Archive for the 'America' Category
While Staying at Cross Church as Senior Pastor, I am Becoming the President of the National Day of Prayer
As I continue in my present role as Senior Pastor at Cross Church, I have accepted the calling to serve as the President of the National Day of Prayer. Each year since 1988, The National Day of Prayer has been designated as the first Thursday in May. A law that originated in 1952 was amended by both the House and the Senate unanimously, then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5, 1988.
According to the National Day of Prayer website, over 30,000 observances of the 2017 National Day of Prayer were attended by two million people. From sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii, 40,000 volunteers organized prayer observances for our nation from small towns to state capitals to Washington D.C. Additionally, people stopped their activities to pray for America in schools, businesses, churches, homes, county court houses, and on the steps of city halls. The National Day of Prayer is even printed on Hallmark calendars. The National Day of Prayer was also experienced in some way in over eighty countries of the world.
The National Day of Prayer mobilizes unified public prayer for America. In this desperate and urgent hour when turmoil and division is evident in America and security threats are being made against America, it is imperative that we do all we can right now to mobilize unified public prayer for America.
America’s greatest need today is to experience the next Great Spiritual Awakening. We know that no great movement of God ever occurs that is not preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people.
In order to accomplish this grand vision, I believe four major components are imperative:
Component #1: The National Day of Prayer mobilizes unified public prayer for America.
Based upon the Bible and centered on Jesus Christ, it is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will usher in another spiritual awakening as He has done before in our history, shaping our spiritual heritage as a nation.
Component #2: The National Day of Prayer must become a movement of prayer for America.
Not just for one day a year, but every day of the year, with each day moving our nation toward the most important day annually… the National Day of Prayer. As we do this, we are praying it will become a catalyst as a national rhythm of prayer for the next Great Spiritual Awakening in America.
Component #3: The National Day of Prayer must become a multi-church, multi-denominational, multi-ministry, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual movement of prayer for America.
I believe this is possible by having strategic partnerships with churches, ministries, and denominations. We must create authentic relationships with all people regardless of who and where they are, whatever their age, stage, or vocation may be. With a convictional and competent staff team, we will exemplify servant leadership to all persons.
Component #4: The National Day of Prayer must engage with the digital world via relevant and robust channels.
We believe we can do this through becoming the leading provider of prayer resources and strategies across America. Through resourcing via video, audio, and written forms of communication, this vision is possible. Through creating webinars and conferences, we will be able to inform, equip, and mobilize our target audience toward unified public prayer for America.
Our Board of Directors at Cross Church as well as our Leadership Staff Team have given their blessing. They believe, as do I, my serving in this role is another way our church can be part of accomplishing our vision of Reaching Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ.
As the National Day of Prayer focuses on mobilizing unified public prayer for America, I am fully aware we cannot do this without you. We need you.
Whatever your level of influence, please leverage it for God’s glory by praying for America. Mark your calendar for May 3, 2018, and participate in the National Day of Prayer. You can attend an observance, begin a new observance in your town or city, and even lead it if you desire.
The National Day of Prayer needs your prayer support. The needs are great for additional staff as well as financial resources. There has never been a time in our generation where united public prayer for America has been needed more than now.
I request from you humbly: Pray for me daily.
I truly believe all of this is possible because God can do more in a moment than we can do in a lifetime.
Now is the Time to Lead and to Pray,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Full press release can be viewed here.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
When is Enough Going to Be Enough? Racism Needs to End in America
Former President Ronald Reagan once said, “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” I believe that great change can’t happen unless someone sets the table for tough conversations.
Will Washington and our leaders in America set this table for tough conversations, or will it be set by the pastors and churches in America? This table for tough conversations needs to be set by each of us, wherever we are located in America.
Hopeful Words From A Jail Cell
When Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter From a Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963, he noted he had never written such a long letter. When I read these words, it is the final paragraph that penetrates my heart. Dr. King wrote, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
After 54 years, this deep fog filled with racism, injustices, and misunderstanding has not lifted fully. This is a sad commentary on where we are as a nation. For the past three years in America, it has become like a fire fanned by a mighty wind.
Rather than the fire coming from the Holy Spirit of God and His breath upon our churches, the fire is raging from the DNA of our hearts. Sin is in our DNA and is at the heart of our human condition. Prejudice and racism are offenses against God and one another.
Silence and Passivity
Silence is not the answer, and passivity is not our prescription for healing as a nation. Cloudiness on the sanctity and dignity of human life is unacceptable. We must hold high the value of every person in this world from the moment of conception all the way through the moment of death.
This generation of Americans must rise like never before, resolving that the sin of racism will stop now, and not be forwarded to generations in the future. The churches of America need to lead the way and model absolute acceptance and love for every individual.
Pastors and churches need to lead the way to speak up for every human life, and stand up and tell it like it is when certain groups of people want to declare their anti-Christ doctrine, shouting forth their nonsense. This is not just wrong; it is demonic. No group or race is superior to others.
4 Things Each of Us Need to Know
1. Each of us are created in the image of God.
No one is less than another. We are created by God and created for His glory on this earth.
2. Each of us are a part of one race—the human race.
Each of us came from one man, Adam. Every ethnicity on this earth came from him. Each of us have sinned and come short of God’s glory. The good news is that each of us not only has the same problem of sin, but each of us has the same solution: our Savior, Jesus Christ.
3. Each of us can experience the love of God.
When we receive God’s love found only in Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation, we become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We become Christians who are unashamed followers of Jesus Christ.
I want to remind each of us today: We are not black Christians. We are not white Christians. We are not Latino Christians. We are not Native American Christians. We are Christians! We are followers of Jesus Christ.
Sin wounds. Grace forgives. Sin hurts. Grace heals. Sin divides. Grace unites. Sin destroys. Grace lives.
4. Each of us who know Christ are part of one Church.
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross makes us one in Christ. When we are forgiven, we become a part of one family, the church.
In this urgent hour in our nation when racial tension is building rapidly, the Church of Jesus Christ must rise together as one.
We are not black churches. We are not white churches. We are not Latino churches. We are not Asian churches. We are the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the same body. We need to model to our nation what true oneness means.
Enough is enough. Let’s speak up and stand up as one in this desperate and urgent hour.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.