When World Cup champion Lionel Messi talks, millions, perhaps billions, of people around the world listen intently to what he has to say.

So when he praises God and gives Him thanks for the gift of being arguably one of, if not the, greatest player at the sport of soccer of all time, it exposes people around the world to his testimony on the goodness of God.

Speaking to Argentinian podcaster Juan Pablo Varsky on the “Clank” podcast, Messi described it felt like God gave him “a gift” that he had to use to his full potential.

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“It’s very clear to me that I was born like this because God chose me,” Messi says.

“It was a gift He gave me. I tried to take advantage of it, I did everything possible to squeeze the most out of it. The truth is, although I did many things, I did nothing to become the player that I already was when I was little,” he adds.

This echoes the sentiment found in the popular Bible passage Jeremiah 29:11, when God was talking to His prophet, but this lesson applies to each and every human ever created:

For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God says in the following verses that He has done this so that we may enter into relationship with Him, and that He resides with us as our one and only God.

But we must look for God, the verses say, and that is exactly what Messi did in the lead up to his World Cup victory that had eluded him for most of his exceptional career, as reported by Premiere Christian News.

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“I asked God, as I have done all my life in everything,” Messi shares. “Even more so at that moment… I didn’t ask my grandmother or Diego [Maradona], but I did ask God, as always. I knew and sensed that God had something in store for me and it was at a special moment, almost at the end of my career and closing the whole circle of my professional career.

“I thank Him every day of my life for this and for everything He has always given me. I can’t ask Him for anything more because thanks to Him I have everything,” he continues.

We can all take a lesson from one of the world’s premiere athletes, and search, ask and thank God in all things which we are involved in, just as Paul exhorts us to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

In a recent interview with Charisma Media, evangelist Ray Comfort of Living Waters Publications opened up about the challenges and motivations behind evangelism, shedding light on why sharing faith remains crucial in today’s world. Despite his long-standing reputation for street preaching, Comfort revealed surprising personal struggles and shared practical advice for Christians facing similar hesitations.

Comfort candidly admitted his own reluctance toward evangelism, describing it as a daunting task. “I don’t like evangelism,” he confessed. “Every day when I go out to preach the gospel or go to witness, I’m going somewhere I don’t want to go to say something I don’t want to say to people who don’t want to hear it.” This raw honesty highlights a common sentiment among many Christians, making Comfort’s perspective all the more relatable.

Despite these feelings, Comfort emphasizes the moral imperative to evangelize, comparing the duty to that of a firefighter facing a burning building. “He’s not excited about climbing a 60-foot ladder with smoke and sirens and a screaming woman and screaming children,” Comfort explains. “But he’s a firefighter, so what he does is he ignores his fears and thinks about the fate of that woman and her children.”

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Comfort’s approach to evangelism involves seizing everyday opportunities and engaging with people in unexpected ways. One such tactic includes riding a bike equipped with a platform and accompanied by his sunglasses-wearing dog. “College students come up and say, ‘I love your dog! How does she wear sunglasses?'” Comfort shared.

Addressing common skepticisms, Comfort offered insights into dealing with questions about the existence of suffering and evil. “Every day 150,000 people die, all these are evidence that the Bible is true that we live in what’s called a fallen creation,” he said. Comfort pointed to the Christian hope in the face of suffering, that God’s creation and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ provide a meaningful answer to these profound questions.

For those hesitant to share their faith, Comfort offers practical advice, focusing on the universal human desire for purpose and eternal life. “Every Christian has this moral obligation,” he stated. “We’re like doctors with a cure to cancer. There’s a crime that we commit when we don’t save someone from drowning if someone’s drowning and you let them drown, you just walk away when there’s a rope right by your feet.”

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Comfort’s passion for evangelism and his relatable struggles offer valuable lessons for Christians worldwide. His candidness about the challenges and his unwavering commitment to sharing the gospel serve as a compelling call to action. As Comfort puts it, “We have found the source of everlasting life, and in Christ, we have life. If they only knew what we had in Christ, they would ask of Him, and He’d give them living water.”

Comfort also revealed plans to send a team to evangelize during the upcoming Olympics in Paris. The initiative aims to leverage the global event’s massive audience to share the gospel with as many people as possible. Comfort’s team will distribute specially designed tracts, capitalizing on the memorabilia appeal during the Olympics.

“We’re taking advantage of this whole Olympics thing,” Comfort says of the unique opportunity to reach diverse crowds gathered for the games. The outreach effort shows Living Waters’ commitment to creative and impactful evangelism on an international stage.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

Sports teams are abandoning the forced celebration of people’s sexual preference at a growing rate.

Recently, the media has taken notice of this and has blown a gasket at the sheer audacity of World Series Champion Texas Rangers stand of being the only Major League Baseball team to not have a ‘Pride Night’ celebration.

NBC’s latest hit piece on the team, complete with an interview from an LGBTQ+ activist, just cannot fathom how the team could hold such an egregious position in today’s culture.

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“For a long time, I’ve thought that it might be somebody very high up in the organization who is opposed to this for some reason that is not clearly articulated,” Rafael McDonnell of the Dallas-based LGBTQ+ group, the Resource Center, said. “To say that the Rangers aren’t doing anything for the community, well, they have. But the hill that they are choosing to stake themselves out on is no Pride Night.”

When NBC tried to get a comment from the team, they were met with the expected, “no comment,” because what is there to say about the situation?

“Our longstanding commitment remains the same: To make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball—in our ballpark, at every game and in all we do—for both our fans and our employees,” the team says. “We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.”

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The Rangers are not alone in their stance of not celebrating what people do in the bedroom, although with pride parades nowadays they are doing it in the streets, too, as nine NFL teams declined to post “happy pride” statements on their social media accounts this June.

There were 10 originally, but it appears the Green Bay Packers caved to pressure once the news cycle caught wind of the teams who didn’t post about pride and put up the obligatory celebratory post.

Christians across the country must take notice of the events going on around us, and around the world. We must guard our hearts with the Word of God and abide by the command Paul gives us in Romans 12:2:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

Artificial intelligence, and the corporations behind their programming, continue to give us reason after reason not to trust the accuracy or validity of the answers they regurgitate to hundreds of millions of users each day.

Recently, singer and musician Cory Asbury, who rose to fame with his “Reckless Love” worship song, recorded his shock and surprise on Facebook when he interacted with Meta AI after updating his Instagram. This is how he found out that Meta’s version of AI is telling people that he struggles with same-sex attraction.

When Asbury began asking the chatbot some personal, nuanced questions about himself, it started spewing information that is not only factually incorrect, but potentially damaging to his career as a Christian musician.

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The chatbot not only misrepresented his comments from when he spoke about having his three daughters paint his finger nails, but it also claimed he “has publicly spoken about his sexuality and has identified as a Christian who experiences same-sex attraction.”

“So I don’t know what’s going on or where, again, they’re getting this information from,” Asbury says in disbelief.

“I’ve never said anything of the sort.”

This only spurred Asbury’s curiosity further, so he did some digging on other praise and worship leaders such as Brandon Lake and Chandler Moore to see what the Meta AI had to say about them.

Come to find out, according to Meta AI, Lake “…is a Christian musician and worship leader who has been open about his struggles with same-sex attraction and sexuality.”

Meanwhile for Moore, “there is no public indication that he is gay.”

What public indication is there that Asbury and Lake are gay, though?

Lake is happily married and has three sons, and Asbury is a blessed family man as well.

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“I don’t know what to say. This is crazy,” laughed Asbury. “So apparently Brandon also struggles with same-sex attraction, but Chandler does not.”

Going a little further into how corrupted, biased and flat-out incorrect Meta AI is, Asbury asked it if Jesus is gay, as the radical Left has a history of trying to make the Lord out to be something He most certainly is not.

To the app’s credit, it did not try and make Jesus out to have lived a homosexual lifestyle, but instead gave a rather vanilla answer that skirted any potential controversy.

“I don’t think what I’m reading on this ‘Ask Meta AI’ is true, is it getting this from and how can it be definitive about this?” Asbury wonders.

We live in a time of great deception, and the enemy is only going to strive harder to lead people away from the truth of Jesus Christ. That is why it is of paramount importance to be biblically literate and have a firm foundation built upon the Word of God, faith in Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit to war against Satan and his agenda.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

The National Faith Advisory Board is having a special call-in event in prayer for America at a time when the country desperately needs the Lord’s intercession.

Former President Donald Trump will join faith leaders such as Paula White-Cain, Jentezen Franklin, Jack Graham, Dave Kubal and many others at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, as they pray for America in the lead-up to the first presidential debate of the year.

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As described on their website, NFAB “is a national collaboration of faith-based leaders and organizations creating generational change with a strong, uncompromising voice on the issues and policies that matter most to the faith community.”

Some of the topics NFAB has circulated to its fellow intercessors to pray for over the nation are:

• Worldwide anti-Semitism targeting the Jewish people with violence.
• The “Take Back Title IX” tour to support women and girls sports.
• Illegal immigration and the danger it poses to the American people.
• The many cases the Supreme Court has agreed to hear which will help shape the future of our nation.
• Radical Islamic terrorism that is targeting Jews and Christians around the world.

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Let us join together as Americans to lift up and pray for this nation in the spirit of Matthew 18:19-20 which reads:

“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are assembled in My name, there I am in their midst.”

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

It seems that each election cycle is the most important, that the fate of the nation hangs in the balance.

Yet the last four years have shown undeniable proof that American exceptionalism is slipping away into the past, as well as the nation’s faith in God.

Many politicians today are warning of the dire economic, social and political ramifications of this upcoming election, but few are standing up and warning of the spiritual implications that will also come with the next elected president and their administration.

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A proponent for faith-based voters turning up to the polls this November is former congresswoman, as well as former Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard. She feels that the modern-day Democrats are “trying to erase God from every facet of our public life.

“We will play a critical role, especially at a time where we have the Biden-Harris administration and the Democrat elite who are fundamentally against freedom, including freedom of religion, and have a long track record that threatens people of faith and spirituality,” Gabbard says.

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“You look at those things that happened several years ago, and you look at how that has escalated at a much higher level, an abuse of power, a targeting of people of more than ever people of faith, people of spirituality need to stand up, to defend this fundamental, God-given right and stop those who are trying to take it away from us.”

God has sent the message to Americans through a variety of channels, and we have seen His warnings come to pass. Persecution of Christianity has come to the West, are Christians ready for it?

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

People of all backgrounds said 2024 was going to be a crazy year, and so far, it has lived up to that expectation.

And we haven’t even arrived at the first presidential debate, yet.

This year’s first, and potentially only, presidential debate is rapidly approaching as former President Donald Trump looks to continue his high-octane campaign against President Joe Biden since being criminally convicted of 34 felonies in New York City.

As reported by CBN News, “Concerns abound in both camps. Trump supporters are confident in his ability to win the debate, but some are upset that he so willingly agreed to what they call ‘Biden rules,’ to be moderated by a network and CNN co-hosts they believe are clearly biased against the 45th president.”

Giving in to potentially one-sided debate demands is not the only area of concern among Trump supporters at this time, either.

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While the former president will be sentenced shortly before the Republican National Convention, faith leaders such as Rev. Franklin Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, have allegedly requested that Mr. Trump clean up his language at rallies.

A request the former president has expressly refused.

Trump explained that he likes Graham, but he couldn’t agree to this request Graham allegedly sent to him in a letter.

“He said, ‘President, I love your speaking. Your ability to speak is incredible. Your storytelling is great, but it could be so much better if you didn’t use foul language,'” Trump told the crowd at a rally in deep-blue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“He’s wrong,” he added.

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Trump insisted that his speeches lose impact without strong language, and as the debate rumbles closer, he does “not want to underestimate Biden” and has to keep the momentum going.

This strategy is being emulated by supporters of the current president as well, with the Associated Press saying, “Perhaps nothing matters more than the level of energy and strength the Democratic incumbent projects on stage.”

Energy levels seems to be a big topic of conversation, as the debate set to take place on Thursday, June 27 at 9:00 p.m. EST will feature the two oldest presumptive nominees in history. Donald Trump recently turned 78, while Joe Biden is 81 years old.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

The spiritual warfare taking place around the world continues to manifest in more ways, as the Roman Catholic Archbishop who called Pope Francis a “servant of Satan” now faces ex-communication from the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó posted on X that he has been summoned to the Vatican for an extrajudicial trial and is accused of “the crime of schism.”

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲́ 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲́𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲̀𝘀 𝗽𝗲́𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗺𝗲 (art. 2 SST; can. 1364 CIC)

Le Dicastère pour la Doctrine de la Foi m’a informé, par un simple courriel, de l’ouverture d’un procès…

— Arcivescovo Carlo Maria Viganò (@CarloMVigano) June 20, 2024

“I have been summoned to the Palace of the Holy Office on June 20, in person or represented by a canon lawyer,” wrote Viganò.

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“I assume that the sentence has already been prepared, given that it is an extrajudicial process,” he continues.

Viganò served as the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2016, and considers it “an honor” to be persecuted by what many consider a rogue Vatican who has abandoned biblical doctrine.

“I believe that the very wording of the charges confirms the theses that I have repeatedly defended in my various addresses,” Viganò wrote.

“It is no coincidence that the accusation against me concerns the questioning of the legitimacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and the rejection of Vatican II: the Council represents the ideological, theological, moral and liturgical cancer of which the Bergoglian ‘synodal church’ is the necessary metastasis.”

Viganò is not the only conservative member of the Catholic Church to face the wrath of the Vatican in recent years.

Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, a conservative critic of Pope Francis and claimed that the Pope’s words and actions were “undermining the deposit of faith.”

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At the center of Strickland’s criticism has been Pope Francis’ perceived acceptance of LGBTQ+ lifestyles, which strictly go against the teaching of the Christian Bible.

As reported by the Texas Tribune:

Strickland’s removal has sparked further backlash among the Pope’s conservative critics: Michael J. Matt, editor of the traditionalist Catholic newspaper The Remnant, declared the move was “total war” and said Francis was “actively trying to bury fidelity to the Church of Jesus Christ.” Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who has previously called on the pope to resign, wrote that Strickland’s removal was “a cowardly form of authoritarianism.”

Perhaps the tipping point for the Vatican’s patience was an op-ed that Viganò wrote in LifeSiteNews, which accused the Pope and his lackeys of being servants of the evil one.

“The delirious Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, recently published by the parody of the former Holy Office renamed the Dicastery, definitively pierces the veil of hypocrisy and deception of the Bergoglian hierarchy, showing these false shepherds for what they really are: servants of Satan and his most zealous allies, beginning with the usurper who sits—an abomination of desolation—on the Throne of Peter,” wrote Viganò.

Time will tell the consequences of the Pope’s actions, but as it stands, there are many siding with voices like Viganò and Strickland.

Perhaps there is another schism coming for the Catholic Church just as there was in the days of Martin Luther.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, a New York Times best-selling author and speaker, reveals that dragons have appeared in various iconic locations in New York City.

These sightings include Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, Citi Field, Wall Street and the Empire State Building. According to Cahn, while the dragon images are part of a campaign to promote the HBO series “House of the Dragon,” their appearance holds deeper symbolic and spiritual significance.

“The dragons are here. They have come to New York City. They’ve appeared in Grand Central Station, their images have been seen on Rockefeller Center, they have been seen on the ballpark of Citi Field with the New York Mets,” Cahn says. He believes that the use of dragon imagery is not just a mere marketing ploy but a sign of something deeper and more profound.To pre-order Jonathan Cahn’s latest book, “The Dragon’s Prophecy,” visit .

In the Bible, dragons symbolize Satan. Cahn explains that the Greek word “Dracon” and the Hebrew word “tannin” (which can mean dragon, monster, creature or serpent) both describe Satan.

“Interesting because both words—the Serpent and the dragon—are used in the Scriptures to describe the enemy, Satan, or in Hebrew, Satan, Ha Satan, ‘the Opposer,’” Cahn says.

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Cahn points out that 2024 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon, noting the timing of his writing “The Dragon’s Prophecy.”

“At the end of 2023, I was starting to work to write the next book. It was to be the sequel to ‘The Return of the Gods,’ and that book will come, but the Lord interrupted me,” Cahn says. He started writing his new book after being inspired by the concept of the dragon.

Cahn connects the appearance of dragons in New York to ancient biblical signs of judgment. He draws parallels to historical events, such as the appearance of the arch of Baal in New York and Washington, D.C. “If you read ‘The Harbinger,’ you know the nine ancient signs of judgment that appeared in the last days of Israel before its destruction have reappeared manifested in America,” Cahn states.

He interprets these dragon images as a warning to America, suggesting that the nation’s turning away from God will lead to judgment.

“The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of right and order that heaven itself hath ordained,” Cahn quoted George Washington. He emphasizes that New York played a key part in America’s founding, being the first capital and the site of Washington’s inauguration.

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Cahn references 9/11 as a moment when America’s “hedge of protection” was lifted, linking the event to America’s foundational consecration and subsequent judgment.

“On September 11th, 2001, America’s hedge of protection was lifted, the smiles of heaven lifted. America was struck on 9/11 at Ground Zero,” he says.

In his upcoming book, “The Dragon’s Prophecy,” Cahn explores the significance of dragons in biblical prophecy, the current state of the world and the events leading up to the end times. The book reveals mysteries related to the dragon and its influence on world events, including the invasion of Israel by Hamas and other geopolitical events.

Cahn offers encouragement to believers, stating they will overcome the dragon through faith in Jesus and adherence to God’s Word.

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and loving not their lives to death,” Cahn says, quoting from the book of Revelation.

Cahn also urges non-believers to turn to God to avoid judgment and to be on the “winning side.” He stresses the importance of faith and adherence to God’s teachings in overcoming the challenges symbolized by the dragon.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.

To combat the month of activities which have set American society on the path of degeneracy, one state is proceeding through biblical humility and action.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently signed a bill that will send a call out through the state starting on July 1, for 30 days of fasting and prayer.

While this bill is primarily aimed at the state of Tennessee, others could take note and follow the example set by the Volunteer State’s act of repentance and obedience before God.

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A letter that accompanied the bill encourages, “those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to do so to join in a 30-day season of prayer and intermittent fasting for the month of July as a means of humbling ourselves to receive God’s grace, mercy and blessing in Tennessee and in our nation.”

The letter, signed by State Senator Mark Pidy and Rep. Monty Fritts, asks for churches across the state to read the legislation before their congregations and for the parishioners to take three steps of action:

• 1) Examine our lives in light of God’s Word and confess of our sins.
• 2) Acknowledge that we, as the church, have failed to stand for the principles of God, ask for His forgiveness and mercy, and commit to stand firmly on those principles going forward
• 3) For those who are able, join in prayer and intermittent fasting as a means of demonstrating our desire for repentance.

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Here is Resolution 0803 in its entirety:

A RESOLUTION to seek God’s hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.

WHEREAS, our State and Nation suffer from violence committed upon our citizens by our citizens; and

WHEREAS, our State and Nation suffer from violence committed upon our citizens by non-citizens; and

WHEREAS, acts of violent crime in our schools are unacceptable; and

WHEREAS, human trafficking is an unacceptable and violent evil in our State, enslaving lives and violating the core values of our Creator-endowed rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and

WHEREAS, drug addiction overwhelms our families, our government finances, our workforce productivity, as well as our healthcare and our law enforcement resources; and

WHEREAS, deadly fentanyl flows uncontrollably across our southern U.S. border resulting in the deaths of Tennesseans; and

WHEREAS, Driving Under the Influence, drunk driving, results in great pain and injury for Tennessee families; and

WHEREAS, we have approximately 9,000 children in need of foster care, indicating a brokenness in many Tennessee homes; and

WHEREAS, evidence of corruption in our federal government stands to impact every Tennessean; and

WHEREAS, our National and State Founders trusted in the omnipotent hand of Providence to guide and bless our land; and

WHEREAS, over decades, these leaders called our people to seek out the Creator’s favor by issuing proclamations like the one from John Adams on April 15, 1799:

[This day] be observed throughout the United States of America as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to his righteous requisitions in time to come; that He would interpose to arrest the progress of that impiety and licentiousness in principle and practice so offensive to Himself and so ruinous to mankind; that He would make us deeply sensible that “righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” [Proverbs 14:34]; and

WHEREAS, we hold that our Founders correctly acknowledged Truth in their words; and

WHEREAS, we hold that “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1); now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that the period of July 1, 2024, through July 31, 2024, be recognized as a time of prayer and fasting in Tennessee.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we recognize that God, as Creator and King of all Glory, has both the authority to judge and to bless nations or states.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, as public servants in the Tennessee General Assembly, seek God’s Mercy upon our land and beseech Him to not withdraw His Hand of blessing from us.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we recognize our sins and shortcomings before Him and humbly ask His Forgiveness.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask the Lord Jesus to heal our land and remove the violence, human-trafficking, addiction, and corruption.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask that the Holy Spirit fill our halls of government, our classrooms, our places of business, our churches, and our homes with peace, love, and joy.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to do so to join in a thirty-day season of prayer and intermittent fasting as we begin a new fiscal year as a means of seeking God’s blessing and humbling ourselves to receive His Grace and Mercy, transforming ourselves, our communities, our State, and our Nation.

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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.