A Call to Repentance: WEEK TWELVE

2008-06-01T23:41:00.001-07:00

March 30, 2008

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)

ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS OF REPENTANCE

ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS OF REPENTANCE

1. Planned Parenthood of Idaho Apologizes for Targeting Black Babies

The nation's largest abortion provider has apologized for accepting racist donations. Read more. (Focus on the Family; CitizenLink)

2. Conservative Black Leaders Organize Project 21

Bishop Harry Jackson, founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and close friend to FRC is calling leaders in the African-American community to take action end the abortion holocaust that takes the lives of black babies in numbers widely disproportionate to other populations. Meanwhile, Project 21, a network of conservative black leaders, has eyed the success of civil rights movement in harnessing the power of the purse as a tool in their fight against social injustice, and is calling upon people of all races to boycott businesses that support Planned Parenthood, businesses most of which unwittingly support the targeting of black children for abortion. (Family Research Council)

3. Republican Lawmaker Proposes Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) is proposing an amendment to the appropriations bill that funds the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services to prohibit federal funding for Planned Parenthood. "I just think it's wrong that the largest abortion provider in America is the largest recipient of non-abortion funding under Title X," Pence told Cybercast News Service. Read more. (CNSNews.com)

4. World's largest abortion provider losing ground in court

Kansas-based pro-life activist Troy Newman says Planned Parenthood will soon have its day in court, which he hopes will be the end for the world's largest abortion provider. On April 7-8, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid- Missouri (PPKM) will be in the Johnson County district court in Olathe, Kansas, to answer the first of a total of 107 charges, including 23 felony counts of falsifying records along with various other counts of performing illegal late-term abortions. Newman, president of Operation Rescue, thinks the long-fought battle against Planned Parenthood could finally be paying off. "Planned Parenthood's been on the ropes for a number of years. They've been caught lying, falsifying medical records, committing illegal late-term abortions, and even misreporting diagnoses to the state," Newman contends. According to Newman, if PPKM loses in court, it could be "the end of Planned Parenthood across the nation as we now know it." Read more. (American Family Association)

INTRODUCTION TO WEEK TWELVE

INTRODUCTION TO WEEK TWELVE

This week, we continue to press in during WEEK TWELVE of the 40 Weeks of Prayer and Fasting, to offer prayers of repentance for the sin in the church, the sin in the nation, and the blessing of Israel.

We now address these areas:

1. SIN IN THE CHURCH: SELF-PITY

2. SIN IN THE NATION:THE HISPANIC DIVIDE

3. THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: PRAYERS FOR RAIN

SIN IN THE CHURCH: SELF-PITY

REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH:

SELF-PITY

Let's now focus a little on self-pity, the "woe is me" attitude. This is a form of pride.

You may ask, "Where was God when I went through my particular problem?" He was in the same place when His son Jesus died on the cross for your sins. You may not want to be God's child but He always wants to be your Father.

I've heard it said, "Negative Christians are high maintenance, low impact . . . and positive Christians are low maintenance, high impact." Which one are we? We need to get our focus off of self and focus on Jesus. Learn from our past; don't live in it. Jesus delivered us of our sins. "All things have become new, old things are passed away . . ." (2 Cor. 5:17) if you've received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

I heard someone say, "Sorry looks behind; worry looks ahead; faith looks up." Self-pity and a feeling of hopelessness will destroy us. We need to be victorious in our thinking and actions.

(Source: Riding with the King in Unity, by Giles F. Mack, P.O. Box 1761, Branson, MO 65615, page 83)

"Father God, we repent for our own self-centered attitudes, and we ask You for the grace to look to You, daily, in all we do, think and say. Let our lives reflect YOU, and not ourselves.

We ask You to deliver us from the sin of self-pity, for we have SO MUCH to be grateful for -- starting with the new life we have received through Your own precious Shed Blood. Thank You for forgiving us our sins, and please teach us Your ways.

In Jesus' Name we pray, amen."

SINS OF THE NATION: THE HISPANIC DIVIDE

REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION:

THE HISPANIC DIVIDE

This is a difficult subject to label. It has a racist element, but it is much broader than the color division of white and black. Hispanic peoples are of all colors simply because of the nature of Spanish colonialism. It is not quite correct, therefore, to say there is a "white- Hispanic" division in the nation. More accurately, it is a division between those whose ancestors came from Spain, and those whose ancestors came from Great Britain.

The roots of this divide lie in rivalry between Spain and England over dominance of the New World. In schoolbooks we learn about the English-French rivalry that culminated in the French and Indian War, but there is little said about the much larger and longer contest between England and Spain. After 1783, that contest became one between the United States and Spain, and still later the nations that gained their independence from Spain.

This history has left a legacy of bitterness between Hispanic peoples and the dominant Anglo-American peoples of the United States. By so easily (or so it seemed) divesting Spain and Mexico of their lands, Anglo-Americans have come to view Mexicans and others of Hispanic heritage as incompetent and comical, and have thus perpetuated a tragic discrimination against peoples made in the image of Almighty God. On the other hand, American wealth, power, and prosperity have become things Hispanic peoples and nations envy and desire. Not seeing any other way to appropriate such wealth for themselves, many have resorted to taking it illegally by entering into this nation without permission, and some have sought to retake the lands lost by Mexico and establish a Hispanic republic. The result of this legacy is clear in the illegal immigrant issue before us today, and in the continued poverty of most Hispanic Americans.

(Submitted by: Lieutenant Colonel Al McCarn, U.S. Army.)

"Father God, we ask You to forgive us for our sins towards Hispanic peoples in our land, from the beginning of our time here together. Only You, Holy Father, can erase the grievances of the past, so that we might, indeed, serve You as ONE NATION under God.

We also come before Your Throne of Grace, and we ask You to forgive the leadership of groups like La Raza that are seeking to divide our land, and through the "Reconquista movement," place that soil under the sovereignty of Mexico.

We ask Your help and Your grace, that we might learn Your ways in building Your kingdom together on earth, as it is in heaven. In Jesus' Name, amen."

THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: PRAYERS FOR RAIN

THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL:

PRAYERS FOR RAIN

Israel's current water situation is critical. We need a miraculous supply.

- Abba, although we do not deserve it - yet because of Your overflowing mercy, give us all the water that we need.

- We recall that Your Son declared that You "send rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). Therefore, we take courage in asking You for this.

- Lord, watch over this word: "You, O God, did send a plentiful rain, whereby You did confirm Your inheritance [Israel], when it was weary." (Psalms 68:9)

- God, in this week's prophetic portion (Ezekiel 36:16- 38), You promise to make this land like the garden of Eden (36:34-35). That requires water. Please provide all that Israel needs.

THE SONG OF THE WEEK

"LEAVE IT THERE"

Written in 1916 by Charles Tindley.

To read the lyrics and hear the tune for this wonderful old hym, go to this site.

To read the story of the life of Charles Tindley, go here.

A Closing Thought . . .

REPENTANCE IS RARE

By A.W. Tozer

" There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10)

Humans, deceived by the devil and charmed by their own pride and abilities, deny that our world is a rebel province in God's universe. They deny that human society has willfully pulled loose from God's rule and the rest of God's domain.

In fact, they deny that men and women are the creation of God. They deny even that they owe any allegiance to God, their Creator!

The Bible is the record of how God deals with mankind and we can draw but one conclusion: all people are morally obligated to repent and to ask forgiveness of God. Failing to do so, they will perish.

How rare it is in our day to hear of genuine repentance, We live amid a proud, selfish and self-sufficient people, Even in our Christian churches there are those who want nothing more than to be known as "respectable church members!"

When repentance is real and faith is genuine, the atoning death of Jesus Christ is effective for pardon and forgiveness and regeneration.

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A Call to Repentance - 12

A Call to Repentance: WEEK TWELVE