The Patriot Post® · 'If My People...' — Part II
My hometown of Chattanooga has a reputation for being a very patriotic city. Our Armed Forces Day parade always brings out the crowds. Our National Cemetery has flags on every grave for the 4th of July and Christmas wreaths in December. We are the birthplace of the Medal of Honor, hosting the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, where Patriot Post Publisher Mark Alexander and I both serve on the board.
Our Marine Corps Reserve unit, “Mike” Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, deployed to Iraq twice as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both times, Alexander provided Shield of Strength dog tags to each of the Marines. The dog tag has part of the oath of enlistment on one side and an American flag and Joshua 1:9 on the other. Twice, we deployed 185 Marines to Iraq, and twice, 185 Marines came safely home because we prayed for them daily.
The entire community was shocked when on July 16, 2015, a radical, homegrown Islamic terrorist opened fire on an Armed Forces recruiting center, wounding one Marine recruiter. He then proceeded to the Navy/Marine Corps Reserve Center, killing four Marines and a Navy sailor, all unarmed. Chattanooga SWAT officers took out the shooter, and one of the team members had been deployed with Mike Battery on both deployments to Iraq. Three of the dead Marines were his friends.
The community was rattled, as was I. After all, I had known Marines in that unit. How could this happen in Chattanooga? Having been here for 21 years by then, I began talking to pastors and ministry leaders in our city. For the next year, we hosted a luncheon each month, where these leaders came together to pray and ask the Lord to begin to move in our community. We were a “religious” city, but we wanted more.
On the one-year anniversary of the 2015 terrorist attack, we held a “Solemn Assembly” — a time to fast and pray together. Over 1,000 Christians from multiple denominations packed the church that hosted the event. The theme of the assembly was “If My People,” using the scripture in II Chronicles. Faith leaders in the community each took a verse, expounded on it, and then the assembly prayed. Everyone present believed something had changed in the heavenlies.
Out of that grassroots movement, Pray Chattanooga was born. Since then, dozens of churches organize and participate yearly in 21 days of prayer and fasting in January. We are also involved in Right to Life Sunday, The National Day of Prayer, back-to-school backpack projects, food pantries, and more.
Now, hundreds of Christians and dozens of churches and nonprofits across the region work together to see God fulfill His promise made over 3,000 years ago, when God spoke II Chronicles 7:14 to King Solomon.
Please understand, this is not something we alone are doing. Cities across the nation are expressing the same spiritual hunger to see revival come to their communities. America’s moral compass is broken, and more and more people are waking up and realizing that the problem in America is much deeper than political differences. America has departed from our “first love” (Rev. 2:4-5).
This month, in Washington, DC, President Donald Trump has called for a time of prayer to rededicate the nation back to God. Could this be the moment when America humbles itself before God and we see a real revival take place that shakes the nation to its foundations? Could this be the moment when the next Great Awakening begins?
Nothing is impossible for the Lord.
Pray for an open Heaven!
Semper Fidelis