Happy Thursday Saints! Hope all is well!
Yesterday was Veteran’s Day, and throughout the day, I was thinking about all the men and women throughout the generations who have made various levels of sacrifice (including the highest sacrifice) for us to attain and retain the freedoms that we have here in America.
I was particularly remembering the service of my grandfather John “Jack” Vercelli, who joined the Navy at age 19 and ended up flying over 40 bomber missions in World War 2. I consider him a brave and courageous hero.
Interestingly, even though the reason we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11th is because that was the day in 1918 when World War 1 was declared over (in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month), that was also the day when some other heroes of mine- The Pilgrims, did something very significant in 1620. They signed The Mayflower Compact, which is often viewed as the foundation stone for our US Constitution.
On November 11th, 1620 they declared in this Compact (or covenant) that they came to America “for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith”. That is the real American Dream.
These incredible brothers and sisters in Christ later laid the foundation stones for religious liberty, free speech, private property rights, self-government, democratic elections, and free trade to be part of the American way of life. Since then, millions of Americans have fought to defend those foundations.
Of course, as we know, physical fighting is only one element of the “fighting” that is necessary for the pillars of America to perpetuate. More than anything it takes fighting the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and “the father of lies” (John 8:44) with the Truth of the Gospel. As it was said by John Adams in 1798 when he addressed the Massachusetts Militia, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Adams knew what many have known before and since- that unless the people of our nation THINK the right way about themselves, about God, about others, about the world and about the vast multitude of “political” topics…they will never choose to uphold the values and ideals that our nation was built ON or built FOR.
So here we are in 2026, fresh off of celebrating our nations 250th birthday, and although we are seeing incredible numbers of people coming to Christ, going to church and reading the Bible…our nation overwhelmingly said yes to islam, socialism, abortion and a slew of other anti-Christian ideas last week.
In fact, the latest numbers are that 255 muslims and 79 socialists were elected to national, state and local offices. The very freedom that our forefathers gave us (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) is now being used to give rise to ideas that are in direct opposition to His Word.
Of course, this is nothing new, even in America, but what is especially sad about this go round, is that not only did we have near record numbers of openly anti God candidates running, but we also had near record numbers of evangelical Christians (the ones that supposedly believe the Word) choosing to disengage from a big part of the fight.
Of course, with the lack of zeal for evangelism in the Church, and the lack of zeal for prayer, this isn’t all that surprising. But it certainly is a wakeup call.
Speaking of prayer, did you know that on September 8th, 2025, President Trump and his administration called 1 million American believers to pray weekly for the nation? It was part of an initiative called America Prays- America Prays – The White House
Here’s a short clip from the announcement.
I wonder how many Christians actually did it. I also wonder how many Christians even knew about it, and how many Pastors were bold enough to even mention it.
I especially wonder though what the last 14 months would have looked like if 1 million believers had stepped up and done it. I’m willing to bet that last Tuesday would have looked a lot different if we had.
On that note, if I’m honest, I believe a small part of why God spared Florida is because of our little remnant army who uses the freedom He gave us for what it was given for…and also faithfully prays together for the people of our state and our nation each and every week.
Could we have prayed even more for the nation? Absolutely. And I intend to from now on. But did we lift up our nation at least once a week every week since September 2025? We sure did.
It’s interesting too, that on that note, I discovered this past week that EXACTLY 40 years TO THE DAY after the Florida Capitol building was dedicated through prayer, our ministry was launched:
3/31/2018
So, am I hopeless? Not at all. I know God will use what is happening to bring about much good.
Am I afraid? Not at all. I know God’s grace is sufficient for ANY moment we could ever find ourselves in.
Am I angry? Well, maybe just a little.
But it’s a healthy anger that is directed towards the devil, not towards people. It’s an anger that will fuel a greater zeal and fervor in me to keep doing what we are doing and do more of it. And it’s an anger that will also serve as fuel to seek God about new ways to shine Light in our region and across our state.
One thing I know for sure is that we are forerunners of a new movement that is coming upon the American Church. Forerunners for revival and forerunners for awakening.
Forerunners for revival because of the passion we carry for Jesus and because of the zeal and boldness we have to bring His Word and His presence to others. That inspires other believers WAY more than we even understand.
And Forerunners for Awakening because just as it was in Jonah’s day, John the Baptist’s day and George Whitefield’s day, the primary way that God is going to awaken a sleeping (and dead) generation is OUTSIDE the four walls.
We also have to remember that our nation is God’s home court. It was founded on Jesus Christ and His Word and God has a firm covenant with our nation that is still intact.
On that note, I HIGHLY encourage you to watch this FASCINATING 90-minute presentation called “America’s Godly Heritage.” It powerfully depicts the Christian foundations of our nation like nothing I’ve ever seen. It also draws a clear line between where we started and where we are now, showing exactly how we devolved to where we are.
I guarantee it will fill you with courage to stand stronger for the Word of God in our day.
Click here- https://youtu.be/tHSS_V7DgAw?si=d3tUAE9m4fN4kxeO
On top of that, just remember that satan will do whatever he can to discourage us, distract us and disempower us from continuing in this mission. he will try to bring fatigue, shame, doubt, offense and a multitude of other things upon you and I to get us to back down.
To be transparent, I actually walked through the most significant spiritual attack I’ve had in years less than one week ago. I even had thoughts of quitting.
However, I recognized those thoughts for what they were and as the Word says, I “took them captive to the obedience of Christ”. Now they are gone.
As our brother the apostle Peter says “be on the alert, for the devil is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8
Thank God that compared to the power of Jesus, he’s got NOTHING.
As for the weekend, it was another great one. All 3 nights we had good crowds, many people taking tracts and gifts, and lots of Divine appointments.
I think on Saturday alone I probably prayed for over a dozen kids to receive the Lord and also a handful on Sunday.
Pretty cool to meet a pro soccer player at Bayfront Park on Friday and get to minister to him and his girlfriend. Hi name is Kai Thomas and he plays for the Colorado Rapids.
It was also great to see all the faith filled laborers that came out- Thom, Amber, Gene, Craig, Allison, Rhonda, Lynette, Paul, Robin, Carol, Sarath, Justin, Anna, Patrick, Tom G, Gavin, Mike, Tom M, Julie and a few others. Great work everyone!
I’m excited to see you this weekend. His Kingdom come!
CV