Sheets - An Appeal To Heaven: What Would Happen If We Did It Again

The Message

At the end of 2013, I realized I was ending a 13-year spiritual journey. It started during a prayer and ended with a flag. An old and forgotten flag; forgotten by everyone, it seems, except God. He had evidently kept this banner in hiding for a couple of centuries, waiting in the wings of history until He was ready to reintroduce it.

And reintroduce it He has!

This flag now hangs in thousands of homes, prayer rooms, sanctuaries, government buildings and even businesses. A church in Indiana made their own versionfifteen feet by thirty feetthen made me one! Another congregation decorated the Christmas tree in their foyer with dozens of small flags. Thousands of people have small ones tucked in their Bibles, tacked to bulletin boards, or conspicuously sitting on their desks. Others display them as lapel pins, wear them emblazoned on shirts, show them off on bumper stickers, and at least one person has the flag tattooed on his arm! Governors display the flag, as do judges and congressmen, and one was spotted in the U.S. Capitol. Another was recently flown over the Capitol of Arkansas. The other day I saw an appeal to heaven flag streaming behind an 18-wheelerits going viral!

The flag is associated with Americas founding, to be sure. It seems that God doesnt intend it to be used by America alone, however. On this books cover, it can be seen flying in the Himalayasthe highest point on the planetwhere it is raised above dozens of Buddhist prayer flags. It has flown on the plains of Nineveh, the place of the first region-transforming revival, in South Africa, Panama, and more recently in Cambodia where it was used in prayers against human trafficking. Who knows where it will turn up next?! This international use seems especially appropriate, given Americas God-given destiny of being a spiritual light to the nations.

Flags Carry A Message

In times past, flags carried more weight than they do in our present day. Their symbolism was understood, from the color to the design, enabling a flag to tell a story or make a strong statement. Many flags are sacredpeople swear allegiance to them and die to protect their honor. Banners, as they are also called, were often intended to make declarations. One early colonial American flag had a picture of a coiled snake with the accompanying phrase, Dont Tread On Me. It was a warning to Great Britain: Be careful; step on us, and we strike!

This journey of mine involves a different flag in Americas past, one that is especially relevant to our God-given purpose and destiny. Modern day pro-gressives, historical revisionists, liberal politicians, and humanistic professors would scoff at the notion that America was established by God for a divine purpose. They would also mock the assertion that our founders believed in and honored this divine-human partnership. As John Adams said, however, facts are stubborn things. These modernists may not like our origins, but they cant change them. Yahweh, the God of the Bible, was indeed involved in Americas founding, and He did so for His purpose.

When God brought the Appeal To Heaven flag into my journey, it launched me into another exciting chapter of my life calling: to see America experience a Third Great Awakening. This awakening, of course, isnt just for America; God doesnt love Americans more than any other group of people. This revival will sweep the world, becoming the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit since time began.

When General George Washington commission-ed the Appeal to Heaven flag to fly over our naval ships in the Revolutionary Wardont look for that in our modern American History bookslittle did he know that 240 years later, God would ordain that it fly again. This time around, however, it wont fly over a fledgling nation being born, but over the most powerful nation in the world being reborn . This rebirth isnt literal, of course, but is a spiritual and moral renewal that will resurrect Americas God-given calling, purpose and greatness.

It Is Not Too Late For America

Some Christian leaders teach, usually from theo-logical influences, that America will not awaken, turn back to God and recapture her spiritual destiny. Their eschatology doesnt allow for a comeback; for them, the apostasy must continue to worsen.

Many secular leaders also contend, often with an ideological fervor fueled by their personal desires, that this rebirth will never occur. America has progressed too far, they assert with smug satisfaction, having left behind its antiquated, puritanistic ideals and outdated beliefs. These naysayers are, indeed, correct when they euphor-ically and gloatingly bloviate about how far we as a nation have drifted from our original beliefs. Secularists and humanists are accurate when they condescendingly point out our moral shifts toward relativism and unbiblical values. With satisfied arrogance, these modernists gleefully vociferate that our government no longer sees itself under and accountable to an imaginary Creator, or even to an outdated Constitution He supposedly inspired.

It must, indeed, be acknowledged that Americas populace is now filled with great apathy toward its history. It is also true that we are so ignorant of the ideals that shaped our identity as a nation that we have lost our national moorings. Gods intent is that history be more than information; the past can be an important anchor. Without this stabilizing force, however, America is now adrift in a sea of secular experientialism, blown about by the wanderings of our own fantasies and the delirium they create. Truly, Americas narcissistic independence from God has left us spiritually and morally bankrupt. We have searched for meaning apart from our Creatora search which by definition must fail, for the purpose of any created thing can only be found in its creatorand are racing toward an even greater identity crisis of horrific proportions. With this loss of identity, America is experiencing a continuous drift from greatness to mediocrity and becoming increasingly irrelevant around the world.