Ameica's second Great Awakening

One of the greatest ways to seen God’s hand in History, is to study the great revivals that He has allowed America to experience over the last several hundred years. The second Great awakening was a great example of God reaching down and bringing America back to Himself. This revival took place between the years 1795 and 1830. The Revival broke out in many different facets of American life. Camp meetings, Circuit riders, College revivals, missions, and a Great Evangelist, led the way back to God. The most famous of the Camp meetings took place in Cane Ridge Kentucky. People would come from miles away to spend weeks listening to the preaching of God’s word, and praying. Thousands of people came to Christ through these special times dedicated to Spiritual growth. The Circuit riders like Francis Asbury, rode from small church to smaller church to help each small group develop their new found faith. Many of the Circuit riders would minester to over 15 to 20 Churches at one time. The reason there were so many Churces, was due to the thousands of people saved during the Great Revival. It took a while to train enough Pastors to fill all of the pulpits of these new Churches. Another aspect of the Second Great Awakening was the revival led by Timothy Dwight. When Timothy Dwight became the President of Yale University, he estimated that only about one out of one hundred students professed to be Christians. He began inviting Preachers to come and speak to the students, as well as preaching to the students himself. To one senior class he said, "Christ is the only, the true, the living way of access to God. Give up yourselves therefore to Him in cordial confidence, and the great work is done.” Within a few years almost every student in Yale had come to Christ. In the early 1800s several college students ended up seeking shelter under a haystack when a storm came up unexpectedly. As the students began to talk, they realized they all had a great burden for the mission field. One of these students was a young man named Adoniram Judson, who would become America’s first missionary. This meeting, known as the Haystack Prayer meeting, became the beginning of America’s modern missionary movement. The 1800s became known as the great century of missions. The last part of the Second Great Awakening, was the preaching of Charles Finney. Finney used a mixture of emotion and powerful preaching to bring hundreds of thousands of men and woman to Christ. When you put all of these things together, it is easy to see God bringing our nation back to Himself through the power of the Holy Spirit. The key to every part of the Revival was prayer. When God’s people commit themselves to praying for the lost, God has answered that prayer mightily.

Sacajawea to the rescue

Sacajawea, the name just seems to flow off the tongue. She was the wife of a French fur trader who was placed in the path of Lewis and Clark as they explored the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. She had been kidnapped from the Shoshone tribe as a child, and they knew she would be valuable as a guide and an interpreter. The exploration party knew that they would need horses to cross the Rocky Mountains, and the Shoshone Indians had plenty of horses. When they arrived at the Indian’s camp, they were all surprised that the chief turned out to be the brother of Sacajawea. She had no idea that he was the chief and had not even seen her brother since she had been kidnapped. The Shoshone were more that willing to provide Lewis and Clark with as many horses as they needed. As they continued on their way Sacajawea proved to be a knowledgeable guide. She also was able to help the exploration party deal with other Indian tribes that they encountered. God had provided Sacajawea to allow the Louisiana Territory to be successfully explored. Years later, Clark said the following to Sacajawea’s husband “Your woman who accompanied you that long dangerous and fatigueing rout to the Pacific Ocian and back diserved a greater reward for her attention and services on that rout than we had in our power to give her.”

The great bargain

Americans are well known for their love of bargains. Garage sales, flea markets, and blue light specials are a big part of the American desire for the best deal possible. One of the greatest deals in American history was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803. God graciously provided us with all of the territory from the Mississippi river to the Rocky Mountains, for about two cents an acre. The United States originally tried to buy just the area around New Orleans from Spain for ten million dollars. The Spanish owned the land at the time and turned down the offer and said they would not sell us any land. Then in 1800 the Spanish secretly signed a treaty giving all of the Louisiana territory to France. While that sounded like an improvement, the French had some disturbing plans for their new land. Napoleon Bonaparte was the Emperor of France and desired to use Louisiana to launch an attack on America. He sent thousands of troops to Haiti to prepare for an attack on America. His plan was to move the troops up to the Mississippi River, build forts, bring in more troops, and then eventually attempt to take over America. God intervened to disrupt this plan by bringing a disease called malaria to Napoleon’s troops. Then a slave revolt erupted in Haiti and killed many more of the soldiers. When France tried to send reinforcements to Haiti, a huge ice storm hit France and the ships were kept from leaving. It has been said that America was saved from invasion by” Ice and insects”. (Malaria is carried by mosquitoes) When Napoleon realized that his plan to take over America was foiled, he decided to sell the territory to America in order to help pay for his upcoming war with Great Britain. Once again we tried to buy the New Orleans area for 10 million dollars, but Napoleon offered the whole territory for 15 million. This area has become the world’s bread basket. Imagine being able to purchase the greatest farm land in the world for about 2 cents an acre. We have a wonderful God , who mercifully protected us from attack and graciously gave us about one third of our country for just a few cents per acre. Next time you try to by some real estate, just remember the great bargain that God provided for America for the Louisiana Territory.

Is the Constitution of the United States a Christian document?

Is the Constitution of the United States a Christian document? Those who say no usually point to the fact that the word God is not mentioned in the Constitution. They also point to the statement that says that the federal government was not allowed to require any religious test in order for someone to hold office. However, what these people fail to understand is the fact that the Constitution is filled with Biblical principles. Some Christian historians have gone so far as to estimate that over ninety percent of the Constitution is directly or indirectly related to the Bible. I would just like to point out a few examples of Biblical ideas found in our national Constitution. The first principle was that of the sinful nature of man being controlled and the power of the government being controlled. James Madison said “You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” This was seen in such ideas as checks and balances, a Federal system of government, the electoral college, and even in limiting terms. The founding fathers did not trust the sinful nature of man, so they established a Constitutional Republic. They did not want a Democracy and mob rule, so they limited what the people could vote for. The longest section of the Constitution is Article one section eight which limits the power of Congress. It is sad that in today’s political climate our Constitution is being ignored along with Godly principles Another principle was that of the separation of powers. The concept of three branches of government is clearly taught in Isaiah 33:22. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. We can clearly see the three branches of judicial, legislative, and executive. Article I section 7 discusses the president’s veto power and says that he will have ten days to act on the bill (Sundays excepted) Our founding fathers included the idea of the Lord’s day not being a work day, but being set aside for worship. Even the phrase concerning no religious test being required by Congress for public office showed their concern for God. The states already had religious tests for those running for office. Many states required men to believe the Bible, believe in the Trinity, and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Article 6 makes it clear that the new government would not interfere with the right of the states to make religious tests, it did not ban them. One final example is the forbidding of Congress to” work no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood. This principle of not punishing someone for the crimes of their parents is found in God’s Word. The last phrase in Article states that a person would only be punished for the life of the person attained. There are many other principles like these, but I think the point has been made. The Declaration mentions God or Providence at least four times. The Constitution mentions Biblical ideas at almost every turn. Anyone who honestly reads the Bible and the Constitution must come to the conclusion that it is a very Christian document.