Good afternoon everyone;
Do you agree that our nation is in great need of a God-visitation!
Well, if you agree with me that our nation needs a spiritual awakening, then I’ve got good news for you. However, it comes with a catch: the future of America is in our hands. God will honor his people if they (we) obey him during these turbulent times.
But if we back away from our responsibility, then I fear that God’s hand of blessing will continue to be lifted from our nation.
There has never been a season during my lifetime where the need in the United States has been greater than it is right now. And there has never been a season where the potential of revival has been as great. Yes, America is facing turbulent times but we can have the greatest God-awakening in our history.
Bear with me for one short, multi-bullet-point paragraph and think about some of the challenges facing us in the United States:
- International and domestic terror is all around us;
- Economic upheaval continues to shake up most people’s lives;
- God-appointed and millennium-old mores and values are radically changing for the worse;
- Harvesting of baby organs and body parts, let alone the whole issue of abortion-on-demand, is routinely slapped in our faces as being “normal” and needful;
- Racial tensions trouble most large cities;
- Rogue authorities seemingly do what they deem best “in their own eyes;”
- Climate change is happening and the drought all of us face in California is not just of the “water” kind, though we do need rain;
- Partisan politics and politicians have eroded governmental trust and out-of-control courts seem to be today’s norm.
These are just but a few of the things we face. I’m sure you and I could add a lot more to this list but we’d probably become hopeless with such a long list.
Remember what the psalmist asked God, “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6 NKJV)
Christianity is comprised of many types of people who, if engaged with God and one another, could change the landscape of our nation. Yet many Christians are neither “awake” nor “engaged” with what is going on.
Here are three types of Christians presently populating the United States. Which of the following three types of do you most identify with?
- Christians who are ignorant to the depth and danger of the crisis we face in America and the rest of the world, for that matter.
- Christians who recognize and believe that the United States is falling apart because of the many sins and atrocities committed by her citizenry as well as the failures of “the church.”
- Christians who recognize the great peril we are in and believe that if we “stand in the gap,” pray earnestly for God’s help, and “work while it is still day,” there is hope for America.
Most politically-spiritually correct people will respond by saying they identify most with number 3. But if that if that is the case with most Christians, then why is our nation in such decline?
Follow-up questions will reveal the true answer. Here are some questions to ponder: How are you “standing in the gap” and praying? What is your level of genuine repentance and how has it changed your daily life? How is God dealing with your priorities? What is he pruning from your life? What “new thing” is God doing in your life? Who are you leading to Christ and discipling? How are you growing in “grace and the knowledge of the Lord?
You see, we cannot continue to do “business as usual” as Christians.
Those questions above will reveal where each of us is at. And many of us will come up short. But please don’t get caught up in the devil’s tactic of condemnation and the “feel bads.” That scenario will land you with the ignorant group listed as number one above.
Remember, there is hope! Remember Jonah, the guy that got himself in a whale of alot of trouble? When he finally clued into God and quit rebelling, God used him to turn around a whole city of Nineveh. You can read about in the Old Testament book of, you guessed it, Jonah.
My prayer is that God would send at least one more spiritual awakening to America before we self destruct. That’s what we all should be praying for. If God could bring a mighty revival to ancient Nineveh through a character like Jonah and no more gospel than he preached in their streets, then God can certainly do the same for Thousand Oaks and the United States.
Remember God’s promise – “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh . . .“ (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28)
Hope those of you who live in the Thousand Oaks area join me for an hour of prayer tomorrow morning from 9:00–10:00 a.m. in the Food Court of the Janss Marketplace, just outside the Regency Theatre.
Have a blessed Friday evening! There’s hope for America, if . . . !
–Pastor John