This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
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Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here:
https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/
On this day and every day –
God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
It’s Revival We Need
We have read of wonderful revivals; history records the prodigies of the Reformation, and the marvellous way in which the gospel was spread during the first two centuries; we pine to see the like again, or to know the reason why it is not so, and with holy boldness it is our desire to come before the Lord and plead with Him, as a man pleadeth with his friend. May God help us so to do in the power of the Holy Ghost.
– Charles Hadden Spurgeon
Revival refers to a spiritual reawakening from a state of dormancy or stagnation in the life of a believer. It encompasses the resurfacing of a love for God, an appreciation of God’s holiness, a passion for His Word and His church, a convicting awareness of personal and corporate sin, a spirit of humility, and a desire for repentance and growth in righteousness. Revival invigorates and sometimes deepens a believer’s faith, opening his or her eyes to the truth in a fresh, new way. It generally involves the connotation of a fresh start with a clean slate, marking a new beginning of a life lived in obedience to God. Revival breaks the charm and power of the world, which blinds the eyes of men, and generates both the will and power to live in the world but not of the world.
In the USA, the first revival, also called the First Great Awakening, produced an upsurge of devotion among Protestants in the 1730s and 1740s, carving a permanent mark on American religion. It resulted from authoritative preaching that deeply moved the church members with a convicting awareness of personal guilt and the awesome nature of salvation through Christ. Breaking away from dry ritual and rote ceremony, the Great Awakening made Christianity intensely personal to the average person, as it should be, by creating a deep emotional need for relationship with Christ.
Revival, in many respects, replicates the believer’s experience when he or she is saved. It is initiated by a prompting of the Holy Spirit, creating an awareness of something missing or wrong in the believer’s life that can only be righted by God. In turn, the Christian must respond from the heart, acknowledging his or her need. Then, in a powerful way, the Holy Spirit draws back the veil the world has cast over the truth, allowing the believers to fully see themselves in comparison to God’s majesty and holiness. Obviously, such comparisons bring great humility, but also great awe of God and His truly amazing grace (Isaiah 6:5). Unlike the original conversion experience that brings about a new relationship to God, however, revival represents a restoration of fellowship with God, the relationship having been retained even though the believer had pulled away for a time.
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to revival in a number of situations. Christ’s letters to the seven churches reveal some circumstances that may necessitate revival. In the letter to Ephesus, Christ praised the church for their perseverance and discernment, but He stated that they had forsaken their first love (Revelation 2:4-5). Many times as the excitement of acceptance to Christ grows cold, we lose the zeal that we had at first. We become bogged down in the ritual, going through the motions, but we no longer experience the joy of serving Christ. Revival helps restore that first love and passion for Christ. Revelation 2:10-11 refers to the church at Smyrna, which was suffering intense persecution. The cares and worries of life can beat us down, leaving us emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. Revival can lift us up to new hope and faith.
Revelation 2:14-16 talks about the problem of compromise with the world and incorporating worldly values into our belief systems. Revival helps us to rightly discern what values we should hold. Revelation 2:20-23 discusses the problem of tolerating false teaching in our churches. We need to examine the messages that we hear and compare them to the message of the Bible. Revival helps us to find the truth. Revelation 3:1-6 describes a dead church, a church that goes through the motions outwardly, but there is nothing underneath. Here is a picture of nominal Christianity, outwardly prosperous, busy with the externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power. Revival helps to resuscitate spiritual life. In Revelation 3:11, we are further warned against complacency, a life that does not bear fruit. All of these scenarios call for revival.
The evidence of revival is changed lives. Great movements toward righteousness, evangelism, and social justice occur. Believers are once again spending time in prayer and reading and obeying God’s Word. Believers begin to powerfully use their spiritual gifts. There is confession of sin and repentance.
Revive Us Again
We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.
We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.
All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.
All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.
Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.
William P. Mackay 1863
EIGHT DAYS, 11 hours, 38 minutes until our Once And Future President is restored to his Rightful Office as President of the Greatest Nation on the Globe.
Not that I’m counting, mind you.
That’s only a week in Beatles’ time 👍
“I’ll never comply with another public health order for the rest of my life. Anyone else?”
___________
I never complied with the last one… 😂 🤣 😂
Oh man – that would toss their salad, cook their goose, scramble their eggs.
“You can donate directly to these
charitiesdemocrat money laundering operations.”FIFY.
The scammer from the District of Criminals is trying to skim off the local scammers.
It’s
griftturtles all the way down.Psalm 85, quoted in the banner is a prayer for revival!
You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2
You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins.[b]
3
You set aside all your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
4
Restore us again, God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
5
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
6
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7
Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8
I will listen to what God the Lord says;
he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
but let them not turn to folly.
9
Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
10
Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12
The Lord will indeed give what is good,
and our land will yield its harvest.
13
Righteousness goes before him
and prepares the way for his steps.
AMEN
September 3, 2023
Time for Another Great Awakening
By Jeff Lukens
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/09/time_for_another_great_awakening.html
We live in an age of unbelief. The foundations of American life are eroding. America is entering an uncharted, revolutionary time. We are no longer the America of our founders or even the America that existed twenty years ago. We are in trouble, and a cataclysm of ominous events may soon overwhelm us. We need a national spiritual revival.
Two seminal revival movements were such game-changing events in American history that historians were compelled to call them Great Awakenings. The First Great Awakening in the mid-1700s created the moral climate for the Declaration of Independence and the founding of a new country, conceived in liberty, that would truly become a light to the nations.
The Second Great Awakening in the mid-1800s was even more potent and culminated with Abraham Lincoln and the abolition of slavery. As a result of this movement, the United States has liberated more people economically, politically, and spiritually than any other nation in history.
The problems of America today cannot be solved by politicians or our broken culture. We need another Great Awakening on a scale and resolve equal to the first two. There are some hopeful signs this may be happening.
In February this year, a large and spontaneous worship service ran nonstop for almost two weeks at a small Christian college in Kentucky. The occasion at Asbury University was so galvanizing that people flew in from around the country, overflowing outside the college’s chapel, to participate in the praying, singing, and discussions.More than 200,000 people converged on the small town. There was no desire for publicity. No famous Christian speakers or bands attended. The only draw was the powerful presence of God. Many remained in line for hours to pray for just a few minutes because they realized the blessings of God were flowing in the chapel.
The spiritual cry spread out from Asbury to 37 other colleges, granting many young people the freeing experience of spiritual renewal. More than 200 teams of students have been sharing testimonies about the revival in churches since then, with hundreds more going out this summer.Massive public baptisms were held this past summer at Pirates Cove in California. Pastors Mark Francey and Greg Laurie and hundreds of churches in Southern California baptized more than 8,000 people at these events.
Greg Laurie was active in the original Jesus Movement in the 1970s, and his story was recently told in the movie Jesus Revolution, produced by Angel Studios, which surprised critics and Hollywood alike with large box office receipts. Angel Studios has also produced the Chosen television series depicting Jesus and the Twelve Disciples, which has become very popular, using only crowdfunding donations to cover production costs.
Many more events could be mentioned. While these happenings are hopeful, we are still a long way from a national revival. These days, many citizens disapprove of expressions of faith in God as the Provider of all human rights. Many think their rights come from the government. Sadly, only after a calamity of unspeakable proportions will enough people come to re-examine their attitudes toward faith and founding principles that a broad spiritual renewal can occur.
blob:https://www.theqtree.com/901090e6-223b-4c1b-8d9c-70a1b2cda135
In 2001, on the Sunday following 9/11, churches nationwide were suddenly filled as if it were Easter morning. It seemed people widely felt that America needed repentance before God that He allowed such monstrous evil to visit our land. But the repentance was not to last. This tragedy was only a one-day event, and within a few weeks, church attendance started to dwindle, and any thoughts of repentance were forgotten. Since then, church attendance has reached new lows following the COVID years.
We may be on the path to a combined financial, moral, civil, and geopolitical crisis that could extend for many years. This is no one-day event. There are no easy answers to what lies ahead. People already sense trouble and are starting to pay attention. We don’t need a transformed nation; we need a restored nation. And that happens only through a change in individual attitudes and beliefs toward the Divine Providence of God.Believers will receive mockery and rejection when they exercise their faith with authenticity and courage. Yet the Church is most vibrant and closest to God when under earthly persecution. That was true in the first century, and it is true today. Followers of Christ must push past whatever ridicule and opposition awaits us and answer our calling.
There is an old saying that hope is not a strategy. In our circumstances, however, the world is failing, and hope in Him is all we have left. We take back the nation by praying, repenting to the Lord, and acknowledging that the Republic will fail without our hearts returning to Him. We must call upon Divine Providence and plead for mercy.
We know that God responds to those who cry out to Him. Only through Him can national revival come, and the blessing it brings becomes possible. He watches over us today just as He did in generations past. Keep the faith, be encouraged, and keep praying. May another Great Awakening arise in this dark and uncertain time.
Jeff Lukens is a West Point graduate, U.S. Army veteran, and conservative activist. He can be reached at jplukens@hotmail.com.
LAST YEAR, we read of the Asbury Revival… and it has been spreading.
Map – where the sparks of revival had ignited in 2023…
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.7065619,-94.9781138,4.78z/data=!4m2!11m1!2s1sg03aBIpgGhx7fCBgRalgLz5xQY
Please pray for the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of people all over the world to the True Gospel and Word and fill them with the Love, Truth, Joy, Peace, Compassion, Mercy, Faith of Jesus Christ!