Sarah Kramer
TORONTO, Aug. 13 /CNW/ -
Since leaving eHealth Ontario in June, I have refrained from public comment about my time as CEO, or the controversy that prompted my departure from the organization. However, in the last few days, a number of media reports have appeared, filled with new and misleading allegations. In these circumstances, I now feel compelled to make thefollowing comments.
The Auditor General of Ontario is currently conducting a review of the consultant fees and all other financial matters relating to my time at eHealth Ontario - and the period that preceded me at Smart Systems for Health Agency (SSHA). These latest media stories are an attempt to pre-empt that report andits findings.
The simple fact is that when I took over as CEO at eHealth Ontario last year, I was charged with turning around a failing behemoth - SSHA - which had already run through more than $600 million dollars with hardly anything to show for it in terms of moving Ontario closer to the goal of eHealth, and modernizing and improving the quality and safety of health care for Ontarians.
With the clear direction and full support of the Board and thegovernment, I worked hard to jumpstart what, as SSHA, had been a moribund and deeply troubled and dysfunctional organization. An essential part of this was shedding an internal culture that prized process above results. This had two important consequences: ruffling the feathers of an entrenched and ineffective bureaucracy, and bringing on outside consultants - among the most respected eHealth experts not just in Canada, but the world.
As with any major change, our efforts were met with strong, intractable resistance and outright hostility in some quarters, including within the Ministry of Health and among a few other vested interests in the health care sector. Indeed, much of the sensationalized media coverage over the last several months has been based on the unchallenged accounts of those interests who opposed and sought to forestall these essential reforms which the government had mandated me to implement.
The immense opposition which confronted us made the work of outsidehealth care and eHealth experts even more essential. The sums involved in recruiting this expertise were not negligible. But I - with the full support of the Board of Directors - believed that was an essential investment in turning around what was a badly drifting organization. Given the many hundreds of millions that were squandered under the auspices of SSHA, it is ironic that the much smaller amounts spent on these consultants that have garnered so muchattention.
These are the facts.
Rather than a continuation of these misleading and destructive newsstories, I look forward to the Auditor General's report.
For further information: Marion Mackenzie, (416) 970-5909
(Also...)
Way Back when they appointed Sarah Kramer...
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