Take Every Thought Captive to Christ

I am again teaching the classic course, Rational Christian Thinking, that I first developed and wrote back in the eighties. Pastor Brad Rosenberg asked me to train his staff and lay leaders how to live in the freedom of Christ and I agreed.

Because his wife Angie had gotten so much out of the training before she asked Brad to let everyone attend so young mothers like her could benefit from the training and rear their children free of fear and anxiety. So, we are teaching over 100 adults each Wednesday evening at Tri County Assembly of God in Fairfield, Ohio north of Cincinnati.

It is a thrill to be able to "Equip the saints to DO the work of ministry" and I love training them in ways to "Renew their minds" according to the Bible. The students are eagerly lapping up the information and responding with great interactions in the class.

Over the next few posts I will write some of the basic principles of biblically renewing the mind so the readers can start getting free from cultural, social and devilish ideas. I am amazed at how many Spirit filled Christians are ensnared in old fleshly ways to thinking, feeling and acting yet believe they "Have the mind of Christ."

A mind of Christ is a peaceful mind. It is Free from worry, free from anxiety and free from letting others put them down. They could care less what others think because they know what Jesus thinks.

So, read and reflect on how Gos can set us free from the "Stinking Thinking" that keeps us in bondage.

Grand Parenting

Karen and I are in Pittsburgh with Jack and Emma, our son's children while he and Shelley are in California. It is a lot of exhausting fun. I had forgotten how much work two kids are and how much joy they bring at the same time.

I awoke at 5:00 AM and Jack was already up. That means it is a long day. Getting him and Emma washed, dressed, fed and ready for the day was a challenge. Jack attends Covenant Presbyterian Pre-School so I had to find it and get him there in time. I met his teacher and saw the great program that Covenant has for kids and the way they preach the gospel in so many avenues.

Emma is MY girl. At age 14 months she loves her Papa. Her big smile anytime I am near melts my heart and we have a great time.

Children are messy. Very messy. They love to get their toys out and spread them liberally around the house. In five minutes the house is a wreck and they could care less.

But grand parents are not surprised or upset. It is just the way they are and we love it.

So, I am not writing about the Great Awakenings. I am just trying to stay awake.

My Jesus Movement Story on Revival

When I first read the review of Nobel Prize winner Robert Fogel's book, The Fourth Great Awakening, I experienced a range of emotions from stunned, excited, frustrated and fascinated to saddened. Here was an expert in economics from the University of Chicago whose studies convinced him that revivals and awakenings in American history were having an amazingly high impact on our economy, the ways we work and how we see life. That is the exciting part.

I was frustrated because it took my over ten years to even hear of Dr. Fogel and I think I am well read about such things. Even more frustrating was the fact that I have never even met another Christian leader or scholar who has heard of Fogel or the Fourth Great Awakening. Wow! No wonder the church is losing its impact on the culture. We are unaware of one of the most important works about contemporary society that has ever been written.

Here is the third reason for my sadness and frustration. I am a product of the Jesus Movement and it was that national and international move of the Holy Spirit that spawned The Fourth Great Awakening. For many years I had a hunch that the move of God among Baby Boomer college students and young adults was a significant event in God's overall plan to redeem the world but Fogel gave me a historic perspective as well as economic insight into how God moves nations and their institutions.

I am a microcosm of how God works and how God did work to change millions in the Jesus Movement. Reading that book gave me an understanding how God used organizations, movements, governments and churches to push a larger agenda in the world and how long it takes to move all the pieces around on the chess board to accomplish His will. (For example, how many generations it took to rid America of slavery through revivals, education, books, magazines, marches and awakenings.)

I came to Cincinnati as an Associate Dean in 1967. God's Spirit was moving on me but I was so young and unlearned that the inspiration He offered me was not focused or wisely released. I was asked to leave my church because I was actually but unknowingly practising one of the most important tenets of an awakening.

I started Bible study groups in homes and that radical step of independence from church authority scared the leaders who gave me "the left foot of fellowship". These groups focused on encouraging members to 1. Seek God directly in prayer; 2. Hear God directly through the Bible. 3. Take actions directly o witness, serve, care for each other, etc because all Christians are called to be ministers.

These are the primary marks of the Fourth Great Awakening and they were great threats to the clergy and religious power brokers. They still are. Especially in the large mega churches and the mainline churches.

Unleashing God's people to do God's work in the world led to the most powerful and far reaching Awakening in history and I was excited to be part of it. I still am.

On October 2 Equipping Ministries International had a big reunion weekend with a time of honoring me and others who were involved in founding the organization in 1979 at College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati. I left EMI in 1994 to found Sweeten Life Systems but the ministry keeps moving along and says that over 500,000 people have graduated from our programs. Every class, groups and talk is based on what I learned in the Jesus Movement. We must "Equip the saints to do the work of ministry."

The church is sometimes gathered but it is most powerful when it is dispersed. When ordinary Christians realize they have an extraordinary God and take Him at His word to do His works. This is the essence of The Fourth Great Awakening and why Fogel won that prize in Economics.

Pass these articles on to you family and friends. Thy need to know what God is up to. If you know of a non-defensive, open to learn clergy person also ask them to read up on these things. If you are really brave, read Fogel's book. It will blow your mind.

Hope for a Christian Future

You may wonder why I am writing some of this dry history about what scholars call, Great Awakenings in American history. First, most Christians do not know about our spiritual history in America. Second, that history is exciting, faith building and hope generating. Third, we are in the midst of The Fourth Great Awakening for which I am very happy.

Understanding how God seems to operate in nations can help us think more effectively about ways to share the gospel, build disciples and gain insight into the daily news. Review the past Great Awakenings and notice that theology and actions by ordinary Believers mark each stage of change. Second, revivals and awakenings do not happen suddenly or out of the blue sky. They come about through our prayers, planning and openness to God's Spirit.

So, don't give up. Share God's good news with those around you and do good works with your neighbors and friends. The Holy Spirit will use the energy and prayers as well as the good works and weave together a beautiful tapestry of spiritual truth, love and power.

Second American Awakening 1800-1920

Another cycle of rising and falling spiritual power.

1800-1840: Rise of belief that anyone can achieve saving grace through inner and outer struggle against sin; introduction of camp meetings and intensified levels of revivals; widespread adoption of ethic of benevolence; upsurge of millennialism.

1840-1879: Rise of single issue reform movements, each contribute to making US fit for the Second Coming. (Included the nativist movement, the temperance movement which was successful in prohibiting the sale of alcohol in 13 states, and abolitionist movement that culminated in the formation of the republican party); sweeping reform agendas to eliminate all barriers to equal opportunity; antislavery; attacks corruption; Civil War; women's suffrage; continue belief in equality

1870-1920: Replacement of prewar evangelical leaders; Darwinian crisis; urban crisis

First American Awakening 1730-1830

1730-60: Weakening of predestination doctrine; recognition that many sinners may be predestined for salvation; introduction of revival meetings emphasizing spiritual rebirth; rise of ethic of benevolence.

1760-90: Attack on British corruption; American Revolution; equality of opportunity (accepted inequality of income & circumstances of life as natural, held that persons of low rank could raise themselves up—by industry, talent, perseverance, and right behavior—to top of the economic/social order); established egalitarian ethic.

1790-1830: Breakup of revolutionary coalition

Enemies of Christianity

Despite, or perhaps because of, the rapid growth and influence of Christianity around the world, there has been a parallel rise in its combative and aggressive enemies. Dr. Richard Dawkins along with other atheists and secular humanists have launched what is often seen as a cerebral, academic and scientific assault against the Bible and a supernatural world view.

Such an attack has cause anxiety among some Believers. Many of us fear that talks by such brilliant scientists and academic heavyweights will win the battle against our faith. I admit that I too have sometimes experienced anxiety over these attacks and need to take my concerns to the Lord.

I read a recent quote by one of the main antagonists today that gave me reason to feel very confident that God's words and works will and are winning the battle. Here is the quote found on the Discovery web.

"Mother Theresa spent her whole life saying (that what Calcutta needs) is a huge campaign against family planning. I mean, who comes to that conclusion who isn't a complete fanatic? She took - and I would directly say stole... millions and millions of dollars and spent all the money not on the poor, but on the building of nearly 200 convents in her own name around the world to glorify herself and to continue to spread the doctrine that, as she put it -- when she got her absurd Nobel Peace Prize -- that the main threat to world peace is abortion and contraception.

The woman was a fanatic and a fundamentalist and a fraud, and millions of people are much worse off because of her life, and it's a shame there is no hell for your bitch to go to."

Christopher Hitchens is a regular contributor to The New Republic, The Atlantic and Vanity Fair.


Why do you think this quote gives me confidence in our side of the debate? Let me know what you think.