Spiritual Awakening

 In the early 1740s a young printer in Philadelphia reached an agreement with an itinerant preacher from England to print his sermons and journals. With Benjamin Franklin’s assistance in the printed word, George Whitefield’s preaching sparked a spiritual flame that ignited Colonial America.  In his autobiography, Franklin noted he could not walk down the streets of Philadelphia in the evening without hearing families singing Christian hymns. Whitefield joined John and Charles Wesley as leaders of the Great Awakening.

 At noon on September 23, 1857, a businessman named Jeremiah Lamphier waited for others to join him for prayer in a room on Fulton Street in New York.  Six people showed up. The next week, 20 came.  Then 40.  They started meeting daily. The crowd swelled to more than 3,000 following the financial panic of October 14.   In less than 6 months, 10,000 businessmen were attending daily prayer meetings in New York. More than 10,000 came to faith in Philadelphia, 5,000 in Boston. At its peak, 50,000 people a week were professing faith in Christ.  In Bethel, Conn. businesses closed for prayer.  Led by laity and crossing denominational lines, the movement swept more than one million people to faith in Christ leading up to the Civil War.

 During the Civil War a little-known shoe salesman from Chicago ministered among the Union troops.  Afterward, he gave up selling shoes to win souls.  In the last half of the 19^th century, Dwight L. Moody preached to over 100 million people in the United States and the U.K.   On one occasion more than 130,000 people assembled to hear him preach.

 A tent was erected in Los Angeles in 1947 following WWII and an unknown evangelist named Billy Graham was invited to preach. The three-week revival stretched into 8 and launched Graham’s career.  For the next 50 years Billy Graham preached to over 210 million people in more than 185 countries.  He became close friends with Martin Luther King, Jr in the 1950s and supported the Civil Rights movement.  Graham became a spiritual advisor and confidant to every President from Truman to Barak Obama.

 In the 20^th century the Christian faith exploded in the Southern Hemisphere.  The number of Christians in Africa grew from 9 million in 1900 to 350 million in 2000. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, “global Christianity is experiencing remarkable growth, defying expectations and surpassing population rates.”  According to studies at Boston University School of Theology “over the last 40 years, Christianity has grown faster in China than any other place in the world. It’s gone from approximately 1 million Christians to around 100 million.”

 But what about the 21^st century in the United States? In an era dominated by violence, prejudice, corruption, rising rates of suicide and addiction, this generation has been adrift without a moral compass. But there is hope. USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the Barna Group all indicate there is a growing interest in Jesus among the young, specifically among Gen Z men.  The American Bible Society “found an increase in Bible use and engagement.”  The New York Times reports that “Bible sales have spiked, driven largely by first time buyers.”

 When Jesus came, John preached to huge crowds calling for repentance.  Anna prayed (Luke 2:36-38), as did Simeon (Luke 2:25-35).  Each of us can encourage moral and spiritual renewal.  With every honest decision, with every generous action, every kindness, every act of forgiveness, with every prayer, with faith in Jesus we can see our world transformed.  

What Made America Great

 The America I grew up in was seen as the shining light on a hill.  We took pride in the inscription on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 Instead of decimating our enemies after World War II, we helped them rebuild.  Germany and Japan embraced freedom and prosperity and became two of our strongest allies.  

 We fought and died in the jungles of Vietnam, not for ourselves, but for others.  In its aftermath we welcomed Vietnamese and Hmong refugees who integrated into our cities.  Christian churches sprang up among various groups: Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, Thai, Korean, Liberian, Nigerian and many others.  Spanish speaking churches continued to thrive.  The Christian faith swept across South Korea until it became the second-most missionary sending nation in the world.

 When I visited Brazil I was welcomed as a celebrity because I was an American.  Children ran through the streets and people crowded in the windows to see someone from the United States. When I served briefly as pastor of an English-speaking church in Nuremburg Germany, older Germans often expressed their gratitude for GIs who helped them rebuild their nation.  We thought of ourselves as a generous and welcoming nation, blessed by God to bless the nations of the world.

 But all of that seems to be changing.  We are well down the road of putting “America first.”  The question is no longer, what is best for mankind, for the world and for posterity, but what is best for us.  We have transitioned into a “me first” mentality.

 Instead of asking, how can we help our neighbor nations fight the gang violence and corruption that causes families to flee to our borders, we ask only, “how can we keep these people out?” In our efforts to “make America great again” we seem to be losing the values that made America great in the first place.

 Our movies, our media and our politics often portray us as a covetous people.  We seem to have adopted Gordon Gekko’s maxim that “greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”  We have turned a deaf ear to the tenth commandment: “You shall not covet.” (Exodus 20:17).

 The Apostle Paul confessed that this commandment was his undoing. “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.’” Romans 7:7-8).

 When we start down this self-centered path we sow the seeds of future calamity in our communities, our nation and the world. “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet, but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.” (James 4:1-2).

 Paul’s conclusion is applicable for all of us: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” You shall not steal, “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Romans 13:9).

Guadalupe River Flood - When Disaster Strikes

 There are no words to express our grief over the loss of life in the Guadalupe River disaster in Texas. More than 100 people including at least 27 girls and counselors at Camp Mystic lost their lives in the flashflood. Many have commented on the faith and courage of the young women. Our own granddaughters, ages 14 and 12, are at camp this week in Colorado.  We can only imagine the profound pain for the mothers and fathers, family and friends whose daughters were swept away in the sudden surge.  Our hearts break for them. We constantly pray for them.

We have learned that our planet is subject to natural disasters that devastate human life: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires. We have witnessed the destruction that can be leveled on human civilization when such things occur.

I stood on the shore at Banda Aceh, Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami and witnessed the devastation that laid waste that capital city. It claimed the lives of a quarter million people. My daughter and son-in-law volunteered in the recovery efforts after Haiti was decimated with similar loss of life. A single year saw twenty-two quakes measuring 7 or greater on the Richter scale. In one year earthquakes struck Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Japan, Mexico, the Solomon Islands, Ecuador and New Zealand.

Natural disasters will occur.  Where and when they will strike and with what force, we never know, though meteorologists and geologists continue to search for clues.

Whenever disasters like this strike we are prone to ask questions that usually revolve around “Why?” Even though there are no answers to that question that can remove the pain or recover our loss.

 Jesus addressed this question on more than one occasion and gave us some insight into the answers. When he addressed a crowd regarding a recent building collapse he posed a rhetorical question: “Do you think that those who died when the tower at Siloam fell were more sinful than others?” And answered his own question clearly, “I tell you, no.” (Luke 13:4). 

When his disciples discovered a man blind from his birth they asked a similar question. “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his sins or the sins of his parents that he was born blind?” Jesus answered them, “It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents. He was born blind that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” He then proceeded to heal the man so that he could see. (John 9).

Not only was Jesus clear that disasters would occur, He was also clear about how we should respond. “We must manifest the works of God.” We must pray for those who suffer loss and share their grief.  And we must give. My favorite organization for responding to disasters over the years has been Texans On Mission.  They have a long history of working effectively with local and global organizations to bring meaningful help where disasters strike. They are especially adept at providing clean water and clean up volunteers when needed. I know their leadership personally and have great confidence in them. Donations can be given for disaster relief at www.texansonmission.org.  There are many others