Volume 12 Issue - 5 May 1997

MARCH FOR JESUS

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel." (Psalms 68:7,8)

March For Jesus is a procession of praise, celebrating our loving, living Savior who would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You are invited to come with your church, family, and friends to experience the joy, the inspiration, and the love of Christ on this glorious occasion. This year’s theme is "GENERATIONS." A time for the corporate Body of Christ in Waco to prayerfully seek the face of God, beseeching Him to send the Holy Spirit to turn the father’s heart back to their children and the children’s hearts back to their fathers (Malachi 4:6)

The Church in Waco is on a prayerful campaign, seeking the Lord to send a sweeping revival to visit our needy city. There are many events along the way concerning this righteous campaign that God can use to facilitate and carry the wind of His Spirit. Prayer meetings are popping up all over the place. A "Unity Conference" and other gatherings in our city are signaling that the Lord is bringing His people together to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism. I truly believe God desires to unite His people’s hearts in holy fear to impact our cities with the Gospel of His glorious Kingdom. March For Jesus is the next event, the next step to continue the momentum that is building as we cry out to God to move in our midst. Please rally your churches, friends, and families to participate in this year’s march. For more information contact me at 753-3017. To God be the Glory!

RIPE FOR REVIVAL?

"Wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation." (Psalms 85:5-7)

Like the Psalmist of old, many in the church have similar burning questions arising up in their hearts. Can America be saved? Are we doomed to continue down the primrose path to perdition? Will God hear our cries and send the gift of repentance, revival, and reformation to sweep throughout the land? Will the Church arise out of her stupor to subdue the enemies of the cross in the gates of our beleaguered nation? The answers, of course, are found in God’s revealed Word. The Scriptures teach that the Old Testament, contrary to popular belief, was ultimately written to the New Testament Church. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11, testifies that the plight of the children of Israel under the leadership of Moses was written for our example and admonishment. Paul, in Romans 15:4, verifies this awesome truth by declaring, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

In the Old Testament there were approximately 12 revival movements. Though each had its own unique circumstance and leadership, there were four key ingredients that always were present in the restoration of God’s people. These four factors preceded everyone of the revivals, from the revival under Moses (Ex. 32) to the revival under Joel (Joel 1,2).

#1) A Tragic Declension. Every revival of the Old Testament was preceded by a period of moral and spiritual decline which plummeted God’s people into the abyss of idolatry. Either through ignorance or outright rebellion God’s people foolishly exchanged the splendor of the living God for dead idols and the glory of God’s Law for pagan philosophies. As illustration of this pattern, consider the decline of the children of Israel as they erected the golden calf that preceded the revival in Exodus 32,33. Under David’s revival, the Ark of the Covenant of God was missing from its rightful place for more than six decades.

#2) A Righteous Judgment From God. Without exception, Old Testament revivals have always been preceded by some kind of righteous judgment from God. The Lord would be faithful to raise up His prophets to give prophetic warnings to repent and return, in most cases, without success. Inevitably, God in His everlasting mercy, would send sanctions from Heaven to awaken His people to His displeasure and to their pitiful condition. Amos 4:10, provides a glimpse of God’s heart as He chastises His people, "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses: and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." In these trying times of correction, God would simply lift His protective hand from His people and give them over to their enemies to oppress them with wicked rulers and unjust laws. Sometimes God’s righteous judgments were immediate and final, resulting in mass scale destruction of the wicked or His judgments were gracious and remedial, resulting in brokenness, prayer, repentance, and extraordinary seeking of God’s face and not just His hand. Let us cry out in prayer, that the Lord will determine the latter as He deals with our spoiled, idolatrous, and wicked nation.

#3) God would raise up an immensely burdened leader or leaders to rescue and restore His people.

Brothers and sisters, we must recognize this fundamental truth, God judges and restores nations based upon leadership. The book of Judges affirms this pattern. God’s people would be led astray, mingle with the heathen, and adopt their pagan practices. God in His mercy would warn them to come out from among them and be separate. Unfortunately, they would fail to correctly respond to His call. The Lord would then raise up foreign enemies to afflict His people until they cried out for deliverance. And what was His chosen instrument of deliverance? You guessed it, an immensely burdened leader. A man and in some rare instances, a woman, whose heart God smote as they observed the moral, political, and spiritual condition of God’s people. Could it be that God is giving His people today a sign that our captivity in America is coming to an end by raising up men of God like Judge Roy Moore and Governor Fob James of Alabama? Could it be that God has heard the cry of His people and is beginning to restore our land by raising up true godly righteous leaders once again? For the sake of our children and the future of our nation, I pray it is so!

#4) Solemn Assembly. Usually the point of contact to make things right with God, eventually found its expression in the call to a Solemn Assembly. This was the most common action taken by God’s people when they finally awoke from the idolatrous spell that was cast over their souls. Consider the situation at the time when the prophet Joel called for a Solemn Assembly. The nation was filled with flagrant sin which remained unconfessed and put away. In response, God sent them a remedial judgment, a plague of locusts that swarmed and devoured the crops of Israel. In addition, a fierce drought afflicted the drunkards and the priests alike as God cut off the merriment and libations from the house of the Lord. The entire nation, including the beasts wandered aimlessly seeking relief.

In the midst, of this dreadful condition, the prophet Joel trumpeted these divine orders, "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of evil ... Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly ... Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people."

In response to the people’s obedience to humble themselves at the Solemn Assembly, the Lord caused both the land and the people to rejoice once again in His favor. The pastures of the wilderness turned from parched brown to a moist green. The trees and the vines that were barren bore an abundance of fruit. The Lord blessed His people by moving the rainy seasons closer together, and caused the sun to shine upon their land, so that the threshing floors were full and the vats overflowed. This was a sign that God was delighted in the broken hearts and contrite spirits of a prodigal nation that returned to Him. In fact, the Scripture says that He made up to them the years that were lost to the mighty army of locusts that He sent among them to get their undivided attention.

Based upon this pattern, America is overdue for a Heaven sent revival or unprecedented sanctions. My gut tells me, we are about to experience both. I believe God’s Kingdom will advance in this nation based upon the warning of Jesus in Matthew 21:44, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Many now, who are in the valley of decision will fall upon the rock and be ushered into God’s Kingdom, but to those who refuse to humble themselves and submit to the rule of God, that same rock will fall upon them and crush them to powder.

PROMISE KEEPERS:
A SACRED ASSEMBLY OF MEN

"Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God." (Exodus 23:17)

On October 4, 1997, a call is being given to over a million men to come and appear before God at our nation’s capital. The word "appear" denotes an inspection before the Lord of Hosts. Fathers, sons, and husbands will gather to humble themselves and open up their hearts to the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. Promise Keepers founder, Bill McCartney, is presenting this historic gathering as a "Solemn Assembly." Remember, in the earlier article this was the pivotal stage in the revival pattern that moved God’s heart to restore His people and to deliver them from their enemies.

One of the thrilling aspects to this gathering is the opportunity that will be made for men to deal with the part they have played in the abortion holocaust. This is a major breakthrough for the Promise Keepers movement as men specifically repent of their complicity in abortions. The vast majority of women suffering under the cruel yoke of abortion report that they were physically and emotionally coerced into it by cowardly, irresponsible men.

This tragedy concerning men and abortion was just driven home to me once again, except this time, it came from someone who was trying to do what was right. I was ministering to a young Christian man who committed fornication with an unbeliever and the young lady was determined to have the child’s life terminated. This absolutely devastated this young man as he helplessly was trying to protect and defend this women and child from the cruelty of abortion. Thankfully, the Lord used some friends of ours to intervene and at the last second, the women changed her mind and the baby is now safe from harm. The young man, however, was completely filled with disillusion, indignation, and disgust at a system that would violate and invalidate his God-given mandate to protect and defend women and children. He just wept and wept as his manhood was emasculated before his very eyes. He felt emasculated by the feminist movement, a godless government and and an unjust law that commands him to idly stand by while an intruder would invade the the secret place of the womb and tear apart his child. Let us pray that Promise Keepers will begin to address this issue and call men to repent, be responsible, and courageous so that women and children might find the protection they need once again.

THE RETURN TO TRUTH

Calling all concerned Christians from across this nation to come to Dayton, Ohio, July 13-19. See the enclosed brochure for more details. I adjure you in the name of Jesus, if at all possible, to plan on being there to represent the Lord’s heart and message in the Dayton area. There will be a Solemn Assembly, anointed national speakers, tremendous praise and worship, and powerful street activities. Please seriously consider this time before God and make plans to join brothers and sisters from across the nation as we bring the Church of Jesus Christ to the very gates of hell.

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rusty Lee Thomas