53. THE GREAT AWAKENING today
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
February 29, 2008 at
1:59PM EST
In light of my recent blogs, it floored me yesterday as we began
to read a new chapter in our US history book. THE GREAT AWAKENING was
the topic. The situation of our nation then seems to be a mirror image
of today. Have we come full circle in our faith? Is it possible that we
are on the verge of a new awakening? I am undone concerning the
similarities of the church then and the church today in our nation.
Here is an excerpt:
As
the American colonies grew and prospered, they gradually fell into a
state of spiritual decline. By the 18th century, many churches
practiced a cold, formalistic Christianity. Most people claimed to be
Christians, but few had ever accepted Christ as personal Savior. Even
many ministers remained lost in spiritual darkness. Colleges founded to
train young men for the ministry, such as Harvard and Yale, contributed
to this decline by turning Christianity into a mere intellectual
exercise and combining theology with the pagan ideas of ancient
philosophers.
The spiritual decline was especially
noticeable in New England. In the past, only those who had given
evidence of personal salvation could become full members of the Puritan
Churches, but by the 1660's few of the younger generation met this
qualification for church membership. To solve the problem of dwindling
congregations, many New England churches in 1662, adopted the HALFWAY
COVENANT, which provided that descendants of church members could be
admitted as members with full privileges, except for participation in
communion. The Puritans hoped that this covenant would extend the
influence of the church and encourage more visible conversions in the
future. Instead of the church changing sinners, however, sinners began
changing the church. A historian of Connecticut described the
situation:
The forms of religion were kept up, but there
appeared but little of the power of it... It seems also to appear that
many of the clergy, instead of clearly and powerfully preaching the
doctrines of original sin, or regeneration, justification by faith
alone... contented themselves with preaching a cold, unprincipled and
lifeless morality.
... Gilbert Tennent attacked the real
problem with America's churches when he preached a sermon, ON THE
DANGERS OF AN UNCONVERTED MINISTRY, in which he expressed the damage
done by the preaching of unconverted ministers.
... The
most powerful evangelist of the Great Awakening was the English
evangelist George Whitefield ... after trying asceticism, denying
himself all but the worst sorts of food and clothing, he began reading
religious books and seeking the advice of friends. Slowly, he began to
understand that there was no way he could earn his salvation. He wrote
in his journal:
Above all, my mind being now more opened
and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying
aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and
word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily
received fresh life, light, and power from above. I got more true
knowledge from reading the book of God in one month than I could ever
have acquired from all the writings of men.
... although
Whitefield quickly became the most popular preacher in England, the
ministers of the established churches disapproved of his evangelistic
messages and barred him from their pulpits. Undaunted by opposition and
determined to spread the gospel, Whitefield began preaching outdoors.
... Whitefield used his abilities to reach all kinds of people -- rich
and poor, educated and unlearned, upper class and lower class. He
preached to black slaves in the colonies and wrote a gospel tract for
American Indians. He founded an orphanage in Georgia and showed a
special interest in reaching children with the gospel. His influence
indirectly prompted the founding of some 50 colleges in the US. He is
remembered as the most powerful voice of the Great Awakening, and his
influence on American history lives on.
My
disturbing experience in the contemporary, trendy churches of today
greatly reflects the state of the church just before the US fought for
her independence. It was on the heels of the Great Awakening that God's
favor rested on this nation once again.
You can feel the
level of evil rising as the heart of our nation pulls itself away from
the shelter of his presence. He has promised that he would never leave
us, that nothing can pluck us from his hand... but our nation is
choosing to walk away from him. And a step in any direction out of his
presence moves us (and those we love) closer and closer to chaos and
misery. Look around you in America. It grows darker every day in this
post-Christian nation. It will only grow worse, the further we move
away from God and his principles as the church remains distracted with
navel-gazing.
The church then, is the church today. Ungodly
leaders ripping apart the lives of good and Godly people, teaching
ridiculously insane idealism which only serves as chains to weight
people down with eccentric forms of Christianity. They have become
EVERYTHING they have complained about in the traditional church. They
claim to free people from religion but in reality they use well devised
strategies to manipulate them into bondage. They claim to be working
for the Kingdom of God but their idea of the kingdom is their own
selfish ambition to wear a crown that labels them as trendy and
cutting-edge. False Humility... blah! don't even get me started. No
wonder it makes God want to vomit.
Godly people forbidden
to teach in the churches, silenced, stripped of their calling and
pressured to leave the church and wander the streets. Pulpits and
Sunday School teachers teaching a LIFELESS MORALITY rather than the
fundamentals of the faith and the Word of God. Disregarding the
commands and principles laid out by God himself as being out-dated and
as irrelevant as last year's clothing fashions.
yes, we are in trouble. you... me... the church... our children... our nation... the Christian world.
The battlelines have moved from the streets outside the church's front
door to among the pews and the pulpit. You can't be popular with the
world and you can't be popular with your leadership... you better be
concerned and ONLY concerned with pleasing God rather than man.
Jesus warned you would be put out of the church. In the desperate hour
of the church then, Whitefield was put out of the church. Today, many
other saints of God are being put out by ungodly leadership... it's not
a time to be popular with the ungodly... it's time to devour the Word
of God, to press hard to search out Truth, to be merciful and just and
wise ALL THREE... and to refuse to be silent whether in the church or
in the streets.
Who will be the voice of the Church in this hour?!
Who is willing to let their ministry/title die for Christ?
Who is willing to let their popularity among the leadership/congregation die?
Who is willing to pull the plug or flip the switch themself?
Can you let go of everything and everyone you love and die to all that
you have built and served and ministered to for Christ?
Can you entrust to God what was his all along?
Can you trust him to not forget you in your nothingness?
Can you continue to testify of his goodness in the face of injustice,
in the face of so much evil (even from within the church)?
to die...
to have nothing
to be nothing
to empty yourself of everything
that's what we were called to.
that's our common bond.
that's how we reflect Christ.
that's what it is to truly live.
Keith Green said it well...
NO COMPROMISE.
