{"id":2365,"date":"2014-05-28T18:25:19","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T18:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forgottenbiblicalheritage.com\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2018-02-07T18:10:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T18:10:04","slug":"capturing-americas-heart-a-third-awakening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=2365","title":{"rendered":"Capturing America’s Heart: A Third Awakening?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"WASHINGTON — Some religious leaders say America is facing a spiritually dark time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the root of America\u2019s problem, we really have a spiritual cancer that’s been eating away at our nation, \u201cBishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, told CBN News.<\/p>\n

Retired Gen. Jerry Boykin used to fight America\u2019s physical enemies overseas. He\u2019s now working with the Family Research Council fighting spiritual foes.<\/p>\n

Boykin said without a Third Great Awakening, forces like those that took down mighty empires of the past will also bring down the United States.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to wind up exactly like these other great empires, which only lasted on an average about 200 years,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to completely self-destruct. And you see the beginnings of that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa-born revivalist Rodney Howard-Browne pastors The River at Tampa Bay, a mega-church in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 1700s, there was a Great Awakening. In the 1800s, there was another. And we have to have one now. It\u2019s that critical,\u201d he told CBN News. Bishop Jackson ticked off some of the sins he says are plaguing the land.<\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019ve got sex-trafficking,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve got abortion. We\u2019ve got the resurgence of racism. We\u2019ve got hatred that is abounding.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Howard-Browne pointed to the epidemics of abortion and illegal drug use in the nation.<\/p>\n

\n

Three-thousand babies aborted every single day in this country. We have over 300 million people; we use over 70 percent of the world’s drugs,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God’s Not Finished Yet.<\/h4>\n

But Howard-Browne sees a special grace on America.<\/p>\n

\n

Knowing what I know, we should be gone a long time ago,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the believer in this land and the hand of God that’s still on America. And God’s not finished with this land. So it’s time for the Church to rise up.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Those past awakenings led to national transformation. \u201cBoth resulted in extraordinary things happening,\u201dBoykin said. The first in the mid-1700s was a unifying factor for the colonies as it spread throughout them. It awakened in Christians a hunger to live in a land that reflected the God of liberty portrayed in the Bible.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, it brought the American Revolution as the pastors and the people within the Church began to seek a new nation that would give them the kinds of freedoms that they believed were biblical,\u201d Boykin stated.<\/p>\n

The next awakening in the early 1800s was marked by mass salvations. And as Americans became free in Christ, many could no longer abide the lack of freedom for the nation’s slaves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that Second Great Awakening, it brought about the Civil War as the conscience of America was raised to a level that would no longer tolerate slavery,\u201d Boykin explained.<\/p>\n

The Power of Believers<\/h4>\n

Gen. Boykin believes the power to save the United States is not in politicians, but in its believers. \u201cMe plus the Holy Spirit: that’s a majority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bishop Jackson agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwakenings really begin with individuals: people who are converted and transformed,\u201d he said. Now, these spiritual leaders and their allies hope to bring revival power to so many Americans, it will spark a Third Great Awakening. They\u201dll be holding 14 days and nights of mega-sized meetings and street evangelism in the nation’s capital as America celebrates its 238th birthday. They\u2019re calling it Celebrate America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come to light the fires right in the belly of the beast, if you can put it that way,\u201d Howard-Browne said. He believes God sent him and his family from South Africa decades ago to help ignite national revival. He said God told him, \u201cThere\u2019s coming a revival of signs and wonders and the lost.\u201dAnd He said, ‘Go tell the Church to get ready for the coming revival.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Washington-based events will be held in the first three weeks of July. By day, thousands of specially trained Christians will hit the streets of D.C. to evangelize and bring new converts to the Kingdom of God. \u201cWe’re just really believing God to cast a Gospel net across the capital,\u201d Howard-Browne stated.<\/p>\n

Transformation Starts at the Top<\/h4>\n

If organizers get what they want, a country hungry for unity and leadership will see national political, business, and spiritual leaders humbling themselves as one before God. \u201cWe\u2019ll be coming together in the very hub of the nation and crying out to God for Him to transform us first and then transform our nation,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

Jackson, Howard-Browne, and Boykin believe that then revival could sweep America. \u201cIf the fear of God would come back in the people, it would have a ripple effect throughout the land,\u201d Howard-Browne said.\u00a0 \u201cThe Holy Spirit is contagious,\u201dBoykin said with a broad grin.<\/p>\n

For this event in Washington D.C. to succeed, the organizers of Celebrate America say they need thousands of Christians who already have the fire of revival burning in their hearts to volunteer in Washington this July. Howard-Browne said they could have a major impact serving as spiritual soldiers in this war for the nation’s heart. Jackson pleaded, \u201cI\u2019m asking \u201cWe the People\u2019 to come help us, if you love America, if you love the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 Paul Strand<\/span><\/a> CBN<\/span>–<\/a>All rights reserved<\/p>\n

\"image_pdf\"<\/a>\"image_print\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON — Some religious leaders say America is facing a spiritually dark time. \u201cAt the root of America\u2019s problem, we really have a spiritual cancer that’s been eating away at our nation, \u201cBishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, told CBN News. Retired Gen. Jerry Boykin used to fight America\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":16893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-revive-us-again","8":"wp-image-borders","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/great-awakening.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bgnN-C9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18825,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions\/18825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}