Author: Steve Berger

Although there’s little data showing that the Woke are primed for a Great Awakening, there is anecdotal evidence that points to one. History has also left a trail. Put together, we can surmise that the Woke will become so miserable they’ll come to the same conclusion Solomon did: while everything in life is vanity, there’s a worthwhile after-life to prepare for. Their preparation could become Revival.

Christians can help prepare by praying for our nation’s healing, and we can hope for a Great Awakening. Prayer is good. Hope is good. Ecclesiastes 9:4 says that as long as there is life there is hope.

What if there’s no evidence of life? Faith must kick in when sight fails. Even when there’s no evidence of life, we can trust that God is in control. He is, after all, the source of life. And He is bigger than death. Pastor Jamie Colbert says there’s no one so dead, God can’t resurrect them. He points to this evidence:

• Jairus’ daughter had JUST died.
• The widow of Nain’s lifeless son was on his way to the cemetery.
• Lazarus had been dead three days.
• And . . . the dry bones of the very, very dead grew flesh and skin, and then drew breath.

What if it’s too late for America?  The prophet with a price on his head thought it was too late for him and his nation. He’d seen God do miracles in the past but that was back when church attendance was high and the offering plate was heaped. Alone and in hiding, he saw no evidence of a Divine Hand at work. When he was beyond discouraged, God told him there were 7000 others who had neither condoned their corrupt government’s actions nor bowed their knees to the god of child-sacrifice.

What if it’s NOT too late for America?

• What if awkward, pre-pubescent children learned that their bodies’ birth gender was perfect and found acceptance and love no matter their outward appearance?
• What if college students, who are desperately searching for meaning and taking their own lives in droves, learned what Solomon learned when wealth, wives, and wisdom failed him?
• What if young Wokesters like SJWs and Antifa, who are looking for a cause, discovered that the Great Commission is the ultimate cause?
• What if old Wokesters like Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Brew, Big Business, and Big Government—all on their way to the cemetery like the widow of Nain’s son—found Jesus?
• What if one of the biggest bad guys on the planet, buhzillionaire Bill Gates, got saved–and started tithing?!

The answer to the big question of whether the Woke are primed for a Great Awakening is a resounding ‘yes’! The futility they’re trying to escape from–whether into drugs, sex, violence, materialism, outrageous causes, a different gender, and even suicide—points to it. And History points to it.

Like the prophet-in-hiding, when we think we’re alone, we can know that God is working behind the scenes. He’s not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to Repentance.

What to DO with this knowledge: We can pray, we can win souls, and we can join God in His work.

We can let our friends and loved ones know, one-on-one, that Jesus purchased their souls with His Blood and while infinitely costly to Him, He offers His blood as a free gift to them. We can also support ministries like ASI that share the Good News one-to-many. Romans 10:14-15(a) says:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

American Christians need a Great Awakening, too. We have thousands of potential soulwinners, many who’ve been seminary-trained. But instead of seeking the lost and challenging the saved, they’re going out to pastor churches, as Missionary Nik Ripken says, “as sheep among sheep.” To know which ministries to get involved with personally and support financially, we have only to check their record of soul winning.

To answer the big question of whether the Woke are primed for a Great Awakening, we can look to their misery, Church history, and the big, big power of God. He’s bigger than toxic, chaotic cultures, bigger than evil regimes—even bigger than death. Jesus IS the answer.

A researcher scoured the Internet looking for evidence that ‘the Woke’ are primed for a Great Awakening. She found little. Data for the last couple years is scarce because it’s hard to study groups when there are none. Manufactured panic and mandated quarantines disbanded corporations, communities, and congregations. The ol’ divide and conquer tactic seemed evident: separate a few from the herd and they’ll be easy to pick off. Typically, the slaughter continues until there’s no longer a herd.

Absent current data, we look at history to forecast trends. If conditions are the same, history should repeat itself; that is, of course, ‘if the Lord tarries and the Creek don’t rise,’ as American frontiersman would say. Today’s Christians know that the Lord doesn’t ‘tarry’–He knows exactly when He’s coming, but to the point, if we examine cultural conditions around past revivals, we can see that the Woke may indeed be primed for a Great Awakening.

The tripwire is cultural conditions–chaotic ones. Every generation thinks its cultural conditions are bad. Today’s culture looks a lot like Sodom’s. Early 18^th century citizens were spurred into the first Great Awakening due to “the increasing secularization of society and against the corporate and materialistic nature of the principal churches of American society.”[1] Like the ancient Ephesus Church, Christians had lost their newlywed-type love for God and culture had re-descended into chaos.

Chaotic cultural conditions during the Civil War. Southern families experienced scarcity and inflation that grew to 9000% by the war’s end. Families on both sides were torn apart physically by conscription, and emotionally by political affiliation. Besides dying in battle, Civil War soldiers died of disease and wounds. Cultural conditions were ripe for Revival. The result was the Second Great Awakening.

Chaotic cultural conditions during WWII. Americans at home experienced rationing while their young men were on foreign soil being killed in unprecedented numbers by modern weapons. In a move worse than forced Covid quarantines but also rooted in fear, the US government put 726,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps. Americans who had lived in blissful comfort and security before the war learned what godless people will do to innocents, and with the atom bomb, America itself was responsible for raining death on thousands. Cultural conditions were ripe for Revival. The result was that, as our gracious God would have it, revival fires began in Germany with one small evangelical congregation.

Chaotic cultural conditions during the Vietnam Conflict. More than 58,000 Americans died in a fight our government would not permit them to win. That, combined with racial injustice and the assassination of a courageous civil rights leader / minister not many years after the president’s assassination, made for a chaotic culture. In frustration, many young people protested with sit-ins, demonstrations, and riots. Some used illicit drugs to take ‘trips’ to escape the tumult; some didn’t survive their chemical vacations. Cultural conditions were ripe for Revival. The result was another Great Awakening, more commonly known as the Jesus People Movement.

Even in what some may think of as ‘idyllic’ Colonial America, cultural conditions before the first Great Awakening were ripe for Revival. Jonathan Edwards, an evangelist who preached courageously into that chaotic culture, later wrote that the revival began among the young people before spreading to the adults.

Before every revival outbreak, the Church has HUMBLED itself, BEGGED God, and SEARCHED God’s Word for His will. They’ve clung to II Chronicles 7:14, a verse that begins with a condition. “IF my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

While we don’t have solid data that the Woke are primed for a great awakening, we can compare notes from history. We can see that current cultural conditions are ripe for one and that revivals have historically begun with young people. We can look around and see what the Woke also see: things are bad. Maybe bad enough to shake them up. Maybe bad enough to wake up the Church to start praying.

We can pray with one ear cocked for the trumpet blast that signals our deliverance. We can beg God to give us a Great Awakening so that when He comes, we can take thousands—no, millions–of Wokesters with us.

[1] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Great Awakening.” Encyclopedia Britannica, September 1, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Awakening.

The Right may finally be sick and tired enough of wokeness from big corporations to fight back with their wallets, as evidenced by its backlash against Big Beer’s trying to shove wokeness down their throats along with its Bud Light. Some switched brews and some voted with their wallets to buy Ultra-Right Beer–despite paying $20 a six-pack and waiting a month for it. The “market capitalization impact” of the Right’s had-enough-ness was to the tune of $4 billion dollars.[1]

Surprisingly, it may not just be the Right, or even adults, who are tiring of Wokeness. The very participants in the Woke agenda, young people—and children, are increasingly frustrated by hearing slogans like ‘Life is Good’ when they can clearly see that their world is the opposite.

When these children experience pre-pubescent discomfort, they should be told they were fearfully and wonderfully made by a God Who loves them. Or at the very least, receive on the regular a high-five with a hearty declaration of, “God don’t make no junk!” Instead, these impressionable souls are told they’re trapped in bodies that were ‘meant to be’ the opposite sex.

Young people are horrified by the physical and emotional results of those who have believed culture’s lies and have chemically and cosmetically switched genders. They’re sharing their horror with their community, not the other kids on the cul-de-sac but online, a ‘community’ that spans the globe. They’re getting the word out because they’re realizing they’ve been bamboozled—if not victimized—by those they should have been able to trust. They’ve been sold a pig in a poke.

It’s highly probable that when young people raise their faces from their iPhone screens after their average 7.5 hours per day[2], they’re seeing that everything around them is empty. If they are White, they’re being taught by CRT that the nation’s ills are all their fault. If they have another skin color, CRT is teaching them they’re hopelessly disadvantaged. Young people can heartily agree with Solomon, who thoroughly examined life and concluded that all of it is vanity. And they’re fully aware it’s not ‘vanity’ as in, “I know I rock this outfit” but rather, that life is meaningless. Who can blame them for retreating into tiny electronic screens to lives that, even if virtual, make them feel worthwhile?

Everyone wants to think they were born for a purpose, that their lives matter. That includes SJWs, trust fund brats, Antifa—everyone. Young people join the military for the same reason; they want to believe that their individual lives can be a part of something bigger than themselves. Adults join country clubs, bridge clubs and churches because they crave belonging.

Sociologists say that teens join gangs because, in addition to finding purpose, they too crave belonging.

In addition to gangs, some young people join violent ‘causes’ like BLM that make them feel needed. Tragically, instead of joining up, some kids check out. 60% of teenagers struggle with depression and a full 35% have suicidal thoughts[3]. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk says, “[This generation] feels they have no purpose; that’s why they’re the most suicidal generation.”

While there is hope for the youngest of the Wokesters, hard data is scarce. The same Internet anonymity that provides cover for bad things people look at online also hides good things happening there. God-Seekers have unprecedented access to the Gospel through the same medium. Online ‘church attendance’ and Bible study is growing faster than in-person turnout.  UK church leaders insist, “Increased access to online services, plus a longing for meaning in uncertain times, has led to greater numbers of young people seeking solace in the church.” They point to the Google Trends report that for every 80,000 new Covid cases, online searches for “prayer” doubles[4].

During Covid, when people were barred from attending church, youth workers in Scotland studied the “exponential rise in online and livestream worship” and concluded that “more young people have come to faith.” Post-Covid, the Scotland Presbytery saw a 47% increase in to youth functions attendance, especially among the 14-17 year-olds. As recently as December 2022, a Yougov poll showed that Gen Z (ages 13-27) is more likely than Millennials to embrace God in faith.

The big question remains: Is there enough evidence to give us hope that the Woke are primed for a Great Awakening?

[1] Tom Norton, Newsweek Fact-Checker.

[2] OneHope Research, Global Youth Culture, 2020.

[3] John Beeson, Lifeway Research, June 14, 2021.

[4] Calum Petrie, Press and Journal, January 2, 2022.

An ASI volunteer was approached by someone who believes in the ministry’s mission but was concerned that what he could afford to donate would be too small to make a difference.  He admitted he wanted ‘insider assurance’ before committing his financial gift, saying something like, “I know your ministry is making a difference, and I know you deal with powerful people in DC and throughout the world. I also know that can’t be cheap. It’s not like you’re down at the local homeless shelter pow-wowing over PB&J sandwiches.”

It wasn’t like his gift was a widow’s mite; it wasn’t sacrificial to him. He’s just keenly aware of the importance of making eternal investments; of sending his treasure home to Heaven ahead of him. There are many worthy causes and while he’d love to give to all of them, he simply can’t. Our volunteer agreed there are many worthy works that reach lost souls in different ways. She compared ASI’s mission field to the Young Life Ministry at a high-priced boys’ prep school. Its mission is to win to Jesus those 7^th-12^th grade boys who, by virtue of their family backgrounds and social status, are on track to be world leaders within two decades.

Here’s what donations to ASI go for:

• Congressional Staff Bible Studies – influencing the next generation of Influencers.
• Discipling Statesmen – encouraging and teaching them God’s Word, Will, and Ways. Every congressman or congresswoman represents 708,000 people.
• Rescuing the Perishing – not just figuratively, but physically rescuing persecuted Christians throughout the world.
• Local Disaster Relief – providing aid and comfort to neighbors in crisis.

That led to a question about matching gifts. Matching gifts at ASI are a blessing, but rare. Thankfully, our wonderful God doesn’t match, He multiplies. He multiplies our gifts much like Jesus multiplied a little boy’s donation of the contents of his lunch basket.

In John 6:1-14 we read that a little boy offered his lunch to Jesus. When The Lord instructed His disciples to use it to feed those who had come to hear Him, Andrew asked, “What is this among so many?” The poor guy didn’t have to do the math to know it was not enough to get the job done.

Jesus knew what the disciples didn’t: this wasn’t a math problem; it was a faith equation. Our Creator God multiplies things: small amounts of oil in a widow’s cruse, small amounts of meal at the bottom of the barrel, and small loaves and fish in a little boy’s lunch basket.

Maybe the little boy’s mother had a heart to send her son on his day trip to hear the Great Rabbi with a big slab of lamb between thick slices of leavened bread. But . . . all she had were a few small barley rolls. She sent them, and Jesus multiplied them.

The fish were probably leftovers: the small ones that weren’t eaten at supper the night before. Maybe the little boy’s dad had worked hard to catch those fish . . . and hadn’t thrown them back because his family needed them despite their trifling size. He gave them for his son’s lunch, and Jesus multiplied them.

The little boy gave his lunch to Jesus with no expectations of getting anything back. He probably figured that by doing so, he’d be walking home hungry that evening. He probably didn’t care, though–giving to Jesus would make his feet fly, and his heart would sing all the way home.

There’s no such thing as a small gift. We know what Jesus did with that little boy’s gift: He fed thousands.

Every donation is greatly appreciated. God blesses the ministry because ASI makes every donation count, whether a large gift, or a widow’s mite. And just like the little boy who shared his meager meal with Jesus, when people give to ASI, their hearts can sing all the way home to Heaven.

It was September 13, 1814, a mere three and a half decades since their successful revolt against British rule. And here they were again in conflict with their old enemy in what has become known as the War of 1812.

It was not going well for fledgling America. The British, high from their recent defeat of Napoleon’s armies, turned their military energy on giving the Americans a sound thrashing.

The British captured, burned, and looted Washington then divided their forces.

Part went south, taking a demoralized Fort Warburton without firing a shot. Terrified, Alexandria surrendered.

The other part went north, where Fort McHenry protected a vital seaport. The British invaded by land first, handily defeating resistance at North Point. The Americans retreated to the fort. The Redcoats took to their warships to prepare for an assault from water. Having the world’s best naval forces along with soldiers that outnumbered McHenry’s infantry ten to one, the British figured that taking it would be a walk in the park.

On September 13, during a heavy thunderstorm, nineteen British warships began a hailstorm of their own. For 25 hours they fired relentlessly on the two-acre fort on a hill overlooking Baltimore Harbor.

A heart-stirring legend says there were POWs on one of the British warships. They pleaded for news of the battle from an attorney who was watching the unmerciful bombardment through a spyglass: “Say, sir! Can you see it? Is it still there?!”

The attorney had been detained while trying to negotiate a prisoner swap. Instead, they were told that if McHenry would surrender—indicated by lowering the flag on its rampart—the shelling would stop, and the fort would be spared just as had the city of Alexandria.

Everyone knew what this really meant was that if the Fort McHenry saved itself by surrendering, the country could very well be lost.

As dawn broke and the smoke cleared on September 14, the attorney exultantly reported to the prisoners that, indeed, the flag was still there. He then penned the song that became our national anthem. It was later reported that as the bombs rained on the fort, snapping the flagpole, its defenders held the flag up physically. As one man had fallen and his soul entered Eternity, another had leaped over his body to keep the banner in place.

When the sun broke through the storm clouds and the echo of the last bomb burst dissolved into the morning mist, it was discovered that the star-spangled banner was only standing because it was being held upright by a pile of dead bodies.

Although the legend has swelled many a patriotic bosom over the past two centuries, the truth is even more stirring.

The truth is that on September 14th, Fort McHenry raised its gigantic flag just as it did at reveille every morning. Hopelessly outnumbered, the Americans had successfully defended their fort from the world’s most powerful military—one that had recently defeated the mighty Napoleon and even more recently had forced President Madison to flee Washington. Of the 1,000 men who had defended Fort McHenry through what must have seemed like an interminable barrage, only four were dead and twenty-four wounded.  The survivors, rightly, gave glory to Almighty God because the victory was His.

The courageous remnant at Fort McHenry who kept our colors flying was barely one generation away from the war for our nation’s independence. The soldiers at Fort Warburton who had laid down their weapons and the people of Alexandria who had surrendered their city were just as close on the historic timeline as were McHenry’s defenders. We wonder how so many could forget so fast.

Historically, we humans have always had short memories. Today we are only one generation away from President Reagan’s touting “peace through strength” and patriotism was its highest since WW2. A mere 42 years later, many schoolchildren won’t rise to their feet for the Pledge of Allegiance. And their heroes take a knee when the national anthem is played. If the problem is not reversed, America is one generation away from destruction.

We, today’s remnant, are aware that just like McHenry’s defenders, we are hopelessly outnumbered. It would be easy to look at our chaotic culture and wonder if our faith and courage are enough to deflect the enemy’s attacks—much less to inspire others to join us in bringing America back to its godly roots.

We can find hope in remembering that Fort McHenry’s courageous stand was contagious; it buoyed the rest of America. God had answered prayers for deliverance of a tiny fort that was bombarded with 1500 rockets and cannonballs over 25 hours, spelling the beginning of the end for the British. They turned away to the south, heading to what would be their own thrashing at the Battle of New Orleans.

As we pray and repent identificationally for America, we can be confident that God hears. He’s not willing that any should perish—including the upcoming generation. His arms are open to embrace all who accept His offer of salvation. And for every person who accepts that offer, we will give glory to Almighty God–because the victory is His.

The word ‘remnant’ is often thrown around without explaining its meaning. A remnant is what’s left after everything else has been cut or eaten away.

Remnants are what’s left after a tailor has cut out the fabric for a suit.

Remnants are what’s left after we’ve gorged ourselves at Thanksgiving and are too tired to look for the right size Tupperware to put them in.

A remnant is what’s left of a population after the rest has been decimated by a plague or carried away by invaders.

The Bible refers to ‘remnant’ as the faithful few who are left alive to carry on God’s work. He always leaves some.

‘A faithful few.’ ‘Some.’ We wonder just how many, exactly, make a ‘remnant’.

It’s human nature to want a ratio; some kind of formula to figure things out. If this, then that. We look to conditionals to tell us when we’re successful, i.e., finished. It’s not a new phenomenon; it goes all the way back to Abraham.

Angels visited Abraham to inform him the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed. Abraham’s nephew Lot, who had been like a son to him, lived in Sodom. Abraham mentally back-burner-ed his distress and, just as many an aggrieved parent has, began to bargain with God.

Abraham asked if the cities would still be destroyed if 50 righteous were found there. We wonder if 50 was a certain percentage of the population. Then he had the chutzpah to keep requesting they be spared for a smaller and smaller number. Each time, Merciful God agreed. Finally, Abraham extracted God’s promise that the place would be spared if ten were found.

Maybe Abraham stopped at ten because that’s exactly how much family he had in Sodom. Genesis 19:12: “Then the men [the angels] said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place!” We can’t know for sure but ‘sons’ means at least two, plus Lot’s two daughters who lived at home, subtotaling four. Lot and his wife made six. There were the sons-in-law mentioned in verse 14, making at least two more and possibly four: two if they were betrothed to the daughters at home and four if they were married to two other daughters. The latter totals ten, the number Abraham bargained for.

Even if Lot’s family only totaled eight, SURELY, after living in Sodom for years and serving on the city council, his homeowner’s association, and the school board, ‘righteous’ Lot would have won at least two others to the Lord. However, because we read that Lot’s sons in law laughed when he begged them to leave with him, we can surmise they’d never taken his faith seriously—much less personally.

If not a percentage of Sodom’s population, ten righteous was still a very reasonable number to expect. Tragically, the only souls reckoned ‘righteous’ that could be found were six short of the agreed-upon number. Destruction rained upon the entire twin-city area. Lot, his wife, and his two virgin daughters escaped with their lives and nothing else. They were Sodom’s remnant.

Centuries before Sodom’s destruction, righteous Noah and his family totaled eight. In the many years of witnessing as they built the ark, the Bible doesn’t mention they won a single soul to the Lord. We’re told the pre-flood population went about their usual activities; there’s no mention they even noticed Noah. If they thought about him at all, they likely thought he was a fanatic. The consequence of their wickedness was that destruction rained upon them. Noah and his family were the remnant.

Comparing the accounts of Lot and Noah, we see that the remnant in both was fewer than ten. It wasn’t unreasonable to expect that after a lifetime of witnessing, those ‘righteous’ would have increased their number to equal ten. Having only ten believers—the average number of a Sunday night Small Group–would have spared Sodom.

Formulas and percentages aside, it can still be a healthy spiritual exercise to ask ourselves ‘what if?’ What if it took only ten to save my town? Could God use my family or my small group to win the lost in our town? To spur a revival in our nation? To beg the Almighty to give us time to bring more sheep safely into the fold before destruction rains on America?

Our culture is numbers driven. Companies rely on focus groups. Candidates conduct surveys. Americans make decisions based on metrics. Success formulas let us know when our goals have been reached, when we’re done. But when it comes to soulwinning, we’re never ‘done.’

Chillingly, Proverbs 27:20(a) says, “Hell and Destruction are never full.” The glorious flip side is Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.” As the Bride of Christ, the Church’s responsibility is to invite others to Jesus.

Destruction is coming, and we–the Bride, the Church, the Remnant–can never stop witnessing. Not when we’re laughed at nor when we’re considered fanatics; certainly not when we’ve reached some quota we think we see in the Bible.