~~~Dick Leggatt

Editor

Editorial

Why would New Winedevote an entire issue to

Washington, D.C.? Ever since2

we published an article in 1971by Derek Prince entitled "Pray-ing for the Government," thismagazine has consistently em-phasized the responsibility ofChristians to pray for and in-volve themselves in their coun-try's governmental system. Thismonth we want to channel thatgeneral concern into a specificfocus on our nation's capital, acity important to all of us.

We center on Washington,D.C., in this issue because it isa focal point, not only for theUnited States, but for manyother nations as well. Whattakes place in Washington willinevitably have repercussionswhich affect the entire world.For that reason it merits ourspecial attention.

In the lead article, CharlesSimpson establishes for us abiblical perspective, first byoutlining the unique role theChurch is to have in any socie-ty, and second by applying thepractical implications of thatrole to our concern forWashington, "every American'ssecond home."

While we were in D.C. a fewmonths ago, we had a chance tomeet with Senator and Mrs.Roger Jepsen from Iowa, aChristian senator and his wifewho are working as a team onCapitol Hill. In this interview,they give us an encouragingreport of what God is doing inWashington, both behind thescenes and in the public eye.

An important complement tothe articles on the Americanchurch is Bob Mumford's reporton his recent visit with Christianleaders behind the Iron Curtain.It is a sobering look at the con-dition of Christians there with acommentary on some problemswe in the free world must face.

For further authoritative in-sight into some of the crucialissues emanating from the na-tion's capital, we talked withtwo men who are prominently in-

volved in Christian concernsthere: John Whitehead, a con-stitutional lawyer and author,and Robert Dugan, who directsthe Office of Public Affairs ofthe National Association ofEvangelicals in Washington.

Gary Bergel focuses onprayer in an exhortation to in-formed intercession for the na-tion. Gary is a frequent writerfor New Wine who currentlyserves as Director of Researchand Education for Intercessorsfor America in Washington. Theissue concludes with a finaloverview of church and state byEm Baxter.

During our interview withJohn Whitehead, he remarkedthat the first step for Christiansin expressing concern for theirgovernment is to educate them-selves. We trust that this issueof New Wine will be a signi-ficant help to you as you seekto become informed. Moreover,we pray that, once informed,you will be inspired both to in-tercede with wisdom and tobecome involved in the God-ordained responsibilities theChurch has toward Washington,our nation and the nations ofthe world.

AUGUST 1982

ThisM0nth THE CHURCH AND WASHINGTON. DC VoI.lJ~. 8. A~~ 1~2

Cover: Photo Research International

Magazine Staff:

EditorDick Leggatt

Editorial AssistantsBob Robinson. Nita Steffanic.Catherine Girod. Curtis Fonnan.Paul Thigpen. Stephen Simpson

ProductionMark Pie '. Art Director:

PhotographyChris Poole. Mike Reed

Chief Editorial ConsultantDon Basham

Editorial Board of Integrity Communications

Charles Simpson. Chainnan: Don Basham.Derek Prince. Bob Mumford. Em Baxter.John Duke. Joseph Garlington. TerryParker. Bruce Longstreth. Dick Coleman.Other Publications and MinistriesAssociated with New Wine Magazine:Fathergram: Integrity Publications; LifeChangers by Bob Mumford: Derek PrincePublications: Intercessors for America:BusinessGram; Fino Suet'O Magazine:Restore Magazine (available in Australia andNew Zealand only).@1982 by Integrity Communications. Allrights reserved. New Wine [ISSN 0194-438Xj[USPS 382-520] is published monthly by In-tegrity Communications. P.O. Box Z. Mobile.Alabama 36616. Second-class postage paid atMobile, AL. and additional mailing offices.

NEW WINE

Articles:

4. _The Church and Washington,D.C.by Charles SimpsonWhat are God's purposes for our na-tion's capital?

11. _God at Work in D. C.an interview with Senator andMrs. Roger JepsenA Christian senator and his wife pro-vide an encouraging, behind-the-scenes look at Washington.

15. _Behind the Iron Curtainan interview with Bob MumfordA report of a recent visit with Chris-tian leaders in Hungary and Czecho-slovakia.

19. _Going to the Center of Powerby H. Edward RoweGod's method of impacting a nationis to select a man, give him a mes-sage, and send him to its leaders.

27. _Warfare Over Washingtonby Gary BergelA call to intercessory battle for ourcapital city.

Regular Features:Editorial 2Tips for Fathers 6The Word 10Forum 22The Lighter Side 24Book Review 26To the Point. 33Dear New Wine 34

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- =-=-:.---_ ..---.~'--~~>==~=~;

l. •'j

The Church ..<".and

Washington, D.l:'~..by Charles Simpson ~:y"

What are God'spurposes for our

capital city?

Isit time for us to rediscoverthe role of the Church in our

nation? I believe that it is.Throughout history, church-staterelationships have taken a varietyof forms. At one end of the spec-trum is a close cooperation, suchas in the official state churches ofwestern Europe. At the other ex-treme is open hostility, such as inthe countries of eastern Europewhose officially atheistic govern-ments activelyrepress the Church.

The phrase that has historical-ly characterized church and staterelationships in the United States is"separation of church and state."Unfortunately, many Americanshave recently interpreted thisprinciple to mean separation ofGod and state-to the point ofproposing that the United Statesbecome an officially secular, evenatheistic state. Even now, theerosion of religious influence onour national policy is evident. All

of these developments indicatestrongly that it is time for us tofind again the relationship of theChurch to the government.

A Significant RoleChristopher Columbus, after

whom the District of Columbia wasnamed, was a deeply spiritualman. His sailing journals andmost of his private letters evi-dence his biblical knowledge andhis devout love for Jesus Christ.Columbus wrote in his Book ofProphesies:

I prayed to the most mercifulLord about my heart's greatdesire, and He gave me thespirit and the intelligence forthe task .... It was the Lordwho put in my mind (I couldfeel his hand upon me) to sailfrom here to the Indies .... Ihave found the sweetest con-solation since I made it my

4 AUGUST 1982

whole purpose to enjoy Hismarvelous presence. 1

Columbus's convictions aretypical of countless other men andwomen as well who contributed tothe establishment and growth ofour nation. From his day down toour own, faith in God has played amost significant role in our under-standing of government, propertyownership, justice, economics,freedom and almost every otheraspect of our national life.

Our history as a nation ishardly a history of church andstate separation. In fact, thewords "separation of church andstate" do not even appear in theConstitution. The Founding Fath-ers, far from wanting to diminishthe influence of existing churches,wanted rather to protect themfrom a nationwide, federallyestablished church. They had nointention to separate God fromthe state. Is this idea consistentwith God's revealed purposes forthe Church and society? For ananswer to that question we mustgo back to the Holy Scriptures-the place where we discover ourorigins, our purpose, and ourhistory, and where we can learnhow we as Christians, while re-maining distinct from society,can infuse it with biblical values.

The Church Is a CultureGod's intention is that His

people be a distinctive societywith unique beliefs and behavior,a society called to a unique des-tiny. In Exodus chapter 19 God ad-dresses the central issue of Israel'scall to be His chosen people:

"'Now if you obey me fullyand keep my covenant, thenout of all nations you will bemy treasured possession.Although the whole earth ismine, you will be for me akingdom of priests and a holynation.' These are the wordsyou are to speak to theIsraelites" (Ex. 19:5-6 NIV).

NEW WINE

God established a covenantwith Israel that would make themuniquely His from among all na-tions. Obedience to His principlesand laws would cause them to bedistinctive and holy-that is, "setapart." In this way Israel would bea kingdom-a holy nation thatserved as an instrument of God'spurpose for the entire earth.

In Matthew chapters 5 through7, Jesus makes it plain to Hisdisciples that He, like all theprophets of Israel before Him, ispreaching the message of a holynation-"the kingdom of God."He tells them that citizens of Hiskingdom will be characterized byhumility of spirit, tenderness ofheart, compassion, meekness,love of justice, purity and peace-making, qualities that wouldmake them distinct from the restof the world.

The message is clear: God'speople are a kingdom nation liv-ing as a unique culture within thepagan or secular world. As God'schosen people, they have a spe-cial purpose to impact the rest ofcreation redemptively-in Jesus'words, "to disciple the nations."Unlike natural Israel, the Churchdoes not exist as a distinctgeographical entity, but rather itis distinct spiritually as a holy na-tion permeating and disciplingother nations.

Internal IntegrityNeither God nor anyone else

will honor the prophetic voice of"'-people whose distinctiveness isnot characterized by internal in-tegrity. Bad examples discreditgood theology, for good theologyneeds models more than ad-vocates. For the Church to seekto instruct secular society withoutfirst obeying God is suicidal. Wemay provoke a fight with our so-ciety, but God won't fight for usunless we obey Him and so be-come distinctly His.

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesusgives us three models for our re-lationship to secular society:

1. The Church is to be salt.Salt is a preserving influence. Itpreserves because of its tremen-dous cohesive quality. Sand, onthe other hand, will not stick to-gether at all. In fact, Jesus saidthat when the Church loses itscohesive quality, it will be scat-tered and trodden upon likesand. We, in contrast, are to besalt, a cohesive force drawingthings together in a society that isoften falling apart.

2. The Church is to be light.Light illuminates and reveals.The fire of God in the Churchproduces light and illuminatesthe Church with divine revela-tion. In turn, the Church be-comes the agent of God's wisdomrevealed to the world.

Our eyes cannot see electrici-ty, but we can see light producedby electricity. In the same way,the world cannot see the HolySpirit-but it can see the light ofHis wisdomwhen revealed throughthe practical daily life of theChurch. The Church is a trans-former, translating the inspira-tion of the Holy Spirit into prac-tical wisdom that can be seen bysecular society.

Ephesians 3:10 declares thatGod's intent is to reveal His man-ifold wisdom to the world throughthe Church. We must bear inmind that the wisdom of God isnot limited to what we might call"religious" wisdom. Rather,God's wisdom is both spiritualand practical. It has applicationsin economics, sociology, govern-ment and all other humanendeavors. God wants to pour

Charles Simpson received his education fromWilliam Carey College in Hattiesburg, Missis-sippi, and at New Orleans Baptist TheologicalSeminary. Besides his pastoral duties and an in-ternational ministrY, Charles is chairman of theEditorial Board of New Wine Magazine. He re-sides in Mobile with his wife, Carolyn, and theirthree children.

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His all-encompassing wisdomthrough the Church.

3. The Church is to be a cityon a hill. God's people are to bethe model of divine society. Petersaid that when pagans behold thegood works of God's people, eventhey willglorify God (1 Pet. 2:12).Think of it-pagans glorifyingGod because of the excellent wayin which the Church is function-ing as a social order!

The Church must model itsmessage before commending it tothe world. We cannot preachrighteousness, peace and joyeffectively if there is not cor-porate righteousness, peace and

Tips for FathersItwas early in 1942. The lights were

out in our small apartment. Thesirens were wailing in the night. Thestreets were pitch black. The whole citywas in darkness. Mom and I huddled bythe small radio. The tiny dial light wasthe only light in the house.

New Orleans was experiencing anair raid drill in the early days of WorldWar II. Dad was out of the state preach-ing the gospel. Mom and I were alone. Iwas not quite six years old. She explainedto me about the war and that I should notbe afraid because the Lord would takecare of us. I will never forget the awfuldarkness, wailing sirens and feeling ofhelplessness. Neither will I forget thecomfort of the confidence I had in myparents. I could trust them.

Years proved them right. God waswith us.

America is again in crisis years.Spiritual darkness is all around us andwarning voices cry in the night. It is timefor parents to draw nearer to their chil-dren, and tell them about God's faithful-ness to those who trust in Him.

Charles Simpson

"Tips for Fathers" are provided by Fathergram. If youwould like to be added to their mailing list. write:Fathergram. P.O. Box Z. Mobile. AL 36616

joy within the Church. And themodel the Church shows to theworld must be one which is soundenough and strong enough tostand up under the pressures itwill inevitably encounter.

One Saturday I decided topatch the holes in my driveway,so 1 borrowed my father-in-law'sjeep and small wooden trailer. Atthe asphalt company, 1 posi-tioned my trailer under a chuteleading out of a gigantic vat ofasphalt Torrents of it came rushingdown, flooding my flimsy littletrailer. The sides groaned andbulged, the tires went flat andthen the wheels buckled and benton their axles. 1felt so inadequate.

As 1dragged the flattened trailerout from under the chute, a big ten-wheel diesel dump truck took myplace. When the asphalt stoppedraining into his big steel truck hepulledout effortlessly,looking downon me as he passed by.

The model Jesus built was in-tended to be strong enough tohaul the tremendous payload ofdiscipIing nations, but we find ourmodels small and flimsy, bucklingunder a weighty eternal purpose.The Church is intended to be asuccessful model accomplishingits purpose of bringing redemp-tion, stability and illumination tothe rest of the world. But to do soit must have the internal integrityand soundness of structure neces-sary to accomplish the task.

Adjusting to God's PurposeMost of us would probably

agree that the Church is not cur-rently succeeding as a majorforce for social impact. Granted,some individual churches are do-ing a good job-but corporatelyand overall the Church is not amajor influence in American life.Recent polls in U.S. News andWorld Report indicate that theChurch is rated in twenty-sixthplace among the factors that influ-ence American society. Other sur-veys indicate as well that theChurch is far behind business, la-

bar, the media, political parties,consumer organizations and othergroups in influence.

How is the Church to gain aposition of influence in our na-tion so that we can be salt, lightand a city on a hill? 1 would liketo suggest some ways in which theChurch must adjust if it is to fulfillthe purposes God has given us:

1. The Church needs a newphilosophy of wholeness whichrecognizes both the interdepen-dence of all creation as well as itsown position under Christ as thecornerstone of the social andcreated orders.

2. The Church needs a newtheology of the kingdom of Godmanifested not just in heaven butin the earth as well, just as ourLord taught us to pray. Escapismhas diverted our attention andthwarted our efforts at being salt,light and a city.

3. The Church needs an under-standing of structure and ecclesio-logy which will enable it to mar-shall its resources for God's pur-poses in the earth. It needs aclearer comprehension of what itmeans to be "jointed" togetherin His body and a recognitionthat no body "member" can func-tion alone. As long as the Churchdisplays disunity on basic issues-all in the name of Jesus- it willfrustrate its mission, waste re-sources and confuse secularleadership.

4. The Church must maintaina posture of sanctification with-out isolation. Some Christianshave fled the world to be holy;others have forsaken holiness tobe "relevant." We must be bothholy and involved if we are goingto influence the world as salt,light, and a city.

5. The Church must cultivate aredemptive, prophetic posturethat presents clearly the freespiritual and moral choiceswhich face society. We must sayas Moses did to the people, "Ihave set before you life anddeath, blessings and curses. Now

AUGUST 1982

choose life" (Dt. 30:19 NIV).The Church should make it

clear that we are not "coercingpeople into the Kingdom," butrather proclaiming it to them. Theenemy would like to portrayChristians as dictatorial domina-tors seeking to gain power andtake away freedom. But the truthof the matter is that atheism, notChristianity, is the world's great-est enemy of freedom. Whereverspiritual freedom is lost, politicalrepression is not far behind.

Jesus did not come to condemnthe world, but to proclaim the gos-pel of the Kingdom that deliversmankind out of the old worldorder. We must strive to alter ourstance as "condemners," and tobecome instead declarers of thegovernment of God in a positivefashion.

6. The Church must patientlyconstruct models of Kingdom lifewhich by their very character willpresent our message more clearlythan words. Those models mustreflect what being a Christianmeans, and how Christians cansuccessfully relate to each otherand society. Any attempts to evan-gelize without modeling will ulti-mately fail.

7. The Church must learn torecognize and respect the work ofGod wherever it appears, and notallow sectarian insecurities tocause rejection, alienation, orpersecution of other God-fearingpeople whose beliefs or behaviormay differ from our own.

Targeting Our ConcernsIt has been said that if you aim

at nothing you will surely hit it. Itis time for the Church to be spe-cific. How can we focus our con-cerns and resources to impactour society? I believe that one ofthe first steps we need to take isto direct our attention to our na-tion's capital: Washington, D.C.

Washington is every American'ssecond city, our national "home."The sixty-nine square mile areawe call the District of Columbia is

NEW WINE

the seat of the United States gov-ernment and the custodian of ourarchives, treasuries and bureau-cracies. It is headquarters forover 2,000 national organiza-tions, and also the focus of unbe-lievable spiritual and politicalpressure, both national and inter-national.

Our nation's capital is actuallymany cities:

1. Washington is a governmen-tal dty. The predominant enter-prise of the city is government.Thirty-six percent of all Washing-tonians work for the federal govern-ment and eight percent for the Dis-trict. The monthly government pay-roll is approximately 350 milliondollars.

2. Washington is a religiouscity. Over 3,000 churches andhundreds of parachurch minis-tries are in Washington, spend-ing a total of more than one bil-lion dollars annually. Many ofthese ministries demonstrateheroic dedication and effort tosolve seemingly impossible prob-lems. The city is home to a num-ber of Christian universities,halfwayhouses, rehabilitation centers, Bi-ble studies, prison ministries, med-ical clinics, youth ministries, hous-ing rehabilitation programs, pover-ty outreaches and day-care centers-all in addition to the traditionalchurches there.

3. Washington is an interna-tional city, with embassies and im-migrants from virtually the wholeworld.

4. Washington is a city of law-yers, with over 34,OOO-more thanany state in the United States.

5. Washington is an educatedcity. Over one fourth of its cit-izens over twenty-six years of agehold a college degree.

6. Washington is a rich city.One fifth of the households havean income of at least $35,000and the median family income is$20,800. It was recently rated asthe second best city in the UnitedStates in which to live (a judg-ment openly debated).

7. Washington is a poor dty.Nearly one fifth of the populationlivebelow the poverty level ($8,000per year for a family of four). Onesixth (108,300) receive foodstamps; one eighth (80,000)receive Aid to Dependent Child-ren.

8. Washington is a city ofbirth problems. Fifty-eight per-cent of its births are illegitimate(as compared to the national aver-

l Washington, D.C., somehow reflectsour national predicament, then successthere could become a model for thewhole nation.

age of 17%). More children areaborted than born every year(13,300 to 9,200). A total ofabout 18,000 children are eitherborn illegitimately or abortedeach year, while only about 4,200are born within wedlock. In addi-tion, Washington has the highestinfant mortality rate of any Amer-ican city, and one of the highestin the western world-27 deathsper 1,000 infants.

9. Washington is a city of sin-gles. One half of the populationover fifteen years of age is single.The life-styleof many Washington-ians does not embrace marriageand traditional family values.

10. Washington is a "step-child"dty. It has no voting represen-tation in the federal governmentand is dominated by representa-tives of other areas. Much of theproperty in D.C. is not taxed, sinceit is owned by the federal govern-ment. The first mayor-councilgovernment was finally estab-lished in 1967, but the local gov-ernment is so immeshed in thefederal presence that it canscarcely act on its own in anyarea of concern.

11. Washington is a tenant city.A significant percentage of itshousing is owned by absentee

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'Flood. Robert. America. God Shed HisGrace On Thee. Chicago: Moody Bible In-stitute. 1975. pp. 30-31.

Friday, August 6, is a national day of prayer and fasting.

the light are in the Church.5. When Christian leaders in

D.C. tell the rest of us what Godis saying to them, we must mar-shal our resources to supporttheir efforts to impact our capitalcity and government.

Chicago, Los Angeles, NewYork, Houston and other Amer-ican cities are important to ournational life, but Washington,D.C., is uniquely vital to all of us.The fragmentation and alienationin D.C. are mirrored throughoutAmerica Health and holism therewill have the potential to bringhealing to the entire Church andnation, and will make the Churchin D.C. truly a city set on a hill.

Does such an aggressive stancereflect intolerance toward thepluralism of our society? Is it anattempt to make some form ofChristianity the official religion ofthe United States? Are we assum-ing that we can legislate a partic-ular brand of morality? The answerto all of these questions is a firmno. The position we are advocat-ing here is an acknowledgmentthat our nation has throughoutits history had a relationship tothe God of the Bible. It is a rec-ognition that historic democraticprinciples based on that relation-ship cannot be maintained inisolation from Him. It is also anadmonition that He is the Onewho commanded us to put Himfirst, and to love one another.Unless we are prepared to repudi-ate our history, our heritage andour Creator, we must repent andreturn to His ways.

Today would not be too early,but tomorrow may be too late ....

8

landlords. The degree of hostilitybetween tenants and landlords isevidenced by the five hundredcivil suits per day that these twogroups file against each other.Jury trial requests in tenant-land-lord suits equal requests in allother civil suits combined.

12. Washington is a crime.plagued city. It has the sixthhighest crime rate in the UnitedStates (though it is fifteenth inpopulation) and more police percapita than any other city.

13. Washington is a city witha growing homosexual population.According to the September 1980issue of the Washington Maga-zine, D.C. may well become thehomosexual capital of America.Three of the last five presidentsof the Gay Activists' Alliancehave been federal employees.Ten years ago, federal policy pro-hibited homosexual employment.Today the atmosphere is openlypermissive. There are over thirty"gay" bars, a "gay" newspaper, and"gay" churches in Washington.

The Church and WashingtonCan the Church be salt, light

and a city in Washington, D.C.?The Church was all those thingsin Jerusalem, Ephesus and Rome,and it can be in D.C. as well.Multitudes of genuine Christiansin D.C. and allover the UnitedStates are beginning to lookclosely at our nation's capital andto seek God for answers to itsproblems.

Because Washington is not acity which is easy to impact, ourdesire is not to criticize ordenigrate any effort to affect itpositively or to minister to itsneeds. We need the efforts of allGod's people. Our concern is toincrease the effectiveness ofChristian culture as it seeks to besalt, light, and a city. If Washing-ton, D.C., somehow reflects ournational predicament, then suc-cess there could become a modelfor the whole nation.

I would like to offer a few per-

sonal observations about the taskahead of us:

1. The Christian leadership ofour nation should no longer beintimidated by secular "experts"who have not solved our problems.

2. Our nation's capital in all itsaspects should become a focus ofChristians nationwide. We "allhave a serious stake in any devel-opments taking place there,because it is the matrix of our na-tional government. Christiansmust express their interest byvoting for representatives whorepresent biblical values and byinvolving themselves with plausibleefforts to strengthen our capitaland its government morally.

3. Spiritual leaders in Wash-ington need to make every pos-sible effort to come together andseek the Lord for direction andstrategy. I personally believe thatD.C.'s problems will not be solvedfrom Alabama, California or NewYork. We can be resources, butthose God has placed in Wash-ington itself must rise to their ap-pointed tasks. And they must risetogether-liberal and conserva-tive; Catholic and Protestant;charismatic and evangelical;black and white; church andparachurch. Partisanship is trea-son in times like these.

The problems are bigger thanany single segment of the Churchcan handle. Until the leadershipof the Church comes together itwill not find divine wisdom andstrength for the task.

4. Once they sense God'sstrategy, church leaders must ad-dress the government, industryand social agencies concerningthe legitimate roles of these in-stitutions. It is time the Churchoccupied its prophetic office andceased waiting for someone elseto write the agenda. The salt and**********************jREMEMBER:

AUGUST 1982

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August 1982Instruction in the fundamentals of the faith is an important part of our Christian heritage. ''The Word" feature over the course of the

year will provide a systematic, seasonal study of basic teachings about the creation and fall of man, the person and work of Christ. andthe nature and destiny of the Church. We encourage our readers to use this feature daily. both for personal scripture study and familyreading.

lJ[}:{]~ 1,,-- _D

I believe in the Holy Spirit, whose presence in the life ofeach believer produces the fruit of righteous behavior.I. The Fruit of Righteousness: An Overview

A. Fruit in season Ps. 1 Aug. 1B. The planting of the Lord Is. 61 Aug. 2C. Fleshly works and spiritual fruit Gal. 5: 16-26 Aug. 3D. Fruit of the light. Eph. 5:1-21 Aug. 4

ll. The Fruit of the Spirit: A Closer LookA. Love

1. The greatest thing 1 Cor. 13 Aug. 52. Evidence of new birth 1 In. 3: 11-24 Aug. 63. Fulfillment of the Law Lk. 10:25-37 Aug. 7

B. Joy1. Manifest in the redeemed Is. 35: 1-10 Aug. 82. Produced by salvation Lk. 15:1-32 Aug. 93. Persecuted but unperturbed Mt. 5:10-16 Aug. 10

C. Peace1. Provided by God Ps. 85:1-13 Aug. 112. Preached by Jesus Eph. 2:11-22 Aug. 123. Pursued by the saints Heb. 12:14-29; 13:20-21 Aug. 13

D. Patience1. Slow to anger Ps. 103 Aug. 142. Quick to forgive Mt. 18:23-35 Aug. 153. Persevering under trial Ja. 1:1-20 Aug. 16

E. Kindness1. Rewarded by God Mt. 25:31-40 Aug. 172. Required for servants 2 Cor. 6:1-13 Aug. 183. Jesus the example Ti. 3:1-8 Aug. 19

F. Goodness1. Received from God Ps. 27 Aug. 202. Repaid to one another. Phile. 1-25 (esp. vs. 14) Aug. 213. Sown and reaped abundantly 2 Cor. 9:1-15 Aug. 22

G. Faithfulness1. A faithful Word Is. 25:1-12 Aug. 232. A faithful God Lam. 3:19-37 Aug. 243. A faithful steward Lk. 16:10-13 Aug. 25

H. Gentleness]. Strengthening Ps. 18:25-31 Aug. 262. Restoring Gal. 6:1-10 Aug. 273. Enlightening Ja. 3:13-18 Aug. 28

I. Self-Control1. Required to lead Ti..1:1-19 Aug. 292. Required to run the race 1 Cor. 9:23-27 Aug. 303. Required to know God 1 Pet. 1:1-11 Aug. 31

A monthly Bible Study by Bruce Longstreth

God atWorkin D.C.

an interview with Senator and Mrs.Roger Jepsen

u.s. SenatorRoger Jepsen(R-/owa) and hiswife, Dee, havebeen the focus ofa number of re-ports aboutChristian activi-ty in govern-ment circles in Washington, D.C. While inWashington recently, New Wine had the op-portunity to talk with the Senator and Mrs. Jep-sen about the spiritual climate in our nation'scapital, the unique pressures confronting them asthey walk out their Christian faith in a verypublic and prominent position, and the concernsand hopes they have both for Washington andour nation.

New Wine: Senator, what do you think are themost pivotal issues now facing our nation?

NEW WINE

Senator and Mrs.Roger Jepsen

Sen. Jepsen: Ofcourse, the oneissue that is inthe forefrontmore than anyother is the gen-eral health of theeconomy. Manyof the economic

factors that are signposts of a sound economy arelooking better, thanks to the current administra-tion's economic recovery program. But the econ-omy is recovering more slowly than the Presidentand Congress would like to see, and this in turn af-fects the budget planning and projections into thecoming year.

Other issues that are prominent in this session ofCongress are school prayer, school bussing and theconstitutional amendments with regard to abortionand a balanced budget.

NW: What would you say is the "spiritual cli-mate" these days in Washington?

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RJ: I believe a change in atmosphere and directionis taking place in which the climate of humanistthinking that has existed in the capital for so long isnow being counteracted. A spiritual rebirth is cer-tainly taking place with an acknowledgment of Godand a return to the basic perspectives which havebeen distorted or lost in the last twenty-five years.The Bible tells us to judge a tree, not by its leaves,but by its fruits. I am glad to say that this spiritualrefocusing has not been simply lip service-it hasled to action.

The President of the United States has set theexample by his public statements such as: "Theyears that I have left, I give to Him." And our presi-dent does more than just talk. By his action he givesboth courage and reinforcement to the growingnumber of people here who have a personalrelationship with Jesus Christ.

The President's committee on voluntarism is agood example. He is encouraging people to care forpeople, neighbors to care for neighbors, the church

~e spiritual advancestaking place here in Washington

encourage Christians andgive others cause to reflect.

community to give compassionate help to familieson a local basis. This decentralization, "the newfederalism," is attempting to counteract the human-istic concept of strong centralized government thatgrows uncontrollably and attempts to regulate peo-ple's private and business lives. All this is beingchallenged and changed, and the reaction in thiselection year will undoubtedly be emotional.

Besides the change in spiritual climate, there is adefinite increase in the number of Christians here,and more and more of them are finally taking their"candle out from under the bushel" and saying,"I'm not going to worry about losing my job or be-ing harassed for professing my faith in JesusChrist." The number of prayer meetings, .Biblestudy groups and gatherings is growing.

Two or three months after Secretary of the In-terior Jim Watt was appointed, I called him to lethim know that we had something in common. I toldhim, "I understand that you belong to the Assem-blies of God. We also support and attend the As-semblies of God." There was just a second ofsilence and then a big, "Praise the Lord!" Whoeverheard of a Cabinet member of the United Statesshouting, "Praise the Lord!" over the telephone? Itwas a tremendous encouragement to me.

The "Washington for Jesus" rally made a deepimpression on many people here. The policemenand other city officials who were accustomed todemonstrations marked by disrespect for the law,rowdiness and even violence were amazed at thisdemonstration. The fact that over two hundredthousand happy, peaceful and respectful peoplegathered together without violence or disobedienceto the law had a great impact on them. The spiritualadvances taking place here in Washington encour-age Christians and give others cause to reflect.Even the Washington Post wrote a feature story onthe Christian activity in Washington, D.C.-and itwas a relatively objective and accurate report.

NW: What has been your experience with thenews media here in Washington?RJ: We are learning that the national tenor of presscoverage of events in Washington emanates fromthe Washington press more than we had realized.The image that people across the country have ofthe capital is largely determined by a small core ofkey media people here. The media offices in Wash-ington can put something on the wires and-whether accurate or inaccurate-it fans out acrossthe country. For example, the Washington Post ar-ticle I mentioned has been reprinted in newspapersand magazines all over the nation and even down inthe Caribbean.

We have found that there are those in the mediawho are anxiously waiting for the chance to accusea person in a public office of using the Lord orChristianity to political advantage. They say sar-castically, "He didn't decide to become a Christianuntil he decided to run for office." We have to beespecially careful that we sincerely reflect our desireto be used by the Lord, rather than to use His namefor political gain. And we have the responsibility asbelievers to go beyond what is expected in our workto do an even better job than others, so that we willbe above reproach by the media.

I've also learned in office that in this age of elec-tronic media, you must be able to present what youhave to say in twenty-seven seconds-and make itcatchy-if you hope to get any media coverage. Sowe're doing our best to utilize the opportunities wehave to communicate through the media to theAmerican public.

NW: What are some of the unique pressures fac-ing you as a senator?RJ: The fast-track, heady atmosphere in the capitalof the United States is one where pressure-peerpressure, media pressure, and constituent pres-sure-is continual. The pace of life here is all-con-suming, and even with good intentions, a personcan be totally swept away by the schedule of prac-

AUGUST 1982

tically round-the-clock activity.Consequently, you can lose first of all the right

perspective, and lose it very easily and quickly, as Ihave personally discovered. Next, you can begin tolose firmness in your values because of the pres-sures to do what is pragmatic and expedient. Forexample, a senator may be voting in a situationwhere he knows that his vote is not critical in thefinal outcome of the legislation. If he knows thatvoting according to what he believes is right willsubject him to a great deal of criticism, he may betempted to vote the other way and justify it by say-ing, "It won't make any difference in the end." Andhis staff is subjected to the same kind of pressure.

We have to pray every morning, rememberingthat it's God's will and not ours that must be done.We have to ask for strength and wisdom, but alsofor physical and emotional health so that we cankeep the right perspective. It's very easy in this at-mosphere to jump into the current of humanismthat has been flowing here so powerfully for solong. Many staffs-and especially the folks thathave been in the office on a career basis for anumber of years-are caught up in the current.Huge egos are involved that contribute to the at-mosphere of power.

It's easy as well to become expediently-andeven "righteously"-impatient, to say, "I just don'thave the time to hear or consider what someoneelse may think because, after all, I know what's bestfor the people, I have all the facts, and I was electedby them to make the decisions." If you don't keepyour eye on the Lord, you easily get off the track.And when you do, it isn't long until you're on thefast track of the quest for power. Once you get inthat race, you have a hard time either backing outof it or slowing down to say, "Can't we all stop andstart over?"

NW: Have you personally felt the pressure youmentioned of making decisions which you thinkare right but which are politically disadvan-tageous to you?RJ: Certainly. I believe that what I'm doing is right,but the pressure builds continually, especially fromthose who lobby on an organized basis-often try-ing to influence you because their employment withthe government or their benefits from a particularprogram are at stake. They nave ways to exert pres-sure, especially through ridicule.

The press coverage is often a continuallydepressing pressure. It is easy to become preoc-cupied with the fact that people are paying close at-tention to everything you do. But such attention isnormal, and you have to learn to deal with it andwith the often negative coverage of the press. Weare always dealing with negative concerns, and

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rarely with the positive ones. We're always workingwith problems; that's the nature of the work.

I was accustomed to this in my former occupa-tion as a sales manager, because my job was to trainand motivate the people who were having problems-and when you are finished helping those people,others were waiting with more problems. I wasworking with negative situations all the time, so Ihad some conditioning before I came here. My wifehelps me keep the right perspective; she's my bal-ance wheel and is actively involved in all that's tak-ing place.

In spite of the pressures, however, the examplethat is being set by Christians who are active in of-fice and on staffs at all levels is making a real andsignificant difference here in Washington. It is ex-citing-every day something new happens.

NW: Mrs. Jepsen, what are your primary con-cerns in your involvement in the Senator's workhere?Dee Jepsen: Perhaps the greatest struggle we faceis time-it is difficult to meet all the demands madeon us. I am also concerned about the opposition weare encountering in our support of the family.When you must deal with individuals and organizedgroups who are opposed even to the use of the word"family," or opposed to values that we consider tobe a crucial part of our heritage, it is deeply disturb-

God seems tobe giving extra gracefor us to work in a spirit of love, and Ithink that His grace is the answer tomany prayers of people who haveinterceded for this country by asking forforgiveness, blessing, and guidance.

ing. And like my husband, I am frustrated at timesby members of the news media who strongly opposethe present trend back to the Judeo-Christian valuesystem, and who inaccurately or prejudicially reporton issues that touch on those values.

But many positive things are happening; asRoger has said, God is truly moving. The Biblesays that as the light becomes lighter, thedarkness will become darker. We're in a spir-itual battle, but it's exciting to be around tosee what the Lord is doing. And in the midstof all these exciting events, we must remem-

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ber to do the work we're sent to do. We have to bevery careful that we don't neglect God's purposesfor us.

Another important concern I have is one that Ithink needs to be shared by those in the Christiancommunity who are becoming newly active in thepolitical scene. We need to encourage Christians tobe responsible citizens, but we need to remindthem that whatever we do, we're called to do it inthe spirit of love. We must remember not to judgethe motivations and intentions of others. Often wewill meet believers who don't hold the same polit-ical views we hold, yet their hearts may be just asright before the Lord as ours. This doesn't meanthat I can't oppose what they are doing politically,but it does mean that I should work against theideas and programs rather than the people. I thinkwe've got to be very careful about that.

God seems to be giving extra grace for us towork in a spirit of love, and I think that His grace isthe answer to many prayers of people who haveinterceded for this country by asking for forgive-ness, blessing and guidance. That's why peopleneed to continue to pray both individually and cor-porately for the government.

NW: What further prayer concerns should Chris-tians have?DJ: We need to pray for a continuation of the spir-itual rebirth in this country, and for a unity thattranscends differences. On a natural level these aredifficult times, and we will have to do some belttightening. Even people who have accepted austeri-ty as inevitable will be tempted to lash out at uswhen they are hurting financially. People will say,"The government is inflicting this hardship uponus; they don't care about us." In fact, however,many people in the government do care very much,and they care enough not to take the easy way outby continuing to provide more and more by goingfurther and further in debt. They care enough toface the reality that we can't do it, that we have tofind a better way. That's why I serve on the taskforce on voluntarism and private sector initiatives.What will have the greatest impact on poverty isGod's people all over the country becoming mobi-lized to reach out to those around them.

NW: How would you sum up the spiritual situa-tion in the capital?RJ: I want people to know that God is at work inWashington. When Christians come here and findthat the Senate has a prayer breakfast everyWednesday morning, the House has a prayer break-fast every Thursday morning, and people meettogether regardless of party to share with oneanother and praise the Lord, they are astonished.

Invariably they say, "Do you know how good thismakes me feel? We're going home to tell ourfriends."

Sometimes when a congressman tells his consti-tuents in a public setting that he attends a prayerbreakfast, people immediately accuse him of wear-ing his religion on his sleeve. But we must let peo-ple know that what has been so widely publi-cized-Abscam, for example-is not all that's hap-pening here. The image many Americans have ofWashington is inaccurate and we have a responsi-bility to correct that image.

Christians need to realize as well that God is notonly at work in Washington; there have been changesacross the whole country as well. Up until three orfour years ago, many Americans felt the govern-ment bureaucracy in Washington was so big thatthey couldn't change it, so they took a fatalistic at-titude. But we've seen a rebirth of the grass-rootsapproach in this country, a recognition that we area country of laws where we change things by bal-lots, not by bullets. If a person really wants tochange something, we're structured for change.

For years we've had an abundance of technology-but we haven't had much wisdom to go with it.And we've had power without peace. But peoplefinally began asking themselves, "Who am I? Whyam I here? Where am I going?" More and more peo-ple began questioning the direction of our societyand our nation, until finally they simply said,"That's enough-enough of this government in-volvement in our business and private lives, enoughbig government, enough of this no-value, no-guide-line system." And they effectively expressed them-selves in the best way-at the ballot box.DJ: The President has recognized this new attitudein the country, and along with the spirit of politicalinvolvement he wants to reawaken the spirit of giv-ing in America. We hope to see that spirit awaken-ing in people sitting in church pews all over thiscountry. If we get volunteers who serve out of a tru-ly spiritual motivation, their commitment will bedeep and lasting. The Church must recognize, nowmore than ever, that we have a biblical mandate toserve.RJ: Christians need to realize that one person canmake a difference. My favorite poem, "One ManAwake" by Helen Cromer, presents the challengeclearly:

One man awake can waken anotherAnd the second man can awaken his brotherAnd three awake can rouse a townBy turning the whole place upside downAnd the many awake finally make such a fussThat they awaken the rest of us.One man up with dawn in his eyesMultiplies .....

AUGUST 1982

INTERNATIONAL

C~NCERNS

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Photos: left, &bMumford; right.Czech police(Wide WorldPhotos).

J : BehindI ~~~~the

Iron Curtainan interview with

Bob Mumfordmake me an expert on eastern Europe. But it stillmade a significant impact on me.

The basic conviction that I came away with isthat it does matter what you believe as a nation. Itstaggers me to realize the drastic changes that tookplace in China when it believed communism, andwhat happened to eastern Europe when it believedcommunism. If you were to compare all the nationsof the world by significant characteristics such asproductivity-or even by attitudes toward womenand children-it would be obvious that how a na-tion responds to the gospel has direct results in itscharacter and structure.

Pure humanism-such as Marx's "dialectical ma-terialism" on which communism is based-has bornin eastern Europe all the inevitable fruits ofatheism, including a total disregard for the value ofhuman life. Atheistic nations treat a human beinglike a shrub. If a shrub is standing in the placewhere I want to put a driveway, I uproot the shrub.Pure materialism, which doesn't recognize humanbeings as being cr~ated in the image of God, treatshuman life with total disregard. It assigns to peopleno intrinsic value other than to serve the state.

We visited Czechoslovakia and Hungary and at-tempted to go into Poland, but were unable to do sobecause of the present political unrest there. Thespiritual climate in Czechoslovakia was severelyoppressive. I would say Czechoslovakia was nearly

/

New Wine: Could you give us some of your im-pressions of the countries you just recentlyvisited?Bob Mumford: For years, I have done a great dealof reading and studying about communist-domi-nated countries, but I still wasn't personally pre-pared for the kind of impact my visit to Czechoslo-vakia and Hungary had on me.

I need to preface my remarks by saying that I wasonly there three and a half days, and that does not

NEW WINE

New Wine's regular feature, "International Con-cerns, " presents this month a report from ourEditorial Board member Bob Mumford on his re-cent visit to Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

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twice as intense in spiritual pressure and darknessas Hungary. It's interesting that Hungary used to bean extremely oppressive society following the revoltin 1956, and Czechoslovakia was less restrictive.But now Hungary is less restrictive and has a betterstandard of living than any other eastern Europeannation in the communist bloc, due in part to thefact that the government there has returned owner-ship of about 25% of the land to private citizens fora modified type of free enterprise. But even thoughthe standard of living has risen measurably in Hun-gary-partially as a result of increased tourism-theantagonism toward the Church has not lessened.

NW: How did the opportunity arise for you tovisit those countries?BM: Several Christian leaders I know have been in-volved in the Eastern bloc for some years, and Ihave had an increasing concern for them and forwhat we could do to strengthen them. My intentionin going into the Eastern bloc was not to conductany public meetings, but simply to meet with severalsignificant leaders there.

NW: What were your feelings as you first wentinto the communist countries?BM: Let me describe the border crossing for you,because that scene probably had the greatest im-pact upon me. We took no Bibles or Christian liter-ature of any kind with us because of the basic an-tagonism toward the faith there. It was the first timein twenty-six years that I had been without a Bible.Usually wherever I go, I carry at least a little NewTestament, but for four days I was without a Bible.At the border crossing were huge, steel-reinforcedconcrete bunkers and an immense steel gate sostrong that it couldn't be breached with a truck. Ahundred yards away on each side of the checkpointwas a tower with two guards carrying automaticweapons and two guards at each gate to check ve-hicles as they passed through. There were elec-trified fences on each side of the crossing area witha dirt-covered "no-man's-land" between, which wasdragged quite frequently with a harrow so that anyfootprints would show up clearly. A team of threeguards constantly walked the fence with Germanshepherds. All of the guards were armed withautomatic weapons, and they searched our carcarefully, banged on the doors, looked under theseats and checked everything, all the while watch-ing us like hawks.

NW: What was it like once you crossed theborder?BM: Once we were inside the country, we had theoverwhelming realization that we had stepped intoa police state. The joke among the people in those

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Icountries is that the reason for all those fences andguards at the border is to keep all the Westernersfrom trying to break into the country because it issuch a "workers' paradise."

But being in such a police state was very painful.The fact is that anywhere there are Western people,secret police and informers are close by. So whenyou are in a restaurant or someone approaches thetable, you just don't talk.

I'm not trying to make this sound' like a spymovie, but in order to go to a home without arous-ing suspicion we actually did have to park threeblocks away from it and walk a circuitous route tomake sure we weren't being followed. Then, to goin unnoticed, we went in one at a time. We wantedto be careful that our action didn't increase thepressure on the people that were there.

It would have been possible for us to do some-thing unwise which jeopardized Christians there,and then leave the country safely. But the peoplewe would have exposed would have suffered be-cause of our mistake, If I came to your house,knocked on the door and said, "Hi, I'm here fromAmerica to see you," the secret police would ask,"Why did they come to see you?" One of the menwe met has just been exposed by a set of circum-stances similar to what I just described, and thepolice were very methodically closing in on him. Hewas in great agony over it. He had already spent fiveand a half years in prison, where he had been beat-en up repeatedly and left for dead. So after beingreleased from that, to be under suspicion again was

AUGUST 1982

a crushing pressure to him, and tears ran down hisface as he talked with us about it.

NW: How does the police-state environment af-fect the spiritual condition of the people youmet?BM: Again, I didn't meet with many believers-mostly just leaders-so I can't offer an assessmentof how all the believers are in general. I do know,however, that in those kinds of circumstances youdon't have many who are lukewarm in their commit-ment. Either they commit themselves utterly to theLord, or the pressure eventually overcomes themand they capitulate to the system.

The leaders I met with were admirable, strong,committed men. They were also weighted down-you could feel the load that they were continuallycarrying because of the government's continualsuspicion. What was most noticeable to me was theawful impact upon them of never knowing whomthey could trust or whom they could talk to since in-formers were everywhere, even among the be-lievers. Strangely, even some misguided believersfelt that it was their duty to inform on otherbelievers by virtue of some misapplication ofRomans 13.

This suspicion was the most obvious burden theycarried, and of course my feeling is that the only an-tidote to that problem of suspicion is to understandsomething of covenantal relationships that woulddispel the suspicion. The atmosphere of suspicionin which they live seems almost designed by thestate to keep anyone from forming a brotherhoodother than the collective state. Everything seemsdesigned to prevent people from finding each otherin a meaningful way because that would enablethem to draw strength from one another. For thatreason they keep society fragmented. Even thoughthe men we met with knew the men I came with, itstill took several hours for them to move from smalltalk to more open conversation. Even though theyknew who we were and we knew who they were, ittook several hours to work through the suspicion sothat we could openly share our hearts with oneanother.NEW WINE

NW: What can we do to strengthen the believersthere?BM: The first thing I would say we need to do is tointercede for them. The whole intercessory burdenis something that needs to concern all of us. Wehave Intercessors for America-it would be good tohave as well an "Intercessors for Christians in theCommunist World."

Next, I believe we need to pray for them to hearthe kind of Christian truth that will enable them togrow. Christian growth is not automatic, and almostall they have heard in the last twenty years is thebasic salvation message. They have had very littleteaching on the kingdom of God which would en-able them to go beyond an initial salvation mentali-ty into something which would help them to impacttheir nation.

The third thing which would encourage themwould be for Americans to change their attitudetoward freedom. Many Americans have adopted theattitude that there is nothing worth fighting for. Inother words, we stand idly by while an insidious ero-sion of our freedom takes place. Rarely are we will-ing to draw the line, take a stand and fight for cer-tain liberties that were guaranteed by our Constitu-tion and mandated by the biblical base upon whichour nation was founded. When the Christians incommunist countries see us throwing away our lib-erty, it has a very confusing effect on them. Whenleaders there see us entertaining and often embrac-ing forms of socialism which have caused the tragicend results they are presently having to live with, ithas a very discouraging impact on them. They simp-ly can't understand why we can't see what ishappening in our society.

Those are three definite needs I sense-an inter-cessory concern for these people, truth for them togrow on and our need to draw the line as a nation.

NW: How has your visit to the Eastern bloc af-fected you and your views of what is takingplace in our nation?BM: When a nation rejects God, it doesn't stopbelieving, it starts to believe anything. I've been toGermany five or six times, and the Christians inGermany tell me that the failure of the church iswhat created the spiritual vacuum into which Hitlercame. The liberal church, by failing to proclaim aclear biblical mandate, created a vacuum. The sameis true of many nations who were conquered againsttheir will. We observe it happening in South Amer-ican countries where a powerless church is leaving avacuum which is being filled by the Marxist-Leninistdoctrine. The apostasy of the Church creates thosevacuums.

When any nation refuses the truth of God, it

Photo: An agricul.tural collective inHungary (WideWorld Photos).

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begins to believe a lie. I believe that the socialist lieis being bought in America more extensively thanmany of us perceive. For that reason we need torealize that the whole socialist system has beenproven to be a false answer. If you ever saw it inoperation, you would know without a doubt that itis a false answer.

What we also need to realize, though, is that thegospel does have concrete answers for social prob-lems. There was a time when I did not see the gos-pel in socioeconomic terms, but rather strictlyregarding only salvation and spiritual matters.What I am now seeing is that the gospel does havesocioeconomic implications. In that regard, weneed to see that there is a difference between rankcapitalism and free enterprise. We have mistakenlyassumed that in economic matters there are onlytwo choices-capitalism or communism. But I be-lieve that the gospel of the kingdom of God allows aman a third choice. The gospel properly under-stood does demand social justice, moral respon-sibility and personal accountability, but it also en-compasses free enterprise.

When the gospel is preached in its real power,the result is social equity-not by the power of thestate, but by the effect of the gospel. We do findsocial and financial equity within the biblical con-cepts of justice, equity and social concern. Eco-nomic pressure is now coming on the Church inAmerica to force us to examine our responsibility tothe poor, to the widow, to the unemployed, and toface problems which we have avoided.

I am seeing that the gospel has far more power inthis present life than we have ever thought or wit-nessed before. I do not advocate rank capital-ism-that is, the rape of the land and abuse of other

people so that I can make a profit-but I do holdthat free enterprise is self-evident in the Scripture.The reason this is so important is that if we inAmerica lose our liberty, those of us who can helpthose in need will lose our power to do so.

NW: If we need to understand that the gospelhas implications far beyond just a salvationmessage, what do you think should be theresults of that understanding, both for us andfor the people you visited?BM: First of all, the results for us should include anend to our lack of involvement in social and politi-cal affairs. I don't want to theologize here, but Imust say that a false pietism has caused many Chris-tians in our country to internalize and spiritualizethe Great Commission, and to focus exclusively onour individual relationship to God. The Church hasbeen perceived as totally separate from the world,and so it has ceased to speak to many issues thatare of great significance. The end result of that is avacuum which has allowed anti-God philosophy tosweep the earth and put millions of God's people in-to bondage. The Church has failed to accept all theimplications of the Great Commission, and thus hasabdicated its leadership.

NW: What observations do you have aboutAmerica after what you saw in the communistcountries?BM: When I came home, someone asked me whatare the main problems we need to deal with inAmerica. I answered, "Ignorance and apathy." Ilove our nation deeply, and my hope for us in Amer-ica is that God would move upon the Church hereby His Holy Spirit to help us see conceptually whatHis will is so that God won't have to deal with us cir-cumstantially. The present financial crisis in ournation convinces me that the Lord is quite willing todeal with us circumstantially, and that would be avery painful thing.

My prayer has been that God would let us learnby teaching rather than hard experience whateverwe as Americans, especially the Church in America,need to learn. I pray that God will cause us to rise infaith and courage to change our society with themessage of the kingdom of God. My cry is that wecan discover, live, and preach a Kingdom message-a message that will rise in triumph over the com-munist lie, and declare the triumph of King Jesus inthe present. If there is any need in America, it isthat the Church would be revived to become salt,light and the city set on a hill. The Church's missionincludes social justice. and economic answers. Ourvision must be of a Church rising up in strength, in-fluence and biblical faith that will make a nationand a people great in the earth.

AUGUST 1982

Going to the Center of Powerby H. Edward Rowe

NEW WINE

Our civilization is in decline.All the wisdom and power

of man is helpless to solve thisproblem. But God is able to takea hand in the affairs of this na-

tion. He wants to turn the tide.He wants to do this through Hispeople. He will do it as soon aswe get in step with Him and de-velop a worthy Christian program

of action that is consistent withthe guidelines which He hasgiven us in His Word.

We can find in the treasury ofthe Scriptures a number of verses

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GOd'S method of impacting a nation is to select aman, give him a message and send him to the center ofpower.

that will provide guidance andmotivation for a program of ac-tion. From among the many pos-sibilities one of the best is Psalm125:3-an almost forgotten ex-pression of God's will. A clearunderstanding of this verse maybe enhanced by taking note ofmore than one translation:

For the rod of the wickedshall not rest upon the lot ofthe righteous; lest the righ-teous put forth their hands un-to iniquity (KJV).

For the scepter of wicked-ness shall not rest upon theland of the righteous; That therighteous may not put forththeir hands to do wrong (NAS).

While he has not translated asliterally as the King James andthe New American Standard Bi-ble, Kenneth Taylor in his LivingBible has gone to the heart of themeaning of this verse:

For the wicked shall not rulethe godly, lest the godly beforced to do wrong.

This great verse expresses anabiding principle of God's will.His care for nations is clearly ex-pressed in the fact that Hedoesn't want the wicked to oc-cupy the place of power. Thatwould be contrary to His holynature, since it would result inthe doing of evil by godly people.Of course, nations which repudi-ate the rule of God have manytimes in the past been placedunder the rule of "the basest ofmen" (Dan. 4:17 KJV) as a meansof judgment. But the rulership ofthe wicked over the godly is con-trary to the perfect will of God.

Rulership ResponsibilitySince this is the case, it follows

that God has given His own peo-ple a responsibility in the area ofrulership. Since the rule of thewicked is contrary to His will, it isclear that God's program for20

communities and nations calls forthe rule of godly citizens. Godmust be highly displeased withthe all-too-common refrain "poli-tics is dirty." He must be evenmore displeased with the care-lessness, lethargy, and inactivitywhich characterize the lives of somany Christians who repeat that

slogan so frequently.God does want to bless human

societies. God does detest rotten-ness in high places (see Is. 1:5-6).God is the center of all power inthis universe. Righteousness doesexalt a nation (see Pro 14:34). Goddoes want His people to exert amighty influence in the life of anation. They can, if they are will-ing to follow His plan.

As we read the Bible we be-come aware that God has a planfor His people, and that He haspresented it with great clarity.The main feature of it is that Godsends His people to the center ofpower. In the third chapter of Ex-odus, the plight of God's peopleis described in words like affliction,SOtTOWS and oppression. Theywere reduced to a grinding drudg-ery under the heels of the Egyp-tian slavemasters. The outlookwas bleak in the extreme. God'speople had no army, no weapons,and no leadership. Standing inthe pathway of any possible es-cape was an insurmountable geo-graphical barrier-the Red Sea.But with God, for whom all thingsare possible, the outlook wasbright. "So I have come down todeliver them from the power ofthe Egyptians," said the Lord (Ex.3:8).

God Uses a ManAlthough God was about to

commit His own unlimited powerto the cause of delivering the

Israelites, His program involvedthe agency of a man. Rememberthe familiar account of the "burn-ing bush," from which God spoketo Moses and announced, "I willsend you to Pharaoh" (Ex. 3: 10).

It is curious but neverthelesstrue that God chooses to use menfor the accomplishment of His pur-

poses. Five times it is recorded inthe early chapters of Exodus thatthe Almighty God issues a directcommand to a weak, vacillatingman-the command to go. Notonly does God issue the com-mand to go, but He also givesMoses the content of the messageto be delivered to the mightiestmonarch on earth:

"Then you shall say to Pha-raoh, 'Thus says the Lord, "Is-rael is Myson, Myfirst-born. SoI said to you, 'Let My son go,that he may serve Me'; but youhave refused to let him go. Be-hold, I will kill your son, yourfirst-born" ,,, (Ex. 4:22-23NAS).

From his own standpoint,Moses raises two valid objections:"They won't believe me" (see Ex.4:1) and "I am not eloquent" (seeEx. 4:10). We might refer to thefirst objection as the confidencegap and to the second as the

H. Edward Rowe graduated from Gordon Col.lege in Boston and Dallas Theological Seminary,and studied economics and political science atNew York University. He is a former editor of themagazine Applied Christianity (formerly ChristianEconomics) and the author of Save America!, TheRoad to Success in Marriage, and Christians WhoHave Influenced History. Mr. Rowe is well knownfor his efforts to educate Christian citizens abouttheir God-given responsibility to be active inpublic leadership.

AUGUST 1982

'J;e voice of the Lord from thefire launched Moses on a mission which

was basically political rather thanreligious or spiritual.

NEW WINE

commWlications gap. Indeed thereis a human problem involved inattempting to get a messageacross to the world. The secularmind, the scientific mind, and thestatist mind are not generallyopen to the will of God. Never-theless, God's command is to go.As in the days of Moses, God willtake care of the objections of theworld.

God-Directed DiplomacyGod's method of impacting a

nation is to select a man, give

him a message and send him tothe center of power. AlthoughPharaoh Thutmose III (1450 to1432 B.C.) was one of themightiest rulers of the ancientworld, God's man with God'smessage, backed up with God'spower, prevailed. The result wasdeliverance from bondage as re-corded in the twelfth chapter ofExodus. Although the burningbush experience of Moses hasbeen the basis of many a mis-sionary and evangelistic chal-lenge, notice that the voice of theLord from the fire launchedMoses on a mission which wasbasically political rather thanreligious or spiritual. AlthoughPharaoh was staunchly commit-ted to the service of Satan, Moseswas not told to go down to Egyptand convert the heathen mon-arch. Moses' mission involvedGod-directed diplomacy in thecourt of Pharaoh.

Sent to the Power CenterGod's method has frequently

been that of sending His chosenservants to the center of power.

This was true in the days of theJudges. This was true in the daysof Queen Esther, who in her ef-fort to save the Jewish populationfrom genocide under the wickedHaman went directly to KingAhasuerus saying, "If I perish, Iperish" (Est. 4:16). After Isaiah'sgreat vision of the Lord in thetemple (Is. 6:1-8), the prophetwas commissioned by God to "goout now to meet Ahaz" (Is. 7:3)and to deliver a special messageto him. It was a political mission.

In the providence of God, the

prophet Daniel was sent on apolitical mission to the greatKing Nebuchadnezzar. The ac-tivities of most of the prophets, aswell as those of Ezra and Nehe-miah, Saul, David, Solomon, andmost of the Old Testament per-sonalities, were highly political innature.

The ministry of the Lord JesusChrist was widely perceived asbeing highly political in the con-text of pagan, totalitarian Rome.Although His followers identifiedwith His spiritual purposes, Hedid become a highly significantand visible figure on the politicalscene of those times. His crucifix-ion took place in a setting ofmounting hostility on the part ofthe religious and political leader-ship. His messianic claim wasperceived as a threat to theJewish rulers (Lk. 22:66-71), whoaccused Him before Pilate, theRoman Governor of Judea (Lk.23:1-2). The charges that He hadforbidden the payment of tributeto Rome, usurped the royal title,and perverted the nation werepolitical in nature. His life and

ministry were out of harmonywith the political forces of paganRome.

Paul the apostle appeared be-fore Governor Felix, and madehis defense before King Agrippa(Acts 26). When his citizenshiprights were denied, Paul an-nounced, "I appeal to Caesar"(Acts 25:11). Later, through theinfluence of Paul, a Christianchurch was born in Caesar'shousehold. Although the appealto Caesar was motivated by legal-political considerations, it openeda strategic door for the evangeli-zation of people who stood at thecenter of power in the empire.Whether for purely politicalreasons, or for evangelisticreasons, going to the center ofpower is God's method.

How can Christians go to thecenter of power today? By mov-ing into positions of publicleadership so that the wicked willnot continue to rule over us,causing us to do evil. This doesnot mean that every Christianshould become a candidate forpublic office. It does mean thatevery Christian should becomepolitically active at some level.The possibilities range from call-ing on neighbors in the localprecinct, to becoming a can-didate for the presidency of theUnited States.

It is important to understandthat the Christian citizen living ina democratic republic does havea responsibility to make his in-fluence felt through the politicalsystem. Our mandate is clear.Whether in the local community,the county, the state, or the na-tion at large, Christians mustcarry their influence to the verycenter of power, and their in-fluence must express itself both inspiritual ministry and in practicaland realistic political programs ....

From Save America! by H. Edward Rowe. @1976 by Fleming H. Revell Company. Usedby permission.

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•

ON WASHINGTON

22

In the past New Wine has periodicallypresented a question-and-answer feature dealing

with pertinent issues and responding to questionsfrom our readers. At the recent New Wine Event

in Dallas, a panel discussion of questions fromthe audience was so enthusiastically received that

we decided to feature regularly again in themagazine a "Forum" of questions and answers.

This month the questions in "Forum" areanswered by two men who reside in the greater

Washington, D.C., area and are actively involvedin Christian concerns there. John Whitehead is a

lawyer who has served as the specialconstitutional consultant to the Center for Lawand Religious Freedom of the Christian Legal

Society. He is the author of several books,including his latest, The Second American

Revolution. Bob Dugan is Director of the Officeof Public Affairs of the National Association of

Evangelicals. He writes a monthly newslettercalled NAE Washington Insights.

New Wine: Do you think that the principle of"separation of church and state" is often beingmisunderstood today?Bob Dugan: Yes, I believe there certainly is amisinterpretation today of the concept "separationof church and state." The First Amendment is oftenmade to appear to imply that Christians, because oftheir faith, should not participate in politics.

I'd like to argue quite the opposite. We haverepresentative government, and if people with afirm set of religious convictions are prevented fromparticipating in that government in selecting ourleadership and in influencing issues, then we reallydon't have representative government. In my viewthe President was correct when he said at the Na-tional Religious Broadcasters Convention and onseveral occasions since then that the First Amend-m~nt was not written to protect the people fromreligious values; it was written to protect thosereligious values from government tyranny. Unfor-tunately, the First Amendment is being used by

AUGUST 1982

some to argue that we really'shouldn't have biblicalvalues in our laws and in our schools. But I believethey are misinterpreting the law entirely.

Many court decisions have misinterpreted theFirst Amendment clause prohibiting the govern-ment from establishing religion to mean, for exam-ple, that we cannot give students permission tomeet before school begins in a classroom-evenwithout faculty or administration sponsorship-forvoluntary bible study or prayer. It is claimed thatsomehow giving permission to do that on publicschool grounds would be "establishing" religionand making it an official function of the state. So Ithink we are seeing a great deal of distortion in thepresent interpretation of the First Amendment, adistortion encouraged by some court decisions.

John Whitehead: We need to go back in history tounderstand this distortion of the First Amendment.When the First Amendment was written, the pre-vailing religion was what might be called a Judeo-

Christian theism which included the belief that theBible was the source of man's moral absolutes. Forinstance, in the early days of the ConstitutionalConvention, when the unity of the delegates wasthreatened by sharp disagreement, BenjaminFranklin got up and read to the Convention fromthe Scriptures. When he sat down, the whole at-mosphere had changed, and the Convention wasable to continue to completion. Franklin himselfwas not a Christian, yet he went before thedelegates appealing to them from the Scripture,because everyone there recognized the Bible as abase of authority.

Once we moved away from a biblical base in thiscountry, as evidenced by the Supreme Court's deci-sion concerning abortion in 1973, the meaning ofthe First Amendment was altered. When judgeswho no longer respected the Bible began to sit on

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courts, the interpretation of First Amendment con-cepts such as church and state separation, freespeech and all the other rights were altered. Firstthere was a move away from God. Then once wehad a move away from God, we developed a dif-ferent view of what the First Amendment means.

We have to realize that once the "ground rules"of a society change, then the society's whole struc-ture changes. We are moving from Judeo-Christianprinciples of government to humanistic ones. AsFrancis Schaeffer has said, we live in a society thatfunctions from "arbitrary absolutes." If, as severalex-justices of the Supreme Court have suggested,the Court has become a popular poll-taking agency-that is, if it is only making decisions by voting ac-cording to the popular opinion of the moment-then we've moved from a Judeo-Christian conceptof government based on rule of law to a humanisticconcept of government based on rule of men, whichis entirely different.

-The Federalist Papers, written by James Mad-ison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to promoteratification of the Constitution, stressed the rule oflaw as the proper foundation for government,because the idea of rule of men would lead to anoligarchy-"the rule of the few." That is exactlywhat has happened-'-the Supreme Court has becomean oligarchy and one of the primary instruments ofmoving our country away from a Judeo-Christianfoundation.

These men recognized that you can't separatebiblical moral absolutes from government withouthaving a government that is like a ship on an oceantossing to and fro. The kind of government thatdepends for its direction on whoever is in control atthe time will find that a few people will push theirwill on all the rest. That is what we see happeningtoday.

NW: What are some of the major concerns thatChristians should be aware of today?JW: I would say that issues of the sanctity of humanlife-abortion, infanticide and euthanasia-are thegreatest concern facing the Church in America to-day. The Supreme Court decision on abortion in1973 is, I think, probably the most destructive deci-sion any governmental body has ever made in thiscountry. In addition, the Karen Quinlan case hasset the precedent for euthan~ia, and now we areexperiencing court decisions to allow infanticide.Recently in Indiana the parents of a child sought"the right to choose" to allow "their child todie-the "right" to instruct the doctor not to treatthe child. A local judge upheld that "right," andwhen it was appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court,they decided not to intervene, and the child wasallowed to die. That sets a dreadful precedent. I've

Photo: JohnWhitehead

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"': ..~". You can always

tell when a Senatorfrom the farm belt starts

getting homesick.

children from the beginning in their own worldview.

We also must be concerned about the publicschools. The right of Christians to work in thepublic schools, pray in the public schools andwitness in the public schools is being restricted.

We must be concerned as well about the fundingby our government of groups such as PlannedParenthood, which is an organization that pro-motes a pro-death position and is responsible formuch of the abortion propaganda we see today.They have received over 100 million dollars fromthe federal government over the last few years, andmany other groups like these are also being fundedby the federal and state governments. This is justpart of an overall concern we need to have aboutthe entire area of government budgeting.

Christians need to be concerned about their gov-ernment as a totality; we can't approach it in apiecemeal fashion. We need to recognize the totallordship of Christ over every area of our government,because that government has been established byGod, and to be good stewards we must be involved init. We must be concerned about it and we must pro-test against it when necessary.

24

talked with many in the medical profession whohave told me such infanticide goes on all the time.

So the sanctity of human life, I think, is thenumber one issue. I'm sure most Christians areaware of this issue, but we can't be just aware of it;we must do something about it. I think we're leav-ing that issue hanging, and it's bringing God'swrath down upon us both from outside and fromwithin.

Another area we have to be very concernedabout is the power of bureaucratic agencies to makeup regulations that no one ever votes on. We allknow that, for instance, the Internal Revenue Ser-vice and other agencies in Washington make manyregulations which no one ever votes on, and theyforce them on people-that is, they are building agovernment of "taxation without representation"-the very same kind of tyranny against whichAmericans fought in the Revolutionary War.

Yet another grave area of concern is governmentcontrol of Christian schools. I would say that inalmost every state in the Union, Christian schoolsare battling the government in some form oranother, such as in matters of licensing andteachers' certification. Again we are dealing withbureaucratic regulations. This matter is extremelyimportant because the Christian schools today, Ibelieve, are going to be giving us the leaders of thefuture. The first thing totalitarian governments doafter they come to power is to take over the schools,because they realize the value of indoctrinating

NW: Bob, are there some other areas of con-cern you would point out?BD: Yes, there are. One important category of con-cerns, I think, involves religious freedom, and Ibelieve that such freedom should always be ourchief concern in government. Within this categoryare the issues which involve the First Amendment.We must be concerned not only with religious free-dom in the United States but also around the world.Religious freedom is a matter of human rights, andour nation has stood historically for such freedom.As Christians we need to be concerned about the"Siberian Six," for example-two families who fledto the U.S. embassy in Moscow to flee religiouspersecution in the Soviet Union.

Justice for women is another major concern. Ithink we need to support measures which establishjustice for women in economic affairs in areas ofpensions, availability of insurance and wages. Somereal injustices have been done to women in oursociety. Many of us who have opposed the EqualRights Amendment have said that we're for the "E"and the "R" but not the "A"-that is, we wantlegislation that insures economic justice for womenbut doesn't create an overarching constitutionalamendment whose interpretation by the courtswould be problematic.

The pornography that is being broadcast oncable television is a current problem as well. Wealso face the possibility that cable programmers

AUGUST 1982

may be able to refuse to carry religious channelsand susbstitute pornography instead.

Drunk driving is another matter in which Chris-tians have taken legislative leadership to solve theproblem. Legislation in that area has now beenpassed by the Senate and is awaiting action by theHouse.

I think all Christians ought to be concernedabout the economy of the nation. Inflation has beenreduced drastically by the Reagan administration,but we still have high unemployment and interestrates and we ought to be paying attention to thoseproblems.

NW: What are some specific items Christiansneed to be focusing on regularly in prayer?BD: One major area of prayer concern is the 1982elections, because the makeup of Congress is moresignificant in determining the direction for thecountry than even the occupant of the Oval Office.Considering that, we should know all we can aboutthe candidates running for seats in the House andthe Senate. We should seek to know about themjust as diligently as we do presidential candidates sothat we can vote intelligently.

A tremendous political shift took place in thecountry in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reaganand the new majority in the U.S. Senate. Howeverpeople feel about that shift-whether they like it orare opposed to it-they ought to be praying that thewill of the Lord will be accomplished in 1982,because the nation's new direction will either beratified or rejected by the voters in this mid-termelection.

Secondly, war and peace must be a major concernfor us. We must not only pray for the political "hotspots" of the world, but also pray that our politicalleaders will know what to do about the threat ofnuclear war and how best to prevent it. We mustpray that if meaningful negotiations are the bestway to reduce nuclear weapons-whether a freeze,or the strategic arms reduction talks that the Presi-dent is proposing, or whatever-that God will giveour leaders wisdom to know how to lessen thethreat of war.

Bob Dugan

Next, the moral issues facing the governmentshould be a matter of prayer, so that the Lord willgive the Congress wisdom to enact legislation thatwill reflect biblical values instead of rejecting them.I don't presume to have the final word on what thebiblical position is in those issues, but we must bediligent to seek the will of God in the many moralissues that are facing us.

Another matter of prayer is the Church'sresponse to poverty in view of the cutbacks in fed-eral spending and the President's request that theChurch go into partnership with business and go v-

ernment to meet the needs of the poor in our so-ciety. We ought to be praying about how we can dothat.

Finally, we need to pray that the Holy Spirit willbless the ministries that are presently going onbehind the scenes in Washington. Many evangelicalchurches there are reaching out very effectively,and many members of Congress and administrationofficials are deeply involved in the life of solid,Bible-preaching churches. We need to ask God tobless the churches in Washington.

JW: Along the lines of Bob's last comment, onespecific prayer concern I would cite is that Chris-tians here in Washington would be able to work to-gether. Christians have in many cases alreadybegun to join forces. Whereas in the past, a minordoctrinal difference between groups would keepthem from working together on a common issue,we've seen some of those walls break down, andthat is good. But there is still a lack of coordinationof efforts, and a lot of prayer needs to be directed tothis area because we need a coordinated effort. Weneed to pray that Christians become a cohesiveforce so that we can have even a bigger impact thanwe're having now.

Dr. RichardHalverson.Chaplain of theU.S. Senate. left;Bob Dugan. right.

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NW: Do you believe that Christians can make areal difference?JW: Yes, they can make a great difference, andthat's why we're here. Above all, the Holy Spiritmakes a difference. Christians can make a differ-ence if they will apply their faith externally. Thefirst thing Christians have to do is become educatedon the issues. We can't go out and get involvedeffectively if we don't know what we're talkingabout. I would first list a few key books that canhelp clarify the issues: Francis Schaeffer's A Chris-tian Manifesto; Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop'sWhatever Happened to the Human Race?; mybook, The Second American Revolution; and R. J.Rushdoony's This Independent Republic.

Once they are educated on the issues, Christiansneed to begin organizing. I think that Christians inthe churches throughout America should organizesmall political groups to meet regularly with thelocal representatives in the community as well astheir Congressmen when they come home. Chris-tians need to have an influence in their decisions,and if these elected officials don't listen to us, weshould go to the ballot box and vote them out. Ihave lobbied on the Hill before, and I am amazed athow little input most of these men on Capitol Hillreceive before they vote on an issue. If we areorganized, we can have a tremendous impact ontheir voting by supplying the right information.

It is important to remember that before we canget the nation in order, we must get our families inorder. That means emphasizing to our spouses andchildren the lordship of Christ over every area oflife.

Another thing we should remember is that allChristians don't have to grow up to be preachers;we need scientists, lawyers, doctors, people in everyfield.

Finally, probably one of the most importantthings Christians can do is to be institutes of health,education and welfare. The President is asking theChurch to do more of that so that the responsibilitywill be taken off the government. I think that oftenpeople don't see the significance of the Churchbecause they don't see the Church doing thesethings.

Throughout the Bible we find a strong emphasison taking care of the widow, the orphan, the poorand the alien. But we seem to have forgotten thattoday. We must go back to the Scripture to redis-cover our role.

BD: I think the point at which Christians can makethe greatest difference is by getting actively involvedin helping to choose the people who will becomeour elected officials, so that people with godlyvalues will go into office.

If Christians really want to have godly people inleadership, they're going to have to put them there.So I especially urge Christians to make the dif-ference by volunteering to help in the campaigns ofcandidates in whom they have confidence-whetherit's for the school board in a local community, thecounty commission, the state legislature, or theU.S. Congress. A few extra people can make the dif-ference just by volunteering some hours to dis-tribute literature, operate phone banks or get thevote out on election day. Millions of Christians havenever attempted to do some of these things-but if by God's grace we begin, we can shape thehistory of the United States ....

If you have any questions you would like to haveanswered in "Forum" by our Editorial Boardmembers and other guest panelists, please addressthem to "Forum" c/o New Wine Magazine, P.O.Box Z, Mobile, AL 36616. Although we obviouslycannot respond to every question we receive, wehope that "Forum" will provide us an opportunityto comment more directly and personally on mat-ters of specific concern to our readers.

lB~?~Review

The Second American Revolution by JohnWhitehead (Elgin, IL: David C. Cook, 1982).

John Whitehead has written a broad and pen-etrating analysis of the developing crisis of religiousfreedom in America. His examination of Americanlegal history, the nature of government and the mis-sion of the Church challenges Christians to takepart in a "second revolution" to transformAmerican society. Some of the topics covered in-clude:1) our movement as a nation away from a founda-tion of moral absolutes to one of subjectiverelativism;2) the usurping of the legislative function by thecourts and the federal bureaucracy;3) the fallacy of a "morally neutral" government;4) the need for Christian involvement in the socialand political arenas.

Whether or not you agree with the author onevery point, his clear presentation of some criticalissues is a significant contribution to a betterunderstanding of church and state. Both this bookand the film version of it scheduled for release laterthis year by Franky Schaeffer V Productions arewell worth the attention of American Christians ofevery persuasion.

AUGUST 1982

I

Warfare OverWashington

by Gary BergelEver since His ascension, Jesus Christ has been interceding for us as our High

Priest before the Father. Though His earthly ministry lasted only three and a halfyears, Christ's heavenly, high-priestly ministry has continued unceasingly for nearlytwo thousand years. While this truth should quicken and encourage us, we need torealize that Christ is not interceding for the world, but for the Church. This focus ofHis intercession was revealed as He prayed just before His arrest in the garden ofGethsemane:

"I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours....Ipray also for those who will believe in me through their message" (In. 17:9, 20NIV).

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The writer of Hebrews con-firmed this truth when he de-clared that since Christ's resur-rection and ascension, "He alwayslives to intercede" for "those whocome to God through him" (Heb.7:25). But if Christ is continuallyinterceding for the Church-"those called out" from amongthe nations-who is to intercedefor the world? I believe it is theChurch who is called to pray con-tinually for the nations and todisciple them.

The Call to IntercessionOur participation in Christ's

high-priestly ministry is not onlyour inheritance, but also a rareand precious privilege. For those"who have ears to hear," the Spir-it of God is issuing an awesomeinvitation to the Church in thishour: "Come, share My authorityover the nations. Conquer andrule with Me on the throne!"(Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21). We are be-ing invited to come close to theheart of God, and He is offeringHis grace to enable us to respond.Effective intercessory prayer is amark of intimate friendship withthe living God.

Understanding the AscensionTo understand the significance

of our potential role as in-tercessors, we need to have moreof an appreciation for what wasaccomplished by Jesus' resurrec-tion and ascension. The ascen-sion of Christ is a pivotal event inhistory often unintentionally min-imized in the life and worship ofthe Church, and thus it has only amarginal significance in the lifeof many believers. Such a lack ofappreciation for the importanceof the ascension drains the Churchof much of the power available toit in the Spirit. At least threeaspects of the ascension need tobe emphasized and understoodso that our intercession andauthority in Christ might becomemore effective.

27

Gary Berget received his B.S. and M.A. degreesfrom the University of Wisconsin, Madison, inBiology, Secondary Education, and Fine Art. Heis the author of the booklet When You WereFormed in Secret/Abortion in America and pres.ently serves as the Director of Research andEducation for Intercessors For America. Garyresides in Springfield, Virginia, with his wife,Susan and their five sons.

•

The first aspect is revealed inEphesians 4:10 where we readthat Christ "ascended higherthan all the heavens, in order tofill the whole universe." Althoughit is difficult for our finite mindsto grasp the significance of thisstatement, we should ask the Ho-ly Spirit to give us an understand-ing of it, for in this one majesticevent the legal foundations forthe Church's rule in Christ Jesuswere fully established. Becausethe Son was exalted above "allrule and authority, power anddominion," He gained dominionand has the right of sovereignkingship over all things (Eph.1:19-23). The entire creation wasbrought into subjection to Christ.And because we are commandedto pray in the name of Jesus, ourprayers have His legal, bindingauthority throughout the uni-verse in all the affairs of men andeven in Satan's realm.

Secondly, Ephesians 2:6-7 tellsus that we ascended with Christand we are seated with Him inheavenly realms. Though we so-journ for a time on earth, we arespiritually seated with Christ inthe heavenlies. Through repen-tance and faith we have unitedourselves with Him and so havebecome "one with Him in Spirit"(1 Cor. 6:17). Seated far abovethe din of battle, we have the bestpossible vantage point and havebeen granted the supreme advan-tage for effective battle and ad-ministration of the Kingdom. Butwe become ineffective and dis-couraged in prayer when we losesight of our heavenly position inChrist.

Third, in Ephesians 1:20 wefind that the Father seated Christ"at His right hand." Jesus did notgrasp for His exalted position,but rather remained under HisFather's authority and fit into theorder of His Father's plan anddesign. Even in His exaltation,Jesus remained in an attitude ofservanthood and submission toHis Father.

We must learn from Jesus' ex-ample to submit ourselves to Hisheadship over the Church and tofit into His intended order for theKingdom. The warring Church wasdesigned to function as a unifiedand cohesive army, not as lawless,roaming bands of prayer war-riors. Unfortunately, however,the kingdom of God is sufferingmany needless casualties anddefeats which tragically demon-strate our need for a restorationof corporate unity and order.After His ascension Christ gavemen as gifts to the Church "sothat the body of Christ may bebuilt up until we all reach unityin the faith and in the knowledgeof the Son of God and becomemature, attaining to the wholemeasure of the fullness of Christ"(Eph. 4:11-13 NIV). Unity andGod's divine order are essential forthe effectivenessof all the Church'swork, including its intercession.

Ruling in the Affairs of MenA united Church will be able

to go forth to implement Hea-ven's plans for the affairs of men.Christ's victory over Satan mustbe administrated by the Churchas it reclaims and rules over theearth in faithful stewardship asGod originally intended. As royalambassadors, deputized withpower of attorney to do theKing's business, we must throughprayer legally "bind and loose onearth what has been bound andloosed in heaven" (Mt. 16:19).The redeemed community canchange the balance of power inworld affairs through propheticprayer and intercession. A pray-

ing Church that can steer historyis God's ordained recovery pro-gram-there is no other. If thisgeneration will not enter into thework of intercession, then theFather will wait for someone whowill. But sooner or later He willhave an army of loyal friends whowill march to the beat of Hisheart and bring into reality Hiskingdom in the earth.

Aaron's IntercessionOne of the most dramatic il-

lustrations of the power of inter-cession is the story of Aaron's in-tervention on behalf of Israel inNumbers 16:41-48:

The next day the whole Israel-ite community grumbled againstMoses and Aaron. "You havekilled the Lord's people," theysaid. But when the assemblygathered in opposition to Mosesand Aaron and turned towardthe Tent of Meeting, suddenlythe cloud covered it and theglory of the Lord appeared.Then Moses and Aaron went tothe front of the Tent ofMeeting, and the Lord said toMoses, "Get away from thisassembly so I can put an end tothem at once." And they fellfacedown. Then Moses said toAaron, "Take your censer andput incense in it, along withfire from the altar, and hurryto the assembly to makeatonement for them. Wrathhas come~out from the Lord;the plague has started." SoAaron did as Moses said, andran into the midst of the as-sembly. The plague had al-ready started among the peo-ple, but Aaron offered the in-cense and made atonement forthem. He stood between theliving and the dead, and theplague stopped (NIV).

InterCessors often find themselves,like Aaron after the rebellion,standing "between the living andthe dead." Cities all across our

28 AUGUST 1982

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land today are overripe for judg-ment. Our sins are piled high, al-ready provoking a number ofcurses, confusions and judgmentsthroughout our I~md.Liberty hasoeen confused with license. In-fanticide is following hard on theheels of abortion. Our law has inmany ways become fundamentallycorrupt.

Just as Moses commandedAaron to "take a censer ... and goQuicklyinto the congregation," sowe hear the Lord commanding usto offer earnest prayer to stave offdivine wrath. The same urgency-"go Quickly"-is in the HolySpirit's instructions to us in thishour of our nation's history. Fer-vent prayer, fastings and suppli-cation must continue, like thesmoke from Aaron's censer, if wehope to stop the plague of nation-al corruption. In this way we mustcontinue to come between theplague and those threatened by it.

Washington, D.C.As the Church approaches the

task of intercession, many of usare sensing that God is singlingout Washington, D.C., for our at-tention. This seems only fitting,for I do not believe that it is Hiswill for this city-the capital ofour nation and the seat of our na-tional government-to be surren-dered to corruption and inevi-table judgment. The revealed willof God is for Christians to havegood government, so that "wemay live peaceful and Quiet livesin all godliness and holiness,"and so that we can remain free topreach the gospel (1 Tim. 2:1-6).Although the confident prayers,faith and good works of precioussaints have salted and preservedthe capital from destruction upuntil now, the recovery and res-toration of the city and its peo-ple is dependent upon the effortsof the entire Church in America.

Confusion is rampant in Wash-ington and in all branches of thefederal government there. I per-sonally believe that the roots

feeding this confusion can betraced to Satanic "strong men"ruling over the city, as well as theother demonic powers, principal-ities and spirits which are re-

A prayingChurch that cansteer history isGod's ordained

recovery program.

sident and active in the manyforeign embassies and special in-terest strongholds. The spiritualatmosphere is dense and turbu-lent. Even people of integrity canbecome influenced by it or lost init. Like "the brew of Babylon" inRevelation 18:3, the lust forpower, fame or pleasure has over-taken many.

According to the Scriptures,confusion and corruption resultprimarily from three sources:pride and rebellion against God;occult activities; immorality andhedonism. In the fourteenth chap-ter of Isaiah, the fall of Lucifer, orSatan, is recorded. He is chargedwith proud rebellion against heav-en which "weakened nations anddestroyed cities" (14:17). Thepower of pride to corrupt peoplewho live in Washington has beenso frequently demonstrated thatthe problem has been nicknamed"Potomac Fever." Unless those inleadership repent of their prideand the rebellion against God'slaw it has bred, the judgment re-corded in Revelation 18:6-7 willbe theirs: torment and grief tothe same degree that they soughtglory for themselves.

Pride and rebellion tend tospawn spiritual apostasy and falsereligions. The first chapter ofIsaiah reveals this progression.

Israel's corruption-character-ized by rebellious rulers, bribery,murder, and lack of justice forfatherless children and widows-led to the establishment of falsereligions and occult practices.Today witchcraft, fortune-telling,and other satanic activitiesabound in the Washington area,sometimes in very fashionablesurroundings. In addition, the in-fluences of Rosicrucianism, Ma-sonic rites and other "mystical"systems on our nation's essential-ly Christian foundations must beidentified and repented of.

Sexual immorality is openlywidespread in Washington. Spir-itual forces are at work, confus-ing the proper roles of men andwomen, distorting the order ofgovernment and undermining clearconcepts of sexual identity. Oneestimate is that a third of the menin the city are homosexual [Wash-ington Post Magazine, February14, 1982]. Adultery and fornica-tion are epidemic. This year theU.S. Congress overturned a lawpassed by the D.C. city councilwhich would have legalized bes-tiality and sexual activity betweenchildren. Male and female childprostitution is also common.

While many people wander thestreets addicted to heroin, am-phetamines or alcohol, the moreaffluent and sophisticated drugabusers are working to decrim-inalize cocaine, the new "social"drug. In many ways our nation'scapital depicts the debased culturedescribed in Romans 1:22-32,where Paul writes that some,

JUST AROUNDTHE CORNER

EDUCATIONNext Month In New Wine.

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"professing themselves to bewise ... became fools," so thatGod abandoned them to theirperversion and corruption.

A Positive ViewAlthough we could continue

almost endlessly with a depictionof the depravity in Washington,we should not forget that "wheresin increased, grace increased allthe more, so that, just as sinreigned in death, so also gracemight reign through righteous-ness to bring eternal life throughJesus Christ our Lord" (Rom.5:20-21 NIV).

We can find many indicationsthat God has not in any sensegiven up on Washington or onthe American government. Sincethe 1980 elections there areprobably more dedicated Chris-tians working in government andin the District of Columbia thanat any time in its history-andthey are having a profound im-pact. Bible studies and prayermeetings are now occurring regu-larly. Many believers work Quietlyand humbly behind the scenes,yet with great effect. They have"dug in" spiritually and learnedto be victorious. Now they needto be fortified and supportedspiritually by all of us so that thework of redemption and recoverymight advance.

Standing in the GapA vision of recovery which the

Holy Spirit has given a number ofpastors in the greater Washing-ton area is that the city should besurrounded by churches and Chris-tian fellowshipscommitted to regu-lar prayer, fasting and interces-sion for the District of Columbia.A number of groups are sensingthe need for twenty-four-hourprayer watches. Many people willneed to be awakened and trainedin intercession. Prayer is alsoneeded that the people of Godwill share their pastors' andleaders' vision of recovery. Andall these local efforts will succeed

only if they are supported and re-inforced by the systematic prayerefforts of committed believersand groups across the nation.

It is time for the Church inAmerica to establish a prayer"watch" for Washington, D.C."Watching" is the military prac-tice of staying awake in order toguard or maintain surveillance.In prayer a "watch" is especiallyimportant in the night hours,when the legions of Satan aremost active. Biblical precedentsfor God's people keeping such awatch are abundant and shouldencourage us to practice it (seeIs. 62:6-7).

While the Church as a wholemust intercede-that is, "come inbetween" God and the District ofColumbia, committed fellowshipsand churches experienced inspiritual warfare must also moveinto a long-term offensive to bindthe demonic forces. The strongman and spiritual powers pre-sently ruling over our nation'scapital must be brought down andparalyzed in the name of ChristJesus.

For we wrestle not against fleshand blood, but against prin-cipalities, against powers,against the rulers of the dark-ness of this world, against spir-itual wickedness in high places.Wherefore take unto you thewhole armor of God, that yemay be able to withstand inthe evil day, and having doneall, to stand .... Prayingalways with all prayer and sup-plication in the Spirit, andwatching thereunto with all per-severance and supplication forall saints (Eph. 6:12-13, 18).

. For though we live in theworld, we do not wage war asthe world does. The weaponswe fight with are not theweapons of the world. On thecontrary, they have divinepower to demolish strong-holds. We demolish argu-

ments and every pretensionthat sets itself up against theknowledge of God, and wetake captive every thought tomake it obedient to Christ (2Cor. 10:3-5 NIV).

A "Recovery Offensive"We must affirm the lordship of

Christ over Washington in ourthinking and speaking. Ferventprayer must be made for the re-demption of individuals there andfor the restoration of spiritualleadership, family life, churchlife, and secular government. Aswe pray that biblical foundationswill be restored to the institutionsof our society, we should be in-spired and motivated by thesewords of our founding fathers:

It is impossible rightly to gov-ern the world without God andthe Bible.

George Washington

If we abide by the principlestaught in the Bible, our countrywill go on prospering ... but ifwe or our posterity neglect itsinstructions and authority, noman can tell how sudden a cat-astrophe may overwhelm usand bury all our glory in pro-found obscurity.

Daniel Webster

My firm conviction is that God iscalling the Church in America tomount a massive "recovery offen-sive" on behalf of Washington,D.C., through prayer. This seat ofgovernment must be retaken andruled in Christ if there is to be anyhope for a total national renewal.As we move forward, may Godhelp us to remember that daily inti-macy with Christ, obedience to Hiscommands and covenantal loyaltywith one.another are the keys to asuccessful administration of Hisvictory. And as we pray, we canbe encouraged by the knowledgethat Christ Himself is continuallyinterceding for us-that we mightintercede and rule ....

AUGUST 1982

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A final commenton this month ~ theme

To the Pointby Ern Baxter

Those who believe that theBible is the revelation of

God to man consider it to be thefinal word in all matters pertain-ing to teaching and conduct Con-trary to what many Christiansseem to think, however, this au-thority is not confined to Chris-tians and Christianity. It is uni-versally binding, whether or notall men receive it.

The Bible speaks to and aboutboth the righteous and the wicked-individuals, families, cities andnations; those who lead as well asthose who are led. Indeed, its in-spired pages apply to every cate-gory and stratum of mankind.The Scriptures identify, defineand address all men both in indi-vidual and corporate settings, in-cluding civil government.

According to the Bible, civilgovernment is established, de-fined and authorized by God. Un-fortunately, many see govern-ment as a necessary evil ratherthan a divine institution. It isequally regrettable that many gov-ernments are ignorant-either un-intentionally or deliberately-oftheir significant place in the cos-mic moral order. This abnormalsituation frustrates the redemp-tive and instructive influence ofthe Christian community in rela-tion to the government and caus-es the government to be moti-vated by factors other than thefear of God.

In recent days, it has been saidin various quarters that separa-tion of Church and state is differ-ent from separation of God andstate. The Bible supports thisstatement. The apostle Paul has

NEW WINE

made clear in Romans 13:1-7 thedivine requirements for godly civ-il government. If the civil govern-ment were to follow these God-given instructions, we would seeemerging that divine order forwhich Christians have prayed al-most two thousand years: "Thywill be done on earth as it is inheaven."

Paul writes:

Let every soul be subject untothe higher powers [or "thegoverning authorities"]. For... the powers that be are or-dained of God .... For rulersare not a terror to good works,but to the evil .... For he [theruler] is the minister of God tothee for good .... a revenger toexecute wrath upon him thatdoeth evil (Rom. 13:1, 3-4).

He is describing here the nature,functions and claims of a goodgovernment as God intends it.Three times in this chapter rulersare designated as "'ministers ofGod," who as His servants are toprotect godly men and inflict Hispunishments on those who dowrong. Thus it is clear that civilgovernment is given a mandate torepresent, uphold, and promoterighteousness in society. Consis-tent fulfillmentof this proper role isdivinelyrewarded, while neglect ofthe role is divinely punished.

This aspect of punishment isimportant to recognize, for other-wise we can wrongly assume thatthe government has the divineright to do wrong simply becauseit is divinely ordained. What willbefall a civil government that dis-

claims any authorization by Godor dependence upon him-a gov-ernment that not only fails tosupport good works and present"a terror" to crime, but itselfviolates righteousness? It must in-evitably experience the judgmentof God and the legitimate protesta-tions of righteous people. Spacedoes not permit a specific list ofthese rewards and punishments,but a review of history, bothsacred and profane, would pro-vide abundant evidence of God'sprovidential dealings with gov-~rnmenta1 behavior. Both theChurch and the state bear an ob-ligation to walk in God's ways.

While Church and state havetheir distinctive divine mandatesand defined spheres of functionand authority, they are not mu-tually exclusive. Both are foundedin the divine purpose and shouldflow together to bring to pass theintention of God. If they act onrighteous principles, "civil author-ities are not a terror to [people ot]good conduct, but to [those ot]bad behavior" (Rom. 13:3 Amp.)and so are a help to God's peo-ple. At the same time, the Churchby its holy behavior and constantprayer to God for those in au-thority should be an incom-parable support to righteous civilgovernment.

Both Church and state will in-evitably-to use Jonah's words-"forsake their own mercies" ifthey detach themselves from therich source of wisdom and en-ablement where their real rootsare to be found. "In God wetrust" must be an operationalreality and not just a nice motto.While Church and state eachhave their own divinely defineddirectives, God has given theredeemed community the pri-mary responsibility for leader-ship. By its unity, corporate ex-ample, and consistent interces-sion, God's holy nation must lightthe world, salt the earth and be acity set on a hill. ...

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~DearNewW;ne

The Blood of the LambI am writing to tell you how

much your April issue helpedme. I was going through a longperiod of time where I was total-ly and utterly depressed. Undera medical doctor's care, withmany sessions of therapy, Ibecame somewhat better. How-ever, I was still under self-con-demnation and feeling guilty ofeverything I've ever said, doneor thought. All through this

time (8 months) I realized thatGod loved me and forgave mysins, but I never realized towhat great extent He loves, for-gives and heals.

I thought I was too ordinary,too mediocre, too dull a personfor Him to pay any attention to.Then I read Derek Prince's arti-cle "The Blood of the Lamb."When I read 1 Corinthians1:27-28 I was really uplifted.God chose the foolish (me), thelowly (me), the despised (me)and the things that are not(me). Then He gave me somepowerful weapons to use againstself-pity, weakness, and unwor-thiness. Plus, through the bloodof Jesus I am set aside and"made holy." When I read that,the tears began to flow and Ifelt God's anointing on me onceagain after so long a drought.Praise God for articles such asthis.

As I went on to read theother articles by Ern Baxter andBill White, my guilt lifted as Iasked God's forgiveness andasked Him to help me to forgivemyself. At that point I washealed completely and am nowable to go back to my churchand community with confidenceand a clean and upright heart.

Name Withheld

Wrong topicsI am disappointed that your

format has changed from lifetopics (depression, loneliness,gifts, etc.) to political issues.Politics are important, but yourwriters did better with the othertype of topics.

Emery HurdAshland,OH

Personally speakingLast January you wrote us a

letter and I just wanted to saythank you for your suggestionsconcerning our situation. Youradvice showed your love andwisdom. Sometimes it still sur-

prises me when I think that aninternational magazine is stillable to maintain a personal car-ing as you do. It's a very specialthing.

One more thank you for theway in which you present "TheWord." It has been a help toencourage me to read faithfullyevery day.

Mrs. John ScottAllendale, MI

No guiltYou saved the best until last.

Bruce Longstreth's article "Lordof the Harvest, Lord of the Sab-bath" in your June issue wasthe best.

I had been up early, as usual,one Saturday morning to get asmuch work done as I could onmy "day off," even though ithad been an exceptionally busyweek and I was exhausted.However, I decided to read thatarticle before starting the day'swork. After getting its message,I went back to sleep for severalmore hours of much neededrest without a pang of guilt.Thanks.

Beatrice KuehnerFt. Lauderdale, FL

A matter of policyI appreciate the fact that you

are willing to send your maga-zine whether or not a person isin a position to send a contribu-tion at the time. I also ap-preciate the fact that you arewilling to discontinue sending itwhen a person stops all contri-butions and communication withyou. I wish every Christianministry that sends lite~aturewould adopt this policy.

Bob CummingsWinter Haven, FL

Needs of the momentAs a pastor and teacher of

God's Word, time and again Ihave received confirmation

AUGUST 1982

through New Wine as to whatthe Lord is saying to His Churchin these times. It is wonderfulhow God reveals His sovereigntyto us, although we are manythousands of miles apart,through the medium of the HolySpirit. He is able to bring ourattention to the same basic truthand need of the moment.

The April edition is partic-ularly stimulating with its tre-mendous emphasis upon thevictory of the cross and the ter-rible suffering our Lord enduredfor our sakes. It has becomemore vivid since reading "TheCrucifixion: A Medical View."

T.G. BrindedQueenstown,S. Africa

Help from past issuesOur name was given to your

magazine by some friends ofours, and when it first began tocome I did not pay attention toit. Each issue arrived severalmonths late and many were laidaside. However, during 1982needs arose in my personal lifethat were directly dealt with insome issues of New Wine, andthe specific topic I needed helpwith was rediscovered on ashelf, or arrived four monthslate but at just the right timefor me. Especially issues thatdealt with depression, self,handling disagreements, andforgiveness have helped mewhen I needed instruction, en-co~ragement, and also rebuke.Clear scriptures have helped meset my priorities straight. I amvery thankful that the Holy Spiritused your magazine to teach and

guide me.Roberta MustaphaSierra Leone

Making timeThe first thing that captured

our attention in your June issuewas the beautiful historic homeon the front cover. I serve as anofficer on a local heritage asso-ciation that is trying to savesuch buildings in our commu-nity.

Then we began to devoureach and every article dealingwith the subject of rest. My wifeand I have been madly prepar-ing for our first child-paintingthe bedroom, putting in carpet-ing, remodeling the bathroom-basically trying to get our ownhistoric home functional for ournew family member. But wehave been so tired that our rela-tionship with the Lord wasdwindled down to those fiveminute devotion periods beforebed.

We are thankful the Fatherspeaks to so many through yourpublication. Now we realize theimportance of just plain takingit easy. I'm even going to readall the other New WineMagazines I have laid asidebefore because I had com-plained of "not having thetime"!

Dan BantaMuskegon, MI

HometownsAfter seeing our lovely town

featured on the back cover, Idecided I must order NewWine. I'm enclosing ten dollars

for now. Please send me two orthree copies of the "Bayfield"issue and then continue on.

Mrs. Raymond CendtBayfield, WI

God is in controlJust a note to express our

appreciation for the inspirationalarticles in New Wine. I especiallyenjoyed Joseph Garlington's arti-cle, "God's Transcendent Eco-nomy." How faithless we can be,instead of realizing that God isin control and trusting in Hislove and care.

Larry BittnerFort Worth, TX

Fired upI'm writing to say how much I

appreciate your magazine andyour willingness to continuesubscriptions until money canbe sent. Your June '82 issuewas very good, especially "FiredUp and Burned Out." The Lordis now bringing me into a placeof renewal.

I also enjoy your focus onspiritual meat (the Word), andyour understanding of the singlepopulation, not flaunting mar-riage as God's key to the "per-fect life." I'm a college studentwho will be 21 in Septemberand people are matching me al-ready. What about a professionor God's timing? Again, thanksfor the great articles with theSpirit of God and His HolyWord in mind!

Lisa HansenSurf City, NJ

P.O. Box Z, Mobile, AL 36616

The editorial policy and purpose of New Wine are (1) to proclaim the gospel ofthe Kingdom of God to all nations, (2) to work with all Christian ministries for thematurity and unity of His Church, (3) thus making ready a people prepared for thecoming of the Lord. We recognize that, according to the Scriptures, God usesmen given as ministries to build His Church in the earth. However, the basis ofour relationship is not primarily commitment to human personalities, but to JesusChrist as Head, to the Holy Scriptures as the ultimate standard by which all revela-tion and practice are to be judged and to God's purpose for His people in theearth at this time, as interpreted by the Holy Spirit. New Wine is a non-subscription magazine. Your contribution, whether great or small, is always appre-ciated. We ask that you make the amount of your contribution a matter of prayer.We recommend a gift of fifteen dollars, which will enable us to maintain the

NEW WINE

ministry of New Wine. Contributions beyond that amount make it possible to sendthe magazine to readers who genuinely cannot contribute. Above all, we value thesupport you provide when you pray for us regularly. All contributions to New Wineare tax-deductible. A tax-deductible receipt for contributions is available at year-end upon request. New Wine Magazine is under the supervision of an editorialboard which meets several times each year to provide direction and oversight. Theboard consists of Don Basham, Em Baxter, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince andCharles Simpson, who receive no remuneration for their service on the board.Please use the form found in this magazine to request New Wine and for addJesschanges and contributions. All foreign contributions or payments should be.madein the form of a check for U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank or InternationalMoney Order for U.S. dollars.

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