God Still Answers Prayer
by Joe Seay

God is mightier than rock'n'roll! You probably already know that. But have you seen the Lord prove the point in real life? I have.

It all began when some of my friends and I decided we had enough. Odessa, our west Texas town, seemed to have more than it's share of profanity, pornography, sex shops, drugs, drunkenness, hard-rock singers, nudity, and juvenile delinquency. We decided to speak out and do something about the immorality of our community.

John, Larry and I organized a community action group called "Odessans For Decency." With the help of the city council, this group was able to remove six sexually oriented businesses (they called them "adult book stores") from the downtown area of our city.

Our next challenge came in the form of a hard-rock singer who had booked a performance in a community owned building. This rocker's repertoire included biting the head off a live bat, urinating on the Alamo, and performing songs that promoted rebellion, hatred of parents, drugs, booze, profanity, and perverted sex.

Odessans For Decency asked our county government to deny use of the building to the hard rock singer. A federal judge ruled that officials could not refuse use of county-owned property if the person signed a standard rental agreement, which included a statement committing them to "obey the law."

By this time the local newspaper had become involved in the controversy, labeling our group "censors" and other uncomplimentary names. When the court decision was handed down, the newspaper asked our group for a statement.

All our official spokespersons were out of town, except me. As first vice president, I normally worked behind the scenes, but now I was facing the secular media for the first time. Alone.

I didn't prepare an official statement for the occasion, but I did ask several to pray that God would give me the right words to say. After several questions and comments, I was asked, "What are the Odessans For Decency going to do now?"

Without any forethought I replied, "We are going to appeal."

"You are going to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court?" the reporter asked.

"No," I heard myself saying, "higher than that."

"You are going to appeal to the United States Supreme Court?" the reporter asked.

"No, higher than that."

"Joe," they said with mixed disgust and humor, "there is no court higher than the U. S. Supreme Court."

Again my answer popped out without a thought. "We are going to appeal this to the Creator of Heaven and Earth, We are going to appeal this to God through a method we Christians call prayer. God is higher than the U. S. Supreme Court!"

The local media had a field day with that exchange, I made the news as the local religious radical and censor.

Time passed and many people "appealed the decision" through prayer. And three days before the scheduled performance, the rock singer canceled the concert.

On a television talk show in another city, the singer was asked if Odessans For Decency had anything to do with his canceling the concert in our town. "No," he replied. "It was an act of God. I got sick."

When the secular media learned the concert had been canceled, they asked me for a response.

"Praise God," I said. "God still answers prayer."

There was a long silence. And no more questions.

Through my experience with the secular media, I have become keenly aware of their lack of objectivity. Can we afford to believe what they report is accurate and factual? Or do they "slant" news and television programs to fit their point of view?

"Christian bashing" has become a popular sport among the country's media elite, and it's harder for me to listen to these proclaimers of "truth." Instead I choose to listen to the One who is Truth, Jesus Christ. We can trust Him!

And, by the way, you won't hear it from the secular media, but God still answers prayer.

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