Meeting With Governor Jindahl

On Tuesday evening, January 6^th I sat in a conference room with approximately 100 other faith leaders, mainly pastors, to listen to Governor Bobby Jindal speak. He came at the invitation of Brad Sherman, a pastor from Iowa City who coordinated this event with David Lane’s American Renewal Project. This was an invitation-only event and the press were definitely not on the invite list.

Governor Jindal shared about his upbringing and how he was led to faith in Christ through a friend that had given him a copy of the Bible. At first, the gift seemed odd to this young Hindu-raised man, but after the death of his grandfather, Jindal turned to that Bible in seeking out answers about what happens after we die.

The answers did not come quickly for Jindal. He started reading the Bible from Genesis and found many stories captivating and some of it difficult to understand. It wasn’t until he met a young woman he was interested in, that he started attending campus ministry meetings at LSU. That is where his faith in Christ and his understanding of God’s Word truly ignited.

Jindal shared that he believes that the greatest need in America currently is the need for spiritual revival. He is hosting an event called The Response on January 24, 2015 in Baton Rouge, LA. This event is a call to repentance, prayer and fasting. Governor Rick Perry of Texas did this same type of event in 2011.

David Lane, with the American Renewal Project, is hoping to replicate this prayer event in all of the key states in the political process. Governor Jindal quoted Winston Churchill when speaking about this event and said, “’You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they've exhausted every alternative,’ “That's where we are as a country," he continued, "We have tried everything and now it is time to turn back to God."

I found Governor Jindal to be a sincere breath of fresh air. With temps hitting negative zero outside, it truly warmed my heart to hear this Governor from Louisiana speaking about his relationship with Jesus Christ. He wasn’t pandering either.

I know this because I met him once before. Earlier in December I was part of a delegation that flew down to Baton Rouge to the Governor’s Mansion to meet and discuss the upcoming event The Response. Our goal was to also begin working to have the event in our home state of Iowa.

At this event, I heard Governor Jindal share his same story about coming to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. But what impressed me the most was not so much his story, but afterwards during a time of prayer. All the ministers gathered around him and prayed over him and for him. That was a powerful moment, honestly.

But then Governor Jindal prayed as well. His words were not the carefully scripted words of a political pundit. His words in his prayer were words that came from a long-standing intimacy with his Savior. Jindal doesn’t just say the right things in the right setting. He knows Jesus and it is obvious in his prayer language.

I don’t know what the future holds as all the candidates for 2016 begin to line up and whisper sweet nothings in our ears here in Iowa. But I do know that the Governor of Louisiana is a brother in Christ. He is a true Christian statesman.

There are others as well. And it may be a difficult task ahead for us. I think that Jindal and Huckabee and Cruz and Santorum are some of the strongest champions we have currently. It will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds. But to my brothers in ministry, I would challenge you to hold these candidates’ feet to the fire and vet them through and through. That is our responsibility as leaders in this state!