Letter to the Church: October 2022

October 13, 2022

As I write this letter, I feel more urgency about the hour we live in than I ever have before. In a recent weekend sermon, I went off script from my “scheduled message” and shared about what I believe is a window of time that we are in as a nation. I shared about the upcoming vote on Proposal 3 in the upcoming elections here in the state of Michigan. A horrendous bill that has to do with the expansion and codifying abortion up to and beyond the 25th week and removes parental notification for minors seeking an abortion.

To me, this is more than a political issue. It is a moral issue and, should it pass, would threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of unborn children, as well as the sanctity of the nuclear family and the well-being of women.

I did what I have rarely done as a Pastor that protects and values the pulpit – I exhorted all that see me as their shepherd to vote NO on Proposal 3.

I also preached from 2 Chronicles 7:14-15, which is a well-known passage about prayer and the people of God and the call to repentance. I believe with all of my heart that our nation is both in a 2 Chronicles 7:14 window of opportunity, and in the midst of a Romans 1 cultural moment. Please take a moment and read these two passages of scripture:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."
Romans 1:18-25

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place."
2 Chronicles 7:14-15

As you read both passages, you can see both the opportunity before us and the danger before us. Our culture right now is sick and dying as a result of failing to acknowledge God and truth. We have turned our face away from God’s righteous moral guidelines, suppressed the truth that even nature itself gives testimony to, and elevated our own ignorance as true wisdom. The level of perversion that is taking place today in our culture would be breathtaking had it been told to us a decade ago. We have become desensitized to it, because like Lot, our righteous soul has been vexed by what we are seeing take place day after day (2 Peter 2:8).

We have become indifferent towards the casual sexual attitude, bullied into denying basic biology, and shaking our fists in the face of God’s grace by worshipping the idols of the culture around us. As best as I can read Romans 1, the breakdown in our society seems to indicate the beginnings of the judgment of God upon America. I say this with all sobriety.

What disturbs me the most, though, is where God’s judgment begins. We can look at the world around us with its brokenness and unrighteousness and believe that they are the ones bringing the judgment of God upon our land. But the Bible says something altogether different, which may be shocking to us as Christians.

"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?"
1 Peter 4:17

Did you catch that? When God begins to extend His hand of judgment and correction, He always begins with the Church, His people. Before He holds the world accountable for their wickedness, He looks FIRST at His house. This should wake us up and stir the sense of urgency within us that causes us to respond to His mercy and longsuffering with the kind of response we see Him call for in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways. He promises that if we, the Church, will respond in true repentance at the first sense of pressure from His Fatherly hand, He will relent and bring healing and revival to our land.

You see, before God will judge a nation like America, He will first give us a window of opportunity to turn to Him. Then, if He can capture the attention of His people, He will pour out His grace and turn the tide of wickedness and give us a reprieve from the danger that we face. This is recorded over and over again in the history of nations. Revivals and awakenings that literally brought about the rescue and, in many cases, the transformation of societies. But if the Church hardens its heart or ignores the warnings of the hour, judgment will be inevitable.

In 2020, I had a significant dream from the Lord about the days we were entering. The dream is too long to describe in detail, but the main message of it was this: America was in the midst of a storm that could destroy the foundations. I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Seven days have been appointed for America. Seven days of testing… If there will be prayer in my house, there will also be praise in the streets!” In the Bible, seven is the number of perfection and completion. Seven days is called a heptad or a completed season. I don’t believe we need to interpret this as a literal “seven days” but as a window of time. I believe we are living in a specific window of time in which God has His eyes and ears fixed upon the Church with supernatural scrutiny. He is waiting on us.

“If” is a conditional word. It means that certain things can and will only happen once certain conditions are met. God has, I believe, scheduled a new Great Awakening for this nation and current generation. We all know that we desperately need it and that nothing else is going to stem the tide. We are at an inflection point and past the point of no return without God visiting us again. The "if" that is still outstanding is on us. Will we take this moment seriously and repent? Will we turn to God with our whole hearts once again and confess that we have become just like the world in our lack of convictions? Will we unify and pray as if God can and will answer from heaven with fire, just as He did in the days of Elijah when He called Israel back to devotion and confronted the prophets of Baal? The answer is still to be seen.

This is the urgency that I feel and have been compelled to share with you, the flock that God has entrusted to me as a messenger and shepherd. I hope we will step forward as the first fruits of praying churches across America that see through the eyes of the Spirit the hour we live in and respond with examination, repentance, unity, and prayer. Will you join me in seeking God to move in this generation?

I’m asking every Radiator to join me on October 23 at 4:00PM in Arcadia Creek Festival Place for our Prayer in the Park event. We will be praying with other churches in our city for the sanctity of life of the unborn and for God’s mercy upon our city and nation. This is our moment!

Pastor Lee Cummings

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