PLUS

II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

The Prayer Revival of 1857, led by Christian businessman turned rookie missionary Jeremiah Lanphier, is the model of the PLUS ministry. Famous American evangelist R.A. Torrey described this magnificent revival with these thoughts in “The Power of Prayer”:

“The wonderful revival of 1857 and 1858 in America, which has been described as ‘the greatest revival known since the days of the apostles,’ was the result of prayer. First came the prayers of an obscure city missionary in New York, and then the prayers of those whom he succeeded in associating with him in his burden of a desire for a revival. It has been said of America, of the time immediately preceding this revival, that its moral and spiritual degradation was such that ‘the whole country was on the very verge of a volcanic eruptions of vice and political disaster.’ But prayer prevailed with God, the spirit of prayer spread, and the prayer meetings were held in New York in churches and theaters, attended by thousands.”

The Prayer Revival of 1857 was prompted by prayer. It was initiated by an obscure city missionary, and flourished in a society characterized by vice and spiritual degradation. Ultimately, it spread throughout the U.S. and around the world through maritime trade. Prayer prevailed!

In a society today characterized by vice and spiritual degradation, we need such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And, it can be prompted by prayer, flourishing and spreading in a way that can only be attributed to Him!

PLEASE FAITHFULLY PRAY FOR A WIDESPREAD REVIVAL IN OUR LAND. Prayer prevails!

Psalm 139:13-17 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

Luke 15:14-16 “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed the swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him.”

Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”

Seventeenth century puritan George Swinnock wrote these powerful words regarding our perspective if we would truly understand the awesome holy nature of our Lord and our Creator:

“What a poor view you would now have of the beggarly portion that you now admire! What dung, what dog’s meat would the world be to you in comparison with God! You would leave the swine of earthly comforts, and the foolish children of disobedience who are paddling in the gutter of sensual waters, that you might have your portion among God’s children and your heritage among His chosen ones. All your love would be too little, and no labor too great for such an inestimable portion. Lord, let me partake of your special mercy. Though others feed on husks, give me this bread of life. May you be the portion of my cup. Whatsoever You deny me, or howsoever You deal with me, give me Yourself, and it shall be enough. You are the true paradise of all pleasure, a living fountain of happiness, and the original and exact pattern of all perfections.”

May we cease admiring the beggarly portions that we are so fixated on. Instead, may we realize that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a Creator who provides the true paradise of all pleasure, a living fountain of happiness, and the original and exact pattern of all perfections.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD FIX OUR EYES FIRMLY ON OUR MARVELOUS GOD. Turn from beggarly portions to inestimable portions instead!

ADMIN: The Swinnock quote came from “Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings” edited by Richard Rushing.

Matthew 23:13 “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”

Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Matthew 23:25 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.”

Chuck Yeager had been pulled from his Test Pilot School (TPS) class to be a part of the X-1 program, and eventually was the pilot who first broke the sound barrier in that rocket plane. Shortly after the X-1 program finished, the rule-followers of the day made a point that Yeager was not qualified to be a test pilot because he had not fully finished the course at TPS. It was ridiculous to regress the record-shattering test pilot back to school, but the “rules are rules” mentality prevailed and Yeager was sidelined until he could finish his remaining six-month chunk of schooling.

Yeager was lambasted by an extra hard workload dumped on him by those instructors who were jealous of his world-record-breaking accomplishments. Though his practical flight test experience had dwarfed the school curriculum, the antagonistic attitude by his instructors was overwhelming, especially when added to the extra responsibilities Yeager carried as an in-demand test pilot persona. The instructors ganged up on Yeager to try and fail him out, but Brigadier General Albert Boyd, commander of Edwards Air Force Base, stepped in, slammed his fist on the table and demanded the attention of the TPS commandant. In that meeting, Boyd aggressively exerted his waiver authority to grant Yeager his test pilot school diploma. It was only then that the famous Chuck Yeager officially became a test pilot, breaking through the Pharisaical perspective of the self-righteous rule followers.

In our Christian lives, we all sometimes fall into the traps of the scribes and the Pharisees. We rely on our own righteousness in strict observance of the law. We rest on a “rules are rules” mentality, and elevate the letter of the law far above the spirit of the law. In doing so, our pretentious persona loses all of its perspective. Our spiritual micromanagement causes us to omit the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO MAINTAIN A PROPER PERSPECTIVE THAT NEVER FOLLOWS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES. We must never omit the weightier matters.

ADMIN: Today is the 76th Anniversary of Chuck Yeager’s heroic shattering of the sound barrier!

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Luke 18:1 “And he spake a parable unto them, to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”

A few weeks ago, I had a unique opportunity to be a part of the International Motor Sports Association race activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thanks to a God-ordained connection, I was able to open the Saturday evening race in prayer, speak at the driver’s meeting on Sunday and open their meeting in prayer, lead a chapel service at the raceway, and then open the main race on Sunday in prayer. It was a series of pinch-myself moments.

After my prayer on Saturday night, I was notified that the Race Director wanted to talk to me. I wondered why. I had just prayed in Jesus’s name, as I always do, and thought that she was going to ask me to not pray in His name during the main race. But, I was pleasantly surprised with what she really wanted me to do differently.

She said that she appreciated my prayer for the race that evening, but there was one problem. “What is that?” I asked. “You need to pray more; you need to pray longer,” she said.

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before!

Of course, I asked why. She explained that the timing of the flyby for Sunday’s race was based on a 60 second prayer and a 90 second national anthem. If I were off, it would cause the flyby to be off as well. As someone who had performed an F-15E flyby of a race, I understood completely. I couldn’t pray for 45 seconds like I had done on Saturday, but needed to pray for 60 seconds on Sunday (which provided an interesting constraint on its own). I needed to pray more and l needed to pray longer!

We all do!

PLEASE RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANT TRUTH THAT WE ALL NEED TO PRAY MORE FOR OUR NATION AND FOR EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES. We must pray longer and we must pray more!

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured he cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This is a bit of a different post, delayed slightly to align with a big announcement regarding my next steps forward in service to people, our great nation, and our remarkable Lord.

I am convinced that the Lord would have me to run for United States Senate from the great state of Maryland. I announced my candidacy publicly earlier today.

I intend to run this race with patience, mindful of the great cloud of witnesses who will be watching from near and far. I will also do so with the overwhelming intent of keeping my gaze firmly fixed upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The following will make up some of my primary tenants of focus:

• Support and Defend: When I was seventeen years old, I first raised my right hand and took a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I took that as a lifelong commitment, and intend to use the rest of my life to wrestle our nation back to where it belongs in accordance with those remarkable principles. We need a widespread revival of those principles to reignite the promise of the shining light of liberty.

• Leadership Not Politics. I am running to lead and intend to help spark a conservative movement in Maryland and beyond. We must break the shackles of inflation and even higher taxes, equip our children with the tools they need to succeed in the real world while putting parents back in charge, take back control of our crime-ridden streets, and reverse impotent leadership on the world stage.

• Collaborative Conservative: I am a strong conversative. I also realize that the real problems we face in our great nation require collaboration that focuses on our shared humanity and mutual interests to find real solutions for Marylanders and the American people.

PLUS will continue as it has for the last ten years, with occasional references to my current journey of faith and service. In order to fully track this journey, please see:

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Of course, I would be honored and humbled by your willingness to support me in prayers and through financial contributions.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AS I RUN THIS RACE OF FAITH AND SERVICE! Thank you!

• John Teichert