Reconciliation to Restitution!

featuring Mark Rogers

The most amazing and world changing reconciliation to ever occur in the history of mankind took place some two thousand years ago.  On a windswept, bald hill in a obscure city, a man was crucified. There had been thousands of crucifixions at the hand of the Roman government and would be thousands more to follow.  But this man was different.  Within him ran the bloodline of kings and the seed of God himself. He walked willingly to Golgotha, without remorse, to sacrifice himself to reconcile us all to the Father. Yet, if you examine closely the handful of writings which document his life, you find a amazing fact. The cross was not the focus of his life, it was a beginning. 

The cross opens the door for us to walk with God in the fullness of this age. If we only experience the cross from a historical perspective, we certainly can been saved. However, there is so much more to the cross than our eternal home place. We have a unique opportunity during our life span to represent the kingdom of God in fullness on earth as it is in heaven. To some degree we offer our lives in restitution for all he has done for us.  We certainly cannot earn our salvation, as it is a free gift. We can offer to His kingdom the recompense of a life lived for him. Discipleship is what God desires from us. Exercising dominion takes the life and sacrifice of Christ to the next level. One of the most tantalizing scriptures is:

John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.” 

It is the “greater works than these shall he do” portion of this verse that suggests that our life of Dominion will carry fruit greater than what Christ demonstrated during his public ministry. So, what “greater” thing has God left for us to do.

Could one such “greater” task at hand be the reconciliation of the nations to the kingdom of God? Some of us believe that the United States of America is a nation founded on trust in God. If that is the case, what is the fruit of this trust in God?

Matthew 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

It becomes difficult to reconcile the history of this nation and its dealings with the Native America's with this scripture. More Native people died in the American holocaust of intentionally introduced European diseases and and massacres than were killed in the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Some historians believe that Germany’s final solution was patterned after American policy with Native America. How can this tragedy of injustice stand in a nation founded upon Godly principles? The answer to this question is that it can’t.

For over two decades many in the Body of Christ have been laboring to reconcile the fractures between the American “Republic on which we stand” and Native America. We have wept and prayed and repented before God for the tragedy of our past. Some have walked for thousands of miles in acts of repentance for the infamous Trail of Tears. The warning about the Gibeonite curse (II Samuel 21:1) that caused drought to plague Israel for three years has resonated within our hearts. We did not break one covenant, as Saul had, but we have broken over three hundred covenants. There have been reconciliation services in many cities and states across America.  We believe that there is need for more such activities, but there becomes a place where we move beyond reconciliation to restitution.

Just as we move past the reconciliation of the cross into a life of walking with God, we believe we have moved past reconciliation with the Native American community into a season of restitution.  We are living , walking and understanding that part of the “final solution” of the Kingdom of God which involves doing more than inviting an “Indian” over for a conference. Restitution involves compensation of restoring what the locusts of the past have eaten. With a heart of seeing our Native American community restored before God, Compassion Acts delivered over $20,000.00 in food to the Marble City Food Pantry as a act of restitution for the tragedy of the past. As part of the restitution process, the team paid for a community cookout that was part of the cultural fabric of the local Cherokee Nation. These activities occurred, with the Cherokee National Day of Prayer held in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.  Michal Ann Goll also gave copies of her book, Compassion, in which is a chapter honoring Nancy Ward, the last Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nation. A book was given to all who were present at the National Day of Prayer. We believe honor is a strategic weapon in the arsenal of the Kingdom of God. 

The next compassion act of restitution will involve the distribution of a thousand solar-powered bibles. Solar-powered, audio Bibles will soon be on their way from MegaVoice in Tiberias, Israel to Iris Ministries in Maputo, Mozambique. The proposed shipment date is May 15. These units sell for $80 at a Christian bookstore. They have been donated to Iris Ministries in Mozambique. Compassion Acts needs $8,000.00 to cover the costs for bringing these units into the Mozambique. Will you invest in the Iris pastors? When you partner with Compassion Acts, you are in fact changing the history of nations. You are participating in one of the “greater than” ministries in your lifetime.  We need your prayers and a little bit more cash. Send your money, or make an online donation, to Compassion Acts and note that it is for the Audio Bibles. Pray for a smooth shipment and processing through customs, no losses, and for complete funding to come together for customs fees and for a small team led by Leon Hoover to help with the distribution.

Click here to donate online for the Bibles going to Mozambique.

Mark Rogers