A Prayer of Forgiveness and Consecration

Christ's Call to Repentance and Reformation

In Pastor John MacArthur's recent T4G sermon MacArthur zeroed in on Christ’s reformational call to the churches of Asia Minor in the first three chapters of Revelation.   In this plenary session Pastor John exhorted church leaders and pastors to call their churches to repentance if need be. “We all like calling the nation to repentance,” MacArthur suggests, “but what about calling the church to repentance?” "Have you ever heard of a church—a whole church—that repented? Have you ever been part of a church that openly, genuinely, and contritely repented for sins against its head—the Lord Jesus Christ?"

This message resonated with me for a number of reasons:  
1) Because that is what happened with the congregation I have the joy of serving in NW Illinois.  It has also happened with other churches and seminaries (note for example Dr. Al Mohler/SBTS and the story of FBC, Durham).   

In our context we examined the Word together and acknowledged areas of faith and practice that were not in harmony with the precepts of Scripture (1 Pet. 4:17).  We confessed these shortcomings and asked God for wisdom, strength, perseverance, and grace to make the necessary changes.  Some of the transformations that have taken place have been recounted in this revitalization blog.  I have also sought to be candid concerning some of the challenges I/we have faced along the way.   Biblical change is seldom easy.  I promise you the last thing Satan wants is to witness a local church return to it's founding principles and to reestablish biblical priorities (Colossians 1:28-29; Ephesians 4:11-16; Matthew 28:18-20).  The Evil One will throw all HELL against such efforts (see articles below; note the lyrics in Luther'sm A Mighty Fortress is Our God).

2) Because Revelation 2-3 is one of the most relevant texts in the entire New Testament and yet it often overlooked.