Author: John Page 141 of 166

Acts 1:14 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

The power of Christ’s message in the early church was magnified by the unity of prayerfulness; the early disciples became a powerful force because they prayed with one accord.

Other groups in America have acted with one accord, and have seen the results.  They have seized the initiative in this country because they have mobilized with one accord.  They have become the ‘voice of the public’ because they have spoken with one accord.  They have shaped our culture because they have stood with one accord.  They have shifted our nation away from its Christian foundation because they have demanded such a shift with one accord.

What have American Christians done with one accord?  Have we prayed with one accord?  Have we supplicated with one accord?  Have we humbly and earnestly asked the Lord for nationwide revival with one accord?  The evidence and the outcome would certainly suggest not.  Instead, the most that can be said about us is that we have simply complained about our national direction within the safety of the church house with one accord.  There is no providentially promised power in doing that.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD PRAY AND SUPPLICATE FOR NATIONWIDE REVIVAL WITH ONE ACCORD.  By their prayer and supplication with one accord, the early disciples amazingly boosted the message of Christ; it went from being on the verge of extinction to being inextinguishable.  We must follow their lead!

I Corinthians 3:12-13 “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”

The crew responsible for moving the hangars at Edwards Air Force Base in 1955 (see the previous three posts) was fortunate to avoid any major crises during the five-week moving process.  Even the strong winds of the Mojave Desert did not exceed their predictably high pace during the transition.  If the moving crews had faced anything stronger than the usual, they may have been a part of a stupefying failure instead of a spectacular success.

The true demonstration of the strength of a foundation is not during nominal periods.  Instead, a stable foundation is truly revealed when faced with challenging conditions.  A good foundation will withstand the rain as it descends, the floods as they come, and the winds as they blow.  During the fiery tests of refinement, the firm foundations of gold, silver, and precious stones will remain while the feeble foundations of wood, hay, and stubble will be consumed.  Indeed, it is dangerous to assume the foundation is stable just because it is reliable in the good times.  It must be reliable in the bad times as well.  When the bad times come though, it is too late to build upon the right foundation.  You must already be there.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD URGENTLY REAFFIX OUR NATION UPON THE FIRM FOUNDATION OF CHRIST.  If not, the next crisis may make manifest our weakness to the point that we will be consumed because of it.

Matthew 7:26-27 “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Luke 6:49 “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

The five-week move of the hangars at Edwards Air Force Base in 1955 (see the previous two posts) would have been exciting to watch and dull at the same time.  While every moment was ripe with the potential for a great disaster, the process was mind-numbing for the casual observer because the move was made at a snail’s pace … almost literally.  The logging winches that towed these hangars two miles across the desert drove at one-twelfth mile per hour.  Indeed, the only way to make the transition between foundations required a slow pace so that the move was almost imperceptible to the hangar structures.

Anti-Christian forces in this nation have shifted our foundation away from Christ.  The only way they have been able to do so is to make the transition as imperceptible as possible to Christian Americans.  The slow pace of compromise has seemed like reasonable accommodation at every step, but the accumulation of those slow steps has towed us far away from our original foundation to something far less stable.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD ONCE AGAIN RECOGNIZE THE FOLLY OF BUILDING A FOUNDATION UPON ANYTHING OTHER THAN CHRIST.  A great fall that causes great ruin is in store for our nation if we do not recognize this before it is too late.

Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”

Luke 6:47-48 “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which build an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”

The most dangerous part of moving the hangars at Edwards Air Force Base in 1955 (see the previous post) was when they were between foundations. Being between foundations meant that those buildings were without a foundation for a period of time.  In this case, the process took five long weeks.  In order to provide extra stability during this painstaking move, the hangars were thoroughly braced with added wooden supports to keep them in the original structurally-sound shape.  In this condition, they were carefully jacked up to rest upon 54 heavy-duty dollies.

A building without a foundation, or without the right foundation, is in a seriously precarious position.  So are people.  So is a nation.  The best foundation is dug deep and built upon the stability of a rock.  Not just any rock, but the Rock.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD ONCE AGAIN RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING OUR FOUNDATION UPON CHRIST.

I Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

In 1943, the US Army constructed two massive hangars at Muroc Army Air Field, the field that eventually became known as Edwards Air Force Base.  These hangars weighed over 1,400 tons, each measuring 250 feet by 283 feet.  By 1955, the base had greatly expanded to the north and the hangars were no longer useful where they were.  Yet, the base needed similar hangars two miles to the north.  After considering the options, the base decided that they would be able to save $2.5 million by moving the current hangars instead of building new ones.  The trick was to move these behemoths from one foundation to the next.  Over a period of five weeks they did so with great care and these hangars are still in use today.

While this project was successful, it was fraught with peril.  In fact, the contractor eventually went bankrupt.  It was a massive undertaking, which ended once the hangars were on their new firm foundations.

While these structures were equally stable on the new foundations as on the old ones because the foundations were equivalent, the potential foundations in our lives and in our nation are not equivalent.  Indeed, there is no foundation like Jesus Christ.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICA WOULD RETURN TO ITS ORIGINAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION.  Our lives and our nation would be in a far better condition if we did so.  The alternatives are hardly equivalent.