Cedar Rapids Area Christians Call Out for Religious Revolution at Prayer Movement Started by Rick Perry

Luis Cataldo said it is not a coincidence that a prayer movement started by Rick Perry is planning a tour that so far consists of exclusively battleground states.

The movement's organizer said he explained it clearly in his speech during the two-hour prayer session attended by over 200 Christians at the River of Life Ministries church in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday night.

"We are just leveraging the political season," he said. "We are just leveraging the eyes of the nation turning to Iowa. The storyline isn't going to be about economics or policies. The storyline is going to be churches in Iowa in unity and starting fires all over the state."

What do you think of the prayer rally that came through Cedar Rapids? Let us know in comments.

In fairness to Cataldo, these are metaphorical flames. He's is the organizer of The Response, an organization that holds prayer sessions encouraging churches to act on typically conservative issues like abortion and homosexuality education, not an arsonist.

He said The Response isn't about finger pointing or hatred towards those who disagree. He places the responsibility of what he perceives to be the degrading morality in society and the judicial system not solely on liberals, but on the churches for failing to unite on what he thinks are universal Christian truths.

He disagrees on what he feels is the broad, overprotective conception of church and state in present society. To him, it is the churches responsibility to stand for Christian values, whether they are controversial or not.

"The axe of of justice that the church has to engage in, it is voting for righteousness, " he said. "So the church has to engage the political process and if the church abdicates its role then what we have is unjust laws and unjust leaders."

Churchgoers listened to the Christian rock music — best described as a mixture of circa 2004 Coldplay and The Killers — while dancing, raising their arms in prayer and kneeling to the floor in devotion.

It also featured testimonies from numerous attendees that spoke on subjects like abortion, divorce, education, love and forgiveness.

"Jesus we repent for the sin of abortion," said a young woman, on stage in front of around 200 churchgoers. "And right now Jesus we speak for those who can't speak for themselves, Jesus let us be the voice."

As it stands now the organization made mention that they support no presidential candidate, despite being a continuation of an event started by Rick Perry. Still, Cataldo voiced some reverence for the presidential candidate for starting the movement.

"A governmental official had the courage to sound the trumpet and the courage to acknowledge that America is in crisis," he said.

The first event was held in Houston, TX. That gathering attracted a massive following of 40,000 people and was broadcasted to over 100,000 sites.

That event garnered frustration from clergy in the state, as they claimed it violated the separation of church and state while excluded non-Christians. It also attracted outrage from Texas LGBT groups that criticized sponsors of the event, such as the American Family Association, for hatred against the gay community.

"Governor Perry has a constitutional duty to treat all Texans equally, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity," the Anti-Defamation League statement reads. "His official involvement with The Response, at minimum, violates the spirit of that duty."