20 CityLight.org
october 2011
Continued from page 6
or disgraced? We departed with a police escort
and the butterflies in our stomachs began to fly
in beautiful formation as we noticed the long
streams of cars in heavy traffic heading toward
the stadium. I reached over and squeezed Joe's
hand. He squeezed back and it began to dawn
on us that God had indeed stirred the city and
was up to something big.
They were coming! They were coming!
They were coming by the thousands...forty or
fifty thousand strong!
Tears welled up in my eyes.
Over the three nights of the crusade, 80,000
people attended across racial lines with the
African-American presence being 40% strong.
In the city where history had been made be-
fore - the secession papers that helped initiate
the Civil War (150 years ago now) - and in a
place where the Ku Klux Klan was still active
burning down churches in a State that flew the
Confederate flag over the Capitol Building -
the people came together to say that they could
worship and pray and be instructed by an Afri-
can-American Christian minister from Dallas,
Texas. By God's grace, Joe and I were a part
of the leadership in a historical event that had
never happened before.
The dream in the heart of God to unite a city un-
der the banner of His Son, Jesus Christ, had been
fulfilled through CityLight, best described as
"unity amidst diversity with Christ as the Head."
God had grabbed us up, set us down in the
middle of an open city strewn with bones. He
led around and among them a lot of bones.
There were bones all over the city dry bones,
bleached by the sun. (Bleached by segregation
of races, separation of church denominations,
and broken family relationships.)
He said CityLight, "Can these bones live?"
We said, "Master God, only you know that."
He said to us, "Prophesy over these bones: `Dry
bones, listen to the Message of God as brought
to you by Dr. Tony Evans.' "
God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch
this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and
you'll come to life. I'll attach sinews to you,
put meat on your bones, cover you with skin,
and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and
you'll realize that I am God!"
We prophesied just as we'd been commanded.
As we prophesied, there was a sound and, oh,
rustling! The bones moved and came togeth-
er, bone to bone. We kept watching. Sinews
formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin
stretched over them. But they had no breath
in them.
He said to us, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophe-
sy, CityLight. Tell the breath, `God, the Master,
says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath.
Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!"
So, we prophesied, just as he commanded us.
The breath entered them and they came alive!
They stood up on their feet, a huge army. When
God breathed His life into us, we lived and real-
ized that He Is God! (Gladys' Paraphrase from
Ezekiel 37 Breath of Life)
So, what then happened? The dry bones con-
nected in 1996 to form CityLight, and the Holy
Spirit breathed life into CityLight. Below is
only a sampling of ministry:
· 80,000 attended the crusade
10,000 received Christ as Savior
· Video poker defeated in South Carolina
in 1999
· Easter 2000 Easter Sunrise Service at
Williams-Brice Stadium, 35,000
· July 1, 2000 Confederate flag moved from
atop the State Capitol Building
· September 2005 May 2006
First Responders to Katrina, Biloxi, MS
· CityLight Prayer Groups in the United
States, India, and Africa
· Esther, Women of Influence emerges to
prepare women to live & lead righteously
Does CityLight still have the Life and Breath of
God? As we see our nation languishing like the
valley of dry bones, will God, the Master, allow
CityLight to prophesy over the nation and be
His instrument of hope and change once again?
CityLight is a catalyst that connects Christ to
the culture for community change. Unity amidst
diversity through Jesus Christ. My answer is a
resounding YES because all of God's promises
are YES IN CHRIST! As you read the fol-
lowing story of how it happened, may God, the
Master, give you the vision of how this can hap-
pen by breathing life into you.