It Was the Dog That Died

As I've stated before, I really enjoy retracing the steps of the Holy Spirit throughout history. It's like looking at ancient walls and noticing the grooves the hands that built them left behind and the microscopic ridges of some nameless person that left their mark as they toiled away building something strong and built for the ages. If there's nothing else I do through this blog, my hope is that I encourage everyone else to take notice, to pause and reflect on the constancy and goodness of His stealthy hand.

I don't think it's a secret that fear is a common theme among all of humanity today. Our world is burning, culture is changing, wars are waging, people are fleeing from their homelands, the entertainment industry seems to have a very apocalyptic theme to what they are producing with zombies and mass extinction. Things just all around seem to be uncertain.

Likewise, the Church is feeling the same aches and pains. Churches feel emptier and there is a general sense of discontentment inside the church and with those that are observing it from the outside.

Although this feeling of unrest and fear is on a much larger scale than it has ever been before, it is not the first time. G.K. Chesteron wrote in his book, The Everlasting Man, (the same book that C.S. Lewis read that shifted his views from atheism to Christianity) "At least five times...the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs." The American cultural climate of the 1770-90's was shockingly similar to the climate of unrest that we are having today. J. Edwin Orr catalogues the sheer scale of the spiritual decline at this very pivotal moment in American history:

"The Methodists were losing more members than they were gaining. ...In a typical Congregational church, the Rev. Samuel Shepherd of Lennos, Massachusetts, in sixteen years had not taken one young person to fellowship. The Lutherans were so languishing that they discussed uniting with Episcopalians who were even worse off. The protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York, Bishop Samuel Provost, quit functioning; he had confirmed no one for so long that he decided he was out of work, so he took up other employment..." "A poll taken at Harvard had discovered not one believer in the whole student body. They took a poll at Princeton, a much more evangelical place, where they discovered only two believers in the student body, and only five that did not belong to the Filthy Speech Movement of that day. Students rioted. They held a mock communion at Williams College, and they put on anti-Christian plays at Dartmouth. They burned down the Nassau Hall at Princeton. They forced the resignation of the president of Harvard. They took a Bible out of a local Presbyterian church in New Jersey, and they burnt it in a public bonfire. Christians were so few on campus in the 1790's that they met in secret like a communist cell, and kept their minutes in code so that no one would know."

This, folks, is the social climate that the Declaration of Independence was forged and signed. It's hard to imagine since we have romanticized this period in history as a time of God-fearing activity. Nevertheless, this is the reality and was referred to as one of the darkest spiritual and moral periods in American history. And we haven't even touched the atrocities of slavery.

But take notice, just there, the ridges of fingerprints tearing down the crumbling decaying structure and grooves of a hand patching a weakened wall with clay. Our God of redemption and renewal intervened and cried, "behold I am doing a new thing!", and began at his work of changing the fabric that our American quilt was made. And He did this by moving His people to pray.

I quoted G.K. Chesterton earlier but I didn't finish the quote. He stated:

" At least five times...the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs. In each of these five cases, it was the dog that died."

J. Edwin Orr continues: "In New England, there was a man of prayer named Isaac Backus, a Baptist pastor, who in 1794, when conditions were at their worst, addressed an urgent plea for prayer for revival to pastors of every Christian denomination in the United States. Churches knew that their backs were to the wall. All the churches adopted the plan until America... was interlaced with a network of prayer meetings, which set aside the first Monday of each month to pray. It was not long before revival came..."

"Out of that second great awakening, came the whole modern missionary movement and it's societies. Out of it came the abolition of slavery [in England], popular education, Bible Societies, Sunday schools and many social benefits."

Can we all relate to this just a little? I have heard many a church member's concerns about the state of churches and culture. The answer is not beyond your grasp. There is power in prayer, we've heard it many times, but it is as true today as it was yesterday.

Let's start a revolution! Take to the streets and start prayer meetings, intercede for a world that is without peace. Let's pray for His Kingdom to come and not limit it to Sunday morning. The earth is groaning as rain forests burn, children are separated from parents and are starving. The rocks cry out as people are shot at school, churches and work places, and refugees flee for their lives.

There is power, Church! He has given us power! We don't need to sit idly by and watch. He is doing a new thing. Be consistent in prayer!

~~Almighty God, you are faithful and holy and just. I pray now that Your Kingdom come and heal our land. I pray for revival, for passion in prayer, for a desire to be in close proximity to you, for healings, and miracles. Pour out your Spirit! --Amen~~

Sources:

Greig, P. (2015) Red Moon Rising. Colorado Springs, Co: David C Cook. Ahlquist, D. Lecture 44: The Everlasting Man. https://www.chesterton.org/lecture-44/. Blackaby, H. Blackby, R. King, C. (2009) Fresh Encounter. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group.