The Power of Repentance - Miracle in San Francisco
Repentance is greatly under valued in the modern church world. Identificational repentance even more so and yet repentance was the message that laid the foundation for the operation of the power of God in the New Testament.
The message of John the Baptist was "repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."Jesus message was the same, repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Both of these messages were accompanied by open displays of the power of God.
Peter continued the call to repentance in the book of Acts chapter 2 when he said "Repent... and save yourselves from this perverse generation," hardly a message that would see him invited to speak in many modern day churches, and yet this message released the power of God for the salvation of 3,000 souls.
In the Book of Revelation Jesus Christ called five of the seven churches to repentance, which would indicate, looking at statistical odds, that you and I need to activate repentance in our lives 71% of the time. Certainly a sobering thought to say the least. Repentance literally means in the Greek to 'have a change of mind and turn around'. But it is not just a state of the mind but a state of the heart. It has a lot to do with humility.
Nowhere is this more exemplified than when the prophet Isaiah, who we understand was a righteous man, prophesying against the evil of his day, spoke out regarding his own state: "Woe is me for I am ruined, I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst a people with unclean lips." In doing so he at the least identified with sinfulness of the people of his own generation and asked God for cleansing.
The prophet Daniel who is one of the few bible characters who had no known sin recorded against him took it one step further in identificational repentance when he prayed to God in Daniel 6:9, "I and my forefathers have sinned."
This was the thought at the forefront of my mind when I learned of the evil behaviour of Australian citizens in San Francisco who arguably laid the foundation of evil that San Francisco was built on in the early days of the gold rush in the 1850's. I learned this from two Australian prayer warriors Merv and Sharon Stevenson who had spent several weeks in July 2015 researching and repenting for Australia's contribution to organised crime, prostitution, sex trafficking, murder and mayhem in the early days of San Francisco.
The port area which was the hub of the city of San Francisco and the vice capital for the city was known as Sydney Town from 1850 -1865. It later became known as the Barbary Coast, but the continuing predominance of Australian immigrants in the criminal activities was a well known fact.
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Ducks
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Coast,_San_Francisco
In the book "The Barbary Coast - An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld", USA crime historian Herbert Asbury said "The villainous inhabitants of Sydney-Town were popularly called Sydney Ducks or Sydney Coves, but more often the former. It was a common saying in early San Francisco whenever a particularly atrocious crime was committed, that 'the Sydney Ducks were cackling in the pond'. Unquestionably, these foreign felons gave San Francisco's underworld its initial flavour; they were the pioneers in the viciousness and depravity for which the Barbary Coast became famous, and the echo of their unholy cackling was not stilled for more than half a century."
I was shocked, to say the least, as I had been one of those who had pointed my finger in judgement at San Francisco, but typically I now found three fingers of my hand pointing back at me and my forbears. I was born in Sydney Australia and I had always thought that Sydney, being a sister city of San Francisco since 1967, had influenced us in a bad way.
Imagine my surprise to learn that it was us in Australia that had laid the foundation for San Francisco to become the immorality capital of the world in the sixties and seventies. Knowing that we were on our way to speak at the World Congress of Families in Utah, Alison and I felt it was time to ask the people of San Francisco for forgiveness and repent on behalf of our fathers and say sorry for their sins, not to mention my own spiritual pride.
On 31st October another Australian, my wife Alison and I gathered with seven other local intercessors from the San Francisco House of Prayer, led by Anne Trumbo. We also had Ps Jeff Daly from the USA Day of Repentance and David Bereit the Director of 40 Days for Life representing Christian ministries from all over the USA.
We prayer-walked the downtown area and then met on the 11th floor of the Trans America Pyramid, overlooking San Francisco. A kind Christian businessman gave us access to an 'upper room'. We conducted a communion service together and we declared the forgiveness found in and through the blood of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and jointly blessed San Francisco.
Our Australian brother, with Alison and I, washed an American brother's feet in heartfelt repentance and asked and received forgiveness from those present on behalf of Australia. We expected God to do something but we were truly caught by surprise by what God was about to do.
San Francisco, and California, has been gripped in a record breaking four year drought, but I did not have the faith to pray for an end to the drought. My belief in the unmerited favour found in the blood of Jesus Christ and the supernatural implication of true repentance was far too limited. Thankfully God's grace is bigger than my own judgemental attitudes.
We were to witness the first part of the miracle first hand when rain began to fall within 24 hours of our repentance service in what turned out to be the largest fall of rain in San Francisco for 9 months. The good news is that San Francisco has had several more showers of rain that would appear to herald the end of one of the worst droughts on record. 1.http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29061079/autumn-storm-prelude-but-not-yet-el-nino
Even more amazing is that at exactly the same date we were having our combined repentance service in San Francisco, Saturday 31st October, rain began to fall at Barcaldine in central Queensland in the northern part of Australia. This area was also the centre of a record breaking four year drought which has gripped central Queensland.
1. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-02/weekend-storms-outback-queensland/6904972
2. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/watl/rainfall/pme.jsp
Over the next two days Barcaldine recorded its greatest monthly rainfall on record. Better still more rain has fallen since and more is forecast in short term forecasts. The same is the case in northern California. It would seem that in both areas the weather patterns have changed and all things point to an end of the drought in both locations.
We cannot yet say the drought is over as we need 6-12 months of good soaking rain for that to occur. What we can say authoritatively is that both regional areas of our respective nations received an extraordinary outpouring of the grace of God within 24 hours of a combined Australian and USA repentance service being held in San Francisco. The scripture says that we serve a merciful God who sends the rain on the just and the unjust. God is Good!!!!!
It is our conviction that this rain is a miraculous display of the power of God's love released as a consequence of heartfelt repentance between our respective nations as found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 As the scripture says, "Where sin abounds there does much more Grace bound."
We pray that this natural rain is a sign of the supernatural rains of revival that the USA and Australia so desperately need. Let's continue to covenant together to pray for revival and reformation for the USA and Australia. Soli Deo Gloria!
Much love Warwick & Alison Marsh
Australia
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