Special Bulletin 14-2012

SPECIAL BULLETIN 15-2012

Signs of A Great Awakening

by Rick Joyner

For the next three months the eyes of the nation and much of the world will be on the U.S. elections. Seldom has there been a more clear distinction between the candidates for President or our two main political parties. This election will be the most important in our lifetime, but there is something even greater on the radar screen—the signs of another Great Awakening can now be seen. We do not want to distract from such an important election, but what is building will trump any election in importance.

As the Eagle Flies

An eagle must have a left and right wing to fly, and so must America. Over the last four years we have been pulled hard to the left, and the country is going to swing back to the right now. This is shaping up to be the most brutal U.S. election in a century, but who would have thought one of the defining moments would be centered around a fast food restaurant chain owner?

Dan Cathy declared that he was not for same-sex marriage and the outrage from the left was immediate, loud, and threatening. He did not back down or compromise his convictions as so many other corporations have done. So the Gay Agenda threatened his restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, with the biggest kiss-in demonstration in history, resolving to drive Cathy into the ground. Cathy stood his ground. The kiss-in was not only the biggest fizzle of a demonstration in recent memory, but on the day of the threatened “kiss-in,” Chick-fil-A broke all sales records. It seemed that the entire nation rose up in Cathy’s support and voted with their feet by going to Chick-fil-A.

Now it’s been weeks since that day and the crowds seem to have hardly diminished at Chick-fil-A. No amount of advertising could have brought out the kind of crowds that are still pouring into Chick-fil-A restaurants. This is another demonstration of how America is responding to bold, courageous leadership, wherever it comes from.

Mike Huckabee was virtually the only major voice who boldly stood up for Cathy and encouraged Americans to support him. Huckabee’s stock shot up even more with America. The biggest loser was Mitt Romney. When he had the chance to show courage, doing something that could have galvanized his base possibly more than anything else, he didn’t even swing at the easy pitch down the middle of the plate, saying that this was not his fight. That was a huge mistake for Romney.

Romney’s pick of Ryan gave him a little bump in the polls, but he missed an opportunity for one so big he may have possibly put this contest away early. Instead, after weeks of gaining conservative support, this failure to even show up at one of the biggest social issue battles opened the door for many of the old doubts about him to come pouring back in. This will not cost him the election, but it will make his fight much harder than it would have been. All he had to say was that every American has the right to his opinion and should be able to state it without threats of retaliation. He won’t likely get another chance like this one.

Dan Cathy’s statement was about much more than the gay agenda’s attempt to redefine marriage—it was about freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The nation is obviously beginning to react to the tactics of social terrorism and intimidation that were used to threaten Cathy and just about anyone who has the courage to stand up to the social bigotry of the extreme left. Those who are demanding the most tolerance for their agenda have become the most intolerant of others, and this hypocrisy has become clear to all but the most naïve.

The pushback has obviously begun. However, let us keep in mind that as Jesus said, “Satan cannot cast out Satan” (see Matthew 12:26). We must not let the intolerance of others make us intolerant reactionaries ourselves, regardless if we are accused of this. We must stand for the truth as we are given the grace to see it, and stand our ground on the issues, but we must do it in the right spirit.

The way that the country reacted in Dan Cathy’s case was wonderful. No one cowed before the threatened demonstrations, but instead decided to demonstrate their support for Cathy by buying chicken. Neither were any of the “kiss-in” demonstrators threatened, but being so few, they were mostly ignored.

The Tim Tebow Factor

The Tim Tebow phenomenon is another sign of the Awakening that is gaining momentum. There is no way to make sense of the kind of interest and popularity he has gained just by America’s love for underdogs and comebacks, even though the country is in desperate need of one. However, his string of improbable comebacks was impressive, but even those could not account for him passing some of the greatest names in sports history in popularity.

When the NFL forbid Tebow from putting “John 3:16” on his eye black, he threw for 316 yards, averaging 31.6 yards per completion, and the rating for that game was 31.6—it got the nation’s attention to the degree that 70 million people Googled John 3:16 over the next three days. Since no Christian would need to Google John 3:16 to see what it says, this may have been the biggest single witness of Christ in world history. Those were seeds sown, and we can be sure there will be a harvest.

Then we have the incredible popularity of Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks guard, also a Christian who stands bold and uncompromising in his faith. Bubba Watson, Ricky Fowler, and other professional golfers who are strong Christians and unapologetic about their faith, have likewise risen to the top of their sport in popularity. This is a clear sign we cannot ignore. The great majority of Americans are looking for courage, and for bold, uncompromising Christian leadership. There has been a great turning in the battle for the social values of America, and a Great Awakening is beginning.

Most Christians and most conservatives are not homophobes, Islamaphobes, or any other kind of phobe. Most are not opposed to civil rights for homosexuals. Even many of the most conservative Christian leaders would fight to defend gays from assault or any attack on their person or their rights as Americans. However, there is a rising pushback against the intolerance and tactics of those trying to force their agenda and their definition of morality on the rest of the country.

The attacks on our freedom of speech and freedom of religion are also now getting a strong pushback. One poll indicated that as many as 80% of Americans supported Dan Cathy, but this did not mean they agreed with all of his political or social views. However, they supported his right to express them without the extreme repercussions he was threatened with. Courage has been so lacking in our leadership, including even church leaders, that it is being hugely rewarded when it does surface.

Even if our courage to stand by biblical truth is not rewarded—even if it brings further persecution, we must not deny the Lord by denying His truth. Millions have been martyred over the ages, and many are being persecuted right now for their stand for truth. To join them is one of the greatest honors we can have. We won’t get as many martyr points if we wait to jump on the bandwagon when everyone else has, but let’s resolve to do the right thing regardless of its popularity. Even so, that it is now becoming popular again in America to stand up for truth and for morality is a major encouragement for our country.

The Overcomers Are Coming

Near the end of the Book of Revelation we are giving a great promise and a sobering warning:

“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and
all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:7-8).“

Here we have the “cowardly” listed before the “abominable, murderers, immoral, sorcerers and idolaters” to be thrown into the lake of fire. There is no place for cowards in the kingdom. True believers will be courageous under fire, and the pretenders will be exposed. Courage is a demonstration of true faith, and cowardice is a demonstration of how the fear of man, or the fear of consequences, controls us more than the love of God and His truth.

In the Book of Revelation, the worst state that a Christian can fall into is to be lukewarm (see Revelation 3:15-16). The answer to the lukewarm spirit of the church at Laodicea was to “be zealous and repent” (see Revelation 3:19). Indifference is the greatest affront to any relationship, and it is the greatest affront. How could anyone who truly knows the living God not be on fire for Him? Like Laodicea, the church in America has had an abundance of material blessings. Maybe it has been hard to seek the Lord when we have had so much, but it is noteworthy that the greatest promises of all were given to the overcomers from the church at Laodicea. Overcoming this lukewarm spirit may be the most difficult of all, but it also brings the greatest rewards to those who rise above it.

Hope and Change

Honest pollsters will admit that you can make a poll say anything you want it to, but regardless of what the polls say now, Obama is in trouble, and has little chance of being reelected without a major stumble by Romney. Obama’s base is disoriented, confused, and disgruntled. They will not vote for Romney, but neither will many of them show up to vote for Obama this time. Only voter fraud can make this election look close.

Romney is a proven turn-around leader, and this is certainly what the nation needs at this time. Even though he was a no-show at the battle of Chick-fil-A, which was a big disappointment for his base, it is still his election to lose, and I don’t expect him to. The big question is whether we will continue to awaken, understanding that regardless of who gets elected, the battle for the soul of the nation will not be won by an election.

A Romney election can be a reprieve, give us more time, even though the great crises we’re facing as a nation will not go away after the election. If we get more time, will we use it? If Christians in America do not become the salt and light they are called to be, we will not continue much longer as a Republic. The encouragement is that signs of another Great Awakening can now be seen. It’s right to get engaged and mobilize for the elections, but don’t let the outcome of an election put us back to sleep this time.

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