Nothing But the Blood

Recently while praying into the upcoming Communion America (October 9-12 in Washington, D.C.) and our nation’s need for healing and restoration, I began to hear in my spirit the old familiar song, Nothing But the Blood, but with a slight twist. I hear it like this:

“What can wash away our sin (as a nation)? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make us whole again (as a nation)? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

This historic coming together of tens of thousands of worshipers around a national communion table (the longest in history) will culminate 50 hours of non-stop worship and prayer in over fifty tents on the National Mall during the Feast of Tabernacles. This hymn, Nothing But the Blood, has become something of an anthem of this gathering, so I got curious about its origins.

It was written in 1876 in Ocean Grove, New Jersey by a Baptist preacher named Robert Lowry. The song was written the year America was celebrating her 100th birthday. Interestingly enough, the place where it was written/introduced, Ocean Grove, was established in 1869 by a group of Methodist ministers seeking to find a place to escape the summer heat and study the Word together. They pitched twenty tents and loved the campsite so much that they made it a permanent encampment for years to come for anyone to come and spend time with the Lord and each other.

So, the song that was written in a tent city for believers has become the anthem of a tent gathering in the heart of our nation’s capitol as we worship, pray and take communion together as a nation 149 years later. We have a rich spiritual heritage as a nation.

It is the heart cry of every generation that we come home to the heart of the Father as a nation and tear down the walls that have divided His body and His bride for far too long. Only the blood of Jesus can provide the healing and restoration our nation desperately needs. The time is now.