The White Badger Inn

Worse & Worse?
Claiming the Promise of the Kingdom

Modern Evangelical America tells us that times for the Church are getting darker. They purport the message that things are getting worse and worse, and that soon, the End shall come, and the Antichrist shall rule (*let the lightning crash*).
The popular idea is that all is spiraling downward toward the final moment when the "Great Tribulation" shall come, and the church will be "raptured" away.

I'll bet some folks thought similarly, that things were getting grim for Christians on October 30th, 1517. However, the next day, a fellow named Martin Luther surprised them by nailing his 95 thesis to the door of the Castle Church.
Funny how - in the midst of all that darkness - he sparked a Reformation, shaking the whole of Chirstendom forever.

I'll bet some doom-n-gloom folks thought that things were nearing the end for the Protestants when George Wishart was tried by the Catholic Church and burned for "heresy."
Until this funny little fellow who had been following Wishart around, acting as his bodyguard (holding a double-bladed sword) decided to take up the cause and became a Protestant Minister. His name was John Knox.

American Evangelicals today are aggravated because their attempts to "evangalize" American culture have been frustrated. A lesson in History shows us that Christians in America and England felt a similar frustration in 1730.

As G. R. McDermott points out, "They, too, had failed to reform their societies after decades of political and social effort. Preaching endlessly for moral reformation elicited boredom and contempt; reducing standards for church membership brought in more people but few conversions; and political leaders paid lipservice to...religion while furthering the secularization of society."

Rough times? It was for Jonathan Edwards when he was refused admission to preach in a Northampton church. If Hal Lindsay had been there, he might have told us it was the end. Jonathan Edwards, however, stepped onto his Father's tombstone (yes, he really did) and began to preach.
Imagine it: standing there on the tombstone, the rain begins to fall, and two or three people passing stop to listen to this man speak. Is he drunk? They wonder. What is he doing out here in the graveyard? Then two or three more are motioned over. Someone pokes their head out of the church; Is that really John out there preaching?
His pages begin to curl in the rain, his clothes are soaked, his voice is muffled by thunder, but the crowd gathers...
Enter stage right: The Great Awakening.

So, the next time some premillenialist tells you that things are getting "worse and worse," or that evil is just a "sign of the times..."
Remember, that all it takes for things to go from worst to best, is a rainy place to speak. Perhaps an unknown follower. Or how about one little fellow with a hammer, a thesis, and a devotion to God?