Saturday, November 24, 2012

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Dedicates Uganda to God (Theonomy Applied)

Recently, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni set a great example for leaders around the world by openly repenting of both his own sins and the sins of his country, and by dedicating his nation to God. 

The following Museveni said at the National Jubilee Prayers in Namboole:

"Father God in heaven, today we stand here as Ugandans, to thank you for Uganda. We are proud that we are Ugandans and Africans. We thank you for all your goodness to us.  

"I stand here today to close the evil past and especially in the last 50 years of our national leadership history and at the threshold of a new dispensation in the life of this nation. I stand here on my own behalf and on behalf of my predecessors to repent. We ask for your forgiveness. 

"We confess these sins, which have greatly hampered our national cohesion and delayed our political, social and economic transformation.

"We confess sins of idolatry and witchcraft which are rampant in our land. We confess sins of shedding innocent blood, sins of political hypocrisy, dishonesty, intrigue and betrayal. 

"Forgive us of sins of pride, tribalism and sectarianism; sins of laziness, indifference and irresponsibility; sins of corruption and bribery that have eroded our national resources; sins of sexual immorality, drunkenness and debauchery; sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and revenge; sins of injustice, oppression and exploitation; sins of rebellion, insubordination, strife and conflict. 

"These sins and many others have characterised our past leadership, especially the last 50 years of our history. Lord forgive us and give us a new beginning. Give us a heart to love you, to fear you and to seek you. Take away from us all the above sins. 

"We pray for national unity. Unite us as Ugandans and eliminate all forms of conflict, sectarianism and tribalism. Help us to see that we are all your children, children of the same Father. Help us to love and respect one another and to appreciate unity in diversity. [Editor's disclaimer: we do not like this statement, as it sounds like universalism; only Christians are God's children, not those of other religions, and surely Uganda is not 100% Christian]

"We pray for prosperity and transformation. Deliver us from ignorance, poverty and disease. As leaders, give us wisdom to help lead our people into political, social and economic transformation.

"We want to dedicate this nation to you so that you will be our God and guide. We want Uganda to be known as a nation that fears God and as a nation whose foundations are firmly rooted in righteousness and justice to fulfil what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation, whose God is the Lord. A people you have chosen as your own. 

"I renounce all the evil foundations and covenants that were laid in idolatry and witchcraft. I renounce all the satanic influence on this nation. And I hereby covenant Uganda to you, to walk in your ways and experience all your blessings forever.

"I pray for all these in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."


Notes
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[1] Cited in "For the sins of Uganda, I repent -- Museveni
," New Vision: Uganda's Leading Daily (October 18, 2012). Retrieved November 24, 2012. 


photo credits:London, 11th July 2012. President Yuweri Museveni of Uganda, speaking at the London Summit on Family Planning.
© Russell Watkins/Department for International Development / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY -SA 2.0)

Note about the Theonomy Applied Series: In quoting any particular law, we do not necessarily endorse every aspect of that law as biblical, whether it be the prohibition, sanction, court procedure, etc. Rather, we are merely showing the more or less attempt to apply biblical law in history, whether or not that application was fully biblical. Moreover, in quoting any particular law, we do not necessarily consider those who passed and/or enforced such a law as being fully orthodox in their Christian theology. Professing Christian rulers in history have ranged in their theology from being orthodox (that is, Reformed Protestants) to heretical (for example, Roman Catholics).




6 comments:

Christianna Hellwig said...

That is wonderful! What a testimony, and what an advancement for God's Glory.

Chris Villi said...

That was good except for the sentence that sounded universalistic (you pointed out) and that he spoke of dedicating the country to God but not specifically Christ. However, I am glad that he mentioned the Trinity in the closing statement. Let's pray that the Lord would move our leaders to dedicate America to Christ!

Bob-Gad said...

Waoooooooooooooooooooo he such an amazing leader.Its a wonderful testimony.We need to have leaders who have faith n God. He need to always dedicate our countries to Christ but even our lives as well need Chrisy and without him life and all are meaningless.






terriergal said...

Um... was Jesus mentioned? Glenn Beck could have prayed that prayer.

Steve C. Halbrook said...

Last line: "I pray for all these in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Michael said...

terriergal, Glen Beck could have involked Jesus name, it would have been a different Jesus though. A Mormon could pray the Lord's prayer we find in the gospels too. The point of this article is that a professing Christian man, not a cult member, as the leader of a nation would even pray anything so thoroughly biblical. It certainly does not smell anything like a mere statement of "Jesus is Lord" with the lips. Albeit, time will tell as to the root of this amazing testimony. May God be glorified and Uganda reformed!