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A leading Baptist pastor and former journalist and congressional and White House aid is confident that "God is up to something" much like the Welsh revival that touched Wales soon after the turn of the 20th century.
He says it's "that particular revival and historical cycle that reveals the world is about to see a fresh outpouring of the Spirit."
Many others agree.
Be informed.
A pastor's vision.
Pastor Wallace Henley, a former journalist who has also served as a congressional aide and an aide in the White House---now Senior Associate Pastor at Second Baptist Church in Houston, TX., says he is certain in his spirit that God is about to send a forceful spiritual revival.
In fact, he feels so strongly about it he's written a new book on the subject titled, "Call Down Lightning: What the Welsh Revival Reveals About the End Times."
He says what precipitated the book and his public statements is the "immensity of the political and cultural crises."
Henley says as he has studied the Welsh revival, he has seen "not only a profound move of God's Spirit springing up in the churches but a vast social transformation."
"The Welsh revival," he says, "is prototypical of what Jesus predicts for the end of the age. That is, it's a sample on a small scale of the great global revival that He predicts in Matthew 24 and Matthew 13 when there will be mass harvests of people coming into the Kingdom."
He says, "The coming revival will be very sudden, just like the Welsh revival was, and will encompass every social group in the culture."
The metaphor of lightening Henley uses in his book is that the charge is first built up in the ground and then the ground literally draws the lightning---"And so it is spiritually," he says.
Henley writes extensively about Evan Roberts, a Methodist minister at the forefront of the Welsh revival of 1904-1905, who led meetings in which hundreds upon hundreds of people repented and professed faith in Jesus Christ.
Rev. Roberts, who spent hours each day in prayer, had no formal education or theological training but had a vision that God was going to do something special.
Henley notes that yet "God used him mightily," quoting 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 that shows, "God chooses the lowly things, the things that are not in the world's reputation."
Pastor Henley is not the only one sensing this.
The picture above is from a youth gathering in Orlando this past February called "Send." Tens of thousands of young adults gathered to worship the Lord and recommit themselves to taking the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
My oldest granddaughter attended. While she is an instructor at a major state university where she lets her light shine daily, she told me the gathering was powerful and compelling. And the thousands of young adults in attendance were very serious about their commitment to spreading the Gospel.
Sadie Robertson (Duck Dynasty daughter) told her 3 million Instagram followers, "There is a stirring of the Holy Spirit on campuses."
Sadie recently visited several campuses. She says she found a "hope for real change in their hearts---a desire for authenticity, a craving for Truth."
She explained the move on campuses:
"For a way, for some truth, and for real LIFE"---she watched young people "lay down their temporary solutions and step into the realization that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. I was able to watch not only hope rise up, but a new found confidence in identity."
She shared how she watched as "college student after college student boldly made the decision to follow Jesus, standing in front of friends, declaring their new found relationship."
Another of my grandchildren, a 6' 9" guy who played basketball all through high school and now in college, has set aside basketball to, as a student, challenge his peers to commit it all to Jesus. Recently he has been holding rallies, with his University's approval, calling on kids to put it all on the line for Jesus. Next year he has been asked to serve with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, challenging high school athletes.
There is not only a sense of revival on campuses today, but a profound sense of mission---the Great Commission.
Sadie Robertson ended her post by encouraging young adults, urging them to turn their hearts to God---ending her message with this:
"The spirit of the living God lives in you and is always on the move, so when you realize that, you can be the one to turn in a new direction and lead a movement!"
Last weekend, Franklin Graham preached to 94,000 in a city in Columbia, SA on the Venezuela border. An additional 22,000 children attended a special service that also presented Christ to them in a way they could understand. More than 7500 accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
This past Monday, President Trump told the NRA Convention, "Americans worship God not government. We know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of American life."
While the President may not fully understand the dynamics of evangelicalism and the Great Commission, no one can question his unfailing support of biblical Christians.
Pastor Henley concludes with this in regard to the United States:
The deeper the darkness, the brighter the light. So I anticipate that the profound darkness of our times, that when revival comes it's going to be in a very explosive, and dynamic form.
Revival is not going to come through the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, or to America, or anywhere if it doesn't come to the Church. The Church is the key. And I hope church leaders will catch a new vision for the critical nature of the Church and its role in God's great cosmic plan.
Have a great weekend.
Be Prayerful. Be Faithful.