Not long back, I found these two brief but excellent videos of Paul Washer speaking about America's future -- and in particular, the future of the American Church -- and the right relationship of a Christian to government. I would really like to share them with all of my readers. Your thoughts are invited.

Paul Washer: Persecution or a Great Awakening?

Paul Washer: Obeying the Government

I've been dwelling on the subject of revival lately, and on the future of America, and particularly the American church. I think that many of us pray for revival, but we must realize that when God revives a country, or a people group, He usually doesn't start with the sinners. Why? Because the fact that so many sinners are not saved, is not His fault. It is largely the responsibility of we who claim to be believers. God works mightily, but He created man so that He might use man as a tool through which to do His work.

The Church of America has fallen asleep, and many who sit in its pews, and wear its T-shirts, and hand out its tracts, and sing in its choirs, are spiritually dead. They have no desire to serve God, apart from gain, or a feeling of acceptance among their Christian peers. But most others have never been challenged to completely surrender themselves and their all to God, and they do not know that there is more to being a Christian than being accepted in Christian circles. They do not know what God requires of all of us. I like the statement Paul Washer once made. At a recent conference, he said, "This country is not Gospel-hardened. It is Gospel-ignorant." It has not heard enough of the Gospel, in black-and-white, to be Gospel-hardened.

The Church, many years ago, began to be influenced and infiltrated by humanism. But unfortunately, that influence of humanism has not stopped with "liberal theologians" or churches that compromise on issues like evolution or biblical literacy. It has disguised itself in such a way as to deceive the "fundamentalists"(*gasp!*)

Why has humanism been so pervasive? Because it is human nature to look at and focus upon self. This is one of the great reasons why sanctification and holiness need to be taught and emphasized in America's Christian churches and teachings again, because it is through sanctification that we learn how to be true and consistent followers of God -- our nature is exchanged for His, by the power of His Holy Spirit working in us.

Below is a video I found some time ago on GodTube. It is a very harmonious conglomeration of the teachings of various "revival leaders" (if such is a proper term to use in God's kingdom, because HE is the "revival leader"!). It is eye-opening.

One of the sermons from which you will hear often, is the once-famous "Ten Shekels and a Shirt," by Paris Reidhead, who became a missionary to Africa in the 1940s. Sometime, I intend to include these, and discuss them, in a near-future post here. The sermon is worth a post (or two) of its own. To get a head-start, you may listen to the audio here, or read the text here.

In the meantime, please watch the video. May God move you through it.

OK, I have a confession to make. Today, I had a little bit of a lax in my schedule. So I decided that today would be a good day to update my blogs. And do they need it! The only one I have been updating lately has been my blog Meet the Founding Fathers (did I mention it's only one of my five blogs?), because of my weekly meme, Founding Fathers' Quote Friday. By the way, stay tuned for my newest post there tomorrow, because it begins our next monthly theme of VIRTUE. If you have a blog (it doesn't have to be a history blog), and if you know the words of the Founders, feel free to join my meme! Be sure to leave a comment, so I can bring readers' attention to your FFQF posts!

And now you are impatiently awaiting my confession. OK, here it goes. Somehow, I got distracted with a little "toy" I found at www.despair.com. It's pretty much a mockery of motivational gear, and of the relationships in the workplace between employer/employee. But they let you make some of your own "de-motivators," and I couldn't help but make a few. Here they are:

Today I would like to share some media presentations that I have found over the course of time, that have encouraged me and challenged me. But beware; this is not your peppy "positive and encouraging promise Scripture for the day." Sometimes, truth is not always comfortable; truth challenges us to face the uncomfortable squarely, and to deal with it. Sometimes truth pricks our consciences, or opens our eyes to an uncomfortable reality around us. When confronted with truth, we see evil for what it really is, and the world seems more evil than it did before. However, if we accept the truth, and yield to God's Spirit, we have a peace inside -- the peace of being fully and finally reconciled to God, and being able to confidently show others the way.

I would like to share a video with you, of a sermon preached by Keith Daniel, an evangelist and missionary from South Africa. He preached this sermon in the United States, and it is entitled, "A Warning to America." The two major themes in his sermon (which expounds upon Ephesians 6:10-17) are prayer and holiness.

Keith Daniel is one of several preachers who are staying faithful to the Gospel that is preached in the New Testament, and they are not ashamed to preach repentance and holiness from their podiums, worldwide. Many have been ostracized for taking a bold stand against the heresies of modern American "evangelization."

Paul Washer, American-born missionary, is a case in point. The following video shows perhaps his most famous sermon, preached at the Southern Baptist Youth Convention in 2002, which was "so biblical, he was never invited back."



I have said before, and say again now, that the responsibility for the downward spiral America has taken ultimately rests on the shoulders of the Christian Church, that is, those who name the name of Christ. And while this has been acknowledged by many in the "culture war," it is important to specify (and I don't think it has been sufficiently emphasized) that our fault has more to do with our lack of repentance from sin (and this "adulterous and evil generation, ") than it has to do with our lack of voting, petitioning, and so on. It takes virtue to sustain a free form of government, and Christians, as "salt and light," are to be the examples and promoters of virtue in society. But instead we have adapted to the ungodly culture around us, making us just like the world, and ineffective.

Many have said, and many will say, that Paul Washer is preaching "legalism" -- salvation by works. Those who listen to his sermons and come to this conclusion do not understand the Gospel, or the logic of the New Testament. We are saved by faith in Christ, yes, but that faith is to cause a progressive following of repentance from sin and good works. Without working out faith, faith is dead (James 2).

But for people (like myself) who tend to slide to the extreme of forcing works to gain repentance (when it should be the other way around) here is another excellent snipit from Paul Washer, explaining the "happy medium."




Paul Washer is also one of the founders of the HeartCry Missionary Society, an outstanding missionary organization that sends missionaries in several countries all around the world. Here, Paul discusses his group. It is an excellent video. Whether you are a missionary or not, I encourage you to watch it.



If I may, I would also like to add the testimony of the conversion of his wife, Charo Washer, on audio. It is more than just a nice story; listening to it may expose many of the deceit the devil uses to get even youth raised in Christian homes to think they are saved, when they are not.



I hope that these presentations have inspired, encouraged, and challenged you to serve God in sincerity of heart, and to stand up for the truth in this modern perverse generation.