Discovering a Lost Heritage

This week I have been reading a book that has been completely eye opening and life changing. The title is Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts. I looked it up at Amazon.com and 19 out of 19 reviewers gave it a 5 star rating...and I would have to concur! If my budget would allow I would buy a copy for everyone I know, but since I am college student with no extra funds, I am just going to BEG my friends and family to get this book into their hands ASAP!!

One thing in particular that just had me mesmerized was the story of the Moravians. I will just go ahead and admit my complete ignorance of the story of the Moravian people prior to reading this book. I asked my husband this evening how was it possible that I have been a Christian for almost 18 years and I have NEVER ONCE --ever-- heard about the Moravians before? It is not as though I am unlearned --I am an avid student and learner, in particular over issues concerning my faith and spiritual heritage. How did this story and the testimony of these people escape my 18 years of Christian experience, education and training?

It reminded me of the passage in Exodus that said there arose a King that new nothing of Joseph. How did there ever get to be a time when the nation of Israel had a king that knew nothing of JOSEPH?? Someone, somewhere had stopped talking about him. Or they failed to see that his testimony was worth repeating. I was having one of those kinds of moments when I discovered the story of the Moravians this week! WHO stopped talking about these people? How did I get 18 years into my faith never having heard of this rich spiritual heritage??

So as I was sitting with my family at dinner tonight I was telling them how I had never heard of these people before. My oldest son Chris asked me who they were and what was so important. With my very limited knowledge about them (only from what I had read in this book) I shared the story of the Moravian people's call to prayer. What started out as a burden to pray turned into a prayer meeting that lasted 24 hours a day for over 100 years...non stop continual prayer by a community of believers that took seriously the call to continual prayer. My son sat there wide-eyed and amazed...just as I had when reading the story! Chris has recently had a very powerful encounter with God on a personal level and you could almost see the pride he had about the story and his GOD who would move so powerfully for his people who prayed!!

I just read the story of King Josiah and how he responded to finding the lost books of the law and how he began to tear down the strongholds and high places in Israel. I felt that same awe when I heard the testimony of the Moravian people...like I had just discovered a lost part of my heritage! Recently I have also been reminded, time and time again, that we OVERCOME by two things:
1. The Blood of the Lamb
2. The Word of our TESTIMONY

so when I read the amazing testimony of the Moravian people it lit a fire in me about the awesome power and priviledge we have in prayer! It stirs in me greatly--why are prayer meetings the least attended function at our churches? I remember the devestation of the 9-11 tragedy and there was a special prayer meeting called by our church prayer coordinator...and less than 10 people showed up out of our congregation of about 300 people. This is not to place condemnation on anyone. I know we can pray from our homes just as effectively as we can at church, but my heart ached at the lack of community in prayer.

I pray for a revival of prayer in our midst...and Lord, let it begin with me. I hope and pray that everyone I know will read this book and catch the vision of prayer and the power to touch God's heart that is at our hands, if we would just exercise the coorporate bonding and unity that takes place through prayer.

May God find us all in one accord, seeking his face that we may effect the world around us, reaching the lost.

I asked Brad this evening if he thought the church universal was ready to receive the end time harvest of souls. How would the church (in general) respond to a sudden and massive influx of new believers coming from a variety of sordid backgrounds? Would we only want to clean them up cosmetically? Would we be able to truly disciple and train them in the faith? Would we address external issues before the internal issues? Would we care more about discipleship than the safety pin in their ear and nose? Or their short skirt? Would we care more about their bad influence on our own kids? But don't all Christians begin the journey with some sort of past? Have we forgotten that we are all sinners saved by grace?

This is not to say that issues of modesty and propriety should never be addressed in the context of a mentoring relationship, but I wonder...how many of us would prefer to address those issues first? Can you imagine what it would look like if someone on the evangelistic outreach team went into an alternative youth Friday night hang out and returned to the church with 40-50 new believers who were covered head to toe in tatoos, pink and purple hair and body pierced in places you never knew could be pierced? How many people would suddenly take their children and leave the church because the landscape had changed? We all say that we live to reach the lost for Christ...but what would happen if God so answered the desires of our hearts? Are we prepared to receive that harvest? Would God trust us to nurse his new borns? Or would he have concerns that we might be abuse or wound the new believers? Would we ground them in basic doctrines of the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, salvation, etc before we took on the challenge of addressing modesty and the safety pin through the nose that scares the little children and the senior adults? Would God trust us to prioritize the true needs of the newborns as we acclimate them into the family?

We can really plow the soil of our hearts through prayer and prepare ourselves and our churches to receive the harvest that is ready in our own back yard communities...

so LET US PRAY!!

Dawn