Sioux Falls Tax Day Tea Party pics, prayer and commentary

Today I had the honor of giving the opening prayer at the Sioux Falls Tax Day Tea Party at Covell Lake. Had to laugh at having a few people come up to me afterward and ask if they could have a copy of my prayer. I suppose it was a bit unusual to hear a pastor publicly "rebuke the spirit of foolishness that has possessed Congress."  Maybe the part they liked was when I called down "fire from heaven to consume the spending bill chaff." The audible agreement made it feel a bit like church when I prayed…

Today we declare what is still on every dollar - IN GOD WE TRUST. We reject the notion that government is our salvation or our source. We are asking for heaven's help to expose the work of the money changers who forfeit our freedoms for a quick fix - who'd have us believe the ex nihilo (out of nothing) creation and infusion of massive amounts of inflated currency will solve our problems.

The wind blew my piece of paper and I so left out the part about the sins of greed, covetousness, usury, unfair taxation and the monetary system based on dishonest weights.  I also cut the parts about how we've sown to the wind and reaped the whirlwind thereby squandering our blessings and forfeiting our birthright.  I did pray for a national awakening to the reality of God's Word which says, "the borrower is a slave to the lender."  I left out the part about how we are now at the mercies of nations that hate us.

The Sioux Falls Police Department estimated 3,500 attended. Surely my attendance and participation put me even higher than I was before on the Department of Homeland Security's list of potential terrorists and right-wing extremists. I'm in good company. You may have heard of the report the government released yesterday listing pro-lifers, returning war vets and Ron Paul supporters as dangerous people who pose a potential security threat. Whatever. Why don't they quit harassing people like me and re-check the papers of That One - you know the guy who is buddies with the guy who bombed the Pentagon?!

The Tea Party reenactment was spectacular.  This first picture is of Reagan. Lincoln, Patrick Henry and Uncle Sam are standing behind him. Lincoln spoke without notes (not sure where they found him - the guy was perfect - I stood next to him, real beard, 6'3+"). When he launched into the Gettysburg Address without notes/teleprompter, I just laughed.

Here I am - somebody gave me a little blue patriot hat to wear. Give me some grace, the jacket was poofy, I'm not that heavy. Lady Liberty with lit torch is just beyond the hay bales.

Here are some pics of the reenactment at the end of the program. One by one a couple of patriots lifted the wood crates (labeled TARP, BAILOUT, GOVERNMENT BANKS, STIMULUS, PORK, EAR MARKS, SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE, etc) and tossed them into the water.  

Too bad they didn't shoot off the cannons.  It was a good day, a great event, a perfect setting and it was great planning. I'd launch into a little bit here about the momentum of this movement - but you'll have to wait for my latest book which comes out in two weeks for my comments on momentum.  Sorry for the shameless plug.