“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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A Speech Given by Dr. Ed Rose to the Culpeper Leaders Prayer Breakfast in Culpeper, VA
A friend of mine from the University of Virginia, Ed Rose, was asked to address the Culpeper Leaders Prayer Breakfast on April 5th, 2022 in Culpeper, VA. Culpeper is about 50 miles north of Charlottesville and 50 miles south of Washington, D.C.
Ed and I joined the UVA faculty at the same time. Before he retired last year, he was a pulmonologist on the UVA Medical School faculty. Ed is a very strong believer. Over the years, we became close friends, and we spent a lot of time together fishing, playing golf, and talking about Yahweh. Our families were close, too. To this day, I stay in contact with him. Ed is one of the very few people I can talk with about some of the things Yahweh has shown me and told me.
A few days ago, Ed emailed me the text of his speech. I liked it a lot and asked him for permission to post it in SnyderTalk. He graciously consented. Below is the text of Ed’s speech.
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Dr. Ed Rose, Culpeper Leaders Prayer Breakfast, April 5th, 2022, Culpeper, VA
It is appropriate to consider leadership in crisis. We have just endured a brutal crisis from the pandemic from SarsCoV-2. It has been as bad in this community as anywhere, and for those of you who have lost loved ones, friends, and acquaintances, I extend my condolences. However, we are facing an even bigger pandemic. Its signs are the invasion of a sovereign country by a superpower with major loss of life. Its signs are increasing disregard for God. Its signs are increasing disobedience to Gods Word and His commandments and to civil laws. Lawlessness abounds. Its signs are erosion of the basic freedoms we take for granted in the country: freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Increasingly, expression of ideas that differ from someone else’s results in cancel, loss of your job, or worse. Expression of the principles and commandments of God are met with similar opposition and increasingly are labeled as hate speech.
What is this pandemic? It is a pandemic of sin. The heart of the problem is that the heart is the problem. The unregenerated heart is stone cold, rejects God’s authority and His commands for humans, and instead seeks to pursue power, pleasure, position, and to glorify itself. The only hope — the only hope for this pandemic of sin and rebellion against God is for people to place their faith in Jesus Christ. We need to acknowledge that He is who He said He is and that his death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. We are forgiven and saved when we accept His atoning sacrifice by faith. Only then can we surrender to and follow Him. When that happens, Jesus begins to transform our hearts of stone into soft hearts that love God and love people the way that He wants us to. The premise of humanism is that humankind has all the answers to the ills of humankind. Humanism has never worked, and it never will.
When I was an attending physician in the Medical Intensive Care Unit back in the day, a medical student came up to me one day and said, “Dr. Rose, Dr. Rose, that patient we just saw on rounds is refusing to follow the suggestions we just gave to him!”
I looked at this young person so full of hope and potential and just said, “Well son, this is Amurica!”
At the First Continental Convention in 1774, the delegates decided to open with prayer to Almighty God. There was a debate about who would offer the most ecumenical prayer, and it was finally decided that the prayer should be offered by Reverend Peter Duche’. It was quite a prayer:
“Our Lord, our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings, Lord of Lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon the earth, and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all kingdoms, empires, and governments, look down in mercy, we beseech thee, upon these American States who have fled to Thee from the rod of the Oppressor, and thrown themselves upon Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only upon Thee.
To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause. To Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst give. Take 2 them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care. Give them wisdom in council and valor in the field. Defeat the malicious design of our cruel adversaries. Convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause, and if they still persist in their sanguinary purpose, O let the voice of Thine own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop their weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle.”
Four years later, in the bitter winter of 1778, having suffered defeat after defeat, the Continental Army was hut-camped in a small place known as Valley Forge. In her book The Life of Washington published in 1842, Anna Reed reports that one of the local farmers went to see the plight of the Army, because there were rumors of inadequate food and clothing. As he approached the outskirts of the camp, he heard a muffled voice beyond some trees that sounded like someone talking. As he peered through the trees, he recognized George Washington praying. Reed wrote,
“He passed quietly on, that he might not disturb him; and, on returning home, told his family he knew the Americans would succeed, for their leader did not trust in his own strength, but sought aid from the HEARER OF PRAYER, who promised in his word, ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify me.’” (Psalm 50: 15)
Those are but two of the countless examples of leaders in our country turning to God in times of crisis. But I want to turn our attention to an ancient example of crisis leadership found in the Old Testament. It took place during the time of the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The Bible tells us that the majority of the kings of Israel and Judah “did evil in the eyes of God”, but Hezekiah did right in Yahweh’s eyes. At the age of 25 in around 716 B.C., he took over the throne of Judah from his evil father King Ahaz. At that young age, Hezekiah began to re-consecrate the Temple and the priests. He removed the items from the Temple that had been used to worship pagan gods, and he reinstituted sacrifice of burnt offerings for the people, the celebration of the Passover, and collection of offerings from the people. Scripture tells us that he formed a covenant with Yahweh. He was spiritually mature.
King Hezekiah’s Crisis
The crisis came when Judah was invaded by the Assyrian army that began to conquer stronghold city after city in Judah. The invading army then came to Hezekiah in Jerusalem, the capitol, and announced its intention to capture the city and the country.
Five Principles of Crisis Leadership from Hezekiah
Before I discuss these five principles, I want to clarify one point. Who are leaders? Are they just people with administrative assignments? I submit to you that all of us are leaders. If you have children at home, you are a leader. If you are married, you are a leader to your spouse. My wife’s example in our early marriage was instrumental in leading me to Jesus Christ. When I joined the faculty at the University of Virginia, I came in at the next to lowest rank, that of an assistant professor without tenure. The only rank lower than that is instructor. However, consider this. The first week in that position, I was a leader — to the medical students, the physicians in training (residents and fellows), my patients, and other members of the healthcare team. That was my sphere of influence, and I did that job for the first 33 years I was at the University of Virginia. Only then was I appointed to an official leadership position, that of Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care. We are all leaders in our spheres of influence.
Hezekiah’s 5 Principles of Leadership in Crisis
Principle 1: If at all possible, become spiritually mature before the crisis
Hezekiah: Scripture tells us that Hezekiah was mature spiritually prior to the crisis: “In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly.” (2 Chronicles 31: 21)
Application: The initial battle is for your own heart. If you have not done so, the first step is to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. He is who He said He is. Place your faith in Him. His death on the cross was payment in full for all your sins. When He said, “It is finished,” He meant it. You are forgiven. Next, surrender to Him and follow the leading of His Spirit. Then, He will begin to transform your heart.
However, to bear fruit for Him, you need to grow to maturity. He has given us the means to grow to maturity: His Word, His Spirit, and prayer. Study His Word and obey Him, and over time, He will clean up the sin in your life. Pray constantly. That simply means talk with Him and listen for His responses. Talk with other believers, too. Learn from them and allow them to learn from you. If you will do those things, His Spirit will transform your life. Together, you will grow to maturity and produce much fruit for Him.
Principle 2: Practice servant leadership
Hezekiah: Immediately on learning of the crisis, Hezekiah gathered his administrative and military officials to develop a strategic plan.
Application: We should collaborate with the people around us to develop a plan for the crisis. Does this mean that we practice namby-pamby leadership or management by committee? Not at all. There are still executive decisions that a leader must make that are in the purview of his or her appointment or position, but it is very important to obtain input from the people around you.
Principle 3: Trust Yahweh and implement the plan
Hezekiah: Hezekiah trusted that Yahweh had placed him in the position for such a time as this and that Yahweh would provide for his needs. Hezekiah appointed and delegated to implement the plan. The broken-down parts of the wall around Jerusalem were repaired, and towers were placed around them. An outer wall was constructed around the inner wall; production of weapons and shields was amped up; and quite strategically, Hezekiah had his forces go throughout Judea and hide or destroy access to water for the invading army, while ingeniously preserving Jerusalem’s water supply. It is called Hezekiah’s tunnel. It’s one-third of a mile long. If you visit Jerusalem today, you can see it and actually walk in it through water flowing from the Gihon Spring.
Application: Don’t be overwhelmed. Implement the plan.
Principle 4: Disciple and encourage the people around you
Hezekiah: He encouraged the people around him to “be strong and courageous”, a phrase used frequently in the Old Testament. He assured the people that Yahweh was stronger than the invading army and that He would provide the victory.
Application: We are supposed to disciple each other to maturity. God gave us each other for encouragement and support. Don’t minimize the importance of others in your lives.
Principle 5: Pray
Hezekiah: Scripture tells us that Hezekiah and Isaiah offered up a prayer together. That must have been some kind of prayer! Isaiah records Hezekiah’s pray in Isaiah 37:16-20: “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. […] Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
Application: Prayer is one of the most underutilized tools that God gave us to use in times of crisis. In the book My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers is quoted as saying:
“Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work.”
The Outcome
Scripture tells us that God provided an angel to destroy the invading army, and the foreign king was sent to his homeland packing.
One Thing from Hezekiah to Avoid
Hezekiah: After this great victory, Hezekiah became prideful, and it caused great enmity with God. It almost cost him his life. However, Hezekiah repented and fellowship with Yahweh was restored.
Application: At times, we will have battles that are won, and we need to be careful not to fall into the trap of pride. We need to remember that the glory is God’s, and we need to reflect all praise and glory toward Him when a battle is won.
Summary
In summary, I don’t know about all the battles each of you and your loves ones will have to fight. The high water is going to come for us all. But I do know this. We are all involved in the major spiritual battle between God’s Kingdom and the kingdom of the world and the evil one. It’s a spiritual battle, and we need the full armor of God to fight in it. He has given us the means. He has given us Himself as provision for reconciliation to Him through forgiveness of sins, and He has given us His Word, His Spirit, prayer, and each other to grow to maturity.
Now, whenever you consider the magnitude of the spiritual blight on this country or the world, you might be tempted to say, “What difference can I make?”
That is not the right way to view it. All God calls us to do is to be faithful as leaders in the spheres where He has placed us, in the spheres where we have influence. As His people are faithful to their assignments, we will see movement that will transform counties, commonwealths, nations, and the world.
Crisis leadership is practicing our faith in the spheres of influence God has given us! All God wants us to do is the part He assigned to us.
I want to close with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ found in John 16:33:
“I have told you these things so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world.”
Thank you, Lord Jesus, and in Your Great Name, Amen.
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
