NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER 2020 BROADCAST

The following is the primetime 8 pm Central Daylight Time broadcast of the 2020 National Day of Prayer Illinois state capitol event, in Springfield, Illinois. It was broadcast from the studios of Christian Radio for Central Illinois - WLUJ family of stations.

The following were the prayer leaders, who prayed for our families, churches, communities and governments (Federal, State, Local) and military, of course:

Pastor Eric Ginder - New Life Tabernacle, Macon, Il.
Pastor Mac Dalton - Radiant Church, Springfield, Il.
Dr. Eddie Pullen - Illinois Baptist State Association, Church Planter
Patrick Groth - Hope Church Spiritual Formation Leader
Pastor John Swinford - Sweetwater Christian Church
Pastor Joseph Krol - Galilee Baptist Church
Bernie Lutchman - President, Business Men in Christ and NDP Springfield Leader.

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS 2019

GOD BELONGS IN MY CITY - SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS THIS SATURDAY

OFFICIAL PRAYER POINTS FOR THE TWO MILE WALK (see below)

TIMELINE: GATHER AT 10 AM (REGISTRATION FOR FUTURE EVENTS)
PRAYER WALK LEAVES COMER COX PARK, 18th and Capitol Avenue for two miles to 2nd and Capitol - the Illinois State Capitol East Steps.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PRAYER LEADERS:
Dave Smith- Director, Illinois Family Institute
Roy Newman- Pastor, Fresh Visions Com. Church
Eric Hansen- Pastor,  iWorship Center
Roger Ross- Pastor, First United Methodist
Fr House- Catholic Diocese
Billie Landers- New Generations Ministries, Auburn

HERE ARE THE PRAYER POINTS FOR THE TWO MILE WALK TO THE 11:15 am PRAYER & WORSHIP SERVICE AT THE STATE CAPITOL STEPS (BASED ON PSALM 51 -New American Standard Bible):

Prayer Focus 1: PRAYERS OF REPENTANCE (Personal repentance – Psalm 51 Verse 2 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin…verse 4 “Against You and You only I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight”…Verse 9 “Hide Your Face from my sins and blot out my iniquities.)
Corporate Repentance: for the sins of the Body of Christ against God and our fellow man. Since of division, despair, destructive speech and conduct and the racism.

Prayer Focus 2: PRAYERS OF REDEMPTION:  After this prayers of Repentance, sees forgiveness “Psalm 51 Verse:7 “ Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be as white as snow…..Verse 10 “ Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me”. Corporate Redemption – Pray for our city/town/state leaders to come to repentance and follow the will of God that it may be well with us.

Prayer Focus 3: PRAYERS OF RESTORATION:  Restoration of relationships – personal and between those in the church. 
Restoration of relationships across the community and unity in the Body of Christ, around the Person and saving power of Jesus Christ", regardless of race or class. 
Restoration of the relationship upon which all of the above is based – our relationship with the One True God of Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ…..Verse 12 “Restore to me the Joy of Your Salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit…..verse 15 “O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your Praise!”

Additional Scripture verses to meditate upon:

1.  Humble ourselves before God.
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people 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 I will forgive their sin and heal their land."

2.  Love God and love each other.
Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you strength and with all your mind, and 'Love your neighbor as yourself'."

3.  Courageous in difficult times.
John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

4. Pray for our leaders.
1 Timothy 2:1,2 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT LAST YEAR'S INAUGURAL GBIMC PRAYER WALK. 

THURSDAY MAY 3, DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE@NOON

Therefore, if you wish to join some committed believers, prayer leaders and spirit-led pastors to pray for all levels of this country - and ANY country for that matter - and to pray for our children, and for our children's salvation and their children's future walk with the Lord.....if you are that person come on down! Grab some friends of yours, who are like minded and come sing some well known praise songs with us, hear the Word proclaimed LOUDLY from the Top of a public square and pray with us.

All of Central Illinois is welcome to the 61st Annual Observance of what America calls her National Day of Prayer. While we should be living breathing 24/7/365 examples of a prayer as Second Nature, it is good to meet 
in public to reaffirm our ground as belonging to the Lord Jesus. We do this by praying for His Hand upon our Families, Communities and the leaders of each city, state and branch of Government.


Never has the tide of human depravity been turned so powerfully and deadly against Biblical Christianity; the Family as God ordained in the Book of Genesis and the Culture. For too long, the church played "nice-nice" with the culture, with a wink and a nod, while acting the part on 


Sunday mornings. No more...no more shall serious saints lay down, go to sleep and allow secularism blur the need for Salvation, as found ONLY in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This event starts at 11:55am with a song "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and kicks off at noon for one full hour. You will not be disappointed and the Heavens will be praised! We are on the East Steps of the Illinois State Capitol Complex by the Lincoln Statue in Springfield. The street address is 2nd Street South and Capitol Avenue.


The National Day of Prayer Worship Service will be broadcast at 8pm Central Daylight Time, Prime Time, on Christian Radio for Central Illinois - WLUJ 89.7FM and its many affiliates. You can also listen over the internet at www.wluj.org ...again at 8pm Central Daylight Time.  May God bless you and yours and may God bless America and keep her strong! Amen.

POWERFUL PRAYER MINISTERING TODAY!!

OVER 920 AT OUR MEN'S CONFERENCE IN SPRINGFIELD

STILL, OUR BOYS/YOUNG MEN IN GRAVE DANGER!

When we first started doing the local leg of a brand new concept called Iron Sharpens Iron National Men's Conference in March 2007, we had no clue what we were doing. We were just a bunch of guys from Business Men in Christ (BMIC) investing about $3500 of our income to bring a Discipleship men's ministry to town, which ran with the big dawgs in Colorado, New England or Orlando, Florida. Tom Cheshire, who spearheaded that in 2007 has since moved on from BMIC and now leads the successful Relevant Practical Ministry for men, which focuses in growing this movement to disciple men across central Illinois.

As the leader of the Prayer and Marketing Committee that first year, my job was to run two prayer rooms - one with men and women praying all day as intercessors for the day long conference - and the other with another minister and myself, open to men only, to counsel and pray with them.


That first year, less than 10 days out, we only had 45 men register. On conference day, over 550 men showed up! This year, 14 days out, we only had 175 registered. Today, over 920 showed up. All the classrooms for the 16 Equipping Seminars were so packed, we had men overflowing out the doors! God showed up and showed us Who was in charge! Not us!

DR.VODDIE BAUCHAM

This year's main speakers were Dr. Voddie Baucham, famed Southern Baptist Apologetics expert who is well known for his conferences with Answers in Genesis leader Ken Ham,  and New Life Church Associate Pastor David Perkins. Dr. Voddie was the all-out hit he always is and drew men from a tri-state area - Indiana/Illinois and lots of church vans from around St. Louis, Mo! This is in spite of the same St. Louis area conference last month! Not just that, but the Chicago area has two where the Indiana guys could have gone and saved two hours driving!


But the most rewarding part of this ministry for me each year, the privilege of ministering - first at the Chapel before the Conference starts with main speakers, leaders etc and communion with them and secondly, praying with and counseling with men from all backgrounds and stripes! Each year the needs get more critical and intense! Each year, we see and are blown back by the hurt, problems and issues some men are finally 'fessing up top and facing out there.

DR. EARL POWELL (RIGHT) WITH BEARS CHAPLAIN
RAY ELROY, FORMER DB FOR BEARS/LIONS/COLTS

Today Dr. Earl Powell (who has been ministering with me for 6 years now) and I and  occasionally some other leaders, prayed with and counseled more men in the space of a few hours than we ever did in one year! Without naming names, we dealt with issues of bi-polar; alcohol and drug use; living in sin with women; unforgiveness and more. 


Even more stunning that counseling and spiritual warfare with some demons some guys were battling was what happened in a seminar my friend Sam Mehaffie was conducting. Each year we bring him back for a reason. The reason is we have more and more boys from 12-18 years old who are brought there and have no father; or a father in name only...or are dealing with emotional neglect etc. It is uncanny! I ministered to a 13 year old named Isaac who is already dealing with all kinds of temptation and a couple of us to a most heart-breaking case - a giant of a kid, crying his eyes out because his dad just left his family for another woman, breaking his kids heart.


This guy, Chad, had never heard about Abba Father - Daddy, Father God - loving him so much that Jesus the Son took the hit for him. We believed, prayed into and cried out for a long time for God to send a Godly man alongside this teen to be his spiritual father. We try not to leave these poor boys hanging but hook them up with resources to start them off. These boys, and increasingly they are from wealthy or good suburban/urban families - never heard this kind of talk in their churches, from their pastors or parents!

WITH CHICAGO BEARS CHAPLAIN RAY MCELROY

The question remains - what on earth are they hearing?!!! Has the church become so focused on playing games, they threw out the ONE THING Jesus commissioned us to do - MAKE DISCIPLES! Everyone is to blame for this, include us who are finally doing something about it. 


This summer, our Decatur branch guys are doing a summer boys camp to teach young men that Sexual Purity is demanded by God for Righteousness but it is going to be out by a private lakefront, so they can have fun while learning. Many of these kids/teens have never been outside the inner city. So that's exciting. Folks we have to do something because our next generation of men, now still boys and older teens are in huge danger. The corrupt and morally bankrupt public education and political systems, and increasingly - the church body - are failing our future men big time. They, every single one - from president to pastor - will be called to account for this travesty one day. This is in the Book, don't doubt it!


I ask you to pray for all the men we personally ministered to, one on one today as well as all those broken teenage boys who never knew that God believes in them. If only we can catch some of this generation before they slip through the cracks into the bad part of eternity, it will make all of this more than worthwhile! It is more than worthwhile, because our Savior, Jesus Christ, is MORE than WORTHY of our Praise! Amen.

THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM.....

ROBERT E. LEE AND JESUS?!

One of the neatest and most exciting discoveries I came across, was in a glass case of JParsons, a New York-theme store, which is packed with amazing treasures and collectibles. This one (seen above in my photo) is an encrypted message by the great Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

Retired General Robert E. Lee

By the hand of fate, Lee, one of the Union's best soldiers before the Civil War, ended up defending the South in the War which almost destroyed America. Among other things, this war was about Slavery and Emancipation, which as we know, occurred when Lincoln famously ended slavery.


What most people don't know is that General Lee also opposed slavery, and was a devout man of Christ! Lee inherited slaves from his late wife's estate and immediately freed them all!! His most faithful friend was William Mac Lee, one of those former slaves and Lee's closest friend DURING the Civil War (as well as his cook)!


William Lee said of General Lee "I was raised by one of the greatest men in the world. There was never one born of a woman than General Robert E. Lee"


Both men - both Lees- are nowhere in the stature of the first man about whom this was said - JOHN THE BAPTIST. But while praying and reading the Word this morning, the Lord clearly brought to mind, the following scriptures to me from Hebrews:
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
(Hebrews 1:1-5 ESV)
(Emphasis mine)


Some things to note this morning about this photo of the Civil War message from General Lee, which makes no sense to the untrained eye, in comparison to the Word of God:


Unless you know the man who wrote the encoded note above and how he operates, you will never get this message! The same with God and our Savior Jesus Christ! Unless you know Him personally as the Lord of your life and His Word and how HE operates, there is no hope of Heaven!


The question is, now that we have clearly decoded what God has said in Hebrews 1: 1-5 here, what are we going to do with that information?! Clearly, we shall accept it as Truth confirmed by God, Who has note written anything in code or numbers, but spoken as plain as day from Genesis all the way to the End of the Book.


Are you ready to accept this truth? Robert E. Lee was a man of prayer and grace and the Lord Jesus. No matter what the politics and history will say, he knew Christ and Christ knew him. Forget politics and all that noise - DO YOU KNOW CHRIST...and the Glory of His Name?

Amen.