| A DESPERATE CRY for REVIVAL in 2008 |
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I received the following article in an e-mail today. I think it is very much worth passing along:
A DESPERATE CRY for REVIVAL in 2008
by J. Lee Grady.
Never in my 15 years at Charisma have I known a time of such
intense spiritual turbulence. God is shaking everything that can
be shaken, including our Christian colleges, our megachurches
and our most prominent ministries.
At a time when a U.S. senator is investigating the financial
practices of six well-known preachers, I sense that God has
taken out His holy plumb line to conduct His own detailed
inspection of every church and ministry in this country. He
wants to unleash a nationwide revival, but He must bring His
correction first.
These are desperate times that require desperate measures. That
is why I have joined with the Awakening America Alliance to call
for a solemn 21-day fast that runs from January 1-21. Here's a
list of the things I'm praying for during the next three weeks:
1. The fear of God. Holiness was so tangible among early
Christians that false prophets were blinded and greedy liars fell
over dead. As a result of God's judgment on Ananias and Sapphira,
"great fear came over the whole church" (Acts 5:11, NASB).
Where is this sense of "shock and awe" today? How can Christians
be so cavalier about divorce or so flippant about adultery? How
can television preachers sleep at night after robbing God's people
with manipulative fundraising appeals?
We celebrate His mercy but ignore His severity. We need a
thunderclap from heaven and a display of Elijah's fire to remind a
wayward church that God will not be mocked.
2. Integrity and purity in the church. Our movement hit rock-bottom
in October when charismatic pastor Donnie Earl Paulk of Atlanta
announced to his stunned congregation that a DNA test had proved
he is not the nephew of Bishop Earl Paulk but is in fact his son.
That such unspeakable depravity was permitted to thrive for
decades at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an indictment
against the elder Paulk and all leaders who refused to challenge
his behavior when they first learned about it years ago.
This and other recent religious scandals have so tarnished our
credibility that we have become a curious freak show. Many
unbelievers now associate ministers with wife-swapping, wife-
beating, no-fault divorce, gay affairs and $10,000-a-night hotel
rooms. We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning.
3. A return to evangelism. In the 1970s we were less sophisticated
but so much more zealous for Jesus. We handed out tracts and
witnessed to everyone. Sharing our faith was the priority. Yet
most people in churches today have never led anyone to Christ.
We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more
time chasing "financial breakthroughs" than lost souls. We have
rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit
gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.
4. Godly leadership. As we head into an election season it's
obvious that our nation is facing a leadership crisis. But this
leadership vacuum is not just in the political arena. Many of our
spiritual fathers have disappointed us, either by their own moral
failures or by their refusal to confront sin.
I pray that God does not give us the president we deserve in 2008.
If we cry out for mercy, perhaps He will upset the current slate of
candidates and put someone in the White House who can model
Christian integrity. May He also give us spiritual shepherds who
care more for the flock than for the crowd's applause.
5. A national spiritual awakening. There were seasons in America's
past when sinners became so convicted of their sins that they
collapsed under the weight of their guilt. During the days of
revivalists George Whitefield and Charles Finney, huge waves of
conversions led to a widespread transformation of society. Drunks
became sober, prison inmates sang hymns, stingy business
owners stopped oppressing their workers, atheists surrendered
their unbelief and rebellious children returned to faith.
Can such a movement happen again? It must or our country will
descend into its darkest hour. I urge you to join me in this solemn
fast. Pray with desperation for the five topics outlined here. We
can't settle for anything less than a heavenly visitation.
~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
You can see this article at it's original source: http://www.charismanews.com/
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