Standing in the Gap for Oregon

For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4 Washington County is one of the oldest counties in the state. Originally called Twality, it was established by the first Provisional government in 1843. Washington is one of the triumvirate of counties that make up the Portland Metropolitan Area and includes some of the larger communities and suburbs of the city of Portland such as Hillsboro (the county seat) and Beaverton. Forest Grove is the oldest city in the county, and therefore one of the oldest settlements in the state. With all that rich history and current bustling activity in the county it would seem “going deeper” would not be hard, but it was difficult at first to find a focus. However, I eventually noticed that my research kept going back to the Sheriff’s Office. The current Sheriff of Washington County is Pat Garret...

  But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed . Isaiah 53:5 Thoughts are turning to the 2022 elections in Oregon. The candidate lists are still being determined, but the primary is May 17 th , a date to keep in prayer. The election itself is November 8 th . The spotlight is on the governor’s race, but there are other positions open that are nearly as crucial to the future as the governor’s race. I tend to think of Multnomah as synonymous with the City of Portland, but of course there is a bit of country to the east of Portland that is outside the city limits and more rural. Troutdale, Wood Village, and Gresham as well as smaller, unincorporated communities are in Multnomah County. Portland is the county seat. We wrote earlier about Multnomah County and Portland . Multnomah is the smallest county in the state at 433 square miles, and the largest by population. It’...

  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  I Timothy 2: 1-2   At the very end of 2021 I wrote a blog post on Grant County for my series on Praying for Oregon Counties. Grant was #36, the final county – we have covered them all! Now what? While I intended to cover a variety of topics in this blog, researching the history of the counties soon took up much of my writing time. At the end of the first post on the first county, Clackamas, I wrote: One other point: Is knowing our history part of standing in the gap for Oregon, for praying effectively? It might well be. We looked at how  Daniel prayed  for his people a few weeks ago, repenting for sins he himself did not commit. When we look at Daniel’s full prayer in Daniel 9, he confesses that God is justly ang...