Thank you, love you too. Most
important to me is that you see the hero, and that's Jesus Christ our Lord. And the trip to Washington was
truly all about him from beginning to end. I told you last week
about the four pastors that I met in Big Boy when having breakfast,
and the email that they wrote to me said this, we sense a strong
divine appointment for you there. Be aware of even seemingly insignificant
conversations and interactions. They may well be the real reason
you are there. And I took heed to that. Our
God is a God of purpose, a God of planning, and a God who sets
destinies and makes arrangements for people to hear the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And so I want to, first of all,
thank Congressman Mike Bishop for the invitation to serve as
the honorary chaplain of the House of Representatives,
the first prayer was when he was Speaker in the Senate, Majority
Leader in the Senate in 2010. It took a brave man to stand
up there behind me as I prayed that prayer. Many in the Senate
that day hissed and several vacated the Senate floor. as I prayed. And I thought, that's the last
time Mr. Bishop will ask me to pray. But
it was not. He was elected to the House,
and early on he told me, you will be coming and saying the
prayer in the House of Representatives. So thank you, Mike Bishop, from
the 8th District. Those of you who lived in that
district, put your mind in voting gear. He's running again for
that seat. So this morning, I want to just
review our trip in Washington because there's so many things
that you didn't get to see. You were with me, no doubt. And
I sensed your presence as well as the presence of the Lord.
Most of you know that the name of Jesus is not a popular name
in Washington. And I was instructed and advised
not to mention his name. We began our journey to Washington
last Tuesday morning, arriving in the capital about 12 noon.
After checking in to the hotel, we grabbed a quick lunch and
hurried off to the place where they print worthless paper money.
But I did take notice as I watched them print $1 million in $100
bills. Guess what was on each one of
those bills? In God We Trust. I asked the
Lord to be very near and give me a sign that he was with me.
Strange, I thought, to see In God We Trust in large print in
a city that has outlawed him. The next day, it was off to the
Holocaust Museum, there taking note of millions of Jews that
were being murdered by Hitler and taken into the gas chambers.
Mothers and children shot because they were of no work value. And
men worked to death as they were starved. All of this because
the clergy of Germany left government up to Hitler. It's happening
here. That's why it's so important
you vote. That's why I'm encouraging you to register to vote and to
vote for individuals who have those convictions. that we have. Say, well, they don't all have
the same convictions I have. Find some of those convictions
in those individuals that are running, and please don't forget
to vote. Separation of church and state.
I hear it so often. Separation of church and state.
Pastor, you can't say anything about politics from the pulpit.
Believe you me, I don't talk about politics. I talk about
God. Amen. And government should be of God
and by the people. And we elect those who lead this
nation. I don't blame Mr. Obama. I don't
blame Washington. Somebody put them in power at
the voting box. Am I right about that? Who you
vote for is so very, very important. And it should be a matter of
prayer for you. Be a matter of prayer for you. Dear people,
we must not disengage ourselves from the culture in which we
live. This president in eight years has done more in an attempt
to remove the presence of God from this nation than any other
president that has ever lived. And I say that with strong convictions
and belief. He has systematically dismantled
this nation. 10,000 Syrians will come to America
by September. I want you to understand that,
and many of them to hear in the city of Pontiac, if you read
the Oakland Press this morning, you know they're coming and have
been welcomed by the politicians in this city. Many, no doubt,
will be a part of ISIS. And by the way, there are Christians
in Syria that are suffering, and I am 100% for them coming
to America. But I'm not for one ISIS person
coming to this nation. I am not. Most citizens in our city are
unaware that the federal government is paying churches and municipalities
to settle the Syrians in cities here in America. This nation,
without God, could well see the next Holocaust made up of Christians. As I stood and looked out at
all those beautiful buildings in Washington with so much historical
value, I saw in my mind bombs dropping, the White House burning
to the ground. Those national monuments torn
to pieces. Well, it couldn't happen in America.
You look at what happened in Germany, World War II. Look what
happened in our major cities. Not here in America, but in those
cities over there. I guarantee you the next war
will be fought here in America. It may be a quick war because
of the atomic power and bombs that we have, but you need to
be seriously thinking about how you vote and who you vote for
and how you live your life. That evening, We had dinner with
one of our top donors to Grace Centers who lives in Virginia
and works there in Washington. Actually, he's a professor, Wayne
Ginter, who is an outstanding engineer, a brilliant man who
has his doctorate. He had actually heard that I
was coming to Washington, and he contacted his Congress lady
in Virginia, and he got a ticket to sit in the gallery. the following
day to hear the prayer. As most of you know, I was advised
not to use the name of Jesus in the prayer, and it was heavy
on my mind. I mean heavy on my mind and on
my heart that I would be put in such a place of honor and
not be able to mention his name. Well, you say, Pastor, you used
his name 27 times. Yes, but there's something about
that name. the name of Jesus. I recall the little chorus we
used to sing, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Lord Jesus, there's just something
about that name. King and kingdoms may all pass
away. but there's something about that
name. And the psalmist said, his name
shall endure forever. And Greg read the scripture today.
His name shall be called Jesus. There it's very clear, for he
shall save his people from their sins. It's so important that
you and I experience God. Those of you who are believers,
I'll tell you, you'll get weak if you don't experience God.
And I'm talking about experiencing God on a daily basis, where you're
able to say, I know my God lives. I have seen his handiwork. I've
seen what he's doing in my life, in the life of my pastor, in
the life of my church, in my own life, in my children's life.
I'm experiencing God on a daily basis. The old songwriters used
to sing this song too. There is a name I love to hear,
I love to sing his word. It sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Thursday
morning arrived, I heard sirens outside our hotel window. I looked
out the window, four black escalades traveling up Pennsylvania Avenue.
We were only a block from the White House. Those escalators
moved in and out of traffic, and I knew there was someone
that was really important. I didn't know who it was. 10.30 Thursday morning, time
to head up to the Hill to meet Congressman Bishop, who would
escort Pam and I down to the House floor. As the taxi took
us up Pennsylvania Avenue, I prayed, Lord, if I'm to violate the script
and say aloud the name of Jesus, please verify it. The taxi cab
driver asked, I think he's probably asking Pam, who had told him
that I was going up to the house to pray, and the taxi driver
said, will you pray for anybody? And of course, she answered yes.
And he said, well, my mother is in Ethiopia, and she's very
sick. Will you pray for her? And I
thought to myself, maybe this is the reason we came to Washington. You know God does that. I'm not much on putting out fleeces. But this was so heavy on me,
I needed his direction and I asked him, give me a sign. So when
the taxi driver said, pray for me and pray for my mother in
Ethiopia, I thought, okay, that's a sign. I was jumping at signs. The thought was immediately taken
out of my mind and into his presence. I mean the thought, Lord give
me a sign, it seemed like that went right into the presence
of God. I mean I sense the presence of
the Lord. I looked out the cab window,
listen to this, I looked out the cab window and written in
huge letters on a ten-story building was written the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." I thought, Lord, that's two.
That's two. Who's ever heard of the First
Amendment being written in big letters on a 10-story building
one block from the White House? There are two or three congressional
office buildings, and of course, I was in the wrong building,
Pam and I. We were watching the clock. Now, these buildings are
not ordinary buildings. Some of them will cover seven
acres. And of course, I went to the
wrong building. There are tunnels running through these buildings
that connect to the House and connect to the Senate underground.
After realizing we were lost, we stopped in the office of a
congressman from Florida and asked how to get to Mike Bishop's
office. And they told us, first of all,
you're in the wrong building. And I was glad we didn't have
to walk the six acres to find his office. But the young lady
in there who was very polite said, I will have one of the
interns take you to Mr. Bishop's office. As we walked
along, myself and Pam and this young intern, a guy, he brought up the question, what
are you doing here on the hill? Pam said, my husband's going
to lead the prayer in the house today. Oh, he said, that's a
high honor. Finally arriving at congressman's
office, the young intern. Looked at me straight in the
eyes and said, you're going to pray? in Jesus' name, aren't
you?" He said, I'm going to come and
listen. I'm talking about experiencing God. The congressman led us down the
long tunnel that led to a small elevator that took us up to the
House chambers. There Mike explained to me that
I would be standing to pray where all of the presidents have stood
to give their speeches and government leaders from all over the world
have stood there in the House of Representatives. I looked
up. as we stood there in the house,
and I was going to stand like here, and there was guys on either
side, some of you saw that, but right up here was In God We Trust. Right over my head. God time and time again showed
me Don't be ashamed of my son's
name. And actually, I remember thinking
as I stood there, what am I doing here? I mean, an inner city pastor? A leader of a homeless shelter? Standing in the House of Representatives? Well, I can tell you this. I
must mention his name. I must. And it became very clear to me,
you're going to pray and dismiss in his name. While standing there
frozen in thought, another Michigan congressman walked up and introduced
me to himself. And he represented one of the
Western Michigan cities and areas, districts. He said, I'm a former
pastor myself. I felt called to this mission
field and resigned my church in Western Michigan. And here
I am on this mission field. And he said, believe me, it is
a mission field. I said, do you get to minister
a lot here? He said, yes. He said, I said,
do you pray in Jesus' name? And he said, well, I don't get
to pray here in the house. This is for special honorary
ministers that are called here to be chaplain for the day. And
I said, well, when you pray, whose name do you pray in? He
said, in the name of Jesus, always. Okay, now we're going on five,
right? It's 12 o'clock noon. The speaker
is banging the gavel. Reverend King Clark, pastor of
Grace Gospel Fellowship, will lead our prayer today. As I prayed,
I prayed this silently. Help me, Holy Spirit of God.
You said you would glorify the name of Jesus Christ. Please
take control of my tongue. And I close this way. In the
name of Joshua, Jesus says. Emmanuel. Emmanuel, God with us. Now, here's
the full story. Here it is. God invaded history. God came down to earth. How could I ever be ashamed of
that truth? That Emmanuel, that that baby in Bethlehem's
cradle was God in human flesh. What an awesome and mighty act
of grace and mercy that God came down here in the person of Jesus
Christ, God who was spirit and we would never have known or
seen Had not he become flesh. And I say to you this morning
that the only God you're going to see when you get to heaven
is going to have nail scars. God in human flesh. Because God
is spirit. He became human flesh. And when
we've been there 10,000 years, we've no less days to sing his
praise than when we first begun. I went to Washington a believer.
I came back a believer, believer, believer, believer. I saw the
miracle of God showing me, encouraging me, giving me a backbone, and
not letting me be satisfied with all those other names. I had
to say his name. It was an absolute must. And I want to say to those of
you who've not been to Washington, know this assuredly, God is carved
in stone all over the place in Washington, D.C. Everywhere you
go, you see God. That is not an accident. You
know, when I went into the building where Mike Bishop's office was,
the Longworth House, I said nothing. But soon as we went into the
vestibule area there where we would take an elevator, there
on both sides of that vestibule was In God We Trust. I mean,
he popped out all over the place. He was like saying, you want
Pearl of Kent? I will show you. He placard literally
before me. I think one of the greatest things
was when I stood up there realizing that in God we trust was right
over my head. In God we trust. And I want to
say to you today, You know there's a God, everyone in here knows
there's a God. There's no atheist in the building today because
God has put it in every man, the truth, the knowledge that
there is a God. And here's what this God that
you know exists says. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He is the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man comes to the Father except by Him. Is
your life reeling out of control? Would you like it to be directed
by the great architect of life, the God of heaven and earth Himself? Would it give you great peace
to know that the world is not reeling out of control, but there's
someone who's in charge? I had my mouth open most of the
time while I was there. I'll tell you this last little
story. After the prayer, they ushered us back into the room
for a few pictures, and then the chaplain's assistant, two
ladies, said to me, would you like to see the prayer room?
I said, oh, the prayer room. So there's a lot of prayer going
on. She said, well, We have a prayer room just for those in the House
of Representatives. Most people don't even know it's
here. I said, well, I would surely like to see it. She said, it's
not on the tours. It's kind of very private. We
went back into the prayer room. And when we entered in, I saw
two kneeling benches with Bibles on either side. So I checked
those out. King James Version on either
side. And then there was like a platform or an altar with a
huge Bible. And I said, may I look at the
Bible? I thought maybe it was an old
Bible. And it seems like it was open
to Psalms 23. So they weren't watching me real
close. So I turned to Romans 8. There in the prayer room this
morning, if no one has changed it, is Romans 8, 28. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love the
Lord, to them who are the called according to his purpose. One
of the little ladies that was showing us through said to me,
Pastor, we know your prayer was well-prepared. Because I was
always asking about the name of Jesus. Even there, as we stood
in the House of Representatives, I said to Mike Bishop, Mike,
when's the last time you heard the name of Jesus mentioned here? And he said to me, I can't remember. I thought, there's another one.
He's going to remember this morning. The Apostle Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. Are you? I have taken an oath
in my own heart that I, wherever I am, wherever I go, I will tell
of him. I am not going to be ashamed
of him. We desperately need him and his
power and his presence. And I'm going to tell you this
too. I live in constant amazement. I'm thinking about a new roof
going on this building. I'm thinking about those new
sidewalks. And it's insane what's happening
here. I mean, it either has to be a
God thing or people have gone crazy about us or something. There's something going on big
here. He must be preparing to use us
in a mighty way. He's showing off. And here is
the rule here at Grace Gospel Fellowship, whether you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do to the glory of God. We give
him all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. And here in a few weeks, those
chimes that rang this morning, which only reach out right here,
just probably not past our parking lot as yet, Those chimes will
reach from here to Auburn Hills. The citizens of cities around
us are going to get up on Sunday morning hearing how great thou
art and amazing grace on Sundays. Let's stand together and praise
our God.