Grace Continues Through Revival

The history that I am most familiar with is that of God’s working in America, the place of my birth.  Much of the colonization of this country was rooted in a faith in God and the grace that has come through Jesus.  Even so our short history has been accented by declines and revivals.  But for the grace of God and the revivals that have swept through this country, I wonder where would this World be today without their influence.  For revivals have checked our downward decay, allowing us to avoid a potential death spiral.  The most memorable revivals took place in 1710-1750, 1780-1810, 1830-1840, 1857-1861, and the 1904 Pentecostal Revival.

I was born in the early 50’s at the end of the World War II revival 1935-1950.  This is where history and experience begin to blend for me.  I grew up in a very conservative, Pentecostal, Christian family, and accepted Christ as my savior at very early age.  This is the perspective I viewed life from.  My awareness of the steady decline of my American culture came abruptly in my high school years.  The turmoil of the 60’s had finally boiled over into my small town.  The turmoil and unrest could no longer be ignored.  It seemed like all the youth of the country had rebelled.  Those things that had been unacceptable now became blatantly displayed.

But there was something else growing at the same time.  The unrest and uncertainty of the time spawned a search for the truth.  True to His Word, those who were honestly seeking began to find Him.  What later became known as the Jesus Movement spread across this country.  Those sincere seekers began experiencing God.  Revivals were sparked across this country and many other countries.  Churches began to experience phenomenal growth.  The effects of revival and Church growth continued into the 80’s before beginning to diminish.

It happens often, as with the “Jesus Movement”, that God’s grace reveals itself in powerful ways in  the midst of despair and turmoil.  God stirs up His Church that has a tendency to drift into a period of apathy and mediocrity.  The fact that the Church so often needs revival should shame and humble us.  When we look into God’s Word and recognize our fallen state our response should be to cry out to the Lord for mercy.  When men have done this, God has responded by graciously sending revival.  Without God’s grace to restore the Church to the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, where would we be today?

Revivals and Moves of God are always happening where men are willing to repent.  God is faithful and His grace is available to those who are willing to receive it.  But the nation of my birth, that once held up His Name has now rejected God and appears to be entering into a death spiral from which there may be no recovery.  It has now been over 40 years since a revival has affected the nation as a whole.  During this time the enemy has done an effective job of educating our population through public education and the media.  Meanwhile the Church has done a very poor job of education, even our own people, in teaching the truths of the Scripture.

Revivals have kept the Church in America alive.  The influence of God’s Church has preserved our nation until now.  But we are now facing a crisis, for the Church has lost its influence in America.  We are in desperate need of a national revival.  We are losing our nation, which has become morally bankrupt.