Thursday, January 13, 2011

IS GOD STILL ABLE?

Times change. They are always changing. Yet there are some changes that are so significant that they alter the entire course of human history. These defining moments are movements initiate profound shifts in thinking and new ways of living. (For example: The Birth of Christianity, the Rise of Islam, the Renaissance, The Enlightenment, The Protestant Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, The Ascent of Modern Science, and The Information Age).

From our vantage point it appears that we are once again in the midst of such a significant shift. Though it is yet to be named, we are witnessing a profound change. The West has abandoned her orthodox Christian faith, forsaken her moral convictions, and jettisoned her self-confidence. We have sown to the wind, and now we are reaping the whirlwind. (Hosea 8:7).

In our "Brave New World" gender distinctions are blurred, marriage commitments are optional, temporary, and open (one man to one woman, man to man, woman to woman, man to more than one woman, and woman to more than one man), children are disposable, and pleasure is god. Reckless spending by our government has covered the high cost of our feckless living, but htat cannot go on forever. All debts come due.

As the sun of our civilization descends towards the horizon of history, those who are concerned and willing to do what it necessary to halt the decline are few. Fewer still are those who see that our hope rests only in a revival of authentic Scriptural Christianity.

Many years ago, God "sought for a man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge," and then later lamented, "But I found none." (Ezekiel 22:30). Today there are some, but we are few. We take courage in Jonathan's word to his armor bearer, "There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few." (1 Samuel 14:6) History confirms that Jonathan is right.

By the end of the 1st Century, Christians numbered approximately 6/10ths of 1% (6 out of every 1000) of the world's population. Yet who can doubt the power of those rugged disciples to win the lost and to "turn the world upside down!" (Acts 17:6). Twenty centuries later, the Church of Jesus Christ remains.

At John Wesley's death, fewer than 3/4ths of 1% (7 out of ever 1000) in Great Britain were members of the Methodist socieities. But historians are convinced that Methodism rescued Britain from the brink of anarchy and spared the nation from French-style revolution.

The record is clear. More than great numbers of men, we need great men of God.

Yet some nagging questions remain:

CAN THE SAME HOLY SPIRIT WHO PURIFIED THE HEARTS OF THE DISCIPLES BY FAITH AT PENTECOST (Acts 15:9) SO FILL GOD'S PEOPLE IN OUR DAY THAT WE COULD SEE A REVIVAL OF HOLINESS LIKE THAT OF THE FIRST CENTURY?

It was purity and holiness, not popularity and bigness that moved the first Christians. I suppose that they never got over ( and neither should we) that awesome penalty God exacted of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Ghsot (Acts 5:1ff). Peter's rebuke of Simon who wanted to buy the power of the Holy Ghost was unambiguous, "Thy money perish with thee...thy heart is not right in the sight of God." (Acts 8:18ff) And Paul's admonition to the Church at Corinth regarding the professing Christian who was living with his father's wife was clear cut, "Deliver such an one to satan for the destruction of the flesh." (1 Cor. 5:5).

CAN THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT SO ENERGIZED THE METHODISTS TO SPREAD SCRIPTURAL HOLINESS THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND ACROSS AMERICA, EMPOWER AND MOBILIZE US TO FILL OUR NATION WITH "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD?"

Utilizing the means of their day--circuit riding preachers on horse-back, innumerable services, out-door preaching, revivals, and class meetings, as well as the technology of their day the printed page (The Arminian magazine published by the Methodists was for many years the most widely distributed and read magazine in the world), the Methodist influence profoundly hsaped the people and the insitutions of 18th and 19th century Britain and United States.

AND IS THE MIGHTY BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE PERVASIVE INFLUENCE OF THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL IN OUR GENERATION?

Is the power of God checked by the forces of technology, media, and all that we call modernity? Is it even possible toget the attention of a generation that is so mesmerized by the media, the internet, and high tech gadgetry? Americans alone send 4 billion texts a day. 280 million Americans will jump on the information super-highway we call the internet. And more Americans have TV's in their homes than have indoor plumbing. Is it possible to overcome this tsunami of iniquity that surrounds us?

NEVER BEFORE HAS THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST FACED THE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE CONVERGENCE OF AN EVER PRESENT TECHNOLOGY that privatizes sin, A TOLERANCE that contextualizes sin and renders right judgment impossible, and A THIS-WORLDLINESS that has no fear of God, of judgment, or of eternity.

YET OUR FAITH STILL HOLDS TO THE CRUCIFIED, BURIED, AND RISEN AGAIN CHRIST. He promised, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you!" Surely this power is greater than all the inventions and imaginations of men. It was this power that raised up Christ from the dead. It was this power that raises us up to walk in newness of life. It was this power that sustained the Church of Jesus Christ to this good hour. And it is this power that secures our faith in the future.

JOIN US FEBRUARY 17 & 18, 2011 AT THE ST. LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION, Sponsored by the JOHN WESLEY FOUNDATION OF ST. LOUIS, and hosted by FAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH, 2969 N. Lindbergh, St. Ann, MO 63074, AS WE SEEK GOD FOR A FRESH OUTPOURING OF PENTECOSTAL POWER ON HIS PEOPLE, A REVITALIZED CHURCH, AND A RENEWED CONFIDENCE IN OUR MESSAGE! "Holiness unto the Lord, now and forever!"

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