That’s what Pastor Baker Rigg told me yesterday morning after the monthly Culpeper Ministerial Association (CMA) meeting. I learned that Baker began intense weekly prayer and worship services at his church, Church on the Rise [http://church-on-the-rise.org/index.htm] (1136 Sperryville Pike, Culpeper, VA 22701) on Monday evenings (7 pm).

We are in a war – a spiritual war. It seems that most of God’s children are not even aware of the intense spiritual battles going on, let alone being engaged and properly prepared for war.

Prayer is how we fight the battles against our enemy. Now more than ever in my lifetime, America needs our prayers. “Prayer for such a time as this” is the theme for the NDP this year.

During the CMA meeting yesterday, Nancy Sharman shared a powerful and inspirational devotional about prayer. Nancy is the Regional Coordinator for Virginia, 5 other states, and Washington DC for the National Day of Prayer. She is a mighty woman of God.

If you live in Culpeper, I invite and encourage you to join us for the weekly community prayer gathering every Wednesday at Noon at Reformation Lutheran Church (415 S Main Suite # 101, Culpeper, VA 22701). The time is now to humble ourselves as the Body of Christ in communities and repent of the widespread evil in our communties.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, I believe in my heart of hearts that You are stirring the greatest prayer revival and the history of America and the world. I ask Your Holy Spirit to send personal invitations to the hearts of Your children to get involved. Soften our hard hearts. O LORD have mercy. Forgive us Father for our many transgressions. Amen.

Blessings to get engaged in community prayer NOW!

Randy Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
THE CONNECTOR and The Journal Guy

P.S. If you have comments to share, please post them publicly on my blog rather than sending me emails. Thank you.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)

What people or things does your life revolve around?

Around 6 AM yesterday morning as I was looking for a Link of the Day to complete my devotional titled “Hunter Payne Dies Tragically,” I visited the website for Spiritual Care Support Ministries (SCSM) to see what information they had about Grief Share. In the process of viewing the different web pages at www.scsm.tv, I saw a photo of Joseph Toth, the Director of Development for SCSM.

Shortly after 8 AM I arrived in the conference room at Culpeper Hospital for the monthly Culpeper Ministerial Association (CMA) meeting. The first person I ran into was Liz Danielsen, the Founder of SCSM. She immediately introduced me to Joseph Toth. I had only met Joseph one time previously and that was at the SCSM center in February 2006 when Rick Heeren’s entire family visited Virginia. Yesterday was Joseph first visit ever to a CMA meeting.

We had 3 major topics on the CMA agenda including a report by Liz Danielsen about SCSM, a follow-up report by Dewey McDonnell about Battle Cry 2007, and an update by me about the Global Day of Prayer Assembly in Culpeper on May 27, 2007. As Liz was sharing her excellent report and wonderful testimonies about SCSM, I realized that God had come full circle. All three topics on the agenda were intimately woven together.

You see, I interviewed Liz about SCSM on my A Life of Blessing TV show in Feb 2005. Because she didn’t have a website yet, I offered to make one for free before the TV show aired. That connected me with Dorothy Slaga, the media specialist for SCSM. When I shared with Dorothy my vision to be a catalyst to transform communities throughout Virginia, she referred me to The Elk River Story, a book written by Rick Heeren.

In March of 2005, my life changed forever when I met Rick Heeren over the phone. I knew God had called me to be a great salesman for the Word of God and to be a catalyst to transform the state of Virginia, but I didn’t know how.

When Rick and his wife, Rachel, first came to Culpeper Virginia in June 2005, Rick said his goal was to establish a beachhead for prayer evangelism. God used him to do that. Within two weeks, Pray Culpeper was birthed and a committed group of marketplace and pulpit ministers began meeting weekly to pray for our community.

Because of Rick’s prayers, teaching, hard work, and influence, I went to the Harvest Evangelism mission trip in Argentina in October 2005. There I met Graham Power, the founder of Transformation Africa, which birthed the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP). Graham’s phenomenal story led me to organize Culpeper’s first GDOP service held on June 4, 2006.

And it was God’s supernatural blessings and favor resulting from the prayers of unity of our Pray Culpeper team that led to a 20 fold multiplication of the tickets to Battle Cry that Dewey was sharing about. That miracle got Dewey and me on stage with Ron Luce, the Founder of Teen Mania, in front of 20,000 teenagers and youth leaders on May 12.

When I told the CMA members about Hunter Payne’s death, I learned that his father is a good friend of Tom Jones, the husband of Pastor Paula Jones, who was facilitating our CMA meeting. Paula shared that Hunter was helping his father cut trees when he was fatally injured. The Holy Spirit immediately convicted me for failing to mention Hunter’s father in my prayer in yesterday’s devotional.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, You truly are amazing when we stop to notice what You are doing and how the people and circumstances of our past are all interrelated. Forgive me for forgetting to ask You to comfort the father of Hunter Payne in yesterday’s devotional. Please do that. May he experience the miraculous healing power of Your love. Heal the hurts of anyone who is reading this message who is struggling with the lost of a love one. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Links of the Day
Spiritual Care Support Ministries [www.scsm.tv]
Healing From Grief [http://www.griefshare.org/healing/]

Blessings to experience the healing power of God’s love!

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah (Psalm 87:3)

What miraculous things is the LORD preparing to do in 2007?

Jerusalem, not Culpeper, is God’s city, the apple of His eye! Amazing enough, 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem becoming the capital of Israel, the 400th anniversary of America, and the year 07-07-07 occurs. Coincidence? No. As mentioned in my devotional on March 12, the number 40 signifies a time of probation or trial. Over the last 40 and 400 years, God has been preparing the way to do something absolutely HUGE to bless Israel in 2007.

Politically speaking, Culpeper Virginia is the cradle of religious freedom for the world because it’s where the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was birthed. Culpeper is a detonator city for transformation of other communities in Virginia during this critical 2007 year when we celebrate America’s 400th Anniversary!

Pray Culpeper was birthed 21 months ago after Rick Heeren’s visit. Since then, our Pray Culpeper team has been meeting weekly to bring unity to our community through the power of prayer. At our last Pray Culpeper meeting on March 12, we heard numerous reports of how God is bringing unity to our community. Let me share a few examples.

1) At 7 PM on March 17, youth, youth leaders, and families are coming together at Alum Springs Baptist Church to watch the movie Facing the Giants on DVD. This was my favorite movie of all time, despite the fact that it was never shown in the Culpeper theaters.

2) On Sunday March 25 at 2 PM, Pray Culpeper is hosting the second prayer walk of one of our public schools, Floyd T. Binns Middle School.

3) On Wednesday evening April 18, there will be a huge youth rally at Culpeper High School in preparation for the 800 youth and youth leaders going to Battle Cry stadium event in Baltimore on May 11-12, 2007.

4) On April 29, Culpeper will have its own local celebrations to rededicate America to God. We are encouraging all the churches in Culpeper to have their own rededication celebrations on that Sunday morning during their regular worship services. At 2 PM, we will have a community prayer walk with a large cross starting in downtown Culpeper to publically dedicate our city to Jesus Christ. Other communities in Virginia and America are encouraged to do likewise.

What is Pray Culpeper?
How did Pray Culpeper get started?
What is the fruit of Pray Culpeper?
Why is Culpeper so strategic in Virginia and America?
What’s so special about the year 2007?

Learn the answers to these questions and much more by visiting Pray Culpeper.

Prayer Power
Father God, LORD of Culpeper and Virginia, we welcome you to have your way in 2007. Change us, change our cities, and change our state to make us a bright light for the world. May Virginia be known as a state that blesses Your nation of Israel. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the Day
Pray Culpeper [www.prayculpeper.org] – building a city of God

Blessings to fulfill your role in bringing the fullness of God’s glory to Israel in 2007!

Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families,” (Numbers 1:1-2a)

What has God been saying to you through numbers?

The Bible is the greatest love letter ever written. And in the Bible, so much detail is paid to dates and numbers. An entire long book of the Bible is even called “Numbers.” While the name is derived from the census God took of the nation of Israel on two separate occasions, God is definitely a God of order. He has recurring patterns to reveal Himself. From my extensive journaling and Bible reading, I can tell you thousands of stories about how numbers matter to God.

This week I’ve been sharing a sequence of progressive miracles over the past few years to open eyes of understanding to the spiritual significance of this 07-07-07 year to wake up the church in America.

In yesterday’s devotional, I shared the miracle of Doug Barclay and how he began working for Operation Mobilization on 03-03-03. Today I’ll share about what God did on 04-04-04 and 05-05-05. Tomorrow, I’ll share what the Holy Spirit told me He wants to happen on 07-07-07.

Julia (my wife) and I first met in August 1977 in a Probability (math) class in the very first class of the first day the new Fall semester at the University of Virginia (UVA). Julia had just transferred into UVA and this was her very first class there. What’s the Probability of that? We got married on June 21, 1981, the longest day of the year as far as daylight is concerned in the Northern hemisphere. Our 25th anniversary was June 21, 2006, and God told me I’m to celebrate His 25 years of favor for an entire year. Proverbs 18:22 says “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.”

While God blessed me with a wife much better than I deserved and abundant finances as a physician, I didn’t have a firm Biblical understanding of my role in marriage. In 1991, I separated my wife’s budget from the family budget because of my frustration with unresolved conflicts over spending and saving. Now I understand this was a violation of God’s intentions for two people to “become one flesh” (share everything) when they get married.

On April 1, 2004, Pastor Matt Gregory took a leap of faith in obedience to the Holy Spirit and left Open Door Baptist Church after serving there more than ten years as a youth pastor to begin a new church plant. On 04-04-04, Julia and I reviewed our family budget together for the first time in 13 years and agreed to support Matt financially even though we didn’t plan to go to that church when it eventually got started.

But God knows how to direct the hearts of men. Jesus said “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Being in unity with my wife to give generously to Soul Purpose Church (SPC) captured both of our hearts. We eventually became part of the core team for SPC. Then on November 21, 2004, Julia, Robbie (my son), Issi (Julia’s identical twin sister), and Angelika (Issi’s daughter) were baptized together in the very first baptism ceremony for SPC before the church’s official worship service. In Biblical numerology, the number “4″ represents creation.

In October 2004, while preparing a PowerPoint presentation for upcoming meetings with leaders of the Christian Medical and Dental Association [www.cmda.org] and the American Family Association [www.afa.net], the LORD revealed to me that he was going to do something incredible in Culpeper on 05-05-05, the day of the annual National Day of Prayer. In Biblical numerology, the number “5″ represents grace.

On 05-05-05, Dr. Niel Stegmann and Johan Dupreez came from South Africa to Culpeper to meet with me, Michael Stay, Matt Gregory, and Mark Jarvis for strategic planning sessions regarding Infocare, something with the potential to transform healthcare systems and communities around the world.

Before he left, Niel gave me Jack Serra’s book “Marketplace, Marriage, and Revival.” This book and Jack’s teaching had more of a lasting favorable impact on my marriage than any other marriage teaching. To be a catalyst to bring unity to the body of Christ in Virginia, God had to change my heart to bring my wife and I into better unity. Also as a result of Niel and Johan’s visit, Rick Heeren came to Culpeper in late June 2005. His visit birthed Pray Culpeper and established a beachhead for prayer evangelism in Culpeper and Virginia.

The only message the Holy Spirit gave me for 06-06-06 was to pray against spiritual forces of wickedness. In Biblical numerology, the number “6″ represents man. The number “666″ is often used for the devil.

Prayer Power
My sight is dim, my heart is down, my mind is darkened by iniquity. I lost the way and I cannot see. Find me LORD, lift the veil. Shine Your face on me. Remove the veil that my eyes may see. Remove the veil that hides You from me. Remove the veil that my eyes may see Your beauty and glory, my LORD.

(This prayer comes from the opening lyrics of a beautiful song titled “Remove the Veil” on CD#2 of the CD set titled “Songs of Zion.”)

Link of the Day
Biblical Numerology [http://www.carm.org/questions/numbers.htm]

Blessing to have God remove the veil that keeps you from seeing His beauty and glory!

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; (1 Timothy 2:8)

What is keeping you from participating regularly with a local prayer group in your community to pray for marketplace leaders where you live?

For the past year and a half, our Pray Culpeper team has been meeting weekly to pray for our community. Our primary emphasis has been on praying for leaders in the marketplace – business, education, and government.

On January 18, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine flew into Culpeper to make a major economic announcement. About 300 marketplace leaders showed up, including our County Board of Supervisors, our mayor, Town Council members, School Board members, our School Superintendent, Chamber leaders, etc. This was the greatest public demonstration of unity I have ever seen in the marketplace since moving to Culpeper 20 years ago.

Gov. Kaine and Terremark CEO Manuel Medina made the announcement that “Terremark Worldwide Inc. is coming to Culpeper County and investing $270 million to open a data center campus, bringing with it 250 high-tech and high-paying jobs.”

“I will give you a promise,” Medina said. “In five years – or six or seven – when all of this is complete, what you will see is the area around us, companies will come. Because what we are bringing today will bring hundreds of benefits into Culpeper.”

One of the first things Medina mentioned is that his company is like a family. He said this data center will serve as an on-line world-wide marketplace for business, education, and government. Medina said the tipping point for choosing Culpeper was the people.

It’s interesting that Pray Culpeper was birthed following Rick Heeren’s first visit to Culpeper in late June 2005. After Rick spoke, the Culpeper Star Exponent had a prophetic feature headline stating “Business forecast: A new spiritual climate.” How true this has become.

Prayer Power
Father, thank You for Rick Heeren and his anointing to transform cities. Thank You for our Pray Culpeper team and all our faithful participants. Thank You for the tremendous new blessing of the $270 million data center. Thank You for all the prayers you have answered. Thank You for Your business forecast of a new spiritual climate in Culpeper. Bless Culpeper to be a lighthouse for the world. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the Day
Wired for Success – full article in the Culpeper Star Exponent [see below]

Blessings to be part of a team to pray for marketplace leaders in your community!

VIDEO Governor’s announcement
Terremark Worldwide Inc. is coming to Culpeper County and investing $270 million to open a data center campus, bringing with it 250 high-tech and high-paying jobs.Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced the Miami-based company’s expansion Thursday morning at Germanna Community College Center for Advanced Technology. He also presented Board of Supervisors Chairman John Coates with a $1 million check from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to help with the project.

Terremark is a leading operator of integrated Internet exchanges and a global provider of managed information technology infrastructure solutions for government and private sectors.

Its CEO, Manuel Medina, says his business is founded on connectivity coupled with services. He likens it to an airport that connects passengers to where they need to go. Only, in this case, the company virtually connects the marketplace: business, government and education.

“I will give you a promise,” Medina said. “In five years – or six or seven – when all of this is complete, what you will see is the area around us, companies will come. Because what we are bringing today will bring hundreds of benefits into Culpeper.”

What does it want to do?

Terremark plans to build its campus on a 30-acre site adjacent to the college on the former Old Dominion Winery property.

Terremark has designed a master plan for the site that calls for five data center buildings, each about 50,000 square feet, to include an office, commercial data center and government data center.

Medina said the presence of Terremark in Culpeper would also bring other networks, such as Telecom New Zealand, Telecom Australia and China Netcom.

“By having all the networks here, it makes sense for you to locate your equipment here,” Medina said. “Or if you are a large user then it makes sense to build near our office somewhere. I think that the issue that you are going to have is maybe in a few years from now how will you hold it back?”

Why Culpeper?

County Administrator Frank Bossio said the deal has been in the works for about eight months.

Terremark got its toehold in Virginia about one year ago when it opened a branch in Herndon. After establishing there, Medina said the company began looking for a place to build its own facility.

“The tipping point really had to be you,” Medina said in reference to county supervisors and Economic Development Director Carl Sachs. “These guys really wanted us here and it makes a big difference.”

With Culpeper’s business-friendly attitude and its proximity to Washington, D.C., Medina said the company realized there was a lot of potential business within a a 50- to 100-mile radius.
“Terremark is a great cutting-edge company,” Kaine told reporters after the formal announcement. “Having this presence here will be good for the county and good for the commonwealth.”

He signed the $1 million check two weeks ago, which he said is larger than most grants he approves. However, the nature of the project and its fit with the county’s comprehensive plan were some of the reasons he supported the idea. The property is in a technology zone, encompassing portions of U.S. 29 and McDevitt Drive, off of Route 3.

Sachs said the $1 million grant would be used to offset costs of Terremark coming here and should be used for such things as site improvements or utility connections.

Sachs said the company is on an aggressive schedule in terms of construction. It is currently in the rezoning and permitting phase, which takes about 90 days. By April or May, Sachs said Terremark could start moving dirt – as long as site plans are approved. An office building and two data centers should be completed by June 2008 and the other two buildings on campus would follow in the next two years.

Benefits

Terremark will bring high paying information-technology jobs with a median salary of $90,000. Jobs will include network operators, network managers, network architects, telecommunications specialists and project managers.

Catalpa Supervisor Sue Hansohn visited the Miami office with Coates and Sachs several months ago. She said the scope of the business and its ability to touch many other businesses impressed her most.

“There are so many reasons why it’s good for Culpeper,” Hansohn said. “It will bring high-tech jobs, will allow those who have been commuting to come back, and it’s a good company that is going to have a spin-off of other like businesses with higher-paying jobs. And we really need that for our area because we just haven’t had that type of thing.”

Hansohn said the company also places an emphasis on vocational education in technology fields, which she hopes would create internships for high school students.

Terremark built a community college in Miami to provide the education needed for jobs in the technology field. Bossio said Culpeper did it differently but has had a dream for high-tech jobs here since the planning started for the Germanna Tech Center about nine years ago.

“We built a facility in hopes we would attract a high-tech campus,” he said. “This is the beginning of a vision coming through.”

He likened it to a commercial venture with an anchor store -only that this is the “mother load of anchor stores in the telecommunications business” because of its integration of technology.

“It’s the future, it’s the way the world is going to go,” Bossio said. “The campus here with all of the things surrounding it, the training capability here, it’s a beautiful integration in the intersection of time and opportunity with the right people in the right place and we are just very, very, very fortunate.”