David Platt's prayer for President Trump

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I agree Taylor. In a breakfast with some other Reformed men a few years ago I was completely shocked by the confessions from men who admitted they couldn’t remember if they’d ever prayed for president Obama.

It took 8 years for my prayers to be answered in the affirmative, concerning President Obama, to be answered. :)
 
He did not attend the entire service but only stopped in to make a cameo appearance after profaning the Sabbath by playing a round of golf.

For someone who has been a liberal playboy for most of his life, the President's playing golf on the Sabbath is sad, but not surprising. What is even sadder is that many experienced conservative evangelical pastors are in no place to rebuke him on that account because they are either doing the same thing themselves or else winking at it in their congregations.
 
I’ve been reading Scottish church histories. This would have gone down quite differently in the First Reformation!
 
I will be pruning this thread of inapplicable posts. Subjective as that may seem, the PB is not going to be a place where we make unsubstantiated drive by surmisings of evil, trashing dignitaries, etc. We have -at the very least- explicit 5th and 9th Commandment duties with regard to how we speak about lawful magistrates, whether we agree with their policy or not.

The thread, originally, was to discuss the propriety of the prayer by Mr. Platt at the church service for the President. The thread is not about what one or many think about the President's personality, policies, etc. Ergo, all existing posts with regard to such subject matter will be removed from this thread; further, any post attempts/successes with regard to such subject matter will be removed and any user responsible for said posts will receive moderation from the moderators. This also applies to any public complaint against/about the moderation. There is a process for contesting moderation. Follow that.

To be clear:

1. I did not vote for President Trump (or any other of the options)
2. I would not vote for President Trump (for Biblical and Confessional reasons, as I see it).
3. However, none of the preceding caveats excuse unsubstantiated, uncharitable, snide drive-by remarks with regard to President Trump and/or his administration. So,
4. If you have a problem with President Trump's (or any other magistrate, including Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, et al.) policies, behavior, begin a thread in the Politics & Government forum, take heed to all the duties of the 9th and 5th Commandments with regard to how we are to treat our fellow man, even those who might be our enemies. This is your Christian duty, no matter what you think of it.
5. Clearly, this is not an approval of any magistrate or policies, but an encouragement (and in case of this forum, command) to treat magistrates -in their office- as the ministers of God, with honor, respect, and forbearance. This does not preclude correction for where it is called, but that won't be this thread, and any thread in which it is put forth should be executed with charity, genuine concern, and a love for the truth that is not tainted with personal disgust as if our own hearts have not been touched with plagues of sin.
6. If you feel like you're unable to abide by these very easy strictures, feel free to restrain yourself from posting about such things.

Thank you.
 
I am thankful the President felt a need for prayer and I see no reason to assume he did not feel some earnest concern for his soul. None of us know what the man wrestles with internally. I am thankful Platt accepted. Did it occur exactly as I think it should? No. Did it cross every “T” and dot every “I” of a TR view of the RPW? Maybe not, but neither Platt nor Trump have claimed such.

1. Were the actions of the President, Platt, and the congregational cheering the best way to handle corporate worship on the Lord’s Day? No

2. Am I glad that David Platt (a fellow Christian) boldly and sincerely prayed for our current President, in light of his platform and in spite of errors/dangers? Absolutely!:detective:
 
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http://www.doctrineanddevotion.com/podcast/trumplatt

I thought this was an interesting take. They made the point how little notice David Platt actually had; it is easy to armchair quarterback this, but what if you had to answer the secret service with a 2 minute warning. How good would you do? David Platt was put in an awkward position and had the stones to pray that Trump would make decisions in God's will. I was impressed personally.

And the "limited atonement" I am not familiar with David Platt's theology, so maybe he doesn't even agree with limited atonement. In that case, one would not expect him to articulate it. If he does agree with, then maybe some slack is warranted since he may have been in the mode to consider his congregation whom he may have assumed as elect.
 
The fact that there is "controversy" says more about the polarization over our current president than it does about David Platt. Platt's decision was a no-brainer, it seems to me. If you are a minister of the gospel and someone asks you to pray for them, you pray. Period. Easy call. And if that someone is the president, it means he is by definition not an everyday person but rather one for whom the church has a special duty to pray, and if the church happens to be gathered when that special person shows up requesting prayer from the church, you pray publicly as a congregation. Again, an easy call.

The only thing that potentially makes it difficult is the fact that someone might see it as a political statement, or use it for political purposes, so you want to guard against that. Given the amount of time he had to plan, I think Platt did an excellent job of saying things in the prayer that avoided politics and asked of God what we ought to ask for any president. But perhaps, knowing how polarizing this president is, Platt could have done a better job of also instructing the congregation to avoid any behavior that might suggest political disapproval or approval, such as applause. Hindsight.
 
Several short thoughts;

(1) I prayed for Obama when he was President. I also pray for Trump.
(2) I hope Trump sweeps the field next year. He's the best President we've had since Reagan, maybe better.
(3) The never-Trumpers are idiotic. Why aren't they also Never-Hillary or Never-Bernie?
(4) Platt was caught in an awkward position.
(5) Trump did not speechify. He was only prayed for. He stayed silent I think.
(6) Our duty is to pray for leaders.
(7) Platt probably did as good as anyone could have done considering the circumstances.
(8) The RPW is often a wax nose (you can shape it anyway you'd like to to make it fit your preferences) and even the folks here on the PB don't agree what it entails and some push for no music at all and only the psalms.
(9) I am surprised it is controversial to pray for a President.
(10) Rereading Platt's "Apology" I am not sure if it is an apology or not, or just a letter of explanation. How should we classify it?
(11) I've seen many people who've gone to the front for special prayer, from the sick, to those going on a long trip such as a military deployment, to a missionary going overseas. These special prayers do not seen wrong.
(12) Platt's prayer did not endorse Trump, nor did it take cheap swipes at him as some would have done. He did a good job of staying non-partisan.
(13) Though Social Justice Warriors are invading the Southern Baptist denomination, I'd have to see proof before I labeled Platt as one. Is there proof?
(14) Most Southern Baptists will end church and go out to lunch on a Sunday so, given that context, it is unlikely anyone would have blamed Trump for golfing on a Sunday. It'd be hard to criticize the President while elbow deep in fried chicken from the Cracker Barrel at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon.
 
Assuming that they bring other people on stage to pray for them at McLean Bible Church, I'm not mad that Platt brought Trump up there, even though I generally agree with brother. Sheffield's post. I've seen pastor friends on FB post that Trump barging into the service toward the end was sort of similar to drunks doing the same thing, and where they pray for them. And I've been in churches where that happens. (Generally, there's no chance of any politician visiting those churches.)

I'm also not mad about his explanation, although one might quibble here and there. He was until recently the head of the International Mission Board of the SBC. I don't think he's been at this church for very long, so given the circumstances some explanation may be necessary in that case than it might be if he had been there for a decade. It only recently joined the SBC. Reportedly it is the largest or one of the largest and one of the most prominent evangelical churches inside the Beltway. That being Northern VA, evidently they have a lot of government workers and Dems among their membership. (For our international readers, career government bureaucrats tend to be Democrats.)

I don't like the clapping either. I don't like clapping in churches at all. But broad evangelical churches typically clap following baptisms and other things. But even that is probably less objectionable than this clapping.

I'm glad Trump didn't say anything.

At first, I didn't think it was really Trump because of the hair.

I don't know that Platt is a SJW, but apparently there are some at this church, and perhaps on staff. A good many of his SBC contemporaries are, or else dismiss concerns over recent developments.
 
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