The Third Awakening
The title got you didn’t it. Well to tell you the truth I am excited. A friend posted something this morning about truth. It was awesome. It got me to thinking that her message would not be popular in our culture where the idea of truth is nothing more than what is true to you.
The keys are flying under my fingers with a massive thought about this trend. If we believe what the media, organizations and yes a few churches say, Christianity is a dead dog. Well, I’m here to say oh no its not. Here is what our culture says about people who take their faith in Jesus Christ seriously.
Your religion is bogus: in an article where the author was talking about putting in rooms of prayer for another religion. Christians don’t deserve a place.
We can now decide what sex we want and abort the one we don’t want. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
It is claimed that same-sex marriage is not only acceptable but preferred. This is put forth by both people in high government office and church councils. God ordained that we it should be a man and woman. Genesis 2:24
When a law maker (Kansas) says that we should ban the teaching of evolution in the public school because there is no scientific evidence for it, they are treated like they are an ignorant bohemian.
A child is shouted down and cursed at for singing a patriotic song at a political rally because it had God in it.
On Sunday I was teaching a bunch of preteens about Biblical Literacy. I told them that they should carry their Bible to school and read the passage that I ask them to read during the week. Their eyes en masse got big and said, “We are not allowed.”
That’s enough of that! Now for the good stuff.
I believe that in America we are on the verge of the Third Great Awakening. That means that a major outpouring of God’s Spirit is on its way. This Great Awakening will be different that the other two.
The first Great Awakening was led by traveling revivalists. They were Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. They primarily spoke to the church. (In the 1730’s and 1740’s most people went to church so the church needed awakening) They mainly focused on repentance and living your life for God in front of people.
The second Great Awakening was led by revivalists, lay preachers and ordinary citizens. It focused on salvation, holiness, changing culture, and living life of the Lord. This started about 1790 and lasted until about 1880.
The third Great Awakening will be led by committee Christians who don’t listen to what someone says about them or does to them. Listen “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
Here are the marks of what it will take for the third Great Awakening to take place:
- There will be great repentance in the Christian faith. 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 tells us that Solomon prayer 6-8 times to heal our land. In every case the healing takes place when the people repent of their sin. When the churches get out of the way and allow the Spirit to show what He would like to do, then the Awakening will begin.
- There will be a huge outpouring of prayer. People will be spending the hour that Jesus asked His disciples (you are one) to watch and pray with Him for one hour. That seems to be a minimum. This Great Awakening will be led by unnamed masses that will take seriously their call to pray and will begin to take the idea of one hour as a beginning point.
- There will be many who will be called to fast. Fasting in combination with prayer will one of the catalyst for the Awakening. These fasts will be of many varieties. They could be the simple 3 or 4 day fasts of our grandparents. It could also be the longer 10 day, 14 day and 21 day fasts that Scripture talks about. There may even be a few who are called to do the 40 day fast that Jesus did. Note this is a calling. (A major note here: Jesus said when you fast. Matthew 6:16, 17 He didn’t say if, but when. The joys and benefits for fasting are many.)
- There will be many who will put Christ first. (Matthew 6:33) They will trust Him alone for their life. Oh yes they will do everything they can to provide for themselves, but will let the worry of life (6:34) to be placed in His hands and not carry it around anymore.
- There will be a massive upsurge in people wanting to know the God of the Bible and not the God they see lived out in the average Christian. To accomplish this there will be churches, businesses and organizations that will sponsor “Getting to Know God” events. These will be multi-hour events where people will be given resources to search out God for themselves in the Word.
- There will be people, who God will rise up to teach people how to pray, be a prayer warrior and intercessors. These people will be the new itinerant evangelists. It appears that they will not all be big names, in fact they may be the “little people” who God can use to do this.
- There will be a lot of people who will understand what it means to sacrifice, be willing to be persecuted and in some cases die for the cause of the Great Awakening.
YES it is coming. Get on board! There is no other name on earth by which we may be saved. (Acts 4:12) So let’s get together and invite the Holy Spirit to reign in our culture.
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