On December 26, 2004 a 9.1 earthquake occurred off northern Sumatra. The waters around the beaches of the Indian Ocean were sucked out toward the ocean. This was an invitation for thousands of curious beach-goers to venture out onto previously water covered sands. Little did they know that tsunami waves of 50-100 feet would kill them minutes later. Over 430,000 people died that day around the Indian Ocean.

We are living in a nation where a spiritual earthquake has occurred, but much of the Church is playing on the beach looking for new and interesting shells, unaware that a tsunami of God’s wrath is coming on our nation. We seem as oblivious as the beach-goers on Boxing Day, 2004.

What spiritual earthquake has occurred in our nation?

We have murdered over 60 million babies since 1973, with some surveys reporting that one in five women who had abortions self-identify as born-again, evangelical, charismatic, or fundamentalist. Sex trafficking runs rampant in our culture while pornography and sexual abuse is ruining the Church. Homosexuality and the LBGTQ+ agenda is now widely viewed as normal, with sexual perversion and homosexual marriage accepted by 47% of evangelical Millennials. We live in a post-Christian nation, where the evangelical church looks like the world, yet believes it will escape the wrath of God. That wrath is coming (Heb 12:29).

What must we do as individuals and churches? We must go back to SQUARE ONE. What is SQUARE ONE?

Our Lord Jesus began His ministry saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15 ) His last word to His disciples was, “…that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47) His last words to five of seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are “repent and believe.”

Colossians 2:6 says, “As you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him.” How did you receive Christ Jesus as Lord? Repent and believe. (Square One) How are you to walk in Him? The same way you received Him: repent and believe. There is nowhere else to run in order to experience resurrection power (Rom 1:16). There is no graduation to a deeper spiritual level. Just square one.

So to what does our “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness” (Ex 34:6), but “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:7) LORD call you? SQUARE ONE. But what does that look like in the daily grind?

Cry out to Him daily to “search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Ps 139:23-24) Use the two Great Commandments: Have you loved Him with all your heart, soul, and mind and have you loved others as you love yourself? (Mt 22:37-39) Ask the Spirit to deeply search your life and your relationships. Have you loved others as Jesus has loved you? (John 15:12,17) Ask Him to show you the deep idols of your heart and the deeply-entrenched strongholds in your life that grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to lead you to deep repentance.

Then run to Jesus and lay all these sins on the Cross. The Cross is the “everlasting way” to cleansing. Believe that the Cross of our Lord Jesus cleanses you. You are washed. You are clean before Him. Believe that in the Cross “as far as the east is from the west; so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps 103:12)

Join others in prayer. Gather with other believers in your church or home and cry out to Him in repentance and faith. That is SQUARE ONE faith.

Perhaps our LORD God will stay His hand of wrath upon this country as we cry out to Him, believing Isaiah 30:15 for ourselves and our nation: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.”

The Greater Columbia Call to Prayer meets the second Saturday of each month (9:30am – 11:30am; 819 Main Street, Columbia). We would love to have you join us as we repent and believe!

I want the crown NOW! I want the glory NOW! I want to be the hero NOW. I want people to notice MY ministry NOW! Later is too late. I want to be made much of NOW!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated in The Cost of Discipleship, “when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Our Lord said in Matthew 7, the door is small and narrow and so is the path to following our Lord Jesus. The door is the Cross and the path to following Jesus is the Calvary Road. That means dying daily to MY crown here, MY glory here, MY being the hero here. There is only ONE whom we are called to follow. There is only ONE glory that counts. There is only ONE hero. It is Jesus. We are called to die daily on a cross so we may receive a crown in glory. It is all about HIM.

Later our Lord says in Matthew 7:21-23 (the scariest verses in all Scripture) to those who have great ministries in HIS name, done great miracles in HIS name, have great churches in HIS name, and done big things in HIS Name, but did it all for themselves, “I never knew you, depart from ME, you who practice lawlessness.” Oh my!

True confession: I have spent most of the last 40 years using Jesus’ Name to build my own kingdom, my own glory, my own name.

Oh, Lord Jesus, please forgive me. I have committed blasphemy and wickedness in using YOU for my glory story. I repent, Lord Jesus. Show me how to die daily to my glory, my kingdom. It is all about YOU. My soul longs to be able to say with the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed.” I ache for You. I long for Your glory. Show me how to get out of Your way. Show me how I may bear the cross daily by dying to me so I may receive the crown in glory. Today the cross and death. In glory, a crown.

“In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” -2 Timothy 4:8

So what has to die in your life today so you will receive that crown in the future? It is only in dying that the life of Jesus is revealed. John 12:24 is the daily call from our Master. Dying daily bears much fruit!