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True Revival, A Matter of Deat... - C Solomon

True Revival, A Matter of Death and Life
By Charles R. Solomon

Before we take a look at what true revival is, it is necessary to establish the context of the culture in which it is being evaluated and how that culture is impacting Christianity as well as how Christianity must impact the culture if we are to survive as a nation. Since we are living in a post-Christian era, it will require more than token Christianity to be effective as a witness in an increasingly hostile environment. Though overt persecution is not yet widespread, the Humanist Manifesto gives an indication of what we can expect unless the Holy Spirit moves mightily in the lives of believers and, through them, in the hearts of lost men and women.

In the past, we have been called a God-fearing nation; now, the fear of God and the certainty of facing Him has all but vacated the heart of man. The drug culture, the fascination with violence, and the immersion in immorality and perversion along with wholesale murder of babies is mute testimony to a nation that all but worships evil rather than a holy God. Militant humanism and its handmaiden, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have conspired to remove God not only from present-day life but also from the history books.

The purpose is to keep the younger generation from knowing where we have come from, where we are, and where we should be going. Being separated from roots and absolutes, those who are taking the helm of this nation are cast adrift in an aimless sea of humanistic garbage. Let's take a look at how the tenets of humanism have subtly influenced even our mind-set as believers.

THE ENCROACHMENT OF HUMANISM--A CREEPING PARALYSIS

Secular humanism is the basic philosophy being promoted in the public education system of the United States. In its varying forms it is an influence to be reckoned with in all parts of the world. Though it is not new, it is now being codified into a secular religion of sorts. As such, it qualifies for tax support and is readily propagated through the public school system. Since no ‘deity' can be identified, and no formal worship services are held, there is no apparent confusion of church/state roles.

Psychology is the logical discipline to be most impacted by the tenets of humanism. Dr. Paul Vitz has done a masterful job of pointing this up in Psychology as Religion--The Cult of Self Worship. As self is, in effect, enthroned as deity, all other gods must take second place. In this particular, religious humanism differs little from the secular variety. Self is exalted in both, though the avenues of its manifestation may differ. But it is not the subject of humanism per se that we are addressing; it is, rather, the subtle influences of humanism that affect our perception of Biblical truth and the dissemination of that truth through our churches, missions, educational institutions and in the counseling relationship.

Humanism is the foe of revival--not an ally! True revival is a visitation of God that transforms man by renewing his mind, resulting in holiness, as the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is manifested in human flesh. As such, it is not humanistic in its origin, design, nor results. Exaltation of Christ is its grand object; the Holy Spirit is the Agent who makes the work and life of Christ a reality in the individual; and glory to God is the inescapable conclusion of the matter.

To summarize the pernicious effects and inroads of humanism, I have written the treatise, The Invisible Wall; which is in tract form.

THE URGENT NEED

People are turning to professionals for help with personal and living problems in unprecedented numbers. In one city on the west coast it was reported that more persons were frequenting the offices of psychiatrists than physicians in general practice! With lives and families falling apart it should come as no surprise that there is no societal stability.

Many turn toward God for the first time when faced with dilemmas for which they have found no answers. In such desperate straits, there are some who come to know Christ as Savior and Lord. However, some are Christians in the same desperation who have never understood the adequacy of Christ to meet them at their extremity. A host of individuals, having turned to their pastor for help with mental and emotional symptoms, have been referred to the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry or to marriage counselors.

It is not at all unusual for people in the church to go outside the church for answers. There is a goodly number of pastors who have sought, without success, to find victory over internal turmoil; when a viable answer is not found, some find consolation and temporary escape in illicit affairs. Though the majority of ministers do not get involved in immorality, a significant percentage are living defeated Christian lives. When many of those who are supposed to have the answers can't find answers, is it any wonder that the average rank and file Christian is in trouble? Many do not know they are in trouble until some crisis situation faces them and they crumble rather than overcome.

Would that the above were the exception rather than the rule! However, a quarter century of counseling Christians from all walks of life and across denominational lines has underscored the near spiritual bankruptcy in our churches today. It is an open secret to those outside the church that the "insiders" are having much the same difficulties in their lives and families as they are.

Untold thousands of Christians are searching for an answer without when they already have the only complete Answer, The Lord Jesus Christ, within!

THE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL

There is a host of committed Christians who would jump at the opportunity to be of assistance to those in deep need. However, even those who have found victory in their own Christian walk have never learned to articulate it in a meaningful way to others. Indeed, most Christians who are living the Spirit-filled life have not been enlightened to the fact that emotional and mental symptoms can be resolved through entering into the abundant life.

If just those who are already living the victorious life were able to communicate it to others, there would be a cadre of Christians who could make an impact on the country and the world. Then, add all those who find freedom through their witness and a small army becomes available to walk in the light and expose and defeat the forces of darkness. This army waits in the wings to be mobilized and equipped.

A dozen men filled with the Spirit turned the world upside-down. The Holy Spirit is no less powerful today, and a myriad of Christians are available to do God's bidding. The disciples proved conclusively that graduate degrees are not an absolute necessity; the unbelievers of that day took notice of them because they had been with Jesus! The same will be true today when "... the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11)

If we wait until sufficient "professionals", both ministers and behavioral scientists, are available to meet the overwhelming needs that are rampant today, we may as well ‘hang it up' now. When the sleeping giant of ordinary lay persons is spiritually awakened, a mighty task force is available to do God's bidding. However, existing denominational structures are likely to become strictures since we ‘haven't done it this way before'.

THE UNCONDITIONAL MANDATE

The Great Commission, (Matt. 28:18-20) has rightly been called the marching orders for believers to go to all nations. However, the prime emphasis of most modern missionary organizations has been that of evangelism when the verb in both verses 19 and 20 is teaching rather than reaching. Obviously, we must reach people before we can teach them. Math. 28:20 states that we are to teach them all things the the Lord Jesus has commanded us; we are commanded to teach or disciple others was well as to reach them with the gospel. Luke 14:27 makes it obvious that discipleship requires the individual believer to take up his cross in the context of Luke 9:23, Romans 6:6 and Galatians 2:20.

To fall short of discipling believers is not to fulfill the Great Commission even though persons are reached for the Lord Jesus Christ. the mandate is to teach; when we have only reached them we have left them with many needs unmet.

The New Testament is replete with statements which assume that not only has the Blood dealt with the believer's sins but the Cross has dealt with the power of indwelling sin.

Since this vital truth isn't understood experientially by the majority of believers, its impact in transforming lives and resolving intrapersonal conflicts is seldom held out as God's answer to mental and emotional health. The deficiency has given rise to the present condition of mass referral outside the church.

Defaulting on the mandate to teach those who are reached has resulted in believers and, in turn, churches, which are too spiritually anemic to minister to those is deep need. Reaching and teaching local churches with the spiritual growth truths is an absolute must if believers are to be able to believe that God the Holy Spirit can meet their needs that they in turn, might minister to others.

THE UNQUALIFIED PROMISE

"Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6,7)

This and many other scriptures make it patently clear that God has made ample provisions in Christ for all of our needs. During this century we have begun to believe that psychological needs fall into a category outside the bounds of this promise. There are Christians who contend that a person with psychological problems must the given psychological help before they can benefit from spiritual help. The promise of Phil. 4:19 is still in the Book: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Though this is in the context of material needs, it would be a travesty on the gospel to say that He can meet all of our material needs but entrust us to the care of the world for our psychological well-being. The Word of God applied by the Spirit of God, sometimes using a man of God, has been sufficient for nineteen centuries and will be until the Lord Jesus returns!

THE UNQUESTIONABLE RESULTS

A quarter century of clinical experience by numerous trained counselors has proven beyond doubt that emotional and mental disturbances which are non-organic are usually resolved by the Holy Spirit in three to five interviews. The approach to counseling is Christ-centered and is known as Spirituotherapy (in the intervening years, it has come to be generally known as exchanged life counseling). Dr. Charles R. Solomon pioneered the approach and earned the Doctor of Education degree in Spirituotherapy the University of Northern Colorado in 1972.

Since that time persons have been trained from the lay level up to and including the Ph.D. in psychology, the Th.D. and the M.D., including the psychiatric specialty. Some ministers have required very little training before they began to see miraculous results. In fact, a Baptist minister in Shreveport, LA is seeing similar results and had never met the author nor received any training in the approach; he acquired a copy of Handbook to Happiness in 1972 and the other books as they became available. Through the application of scriptural principles as outlined in the books, he has seen one life transformed after another as God as been pleased to use him. Through God‘s providence the author was permitted to meet him in September, 1979 having never heard of him before. This is not an isolated case since many have written to report how God used them in the lives of others by sharing the way to victory illustrated in the books.

Though it is not always so, cases can be documented where a person has been set free from clinical depression in one interview. Similarly, there are those who have been set free from homosexuality in a very short time. Many have been freed from emotional and mental disturbances for which they had received years of psychotherapy, including hospitalization.

Presently, the main thrust of GFI is to train others in the body of Christ to be used of God in the same way--either professionally or on a lay basis in this and other countries.

THE UNCOMPROMISING CHALLENGE

Though it didn't need to be proved since God mandated it and promised supernatural results, the Twentieth Century church has lost sight of its responsibility and authority in the care of souls to a large degree. Graduate schools in Christian education lean heavily on the various schools of psychological thought for what they impart to ministerial students; then they teach them to refer the tough cases to psychotherapy which is hardly renowned for miraculous results.

The hour is late and millions of Christians are searching for a way out of their particular maze. Most will need assistance in shedding the "grave clothes' that they might begin to live on the resurrection side of the Cross. Once free, they can be trained in a very short time not only to reach others but also to teach them the way to a victorious abundant life. The others may happen to have psychological symptoms from which they need to be set free by the Holy Spirit. This need be no hindrance to a lay person sharing the way to victory once he has recognized the fallacy of the claim that such symptoms are the domain of the psychologist or the psychiatrist.

The local church should be the place where troubled people can find answers without fear of being turned back to systems of counseling which are not anchored in the absolutes of the Word of God. Before this can happen, the pastor must be trained not only to see the Holy Spirit free persons from psychological symptoms; by, also, he must be able to train the people in hiscongregation to be used of God in the same way.

The training is presently available but the ‘sleeping giant'; must be awakened to the problem and the solution. No longer can we afford the luxury of attempting to maintain the status quo; time is running out and the world is not yet reached for Christ, to say nothing of being taught in Christ.

Feeble, immature Christians will not stand in the heat of battle; and the clock is running out on the era in which "easy believism" has prevailed in an environment of rampant materialism. Let's wake up and possess our possessions in Christ and move out to let the world know that God lives and changes lives! It is time that we break with the world system developments if we expect to see the world changed. Are you on the victory side? Or, are you a Christian who is still looking for answers? To put it another way, are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Victory can be yours, and you can be God's instrument in leading others to victory.

"Come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach." (Nehemiah 2:17)

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