PENTECOSTAL TIMES
in America

1st Great Awakening

What historians call "the first Great Awakening" can best be described as a revitalization of religious piety that swept through the American colonies between the 1730s and the 1770s. That revival was part of a much broader movement, an evangelical upsurge taking place simultaneously on the other side of the Atlantic, most notably in England, Scotland, and Germany. In all these Protestant cultures during the middle decades of the eighteenth century, a new Age of Faith rose to counter the currents of the Age of Enlightenment, to reaffirm the view that being truly religious meant trusting the heart rather than the head, prizing feeling more than thinking, and relying on biblical revelation rather than human reason.

The earliest manifestations of the American phase of this phenomenon ”the beginnings of the First Great Awakening” appeared among Presbyterians in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Led by the Tennent family ”Reverend William Tennent, a Scots-Irish immigrant, and his four sons, all clergymen” the Presbyterians not only initiated religious revivals in those colonies during the 1730s but also established a seminary to train clergymen whose fervid, heartfelt preaching would bring sinners to experience evangelical conversion. Originally known as "the Log College", it is better known today as Princeton University.

Religious enthusiasm quickly spread from the Presbyterians of the Middle Colonies to the Congregationalists (Puritans) and Baptists of New England. By the 1740s, the clergymen of these churches were conducting revivals throughout that region, using the same strategy that had contributed to the success of the Tennents. In emotionally charged sermons, all the more powerful because they were delivered extemporaneously, preachers like Jonathan Edwards evoked vivid, terrifying images of the utter corruption of human nature and the terrors awaiting the unrepentant in hell. Hence Edwards's famous description of the sinner as a loathsome spider suspended by a slender thread over a pit of seething brimstone in his best known sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

Cane Ridge - America's Pentecost

Hopeless? Is our nation's current situation beyond fixing? Hardly. We've been here before.

Among the first and greatest national experiences of the United States was a massive spiritual awakening in the face of overwhelming problems. Consider these dire challenges that faced our nation preceding perhaps the greatest movement of God in our nation's history.

The tragic after-effects of eight years of the War of Independence with England were profound. The 1790s were years of grave national doubts. We faced the enormous pressures of two superpowers on our borders (France and England) and the constant threat of war. We teetered on the edge of national bankruptcy, exacerbated by a banking crisis and a real estate speculation bubble that burst. Without the English navy, the U.S. had terrible trouble with pirates interrupting our trade. Twenty percent of our annual national budget went to pay off Muslim pirates in North Africa, and the French and English were taking our ships in the North Atlantic.

Plagues were killing thousands of our citizens. The Capitol was moved from Philadelphia to Trenton, NJ, each spring to escape the banks of the Delaware River, thought to be the source of illness there. The nation also teetered on the verge of famine because of diseases in crops. The editorial pages and cartoons were among the most viciousin American history. Political rancor was fed by newspapers essentially owned by the political parties-rancor highlighted by a duel between two prominent political figures, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The famous duel left Hamilton dead. The nastiest presidential election in U.S. history between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was thought by many to be a political struggle for the soul and future of America. Many Christians were convinced that Jefferson was the antichrist.

An anti-Christian French Enlightenment was sweeping through the intelligentsia (affecting publishing, schools, and government). Worries about the "Reign of Terror" caused fear of French terror cells. There was political unrest and riots in our cities. Federal troops were called on to quell anarchy. Universalism was sweeping away established churches, and most churches were empty. Pastors wrote that these were the worst times they ever could have imagined. Others wrote of a "coarse sensuality" and intense partisanship in the land. Irreligion was rampant on college campuses. In fact, on certain campuses, Bibles were publicly burned. At major schools only a handful of students confessed being Christian.

What happened? The pastors began a movement of prayer. It was small at first, but it grew. After years of seeking God, in 1801 a spiritual explosion took place that swept our nation like a wildfire. Vanderbilt University historian Paul Conkin calls it "America's Pentecost." Mark Noll, a historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the U.S., insists it was our nation's most important religious moment that changed the course of history. Hundreds of denominations were born and thousands of churches were founded. Modern missions exploded on the scene, as well as tract and Bible societies. Abolition was launched. Hospitals, schools, and colleges were founded. The awakening infiltrated every area of life and it spun out for nearly 50 years. The impact on our nation and around the world was astounding. In the midst of similar problems today, we pray with hope and confidence. We have seen the glory of Christ before.
-Dr. Robert Bakke is the senior teaching pastor of Hillside Church, Bloomington, MN.

The Revival of August 1801 at Cane Ridge was the climactic event of the Western Great Revival. It was estimated by military personnel that some 20,000 to 30,000 persons of all ages, representing various cultures and economic levels traveled on foot and on horseback, many bringing wagons with tents and camping provisions. Because of the numbers of people attending and the length of the meeting, Cane Ridge has become the metaphor of the Great Revival. Historical accounts recall the contagious fervor which characterized the meetings that continued day and night. Descriptions abound of individuals, taken by great emotion, falling to the ground, crying aloud in prayer and song, and rising to exhort and assist others in their responses to the moment. Worship continued well into the week following the serving of Communion on Sunday, in fact, until provisions for humans and horses ran out.

Azusa Street

On April 9, 1906, at a prayer meeting in a modest home on Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles, a few men and women spoke in tongues. They had been meeting to pray for "an outpouring" of the Holy Spirit. The tongues speech convinced them that they had "broken through."

News of the event spread rapidly among blacks, Latinos and whites, the prosperous and the poor, immigrants and natives. Those who yearned for revival, as well as the curious, thronged the house. The need for space prompted a move to an abandoned Methodist church on Azusa Street. For the next two years, waves of religious enthusiasm waxed and waned at Azusa Street, attracting visitors from across the nation and missionaries from around the globe. The faithful announced that this was a reenactment of the New Testament Day of Pentecost: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:4). God was restoring New Testament experiences of the Holy Spirit -- or, as devotees of the movement put it, restoring the apostolic faith.

At Azusa Street, one could see and hear the "utterance gifts" listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Seekers spent hours praying to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, an experience they expected would be attested by speaking in tongues. People interpreted tongues and prophesied -- phenomena with which few Christians had any direct experience. The sick came for healing.

Why were such things happening on an out-of-the-way city street? The faithful had a simple answer: the end of the world loomed, and God was sending the Holy Spirit to equip his chosen people for one last burst of evangelism before it was too late. The baptism with the Holy Spirit was an end-times "enduement with power for service" that went hand in hand with personal holiness. The visible gifts of the Holy Spirit testified to the Spirit’s immediate presence in and among believers.
-Edith Blumhofer (Edith Blumhofer teaches at Wheaton College in Illinois and recently wrote Her Heart Can See: The Life and Hymns of Fanny J. Crosby (Eerdmans). This article appeared in The Christian Century, (March 7, 2006, pp. 20-22.))

Manchester, KY

"God has chosen to use the least of the least in Manchester, located in Clay County to bring hope to the nation," says Pastor Doug Abner of Manchester, Kentucky.

Manchester was not known for hope before God began to move there in answer to prayer. Located in Clay County, the second poorest county in Kentucky, and the sixth poorest in the nation, Manchester had approximately the same number in the county jail and federal prison as residents - 2,200. Known for violence and corruption, Clay County had the highest percentage in the nation of unsolved murders. OxyContin abuse and methamphetamine use ran rampant, making the town known as the "pain killer capital of the nation."

Then in 2002, believers from 43 states and 20 countries joined together to pray at Cumberland Gap, Kentucky. The main east-west gap in the mountains was part of the historic Wilderness Road, an ancient Native American path that in 1775 Daniel Boone and 35 axmen began widening to allow immigrant traffic. At that meeting, repentance took place. Two Native Americans extended forgiveness and a welcome into the land. Doug Abner says this prayer meeting ushered in the presence of God and opened the door to transformation.

Two years later 63 pastors led a march in Manchester on May 2, 2004 in a cold rain. Right behind them were nearly 4,000 marchers expressing their concern about the drug problem in their community. Some held signs saying, "Hey dealers: get saved or get busted." Pastors from every denomination repented for being more focused on their own churches rather than building the Kingdom.

"That moment, something broke in Clay County, Manchester, Kentucky that has changed us forever," said Abner, pastor of the Community Church. "God settled in our community, and a holy thing took place"

The people began to pray asking God to expose the darkness. A weekly prayer meeting in Manchester started that continues to this day. Prayer walks with folks from many denominations began. A prayer gathering was held appropriately at Kingdom Come State Park on Black Mountain. Believers gathered for prayer at deep mine Portal 31 and at the Middlesborough-Somerset corridor.

In the year that followed, Manchester began to change. Drug dealers and users began to be arrested. In one operation some 43 detectives closed in on 30-40 drug dealers and arrested them. The pastors were notified of the arrests so they could care for the needs of the children in the families and could visit the homes and the jails.

In late 2005, the assistant chief of police was indicted for conspiring to sell a million dollar's worth of cocaine and pain pills in the same period that he was involved in the arrest of local drug dealers. Three others in the police and sheriff's departments were convicted along with him and are serving time in prison.

Pastors from some 60 churches united with community leaders and founded Christians for Drug Free Clay County. Operation Unite Together was formed, bringing together Christians and politicians to meet community problems. Lifeline, a faith-based twelve-step program was begun. Two and a half million dollars were allocated for a rehab center that is now under construction.

Today, former drug dealers are born again and active in their churches. The superintendent of schools was saved and encourages First Priority, student-led pre-school prayer meetings. In Harlan County, 400 students were saved in the high school.

One year after the march, 1,500 worshipped, rejoiced and celebrated God's transforming power. The story went out through newspaper articles across the country, as well as over the CBN's 700 Club. Communities across the nation were encouraged to take a stand against drugs and crime with repentance, prayer and marches. In Fannin County, Georgia some 3,000 marched against meth use. In Longview, Texas hundreds took part in the "Big March," its theme: "The Battle is the Lord's." In Oceana, West Virginia over 550 took a stand against drug abuse as they marched.

Much has changed in the city of Manchester since their first march in 2004. The churches, governmental agencies and the community are working together. On January 1, 2007 the city mayor of Manchester made it official. He signed an ordinance to tag the city limit signs of Manchester with the words "City of Hope."