Shoulder To Shoulder #1316 -- 11-7-22 ---- "Ancient Paths -- The Pathway of Revival A (part 24)
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is a weekly letter of encouragement Bob has written since 1997, covering many topics selected to
motivate people to be strong students of the Word and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is a personal letter of
encouragement to you, written solely to help "lift up hands that hang down".
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." -- Albert Einstein
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have -- a cheap Christianity which offends nobody,
and requires no sacrifice, which costs nothing, -- and is worth nothing.” – J. C. Ryle
Shoulder To Shoulder #
1316 -- 11-7-22Title: "Ancient Paths -- The Pathway of Revival A (part 24)
My Dear Friend and Fellow Kingdom Seeker:
When I first began writing "Shoulder To Shoulder" in December, 1997, they went out on Sunday evenings and just to pastors -- in order to "lift up hands that hang down." I knew that many of them understood not only "Resurrection Sundays", but also often experienced "Resignation Mondays". Over the years and as the subscribers expanded to include hundreds of men and women from many occupations and dozens of countries, my own schedule and aging has brought me to where I'm just thrilled to get it sent by the middle of the week.
So, even though I wanted to send today's letter before the elections and it was to have been the final look at this particular "Ancient Path" of morality and integrity, it turns out that last week's letter became the final look, and today we move on to examine a different "Ancient Path" -- namely, spiritual awakening.
Frankly, there are many things on my mind surrounding this particular election, and I believe it has revealed some serious and troubling conditions of our nation. But first, take a look at . . . .
THIS 'N' THAT:
+ Revival in Thailand: -- "We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again." – G. Campbell Morgan, My All In All. Recent reports from Christians in Thailand indicate that a great revival is sweeping across parts of the country. This should greatly encourage us, especially since we have at least as many or more false gods than Thailand does. Here is one report where 1,588 new converts were baptized in one mass baptism. Go to https://mailchi.mp/joelnews/jni1275?e=947657d957. (There is ALSO a good article about the role of Christians in current demonstrations against the hostile regime.)
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> "I've been praying that we might have a spiritual awakening. But I think that becomes possible as individuals surrender their lives fresh and anew to Christ." -- Billy Graham
> "When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a revival. These things show that Christians have got far from God, and it is time to think earnestly of a revival." -- Charles Finney
> "When Holy God draws near in true revival, people come under terrible conviction of sin. The outstanding feature of spiritual awakening has been the profound consciousness of the Presence and holiness of God." -- Henry Blackaby
> "When is a revival needed? When carelessness and unconcern keep the people asleep." -- Billy Sunday
> "Before we can expect God to answer our prayer for spiritual awakening in our country, we must be prepared to cry out to Him to break the hearts of our unrepentant churches. Awakening in the culture flows from broken hearts brought alive again. Revival means to be made alive again. Dead hearts will never bring awakening -- never. Neither will dead churches content with their buildings, bands, and programs." -- T. Allen Robburts
> "A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God." -- Charles Finney
> "All revival begins, and continues, in the prayer meeting. Some have also called prayer the “great fruit of revival.” In times of revival, thousands may be found on their knees for hours, lifting up their heartfelt cries, with thanksgiving, to heaven." -- Henry Blackaby
> "To look back upon the progress of the divine kingdom upon earth is to review revival periods which have come like refreshing showers upon dry and thirsty ground, making the desert to blossom as the rose, and bringing new eras of spiritual life and activity just when the Church had fallen under the influence of the apathy of the times." -- E. M Bounds
> “The great work of intercession is needed for this returning to the Lord. It is here that the coming revival must find its strength. Let us begin as individuals to plead with God, confessing whatever we see of sin or hindrance in ourselves or others. If there were no other sin, surely the lack of prayer is matter enough for repentance, confession, and returning to the Lord." -- Andrew Murray
> "O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy” – Habakkuk 3:2
WARMED THE COCKLES OF MY HEART:
A few days ago I received an email from a "Shoulders" subscriber that really touched me. It reminded me of just how deceived most Americans have become, thanks to the lies being taught by revisionists and far-left educators who are bent on perverting the minds of children regarding slavery, racism, immorality, and traditional constitutional principles.
The letter was in response th the series I've been writing about morality and integrity. The person, who shall go unnamed, is an African American staff member in a church in the Midwest. He wrote the following that certainly represents the thinking of many others.
"I'm 32 years old and . . . have been subscribed to your newsletters through email for some time now . . . I'm glad I read your latest newsletter because I found it helpful in regards to where our nation is and what I need to think about as a Christian as I get ready to vote this coming Tuesday November 8th.
"As a black American, I really found it interesting when you mentioned that the year 1726 was a defining year for America because had it not been for the Great Awakening that year, we wouldn't have the America we do today and how that Awakening unleashed the anti-slavery sentiments and moral outrage that eventually brought about slavery's demise in America. I found that to be so profound because indeed I was not told this in public education.
"But I find this profound because I feel the narrative that I have been taught and believed at one point was that the white majority American society as a whole pretty much endorsed slavery and was indifferent to it. Even those who were evangelical Christians. I even used to believe that the founding fathers of America and the US constitution were hypocritical because they talked highly about the importance of freedom for everyone but yet they owned slaves themselves and didn't seem to do much about that.
"I think critical American men like Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln are given more credit for the ending of slavery in America than the great awakening which it is understandably true because the contributions of these men did play a big role in that. But I never would have connected the Great Awakening to it. I would now like to read that book from Dr. Eddie Hyatt. . . . I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the thoughts and information you shared in your newsletter and pray that God will continue you to bless you and your ministry. Thanks again!"
Obviously this letter encouraged me. Hopefully "Shoulder To Shoulder" will continue to encourage others. I still find it hard to fathom I've been doing this every week for twenty-five years and have missed only three times, two of which were internet malfunctions.
RETURNING TO ROOTS:
Tuesday night -- late night -- following the general elections results, my mind whirled like a loose egg beater, whipping out a number of conclusions:
1. This election proved one thing -- we remain a highly divided nation, but the division is far deeper than race, economics, or politics.
2. We are a nation with a divided heart. No election will ever repair that. Ever.
3. There is one benefit from the election, though. Perhaps . . . and hopefully . . . Christians will get serious about repenting and crying out to God for revival -- true revival. In past presidential elections, one-half of professing Christians didn't bother to vote (that's over 50 million people). The figure was even lower during mid-term elections. We can presume the stats this time remained essentially the same.
4. Our nation was actually born out of spiritual awakening and revival -- the First Great Awakening -- and was radically changed morally to the point that major social and cultural improvements transpired. I sketched a little about it a couple of letters ago.
5. No spiritual awakening has ever taken place in any culture of any era without the culture and social fabric being dramatically impacted -- all the way back to some of the earliest known spiritual awakenings (also called 'revival') under the reigns of King Solomon (II Chron 1-7) and King Hezekiah (II Chron 29-31). The first great revival to hit the early church occurred when 3,000 Jews came to Christ on the Day of Pentecost. That awesome beginning was a foretaste of what would happen time after time throughout history. By the year 300 A.D. approximately 14 million called themselves Christian, and by 500 A. D. the number neared 40 million.
7. It is certainly possible to have cultural improvements without experiencing revival, but you can never experience territorial revival without it resulting in social and cultural changes for the better. History seems to indicate that cultural improvements not emanating from spiritual awakenings tend to be rather short-lived and created by political interests and motives, while such improvements that were birthed out of spiritual awakenings tend to last much longer. Cases in point -- child labor laws, end of slavery, YMCA and YWCA, Alcoholics Anonymous, etc. While the last three have been dangerously diluted and have shifted to the far left, they still exist today.
8, I am not convinced that America can be rescued this time. That's not a statement of discouragement or no faith; it's a matter of objective reality. One reason I believe this is because up to now, Christians have utterly failed in the biblical mandates to be salt and light, become prayer warriors, engage evil with faith-driven fortitude, and refuse to give ground to the attacks of the enemy. While we have many strong believers in the public square, most do not have consistent and courageous support from believers in general.
9. No nation is guaranteed "eternal life" as a politic. Scripture is absolutely clear that every nation to ever exist has a certain "shelf life" and ultimately fall into disrepair, decay, destruction, and disintegration. Only one nation is "the apple of" God's eye, and it is definitely not us. We need to be realistic to recognize we may have spent our last dime, and our democratic republic as we have known it and our founders intended it has ended and has morphed into just another socialist state that will also face the same demise of all others before it.
10. On the other hand, it may not be too late. Maybe we can be saved by another spiritual awakening. ---- Maybe." I'm just not that sure.
When a nation, as with Israel of old who turned their backs of the God Who redeemed and called them, and when they cast dispersion on His laws by which they were to live, they immediately became vulnerable to attacks. Because of warring within, they became subject to warring without. It was all because, as we have seen from the root scripture in Jeremiah for this entire series, God repeatedly brought them to crossroads where they had to make choices -- hard choices.
"Stand by the ways [the crossroads] and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen'." -- Jer 6:16-17
For you and me in the United States, every election becomes, in a sense, a "crossroad" where we have to make decisions about what we have done, what we need to change, what we will face in the future, and what we will do about it. We have to decide whether we will return to the Judeo-Christian principles and standards that are cradled in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, or if we will simply parrot Judah's stubborn exclamation . . . "We will NOT walk in it! . . . We will NOT listen!"
WHAT LIES AHEAD:
I am firmly convinced that nothing will change in America without another spiritual awakening. We are too divided, everything is too politicized, and Christians are too anesthetized for anything significant to change without spiritual awakening. That includes recovering a stable economy, reducing crime, eradicating racism and antisemitism, political civility, etc. -- and the installation of political leaders (from local to national) who are trustworthy people worthy of holding offices they sought. We are seeing right in own doorstep the very things that Jesus told His disciple would happen in "the last days". In Matthew 24 Jesus' disciples asked Him a rather odd question.
As they were leaving Jerusalem, they passed by the temple, and He made a startling prediction that the day would come when the temple itself would be a pile of rubble so devastated that there wouldn't be a single building block stacked on top of another. We know that less than 40 years later, it actually happened when Jerusalem was sacked and burned, and the temple was literally scattered across the temple grounds as Roman soldiers pried the stones apart in order to get to all the gold that had melted from the fire and flowed down into the cracks.
Leaving the temple grounds and going through the gate on the way back to Bethany, with the image of such a stunning prediction burned into their minds, the question finally erupted into words --
"Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
In the following verses of Chapter 24, Jesus identified 15 specific things that indicate that the time of His reign was near. Summarized, they were . . .
1. New false religions and fake saviors cropping up and leading people astray (24:5). While 85% of the world's population identify with a known religion, and there are approximately 4,200 primary religions, when you include localized or tribal religions, the number grows to over 50,000 religions. Since everyone is religious by nature, false religions are constantly cropping up. No matter the size, any religion leading people away from Jesus Christ, God's chosen Redeemer of the world is either an entirely false polar opposite, or a fake imitation designed to deceive people and lead them astray and away from Him.
2. Wars and rumors of other wars (24:6). Today there are as many as 50 regional wars going on today as I write. Several have global significance.
3. Ethnic and cultural conflicts (24:7a). Even in our own country we see antisemitism again on the rise, racism being promoted, and values being challenged.
4. Global conflict between countries (24:7b). As odd alliances are created, the predictions of Ezekiel 38 are being formed -- Russia and China, Russia and Iran, etc.
5. Droughts and famines (24:7c). Today more than 2.3 billion people are facing water shortages. Last August roughly 86 percent of the land area across nine western states was affected by some level of drought. It is far worse in some African and Asian countries.
6. Increase in earthquakes and tsunamis (24:7d). So far in 2022 alone there have been 154,407 earthquakes globally with 1,571 being 5.0 magnitude or higher.
7. Anguish, affliction, and persecution of Christians (24:8a). It is higher today than anytime in history with at least 15% of Christians globally living in the top 50 countries known for persecuting Christians. According to "Open Doors Ministry", over 360 million Christians live in places with high levels of persecution and discrimination. So far this year through October, 5,110 churches and other Christian buildings have been attacked, and 4,765 believers have been detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned.
8. Assassination and martyrdom of Christians (24:8b). Along with overall persecution, 5,898 Christians have been killed for their faith since January.
9. National hatred against Christians and Bible based countries (24:8c). Jesus reminded His disciples in John 15:18 that because the world hated Him, it will also hate them, and in John16:32-33 He repeated the fact that His followers would be hated and persecuted. Today around the world to be a Christian is to be a hated and ridiculed person.
10. Apostasy among professing Christians (24:10a). This does NOT mean true Christians who fall away or lose their faith, but rather those who merely "professed" Christ in name only will abandon their claim to be Christians and will instead openly identify with other religions or pure secularism. Our churches are filled with such people.
11. Betrayal of Christians (24:10b). Both these "professing Christians" and non-Christians alike with turn true Christians in. Particularly Communist, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu nations currently report Christian activities, churches, and believers to authorities, often resulting in imprisonment, persecution, and death to the Christians. This includes countries like many in Africa, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Cuba, and many others. It is daily occurrence.
12. Increase of Charlatans, religious & political leaders (24:11). Even among Christians we have deceivers and charlatans claiming to have and teach the truth.
13. Rise in lawlessness, rioting, lies, and reckless living (24:12a). I don't even need to detail this. Our headlines are filled daily with examples, both corporately and individually.
14. Cold heartedness and absence of love and caring (24:12b). When you see the absence of love between married couples, parents and children, the lack of concern for the needy, and the blight of self-absorbed attention, it is impossible to deny the dangerous and destructive pattern of a loveless family, a loveless community, -- a loveless national leadership. There is no greater evidence of a loveless culture than the abortion industry.
15. Global proclamation of the Gospel (24:14). Thanks to the modern technology of communication, today every square inch of our planet can be reached with the Gospel via the printed page, radio, cell phones, satellite television, and the internet.
Then, after listing these fifteen predictions of the future and using a parable of a fig tree blooming at Springtime, Jesus told His disciples that, even though many of these things had happened in the past, some were happening then, and others would happen in the future, that when they see all fifteen of those conditions happening simultaneously, He was "right at the door", ready to hit the latch and walk in.
It takes little more than just casual observation to realize that every single one of these fifteen characteristics of the future exist today, and hopefully shock us into realizing that the future Jesus predicted has now arrived. It is here. There is no reason to not think that we may well be "the generation of His coming". Obviously nobody knows for certain; I certainly don't. But, rather than being like the five bridesmaids who ran out of oil in their lamps to welcome The Bridegroom, we can be like the five who Were prepared.
PREVENTING OR PREPARING -- SPIRITUAL AWAKENING:
For many Christians the word "Revival" or the phrase "Spiritual Awakening" is so familiar that it has lost its meaning -- and its importance. Perhaps even with subjects like this it may be that familiarity actually does breed contempt. How tragic that this could be the case, especially in light of the fact that the greatest single need the Church in America faces is the need for true corporate revival, and the greatest need our nation has is for a genuine spiritual awakening on a national level.
Yet, both terms are so familiar to us that the very thought of seeking revival or praying for revival is met by a shrug of the shoulders rather than the bending of knees. If there ever was a time in our nation when the Laodicean Legacy was evident, it is now. Tragically that attitude is evidenced in congregations because it is present in the hearts of their pastors. I often wonder just what spiritual good has accomplished where we have served.
I am not alone in this thought. One church member friend of mine expressed concern that there were lots of activities and many distractions, but no evidence of the Holy Spirit's work ---- not even any evidence of His presence. His comment reminded me of the familiar adage that if the Holy Spirit were to leave the average church, 95% of its activities could go on without Him, but if He did show up, 95% of the church's activities would cease.
This is not to say, however, that God is not at work, often in powerful ways, in many places. He is indeed at work around our nation, often in extraordinary measures, but that is by far the exception rather than the rule. And, we are in desperate need as the Body of Christ and as a nation, for a new and fresh sweeping territorial manifestation of God's overriding atmospheric presence and undeniable activity. Otherwise, nothing will change. Things will remain the same, more and more churches will simply go through the motions, deceived into thinking they are doing His work because they are maintaining their sacred traditions and are busy in religious activities.
If you were to read an average preacher's e-mails or Facebook page it is probable that most of what you will see will merely be another program, another contest, another new book, another new strategy, or another new "spectacular" conference to attend where the famous and successful personalities of Christendom are featured and who will tell everyone how they did it. Sometimes I almost feel spiritually nauseous from all the buzz words, talking points, slogans, and products that flood my world. I even weary of all the hype promoting the names of churches and denominations. There are many days when I drive through a town somewhere in America and see all the church signs that either identify their denomination or their "special uniqueness", and all my heart wants to do is grieve. I wish I could understand and explain why.
So, today . . . and for the foreseeable future . . . I want to invite you to join me in exploring the world of revival and spiritual awakening. This is our only hope ---- not because we need a new and fresh encounter or experience, but because we need God. We need Him to show up again. We need Him to be the focus of our attention again. We need Him to take center stage once again. As we travel this pathway . . . one I'm sure you have traveled before . . . keep in mind these simple truths:
1. Spiritual awakening comes to a community, a region, or a nation ONLY when true revival comes to the church.
2. True revival comes to the church, only through prayer ---- prayer of brokenness, repentance, and intercession (in that order).
3. That type of praying comes only from a sense of hopeless desperation where there is no alternative except God.
4. Revival and spiritual awakening often come at times of greatest crisis, deepest sin, or religious lethargy.
5. Revival and spiritual awakening come only at God's pleasure and according to His timetable.
These principles show us the beginning point of revival and spiritual awakening ---- a dissatisfaction with the way things are, and a desperation in knowing that there is nothing you can do on your own to change it. It is hopeless, and we are helpless.
And, that's what we'll look at in coming letters.
GOD'S FOOTPRINTS ACROSS OUR HISTORY:
America's history for the first 150 years is saturated with God's presence, influence, and guidance from as early as 1607 when the Virginia Trading Company representatives and adventurers landed on the banks of the James River and established Jamestown. If you include Columbus' Holy Spirit inspired voyages that took him to the Indies, our Continent was spiritually impacted over 100 years earlier than Jamestown.
There is no overlooking the reality that our nation was not only founded, molded, and shaped by the divine influence of God and His Word, but we have also seen occasions of His special divine visitations in what we traditionally call "revivals" or "spiritual awakenings" when His presence and activity took place territorially with such intensity that it literally reshaped our national psyche and altered our otherwise inevitable direction. Truly our nation has seen days when God "walked among us". His footprints are undeniably imprinted across the pages of our history, -- in spite of the many attempts by secularists, atheists, and progressives to rewrite our history.
Several years ago I ran across an excellent blog by Patrick Morley, giving short glimpses of the many times our nation sensed God's touch on a broad level. Morley has been a successful businessman and real estate executive from Florida and the founder of The Man in the Mirror. He has been president and/or partner of 59 different companies. You can read his impressive bio at http://patrickmorley.com/about/.
In that blog Morley reviewed a number of the great awakenings that have territorially touched our nation, leaving serious impacts on us as a people. Some of them were national in scope, while others are more limited in influence. Nonetheless, each one of them made a significant difference that lasted for several years. Perhaps his brief descriptions will prod us to fall on our faces before God and cry out for His mercy to be poured out on a godless and rebellious nation that has forgotten its roots and the values upon which it was founded. I hope to address some of these specific revival (and perhaps others) in upcoming letters. In the meantime, consider these sketches.
As you read, I pray God will shock our hearts back into passionate rhythms to desire Him and once again seek His face with wholehearted helpless desperation. Morley has taken time to document his findings with numbered end notes. I've taken the liberty of keeping them intact in the event that someone might doubt his assertions. If you wish, skip over them to my final remarks. I've also chosen to highlight his blog by printing it in a different color.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPIRITUAL REVIVAL AND AWAKENING IN AMERICA
Patrick Morley: June 30, 2015
In describing what happened in Jonathan Edwards' Northampton, Massachusetts church in 1734, observers said, "It pleased God...to display his free and sovereign mercy in the conversion of a great multitude of souls in a short space of time, turning them from a formal, cold, and careless profession of Christianity, to the lively exercise of every Christian grace, and the powerful practice of our holy religion."1
That's about as clear a definition as we'll ever get! During a revival, God supernaturally transforms believers and non-believers in a church, locale, region, nation, or the world through sudden, intense enthusiasm for Christianity.2 People sense the presence of God powerfully; conviction, despair, contrition, repentance, and prayer come easily; people thirst for God's word; many authentic conversions occur and backsliders are renewed.
Revival and awakening are, generally, synonyms. The larger the geography a revival covers, the greater the tendency to call it an awakening.
America has a deep, rich history of revivals and awakenings.
REVIVALS IN AMERICA -- A WELL-TRAVELED ROAD:
+ The Great Awakening, 1734-43. In December 1734, the first revival of historic significance broke out in Northampton, Massachusetts, where a young Jonathan Edwards was pastor. After months of fruitless labor, he reported five or six people converted--one a young woman. He wrote, "[She] had been one of the greatest company-keepers in the whole town."3 He feared her conversion would douse the flame, but quite the opposite took place. Three hundred souls converted in six months--in a town of only 1,100 people!4 The news spread like wildfire, and similar revivals broke out in over 100 towns.5 Starting in Philadelphia in 1739, George Whitfield's dramatic preaching was like striking a match to the already-underway awakening. An estimated 80% of America's 900,000 Colonists personally heard Whitfield preach.6 7 He became America's first celebrity.8
+ The Second Great Awakening, 1800-1840. In 1800, only one in 15 of America's population of 5,300,000 belonged to an evangelical church.9 Presbyterian minister James McGready presided over strange spiritual manifestations in Logan County, Kentucky. The resulting camp meeting revivals drew thousands from as far away as Ohio.10 11 Rev. Gardiner Spring reported that for the next 25 years not a single month passed without news of a revival somewhere.12 In 1824, Charles Finney began a career that would eventually convert 500,000 to Christ. An unparalleled 100,000 were converted in Rochester, New York, in 1831 alone--causing the revival to spread to 1,500 towns.13 By 1850 the nation's population exploded fourfold to 23,000,000 people, but those connected to evangelical churches grew nearly tenfold from 7% to 13% of the population--from 350,000 to 3,000,000 church members!14
+ The Businessmen's Revival of 1857-1858. In 1857, the North Dutch Church in New York City hired a businessman, Jeremiah Lanphier, to be a lay missionary. He prayed, "Lord, what would you have me do?" Concerned by the anxious faces of businessmen on the streets of New York City, Lanphier decided to open the church at noon so businessmen could pray. The first meeting was set for September 23 -- three weeks before the Bank Panic of 1857. Six attended the first week, 20 the next, then 40, then they switched to daily meetings. Before long all the space was taken, and other churches also began to open up for businessmen's prayer meetings.15 Revivals broke out everywhere in 1857, spreading throughout the United States and world. Sometimes called The Great Prayer Meeting Revival, an estimated 1,000,000 people were added to America's church rolls, and as many as 1,000,000 of the 4,000,000 existing church members also converted.16
+ The Civil War Revival, 1861-1865. The bitter dispute over slavery thrust our nation into the deadliest war we've ever experienced. By the end, 620,000 Americans lay dead -- one out of every 50 of the 31,000,000 people counted in the 1860 census. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, it seemed as though the soldiers for both sides had left their Christianity at home and gone morally berserk. By 1862, the tide turned, first among the Confederate forces. An estimated 300,000 soldiers were converted, evenly divided between the Southern and Northern Armies. 17 18
+ The Urban Revivals, 1875-1885. Young businessman Dwight L. Moody participated in the Great Revival of 1857 as it swept Chicago.19 Moody later conducted revivals throughout the British Isles where he spoke to more than 2,500,000 people. In 1875, Moody returned home and began revivals in America's biggest cities. Hundreds of thousands were converted and millions were inspired by the greatest soul winner of his generation.20 At this time, the general worldview of Americans was shifting away from a Christian consensus. Darwinism and higher criticism were gaining traction, and Moody became the first evangelist to come under attack -- accused of making religion the opiate of the masses.21
By the turn of the twentieth century, the mood of the country was changing. Outside the church, it was the era of radio, movies, and the "Jazz Age." World War I led to a moral letdown and the Roaring Twenties. When that era came to an abrupt end on October 29, 1929, followed by the Great Depression, there was surprisingly little interest in spiritual revival.22 Inside the church, a half-century long battle raged between evangelicalism and theological liberalism which had penetrated major denominations.23 The effect was that Twentieth Century revivals were more limited in scope, and lacked the broad impact on society of earlier awakenings.24
+ The Revivals of 1905-1906. Word of the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 [Evan Roberts] spread to Welsh-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania in late 1904 and revival broke out. By 1905, local revivals blazed in places like Brooklyn, Michigan, Denver, Schenectady, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Taylor University, Yale University, and Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky.25 Billy Sunday, who became a key figure about this time, preached to more than 100,000,000 people with an estimated 1,000,000 or more conversions.26
+ The Azusa Street Revival, 1906. In 1906, William J. Seymour, an African-American Holiness pastor blind in one eye, went to Los Angeles to candidate for a pastoral job. But after he preached, he was locked out of the second service! He began prayer meetings in a nearby home and the Spirit of God, which they called "the second blessing," fell after many months of concerted prayer. Eventually, the interracial crowds became so large they acquired a dilapidated Methodist church at 312 Azusa Street where daily meetings continued for three years. The resulting Pentecostal Movement and the later Charismatic Movement, which both exploded worldwide in the twentieth century both trace their roots to this revival.27 28 29
+ The Post-World War II Awakening. After World War II, in 1947 and 1948, Pentecostals experienced two strands of an awakening, one the Latter Rain Revival and the other the Healing Revival. Large numbers of evangelicals also experienced revival resulting in many conversions. It was at this time that a great generation of Christian leaders emerged. Bill Bright began Campus Crusade for Christ. In 1949, Billy Graham's distinguished career, which popularized evangelical Christianity for a new generation, exploded on the scene during his Los Angeles crusade sponsored by the Christian Businessmen's Committee.30 31 An estimated 180,000,000 people attended his nearly 400 crusades, and millions more viewed on television.32 College Revivals started as early as 1946, but when the prayer-based Wheaton College Revival of 1950 achieved national publicity, it sparked other college revivals throughout America.33
+ The Charismatic Renewal and Jesus Movement. During the late 1960s and early 1970s more revivals of national scope developed. The first strand was the Charismatic Renewal which spread far beyond Pentecostal and Holiness churches to college campuses, the Catholic Church, and mainline denominations.34 The second strand, the widely publicized Jesus Movement, emphasized turning from drugs, sex, and radical politics to taking the Bible at face value and finding Jesus Christ as personal Savior.35 Not surprisingly, this revival spread to college campuses, most notably the 1970 Asbury College Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky. Within a week the revival had spread throughout the entire country.36 In 1976 America elected a born-again president, and evangelicalism has continued to prosper from then to now.
+ The Mid-1990s Revivals. Despite the widespread secularization of society since the Cultural Revolution that began in the late 1960s, in the mid-1990s God once again brought a series of revivals, mostly to Charismatic and Pentecostal groups. In 1994 it was The Toronto Blessing, and 1995 ushered in the Melbourne Revival on Florida's Space Coast, the Modesto Revival, and the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida, which recorded 100,000 conversions in two years.37 College Revivals swept across America, starting at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, under the preaching of Henry Blackaby, a Southern Baptist.38
+ The Promise Keepers Revival, the most publicized of the mid-1990s Revivals, began in 1991 when 4,200 men descended on the University of Colorado to be challenged to live up to their faith. In 1993, 50,000 men assembled from every state and 16 nations. In the following years, stadium events were conducted in cities throughout the United States. A spirit of revival and transformation swept across America as millions of men attended. The revival reached it's zenith on October 4, 1997, as 1,000,000 or more men gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. By the close of 2000, Promise Keepers reported 5,000,000 had attended 100 conferences. An additional 1,000,000 men have been impacted since.39
TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF REVIVALS:
Each revival or awakening leaves its own heat signature; in 1740 youth led the way, in 1857 businessmen and prayer took center stage, and the 1906 Azusa Street revival was decidedly interracial. Yet all share common themes. What are the most frequently mentioned characteristics of revivals and awakenings in literature?
1. TIMING: Revivals emerge during times of spiritual and moral decline, which leads to intense prayer.40
2. PRAYER: God puts a longing into the hearts of many to pray for revival.41
3. THE WORD: The preaching or reading of God's Word brings deep conviction and desire for Christ.42
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit takes people to a spiritual depth they could not achieve on their own.43
5. CONVICTION: Affected sinners are inconsolable except in Christ.
6. GLORY FOR GOD: God receives praise, honor, and glory for bringing revival.
7. REFORMATION AND RENEWAL: Revival produces lasting fruit. New ministries are founded and society experiences a reform of morals as more and more people convert.44 45 46
8. MANIFESTATIONS: Manifestations like fainting, groaning prayer, and miracles vary by culture and denomination.47
9. MESSY: Revivals are messy--controversies swirl about miracles, abuses, excesses, suspicions, and theological disputes (to name but a few).48
10. CYCLICAL: Revivals inevitably crest and decline.49 50
Is America Ripe for Revival Today?
A majority of Americans believe our country is going downhill. Yet church attendance as a percent of population has held steady since 1990, and probably since 1940.51 America added 50,000 new churches in the last 20 years of the 20th century to total 350,000.52 The number of born-again Christians has grown steadily to 46% of adults today.53 Given the state of moral and spiritual decay, how is that possible?
The answer is simple. Today, Christianity is prevalent but not powerful. The solution is spiritual revival and awakening.
We've not had an awakening in America of historic proportion for a long time. With such a great tradition of revival and awakening, a great base from which to start, and a great need to counteract the increasing moral and spiritual decline, our nation appears ripe for a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit.
But history tells us that national revivals and awakenings cannot be manufactured. They are sovereign acts of mercy and grace by God Himself, when He supernaturally achieves in a short span what seems otherwise impossible. However, God loves to respond to the prayers of His people (e.g., 2 Chronicles 7:14).
While the decision belongs to God alone, He gives us the privilege of hastening the day through humble repentant prayer. Let us pray....
Until every church disciples every man…
Pat
Pat Morley is the Founder and Co-CEO of Man in the Mirror.
© 2015. Pat Morley. All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced for non-commercial ministry purposes with proper attribution.
Endnote References
1 Jonathan Edwards, "A Narrative of Surprising Conversions," Jonathan Edwards on Revival, Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, first published in 1736, p. 2.
2 Keith J. Hardman, Charles Grandison Finney 1792-1875, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987, p. 9.
3 Edwards, p. 12.
4 Frank Grenville Beardsley. A History of American Revivals. New York: American Tract Society, 1912, pps. 25-27.
5 Beardsley, pps. 28-31.
6 Beardsley, pps. 36-40.
7 Class Notes, Reformed Theological Seminary, Church History, June, 1998.
8 Harry S. Stout, The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991, p. xiv.
9 Beardsley, p. 211, and U.S. Census data.
10 Peter Marshall and David Manuel, From Sea to Shining Sea, Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1986, pps. 60-66.
11 Hardman, pps. 6-7.
12 Beardsley, p. 104.
13 Beardsley, pps. 142, 150, 161.
14 Beardsley, p. 211, and U.S. Census data.
15 J. Edwin Orr, The Event of the Century, Wheaton: International Awakening Press, 1989, pps. 52-56.
16 Orr, pps. 320-321.
17 Keith J. Hardman, Seasons of Refreshing: Evangelism and Revivals in America, Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1994, p. 184-191.
18 Beardsley, p. 249.
19 Hardman, Seasons, pps. 197-198.
20 Beardsley, p. 287.
21 William g. McLoughlin, Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978, p. 141-142.
22 Hardman, Seasons, p. 242.
23 Hardman, Seasons, pps. 238-242.
24 Richard M. Riss, A Survey of 20th Century Revival Movements in North America, Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1988, p. 3.
25 Riss, pps. 44-45.
26 Hardman, Seasons, p. 236.
27 George Waugh, Flashpoints of Revival, North Charleston: BookSurge Publishing, 2009, p. 41.
28 Riss, pps. 46-47.
29 Hardman, Seasons, p. 243.
30 Hardman, Seasons, pps. 242-254.
31 Riss, pps. 1, 106-142.
32 Hardman, Seasons, p. 264.
33 Riss, p. 133-141.
34 Riss, pps. 147, 155-162.
35 Riss, pps. 147-149.
36 Riss, p. 153.
37 Waugh, pps. 111-113, 124-137.
38 Waugh, pps. 134-135.
39 http://www.promisekeepers.org/about/pkhistory, retrieved January 9, 2010.
40 Riss, p. 5.
41 Beardsley, p. 342.
42 Beardsley, pps. 345-346.
43 Beardsley, p. 343.
44 Edwards, "An Account of Revival," p. 148.
45 Waugh, p. 31.
46 Beardsley, p. 333.
47 Hardman, Finney, pps. 198, 249.
48 Riss, pps. 6-7.
49 Beardsley, p. 53.
50 Riss, p. 42.
51 Stanley Presser and Mark Chaves, "Is Religious Attendance Declining?" Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2007), 46(3), pps. 417-423.
52 John C. LaRue, Jr., "Three Church Myths," Leadership, Wednesday, February 21, 2001, retrieved from ChristianityToday.com.
53 Barna.org, "Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 years," March 6, 2009, retrieved from barna.org
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FINALLY:
In Concluding, let me ask a few simple questions:
1. Do you believe your country needs God's touch once again in culture-altering, heart-changing ways?
2. Do you think the church, both your local church and the church as a whole, needs to be brought back to life again to where it is once-again unexplainable apart from God?
3. Do you think God really wants to respond to both your country and to your church? Or do you see Him as having already passed judgment or as disinterested and disconnected?
4. Do you see these two needs as being beyond God's ability to do something? Or do you see Him wanting to invade, waiting for you to become desperate ---- desperate enough to repent and intercede?
5. Are you willing to admit your own total helplessness and hopelessness, and cry out to Him in broken repentance, intercession, and obedience?
Our answers to those questions will go a long way in exposing the truth of the matter to our own hearts; and the answers will also go a long way in preparing us for His response. If we want to see our country healed and our culture changed, we must first pray for and put ourselves in a position to experience revival ---- God bringing His Church back to life again.
O LORD, You showed favor to Your land; You restored the captivity of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin.
You withdrew all Your fury; You turned away from Your burning anger.
Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD, And grant us Your salvation. -- Psalm 85:1-7
If you are one whose heart cries out for revival in the church and spiritual awakening in society, you may want to take a look at this excellent website that leads you to many resources on the topic ---- http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0582.html
May the day come in our generation when once again pastors, political leaders, and all people walk once again with our God in intimacy, fellowship, and peace.
In His Bond, By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." -- Dr. Luke (Acts 17:11)
"A fire kept burning on the hearthstone of my heart, and I took up the burden of the day with fresh courage and hope." -- Charles F. McKoy
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