If My People . . .

Often after being introduced in a concert as being an ordained minister, people ask if I currently pastor a church. My routine answer is, "No, my main ministry focus is through Trust Quartet. I have pastored three churches and when I'm not singing with Trust on Sunday morning, I'm either leading worship at my home church or filling a pulpit for another pastor friend who may be in need."

Such was the case this past Sunday. My pastor is also my brother-in-law, and his children live in the Memphis area. Last Sunday, a family occasion took him and his wife to visit there, so I had arranged to preach at my local church.

I had invited the Trust family to come be with us, since they had never heard me preach. After all, Buzz may not want to tell anyone else that I'm an ordained pastor after he heard me! I was so honored and humbled when Buzz and Beverly, John and Pat all came to Vero to our church!

God met with our people and challenged us to consider the Biblical steps to revival. God, in His sovereignty, knows that we will sin. He knows that in our humanity we would need to know His willingness to extend grace and forgive us. Just after Solomon had led the Jews in building the Temple, he prayed a prayer of consecration over the structure. God miraculously answered that prayer by raining down fire from Heaven to consume the sacrifices offered by the Jews.

It is in that context that God says, "If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Please understand that when God said these words to King Solomon, the Jews were in a right relationship with Him.

Our society is riddled with problems. Since five minutes of TV, radio, or newspaper will confirm that, I won't spend the time going into detail here, but we can point to the Fall of man in Eden as the origin of the problems we face still today. The choices made by mankind have not improved greatly since then. I would submit that if our problems point to Eden, then our solution must point to Calvary! The Christ of Calvary paid the ultimate price to assure us of a right relationship with the God of the Universe.

Have you been to Calvary lately?