Co-founder of PrayNorthState to sign books Saturday at Barnes & Noble

James Wilson, who with his wife Diana, founded PrayNorthState in 2001, tells about a Promise Keepers meeting in San Diego. A young man responded to the gospel message "of abundant life, not just hereafter but right here and right now, in Christ Jesus." Counseled by a volunteer, the older man asked about other needs to pray for. The young man explained that his very religious father-in-law, when he heard his daughter was going to marry an unbeliever, refused even to meet with him. And now the young man wanted prayer that God would reconcile the family.

"The older man standing before the younger man began to tremble," Wilson writes, "as he asked the young man for the name of his wife. When he named her, the older man began to weep as he gasped out the words, 'Young man, I am your father-in law. Can you ever forgive me?'"

Drawing on the Bible and recent events in Redding, Anderson, and other cities, Wilson concludes that "the commitment to be an ambassador of reconciliation is foundational to the paving of the highway in the desert that makes way for the Lord to bring His transforming Spirit to bear in our communities. . . . Transformation is an out-breaking miracle that cannot occur while the people of God are at war with one another."

"Living As Ambassadors of Relationships: Reconciling Individuals, Families, Genders, Denominations, Cultures, Liberals and Conservatives, Jews and Gentiles, and the Generations" ($16.99 in paperback from Destiny Image), while taking a strong stand on traditional values, calls for Christians from charismatic, liturgical, and evangelical traditions to unite in ministering to their communities.

Wilson will be presenting his vision, signing books and answering questions this Saturday from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at Barnes and Noble in Chico.

An Anglican priest, Wilson is convinced that the prophetic ministry of the Holy Spirit is alive today and that, properly employed, the weapons of spiritual warfare achieve powerful results. "I have personally witnessed traffic accidents and satanic ritual activity disappear from a community following the strategic application of indiscriminate blessing, unmerited forgiveness, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper."

There is no easy triumphalism in Wilson's controversial and challenging book. The ambassador is also in need of reconciliation.