September 23, 1857

Jeremy Lanphier had hoped for more. But six people were six people. And did not scripture say, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you”? So on this day, September 23, 1857, at lunchtime, he did not moan about the small number who turned out in response to his advertisement. Instead, he knelt with the others in the rented hall in Fulton Street, New York.

America sure needed prayer. The United States was in spiritual, political, and economic decline. Many people were disillusioned with spiritual things because of preachers who had repeatedly predicted the end of the world in the 1840′s. Agitation over slavery was breeding political unrest, and civil war seemed near. Just this year, financial panic had hit. Banks failed, railroads went bankrupt, factories closed, unemployment increased.

In lower Manhattan, a Dutch Reformed church had been steadily losing members, largely because of population changes owing to immigration; they hired the layman Jeremy to reverse the trend with an active visitation program. Despite his visits, church members were listless. So he rented the hall on Fulton Street and advertised prayer meetings. He himself enjoyed close fellowship with the Lord and thought others might, too. Conditions in the United States got worse; maybe that was a good thing. Sometimes trouble makes people turn to God. The Bank of Philadelphia failed. The third week of Jeremy’s program, his prayer meeting had forty participants and they asked for daily meetings.

On October 10, the stock market crashed. Suddenly people were flocking to the prayer meetings. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone.

Other cities experienced a renewed interest in prayer, too. In Chicago, the Metropolitan Theater was filled every day with 2,000 praying people. In Louisville, several thousand came to the Masonic Temple for prayer each morning. 2,000 assembled for daily prayer in Cleveland, and St. Louis churches were filled for months at a time. In many places tents were set up for prayer. The newly formed YMCA also played an important role in holding prayer meetings and spreading the revival throughout the country.

In February 1858, Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald gave extensive coverage to the prayer revival. Not to be outdone, the New York Tribune devoted an entire issue in April 1858 to news of the revival. News of the revival traveled west by telegraph. This was the first revival which the media played an important role in spreading.

Lay people, not church leaders led. Prayer, rather than preaching, was the main focus. The meetings themselves were informal — any person might pray, speak, lead in a song, or give a word of testimony, with a five-minute limit placed on each speaker. In spite of loose organization, the prayer meetings avoided the emotionalism displayed in earlier revivals.

Thus the small prayer meeting of Jeremy Lanphier on this day led to the Third Great Awakening. This was the first revival beginning in America with a worldwide impact. The revival spread to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Europe, South Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific islands.

All classes became interested in salvation, backsliders returned, conversions increased, and Christians desired a deeper instruction in spiritual truths. Families established daily devotions, and entire communities underwent a noticeable change in morals. Preaching, which in many places had become intellectual and lifeless, now concentrated on the truths of the gospel of Christ and His cross. As James Buchanan of Scotland summarized, it was a time when “new spiritual life was imparted to the dead, and new spiritual health imparted to the living.”

I ask, ‘Is prayer part of evangelism?’

Evangelist Luis Palau and Chicago Pastor, Rev. James Meeks preached to more than 14,000 people in China March 20-21 at the Hangzhou Chong-yi Christian church. Joining the two American preachers was Rev. Meeks’ 52-voice Salem Baptist Church Choir from Chicago.

Speaking from Isaiah 55, Palau invited the young audience to pray a sinners’ prayer and to become followers of Jesus Christ. Chong-yi Senior Pastor Rev. Joseph Gu then invited those who had prayed with Palau to stand. More than 500 responded to the invitation.

Vietnamese pastors told evangelist Luis Palau this week that big changes are taking place in their country.

Palau was in Vietnam March 11-17, meeting with church leaders, officials and U.S. diplomats.

During a two-day event with more than 500 pastors, they discussed a recent Christian celebration that drew 40,000 people, all with government permission.

Brazil, in a partnership with local Lutheran churches and youth leaders, promoted an evangelistic event in the city of Santiago in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Over a thousand people received evangelistic materials, that included CPTN (as LHM is known locally) booklets. Check out the video below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKvSa3WjWj8

An Australian born Chinese, converted in High School at age 14 and on staff of the Chinese Christian Church in Sydney, had this to say. ‘Stop organising evangelistic events and start evangelising.’

November 26, 2009 by Pastor Ying
I was talking to someone about their ministry and their plans for next year. They spelt out their bible study program for the group, the topics they’ll be working through, and what they hope to train people in. Oh, yes they also talked about organising some evangelistic meetings during the year. At this I asked if they had thought through a mission/evangelism strategy to engage with our community to which he said “They hadn’t thought much about this.”

The tragedy I observe in many churches is that we spend more time organising an evangelistic event than actually doing the evangelism itself. Now I’m not against organising these events. I’ve organised heaps and will probably organise many before I go to glory. However my beef is when the event consumes all our time and energy so much so that very little time is given to helping people engage with our community. Organising an evangelistic event is a great thing. It can certainly give us a real sense of being part of God’s work in reaching the world. However it can also subtley distract us from reaching the world. Organising an event is cushy. But talking to friends about Jesus is scary stuff. Organising an event can give you a real high particularly when it’s well run, but explaining why people are under the judgement of God and in need of rescue can be very costly, particularly in terms of personal relationships. So it’s no wonder that it’s far easier to get people to help organise something that to go and talk to people about Jesus

Think of all the man-hours we spend setting up an event and then translate that into hours that could be used to train and help people share the gospel with their friends? Now again, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against having well run evangelistic events. I think some of the evangelistic meetings I’ve seen are so poorly run it could be used as a solution to insomnia. (Ok I need to remember that God’s is sovereign and works inspite of us. Thanks for the reminder. ) But I think something is seriously wrong when all the energy is put into this and very little is directed to training people to engage with those around them and to proclaim the gospel in a clear, relevant and interesting way.

In fact when you think about it, evangelistic events work best when the congregation is fired up to do evangelism. When the congregation is NOT doing their part, in most cases, the evangelistic event will merely be preaching to the converted. Yes it’s great that the converted hear the gospel preached regularly and frequently. But that being said, as an event for unbeliever, I think often times it seems we’re doing a very poor job.

So the please is don’t let the Evangelistic event become the excuse not to evangelize.Don’t let the event overtake the evangelism.

How to Share Your Faith During Holidays

1. Pray ahead of time.

Ask God to make you sensitive to His leading about when and what to share during the Holidays.
Approach the Holidays with the idea that you’ll have opportunity to share with family and friends what you are truly thankful for: the outrageous grace offered to you in Christ Jesus. When you pray, you’ll be ready to notice when God underlines a moment for you.

2. Brainstorm some possible discussion questions.

It may seem that discussions of Holiday shopping plans, the weather, football, are meaningless and dull.
Retelling old family stories can be an embarassing rehashing of events that would better left to the dustbin of history, or they could be a good part of family identity and bonding.

For example,
If you could ‘do the Holidays’ in a fresh, new, totally different way, what would that look like for you? Would it include a God-focus? Why or why not?
What’s the one thing you are most thankful for this year? Why?
Are the Holidays more of a time for being thankful to God or being thankful to others? How?
Is it tough to be thankful this year? Why or Why not?

3. Look and Listen for the Spiritual Thirst

As conversations unfold, a person might share a spiritual need. You might not even need to ask questions to find it.
Or, questions like the ones above could open conversation paths into spiritual needs.
These can naturally go on to deeper things about your relationship with Christ and the gospel.
You might hear of a person’s spiritual thirst and can appropriately point them to the water of life.
The key is to look and listen.
You’ve been praying. Watch for how God will answer that.

4. Take the time to share.

If you are noticing people, spiritual thirst can lead to moments of conversation in divine appointments.
Take the time to share your experience of God’s working in your life.
Feel free to tell appropriate stories of God’s current activity in your life, particularly where you are thankful.
Look for those moments to talk about your thankfulness for what God has done for you in bringing you salvation.
Look for those “natural” conversational opportunities.
Some evangelism practitioners will not only look for conversational openings, but will create them or cause them to happen. Go for it.
You might still be learning how to confidently talk about their faith and need other people to start the conversation.
Either way, look for those opportunities to share and go for it.
Have fun this Holiday.

Chris Walker
(Edited)

November 19, 2009
Angry Preachers or Gospel Musicians?
What types of witnesses are our churches forming?
by David Swanson
There wasn’t much that could have distracted me on the way to the train station on a recent Saturday evening. After two days at an outdoor music festival—in the rain one day and under the blazing sun the next—I wanted nothing more than to return to our apartment for a long shower and some blessed quiet. Lollapalooza was a blast, a great opportunity to see some new bands and observe Chicago’s diverse youth culture. I might have stayed for the day’s final acts, but I’m a pastor and my ringing ears and tired legs needed a good night’s sleep before Sunday morning.
Before I’d walked even a block from the festival, I bumped into a small crowd whose attention was fixed on two men speaking loudly to the bedraggled onlookers. One held a handmade sign that read—I kid you not— “TURN OR BURN!” He spoke into a bullhorn, warning the young people of God’s coming judgment and listing in vivid detail the sins that would lead them to an eternity burning in hell. The other man held an open Bible and vigorously debated anyone who disagreed with his companion’s portrayal of God.

Continue reading “Angry Preachers or Gospel Musicians? “…
David Swanson is Community Life Pastor at New Community Covenant Church in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood

Youth from the Six Continents to Gather in New Zealand for 2010 Call2All

Tauranga, New Zealand: November 16, 2009

Thousands of students of university age from the six continents are due to gather in Tauranga, New Zealand, at the Bethlehem Institute, a non-denominational Christian institution established in 1993 as a private education provider under the Education Act 1990, for the historic Call2All Next Generation Gathering in January 2010.

In a statement, Mark Anderson, President, Global Pastors Network and Call2All, said that the Bethlehem Campus is “set up perfectly” for this mission’s festival.

Anderson said, “I am just returning from New Zealand and something supernatural is building up for the Call2All Next Generation. Not only is there great excitement, there is a deep sense that God is going to use this gathering to launch a new move towards missions among the next generation.”

He noted that the event, scheduled to take place from Tuesday, January 19 through to Friday, January 22, 2010, will receive thousands of participants from across the world adding that they’ve already offered scholarship for the first 1, 000 delegates from developing world and that a lot of them have already registered for the program.

According to Mark Anderson, the Call2All Movement was born in March of 2007 adding that it’s a dream that the Body of Christ would come together and see the Great Commission fulfilled stating that the Movement grew quickly all across the earth and that in June 2009, the Call2All International Congress was held in Hong Kong, China with 3,000 Christian leaders from more than one hundred countries including mainland China in attendance.

“The next phase of this movement is expected to unfold at this Congress in New Zealand and as a catalytic launch this three and half days gathering will be focused on the emerging generation with the ultimate goal to assemble, mobilize, and empower the next generation to contribute in finishing the Great Commission.”

For more information on the forthcoming gathering log on to Call2All website: www.call2all.org

News source: www.assistnews.net

PASADENA—The Real Encounter extreme sports team performing skateboard tricks and BMX bike stunts told a crowd of 2,000 parents and students at Pasadena Memorial High School about their hope in life—Jesus Christ—during a City Reach Houston youth event.
Joe West, a BMX biker from Springfield, Mo., flies more than 10 feet through the air during the Real Encounter extreme sports evangelism event.
The nine-person Christian team of extreme sports professionals—some with national and world rankings—partnered with Texas Baptists and South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena—to gain access to intermediate schools by performing extreme sports and showing media and music clips to share character lessons about setting goals and encouraging others.
They also invited the students and their families to a free extended show where a gospel presentation took place. More than 215 students and adults responded to the invitation to begin a relationship with Christ that night.
…..more information (http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10357&Itemid=53)