Changing Times
Until about 1780 most clergy in the U.S. were often among the most educated persons. The Second Great Awakening changed the template for clergy. From about 1780 to 1820 a grassroots revival called folks to ignore the formal church and worship God in their own way.
Men from all walks of life began to feel a call to preach. They worked as farmers, lumbermen, merchants and other vocations. Nights and weekends they preached in open fields, sheds, homes, business places, and anyplace they could find…but few churches. They were uneducated. Many had not been to school. Some could not read.
Common folks read poems, sang songs---sometimes having written the music. It was not uncommon for a few Bible verses to be read by a literate person, and then remain silent while the preacher made comments.
The Second Great Awakening evolved into the Holiness Revival from 1820 to 1880. Open-air meetings drew thousands of people for days at a time. Some cities built meeting halls to accommodate thousands of people. More than one preacher stood on a stump and raised his voice to be heard by a multitude--no megaphone, no microphone, and no Bose speakers.
In the 1850’s there were reports of people in India and Russia speaking in other tongues. By the 1880’s talk of the Fire Baptized Holy Ghost, Baptism with Fire, and other terms told about the move of the Holy Spirit in a latter day outpouring with folks talking in a heavenly language.
More than one denomination decided that talk about holy fire and heavenly languages was too much. Unknown numbers of church members and ministers were excommunicated. The numbers of Holy Spirit-driven people grew with many of them no longer having a church home. Congregations began to be formed and church buildings to be erected. Stonings, burning of church buildings, arrests, and shootings often accompanied revivals that swept entire communities, towns, and cities.
Dozens of denominations were formed between 1880 and 1925--most died. Among those that survived are: Assembly of God, Church of God (Cleveland, TN), Pentecostal Holiness Church, Church of God of Prophecy, Church of God in Christ, and Foursquare. Analysis suggests that those with a missionary spirit survived; those that became a thing to themselves died.
In the late 1950’s ministers and laity of nominal denominations acknowledged speaking in other tongues. In the late 1960’s the Roman Catholic Church conceded that thousands of priests and laity were testifying to the Holy Spirit Fire and speaking in a heavenly language.
Then the media arrived. Every word sacred to Christians seemed to be plagiarized and defiled. Hollywood hunted precious words--born again, saved, rapture, ad infinitum--and dragged them through the theatres and stage shows until the quiet reverence was lost.
Movies--some good, some evil--play upon every prophecy theme of the Bible. Based on the author’s whims, books, dramas, and songs treat Jesus as God or villain. Gullible readers too often choose to believe the convenient that allows sin to be comfortable and postpones or nullifies God’s judgment. Mercy is no longer needed for sinners having a good time on earth---or so they think.
But try as he might, Satan has not stopped the Fire. It has swept across the globe. Currently approximately 700,000,000 profess to having experienced speaking in other tongues under the Holy Spirit’s influence. The Holy Spirit movement is reputed to be the fastest growing religious movement in the world.
As a pastor, I ponder which way we are going. Sometimes it seems the world is upside down. I take comfort in the power of the Holy Spirit. Even when all hell seems to be breaking loose, the Holy Spirit is directing the course of events that will lead to Christ’s return.
Times may change, but God is faithful. Steady your faith. Look up. In the midst of these changing times you will see that the Church is having a glorious hour!
Pastor Bare
Acts 1:8; 2:4