Good News

LIFEPOINTS 10 JULY 2018 Good News • South Florida Edition Can you name two common practices of nearly all Americans that could facilitate the spread of a monumental revival in this nation? Historically speaking, revivals and mass awakenings follow long seasons of moral and spiritual decline. Good news! America is prepped for an historic revival in more ways than one. We are certainly in the throes of a moral and spiritual decline. #1 A “voice” In times past, Americans had the op- portunity to “voice” their opinion through something called a vote. We still have this wonderful right or “voice” but it is now heard multiple times a day rather than annually or every four years. Twenty-first century Americans have a “voice” or a “platform” from which they launch stories, opinions and humor while also living vicariously through other people expressing them- selves on their social media platform. Nearly everyone has a “voice” and nearly everyone is using it. While the world has been falling apart, God is patiently building a com- munication infrastructure to make Him the most talked about figure in all the world. Just like the Roman road system, trade routes and shipping lanes were the ideal first-century infrastructure to spread the gospel. Social media is the twenty-first century ideal infrastructure for sharing testimonies regarding the presence of God, radical personal transformation, healings, reconciliation and deliverance from life-stifling addictions. The personal “voice” longed for in America is now here. In a revival atmosphere, Face- book will one day move people’s faces to the Book. People will be greatly challenged as they try to describe, in 140 characters, how they just en- countered the presence of God or came under conviction in a bar or office or living room. Just as phenomena like the “Arab Spring” took place years ago, people all over the world will instantaneously be informed of mass revivals spring- ing up in various places. The cell phone, which has so seized our attention, will one day be our immediate connection to how the Spirit of God is sweep- ing through towns, parishes, counties and cities. The awareness of events like we see in Revelation 11:8-14 become quite understandable with cell phones in mind. #2 The joining of “voices” Americans now enjoy having a “voice,” but they also enjoy “joining their voices” to make movements. Our culture is enamored with causes and movements. Individual voices are good, but when these voices bond with one another, they become cause-oriented, synergistic, symphonic move- ments that bring about transformation. Our cultural craving for movements will soon be satisfied with a divine movement in which once disgruntled tweeters will become 2 Corinthians 5 ambassadors, using their “voice” to move people closer to Christ. Be thirsty for that kind of movement. Recycling, caring for this earth, Fair Trade merchandising and the #MeToo” movement have their place but so does the movement of the Spirit of God throughout this land. Dream a little. What would happen if God got a hold on this culture that loves to use their voice 24/7 via social media platforms? While the world is seemingly falling apart, God has been building a super-cyber highway to thrust people into “testimony mode” that will undeniably make known his in- finite grace, power and love for a people quickly running away from him. Dr. Gary Hewins is the President of lifepoints.org, a coaching and consulting ministry to ministry leaders and preachers and the Senior Pastor of Community Bible Church in the picturesque mountains of Highlands, NC. America Now Has a Cool Infrastructure for Revival? - Dr. Gary Hewins - Lifepoints President “In a revival atmosphere, Facebook will one day move people’s faces to the Book.”