"Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In." (Isaiah 58:12)
State Representative Fulton Sheen leads this ministry outreach to better prepare Michigan for any future challenge or disaster we may face. He has much experience as he has led teams from Michigan to help in the Katrina disaster. We can learn to better prepare ourselves for any crisis that strikes our community and be trained as a Chaplain (Refer to IFOC on Website). Other necessary training would include FEMA, CERT and CISM emergency response instruction. We are all able to equip ourselves! We will be facing many challenges in the future where the church can take its place and help those around us who are experiencing various forms of distress and trauma. The challenges may be weather related, a terrorist act, the coming avian bird flu, or local and regional disasters.
We must not only be a praying church and take our authority in these situations, but be always ready to help those in time of need.
Michigan must begin to prepare at all levels to be able to meet any crisis that may come our way!
Are you prepared for the future?Have you considered all that could happen and made provision for it?In the past that has meant work hard, be responsible, try to help your neighbor, volunteer, and you will always have a job and have a good reputation in your community.It meant spend your money wisely, save for retirement, live a moral and upright life, and all will go well with you.
For over 230 years America, with the only major interruption being the Depression of the 1930s, has enjoyed prosperity, freedom, unmatched opportunity, and a sense of economic and physical security like no other people or nation in history.Terrorism and 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, as well as other hurricanes, tornados, floods, earth quakes, and the current recession and melt down of our financial markets that hit this nation have rocked American confidence, as well as it’s sense of invulnerability,power and security.God said He would shake everything that could be shaken. So we should not surprised or fearful; we should be excited and encouraged that God is doing exactly what He said He would do.However, we should be watchful and understand the signs and the times.
I Thes 5:2-6 “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.While people are saying ‘peace and safety,’ destruction will come upon them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.But you brothers are not in darkness so that this day should not surprise you like a thief.You are sons of the light and sons of the day.We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” Luke 21:9-11 continues in this vein, "When you hear of wars and revolutions do not be frightened.These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”
So What Do We Do - What Can We Expect -How Should We Plan and Prepare?
Definition of Prepare: Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language:To make ready. To make ones self ready. To provide to procure as suitable, as to prepare arms, ammunition, and provisions for troops; To set; To establish; To appoint, To guide, direct, or establish.
New World Dictionary: To make ready for a specific purpose; make suitable, fit adapt, train.To make receptive, disposed, custom.To prepare someone for bad news. To equip furnish with necessary provisions, accessories, etc.To prepare for an expedition to put together, to make things ready or make ones self ready, i.e.; preparedness. The state of being prepared.
If God is going to shake everything that can be shaken, then we should plan on everything getting shaken.We should plan, prepare, and expect natural disasters, economic chaos, temporary breakdowns in services, pestilences and pandemics, terrorist attacks and wars.We should plan and prepare for it physically and spiritually.We should plan for it personally, with our families, as congregations, and as communities.Like Joseph, we need to come up with a plan; because Joseph prepared as God led him, he was able to save himself, his family, his city, his own nation, and all the nations which surrounded Egypt in that day.We need to be the Josephs of our day to our families, employers, churches and communities.
First of all, we need to consider where we live and if any of these things happen what the effect might be.What resources do you have, and what would you lack?What provisions should you have in your home, and how long do you want them to last?If a disaster strikes, what would you do as a family? You need to come up with a family plan.How would you gather everyone together, what would each member do, and how quickly would they have to do it?You should discuss and train for personal emergencies like a severe storm, fire, loss of power, family member injury, as well as all the other possibilities.
Second, what would the church do; how does your church want to position themselves in the event of a disaster?How can they be a light, a resource, a witness to their community?How can the congregation be trained, prepared, and ready to assist?How would you communicate with other members, what would be the order of priorities, what and who are your greatest resources and door keepers?Call your County Emergency Director and/or someone who is an authority in the areas of emergency and disaster, ask them suggestions and ask how you can help them.
Thirdly, what position would you like to be in relating to helping your neighbors and local community?Is a neighborhood plan feasible? Who has resources, can the resources be shared so that you don’t each have the same items, but between everyone you have all you need.
We should not be in any fear or anxiety over all that’s happening or could happen, because God will show how to plan and what to do if we seek Him.Preparing for such events is not reaction caused by fear it is a response to the what the Word of God said “must happen” and so that we “are not in darkness so that this day should notsurprise” us.Luke 21:34-36 says, Be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.Be always on watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen…”
Market Place Ministry
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill
The Lord is going to do more than keep us alive during this time of shaking; He is going to prosper us in the midst of it.This is how and why the market place ministry overlaps with disaster relief ministry; both are end time ministries.
Haggai 2:6-9 says, “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.‘The glory of this present house will be much greater than the glory of the former house,’ say the Lord Almighty.‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
The Lord is going to raise up the Josephs, Ezras, Esthers, Daniels, and Cyrus’s of our day, who will wield great influence and control great resources in order to fund, prepare, and provide the care which the church will be positioned to offer.
These are tumultuous times, but that only means God is going to have to do more miracles, signs and wonders than ever before.So let’s make ourselves available to be a part of that move. You can go to www.Isaiah5812.orgfor all kinds of guides, resources, and training programs which are available to help you prepare personally, corporately, or as a trained FEMA certified community volunteer.Proverbs 1:33says, “But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.” Every prophet and Biblical figure prayed for, hoped for, and longed to see the times we are living in right now. So let us be alert, watchful, in prayer, and understand the times and the seasons we are privileged to be living in.
I need to have 25 or more people committed to taking the course, it would be even better if there could be an even greater number. The CERT course is an excellent opportunity to work together with other area churches -around you- toward a very clear, very scriptural common goal.The cost is $25.00 per person. I would like to obtain the contact numbers of some local firemen, EMT workers, and the County Emergency Director, these community members appreciate that this course is being taught often like to help with Citizen Corp Training.
Our vision is to have Isaiah 58:12 and/or other faith-based groups positioned all over the state and the nation, so that we can marshal an army of volunteers for any disaster that comes our way. As a faith-based disaster group, I would like to teach the course in a church, and will share the spiritual focus of the course as well as the practical.
If possible, I would like to share Sunday morning at one of the local churches on “End Time Ministries & Being Prepared.” The Church must begin to recognize the spiritual mandate and importance of being prepared as individuals, families and churches congregations, for whatever may happen; a natural disaster, a pandemic, a breakdown in the economy and a loss of services, or terrorist attack, etc.As God shakes everything that can be shaken, we must wisely prepare and position ourselves as Joseph did.We must be men and women who –are- understand the times.We must “press on to take hold of THAT for which Christ Jesus took hold [us].”