An Open Letter to Cape Cod Believers
September 5, 2007
"Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say,” spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nation” (Joel 2:15-19).
Dear Pastors, Leaders, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We are writing to you because the Lord has stirred our hearts with a burden for Cape Cod, the place where God sovereignly has positioned all of us at this time. As you know, the Bible speaks of “the sons of Isaacar, who understood the times, and knew what Israel ought to do” (1 Chr 12:32). Daniel understood his times (Dan 9:2). The Lord Jesus taught us to discern the times, and rebuked the Pharisees for not doing so: “You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matt 16:2).
We are pastors and leaders from various denominational and theological backgrounds, and various locations on the Cape. We share a common vision and a collective witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The theme of this vision is, “The Glory of God on Cape Cod”. This vision along with our beliefs and core values, are articulated in this web site.
We collectively share the conviction that the church currently lives in a state similar to the condition of Israel during the time of its Babylonian Captivity. The body of Christ today is in a fragmented, weakened state, lacking the authority that comes from the manifest Presence of God among His people. This is because of our own weakness, compromise, and our lack of unity.
As you well know, when the Glory of God is upon His people, even the heathens recognize who God is. An example of that is Rahab who told Joshua and Caleb: “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt….and as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted….for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Joshua 2: 10, 11).
Because of the Presence and Glory of God in Daniel’s life, King Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen, told him: “Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings” (Dan 2: 47). Also, King Darius, a heathen, said : “For He is the living God….He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders, in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lion” (Dan 6: 26, 27).
In contrast, when the Glory of God lifted off Samson, “the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes….they bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison” (Jud 16:21). Similarly, when the glory of God lifted off Israel because of its sin, Israel went into the Babylonian captivity. “By the river of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion….” (Psalm 137:1). “Why should they say among the peoples, where is their God” (Joel 2:17).
In essence, what the world is telling the church today is, “Where is your God?” We are mocked and trampled upon, like Samson was, because of the lack of the glory and manifest Presence of God in our midst. We are in a state of spiritual Babylonian captivity, resembling the ruined walls of Jerusalem. “And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3).
However, the Lord has stirred our hearts. We believe He is calling us and all His pastors and leaders on Cape Cod, to come together before Him in corporate unity, humility, and repentance in the spirit of Daniel 9 and Nehemiah , in order for His Glory and manifest Presence to dwell among us. We believe this will lead us out of this weakened state of spiritual Babylonian captivity. “You see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the walls of Jerusalem, that we no longer be a reproach” (Nehemiah 2:17).
We collectively share the conviction that we need to realize God’s heart for a John 17 unity among all His pastors and leaders on Cape Cod. We realize that we are members of one body, the body of Christ on Cape Cod, and that we are not complete without one another. We must guard against independent, individualistic attitudes and visions, and come together collectively with zeal and jealousy for the name of the Lord and the House of the Lord. Such unity is not organizational or governmental, but relational. “Thus says the Lord ‘Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,’ says the Lord” (Haggai 1:7).
So, in essence, our call and invitation to you is this: “Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem together, that we may no longer be a reproach” (Neh 2:17).
Our vision is to call all Bible-believing pastors on the Cape, from Provincetown to the bridges, to come together in unity and humility, recognizing our spiritual poverty, for times of prayer and fasting, in the spirit of Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1. We have been meeting bi-weekly now since September 2004. We have no other agenda than to stand in the gap, crying out collectively for what we currently lack, the Presence and the Glory of God among us.
If this vision stirs your heart, we invite you to join us in these bi-weekly prayer meetings. We share this conviction and a witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts: If we obey the Lord in this stirring, we corporately will see Him move among us in a way we haven’t seen before; we will see His Glory among us!
“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the Glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise over you, and His Glory will be seen upon you” (Isaiah 60:2).
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact us.
May the Lord continue to bless you and keep you, and continue to cause his face to shine upon you.
The Glory of God on Cape Cod team