Archive for category: Release

Political division. Impeachment hearings. Waning church attendance. Young people walking away from the faith. A PC agenda pushed on the culture.

The list of deep concerns for America goes on and on. With a crucial 2020 presidential election now less than a year away, the American Pastors Network (APN) has embarked on an inspirational, exciting and very necessary prayer initiative called “52 Tuesdays.” The yearlong prayer focus calls on Christians to pray for America as never before.

APN President Sam Rohrer said that after launching “52 Tuesdays” on the “Stand in the Gap Today” radio program, which airs on 425 stations nationwide, feedback from listeners was extremely positive and hopeful.

“This is a crucial season for prayer in America,” Rohrer said. “And prayer does not only have to be driven by pastors in the church, although pastoral leadership is of utmost importance. Prayer can and should also be driven by our national leaders. But prayer should also be initiated by citizens and moms and dads in the home.”

Rohrer added that for nearly every election in America’s history, Christians have been heavily involved, whether by fundraising, mobilization, recruiting candidates or education efforts.

“Many of those who are driving the evangelical involvement in our nation’s most significant elections and those who are out plying the boat are doing nothing different than what has been done for the past generation, which really hasn’t led to any real change in the American election process nor certainly the culture within our nation,” Rohrer said. “What has to be different for 2020?”

One notable difference was the historic 2016 election, Rohrer added, but that outcome was not human-driven.

“No one can take credit for the window that God provided in most recent history,” Rohrer said.

“Elections are a time, forced by the calendar, to call on Christians to check their hearts to ensure they are grounded in God rather than in a man or woman who seeks to run the country,” he added. “America will never be great again until we return to a time when we acknowledge in our minds and hearts that the God of the Bible is great.”

A listener from Madison, Wisconsin, said she was encouraged and challenged by the “52 Tuesdays” prayer initiative when she heard a Nov. 12 interview with Rohrer on “Crosstalk” with host Jim Schneider, which airs in several states on the VCY America network.

“I said ‘Amen’ during that program more than I probably have any program, and that may be due to the growing desperation that many of us feel as we see what is going on around us,” she said. “I pray for President Trump regularly … but I continue to recognize what the true need is, and this is what your (program) hit right on the head. I have long been attempting to confront my own life and to challenge my six children, as well as appeal to my husband, who has been responding. I am burdened to share with whomever the Lord brings me to, especially with other women, regarding getting our lives right before God. Thank you for this program and this particular message. This is the bottom line. This is what has to be there underneath whatever else we are engaged in with in our friends, family, co-workers, church and culture.”

For “52 Tuesdays,” APN’s calls on all pastors to weekly encourage their congregations to pray with “who, what, when, where, why and how” in mind, as each American carefully considers our nation, its leaders, and the meaning, the gravity and the outcome of praying for America.

Rohrer added that this special year of prayer will focus on the biblical basics of prayer, such as why we pray, what prayer is and what we are called to pray for as citizens. These basics will be explored on the “Stand in the Gap Today” radio program and Tuesdays will be dedicated topics for prayer, including prayer for the president, the nation and for repentance as well as closing in prayer in each Stand in the Gap Today daily program.

To kick off “52 Tuesdays” on Nov. 12, Rohrer and co-hosts Gary Dull and Dave Kistler welcomed journalist, best-selling author and Christian publisher Stephen E. Strang to the “Stand in the Gap Today” program, which airs on hundreds of stations nationwide. Strang is the author of the forthcoming book, “God, Trump, and the 2020 Election: Why He Must Win and What’s at Stake for Christians if He Loses.” Listen to the program here.

On future Tuesdays, regular fourth segments of the daily, one-hour program will be dedicated to these prayer discussions, and guests to the show will be part of the prayers as well. Additionally, the “Stand in the Gap Today” co-hosts will be inviting listeners to pray with them, and live engagement will also occur through a variety of platforms.

Photo by twinsfisch on Unsplash

With October marked as Respect Life Month and Abortion Recovery Awareness Month, the American Pastors Network (APN) is calling on America’s churches, pastors and the people in the pews to acknowledge the great need for pro-life advocates in today’s culture, as well as commit to helping those who have experienced abortion find healing.

“We pray 2020 will be the year that not one tax dollar ever goes toward abortion again,” said APN President Sam Rohrer, “and that the nation’s justices will stand for life, no longer allowing the killing of innocent babies to be stain on the pages of our nation’s history.

“Although life is precious every day of the year,” Rohrer added, “Respect Life Month is a time when pastors and churches can truly focus on protecting life in their communities. We can no longer ignore abortion in our churches. Many may be struggling with the scars of abortion in their own lives, and looking to the church for help, healing and restoration. Additionally, we must equip our people to stand up for the sanctity of life in their own communities, states and across the nation.”

In Pennsylvania, where APN is headquartered, two lawmakers on Monday introduced companion “heartbeat bills,” which would ban abortion after a heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks after conception. Republicans Sen. Doug Mastriano and Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, whom APN has welcomed as a guest on the “Stand in the Gap Today” radio program, said they hope the bill will help counter and overturn Roe v. Wade, according to PennLive.com.

Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN, www.papastors.net) Executive Director and APN board member Gary Dull said pastors shouldn’t make assumptions about abortion.

“In the church, we can’t assume that every person sitting in the pews is passionately and strongly pro-life,” Dull said. “They may be confused about their views on abortion, or they may waver with the culture or even with personal experience. That’s why is crucial that pastors and the church stand up for life and not take for granted that all churchgoers realize that God created every life in His image from the moment of conception. He values these unborn children of God and has placed them in our protection.”

While many pastors may be in denial that abortion is not an issue in their churches, Rohrer says church leaders can still bring this important topic in front of their congregations, through sermons, special speakers and support groups, while also remembering that abortion and the pro-life/pro-choice debate will be critical election issue in 2020 as well as in local elections on Nov. 5.

As politics take over the majority of news headlines, more Americans may be asking themselves: What is the role of our national leaders?

Leaders at the American Pastors Network, the largest national network dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square, address this question frequently. In fact, APN president and host Sam Rohrer recently published a new editorial for The Christian Post, where he offers biblical insight to the roles and responsibilities of America’s leaders and elected officials.

“According to the Bible, those who serve in government are ministers of God,” Rohrer said. “Many Americans and even American Christians have never considered that distinction and prefer to oppose or avoid political leaders altogether. However, God desires that we encourage governing leaders to serve Him and the people they lead. Romans 13:4 notes, ‘He is God’s minister—or servant—to you for good.’ Therefore, our leaders and officials are to protect those who do what’s morally right, as well as to bring justice against those who do what’s morally wrong. That’s why the highest duty of governing involves creating and implementing laws to enact justice and to maintain peace throughout the land.”

Because the Bible calls governing leaders “ministers” or “servants,” they are to serve both God and the citizens, Rohrer also noted. But what does this mean in today’s culture? Political leaders are to be, to the people they represent, protectors of righteousness and defenders of truth. The word “minister” in Romans 13:6 literally means to be a leader in worship to God. Like King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon said after being forced by God to his knees in submission, “I do extol and recognize the God of heaven who is able to raise up and bring down those He will.”

“In other words,” Rohrer said, “according to God’s plan, all politicians possess the distinct obligation to live in the fear of God and cause people to look to God who created life, liberty and all natural rights. Our political leaders should sense a duty to protect the people they serve. And those who lead our nation need our support when they work to protect its citizens. Just imagine if those in office today would acknowledge that God is Supreme and would lead our nation to also acknowledge the God of heaven.”

Additionally, how many Christians are aware that the Bible speaks of political leaders as conduits of truth and justice?

“In our culture,” Rohrer continued, “politicians are often rightly viewed with skepticism and criticism at every turn, yet the Bible says they are ‘sent by God’ to punish lawbreakers and encourage righteousness. In 1 Peter 2, governing leaders are defined as people who should enforce laws against criminals and recognize honorable citizens. As believers, we’re commanded to live as law-abiding citizens as part of God’s will for our lives. Despite our ‘resistance’ culture that often seeks to undermine government and oppose authority, God calls us to consciously live out His principles and ‘silence the ignorance of foolish men.’ We are to submit to governing authorities. As Peter notes in 1 Peter 2:17: ‘Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.’”

Finally, Rohrer concluded, God has provided American citizens the privilege to be involved in the political process.

“Whether through voting, expressing our values or even running for elected office, our liberty offers many ways to participate,” he said. “How would our nation be different if all believers across our nation prayed daily for our leaders, lived godly values and participated in the process of government in a greater way? We would see the Lord bless our nation and bring times of refreshing to our land.”

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

At this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York City, hundreds of world leaders will come together to focus on pressing global topics, and the environment and climate change will be key topics of discussion.

In fact, today at the UNGA, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a summit to address the “global climate emergency.” The Summit will seek to “spark the transformation that is urgently needed and propel action that will benefit everyone.”

The American Pastors Network (APN), the largest national network dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square, also discussed the environment and climate change earlier this summer on the APN television program, “Stand in the Gap,” which reaches millions of households on several networks.

For the program titled “Embracing the Environment—God’s Way,” APN President and host Sam Rohrer and co-host and millennial pastor Isaac Crockett focused on the overall issue of “the environment and our relationship to it,” while also addressing two core problems—that the contemporary view of the environment has become fatalistic and that God’s purpose and plan for the environment has been lost or rejected.

“God’s Word gives great clarity and direction on every issue we can possibly consider in our world today,” Rohrer said on the show. “It seems as though we’ve entered a ‘twilight zone’ in America, where the more outrageous the claims about God, life and the environment, the more attention one gets and the more enlightened one seems to be. But this is not necessarily new. In the 1800s, scientific thought leaders like Charles Darwin made popular the view that there is no God, no creation and no sacredness to life, therefore, no purpose in living—all accident and chance. Then around the same time, philosopher, cultural critic and thought leader Friedrich Nietzsche declared that we had killed God—at least in the minds of the people—therefore, there was no need to feel guilty or accountable to God. We could live as we wanted and do as we wished.

“Then came economist and socialist revolutionary thought leader Karl Marx, who said that we will dethrone God,” Rohrer continued. “Combining his atheistic view of God with the thoughts of Darwin, Nietzsche, Georg Hegel and Sigmund Freud put into motion an anti-God plan to collapse America and the Western world. By the mid-20th century, these combined thoughts devolved to the point where judicial thought leaders, including those on the U.S. Supreme Court, arrogantly declared that babies in the womb are not people with sacred lives and, therefore, were dispensable and legal to be murdered at will.”

Later, Rohrer added, came political opportunists such as Al Gore, who cited selected climate “experts” with worldviews similar to these previous thought leaders and predicted the polar ice caps would melt by 2013 due to global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, resulting in a threat to all civilization.

“Not to be outdone and building on this worldview espoused by these previous thought leaders, freshman New York politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went even further in declaring that the world will end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change—in effect, starting a countdown clock for life as we know it,” Rohrer continued. “Because certain enlightened individuals make outrageously false claims, they intentionally influenced our culture and our world—and not for the good. So what can we do? Is there a response? Is the godless view of life and the environment that produces nothing but fear to be believed? Or is there a better and truthful way?

“The Bible holds the answers for all issues of life and living,” Rohrer further stated. “God is a god of design and purpose—predictable, uniform and accountability-driven. Christians believe that God established the standards for truth and gave us the guidelines for how mankind should relate to all creation with a promise of blessing and freedom, but only if we follow His guidelines—and this includes the environment.”

According to Rohrer, the modern cultural view of the environment, which is largely fear-driven, leaves out God, His purposes and mankind’s duty toward the environment.

“When Al Gore screams global warming and population annihilation and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez goes further by declaring a moratorium on Earth in 12 years and that cows, planes and more should be banned, what is the logical outcome of these recommendations?” Rohrer added. “And what is the likely motivation of these statements? When the Gores and the AOCs make such statements, seeking to scare all who listen and citing ‘experts’ rather than truth as defined by God, total conflict is the result, with both sides rejecting each other. God’s view of the environment and his stewardship principles could actually address some of the fears of those environmentalists who either intentionally leave out God altogether or perhaps have never heard of God’s superior plan at all.”

Watch the full program here.

Today’s U.N. Climate Summit will center on the theme, “Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win.” According to the U.N., “The impacts of climate change are being felt everywhere and are having very real consequences on people’s lives. Climate change is disrupting national economies, costing us dearly today and even more tomorrow. But there is a growing recognition that affordable, scalable solutions are available now that will enable us all to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies.” This past weekend, the UNGA also included a Youth Climate Summit.

Photo by Gustavo Quepón on Unsplash

With National Grandparents Day celebrated this Sunday, Sept. 8, the American Pastors Network (APN) is reminding grandparents that the Bible speaks directly to them regarding how to instill biblical precepts to the next generations.

APN President Sam Rohrer, the grandfather to 14 grandchildren and the father of six, says he and his wife of 42 years have strived to be godly influences in their grandchildren’s lives.

“Psalm 145:4 tells us that ‘One generation shall commend your works to another,’” Rohrer said. “This is a clear charge to parents and grandparents to instill the Word of God, His promises, His creation, His good works and the saving grace through His Son, Jesus Christ, to the generations that come after us. If we see that more millennials are becoming ‘nones’ and not embracing any faith at all, that means those millennial parents are not raising their children in the church or with a faith in Jesus Christ. This is alarming for future generations, which also brings to light the need for grandparents to play an integral role in their grandchildren’s faith walk.”

Rohrer also pointed to recent research by Barna that found that a majority of Christians had their faith heritage passed down by a family member—and usually long before adulthood, by the age of 12.

“This study is another indicator of the importance of grandparents who are strong in their faith have in talking to their grandchildren about why it is crucial to keep Christ at the center of their life and to look to the Bible for guidance in every area of life,” Rohrer added.

National Grandparents Day was championed in the 1970s by Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, who had 43 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. McQuade envisioned the holiday as a family affair, with generations coming together. While working to recognize the holiday on a local level, McQuade was elected Vice-Chair of the West Virginia Committee on Aging and appointed as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 1971. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed Grandparents Day would occur the Sunday after Labor Day each year. McQuade was married to her husband, Joseph, for 60 years before he died in 2001. Mrs. McQuade passed away in 2008.

According to LegacyProject.com, “On a societal level, National Grandparents Day gives us a chance to publicly affirm the identity and importance of grandparents, that they do play a vital role in families.”

Photo by Nikoline Arns on Unsplash