LABOR DAY WEEKEND CUP KKIM/KARS DDC

Dear colleague,

On August 25, 1,500 people gathered in the Civic Center in Albuquerque, called together by Archbishop Michael Sheehan and most of the evangelical leaders of the state.  I stared into the faces of those who had gathered for a day-long conference and saw more hope and excitement than I ever imagined possible.  Among the speakers that day was Michael Novak, Os Guinness, and Jody Bottum, who was one of those who gave us help in the drafting of the Manhattan Declaration.

During the day I saw a parade of Catholic and Protestant leaders praying, exhorting us to do more, and committing themselves to the all-out fight for life, marriage, and liberty.  If the crowd broke in with applause once, they broke in fifty times during the speeches.  I want to tell you, there were 1,500 people in Albuquerque ready to go to war to protect the most fundamental values of our culture.

I will never forget the sight I saw at the end of a long day of seminars and speeches.  It was the image of Archbishop Sheehan embracing former Congressman and very active evangelical lay leader Bill Redmond.  These were the two men who did the work to bring this group together.  Standing next to them was an Assemblies of God pastor, the head of the denomination in the state in fact, who had just given the concluding prayer.  Throughout the day, I met some of the denominational leaders in the state-Nazarene, Assembly of God-I met leaders from Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist churches.  It felt like a gathering of the saints, the kind that we look forward to one day when we’re all in glory.

At lunch we had a report from some young men from China, one of whom had been at Tiananmen Square.  They talked about how the MD and the whole concept of worldview is affecting them, how it is being taught in their seminaries, how the word about it is being spread through the house churches.  This is a work of God; no man could do this.

If you ever get discouraged in your ministry, if you ever feel any sense of despair at what is happening around us, I would urge you to go to the MD website, get some of the videos or speeches from Albuquerque, and you will be renewed in your faith.  I met evangelical leaders who are willing to lay their lives down for this cause; Archbishop Sheehan, accompanied by many priests and Catholic laymen, is one of the most courageous leaders I’ve met.

God is doing an amazing thing in New Mexico.  Pray that it will not be just a one-day event, but that it will continue to fuel a movement across the state.  I think it will, because I met so many people who were totally committed to this, and both the Archbishop and Bill Redmond said that they were going to be working diligently through the months ahead to spread the teaching of the Declaration and to energize Christians to live out their faith in the public square.

I came away from Albuquerque renewed, thrilled and excited beyond words.  It was more than I expected or ever could have hoped for.

Be of good cheer.  God is sovereign; His work is going on.

www.colsoncenter.org