Glenn Beck & 8-28: Pointing Us the Right Direction
Some friends attended the August 28 rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. spear-headed by talk-show host Glenn Beck. Most estimates pegged the crowd at 250,000 to 300,000 people. That’s an incredible turnout for a hot summer day. My friends came away amazed, excited, and encouraged that God is indeed at work in our nation.
I wasn’t able to be there due to attending a reunion in Montana. But from Big Sky Country I interceded for our nation on 8-28 from a golden wheat field in the morning and joined a prayer group at night in one of the farm houses that dot the landscape.
I believe August 28, 2010 was a special day for re-directing America.
Unfortunately, many members of the main-stream media missed it. The once illustrious New York Times–the paper that famously says it gives you “All The News That’s Fit to Print”–buried the story on page fifteen though Glenn Beck lives and does radio and TV from their fair city. Apparently this type of gathering was not “fitting” to their their secular progressive agenda. To its credit, the Washington Post put the story on its front page, but CNN labeled the rally “Conservative” and highlighted the large number of white people in attendance.
When was the last time you saw an environmental rally called a “Liberal” rally? And last time I checked, the United States was 65% made up of Caucasians–so they usually predominate at all rallies.
Obviously, the “Conservative” and “white” labels were deliberately used to create the impression that the people who attended 8-28 were “out of the mainstream” “fringe” and “extreme.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The 8-28 Rally was grassroots America awakening to a time of desperate need. It represented the true mainstream American.
I believe that libertarian Mormon Glenn Beck heard a word from God and obeyed him in calling for the 8-28 rally. He’s not Billy Graham, and he’s not the prophet Jeremiah. He’s not even an evangelical Christian. But he’s a concerned citizen with a respected voice that is pointing the way forward to liberty and renewal.
That’s a desperately important message because the current course of America is backwards–toward tyranny, poverty and mediocrity.
Now–after the rally–it’s time for the leaders of the American Church–pastors, teachers, evangelists and prophetic voices–to flesh out that direction for our people and nation and guide us back into the favor and blessing of God.
Here’s where the 8-28 rally pointed and how we must go forward.
HONOR – this was one of the rally’s great themes. Beck used the occasion to greatly thank the American troops who’ve been laying down their lives for freedom, both at home and around the world.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders of this nation to teach and preach the importance of courageously fighting evil during our time.
CHARACTER – The 8-28 rally took place on the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the same location–the Lincoln Memorial. Some of Dr. King’s most famous words were prominent at the Beck event–that we should be “judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of out character.” Glenn Beck exhorted America to “self-regulation”–what used to be called “self government”–which is at the heart of successful societies.
Self-regulated people do not seek entitlements or allow themselves to become slaves to a growing welfare state. They agree with the words of James Madison who said: ” We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.”
It’s time for our spiritual leaders to equip God’s people to live lives of holiness, self-control, and to speak out against the sins of our day that are destroying our families and our children.
PRAYER – The 8-28 Rally didn’t focus on prayer as Washington For Jesus did in 1980, but prayers to God were uttered, expressing our need to turn to Him. Returning to God begins with prayer as humble intercession is the doorway to friendship with our Creator. God made us to be dependent beings on Him. One of our great sins of our affluent time period is the spirit of independence which brazenly reveals itself in prayerlessness.
It’s time for our spiritual leaders to lead the way back in prayer! We must fast and pray, make prayer a prominent feature in our corporate life, and learn once again that “what a person is on their knees before God, that’s what they are–nothing more.” (Robert Murray McCheyne). A growing prayer revival is the most certain means to national reformation.
REPENTANCE – This vital area was not taught in detail at 8-28, but it was implied by the very gathering itself. Glenn Beck said “We need to return to God.” That’s the basic definition of repentance–a U-turnaway from self-centered living into a God-centered lifestyle that serves and blesses others. Repentance is change from a me-orientation to a God-and-others outlook. It’s having the necessary humility to admit where we’ve gone wrong and to change directions.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders in our churches to call their congregations, cities and towns, to repent before God. We need to learn once again to hate sin and love righteousness. This was the greatness of past American revivals: the pastors of the nation led the people in repentance and faith. It is needed once again.
UNITY – This was one of the crowning achievements of the 8-28 gathering numbering hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C. . They dropped their petty differences, theologies, races, and issues, and came together in heartfelt unity to call the nation back to God. When times are desperate, you shouldn’t care whether a Mormon, a Quaker, or even dumb donkey calls you to attention. What’s important is agreeing on the truth of the message. I’ve read some people who take issue with Glenn Beck’s Mormonism or possible motivations. I don’t care. His message is from God.
Jerry Falwell got this right during the days of the Moral Majority, which, at the least, retarded the pace of cultural decline in America during the 1980s. Dr. Falwell, a strong fundamentalist, didn’t care who joined the coalition to improve American morality. All hands were needed on deck. When the ships going down, it doesn’t matter who mans the bailing cans. The 8-28 rally ended with hundreds of different leaders uniting in prayer and common commitment.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders of America to call for sacrificial unity among people of good will. United we can stand tall once again. Divided, we will collapse as a nation and civilization.
VALUES OR WORLDVIEW – At the center of the 8-28 rally was the recognition that our nation was built upon Judeo-Christian foundations that are the secret to liberty and prosperity. In fact, the American Revolution was a quantum leap in applying Christian maxims to governing institutions. A decidedly Christian worldview is the genius of the United States of America. That worldview shows great toleration to people of all faiths and those of no faith.
But you can’t have America without Christian beliefs. This is why the people gathered on 8-28. Our current leaders are trying to dismantle the Christian foundations in this nation and replace it with a godless secularism. That is the wrong direction. We must turn back to faith in God and put his principles back to work in all aspects of our culture. America can’t exist without a Christian worldview.
The spiritual leaders of the US must teach the Christian worldview to their people and the nation. We must once again believe that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Glenn Beck and the 8-28 rally are pointing us the right direction. Honor, character, prayer, repentance, unity and Christian values.
Spiritual leaders of the USA: Rise to your duty and lead us all the way home! May your pulpits once again be aflame with righteousness for the glory of God.
