There are defining moments in history when a nation stands at a crossroads – moments when the path forward cannot be determined by politics, economics, or human strategy alone. America is in such a moment.
Crossing over is not merely about transition; it is about transformation.
When Israel stood at the edge of the Jordan River, they were not simply changing geography, they were stepping into destiny. Yet before they could possess the promise, they had to renew their covenant. Before conquest, there had to be consecration.
Today, America stands at a similar Jordan. The question is not whether we will cross into a new season, the question is: How will we cross? Will we carry the compromises of the wilderness, or will we enter renewed in heart and covenant with the Lord?
A Clash of Cultures
We are witnessing an erosion and unraveling of moral foundations.
The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University once described a “wide chasm” and an “unhealthy distrust” between “two alien cultures” – one rooted in a search for facts, the other grounded in a discovery of faith beyond fact. The culture of disbelief and the culture of belief now stand polarized.
Social scientist James Q. Wilson observed that institutions of social control have weakened, while an ethos valuing self-expression over self-control has taken hold—especially among the young.
This war has escalated in our academic institutions. One of its bloodiest battlegrounds is found in the minds of our youth.
But America’s crisis is not first cultural or political. It is spiritual.
Time for a Second Circumcision
Before Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, the Lord commanded a second circumcision (Joshua 5:1–9). The generation born in the wilderness had not embraced the covenantal mark. Though they had crossed the Red Sea, they had not fully entered covenant identity.
Before promise, there had to be purification. This was not merely physical, it was prophetic.
Through Moses, the Lord had already declared: “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16)
And the Apostle Paul the Apostle clarified: “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:29)
America does not merely need policy reform.
It is time to allow the Holy Spirit to cut away pride, compromise, self-reliance, worldliness, and fleshly ambition. We cannot carry the wilderness mindset into promised territory. Covenant renewal requires heart surgery.
Zipporah in the Wilderness: Covenant Is Not Optional
Long before the Jordan crossing, there was a sobering moment in the life of Moses.
When God sent him back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, Scripture records a startling encounter (Exodus 4:24–26). On the journey, the Lord confronted Moses because he had neglected the covenant sign in his own household. It was Zipporah who took a flint knife, circumcised her son, and declared, “You are a husband of blood to me.”
This is not a peripheral story. It is a warning.
Moses was called, anointed, and commissioned—but covenant obedience had been neglected at home. Before public deliverance, there had to be private alignment. Before confronting Pharaoh, there had to be submission to God’s covenant.
Covenant carries cost.
We cannot demand national transformation while ignoring personal surrender.
From Wilderness to Promise
When Israel crossed the Jordan under Joshua’s leadership, the Lord required them to pause before advancing against Jericho. At Gilgal, they were circumcised and the reproach of Egypt was rolled away.
Gilgal means “rolling.” It was the place where shame was removed and identity restored.
Only after covenant renewal did they celebrate Passover in the land. Only then did manna cease. Only then did they move from wilderness provision to promised inheritance.
Likewise, the Church must move from survival to stewardship, from maintenance to mandate. But that transition requires renewed covenant identity.
The Pattern of Humility and Promise
When Solomon dedicated the temple, God responded with a conditional promise: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The promise of healing is anchored in the posture of humility.
Renewal begins in the house of God.
If leaders ensure their hearts are right and establish God’s order—not man’s ambition—His presence will abide and His purposes will endure.
A Call to Separation and Alignment
The Apostle Paul exhorts us: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above… Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2)
We cannot cross into promise while clinging to the patterns of the world. The Church must separate from worldliness, not in self-righteousness, but in surrendered obedience.
America’s crisis is spiritual. And the Church must lead the way in repentance.
A Prophetic Warning, and Hope
The prophet Zephaniah described leaders as roaring lions, judges as evening wolves, prophets as treacherous, and priests as polluting the sanctuary (Zephaniah 3:3–4).
Does this not echo in our time?
Yet in the midst of rebuke comes promise: “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.” (Zephaniah 3:9)
That is our prayer: Lord, restore to us a pure language, a pure lip and heart that we may serve You in one accord.
Revival is not a spectacle. It is purification.
Lessons from History
The Great Awakening of 1857 began not with celebrity preaching, but with a prayer meeting led by businessman Jeremiah Lanphier in New York City. Six men gathered at first. Within months, thousands prayed daily.
Prayer preceded power. Repentance preceded renewal.
God moves when ordinary people humble themselves and seek Him together.
What Stops a Move of God?
Pride.
Jealousy.
Self-seeking.
James warns that where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing follow (James 3:14–16).
While men reach for thrones to build their own kingdoms, Jesus reached for a towel to wash feet.
Revival or Shaking?
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Immediately after, Scripture records famine (Ruth 1:1).
When there is no King, famine follows.
Hebrews 12 reminds us that everything that can be shaken will be shaken—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. The shakings we are experiencing are not random. They are invitations.
The Rain and the Fire
Rain replenishes parched ground. Fire purifies dross.
But without a prepared heart, some drown in the water and others are burned by the flame. Revival magnifies what is present.
The cross is the place of total surrender. Once we pray, “Consume me, Lord,” we cannot negotiate with the flames.
Crossing Over
Before Jericho fell, Joshua encountered the Commander of the Lord’s army (Joshua 5:13–15). The battle belonged to the Lord, but Joshua had to remove his sandals in reverence.
America is at a crossroads.
The Church stands at a Jordan.
This is our moment for a second circumcision of the heart.
Let us humble ourselves.
May the Lord roll away our reproach.
Restore us, Lord.
BY DOUG STRINGER
