This weekend I travelled to Charleston, SC to attend The Response: A Call to Prayer for our Nation. Somewhere between 4,000 – 7,000 individuals (my guestimate) from all denominations, all races, all socio-economic status and all age groups gathered to simply petition our heavenly father to work His plan in our nation.

The six hour event was divided into five specific areas, where the crowd individually and corporately prayed for each of these items to take place in our individual lives, the lives of our families, our local communities and our country:

• Repentance
• Reconciliation
• Revival
• Reformation
• Refreshing belief in Jesus Christ

South Carolina is now the third state where such a large, diverse group has gathered specifically for the purpose of prayer and fasting has taken place.  The first was in Texas and the second was in Louisiana.

While there were two Governors who spoke, this event was NOT political.  The event was free to the public and there was no indication of who sponsored this event, which certainly wasn’t inexpensive, as the Charleston Coliseum was rented out for the entire day.  With the exception of the two Governors, I am not sure any names or organizations were even mentioned, and dozens of individuals participated on stage.

At the outset, the leader said (I am paraphrasing), “Heaven is going to look like this – a coat of many colors: all races will be present, all ages will be present, and all socio-economic statuses we experience on earth will be present.  We are asking everyone to come into this place in a spirit of worship – to leave your titles, your accomplishments, your organizations, and your agenda’s outside this place.  Today we are simply here to see what God has for us, as we divide the day up into these five categories (listed above).”

To this point, I have been unable to find many videos of Saturday’s event.  It is possible to see a few short clips, as well as pictures by reviewing The Response Facebook Page.

It should be noted that the audience was 15 – 20 % black, and those who participated on stage were 35 – 40 % Black.  There were numerious hispanics, as well as other ethnic groups present as well.  I simply give that estimation (mine) of the statistics, so you know it was a diverse setting, which is required for the five goals to honestly be attained.  Also, some of the most poignant prayers came from the youth and young adults, ages 15 – 25, who were honoring to the older generations but also recognizing how much work is ahead of their generation.  Out of the mouth of babes often comes the greatest wisdom – as they have not yet been conformed to the things which hold us back.

I am going to try and summarize each point in just a few sentences:

• Repentance: Today our society celebrates that which is evil, and condemns that which is virtuous and we humbly seek forgiveness for allowing this to take place in our culture, on our watch.
• Reconciliation: Today we have allowed our society to become more divided than ever – by age groups, by socio-economic class and by race. We recognize that God created each of us as individuals, with specific gifts and talents to be used to benefit all in society – and we pray for the walls between the generations, between the classes and between the races to be broken.
• Revival: Revival does not happen for unbelievers. It happens within the hearts and communities of those who already call on the name of Jesus Christ.  Our nation is filled with dry bones, and we humbly pray for God to blow a mighty wind on the dry bones of The American Church – to wake us up so that we might be faithful to His calling on our lives, in our families, in our communities, our state and our nation.
• Reformation: We don’t seek the reformation of others – we seek the reformation of our own hearts, families, churches communities, states, and nation – that we might place virtue above all else. Without fixing our own lives, families, and churches first – we cannot have the impact which is required on our culture.
• Refreshing: This was simply a time of praise and worship. Many went to the “mosh pit,” or the front of the room to lift hands, and dance before the Lord.  It truly was a coat of many colors – where the things which divide were not present.

Because of the work I have been engaged in, both through the Social Conservative movement, and specifically helping to put on The National Security Summits, which are being conducted in many of the early primary states, I had the privilege to be asked to participate in the prayers from the stage, specifically to pray for the National Security of our Country.  Honestly, because I had not personally met any of the organizers before, I chose to simply go and participate as an individual.  Observation before participation has become something I have learned, sometimes the hard way, in the last four years.  After attending the event, there is no question in my heart, mind or spirit that this effort is Spirit led, and it gives me great hope – because the numbers of those whose hearts are pure, and are praying for our country – both inside our borders and outside our borders are growing.  I believe the growth is becoming exponential.  When The Response comes to your state – I would highly recommend not only attending, but doing all you can to help promote it, and get people there.

What this means for our future may not be what we expect or even desire.  God’s ways, actions and timetables are generally not ours.  He is however at work, and we have a lot to look forward to in the future.

In closing, I want to share two things:

• Another area of hope I have – but also a sliver of disappointment. I have had the privilege of traveling South Carolina quite a bit in the last 2 years, as a result of both High Frontier, and helping on a U.S. Senate Campaign.  As a result – rarely do I go to such a large event where I do not see several people I already know.  On Saturday, in such a large crowd, I spent the day with a good friend of mine, who also relocated to South Carolina from Virginia.  He drove from Myrtle Beach, where he now resides, to invest his day at The Response.  He was the only other individual who I personally know who I saw there.  In a way, it saddened me that I did not see more of my evangelical brothers and sisters, who I already know, who desire to see these five points achieved in our culture, in our lifetimes, invest a day in this effort.  Obviously, it could be simply because there was an unawareness.  This leads me to think of one of the points of the day – the need for our individual churches to stop being territorial, to get outside of our boxes, and unite with other believers outside of the four walls of our own church.  United, we can impact culture but divided we will not.  On the flip side – it also gives me great hope – because the pool of individuals who The Holy Spirit is working on is far larger than we know, or likely can even imagine!
• Governor Bobby Jindal shared his testimony, and it was phenomenal. I was hoping that I would be able to find it on YouTube, and while I couldn’t find Saturday’s – I did find the testimony he gave at The Response in Baton Rouge.  It is very similar – and I would encourage everyone to invest the time to watch it.  You can watch Bobby Jindal’s testimony by clicking here.

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Those who know me, my concern with overall healthcare, its  costs, how overall nutrition impacts those costs, and how much of our food supply is actually unhealthy will likely find this title strange – that there is anything I would appreciate about McDonalds.

But it’s true – there is something that I greatly appreciate about McDonalds.

When I was a Branch Manager with Capital One Bank in Central Park, Fredericksburg, VA, our branch had several McDonald’s restaurants which had their business accounts with us.  One day, while taking one of my various routes to work, I noticed that one of the restaurants, which was also a client, had been razed since the last time I had seen it.  It was GONE!

Later that morning, when the restaurant manager came in to do the daily banking, I walked over to ask her if that particular restaurant had burned down, if that was why the site was completely flat and clean now.  “No,” she replied, “McDonalds is in the process of razing and rebuilding  hundreds of our restaurants.  That building was ancient. Everything in it was old and needed to be replaced. It was razed last week, and construction for the new restaurant begins next week.  Construction should be completed in “X” weeks.” I put X weeks, because I don’t remember the exact number, but I was impressed with the aggressive time table to get that store re-opened, operational and once again profitable.

It was at that point, at least once a week I took the route to work, which would enable me to watch the construction progress.  It was phenomenal.  Closing to reopening, with its new building, completely new equipment and a new and improved menu took place in mere weeks.

Even though I am relatively health conscious, and rarely enter a McDonalds to eat – I have noticed that not only are they installing new, modern buildings with new equipment all throughout the country – but their menus have changed with the times as well – to accommodate the growing number of folks like me, who are being more health conscious with their diets.

That is proactive, innovative leadership.  Leadership which doesn’t lead with the status quo, but sees the writing on the wall and takes the required steps to change with the times.  I appreciate that bold investment in the future which McDonalds is visibly executing – and will likely stop in for a salad, or a breakfast parfait more often, as a result.

This type of innovation inspires – and gives hope.  Perhaps some of the folks who executed this massive transition into the future: on schedule, on budget, with a goal of attaining profitability, would consider running for public office someday – as the status quo we see in government needs some drastic innovation, with such goals.

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Anyone who has been my friend or has followed me for any length of time knows I have publicly stated my disdain for not only the leadership within both of our political parties, but the way they orchestrate the entire political process.  Therefore they are likely to find this title highly unlikely.

It is true though – I do have a selective respect for our elected leaders in Washington DC.

In the last four years I have helped folks running for elections at the following levels: School Board, County Supervisor, State Senate, United States Senate, and now I have the privilege of serving on the leadership team in my state for one of the Presidential Candidates, Ted Cruz.

When this journey began for me, as a middle aged man, it wasn’t because I wanted a career in campaigning or politics – it was only because after being in private industry for two decades, like millions of Americans, my infuriation with the way our national leaders led angered me enough to no longer sit and simply yell at the nightly news, but to actually try and do something to change the leadership of our country.

Having a front row seat in several campaigns, one of the many things I have learned is the personal sacrifice it takes, not only for the candidate and the spouse, but generally for his or her entire family, to seek the privilege to serve a constituency of any size.

When it comes to the elected leadership in Washington, regardless of party, at some point – whether for noble reasons or selfish ones – they and their families chose to enter the arena of public office, which to be successful requires a tremendous amount of time, personal energy and money.  Not to mention, it requires a willingness to undergo scrutiny beyond belief.  It has been said if you want to research your family tree, rather than pay for it or do the research yourself, run for office – your opponents will do all the research for you!  For these reasons – I respect them, even those I philosophically disagree with.

For those who have been in Washington for decades now, they have learned the art of political power: how to acquire, retain and wield it.  With a leadership structure based on seniority rather than gifts and talents for true leadership and statesmanship, as well as a financial and committee reward structure which protects the seniority based leadership, it is a skill which generally is acquired over a long time period.  While the process may disgust us, that willingness and ability to invest the time, which generally requires multiple re-elections, to move up the leadership rank does deserve some respect.

For the millions like me who engaged because we see the financial titanic we are on is about to hit the iceberg, as well as philosophical worldview issues we face – not for the purpose of “wielding power,” which under the current system takes decades to acquire, it is somewhere between the fifth and seventh paragraphs above where my respect is lost. Between the sentences where I state they sought “the privilege to serve” and “they learned the art of political power.”

While their willingness to enter the arena, and their understanding of how power really works in Washington does deserve respect, and while those who just in the last few years began entering the arena are still learning the power system of Washington, I am convinced that less than 5 % of those who have been in elected office in Washington over a decade should be there any longer.  They simply are too closely connected to the continual extension of debt on our national credit card.

Respect aside, we need a paradigm shift in the way leadership is selected within Washington.  Leadership by seniority has led us to the financial cliff.  It fosters and propagates the status quo – and the status quo is leading us to financial ruin.  Sadly, I am not confident we will be able to fix our existing spending problems under the existing structure. The paradigm shift in leadership selection which is required, likely won’t come until after a financial reset.

It is my prayer that hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans are today considering running for office.  We have over 3,000 counties and municipalities in our republic.  Each of these jurisdictions have at least two dozen elected offices.  The phrase “all politics is local” is so true. Many of the problems we face in Washington are also being addressed at local and state levels – and strong leadership at these levels is required if we ever have any hope of seeing a paradigm shift of leadership, as well as a new breed of leaders in Washington.  Will you join me in that prayer – up to and including putting your hat in the ring?

So, despite my selective respect for our elected leaders in Washington – I am praying for the future folks who are mentally, physically and spiritually preparing to earn that same respect.  I pray they will also earn our respect for truly solving the problems our country faces, something I am convenced very few of those currently in Washington will be able to earn.

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So many folks tell me their perception is my life is centered in politics. The reality is my heart is concerned with culture – and politics is simply downstream of where my heart is.

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The life of my family has gone through extreme transitions in the last three years.  I am not going to list them here – but suffice it to say that in 2012 we started a journey that was 180 degrees from the path we were on, and drastically different than anything we had planned on in the two decades leading up to our transition. As is the case with all of life, road blocks and speed bumps have been visited along the way. We are grateful for the hardships, challenges, opportunities and the triumphs!

One of the focuses I had when leading a civic organization in Fredericksburg, VA in 2011 and 2012, prior to moving to South Carolina, was to be strategic in that organizations communications.  It was critical to me that we stopped overwhelming our member’s e-mail boxes. So we diligently strived to have only one communication via e-mail per week.  We gave folks who found us via social media, or through the forwarding of e-mails an opportunity to subscribe to our communications.  More importantly – we gave people an opportunity to opt out, or stop receiving our communications without having to tell us.  What we found during that time period – is our overall readership drastically increased.  Our readership and influence increased when we began limiting our total communications.

I share those two things with you because since that time period, due to my life and professional experiences I have had the heart to write on a multitude of issues.  I believe the vast majority of these issues impact and interest you and your sphere of influence.  Honestly, the majority of the issues are about business, life and culture, not politics – but as I mentioned starting out – politics is downstream.  It isn’t downstream of only culture, but just everything in life.  Furthermore, due to our transition I have not been able to commit the time, or quite honestly with everything going on, have the discipline required to be consistent in writing.  Beginning June 1^st of 2015 I am now committing a portion of each week toward this effort.

I would like your permission to once a week share links to my writings and thoughts with you via e-mail – which will always link back to my personal website.  If you would like to receive this weekly summary – please sign up in the upper right hand corner of this page.

What will the topics cover, you may ask?

Through my career I have been engaged in the following industries: Travel, Big Box Retailing, Banking, Technology, Agriculture, Non-Profit Work and Political Campaigns.  My life experiences have taken me all around our great country, Europe, Israel and the former U.S.S.R.  I have lived in communities, and with housemates, which were extremely diverse and communities which were not. I have friends and mentors which are at very high levels of the worldly “success” spectrum as well as friends and mentors who are not, but although they don’t outwardly exude worldly “success,” they truly are the salt of the earth.

I mention all of that simply because most of the issues we face today are what I call “non-respecter of person” issues.  In other words, they impact everyone – and despite our leadership wanting to put us into boxes based on race, gender, socio-economic status, nationality or faith – we are all part of the same human race.

So, the topics will be varied and on things that impact us all.

I am going to close with something I shared on my Facebook Wall last night:

“I honestly think the years ahead of us are going to be the most challenging, but also the most exhilarating. God placed each of us here for this time, and this place.

Yes – there will be many of us who will see the proper course, who will come up severely lacking in will and resolve. But I believe there are vastly more individuals His Spirit is preparing in ways we cannot comprehend – and in the end, good will be achieved.

Lots of negative things being reported out there.  Chaos and negativity sells – for some reason.  But there are good things happening too.  Bridges being built – people seeking to understand vs. simply being understood – folks getting outside of their boxes and comfort zones – and legitimate love and charity taking place.”

I can’t wait for the future!

#BringItOn #LetsRoll

Again – if you would like to subscribe to my weekly summaries, please do so in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Blessings,

Scott Cooper

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31 of my 46 years were spent in The Old Dominion – so I feel I would be negligent if I did not remind my friends in Virginia to see who is on the ballot, do some research in the next 72 hours and get to the polls to vote, if there is a Primary in either your local or legislative districts.

Click here for candidate listings for both General Assembly Primary Candidates as well as Local Primary Candidates.

The Founding Documents of our country are clear about who is responsible for our government.  We The People are.

It astonishes me that the vast majority of eligible voters do not vote in Primaries.

What grieves my heart even more, is that roughly 50 % of evangelical’s do not vote in general elections, because they are not registered – and of those evangelicals which are registered to vote – the vast majority do not vote in Primaries.

I first wrote about the importance of Primaries in 2011.

I want to make two points about Tuesday’s Primary:

First, neither the Republican Party of Virginia nor the Democratic Party of Virginia has Tuesday’s Election listed on the events page of their website.  Apparently, neither party thinks highly enough of the internal political process of being iron sharpening iron to inform visitors of their website of the upcoming election.  I found this troubling, but expected.

Second, in the General Assembly there are a total of 18 districts facing primaries: 9 Democratic Primaries and 9 Republican Primaries.

In my old stomping ground of Fredericksburg, perhaps the most publicized primary is taking place.  That is where the Speaker of the House of Delegates Bill Howell is being challenged by Susan Stimpson.  That district represents Stafford and Fredericksburg City.

I consider Bill Howell a friend.  We used to attend the same church, and I have met him a couple times to discuss policy.  I have respect for his service not only in the General Assembly but also to the community, especially through Young Life.

Friendship aside, being a great individual aside – I personally believe that one of the reasons our states and our country are in the financial situation we are in is because we have lost the vision of rotational leadership our founders provided for us.  Our founders desired a citizen legislature – where folks serve for a season, then return home to labor in an industry they helped to regulate.  This is not personal – but public service should be for a season, not for a career.  Delegate Howell has been serving in that seat since 1992.

In addition to Term Limits however, there are a several issues, which I believe each citizen needs to research before going to the polls on Tuesday.  Many articles relating to the issues on why Delegate Howell should be replaced by Susan Stimpson have been posted on the Fredericksburg Virginia Patriots Group Facebook Page – and I will refer you to that.  Click here to review!

Don’t Forget to Vote on Tuesday!

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