Bernie Lutchman's Posts

GOD BELONGS IN SPRINGFIELD IL PRAYER WALK 2013....A Roaring Success!

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on August 31, 2013 at 7:02

When we were first approached by a young Christian mom with a vision in early April with the possibility of bringing the national prayer movement - God Belongs in My City (GBIMC), we were rightly inspired and gung-ho about the opportunity to participate in a growing national/worldwide movement which had its roots in a New York City subway! GBIMC sprung from the hearts of a youth group who happened to see a poster in the NYC subway system from

American Atheists which said “A Million New Yorkers Are Good without God. Are You?" They went back and reported this to their senior church leadership and were so moved that an idea was birthed. This was in October 2009. One month later, youth from all five NYC boroughs began what is now the God Belongs in My City prayer walk through Manhattan. It has since spread like wildfire to Canada, Switzerland, Africa, Puerto Rico and last year over 30 cities in America alone!

Sarah, Sam, Vicki Lutchman

Last Saturday August 24, GBIMC came to the capitol city of Illinois - Springfield and had a solid impact on the Spiritual life of this wheeling-dealing political and business oriented city of 115,000! It was not easy getting this through a closed and tightly religious system where every major church and denomination holds on firmly to its territory...all except one - Calvary Temple Christian Center. Senior Pastor there Mark Johnson caught the vision and empowered his outreach pastorStacy Barnett and contacted me and together with Ezella Millswho brought the idea in from New York, we set forth on a course which really made this take off.

Jessica McGee and Gigi

This was solidified after the National Day of Prayer in May, which I hosted for the eighth year in a row and we were joined by former Channel 20 Morning TV host Jessica McGee who now works as the Marketing Director for the wonderful Staab Family. She represented them magnificently and our final planning meetings were attended by PJ Staab himself, without whom we would not have had the major business involvement necessary to underwrite the upfront costs and police permits and street closure permits necessary to make this happen in the natural. PJ is a super joy to work with. He is well loved by the regions military veterans for his involvement in a huge memorial outside the city of New Berlin as well as his sense of humor.

Calvary Temple Pastor Mark Johnson

Through all of this, we were covered in some major prayer, as there was one obstacle after another or one spiritual attack after another. We had tireless and faithful leadership from Stacy Barnett and her church support - not just from the pastoral offices and administration, but from the core of Calvary Temple. They believed in this. We have many people to thank and they will be mentioned in no particular order at the end of this post.

The Day of the Prayer Walk, which we called GOD BELONGS IN SPRINGFIELD and had hundreds and hundreds of t-shirts made up at cost by Edgar Williams of Ambitious Designs. We met at the Comer Cox Park at the corner of 18th Street and Capitol for the 1 1/2 mile walk down Capitol Avenue to the State Capitol Steps. The love and camaderie and Christian fellowship across deep racial lines was a beautiful thing to behold. Even though almost every church officially turned down this movement to re-establish Jesus as the LORD of this City, many of their members turned out anyway!

PJ Staab

Senator Sam McCann

One thing I will not forget is our tireless leader Stacy working so hard to get 1500 bottles of water iced down and ready for the anticipated crowd at the end of the walk; the volunteers there; the worship band already praying on the ground of the End of Walk service. My fond memories is the excitement of all different Christians in the same event T shirt all ready to work for Jesus. Stacy and I edited some ten or so prayer points which I read out all over the part to different groups of people with my bullhorn. The awesome sight of the Christian Motorcyclists Association led by brother Nick Courtney and the three Crosses behind them as almost 1000 people of all ages and backgrounds took off in a brisk walk down Capitol, was a sight to behold.

BMIC President Bernie Lutchman

The subsequent hour long service on the Capitol Steps by the Lincoln Statue was so powerfully moving that worship, constant worship was breaking out all over the place!! PastorJerry Doss of Abundant Faith Christian Center, assisted by his magnificent choir set the mood for Prayer and the Word as they led off they service. I was next with the spirit-led Praise-Repent-Yield call to the Assembly. We went through 7 minutes of that and they pressed in!!! We were followed by the Bishop of Springfield - Thomas Paprockion Religious Liberty after he was introduced by PJ and then some powerful praying by our State Senator Sam McCann. The powerful and timely message by Pastor Mark Johnson topped off an amazing and life altering (for this city) day. The clarion call Pastor Mark proclaimed was to stand together, united, under the Banner of Jesus, or fall. This is the underlying theme of GBIMC - not unity at any cost where we toss aside the Basics of the Christian Faith, but unity in the Essentials to get right with God, through Repentance and then lead others to Jesus. This is the only way we can make any kind of difference and thus, show the world that God really DOES belong in our city!

Thank you to Springfield First Baptist led by Pastor Mike Henderson, for being the only other church, apart from Calvary Temple and Abundant Faith, to step up and support us from early. Over 30% of their church walked with us. Thank you to Todd Green and the Green Family Stores for underwriting the costs from the City of Springfield. Thank you to PJP Autos, The Staab Family and so many more who gave selflessly to this cause. Finally thank you - and in no small measure, to our wonderful MC - Calvary Temple Outreach Pastor Stacy Barnett! We are already planning next year's event and learned several things we can improve from this our first endeavor. Our primary purpose, my friends - to Lift up the Name of Jesus and proclaim Him as King over Springfield! Mission? ACCOMPLISHED!

MIRACLE IN SPRINGFIELD, IL. ON NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER 2013!

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on May 3, 2013 at 22:13

READ THE REST OF THIS POST HERE

GOD SHOWS WHO CONTROLS THE HEAVENS!

Jesus parted the Red Sea for Moses 3500 years ago, and today, the LORD Himself did not stop an annoying rainstorm. He literally sent the rain again around Springfield, Illinois to

the North and East...and the snow and ice over to the North West up the state of Illinois into Wisconsin!

SPRINGFIELD, IL MAYOR
MIKE HOUSTON READS THE
NDP 2013 PROCLAMATION

PASTOR STAN PRATT PRAYS FOR GOV'T LEADERS

MY WIFE VICKI LUTCHMAN
SINGS"LORD, I BELIEVE IN YOU"

This is another Miraculous answer to intense praying for days. While there were several days of sunshine leading up to our outdoor National Day of Prayer Worship Service on the main steps of the Illinois State Capitol, the forecast and weather radar were devastating for our meticulously planned city wide event. As the Lord brought out

PASTOR ROY NEWMAN
FRESH VISIONS COMM. CHURCH

the hot bright.......

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PRAY FOR AMERICA PART 2

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on September 16, 2012 at 7:55

It seems as if a lot of bad things happen to America in September. It is almost as if September is the hangover from summer madness. We all know about September 11, 2001. However in September 1856, the signs were all around the developed cities. New York City was already the financial capitol of the world. Exhibits A to Z are thus: the economy and accompanying social decline were picking up speed. Bankruptcy was high and morale was low. Preachers were just as ineffective as they are today and fast becoming irrelevant. Many of them had predicted doom and gloom and the end of the world which never happened. Politicians were just as horrible as they are today and unemployment just as high as 2012. Civil War talk was in the air. America was in a bad place. The enemy was domestic.

With this background, 156 years ago, a humble employee of the North Dutch Reformed Church named Jeremiah Lanphier, was given a vision by the LORD GOD, to call many to prayer. He wrote up a flyer inviting people to a prayer meeting in the church consistory on Fulton Street - anyone who could come. The prayer meeting was just that - an hour of prayer from noon to 1pm. The flyer indicated the room was open to anyone from the store clerk to the business owner. On the first day of the prayer meeting - September 23, the first man showed up at 12:30pm. Finally 6 men showed up and they prayed. There was no preaching or worship band or hysteria or... you name it. Just quiet humble prayer as the Lord delights in it. Weeks later, the numbers had doubled and tripled.

Finally on October 10, the New York Stock Exchange crashed. Did you know that 10,000 immediately showed up for the noon prayer meeting called by Lanphier on Fulton Street?! They had run out of space on Fulton Street, so the prayer meeting expanded across the street to the larger John Street Methodist Church...then all over New York City....and then Chicago, Philadelphia, Louisville (Kentucky) and so on! This led to the greatest Revival ever in America - the Third Great Awakening. There has been nothing like it since, and it began with one layman, like you and I, who was used by God.

America has lost its way and does not even turn to God in evil and terrible times as we have seen this week. There is no righteous, moral or faithful leadership. We have the best and fastest of social networking and instant media, yet those who are called by God to be the leaders of the church are not proclaiming "THUS SAYETH THE LORD" or calling for National Prayer Meetings or Fasting as President John Adams once did when the hounds of hell were nipping at our heels. If the preachers and pastors of America would rather play church and lose their credibility just like the preachers of September 1856, then you and I have to do it. The wonderful thing is, there is nothing to it. All we need is a Bible, a quiet room and a love for Jesus and the Lost! Are you ready?

Here is the rest of Psalm 35. Choose the verse, or the verses of the passage which Holy Spirit custom fits to YOUR calling as a His Prayer Warrior, then press in. I see several which appear to match up with the situation in America today - terrorism, moral and religious crisis and more. Our enemies are not just the islamic terrorists, but even worse than them are the enemies from within....the kinds we have allowed because of our own sin of sloth, laziness and unfaithfulness to God. The only remedy is Repentance and Restoration. Here is Psalm 35 (NKJV) in full. Therefore, place names in the appropriate verse, in place of personal pronouns. This will not alter the inerrant word of God:
PSALM 35 (A PSALM OF DAVID)

Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
²Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for my help.
³Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”

⁴Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
⁵Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the angel^[a] of the Lord chase them.
⁶Let their way be dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
⁷For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
⁸Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

⁹And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
¹⁰All my bones shall say,
“Lord, who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”

¹¹Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
¹²They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
¹³But as for me, when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own heart.
¹⁴I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.

¹⁵But in my adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
¹⁶With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
¹⁸I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among many people.

¹⁹Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
²⁰For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
²¹They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”

²²This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
²³Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
²⁴Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
²⁵Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.

27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousnessAnd of Your praise all the day long.
 
(Scripture is courtesy Biblegateway.com)

PRAY FOR AMERICA PART 1

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on September 16, 2012 at 7:53

These are some of the darkest days, for the greatest country in the world to ever exist. America and Freedom, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, are under literal assault from the forces of hell worldwide. Now, almost hourly, we receive news of more violence against military personnel, embassies and while the corrupt American mainstream media will not publicize it - Christians are more in danger around the world than ever before.

So what are God's people on this continent - in the US and Canada - to do? After we get riled up at the video on TV or the internet of the rioting, mayhem and more, we go to the Lord. Abba Father. We cry out to Jehovah Nissi, our Standard Bearer. A Standard Bearer goes before us in battle, carrying the flag (or banner or standard) and tells those who are our enemies, who we are. When God the Father, is your standard bearer, we have the added benefit of knowing WHOSE we are! Amen!

Therefore, in Jesus' Holy Name, we begin praying the Imprecatory Psalm 35 into these times. King David, under the Power of the Holy Spirit, prayed this to the LORD and He heard David's plea and answered Him. Pray this in your own way and cry out to God for the country, our families, our children's future and the US Military. Remember those who are currently in leadership. Pray for them as well. Remember while praying, that enemies are both outside of this country and there are those who wish harm on the people of God, inside the country as well. I will not tell you how to prayer this first portion, but I am replacing the personal pronouns "I and me" with America and "our" etc, to help us press in at this time. The text is from the New King James Bible.

Psalm 35

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Lord the Avenger of His People

A Psalm of David.

35 Plead America's cause, O Lord, with those who strive with America;
Fight against those who fight against America.
²Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for our help.
³Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue us.
Say to our soul,
“I am your salvation.”

⁴Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after American life;
Let those be turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot our hurt.
⁵Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the angel^[a] of the Lord chase them.
⁶Let their way be dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
⁷For without cause they have hidden their net for us in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for our life.
⁸Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

9 And America's soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
 
(All Scripture is from Bible Gateway)

WOMEN OF DYNASTY, DYNAMIC PRAYER AND DESTINY

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on May 15, 2012 at 4:52

HANNAH, a woman of Dynamic Prayer:

We have all known and/or heard stories of mothers who prayed for their children all their lives. Some pray for their salvation or their coming back to the Lord. Many pray for life and career circumstances, or a family issue. No matter what, there is nothing like the prayers of a mother!

Honore de Balzac said “the heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness”…and so a mom prays.

George Elliot said “A mother's yearning feels the presence of the cherished child even in the degraded man”….there is nothing like a mother praying for a lost son or daughter, who has been caught up in the vortex of worldly sin.

I love this Irish proverb “A man loves his sweetheart the most; his wife the best, but his mother the longest”!

Then there is this Jewish proverb “God could not be everywhere and therefore He made mothers”.

All of these underscore the character of a mother, whose heart is always for her children. So when Godly Hannah could not have a child, and most likely, was beginning to feel less than a woman, she did the only thing we know how to do in a crisis – PRAY!

READ THE REST OF MY ARTICLE ON A MOST POWERFUL WOMAN OF PRAYER BY CLICKING HERE

YOU ARE FREE!

Posted by Bernie Lutchman on May 10, 2012 at 22:10

SO NOW --- STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP!

(published this week on MY BLOG)

Too much has been said about freedom, deliverance, breaking free, breaking loose from the bondage and shackles of our past without the actual application of just doing it! So many Christians live such defeated lives that it would take me another book to dissect all the reasons; rhymes and horrible times we put ourselves through when we refuse to live in the Victory.

What Victory am I speaking about? This Victory is one we won when we took up residence at the Foot of the Cross. We then embraced its substitutionary atonement and subse accepted the Pardon which was paid for there, and is still valid almost 2000 years since!

Two verses today speak to this as we glance at the wonderful chapter of Romans 8 and see that verses 1 and 2 undergirds this foundational truth: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death"!

How about that! Here are just the facts, ma'am"

- No condemnation: we have been pardoned and declared not guilty BECAUSE we surrendered all at the Foot of the Cross.

- We are not just not guilty (even though the Charge against us was "WE SINNED AGAINST GOD") but now the Judge Who said we are still "not guilty" then says..."and furthermore, you now belong to My Son, Who created the Heaven's and the Earth! Can you just imagine how that feels?! WE BELONG TO THE ETERNAL KING!

- AND not just that, but because we DO belong to this Eternal King of Glory, the Lord God Almighty, the Powerful Force Who created and controls the entire Universe just pulled our fat out of the fire and given us"ZOE"! That word ZOE is a powerful word. It is officially described as "GOD intimately sharing His gift of life with people, created each of us in His image". Then gave us all the capacity/power/supernatural strength to know His eternal life.

Therefore, in light of all this mind-boggling Grace to us from our Heavenly Father, we can now not only be free from the past sinfulness but can proactively live victoriously. This can only come about because we are safe and solidly in the knowledge of the Holy, Who has given us more than we deserve! So friend, if you're struggling today with some past acquaintance reminding you of things which God has already forgiven you or even your conscience being used to play tricks on you....if you're saturated with societal lunacy, which never seems to satisfy but more than ever pulls you down into a zone of fleshy dissatisfaction with your current physical environment and circumstance....well then, remember these same verses from Romans 8:1 and 2!

Father, in the Name of Jesus, please seal this encouragement from Your Holy Scriptures in our heart. Help us to learn to not just accept that You have forgiven us, through repentance and the sacrifice on the Cross, but to comprehend that we can now hold on to with this Truth and walk in peace, joy, contentment and righteousness. Father, knowing that You love me and everyone reading this, I pray for those who have not been told the Truth. I pray that if they have truly come to the saving personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior, that they will believe with every fiber of their being that "He whom the Son sets free - is FREE indeed"....and THAT FREEDOM is now theirs! In the Strong and Powerful Name of Jesus, amen!