Dear TeaParty.org,
Why have I unsubscribed?
My inbox is perpetually filled with email from Tea Party groups heralding the latest abuse by the President and his cabal, or a crisis precipitated by his actions. Am I supposed to be surprised? Alarmed? Spurred to action? Are we just now figuring out what tyrants do? As I read your emails about the latest crisis, it becomes apparent that the reported crisis is framing for a fundraising appeal, and it feels manipulative.
After the crushing loss of his family, John Vassar felt the call of God to leave the pursuits of this life behind him and commit all to the One Who is a close Friend to the lonely by entering the ministry. John became a colporteur, travelling the countryside tirelessly in search of any opportunity to bring a lost or wayward soul to the feet of Christ, and so devoting his every energy to the work as a man wrings drops of water from a wet cloth. Whether it was miles of dusty, country road tread in search of the occasional encounter, or among the crowded streets of Boston knocking door-to-door, John Vassar was after souls wherever they were.
Once he came upon a humble farmer ploughing a field, and after a short time of evangelistic labor both were kneeling in the upturned soil as the farmer gave his heart to Christ. Another time John knocked on the door of a house in a wealthy Boston neighborhood only to have the lady of the house slam the door in his face! She had heard of him and had vowed to slam the door in his face if ever he attempted a visit. Unwilling to give up, John sat down on her doorstep and sang:
Today we are seeing our once moral society crumbling before our eyes. So often our prayers seem to have little affect, and it is easy to become discouraged and retreat into a personal survival mode.
However, God has given us a message for our time in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah's story is our story. His time is our time. Out of love for his people he began to pray and work to turn their situation around. His story reminds us of our need to not retreat into personal survival mode but rather to persevere in order to see revival and restoration.
This is the cry of many broken hearts, and indeed some may find consolation in the inspirational life of John Vassar.
Born in 1813 in Poughkeepsie, New York, John had a promising future in the ambitions of this world. A worker in his cousin’s brewery, he was industrious, diligent in business, and showed potential to becoming a partner in the firm. His home life was pleasant, his health perfect, and his prospects financially bright.
Prayer is the communication a believer has with the Almighty. Only a true believer, one who has been called by God will know the heights of prayer. To the shallow, to the lukewarm, to the one comfortable with this life and the vanities it has to offer, prayer is an optional and tedious religious duty to be avoided at all costs; to turn to only if prompted or forced.
But, O, the joys that the one pricked by God has in Prayer! This one knows the communion and fellowship with Heaven. To him, prayer is a delight and privilege. Time spent in prayer is time fully realized. Time spent away from prayer is dreadful; a necessary evil to resist and shorten if at all possible.
We are all tempted to put off until tomorrow those things that should be done today. The reasons are myriad. The excuses are golden. We console ourselves with our good intentions. Tomorrow will be the day of action, we tell ourselves. Nixon Waterman wrote a poem that captures this tendency to leave those works undone that ought to be done today, he writes:
We shall do much in the years to come,
But what have we done today?
We shall give out gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer,
But what did we speak today?
I recently was blessed by learning about Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1769) from the account in They Knew Their God, Vol. 2. Many aspects in the life of this Godly man stood out to me, and I want to share them with you with the hope that you too can be blessed by the testimony of his life.
I was struck by how Tersteegen abandoned his secular pursuit at such a young age in order to serve the Lord. His choice to abandon the pursuit of trade opportunities that would have been a means of stable provision in an unstable world shows his desire for the Lord, particularly given his upbringing among many siblings who did prioritize worldly success, shunning him as he sought God’s ministry instead. I am reminded of our father Abraham who left his family behind to follow God’s call (and more so God Himself).
It can be assumed that since you have visited this website, you know something of the importance of prayer in the life of the believer. And perhaps you have come to the conclusion, as we have, that what America truly needs is a revival and not merely a change in government. It is axiomatic to assert that revival comes in answer to believing, persistent prayer. Since prayer is essential to any truly successful endeavor, a proper place to begin, we believe, is to define prayer.
Sometimes it is easier to understand a thing by dealing in contrasts. So perhaps it is fitting at the outset to state what prayer is not. "Prayer", as EM Bounds so aptly describes, "is not a little habit pinned on to us
It is a privilege to take time out of our busy schedules to pray. None of us would take time to pray if we did not believe that through prayer God changes things. Election after election we have put our hope in people believing they can bring about the changes we have so desired. But time and time again we have been disappointed in man.
At this time in history no man can save us...even if the Republicans take over the Senate, or a righteous man takes the White House in 2016, that is not enough to save America. They cannot save America because they are not capable of changing the hearts of the people.
Some have said that America is lost, that there is no more hope. That there is no reason to pray. Is that true?
The United States of America was founded on Judeo Christian principles and has been considered a Christian nation for centuries. Recently the President of the United States said we are no longer a Christian nation. Many were appalled when he said that. But the fact is we are now a back slidden nation. God has blessed our nation throughout its history and His favor has always been upon us until recently. We turned our back on Him and now He has turned His face from us.
