Top Ten Spiritual Changes Since the Sixties

There have been many books written about Boomers and their excesses, but, to my knowledge, little has been said about the spiritual revolution the Holy Spirit wrought in them along side the revolutions in sex, drugs and rock music.

A couple of posts ago I wrote about the massive numbers of people who have come to faith in Christ since the Sixties. Actually, that post covers about three of the most dramatic and far reaching aspects of the Top Ten.

1. The Holy Spirit brought revival to people in every nation. In fact, Christian growth has been much greater in regions that were formerly under represented spiritually.

2. When revival came the Word of God was released and relished by the new believers. Bible and their study have preceded and followed the Spirit-led revivals. These were not revivals that came as a result of national revolutions with promises of better lives here on earth but that arose as a result of Bible translations, mass distribution and preaching/teaching. As revival grew so did the knowledge of the converts.

3. When people read the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they discovered that God loved them and had decided to give them His gifts. Wherever I travel around the world to teach and train people they all seem to accept the fact that they are gifted. The fact that God has actually called all people to share His glory and gifts is one of the greatest motivators for evangelism in Third World countries where oppression and emotional slavery are normal.

4. The top three paradigm shifts has led directly to the fourth: All of God's people are called and gifted to serve Him. The common distinctions made between rich and poor, male and female, black and white, educated and uneducated are less important than who we are in Christ. I was in Kenya, East Africa in 1983 and heard many stories about the gifts of power and healing as well as teaching and prophesy that were given to illiterate and destitute people.

5. These Spirit-filled Believers began to minister. One illiterate woman whose name I have forgotten, was so powerful and gifted she started an entire movement of millions. God gave her entire sections of the Bible as she preached despite her inability to read.

6. Since Constantine recognized the Christian Church as the official religion of the realm, there has been a theological split between the spiritual and physical world. Religious leaders were designated as "holy men of God with "spiritual callings" while normal lay Christians were considered to be "secular people involved in secular work". This split is generally called, a "Scared/Secular Split" or to be the result of "Greek Dualism".

As a result of the Sixties Revivals, the "wall of separation" has been constantly challenged. Increasingly there are cadres of non clergy man and women with gifts, insights, wisdom and power who are greatly used to evangelize, establish ministries to the poor and build various kinds of ministries. It is thankfully common for engineers, sales personnel, pilots, cooks, fashion designers, entrepreneurs and house wives to be involved in ministry.