I think we would all agree that the world has gone mad. We may not agree on what’s causing this madness or what to do about it, but if you follow the news it’s impossible to get around this fact – the world has gone mad. From politics to the national debt, to the loss of free speech in many of our universities, to kids killing kids, to Syria spraying deadly chemicals on civilians, to Amazon making billions and paying no federal income tax, to not being able to believe anything you read, see, or hear … we are living in a world gone mad.
So mad in fact I fear for our young people. The other day I was telling a friend if I were twenty five years younger I would be buying gold and squirreling it away because this madness can’t go on without dire consequences.
So what role does faith play in such a world? In a word – EVERYTHING.
Every time I feel despondent over what’s happening in our world, I’m reminded of Hebrews 13.8 – “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Jesus is the one constant in this mad world. Our relationship to him makes everything right, even if we don’t understand or like what we experience. Jesus is the one thing we can hold on to and never fear or doubt the outcome. He will never abandon us or reject us or disappoint us. That makes sense even out of a world gone mad.
What the world needs now is a revival of faith. Could it be that the death of the greatest man to live in my lifetime, Billy Graham, could have an effect on this mad world? Could his remembrance make a difference?
As I write this post, Billy Graham is lying in honor at the nation’s capital – only the fourth civilian to ever receive this honor. He made such a difference in so many people’s life, including mine. Even though I never met him, he had a profound impact on my life. Like Jesus, he was someone you could trust to never change and always be your inspiration.
Elmer Towns sent out an email today that is worth closing with.
“When they cover Billy’s wooden casket with dirt, I will not look back. I will look to the future. I will know that somewhere there is another Billy who will study in another unknown Wheaton College, who with only a Bible and the call of God upon his life and faith to move mountains, will again believe God for revival. God will again pour Himself on this needy world. However, the next Billy may come from Fiji, or will be a Hispanic boy from the Southwest or an immigrant from the Far East. He will have an answer for the problems of the world and he will preach to the multitudes in their hour of DECISION. God will do it again.
“Billy made me believe in revival because I was able to touch it, and in return revival touched me. I want Billy’s funeral to tell the world we can have revival in our time.”
That’s what our world needs today more than ever – REVIVAL.
Indeed, we need revival in our lives and in our churches. America has in the past seen great revivals — the Great Awakenings, the Cane Ridge revival, the Azusa Street revival and the revivals that the Rev. Graham and those who have followed him have been instrumental in. America needs revival but revival is not dependent on a resurrection of the revivalism of a time gone by, as effective as they were. But by the grace of God this message of Hebrews 13.8 – “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” will be poured out through new wine skins by new messengers who carry it through many platforms in this dry, thirsty and maddening land.