Seasoned Believers

The more I chat with friends and fellow Ministers about what is happening in the current "Age Wave" passing through the world I am seeing more and more implications for us in the The Fourth Great Awakening. Great Awakenings are national and international events that occur some thirty to forty years after a "Great Revival". They usher in a new era of Christian values and influence in society in general.

The First Great Awakening began with the Great Revivals of Whitfield and Edwards and matured into social, political upheavals that insisted upon more equality among the people. The Revival/Awakening culminated in the American Revolution and ended the English Monarchy in the Colonies. This led to a huge leap forward in economic, political and spiritual equality.

One of the least understood and most powerful results was religious and spiritual equality. The Colonies before the Revival/Awakening/Revolution was a place of great spiritual darkness. It was one of the least spiritual times in American history. According to marriage records, some 1/3 of all marriages included a pregnant bride and many of the women had babies out of wedlock.

Few of the Colonists attended church and most of the citizens were wild and unfettered males whose drinking, carousing and sexual exploits were legion. The Colonies carried on the English tradition of State Run Church groups. Anglicans and Congregationalists had tax supported clergy and tax supported church buildings. After the revival brought forth hundreds of new groups supported and led by the members, the tax supported well trained clergy warned that such religion would wither and die without government support.

In retrospect we can see that the opposite happened. The Great Revivals of the 1700's caused a colonies' wide upheaval in that scenario. Baptist and Methodist groups sprouted up in homes, taverns and under shade trees all led by fresh believers who had met the Lord personally and began to preach and teach the Bible unfettered by a seminary education. The population of the Colonies was exploding but the new formed, free churches grew even faster and Pastors were called to evangelize and nurture the new flocks.

Presbyterian churches withe their Scot inspired fierce independence from state control, grew right along with the revival and the population growth. They were the only church with European parentage that did grow. The state controlled and tax supported Anglican and Congregational churches fell behind since they refused to allow revival meetings in their buildings and their clergy preached against the new religious "enthusiasm".

The final blow occurred, of course, when the new nation build into its Constitution a prohibition of tax support for clergy and religion. Europe still supports clergy and churches taxes and is as dead today as it was in 1750. However, as I wrote in a former post, revival is occurring in Europe and before long all the state controlled denominations will be gone and revival will sweep over the continent. ( Read Roger Finke and Rodney Stark's book The Churching of America.)

The Age Wave of men and women who came to faith some thirty to forty years ago and have been nurtured in that faith for many years are poised to take their wisdom, convictions and spiritual energy into the market place of ideas. The Fourth Great Awakening is upon us so get ready for new forms of spiritual expression. Every other Awakening has emphasized economic and political change but this one is different and the focus will be on spiritual/emotional and relational inequalities. (See Nobel Prize winner in Economics Robert Fogel's book, The Fourth Great Awakening for more information.)

I am looking for Seasoned Believers who want to lead the New Spiritual Revolution and the Fourth Great Awakening.