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This is long, but well worth
reading.
Jonathan Conti
Senior Commander
OP #43, Rocky Mount,
NC
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"inchristsimage.org - Arrow Publications" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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From:
"inchristsimage.org - Arrow Publications"
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Subject: PRAYER ARMY ARISE!
Date: Sat, 22
Sep 2001 15:57:15 -0500
In Christ's Image Weekly Summary
Pastor
Francis Frangipane
September 22nd, 2001
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PRAYER ARMY
ARISE!
Many are questioning whether or not the September 11th
terrorist act
against America was actually a manifestation of the wrath of
God or the
fury of Satan that struck our land? That we should even be
confused seems
strange, considering that the Lord and Satan stand at
opposite moral
extremes. However, Satan specializes in sowing confusion,
and into
confusion, deception comes. Indeed, the devil typically authors
some
heinous crime and then deceives people, causing them to blame God for
the
destruction and heartache.
Beloved, there is nothing more
crucial to our spiritual, physical and
emotional well-being than our
concept of God. Everything in life springs
from truly knowing God and
embracing His ways. Thus, whenever there is
confusion, we must return to
basic truth, and nothing is more basic than
this: the Lord is good; the
devil is bad. If we drift from this
foundation, we will inevitably present
to the world around us a false,
angry image of the Almighty.
In the
midst of calamity, it is God who "causes all things to work
together for
good . . ." (Rom 8:28a). The very fact that God must enter
reality and
cause something to work for good reveals that there are other
"causes"
which have evil origins working in our world. Whether we consider
the
Jewish Holocaust or even the crucifixion of Christ Himself, the
evil
clearly came from Satan, but the good which came out of it came from
God.
We must not get the two confused.
Consider the story of Joseph.
His brothers sold him into slavery and
assumed he died there. Yet, the Lord
used the evil of Joseph's
circumstances to demonstrate that nothing can
thwart His plan or His
sovereignty. Joseph's analysis of his life is a
clear picture of the life
conflict between good and evil. He assured his
brothers, "You meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen
50:20). The Hebrew word
translated "meant" literally translated means "to
weave" or "fabricate."
The Spirit of God descended into the injustice and
used what was contrived
to destroy Joseph to perfect him. God did not
author the evil, He redeemed
it and wove the treachery into a majestic plan
for good.
Current Arguments
But one might debate, "But God
is holy. America has sinned and needs to be
punished." I ask, what does
"holy" mean, that God is cruel?" Does
holiness mean severe? The Lord's
holiness is the composite of all His
other attributes. He cannot be "holy"
without simultaneously remaining the
universal source of unrelenting love,
infinite goodness, unfathomable
wisdom and unfailing justice. Holiness is
not something distinct from
God's other characteristics; it is the sum of
them.
The argument continues, "The Almighty is a God of judgment." Yes,
He is.
Judgment means "justice" and speaks of God's verdict, His
unbiased
analysis of every situation. Isaiah tells us that "when the
earth
experiences Thy judgments the inhabitants of the world
learn
righteousness" (Isa 26:9). We assume Isaiah means wrath, but he does
not.
He is speaking of God's great wisdom and justice.
The Lord is
fair, even when punishing for sin. He is not capricious or
indiscriminately
violent, as were the pagan gods of the heathen nations.
The repeated
pattern in the Scriptures is that, when the Lord does
exercise His wrath,
He does not destroy the righteous with the wicked.
Consider Noah, Lot and
Jeremiah, three godly men who serve as prime
examples of God's ways during
times of wrath. All were rescued and
preserved. Or consider when Jesus
warned His followers that, when they saw
Jerusalem surrounded by her
enemies, to flee to the mountains (Luke
21:20-21). Over and over the Lord's
heart seeks to preserve the righteous,
His beloved, during times of wrath.
The Scripture states plainly that God
"has not destined us for wrath, but
for obtaining salvation" (1 Thess 5).
Indeed, the very rapture itself tells
us that God seeks to separate and
protect His own.
Forgive me for
laboring, but to say that Jesus Christ strikes the
righteous with the
wicked is a gross misrepresentation of His character.
In the parable of the
wheat and tares, when asked if the tares should be
uprooted, Jesus replied,
"No; lest while you are gathering up the tares,
you may root up the wheat
with them. Allow both to grow together until the
harvest . . . " (Matt
13:29-30). The Lord is willing to allow evil to
exist side by side with
good rather than risk accidently uprooting the
good with the evil! This is
God's heart. There were many Christians who
died in the Twin Towers,
Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, thus I do not
believe God was acting out His
wrath against America. I'm not saying we
don't deserve it, but that this is
not the wrath of the Almighty. When
the righteous do die with the wicked,
with very limited exceptions, it is
because there is another power at work,
one that is either hellish,
manmade or geophysical.
Shall Not
God Deal Justly?
Abraham understood the fairness of divine justice. As
a result, when God
was about to destroy Sodom, Abraham boldly prayed, "Far
be it from Thee to
do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked,
so that the
righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from
Thee! Shall not
the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" (Gen 18:25). If we
cannot say,
"Far be it from Thee . . . to slay the righteous with the
wicked" then we
do not know God as Abraham knew Him. The Judge of the whole
earth,
according to the Bible, deals justly. He will not slay the righteous
with
the wicked.
When the Lord does release His anger, it is not
indiscriminate, but
measured and just. He plainly says, "The person who
sins will die. The son
will not bear the punishment for the father's
iniquity, nor will the
father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity;
the righteousness of
the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness
of the wicked will
be upon himself" (Ezek 18:20).
People have said,
"God is judging America for its sins, for the flood of
pornography, drug
abuse, violence and abortion coming from this nation."
This argument amazes
me. I doubt that there was one pornographer that died
at the World Trade
Center. There were no abortion clinics there. Indeed,
many who died in the
attacks were Christians. It is as though people are
saying, "To teach
pornographers, abortionists and adulterers a lesson, God
killed and wounded
business people, tourists and rescuers in New York."
How can we believe
that God, while justly angry with pornographers in LA,
would strike
soldiers and airline passengers at the Pentagon? Not only is
such thinking
fundamentally skewed, it actually describes the mind of the
terrorists, who
will destroy people who are unrelated to the issues which
inflame
them.
So, if you are confused by the myriad of prophecies that the
terrorist act
was actually God's judgment upon modern Babylon, then you
need to return
to basics: the Lord is good, the devil is bad. God did not
cause,
authorize or condone these terrorist acts. I am not saying the Lord
will
never deal with America's sin in His anger, only that when God
judges
Babylon He will not hire a terrorist to do it. This devastation was
an
attack from the devil, whom Jesus said, "comes to steal, kill and
destroy"
(John 8). If God allowed it (or foresaw it but didn't stop it),
such is
the cost of guaranteeing man a free will. Yes, the Lord watched
the
terrorist attack. However, not only were there tears in His eyes,
there
was a promise in His heart. Out of this wounding is coming a great
revival
in America.
The Emerging Goodness
So, what is God
working? Consider the two hijacked planes: United and
American. Taking what
Satan designed to crush us, God has produced unity,
or "United
American[s]." We have asked God for revival, and today churches
are uniting
in brokenness, humility and prayer. David Bryant tells us that
there were
10,000 prayer groups meeting in New York before the terrorist
attack; today
that number is swelling. News anchors and political analysts
are marveling
at the flood of people returning to church and God, some are
even
predicting that America is at the threshold of a great spiritual
awakening.
Repentance must and will come, but remember, it is "the
kindness of God
[that] leads you to repentance" (Rom 2:4).
Yes, in the midst of all our
diversity and bickering, a United America is
rising from the rubble and
confusion. Though tears may still be in our
eyes, black and white, Baptist
and Pentecostal, our arms are around one
another. We are in this together
with God.
Many have warned that this attack has awakened a "sleeping
giant." I say
it has awakened a praying giant. When the prayer army in
America (and
around the world) stood to intercede during the Gulf War, many
were
predicting our military action would lead to Armageddon, one famous
pastor
even had a full page ad in USA Today warning the Gulf War would lead
to
Armageddon. Instead of the "end of the world," God answered our
prayers.
We suffered minimal casualties and the war was over within 100
hours.
Additionally, by some counts, over 100,000 American soldiers gave
their
lives to Christ!
Again, we were warned that many American
lives would be lost in Kosovo.
Prayer arose and instead NOT ONE American
life was lost! Or consider when
the Oklahoma City bombing occurred: prayer
instantly rose across this
nation. Remember, as now, we did not know
initially who our enemy was, but
we knew Who are God was! Across America we
prayed. Incredibly, within
hours of the explosion, McVey was apprehended
for a traffic violation.
While the world searched for the perpetrator of
this crime, God already
had him arrested and waiting in jail!
So, I
say to you: Do not fear the terror that stalks by night, O praying
House of
the Lord! This is your hour. Stand with the sword of the Holy
Spirit and
pray for America! Throw off your oppression and know that God
is among us
to bring great good from this. Your President and national
leaders are
praying; your church leaders are seeking God. Do not just
pray,
but
BELIEVE IN THE GOODNESS AND POWER OF OUR REDEEMER KING!
Take faith:
the Spirit has witnessed that God has set His heart to break
the stronghold
of Islam and release many of its captives. It is time to
trust the
commission and words of the Son of God. "This gospel of the
kingdom shall
be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the
nations, and then
the end shall come" (Matt 24:14). The Arab world and
those trapped in Islam
shall have a genuine chance to hear the gospel of
Christ.
One
Last Thing
The Revelation of John tells of a great spiritual war in the
end times:
"Michael and his angels waging war against the dragon . . . (Rev
12). You
will remember that, in Daniel's time, Michael was revealed as the
great
archangel who subdued the "prince [read "principality"] over Persia"
(see
Dan 10). This ancient Persian empire extended from the Danube to
India.
Today, it is this area in particular that sponsors much of the
terrorist
activity we see in the world. Listen well, the first person to
be
identified as a fatality at the WTC was Father Mychal Judge, a
Catholic
priest. (Mychal is "Michael"). There is an insight in his name,
and even
a direction we should take in spiritual warfare: "Father, [send]
Michael
[to] Judge [Your enemies]."
Lord, we ask that You descend
into this battle and bring great goodness
out of it -- let the world see
you as exalted and mighty, as good and
merciful. We also ask that You use
this to bring repentance and a national
awakening to our land. Send
Michael, the chief prince of the people of
Israel and the archangel who
leads Your heavenly hosts into battle; yes,
send him against our foes and
Yours. We are helpless without You, but
come, O Lord, and reveal Your
goodness and power to the nations. In Jesus'
name.
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In such a time as
this, God is weaving our hearts tighter together into
prayer. Please join
us in prayer, for Francis, as he travels these next
several weeks [see
below]. Thank you and God Bless.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 24-25:
Marietta, OH 740-373-0867
Church in the City Gatherings, West Virginia
304-776-5907
Sept. 25-26: Fairmont, WV
Sept. 26-27: Huntington,
WV
Sept. 27-28: Beckley, WV
Sept. 28-29: Charleston, WV
Oct 2-5:
Feast of Tabernacles, Jerusalem, Israel, 319-393-1096
Oct 5-7: Brave Heart
Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 16-17: Church of the Yakima Valley,
Sunnyside, WA 509-882-1660
Oct 18-21: Many Nations Celebrations, Portland,
OR 360-546-1867
Oct 23-24: Harvest Rock Church, Pasadena, CA
626-794-1199
Oct 25-26: Wasilla Valley Prayer Conference, Wasilla,
AK
907-376-5732 Held at the Wasilla Assembly of God
Francis and the
Staff at In Christ's Image would love to hear from you. We
really
appreciate your comments. Please feel free to write us anytime
at
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Three times three rules of
prayer.
1. Pray first. Pray last. Pray Always.
2. Prayer, More Prayer and
Much More Prayer.
3. Pray in the Spirit. Pray in your Understanding.
Pray
Expecting God to Answer.
Knowing God hears and cares for His
People.
Blessings, Ellen Patrick
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