Preface
Anyone
who watched the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service could not help but recognize that
a spiritual awakening is occurring in America. The service, held in the
70,000-seat State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ, was packed and overflowing. In
attendance were President Donald J. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, cabinet
members, senators, congressmen, and numerous celebrities, many of whom
participated in the Christ-honoring service. It was broadcast by the major
networks and streamed live by a multitude of outlets around the world. Some
have estimated that as many as 150 million saw the service.
The
service was characterized by passionate worship led by contemporary worship
leaders such as Chris Tomlin and Kari Jobe. Classic hymns such as “Great is Thy
Faithfulness” and “It is Well with My Soul” were played between speakers.
Politicians sounded like preachers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared the gospel
message in as clear and forceful manner as this writer has ever heard. Vice
President J.D. Vance declared that he had talked more about Jesus Christ in the
past two weeks, since Charlie’s death, than in all the rest of his political
career put together.
At
least twice, invitations were given for people to receive Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior. When President Trump, who was the final speaker, finally came
to the podium, he declared, “This is like an old-time revival meeting.” Indeed,
it was an appropriate service for a young man totally dedicated to seeing
America reawakened and returning to her roots of Faith and Freedom.
But
even before this momentous event, revivals had been erupting on college
campuses with thousands making decisions to follow Christ (this is covered more
thoroughly in the final chapter). At the same time, videos began appearing of college
and professional athletes kneeling to pray before football games and boldly declaring
their faith in Jesus. Something was obviously shifting in American culture.
For
this author, this has been particularly significant, for 15 years before, in
September of 2010, I had a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the Lord in which
he assured me that He was not finished with America and that she could see
another great, national spiritual awakening that would renew the churches of
America, impact the nation and transform the culture.
Out of this experience, which lasted for at least seven
hours, came two important changes in my thinking: (1) my hope was renewed that
America could see another great, national spiritual awakening and (2) I saw for
the first time that the First Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the
founding of this nation, i.e., that this nation was birthed in spiritual
awakening.
Out of that experience came a series of books beginning
with America’s Revival Heritage followed by Pilgrims and Patriots,
1726, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, and 5 Pillars of the
American Republic. This book is, perhaps, the culmination of that
experience and the subsequent research that followed.
This
book is sent forth with the passionate desire that everyone who reads it will
be deeply stirred in the depths of their being to make Jesus Christ their Lord
and Savior. I pray also that God will use it to ignite a fresh fire of bold
faith in hearts everywhere and once again awaken our nation to Him.
Eddie
Hyatt
Grapevine (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex), Texas
January 2026
http://www.eddiehyatt.com
No comments:
Post a Comment