Preparing for Spiritual Awakenings - by Jim Tharp

In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 4-6, (NKJV), we read:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Spiritual awakenings in the church are called revivals. From the beginning of the Church, God has chosen to keep His church alive by renewing believers with fresh faith, fresh fire, and fresh devotion—with fresh stirrings of the Holy Spirit in believers who have grown week, distracted, or spiritually indifferent. Revivals are new beginnings of obedience to the Word and will of God. Pastors and elders in every congregation should remain sensitive to the spiritual condition of the members of their congregations in order to know when to call the church to meet God’s conditions for a fresh spiritual awakening.

The Importance of the Human Soul - By James Tharp

In our 21st century culture there is an enormous temptation to focus on the present and ignore the future. Comparatively few people seem interested in the view of life that Jesus came to offer. But, we would all be wise to hear what Jesus had to say about the present and the future: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Matthew 16:24-28, NKJV)

We also read in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God has put eternity in the hearts of we human beings. Of course, Jesus Christ came to shed His blood and suffer crucifixion on calvary’s cross to pay our debt of sin that we might be forgiven. And we read this good news in John’s Gospel chapter 3, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:16-19, NKJV)
Our divine Creator has made us responsible free agents to choose His offer for living life His way and spending eternity with Him in Heaven; or we are free to ignore the suffering price that Jesus paid to purchase our salvation and thus spend eternity in Hell.

 

Anthropologists have been reporting for centuries that in all cultures there exists a haunting belief in life after death. Australian Aborigines pictured Heaven as a distant island beyond the horizon. Mexicans, Peruvians, and Polynesians believed they would go to the moon when they died. Our Native Americans of long ago dreamed of going to their “happy hunting grounds.” The sense that we shall live forever has shaped every civilization until the times we are living in. In this 21st century, cynics and scoffers are being multiplied who deny eternal existence. Not long ago a man who considered himself brilliant and successful in life came to me, knowing me to be a preacher of the Gospel, and declared that I was wrong about man’s eternal destiny. “When a man or a woman dies, whether they are a Christian or a sinner, they are dead, done for, and will never know or feel another thing.” I responded, “Sir, I’m sorry that you have allowed your unbelief to destroy your faith in God’s sense of eternity that He wants to put in your heart. I hope you do not wait until it’s too late to change your mind.” He walked away, not wanting to hear more.