Together 2016 is probably the last opportunity Christians will have before the November elections to make a massive public statement before our elected leaders in Washington and before the nation. But neither is the audience we seek to come before. The One we seek is the Lord of all creation and the Great Shepherd of the sheep. The participants of this event are not coming hundreds and thousands of miles to throw stones at a broken government or publicly vilify a degenerate culture. No, it is God’s people – the church in America that stands in the need of prayer.
It is millions of professing Christians who have been co-opted by the culture who need to repent while humbling ourselves in prayer before the thrice-holy God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Like Israel in Nehemiah 9, we need to be renewed and revived by God’s Holy Spirit so that we are empowered to make a difference in the world in which we live. This is not a trip to Disney World but a trip that we, God’s people, should have made 50 or more years ago when a sexual revolution began in earnest accompanied by a musical genre that jettisoned the God of our fathers and the biblical principles upon which this great nation was built.
It was truly a revolution from hell and we have all but fallen from within – no external force necessary. All the while, the supposed church of Christ had fallen fast asleep and when awakened from its slumber did not oppose the onslaught but joined in with compromise after compromise so that five decades later the church is viewed by most of our fellow citizens as an irrelevant institution that is nothing more than a dead relic of the past no longer needed for a meaningful life. We are coming to Washington to cry out to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for renewal and revival that we, together, might be very salty salt and an overwhelming bright light of gospel grace and truth.
So, as you give of the resources God has entrusted to you, know that you are assisting your brothers and sisters, who will represent Madison and our county, to make this pilgrimage to our nation’s capital for reasons that are long overdue. None going is wealthy. The 56 on the bus represent common folk who are your brothers and sisters in Christ and, in many cases, are making the trip sacrificially. Thank you so much for your help in making this more affordable. Not everyone can go but everyone can give something to the effort. May the Lord bless your generosity and may He meet us in a very special way as we gather on the National Mall on Saturday, July 16.
-Dr. Gary Cox