Saturday, September 26, 2020

Why The Worldwide Fast Didn't Work

Previously: I Finally Got That Coveted Slot on Radio Free Mormon


I frequently hear from regular readers who have been asking why I'm often absent from this blog for long periods of time. There are two reasons, actually, one having to do with my health, but the second is that every time I come up with a good idea for a topic, someone else beats me to it and does a better job than I ever could have.  

Such is the case with the current topic, which was covered by a brand new blog called Latter-Day Truths. This blogger turns out to be someone I know quite well, but since his blog is relatively new, I wanted to bring his work to your attention.  He began his blog just four months ago, and all his posts have been remarkable.  No sense my going over the same ground he has already covered, but I couldn't resist cribbing the title of one of his pieces to use as my own, with only a slight variation in wording.  I hope you'll pop over there and give his post a read.  

If you are not aware of what happened -or if, like most Mormons, you conveniently forgot- President Russell Nelson proposed that all members of the Church "join with me in a worldwide fast—for all whose health permits—to pray for relief from the physical, emotional, and economic effects of this global pandemic.”  That was on March 26th of this year. As you may recall, that fast didn't work.

Why not? As the author of Latter-Day Truths points out, Nelson said nothing about the need for repentance. Not one word.  The Saints were expected to pray and fast, but what is praying and fasting without repentance? Nowhere in scripture am I aware of an instance in which God's people asked something from the Lord while failing to repent fervently repent.  So no miracle took place following that National Day of Prayer and Fasting, and it was never spoken of again.

As is usual in these times, Latter-day Saints tend to believe they should be the ones to lead such a process because they are convinced the Lord himself declared this church to be "the only true and living church on the face of the earth." As shown elsewhere, God never said any such thing. Mormons have been misquoting God on that point for nearly two decades.  

As also seems to be the rule in these times, the rest of the Christian world has taken up the call for a National Day of Prayer, but they are specific in the need for this to be a day of prayer and repentance.  This massive event is taking place even as I write these words, and I knew nothing about it. As it turns out, I had already written the first five paragraphs of this blog post when I heard the sound of this event coming from the other room where my wife was tuned in. So I'm cutting this post short and encouraging everyone to tune in, even if you, like me, are late in coming to the table.

In churches all across the nation today and tomorrow, millions of Christians are humbling themselves before God and repenting of the sins that have caused the Lord to turn his back on this nation, and asking for another chance at his redeeming love.  I just learned of this minutes ago from my wife, and many others -many readers of this blog, I assume- will wish, as I did, that they had been able to join in from the beginning.  

But better late than never, and it's never too late to repent.  So I urge you to join me and Connie as we join our voices with Christians and Jews all over the world who have begun to pray and repent, and who will continue to repent all week.  So I won't waste any further words at this time and instead simply invite you to tune in to TheReturn.org and enthusiastically participate in the National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance.  I can't tell you how heartening it is to see thousands of believers on their knees before God on the national Mall in Washington D.C, and this is just one telecast from one of many locations. Tens of millions of people worldwide have tuned in and are participating in this national and global day of repentance. I hope you'll join in as well.

                                                         *****