Saturday, September 26, could very well go down in Christian history as one of the most important days in recent times. On the mall in Washington, DC, a convergence of "The Return", and Franklin Graham hosting a rally at Lincoln Memorial, filled the site with the sound of Hope! 2 Chronicles 7:14 was on full display, and believers from across numerous denominations stood side by side and released a sound that has shaken this Nation. World wide, there are estimations that close to a billion people were involved in this historic day. In Zechariah 3 & 9, the Lord of Hosts says, "And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day."

The spirit of repentance has cleansed our spiritual land and has set the church up to move forward in power and authority to rule and reign as God has intended. The question remains, will the church take the baton and run? If we turn our attention, our effort, our finances to the now white harvest before us, we will see the greatest harvest of souls ever recorded. Many Evangelical leaders have been expecting this to happen, and this could be the catalyst needed for this to gain momentum. 

The open door of liberty is still at stake. The election looms larger and larger with each passing day, the stakes are beyond what we can imagine. The anti-christ spirit is raging with all its fury. Every tactic is being used, and nothing seems to be off limits. Politics are messy, in any time, but when the spiritual atmosphere is super charged and involved, we have an election for the ages. I heard that on typical elections, only one in four, Christians vote. That must change in this election. I think it will by what I witnessed Saturday. The church is waking up out of it's slumber. 

"Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of Hosts," Malachi 3:7. Today is Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, the culmination of of a season of repentance. Are you prepared and ready to take back what the enemy has stolen? Are we, as the church, ready to repent and take back what we allowed to take place on our watch? With great hope, and expectation, I see that we are!

Selah,
​Pastor David.

The activity around us is at an all time intensity. I am sure we can all agree never in our lives have we lived such times. It is taking place in parallel realms. The natural realm, that our physical senses are in contact with, seems to have a new crisis daily. To try to process on any given day, the amount of information given to all these events, leaves little time for anything else. The human desire to be in the "know" can leave us, at the end of the day, exhausted and weary. This is one of the unfortunate by-products of this Information Age. We have the ability to just know too much. 

In unison, with the storms raging in this seen realm, the unseen realm is just as busy. The rising up of thousands and thousands of earnest, desperate, sincere prayer warriors has intensified the angelic encounters with the demonic realm. Any believers who do not feel the intensity of the spiritual battles taking place, needs to check their pulse! It is real, it is intense, and it will only intensify in the days and weeks ahead. Not the news a lot of people want to hear. Many just want to get back to normal but these times will not allow that to happen anytime soon. To many, that is a thought that brings on a spirit of weariness.

This is not the time for weariness to overtake us. When we grow weary, we lose our edge, our focus and our discernment. This is why Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8 to "Be alert and of a sober mind." Why do we need to be in this posture? Peter says we have an enemy, an adversary, who is prowling around seeking to devour.

I have a small herd of deer that live around our house. Years of watching deer interact in their surroundings, I have never seen a weary deer. They are always alert, ears attentive, eyes catching every movement, and their noses testing every scent. Their life demands they stay alert, weary deer end up dead!

We serve a God who, Isaiah says in 40:28, 'never faints or is weary'. That is comforting to know in days like these. But wait, there is more! Isaiah goes on to say that God will share that ability to never faint or grow weary. Verse 29, "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have nothing left in them, He increases strength." Then Isaiah clarifies it is not an age issue. He says young, strong people will faint and grow weary and young men shall fall. He gives us the prescription we all need today. It is in verse 31, "But those who wait {hope in, put their trust} upon the Lord will renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, {rise above any storm, event, crisis, etc}. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

And as the song goes on to say:
Teach me Lord
Teach me Lord
To wait.

Let's not grow weary and faint. The stakes are too important for that!
Selah
​Pastor David.

In these days we find ourselves in, most of our Christian attributes are being tested like never before. Trust is one that seems to be taking hits from every direction. The proliferation of social media, and all its weaknesses and flaws, have caused a lack of trust in words and stories. The national news syndications are being exposed as less than trustworthy. The vitality of weather patterns made weather forecasting a challenge and weather forecasts we find are less than trustworthy. And then we have politics! American people are bombarded with the message of mistrust. In an ever unstable world, finding something to place our trust in is difficult. 

For us who have placed our hope and faith in an unshakable Kingdom of God, this should be no surprise. Yet we hear and witness many christians struggling these days. Their trust has been shaken. Trust is a necessary ingredient for a healthy soul, but a misplaced trust leads to fear, confusion, and loss of hope.

It is important to be aware that faith, which is our belief system, and trust are not the same. Trust, in a simplistic definition, is our action relating to our faith. We have to put action, which is trust, to our faith. James 2:20 says as much, "Faith without works (action activated by trust) is dead." Our faith is being tested in these days, but the result will be strength coming to the body of Christ like never before. The body of Christ is rising up to the challenges of the day with passion and zeal. I see the two-edged sword of faith and trust going forth and making a path in the wilderness of fear and confusion.

Friends, it is not over! The greatest days of the church are still ahead. Rise up in action activated by trust, and rid your life of the demonic forces working against you. You have already been commissioned as the head and not the tail, now act like you trust His word! 

Selah,
​Pastor David

As a young boy, King David was familiar with pathways. Leading the sheep over the hills to green pastures, taking a path to still cool waters, and finally, to a safe haven for the night; David knew the importance of staying on the path. His Psalms have many references to his boyhood upbringing and the lessons he learned. All of us can relate to childhood experiences that shape who we are today, and how we understand the world around us through the lenses of those ancient days.

In my story, staying on the path was vital as the many days and nights spent in the woods of NW Arkansas clearing out a family retreat that had it's challenges. A poisonous snake, called a copperhead, lived in the woods, and in a patch of leaves it is hard to see. So my father always kept pathways clear of leaves and debris so seeing this snake was possible, but only if you stayed on the path. Years later, that same message was replayed in my ears as we prepared to trek up the Himalayan mountains in Nepal for the first time. In the lower elevations, where it was hot and steamy, a disgusting creature called a leech, waited on stems of grass and bushes, ready to attach to any unsuspecting human or animal. When a host is found, they will proceed to burrow their head into the skin or hide and fill up on blood. So, we were told to "stay on the path". Copperheads inject poison into your body, and leeches suck out blood. Our spiritual journey is much like these illustrations. When we leave the path, danger is lurking.

In these darkened days, the path can be hard to find without the Word of God, which David says in Psalm 119:105 is a "light to my path." Jesus Christ came and cleared the path of debris blown in by sin. If we stay on the path, a glorious destination awaits us. Human nature has tried to make new paths, shortcuts, or make the path easier to navigate. All this has brought compromise and weakened faith that has harmed the body as "poison" has been injected by false doctrines, ease and comfort, or life that has been sucked out by messages that 'tickle the ears'.

I have tried to live by this mandate my whole life. Some seasons of life the path was confusing, did not take the course I expected, and had many hills and valleys, but I did my best to stay on the path. When Rhonda and I stepped in to pastoring Grove Christian Center after her father, Leon Vernon, passed on to heaven, a path had been established for us to follow. GCC had been designated as a church where the gifts of God, and His calling, must never be replaced. The power of God to touch people through the Holy Spirit has been, and will always be, given the highest priority. The Lord tells Jeremiah to say to the people:

In these days of confusion, fear, chaos, and immorality, it is imperative that we Stay On The Path! Selah
​-Pastor David