The Gathering has one purpose: to unite the Body of Christ in America – all believers, regardless of race, age, or denomination – in prayer for forgiveness, wisdom, and provision for our nation.
The Gathering is free of political agendas, merchandise, and ministry tents. No offering will be received. No books will be sold. No personalities will be promoted.
WHAT IS A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY?
Whenever a solemn assembly or sacred gathering has been called in Scripture, it has usually been called by those in leadership – whether that be a priest, prophet or king – and it has usually been called for leadership first. Even in America, our historical records verify that prior to every national awakening, the spiritual leadership of the day has placed a heavy emphasis on gathering in smaller groups for fasting and prayer which then led to larger gatherings and greater change.
National revival must begin in the heart and in the home before it can spread throughout communities and nations. This is why The Gathering will focus on praying for four crucial areas of change:
PERSONAL
Every Christian must decide that he or she can only serve one master. God makes it clear, we cannot have the world and have Him at the same time (1 John 2:15-17). Practically this means that God’s person, principles and precepts must be brought to bear on all of our decisions, (not just the so called “religious” ones). He must be Lord of all of life. Each day must begin with a commitment to Him above all else, and He is to be consulted in prayer on all matters of life (Luke 9:23).
FAMILY
Heads of households must echo Joshua’s declaration for their own home, “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). The dinner table must again become the central place for reviewing and applying Kingdom principles (Psalm 128:3). Couples must reconnect themselves to their biblical roles and hate divorce as much as God does (Malachi 2:14). There must be a regular review of the progress the family is making at adhering to Godly principles and the family altar must become central to home.
COMMUNITIES
Local churches must recommit themselves to their primary responsibility of making disciples. They can no longer be satisfied with simply expanding their membership. Jesus doesn’t need more fans. He wants more followers. Programs must be evaluated in terms of whether they are growing visible, verbal followers of Christ and not by how many people are entertained by church events. This means that there must be loving accountability incorporated into the life of the church. In addition there must be a radical return to the authority of scripture and priority of prayer as the foundation of church life (1 Timothy 2:8-9) among church leadership. The church must have regular, unified, sacred gatherings to keep the focus on our absolute dependency on God.
THE NATION
The church must again become the conscience of the government. Through its national solemn assembly it should clearly and respectfully call political leadership to God’s principles for government (Romans 13:1-7) which means that we cannot be so entrenched within political parties that we are not free to speak truth to power. It also means we must begin speaking with one voice so that the nation might see a unified church and not one that is fractured and scattered by differences in how we practice our faith. In addition, we should prove our worth to society by overwhelming culture with good works (Matthew 5:16). Finally all attempts to remove God from the marketplace ought to be resisted while we simultaneously bring our public officials before the throne of grace in prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-3).