A DC "Prayer March" We Could Totally Support

There will be lots of American flags and patriotic
speeches at these upcoming D.C. gatherings.

September 26 has been set aside as a special day for concerned believers to gather to pray for the nation and to call Americans everywhere to repentance.

One of the key planners, Messianic believer Jonathan Cahn, is calling for a ten-day period of fasting and penitence from the day of the Jewish Feast of Trumpets, September 18, to the Day of Atonement, September 28, and culminating in mass meetings at the National Mall Friday evening and Saturday September 25-26.

Franklin Graham will address the crowd gathered for the 2020 Prayer March occurring during the 12-2 pm time period on Saturday.

Judging by the content of their respective websites, one clear message will be that voting for Republicans this November may be our last and best hope for saving the nation from God's certain judgment.

I share everyone's deep concerns for the repentance and healing of the nation, but rather than an appeal to patriotism and a call to return to a greatness of the past, what if we had an event that would call us to celebrate and demonstrate the greatness of God's future reign? After all, this international, eternal and heaven-governed kingdom, announced by Jesus, is already present wherever people pledge their allegiance to Jesus as Lord. 

So here is what I wish could be affirmed at a national gathering like this:

We are here to pray not only for our own governmental leaders, but for "all in positions of authority" around the globe, so that all believers and people of goodwill everywhere can "live peaceable lives in all godliness and holiness." *

While we acknowledge the references to "divine providence" and to the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" in our nation's founding documents, we continue to pledge our ultimate allegiance to Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and as the bedrock foundation of our faith, not to Caesar or to any secular state. And while we note the lack of any reference to Jesus in the nation's founding documents, we will continue to appeal to the nation to welcome and respect people of all races, languages and creeds in the spirit of Jesus, the ultimate redeemer and judge of all. And we will base our appeal not only on passages from the Hebrew Bible, but on New Testament texts and on  teachings of Jesus such as those found in his Sermon on the Mount.

We appreciate the precious liberties and protections afforded by our nation, but also recognize the sins of our founders and ancestors in causing the deaths of millions of native Americans through cruel conquest and through the spread of deadly diseases, sometimes deliberately. We also repent of centuries of racism and of the evils of chattel slavery, segregation, lynchings and other grave injustices experienced by African Americans and other minority groups.

This is the image used on the Return website (though
abortions at this stage are clearly banned).

Because most of us gathered here today believe human life begins at conception, we will continue to oppose abortion as a means of birth control, though we admit that in our zeal we have sometimes given the impression that abortions are promoted only by God-hating liberals--and that the majority of abortions occur in late stages of pregnancy (already prohibited by Supreme Court  ruling except for rare medical emergencies). And while some of us here may oppose even the use of an IUD or a morning after pill (say in the case of rape or incest), we want to be humble about making such a choice the moral equivalent of the cold blooded murder of an already breathing newborn. But our earnest appeal to everyone everywhere is that we show a consistent reverence for God's gift of life at every stage of human development..

Meanwhile, we will support public policies that provide good prenatal care and adequate healthcare for all mothers, and will insist that men take full and equal responsibility for being hands-on fathers for their children.  We will also acknowledge that it is immoral for pro-life Christians and all citizens to support a bloated US military budget that is already ten times higher than that of the next ten most heavily armed nations combined, and that maintains the nuclear capability of cruelly annihilating all human beings on earth (including all of the unborn ones) many times over.

And finally, we confess that we have neglected God's very first mandate, to cultivate and care for the earth paradise God created for us. We have been guilty of greedily exploiting the earth's resources for our short term gain, thus contributing to the devastating warming of the planet, the pollution of its air, land and oceans, and the resulting severe weather events that are causing unimaginable destruction and loss.

Above all, we recognize that we are all under God's judgment, and we will be judged not merely by our words, by how earnestly we say "Lord, Lord," but by our deeds, whether we have acted justly, demonstrated mercy and compassion, and have walked humbly with our God. Likewise by whether we have fed the hungry, offered hospitality to immigrants and refugees, provided shelter and warmth for the homeless and provided compassionate healthcare for all who need it.

In that spirit of humilty, we pray God will truly bless all people, and may God bless a repentant America.

* I Timothy 2:1