| Prayer Targets: Calling Pastors and Intercessors to Houston!
October 24, 2014 |  | Share with Friends | Permalink
Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1
Dear Pierre,
Israel Evans (1747–1807) was a Princeton educated Presbyterian minister (1775). A Chaplain in Continental Army, Gen. Washington praised his Thanksgiving message to the troops at Valley Forge (1977). He fought Great Britain’s American Indian allies, took part in the Yorktown victory (1781) and preached to French and American troops. He later pastored in Concord, New Hampshire. Evans saw the hand of Providence throughout the war and believed America had a high calling from God. From his sermon before the General Court of New Hampshire, Wednesday, June 1, 1791:
We have numbered more than twenty-seven years since your opposition to a foreign system of heavy oppression began. The year 1764 has been rendered memorable, on the one side by the folly and injustice of a hated stamp-act, and, on the other, by the resisting energy of the patriot sons of freedom. From that period, the genius of American liberty, by combating distress, misery, and hosts of enemies, waxed strong in her own defense, and hath crowned more than three millions of mankind with national independence. Instructed in the school of freedom, the inhabitants of these confederate states combined their strength in the protection of the rights of men.
But there are some men, with the means of public prosperity in their possession, who do not realize the value of freedom; they partake of the common blessings of a free people, and yet are not conscious of national felicity. This, however, does not lessen the real worth of liberty; for in every situation of life, it is the richest inheritance. In true liberty is included, freedom, both moral and civil; it has nothing in contemplation but the happiness of mankind, and therefore it is the principal glory of man; and, in this world, there can be nothing more dignified, or more exalted.
Without civil and religious liberty, man is indeed a poor, enslaved, wretched, miserable creature; neither his life, nor his property, nor the use of his conscience, is secured to him; but he is subjected to some inhuman tyrant, whose will is his law, and who presumes to govern men without their consent… Religious liberty is a divine right, immediately derived from the Supreme Being, without the intervention of any created authority. It is the natural privilege of worshipping God in that manner which, according to the judgment of men, is most agreeable and pleasing to the divine character. As the conscience of man is the image and representative of God in the human soul; so to him alone it is responsible. In justice, therefore, the feelings and sentiments of conscience, and the moral practice of religion, must be independent of all finite beings. Nor hath the all-wise Creator invested any order of men with the right of judging for their fellow-creatures in the great concerns of religion. (Ellis Sandoz, Israel Evans, from Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol. 2 (1789-1805), pp. 38-39 1991).
More on the Houston Pastors – Last week we prayed for the five Houston pastors ordered by Houston Mayor Annise Parker and City Attorney David Feldman to produce to the city an exhaustive list of documents that included sermons, all emails and texts to their church members related to “homosexuality,” Mayor Parker an avowed lesbian, H.E.R.O. (the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance) and much more. At the close of this email, I am a going to ask you to pray, to take action and if you can, to join us in Houston!
Overview: 1) The City of Houston passed HERO, dubbed a “bathroom bill” because it gave gender-confused males and females the freedom to use locker-rooms and bathrooms of the opposite sex. 2) Houston Citizens groups, including church leaders, obtained more than 50,000 signatures on a petition. Just 17,269 were needed to put the ordinance to a public vote. 3) Houston City Attorney, David Feldman, rejected the petition saying there were insufficient valid signatures. But the city Secretary certified the signatures as meeting the legal threshold. 4) Citizen parties to the petition filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to suspend the HERO ordinance, prevent its enforcement and put a repeal measure on the ballot in November. 5) The City’s hired lawyers prepared subpoenas issued to five area pastors, none of whom were party to the lawsuit. Under threat of jail, the pastors were ordered to turn over all sermons and every remotely related private communication with their parishioners about homosexuality. 6) The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion to stop the City effort saying it would have a “chilling effect” on future citizen petition efforts. 7) Fox News’ Todd Starnes publicized the story via articles on Fox News and elsewhere. FRC and various Christian media did likewise.
You must read THE ENTIRE SUBPOENA delivered to Pastor Steve Riggle of Houston’s Grace Community Church. If you are a pastor or a prayer warrior, you will realize that it is time for your voice to be heard in heaven and on earth! READ IT HERE!
They Said This Would NOT Happen - this assault on pastors! But clear thinking Christians knew it would. This is a major assault not just on Houston clergy but every pastor’s freedom of religion, speech and more. It is an invasion of every church member’s liberty, peace and privacy. If it can happen in Houston, and is allowed to stand, it can happen eventually in every jurisdiction in America. This is a major escalation of the decades-long siege against God and his people. Their real goal is to destroy the biblical guardrails of society: the eternal laws of God that pertain to men and nations, especially pertaining to marriage, morals and sexuality. They may incarcerate us, even take our goods, but they cannot stop God’s Word or His Church! (see Houston, We have a Problem, EEOC Commission; Subpoena Text)
The Houston Mayor’s action has ignited a nationwide firestorm, as it should have! Tony Perkins wrote, “Parker's missive became the subpoena heard 'round the world. Fed up with this administration's heavy-handedness, Houston has become a rallying cry for freedom-loving Americans tired of seeing their laws and liberties casually tossed aside in a liberal stampede.” (see Houstunned; Subpoena for your Thoughts; Push Back; TX Attorney General; U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, Baptist Leaders).
The Church’s Call to Action – Christian adoption agencies, marriage photographers, wedding cake bakers, florists and now a ministry couple and their wedding chapel and many more have already felt the sting of anti-religious tyranny – now our pastors and churches! This is a call to spiritual and political arms for every pastor, church, intercessor and believer in America. This could be the spark that wakes up sleepy churches and pastors across the land, who, until now, have avoided engagement in the escalating culture war. Will they continue to hit the snooze button? Will we? This is spiritual warfare. Will we pray extraordinarily, speak boldly and take action courageously? The prizes our adversaries seek are silenced churches, the soul of our nation and the lives and liberty of our children and grandchildren! (see 2 Kg 20:12-19; 2 Chr 26:16-21; Neh 4:14 ff; Ps 27: all; Eph 6:10-20)
I STAND SUNDAY – Sunday November 2nd – FRC and pastors from across the land will travel to Houston to stand with the pastors. Via the Internet FRC will “Simulcast” the Sunday evening event from Pastor Steve Riggle’s Grace Community Church in Houston to churches and home groups across America. Speakers at the 1½ hour gathering will include David & Jason Benham, Pastor Hernan Castano, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Magda Hermida, Mike Huckabee, Tony Perkins, Alan & Phil Robertson, Dr. Rick Scarborough, Todd Starnes and Dr. Ed Young. God’s people must find out what is happening in Houston! This event will tell them!
Calling Pastors and Intercessors! Tony Perkins is asking pastors to join us in Houston and for believers everywhere, to pray!
- Urge your pastor to come if he can and your church to show I Stand Sunday live.
- Pray – every day now through the event. We must humble ourselves, repent and seek God for America’s pastors and churches.
- Fast – Friday, this week and next, or as God leads you, please fast (Mt 17:21).
- Come to Houston – Come to support the pastors. If you are an intercessor, join me and the I Stand Sunday prayer team to support the pastors and the event.
Lord, we pray now through I Stand Sunday. Assemble Your prayer team: on-site and across the land! May we arrive at the church early and prayed up; and may prayer fires burn brightly until and throughout the simulcast. May Your answers to prayer preempt every problem; invoke Your presence; and multiply the spiritual impact across our land. May what You are doing in Houston be used to awaken your Church and America! May the prayers of your people at I Stand Sunday be used to turn our nation! (see 2 Chr 6:20; 7:14; Neh 1:3-11a; Ps 28: all; 50:15; Rev 12:11)
If God calls you to join us, please email pbynum@frc.org with your name, church, prayer organization or a brief note about you and your prayer activities. Thank you always, for praying!
Sincerely,
Rev. Pierre Bynum
Chaplain & National Prayer Director
Email: pbynum@frc.org
Family Research Council
801 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-2100
Fax: 202-393-2134
Web: www.frc.org |
