An Article of Faith

“A number of years ago, I visited our nation’s capital,” writes Byron Paulus, president of Life Action Ministries. “While there for meetings, I had gone to the office of the U.S. senator to pray for him. Having just left, I found myself standing halfway between the U.S. Supreme Court building and the U.S. Capitol, two magnificent buildings representing two powerful branches of our government. That’s when my cellphone rang.
“It was a dear Christian friend whose teenage daughter had just confessed to him of having lost her virginity with a man she had just met. Devastated, this father was asking if he could fly to Washington D.C. that night to meet me.
“I was shocked. My wife and I had spent many hours investing in this young woman’s life. She was a vibrant Christian who had surrendered her life to full-time vocational ministry, and now this?
“As I hung up the phone, tears filled my eyes and I became exasperated. I looked at the Capitol and thought, ‘If our legislature would just make better laws, this type of thing would never happen! Our culture is filled with evil and it is allowed to run rampant through every corner, and our elected officials won’t do anything to stop it. Our young people don’t stand a chance!’
“Then as I turned, I noticed the Supreme Court building, and I hurled more accusations: ‘If our courts would just interpret the law instead of making new laws to conform to our lifestyle, succumbing to what the people want as a license to live wicked lives, this would never happen!’
“But then the Lord pressed something distinctly in my heart – it was if God was opening my eyes to something significant to Him: ‘Byron, you are standing in the wrong place. You are blaming the wrong people.’
“Later that night, I went to the book of Joel where a determined prophet spoke with certainty as he confronted the darkness of his day: ‘Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep ...’ (Joel 2:17 ESV). The location is significant in this passage. Joel is urging the spiritual leaders of his day to weep between the people of God (the vestibule) and the presence of God (the altar).
“I realized God was impressing something important on me that night. The solution for the moral, social, and economic problems in our culture will ultimately never be found in Washington.
“I needed to look where God looks – at the condition of His people and His church.
“As Leonard Ravenhill once put it, ‘The church is waiting for the world to become regenerate, while the world is waiting for the church to become repentant.’
“Erwin Lutzer makes a similar point: ‘Perhaps the church doesn’t suffer for the sins of the world as much as the world suffers for the sins of the church.’
“It is clear the repentant cry of God’s people is the cry that moves them toward His presence.
“The extraordinary thing that God does in response to the repentant cries of His people is called revival and spiritual awakening.”
(Taken from: OneCry: A Nationwide Call for Spiritual Awakening. For more information see www.ONECRY.com.)
“If My people,” declares the LORD, “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 heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV).

Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.