And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6)

In what ways are you noticing God turning the hearts of fathers toward their children and the hearts of children to their fathers?

God is doing something incredible in the culture of America. He is offering hope. During our weekly Marching Through Culpeper prayer conference call on April 8, Bob Sims talked about the Fatherhood of God. He mentioned that the very last verse of the Old Testament (Malachi 4:6) speaks of God returning the hears to the fathers to their children and vise versa.

On Sunday night April 13, CNN hosted the “Compassion Forum” with live interviews of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. Hillary and Barack were both asked very personal and specific questions about their faith.

Yesterday morning (April 14) I read an email from Virginia Morton about American Idol with a link to a YouTube video that blew me out of the water – in a good way. This stood in sharp contrast to the email I read minutes before about the thefts that took place at Gold’s Gym last week.

The victim of the theft stated, “Last night I was at gold’s gym when my purse was stolen out of my car. They busted in my window and stole it from behind the front seat. They got all my credit cards, my ID, a nice camera and a checkbook. My car wasn’t the only one broken into. Another women’s purse was stolen, and she was only at the gym for 5 minutes. The police said they broke into 3 cars at Powell right after Golds.” My wife and I belong to Gold’s Gym and their parking lot is well lit with lots of people going in and out.

The encouraging email Virginia forwarded to me came from Bob Sims, one of our prayer partners on our weekly Marching Through Culpeper prayer conference calls. Bob shared “This is a sign that the American public is accepting our message in the arts. This is really moving.” Bob’s email went on to say,

“This doesn’t happen often. American Idol opened the show last night (April 10, 2008) with an encore of Shout To the Lord. Evidently it is the number ONE download from the night before.

And here is some background on the song for you. American Idols performed Darlene Zschech’s “Shout to the Lord” on “Idol Gives Back.”

Bloggers and TV writers are buzzing about the grand finale performance of Idol Gives Back, which was predicted to be one of the most watched television programs of the year. According to those in the audience, the show’s grand finale, which was taped on Sunday at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre, has the eight American Idol finalists performing “Shout to the Lord,” the contemporary classic hymn written by Hillsong/Integrity’s Darlene Zschech.”

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I’m in awe of what You are doing. Thank You for this encouragement and hope. Thank You for the love of God manifested by the eight American Idol finalists performing “Shout to the Lord.” Thank You for the bold stand that American Idol took in opening their TV show with this song. Bless the socks off of everyone who made this possible. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Link of the Day
Top 8 finishers in American Idol sing “Shout to the Lord” – YouTube video

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Blessings to shout to the LORD and praise our King!

“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. (Isaiah 41:21).

How much momentum do you have?
What simple steps can you take to gain more?

On March 24, Dr. Jerry Graham sent a Daily Gram titled “The Big Mo” talking about momentum and its importance to a leader. That message really resonated strongly with my spirit. I’ll share more about that tomorrow. But for now, I want to share a personal and current story about momentum.

Since August 2007, Virginia Morton has been hosting a Marching Through Culpeper prayer conference call nearly every Tuesday afternoon. Each week, about 5-7 people from 3-4 states participate. Our team of eagles believes that God is lining up the people, resources, and circumstances to make a TV mini-series and major motion picture from Virginia’s Civil War novel and that He will use that to heal longstanding differences between the North and the South and between blacks and whites.

Virginia does an outstanding job preparing for and facilitating these prayer calls. Typically, she begins each call by sharing a single word and corresponding scripture to guide our prayers for that day. Yesterday, Virginia’s word was “case” and these were the two scriptures she shared:

Isaiah 41:21 – “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.

Isaiah 43:25-26 – “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.

Virginia told our prayer team that Bob Sims has told her repeatedly over the past few months that the LORD told him to tell Virginia, “Present your case.” I wasn’t even aware those words were in the Bible. Bob wasn’t either. The Holy Spirit simply gave them to Bob to share with Virginia. Those words “Present your case” spoke very strongly to each person on the phone call, including me. They drove me into action.

Near the end of our prayer call, Burt Swardstrom asked what I’ve been doing. I shared about the prayer the Holy Spirit gave me on Sunday morning March 30, “Who is my target audience.” I then shared about my conflict between the Leadership Summit III and the Smith Mountain Lake Triathlon in early May and how Julia told me I should go to New York City to personally meet Dan Stratton and Lance Wallnau. Virginia and Bob Sims quickly agreed this was right for me. Bob told me he has been listening a lot to Lance recently because of his teaching of the Seven Mountains and what Bob saw and experienced in Germany. Bob told me my target audience is the mind molders at the top of the Seven Mountains.

At 8 PM yesterday evening, I hosted my third webinar titled “UNCOMMON Internet Marketing Seminar.” This was my first webinar in the evening. I saw fruit from that in less than 2 hours that will impact much of Central America. At 9 PM, I participated in the webcast hosted by Dan Stratton and Lance Wallnau about the Leader Summit in NYC on May 1-3. That was awesome.

Then this morning, I participated in my very first prayer conference call for the Provision Network, facilitated by Dan Stratton. That was incredible. About 50-75 people from 20 or so states participated. The prayers and unity were wonderful. My spirit is jumping for joy.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I praise You as the God who has presented Your case clearly for the divinity of Jesus Christ. I praise You as the God of momentum. One day of favor from You can be worth more than a lifetime of labor. I pray for UNCOMMON boldness, that each person reading this message will be strong and of good courage as You commanded Joshua before he led the people of Israel into the promised land. May they present their cases for Jesus Christ in love and truth. Thank You Jesus. Amen and hallelujah!

Link of the Day
The Seven Mountains – seven spheres of influence that make up the mind molders that control nations

Blessings to present your case in your God-given sphere of influence!

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

What is the legacy of General Stonewall Jackson?
How is that still impacting Virginia and America today?

In the past few months I have become fascinated with the spiritual legacy of General Stonewall Jackson and the impact he has had and continues to still have on Virginia. When Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce spoke at the 50 State Tour gathering in March 2004, they declared that Virginia is the “covenant root state.” Based upon it’s rich Christian heritage, Virginia was acknowledged to have governmental authority, not just for the United States, but for the world.

According to David C. McCullough, “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” One of the many blessings of being a close friend of Virginia Morton is that she has taught me much about Civil War history as well as the history of Culpeper and Virginia. A few months ago, I watched a DVD that Virginia loaned to me about the faith of Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Without a doubt, they were spiritual giants of the Civil War.

In her email on March 28, Virginia Morton shared, “God is truly bringing truth to light pertaining to Confederate history. Thanks to Burt (Swardstrom) and the MasterMedia newsletter, I learned of the 48-minute documentary “Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story.” I then contacted Rick Williams, author of “Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man’s Friend.” The friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield will be showing the film April 4 and Rick will be here to introduce it. We were blessed with two excellent articles in today’s newspaper which I think you will find fascinating.” [See today’s Link of the Day to read those.]

If you live nearby, you are invited to come to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Culpeper Virginia at 7 PM on Friday April 4 to meet Rick Williams and watch the 40 minute documentary film “Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story.”

On March 27, Robert Hartzell, founder of Fountains of Life, told me about Arthur Burk, founder of Plumbline Ministries. Robert shared that Arthur has had community transformation on his heart since 1978 and works with a lot of businessmen. Arthur believes that the spiritual gifts discussed in Romans 12 apply not only to people, but to businesses, cities, and even nations. When Arthur visits a community, he emphasizes celebrating the gifting and calling of that community rather than pointing out what’s wrong.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I praise You as the God of history, the God who makes history, writes history, and uses history in Your perfect plan. Thank You for the rich spiritual heritage left by General Stonewall Jackson. Thank You for using Rick Williams to uncover part of that. Thank You that Rick is coming to Culpeper on April 4. Bless his visit and all those who meet him. Prepare the heart and minds of those who attend the April 4 gathering to understand the significance of Jackson’s life and legacy for this day and time. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the Day
Links to newspaper articles about Rick Williams and Stonewall Jackson

Blessings to understand and apply the significance of history in healing wounds of the past!

I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before me. (John 11:10b)

How will your church congregation celebrate America’s 400th Anniversary on April 29, 2007?

During our Pray Culpeper meeting on February 19, Virginia Morton suggested we encourage churches in Culpeper to have their own rededication celebrations on Sunday April 29 during their worship services. April 29 is the day the huge rededication celebration takes place in Virginia Beach.

On February 20 I shared Virginia’s idea at the monthly Culpeper Ministerial Association meeting. It was very well received by the pastors. The pastors were also encouraged to spread the word to their congregations about buying special commemorative crosses. Just imagine the impact if more than 1,000 people in Culpeper displayed these crosses in their yards stating “One nation under God, 1607- 2007.”

When I shared Virginia’s ideas on February 22 with Pastors Eugene Logan and Tim Shields, they immediately got excited and suggested something additional, namely having Christians from several church congregations meet together in downtown Culpeper on the afternoon of April 29 to walk down the streets of Culpeper formally dedicating the community to God.

As I watched enthusiasm grow and ideas expand, I thought how nice it would be if communities throughout Virginia would do similar things. Why not other states too?

When the English settlers first landed on America’s shore 400 years ago, they fasted and prayed for 3 days before planting a large cross and dedicating the land to Jesus Christ. Let’s agree to join together as the Body of Christ across America to do something similar. Let?s not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass us buy. God wants to do something huge.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, we praise You as the God of supernatural multiplication. Take these ideas of planting commemorative crosses and having local rededication celebrations and multiply them in communities across Virginia and America. Wake Your people up to the tremendous opportunity before us. May we prepare Your way. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the Day
[http://http://www.theassembly2007.org/]

Blessings to see your community rededicate America to God!