The Day of Revival Is Past

I grew up during a time when the church had revivals twice a year- spring and fall.  They were two weeks long.  As time went by they were only one week in length, then just a week-end.  The name changed from “revival” to special services.  Today, you would be hard pressed to find a revival service being held in any given community.  If there is a “revival,” you will find that a popular speaker “evangelist” has been retained along with the best musicians available at that time to conduct a week-end meeting called a “revival.”  These meetings are put together by a group of organizers and not a group of praying agonizers.  We have reduced revival to a method.

The American church is a large building with an enormous budget, special programs, trained leaders and specialized ministries but still no move to renew fellowship with God.  There are seminars on personal evangelism, revival, and how to conduct a campaign.  But still no revival.

The church has adopted the entertainment of a Hollywood production, but they have no song in the heart, no joy in salvation, no transformation of the soul.  We have replaced the experience of salvation with the hyperactivity of “churchy” business.

Our church leaders are power hungry and covet top positions within the denomination.  They place a greater value on the large churches and ignore the small church.  We have trained our ministers to become executives.  Leadership positions are for the rich and influential who have degrees from the best universities.  We have forgotten that it is God who calls men and women into the ministry, not man.
As a church, we are power-hungry and covet top positions as if we are climbing a corporate ladder. We place value on large churches and forget the small church.  We hire our ministers from the best universities with the best business degrees.  We have forgotten our theology and adopted a world view of religion.  The Church has lost the message of the transforming power of salvation from the bondage of sin to a message of “you are a good person.”

 Where are the brokenhearted believers who weep through the night over our spiritual bankruptcy?  Where are those who like Paul say, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved? 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Romans 10:1-4

A true revival brings us to the end of ourselves. It takes us to the foot of the cross where we lay down our hopes, dreams, and ambitions. Instead falling at the foot of the cross, we waste countless hours begging for money or selling CD’s to make sure the “work of God” will continue. What we need to do is beg God to forgive us of our backsliding, strip us of love of the world that has enveloped our souls.

It has been said that "God does not answer prayer; He answers desperate prayer." Jesus comes to those who are desperate for Him.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The reason I believe that most of us never experience a move of God is simply that we feel we have need of nothing.  Jesus said, Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

We have been blessed with money and no longer need the power of God.  The glad song of salvation is gone from our hearts, as well the desire to have Jesus Christ rule our heart and soul.  We have missed the point of the material blessings given to us by God to bring the message of salvation to a lost and dying world.  We have the prosperity but also the pollution that it often brings.  Our materialism has left us content without God.

Our nation has been without revival, and our spiritual condition has deteriorated to the point of apostasy.  Only when we become desperate for a touch from heaven, and no longer trust in the arm of the flesh will we see a revival break out in our churches.  It is not the size of the church that matters is the depth of spirituality that matters.  Those who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness.  We do not need the powerful motivation speaker or the praise band; we need those who will walk in humility, cry aloud and rend their hearts so that God will receive the glory He alone is due.  We need a revival among the people of God.

My fear is that we will be like the parable of the Ten Virgins, we will only have enough oil to barely make it to the wedding.  Let us band together and pray that the LORD will stir our hearts, open our eyes and bring us back to the joy of salvation.

The Death of Evangelical Christianity

I am considered to be a pessimist by my wife and a few others.  I can easily see the worst in any situation.  In fact, I look for the worst-case scenario in every situation.  One area that I see little hope for is the Evangelical cause of Christianity. I don’t believe that American Evangelicals know what the Gospel is anymore. The Gospel is not feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing shelter to the homeless, and giving health care to the sick.  The Gospel is about transforming the life of a sinner to a follower of Jesus Christ.  The evangelical Christian has forgotten the mission of the Church. The results of changed lives will cause us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter to the homeless and health care for the sick but that is not the primary mission of the Church.  The mission is to proclaim the message of repentance and follow in the footstep of Jesus Christ who is our LORD and Redeemer.  Our message is the salvation of man from the bondage of sin through Jesus Christ.

The message of the Gospel is quite simple and is easy to understand. The problem is that many so-called evangelical’s leaders have become a bunch of hireling scheming swindlers. They preach a gospel of health and wealth because they know that is the "gospel" people want to hear.  They realize that if they were to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would no longer have their fine houses, cars, and bank accounts.  They cannot preach the Gospel because it would require not only their hearers but they themselves to come to grips with their spiritual need.

Many "Christians" today are Constitutional Christians, they are in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.  They believe the American dream is the Christian life.  The concept of financial success is presented as an important part of God's blessing to His followers.  The evangelical message has been lost to a social gospel that denies the need for a spiritual change in the life of people.  While the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands the death of self, the new message is the exaltation of self. 

If we were to live the Gospel we say we believe, every single aspect of how we conduct our lives would be radically altered and there would be such a change in our lifestyle that those around us would not recognize us as a modern Christian causing the people around us to take notice of a new spiritual life that they have never seen.  The sad message given by the Church today is we Christians are indistinct from the world.  We live in the world and have become part of the world.  We cannot separate ourselves from the "one thing thou lackest."  We are not willing to take the step that will give us power with God. As Paul wrote to Timothy, there are those who will heap to themselves teachers who will say what we want to hear.

The problem with the American Evangelical Christian is they have come to love the world they live in.  They will not risk the loss of being able to keep up with the Jones, putting their children in private schools, enrolling their children in the top sports teams and running in the accepted social circles. They are not willing to sacrifice their friendship with the world to have the spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

Do I think the American Evangelical Christian will change? No. When people love the world more than they love the LORD, it is hard to see any change that will take place.  The bondage of the world has become so strong that making the sacrifice to throw off the chains of bondage is too much to accept. Until a revival of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is accepted and the real mission of the Church is acted upon I fear the bondage of the world will continue to destroy the Evangelical branch of Christianity.

Ghosting

Often, I find myself so busy with the everyday things of life that I forget there are others who need just a word of encouragement to get them through the day. Those who know me, know I am not a touchy-feely type of person ( I am trying to change). Sometimes I come across as harsh and unconcerned about the problems others are faced with each day. I struggle with trying to be all thing to all people but often fall way short of being much help to anyone.

This week a cousin was sharing her struggle of not having the support from her friends and church while going through a difficult time. As she shared her feelings about what was happening in her family’s life, I begin to wonder how many people within my area of friends and acquaintances were going through difficult times and I was silent? Was I so focused on my own life that I could not see the hurting they are going through?

My cousin used a term that I was not familiar with “ghosting.” Ghosting, for those of you who haven’t yet experienced it, is having someone that you believe cares about you, whether it be a friend or relative, disappear from contact without any explanation at all. No phone call or email, not even a text. Ghosting isn’t new—people have long done disappearing acts—but years ago this kind of behavior was considered limited to a certain type of scoundrel. Despite ghosting's commonality, the emotional effects can be devastating.

People who ghost are primarily focused on avoiding their own emotional discomfort, and they aren’t thinking about how it makes the other person feel. The lack of social connections to people has made dropping them from our life easy. There was a time when church people got together on Sunday afternoon to share dinner and fellowship. There was a bond that was developed through this social connection. Today, we are so busy we do not have to the time to develop a bond of friendship where we can share the struggles of our life with our church family. The early Christians were known for their love towards one another. They were a community of beleivers sharing their lives with one another.

I understand why people have become so desensitized to the issues their friends may be going through. There are times I do not know what to say to someone going through problems I have never experienced. It might be easy to just avoid contact with them until their issues are resolved but what kind of friend does that? When someone we love and trust disengages from us, it feels like a very deep betrayal. Is this the way a Christian should treat a fellow Christian?

As I examine my own life, I begin to wonder if I have made people feel they are no longer important. Have my actions caused my friends and acquaintances to question the validity of the relationship I have tried to establish with them? This action of “ghosting” a person is the ultimate use of the silent treatment and is emotional cruelty. Regardless of the ghoster’s intent, ghosting is a passive-aggressive interpersonal tactic that can leave emotional bruises and scars. It is not my intent to ignore, ghost, or give the silent treatment to anyone. I would hope that I have the courage to tell you why I am excluding you from my life if that were the case. Sometimes there are people who you can no longer have a friendship with because of the harmful influence they may have on your life. Have the courage to tell why you are no longer associating with them. Give them the opportunity to change before you throw them on the trash heap of broken friendships.

So, if you feel I have ignored, ghosted, or given you the silent treatment I apologize, if I am going to break off our friendship, I will tell you why and allow you the opportunity to respond. Breaking friendships is not what being a Christian is about. It is about developing friendship and family. It is about becoming more like Christ, see the needs of people through His eyes. It is about bearing one another's burdens and not being focused on my life so much that I ignore your burdens..