Philosophy of Revival Part 1 — Ralph Sutera

Revival Beyond Professional Evangelism

The truth is, to some it is nothing more than professional mass evangelism. To others it is considered a phenomenon of bygone days, the good of which has dissipated and the return of which is impossible.

You've known a lot of people like that who really believe it's impossible for God to do that kind of thing again. And the past has already dissipated, so what good is it? To some revival is merely an historical, prophetical kind of thing that you talk about, not local, not personal, not immediate.

Then there are many of us that revival is, if I can say it this way, a necessary evil. In other words, it's a necessary evil that happens between June 7 and 14 every year. One pastor said to another, where were you last week?

He said, oh, we had our revival and I'm certainly glad that's over with. And the other pastor turned to him and said, well, we still have to have ours. Do you know what I'm talking about? There are many places and churches and pastors who feel that if revival is a necessary evil, it's something that's on the calendar, that is planned, and many pastors have the idea that when it's finished, there's a lot of clean up to do, that they're going to have to clean up after the evangelist is gone, all the problems that were created as a result of it.

In other words, and by the way, I can really relate to some of that. I really can. I believe that in the light of what God has taught us and what we see and sense, that's true. When you see how humanistic many of us in the ministry have become, how manipulative we have become, no wonder so many pastors and people get fed up with even the talk of revival.

A Pastor Suspicious of Manipulative Revival

I can tell you of a Bible college student who now took his church, he was the third member of a pastoral staff, a Christian education man, who when we got to the church for ministry, he would not get anywhere near.

In fact, he had just come to the church three weeks before we were there for the crusade. And when he heard that we were going to be coming for a revival ministry, he seriously questioned whether or not he wanted to go to that church as the minister of education.

He almost said, no, I'm not coming, because he heard we were coming for a crusade. So when we got there, he sat way in the back, and I didn't even recognize him as being a part of the staff. And the pastor said, by the way, there's the minister of Christian education.

You're here three weeks, a young fellow just starting in the ministry. And I saw that he was so aloof, so far removed. And of course that was a challenge to me. And so I made an appointment, I said, let's go out and have lunch, I'd like to get to know you.

And Reno Sooner sat down at the table, and he said, you probably have noticed that I have been somewhat removed from what's going on. I said, that's probably the understatement of the year. I said, now, tell me why.

Can you want to share with me why? He said, yes. He said, you know, I really don't have much time for anything about revival. I said, why? He said, because I've been in Bible college, where we've seen everybody and his brother come and go as visiting speakers, all kinds of them who came to talk about revival, we need revival.

And I've seen how humanistic it was, and how manipulative it was to try to produce something. And we've had fellows on our campus who would try to twist people's arms into praying for revival, and on and on we go.

And in fact, he said, you know, I just graduated, and of all the graduates in our class, he said, I don't know of one of the fellows that entered the ministry from our class that could have anything good to say about revival.

Now, how's that for a crop of pastors starting out? I said to him, I said, would you just keep your heart open, and be open enough during these three weeks we're together? He said, alright. He said, I'll try.

And I'm here to tell you that by the time we got into the third week, by the way, that's the blessing of a longer crusade. It's not a crash program. That man and his wife were sitting on the front row for the last several nights.

And when we got finished on the last night, he came up to me, and he gave me a great big bear hug, he was a big fellow, and thanked me, and he said, Ralph, he said, I want you to know that I have learned more about a philosophy of ministry and revival in these few weeks together than I had in all of my training put together.

He said, I'm going to write to all of the fellows who graduated my class and say, fellows, you know, we all had the wrong idea about revival. He said, and if you can ever get a chance to get into a ministry like this, please do it, please do it.

Now, please don't misunderstand me, anyone here. I'm not suggesting that the educators in the Christian schools are all mixed up. I'm not saying that at all. I'm not playing down that at all. I am merely saying that for some reason there have been so many humanistic, manipulative attempts to try to produce something in the flesh that have caused many men in the ministry to lose sight of the real thing, that God really can do something that's of reality.

Actually, you know, he said to me, he said, Ralph, he said, you know, we had all kinds of people who came through and spoke to our ministerial class, but said, we never got anything what you're giving us.

I said, I wonder why. I have no answer for that except to say, who is it to say to people in educational institutions and places of learning that maybe there's something that God might be saying in another way that you've not seen clearly.

Who is it to say that? And I've had men in the ministry for 20 and 25 years who have gone through crusades and have understood some of these basic principles that we're beginning to learn here, and have said, you know, if I would have only learned that 25 years ago when I started, what a difference it would have made in my ministry.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting that we have the only thing to offer the world. I'm not suggesting we're the only people that are right about something. Please don't misunderstand me.

I'm merely expressing to you that there is in the hearts of many men in the ministry a sense of despair about revival. There's an emptiness. Or, can I say, there's also a sense of abuse. There are those of us in the ministry who have seen extremism.

We've seen that kind of professional kind of manipulating. We've seen emotionalism. We've seen people being dragged down aisles and out of aisles to make responses to God. And we've seen all of that. Others, when you say revival, it merely means, well, we had a little blessing.

Of course, I said revival, the one said it was June 7 -14. No, they were mixed up. The dates for revival are not June 7 -14. The dates for revival are 2 Chronicles 7 -14. Those are the dates for revival.

You say, well, where did you find that up? On one of our associate pastor's desks. He had a sign that said revival dates 2 Chronicles 7 -14. That's a lot different from revival, revival, all the signs in the south especially.

We're having our revival this week. I don't know what we're talking about. Austin Phelps made this statement. No more memorable exhibition of God can be found than that which is presented by a revival of religion.

Frederick Frenson, a man who traveled around the world looking at all the tremendous wonders of the world, was asked by a newspaper reporter when he came to the end of his worldwide trip, he said, he was asked, what was the most outstanding, the most exciting thing you've ever seen, you saw on your trip?

Was it the Taj Mahal in India? Was it the Swiss Alps? Was it the Western Canadian Rockies? What was the most exciting thing you saw on your trip? And without a moment's hesitancy, he turned to the reporter and said, the most exciting thing I saw on the whole trip was a heaven sent revival from God.

In the midst of his travels, he ran into a revival. And he saw God at work at such a deep level. That's exciting. Alan Redpath makes the statement, I don't think this generation has seen a revival except in localized areas.

Tremendous blessing has come through evangelism, but in terms of repentance and brokenness of heart before God, among Christian people, we have not seen revival. I have in my hands a letter from a missionary church pastor who is now in Ontario.

He was then, but he's now moved to another place. And he wrote a letter after being involved directly with his church and then the growing process after it, that I think will intrigue us. Let me just share a part of it.

Personal Conformity to Christ in Revival

He said, God continues to kindle and feed the revival fires here. The spirit is stirring. Saints are surrendering and sinners are being saved. This morning at our men's breakfast, God conveniently swept aside our program and carried out his.

14 out of 15 men had their tongues unleashed and proceeded to one by one, transparently honest about what God is doing in their lives. It was a truly sweet and precious time as God opened their hearts to share what God was doing in their lives.

I would like to say that I have arrived to a place of total conformity to Christ in my life, but I have not. However, like Paul, I can say I press on toward the goal and so on. I thank God for the deep surgery he is performing in the deepest regions of my heart.

Each time he has struck an unyielding obstacle amidst the pain of correction and rebuke, he has abundantly provided grace to enable me to say yes to his operations of removal. For I know that there can be no true sanctification where there is not total surrender.

Now listen to this. As I have sought to understand revival truth, God has given to me some precious insights I'd like to share with you. 1. Revival is God's work amidst a people who professing commitment to God in actuality are conformed to the world.

Think of it. Committed to God, but conformed to the world. What hypocrisy. 2. One of the things that is unique about revival ministry is the noticeable absence of human prestige and pomp. Human manipulation and mannerisms are minimized completely in the light of God's presence and power which are at a maximum.

If there is any flaunting to be done, it is done by God who flaunts His holiness and His divine power before the need and beggary of men. Grace replenishes as godly repentance resides. In a day when often more is made of the man of God than the God of men, it is refreshing to experience a ministry where God does the manipulating and occupies the place of prestige and honor.

Isn't that beautiful? 3. Revival, listen to this, is the means by which God imparts His costly grace and does away with the cheap grace that professing Christians have invented in order to rationalize away their sin and selfishness.

That is a profound statement. The cross of Christ becomes not only a place where Jesus died, but also a place where I died. Self-denial becomes a norm, not an exception. When a person experiences true revival, he becomes an enthusiast who seeks the end, conformity to Jesus, through the means rather than being an enthusiast seeking the end without the means.

That's profound. 4. Revival is not striving after faith, but the new victory and joy that comes to the one who rests in the faithful one. 5. I personally believe that in a day and age where the love of many Christians has waxed cold, God is seeking out worn-out believers and recharging them with a hot dose of Mount Carmel fire.

It is thrilling to be a part of this fire-consumed altar. As the heat is applied, it is exciting to see non-Christians saying, see how they love one another? And then sixthly, as a pastor, I am fully committed to the proclamation of the revival message.

I pray that God will continue to burn His all-consuming fire upon the altar of my heart, that Jesus would be all in all, in all, for me and of me. Do you think I should take that letter and open it up?

That's a classic of a man who came to grips with the genuine reality of the definition of personal revival. Now, what is the difference between revival and evangelism? What's the difference between revival and evangelism?

Revival, Spiritual Awakening, and Evangelistic Crusades

Let me just have a brother put a visual up so you can get a little overview of this, which is very simple, but it will kind of help us. Revival is primarily a ministry of cleansing to the inner life of the local church.

It's bringing believers back into adjustment with God. You see, revival is the word vive, is life, and revive is to live again or bring back to life again. So you cannot bring back to life something that's never had life.

So then revival is not a ministry to the unsaved. It is a ministry primarily to the church, to believers, to make a right adjustment, to be in a right adjustment with God. Then what is a spiritual awakening?

A spiritual awakening, I'd like to suggest, is a time where God supernaturally works in response or He works on unconverted people without using any human means, where God comes on the scene and He supernaturally brings conviction to the lost without any human means.

Now, let me, if you'll notice that distinction between letter B and the note underneath letter C, they should be tied together. Look at an evangelistic crusade. An evangelistic crusade is when men by human means and modern methods organize themselves to proclaim the gospel of Christ in a community.

Do you notice that difference? An evangelistic crusade is where a church or a group of churches get together and say, we want to call an evangelist to preach the gospel to the unconverted. Rent a hall, or largest church, or promote it on the radio, on television, in the newspaper, handbills under every door.

Come and hear this man preach the gospel of Christ. That's an evangelistic crusade. Anything wrong with that? No. But that is altogether different from revival, and is altogether different from a spiritual awakening.

A spiritual awakening, as was up above that, was when God supernaturally comes on the scene, and there is conviction that comes into people's lives when they don't even know where it came from. That's what happened in Wales.

We hear about the wealth revival. You see, the use of words often gives us a problem. But really, I believe it would be more accurate to say the Welsh spiritual awakening. It's when unconverted people were struck under conviction of God on the backs of trucks, on their way to work, on the streets, everywhere people were literally caught by the conviction of God.

And there was nobody saying, come hear a certain evangelist primarily. Nobody advertised we're going to have a special crusade at a certain date. A supernatural working of God where men without any human means were struck under the conviction of God.

An evangelistic crusade is when men organize because they have a concern to preach the gospel to their community. They're all together different. Now, let me just go on to say that an evangelistic crusade can turn into a revival.

And an evangelistic crusade could turn into a spiritual awakening. You see, I want to have enough sense not to limit God. God can do anything He wants to do. So you see, even though we understand some basic principles, please remember that God is sovereign and He can break up what I'm saying anytime He wants.

Isn't that amazing? He can do it any way He wants. But for our understanding, we need to see the distinction, the difference between evangelism and revival. Well, and what then is revival? What then is revival?

Personal Revival as Surrender and Obedience

Well, there are a lot of definitions that we could give for revival. You can turn that off right now. Let me just give you a few, some basic definitions. Here's one. Opening up myself to God. It's the opening up of myself to God.

As a believer, I'm opening up myself to God. Or can I say it this way? Transparent honesty. You know why I said transparent honesty? Because a transparency is something you see right through, isn't it?

You hold the transparency up, you can see right through it. And when I say transparent honesty, I'm saying we get to the place where we say, God, we want you to see right through us. God, we want you to deal with every area of our life.

We don't want to hide, try to hide anything. We don't want to try to cover anything. Transparent. I want to be transparent before God. Then, secondly, I'd call it giving up my rights. Revival is giving up my rights.

Personal revival. Giving up my rights and letting God have His. I like that. Give up my rights and let God have His in my life. Thirdly, it is conformity of my heart. Conformity of my heart to the will of God.

It's a conforming of my heart to the will of God and obedience in my conduct. I don't only conform in my heart, but I'm obedient in my conduct to the will of God. Whatever God's saying. In other words, I like to say it this way.

Yes, Lord, what's the question? I love that. Yes, Lord, is an expression of my obedience. What's the question is an expression that whatever it is, God, it doesn't make a big difference, I'm ready. Yes, Lord.

Here's the obedience. Whatever it is. Yes, Lord. Yes, the answer is yes. Whatever you have to say. The difference is that when we walk in the flesh, we say, God, tell me what you're after and then I'll decide yes or no.

Here's the difference. That's where most of us live. That's where most of our people live in churches. God, tell me what you're after and then give me some, give me, we'll arbitrate this way. But when we walk in personal revival, walking in the Spirit, it's yes, Lord, without even knowing the question.

Doesn't make a big difference what the question is. The captain is in control. We have surrendered our will and our rights to his. And we gladly say yes to his will. Here's another definition. I like this one.

God is my goal. God, God is my goal. And if you want to expand that, not merely seeking the solution to my problems. In other words, there are a lot of people who want revival because they've got a lot of problems.

Church problems, personal problems, family problems, marriage problems, so on. So they say, I want to be revived in my Spirit so those problems will be solved. That's the wrong motivation for revival.

The motivation for revival is that God must become large in my life. My God is too small. I bring him down to such a human level. And God must become large. He must become the one supreme, the consuming passion of my life, God himself.

Now, when God becomes my goal, do you know what then happens? Watch the solution to the problems. You see? The solution to the problems is the result. But the motivation is that I must have God. I cannot live without God.

Let me give you a perfect example of that. If you would ask me to bring to you two or, say, maybe the five most tragic situations you've had to deal with in personal problems and have seen God resolve them, what would be some of them?

Well, I'd probably say here would be number one I'd bring in front of you. And here's the story of a couple that were so mixed up in their marriage situation that one wife was having an immoral affair with another man in the same church.

And now, this wife is pregnant. And the husband does not know whether or not that child that was to be born was going to be his child or could possibly be the child of that other man in the church, in an evangelical church.

And that husband got so bitter in that situation that he actually was very close to paying $500 to a man in the underworld to come and have that other man shot to death. He almost paid $500 for a man to shoot the other man in the church.

You talk about bitterness? All there. And in that crusade we saw God absolutely touch both of those couples, both of those marriages, straighten the whole situation out to the place where the husband said that God, even if that child is not my child, that child will be loved as my child.

And before we were finished, there was a bowling tournament five hours away, ten hours both ways, as it were. And those two husbands drove together to the bowling tournament that they were committed to attend in the same car and rejoiced together in the Lord.

And the husband came back and said to think, just a few weeks earlier I almost paid $500 to have him killed. And we spent ten hours together in the same car rejoicing in the Lord. Now, I could tell you a lot about that whole story.

Except to say that if that couple were here giving their testimonies and you're not knowing what I just told you, they stand and say, you know, I've heard them say this. God touched our marriage and it's wonderful.

They don't give any details. God touched our marriage and we're rejoicing in the Lord and it's wonderful to have a whole new love together in the Lord and it's thrilling. And this was in the 1970s and it's thrilling to see the growth of this family through these years.

Wonderful. But to hear them say this, that what God did for our marriage is merely incidental to what God did for us as individuals. What really happened was God became our focal point for living. We're obsessed with God Himself.

And I'm sitting there and I almost dropped listening to that. You know what I mean? I know the story. What God did for our marriage was merely incidental to the real thing that happened. Our whole focal point for living has changed.

That's the essence of it. No wonder that couple has lived these years since 1972, 1970 in such a way that their lives bring honor and glory to the Lord and they're faithful and active in the church and their family's growing in the Lord.

No wonder God has become the goal in the midst of it all. Here's another definition of revival. The value systems, value systems transformed. That's an easy way to say it. Value systems transformed. Can I put it this way?

The value systems of believers transformed into the value system of eternity. That's genuine revival. When the value systems of believers are transformed into the value systems of eternity where Matthew 6 .24 seeking the Lord and 6 .33 seek first the kingdom of God becomes a reality.

No man can serve two masters becomes a reality. Set your affection on things above not on things below becomes a reality. You know what happens in some crusades? A lot of outboard motors and boats and cabins on the lake go up for sale in some areas.

Where people who have been obsessed by pleasure and things and gadgets now all at once their value systems have changed. Now please don't misunderstand me. Be nice if somebody would offer your cottage on the lake for me to have for a week.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't have that. But there are certain believers who recognize that all those things have become their gods and their idols and they lost the place of worship and how many people backslide in the summer because they're out on the lake every weekend.

And now all at once the value systems have changed. When God has become their goal. By the way that's one of the blessings of a longer crusade in a revival ministry. You see if you have a one week crusade most people can give up their love of life and search for tomorrow and secret storm and general hospital for one week.

Or the dating game or the newlyweds or the battered couples or something like that. Everybody gives up something for Lent. And some people say well I'll just give it up for a few days. When you have your mini kind of revival ministries on they can make a few sacrifices.

They almost figure that they're getting a few brownie points in heaven by doing that. But you know the blessing of a longer crusade? When you stay on the second week and they miss their programs the second week and you stay on the third week and they miss their programs the third week and then God expands the meetings and they go on the fourth week and sometimes the fifth week until eight and a half weeks.

We've been eight and a half weeks in one crusade. Seven and a half weeks in another one. By that time a lot of those people they haven't had any time for television. By that time they've forgotten who the characters are.

They've forgotten what the plot's all about. You see? And God has torn their schedules apart. They've fallen in love with a whole new something. You know it's amazing. It's amazing. As you go on in revival ministry it's amazing.

I've had people say in pastorals you know we couldn't get our children to want to come to one meeting a week. They can hardly wait to come to a revival meeting. They want to come driving miles every night and they can hardly wait.

They're pushing us to go. What happens? God's on the scene. And there's a whole new something happening now. The value systems even in children I'll never forget. One six year old child turned to his father and said Dad, you know I would think it would help if we would just bring our beds and stay in church.

Sleep in church. Another child I said Honey, what's going on in your home? What's going on? And the child said You know things are so different in our home. I said what's the trouble? He said Mommy and Daddy just sit around hugging each other.

I've never seen that before. Talk about value systems change. In the truest sense. I'll never. Somebody sent us a cartoon. Dennis the Menace. He's still alive isn't he? Cartoon of Dennis' parents sitting at the love seat and there the fireplace is going and there they are hugging each other and Dennis is looking on watching his parents as they're sitting at the love seat and he's just disgusted watching that.

There they are hugging each other and he turns and he says There you are mushing while we could be roasting wieners and toasting marshmallows. And the man who sent it to us put a little caption above it.

And he said these words. He said Dennis' parents have just been to the Soterra revival meeting. I love that. I love that. That's what happens. You see our value systems of life and eternity are changed.

And the relationships begin to change when God becomes our goal at such a different level. Then maybe here's a beautiful definition of revival. Getting back to the cross with a sob in my heart. It's getting back to the cross with a sob in my heart as I submit to His Lordship.

It's getting back to the cross with a sob in my heart as I submit to His Lordship. You see revival is not going down the front street of town beating a big drum but it's getting back to the cross with a sob in our heart.

Submitting to His Lordship at the cross. I've given you a few basic definitions. We could go on forever. Everybody has definitions about revival. But here's some basic ones. Could I candidly say this?

That there are many people and even pastors that are interested in revival that are not prepared to be revived themselves. Interested in it but are not prepared to get back to the cross with a sob in our heart.

Andrew Murray makes this statement. God wants us all to Himself that He may give Himself all to us. That's beautiful. Now I don't want to take a lot of time on this part of the subject because I think it was clear last night.

Why the Church Needs Revival

Why do we need revival? Why do we need it? Let me just give you some basic words that you can put down. Here's just basically four reasons. One is because of the disunity of the body of Christ. There's disunity in the body.

Disunity. Do you know what one superintendent in western Canada said? Two years after the move of God 1971 -72? He said, Ralph, I'm superintendent of 71 churches in this district. He said, I want you to know that for two and a half years since God worked on this area I as a superintendent have not been called out on one troubleshooting assignment in two and a half years in any of my churches.

I said, what? He said, that's right. I haven't been called out on one troubleshooting assignment in 71 churches in this district. I said, you mean to tell me that none of your churches have had problems?

Any problems for two and a half years? He said, no. He said, that's not what I said. He said, I have not been called out on any as a superintendent. I said, well what do you mean? He said, the revival taught church leaders in this district how to find the solution to their problems on their knees instead of with boxing gloves on.

It taught men how to find the solution on their knees. How to minister to each other. And deal with the areas of disunity and problems. Warren Wiersbe talks about a city in Michigan where he saw the name of a church on a sign it said Harmony Baptist Church.

And he said he went to the other end of town on the way out of town and he saw another church and it had the name of a church on it. The new Harmony Baptist Church. He said he went into another city and he saw the name of a church and it was this.

The original church of God number two. Do you get what I mean? Just think of the church split hangovers that the world around sees. Of one church coming out of another and out of another. We multiply by division.

We seem to specialize in that. I know there are certain times where that's absolutely necessary and biblical. But I'm talking about when it happens because of personality problems and situations that we do not believe God for and believe for revival.

Disunity. Second reason why we need it is because of the deadness in the church. The deadness in the average evangelical church. Deadness. I'll give you a perfect example. 1985 in a church in Iowa. They reported in their annual report 150 people 151 people who attended on their Sunday morning service.

Average attendance. 151 Sunday morning. Sunday evenings 58 people. 151 in the morning 58 at night. They had a family night where they did all kinds of things in the middle of the week. 121 family nights.

It was average. And then there was prayer meeting. Average for the year. Now I want you to give me an idea how many were there. Average. 151 in the morning Sunday 58 at night 121 on a family night where they did all kinds of things.

How many do you think were there on an average for prayer meeting? What's that? 8 6 15 20 10 5 4 3 2. You don't have much faith in mankind, do you? Well, you're pretty close to it. 12 And that was not the anointed 12.

Oh, excuse me. That was the anointed 12. But just think of that. 12 Well, you say that doesn't sound too far from it. Talk about deadness. A bishop said, isn't it refreshing to hear new converts? One almost hates to see them get established.

The truth is that you do not put a newborn baby in a refrigerator. That's where you put dead chickens. And evangelism in your congregation without genuine revival and a revival spirit in the church. And by the way, that's what's so exciting when I hear Brother Henson talk about what's happening in his church.

And I see it and love flowing knee deep. I tell you what a difference it makes. Here's this. Evangelism without revival, without a revival spirit is like putting a newborn babe to the breast of a corpse.

That's what it is. That's what it is. Freeze them out. I would be right when I say to you that most of our new believers would first have to backslide in order to feel at home with most of the rest of the people in our church.

That's why we need a revival. Because of the tremendous deadness in the church. In London, England, one of the leading churches had such a tremendous insurge of believers, of new converts. And the pastor recognized that because there were so many new converts, he better call a revivalist in quick to minister to the Christians or else they would freeze out those new converts.

I can tell you that we have been in contact in the past with people from the church growth movements in the United States and in Canada. And they have expressed to us that the problem they have is that though they have all the technique, they do not have people in the average church motivated spiritually to do those things that they want as far as church growth is concerned.

And they believe that they need to link church growth with revival. And they are concerned about following where there has been a revival with church growth resources because now the people are prepared for it.

Revival Addresses Spiritual Defeat

Defeat. Not only deadness, but defeat in so many of our churches. Defeat. Here is a perfect example of it. He said, I need to reach out in love to my estranged wife and my estranged daughter, a man said.

But I can't. I can't. If there are bitternesses in my heart against some of you in the church. He said, I am defeated in the church. How do you expect me to reach out to my estranged wife and my estranged daughter if I've got bitterness in my heart towards some of you in the church?

Will you please forgive me? And you see, there are all kinds of answers to prayer and solutions to problems that would be a reality if the defeat in our lives and in our churches could be dealt with. He recognized he had enough sense to recognize that God was not going to minister through him to his wife and to his daughter if there were bitternesses that he was still harboring.

And we say, why doesn't God answer prayer? In many cases we have our own answer. We know why. Fourth reason why we need revival is devastation. Devastation. Now when I say that, let me just put it this way.

I believe the tragedy of the average church is that the minds of Christians have been affected by the world. The minds, the thinking patterns of Christians have been affected by the world. Affected by the world.

Three ways. One is, most of our people and many of us, there's a loss of God consciousness in our lives. A loss of God consciousness. It's devastating to...