Jesus Now Awakening

You don’t have to listen too hard to make out the cries of harried Americans today. Pressed by too many demands, too little time, mushrooming pressures, and shrinking paychecks, people are quick to confess, “I’m just trying to survive.” That’s exactly what Americans were saying in the days that led to our nation’s first Great Awakening. Forced with building a society from scratch, the early settlers defined the word “pressure.” Pressure didn’t come from daily freeway commutes or seventy-hour workweeks but from fighting medical emergencies without the ability to dial 911 and winters without cozy, insulated homes. Crops failed, diseases spread, and early deaths were common.

Thanks to the Halfway Covenant, a person could belong to a church without believing in Jesus Christ for salvation. The Halfway Covenant allowed unbelieving children of believing parents to receive baptism; they simply weren’t allowed to receive the Lord’s Supper or vote on church matters. Thus was faith reduced to a formality. People lived with growing irreverence, succumbed to rampant dishonesty, and grew reluctant to acknowledge the word “sin.”

Into such a dismal cultural climate, a spiritual outbreak occurred which no one could have predicted—the Great Awakening. On one Sunday, Theodore J. Frelinghuysen, a twenty-nine-year-old pietist, preached what few wanted to admit: Human beings were depraved and needed a personal encounter with God and a change of heart. But it was Jonathan Edwards’ preaching that reverberated in the hearts and minds of his hearers. When he asked his congregation, “How many kinds of wickedness are there?,” he didn’t wait for a response. He simply described what he saw all around him—irreverence in God’s house, disregard of the Sabbath, neglect of family prayer, disobedience to parents, quarreling, greediness, sensuality, and hatred of one’s neighbor.

The effect of Edwards’ sermon set New England ablaze. Men and women wept tears of deep remorse. They knew they needed to be forgiven. They came to God on their knees, and out of their deep sorrow and repentance, they received an unexpected feeling of cleansing and joy. What was dead came to life.

Spiritual night was nailed beneath the floor of spiritual dawn. The new fervor spread to a hundred communities. Nearly 300 people—25 percent of 1,100 individuals in his town alone—were then converted. The Great Awakening witnessed an immediate, overt transformation in men and women throughout New England. People felt deep conviction when they realized they had turned their backs on God. Guilt led to confession, confession led to forgiveness, and forgiveness led to new devotion to a Lord and Savior thousands had never known.

By 1735, the Great Awakening began to cool. It might have ended altogether had it not been for George Whitefield. If Edwards was the spark of revival, Whitefield became the flame that forced the movement to spread. In thirty-two years in the mid-1700s, this Englishman made seven trips to America to preach. His style was dramatic and pointed. “I love those who thunder out the word,” he said. “The Christian world is in a dead sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can awaken them out of it.”

By 1760, few were still asleep. During the Great Awakening, an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people became believers. One hundred and fifty new Congregational churches were founded. Separatists, Baptists, and Presbyterian churches multiplied—over 10 percent of New England’s total population of no more than 340,000. That equates to approximately 30 million citizens today.

By the time the flame of the Great Awakening began to die out for good in 1760, thousands of people who once had turned their back on God had changed their way of living. From New England to the colony of Jamestown, where the people’s indifference to the Bible had been strong, conversions to Christ were so remarkable it was agreed that only God could have brought about such a sweeping transformation.

Find this excerpt and more from Tom Phillips in Jesus Now Awakening (2016) pages 67-70.

The post Sparks of Revival: The First Great Awakening in America appeared first on Jesus Now Awakening.

http://www.syncglobal.net/ 

Kyle Williamson, a leader in the telecommunications field, is putting in place structures of integrity to support revival in the family. Listen as he shares with Tom the sparks of a revival of Jesus that is underway in the marketplace.

Kyle Williamson is the owner and founder of DoveTel Communications, LLC., DBA SyncGlobal Telecom, and serves as the company’s CEO. In 2000 Kyle began marshaling support from municipal organizations and the local business community to improve West Georgia’s communications infrastructure. This local support, coupled with his experience in the telecommunications industry, culminated in the establishment of SyncGlobal (DoveTel Communications, LLC.) as a registered CLEC in 2003.

Kyle has founded other successful ventures including SyncGlobal’s parent company, SynchroNet, Inc., a telecommunications EF&I (engineering, furnishing, and installation) company for which he also serves as CEO. Prior to his entrepreneurial successes, Kyle was fast-tracked to the position of Senior Systems Engineer in Northern Telecommunications’ Broadband Network Engineering division and was on the front lines of the telecom industry during the chaotic boom years that followed the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

As an engineer and chief executive, Kyle’s telecommunications expertise is wide-ranging. From designing some of the first CLEC transmission and access networks, to working with OEM’s on next-generation technology development, to tackling the regulatory issues that affect providers and consumers alike, Kyle’s deep understanding of the industry makes him uniquely qualified to anticipate trends and position SyncGlobal for long-term, sustainable growth.

Kyle received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

https://www.howtolifemovement.com

At 20 years old, Jordan’s love for Christ is shining forth around the nation. As a member of Generation “Z”, Jordan is uniquely positioned to impact his Generation with the Gospel.  Jordan has grown up in a multi-generational ministry family. He is a graduate of Liberty University, with a Bachelor’s in Religion: Biblical and Theological Studies, and is an ordained reverend.

     As a frequent speaker at churches and conferences, Whitmer challenges both young people and adults to join Jesus in fulfilling His Great Commission.  He has been the subject of numerous local and national media appearances for radio, television, and print.

     Jordan is passionate about mobilizing student leaders around the world to impact their generation for Christ.  He travels frequently, and can often be seen at Starbucks mentoring and encouraging young people to boldly lead for Jesus. From Northern Arkansas, Jordan formed a prayer team in his high school and has seen great things in the youth of his area.

      Forming The How To Life Movement as God has lead the way from 61 How to Life outreaches in the nation and around the world in 4 years time and in 19 states and 5 countries. HowToLife is a fast-growing global youth movement of students mobilized together to lead their peers to stand and live for Jesus.

     Your heart will break over a new study from George Barna, where he reports, “Generation Z is the Least Christian Generation in American History.”

     Here are some sobering conclusions —

     These aren’t just statistics.  These represent lives of our generation.  I invite you to feel the brokenness of today’s youth.  The hurt. The pain. The lostness.  What we need is a spiritual awakening in today’s young people.  Our generation desperately needs Jesus.  Thank God He is raising up a movement!  The right message, the Gospel, is delivered through the right messengers – high school student leaders.  And God is transforming hearts.

Emily Adams ran into a Spark of Revival on her return trip home from the Northeast Decision Tour with Franklin Graham, where they saw almost 4000 people make decisions for Christ. Emily tells how she met an Uber Driver that was taking her home and how God is using him to reach others for Christ through his work as an Uber Driver. Sparks of Revival can show up in places that we would least expect. They are all around us everyday, if we will just keep our hearts, ears and eyes open to what God may be doing where we are.

We would love for you to share about the “Sparks of Revival” you meet along your journey.

Please share this podcast with others and let us encourage one another.

Join us at http://thecenterforawakening.com/