Friday.....America.....Awakening And Reformation

At the time of the American Revolution there were five Christian denominations in America . We all know that there is a small army of denominations today. Of more importance, the American church was predominantly Calvinist. Today it is reversed. We are an Arminian church. Some have attributed this reversal to the fact that America was mostly frontier and as the population moved west, the church in attendance was Circuit Riders whose forte was not theology. Essentially, Arminianism says that man has a free will and along with that the capacity to choose Christ or reject Him. Calvinism admits that man has a free will but along with that is a fallen nature that will dominate the free will. The importance of this, as it relates to America, is that the doctrine will determine the method of evangelism. If the doctrine is wrong, the methods may, and have, weakened the church and therefore America. It is often said that man is naturally a believer in free will with potential to choose the right. This is what America was built on...or was it? We are an inventive, innovative, entrepreneurial and confident people who have an American can do spirit. When this can do spirit, which is the glory of man, that works well with producing steel is applied to evangelization, one has headed in the wrong direction and that is what we have done. Consequently, we suffer ridicule and rebuke for the wrong reasons. Its a fact of reality and we have to deal with it. As a church, we need to return to the Cross for there is our unity, there is our strength though we are weak, there we have no ax to grind, there it is impossible to be anything but brothers and sisters in Christ. As for the division amongst the American people that was the topic of yesterday's blog, even a united front, without Christ is worthless. If we are to survive, it will be through an Awakening in the general public and a Reformation in the church.