It's the End of the World as We Know It

After thinking through my last post, There is Nothing New Under the Sun, I started to think about a topic that was discussed at a recent conference I attended. The topic was of the 4 Generation Cycle and the idea is simple. There is a 4 Generation Cycle that has been repeating since our beginning. I'll briefly explain the concept and how it has played out over the last several generations in America, leading to present day, which is in transition from the 3rd to the 4th generation cycle. (Notice the significance of the Motto for each generation)

The 1st Generation Cycle

Motto: "Anything we can do, we will do."

The first generation cycle is represented by the Builder Generation, those living through World War II. Those in this generation cycle rise to the task at hand, generally brought together around a singular mission resulting from a major conflict threatening their security or way of life. They will band together and selflessly accomplish whatever is in the greater good of the whole. The Builder Generation helped to build a great America economically, morally and spiritually. They selflessly sacrificed a great deal to see progress and prosperity. They worked as a team and put the prosperity and needs of others before their own.

The 2nd Generation Cycle

Motto: "Anything you can do, we can do better."

The second generation cycle is represented by the Boomer Generation, those born out of the WWII era. This generation is born into the collective prosperity and achievements of the last generation. Their focus becomes more inward than outward. What was once an unthinkable, unreachable goal for the last generation is now common every day practice for this generation. They begin to dive inward and their goals are motivated by self advancement and propelled by strong competition. Whatever was accomplished by the last generation, this group will surely take it to the next level and plow over whatever and whoever might stand in their way.

The 3rd Generation Cycle

Motto: "Anything you can do, we could care less about."

The third generation cycle is represented by Generation X. It's no coincidence that this generation was given the name "X". They could care less if they have a name or not. They've become calloused to the inward-focused, selfish-driven accomplishments of the previous generation. They've grown tired of inward-focused ministry, dictatorial leadership and self-serving agendas. Those in the 3rd generation cycle are typically characterized as angry and rebellious. Kurt Cobain's lyric, "Here we are now, entertain us", represents the lethargic, care-less feeling that characterizes this group. And although they won't admit it, they are also self-consumed.

The 4th Generation Cycle

Motto: "All the things you didn't do, we look forward to doing."

The fourth generation cycle is represented by the emerging generation of Americans, known as the Millennial Generation or (Generation Y). They are tired of the complacency and lack of movement they've seen from generations past. They are a generation of optimists, a generation of big dreamers. Those in the 4th generation cycle will say, "We will do what no else else could or cared to do", "We will eliminate poverty", "We will change the world, "We will re-claim the church", "We will re-shape culture".

So what does this mean for us?

Why does any of this matter?

We are witnessing the transition from the 3rd to the 4th Generation Cycle in America today.

It matters to understand what cycle we're in because it explains the power struggle we're seeing in our government and in the church, in the workplace and all around us in culture.

The emerging generation is fed up with the ineffectiveness of our government and the self-serving, earmark-happy politicians that govern it. The emerging generation is fed up with the ineffectiveness of our churches and the inward-focused, self-serving leaders that guide it.

It means that a revolution is on the horizon. It means that a war of governance is imminent. It means there is restructuring, a reawakening, a redefining of what it means to be American and what it means to be Christian.

It means that if real global issues are going to be solved, if the church is going to reclaim its' prominent position in the world and if The Great Commission is going to be accomplished and the whole world reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, then this is the generation that can get it done!

It also means that there's an urgency, a brief window of opportunity to be recognized and seized before the generation cycle starts all over again. The aggressive accomplishments of the 4th generation will be taken for granted by their children. Their children will be born into a way of life worth fighting for in order to preserve and maintain it, but they'll be followed by a generation of inward-focused, self-serving rebels that will want little to do with what they've fought so hard to preserve and maintain.

If we fail to recognize and seize the moment of this day, it will be several generations before we will again have the opportunity to advance the Kingdom around the world and reclaim the American church in a way that brings an end to this age and ushers in the next. And in recognizing the moment, we must act by encouraging, supporting, funding, partnering and harnessing the world-changing potential of the emerging generation, whatever the cost.

This could be the generation that ushers in the second coming of Christ by fulfilling The Great Commission. It is within our reach. It is within our potential. And it is more than probable that it will happen as the emerging generation takes the lead and follows their God-given Big Dreams!

On a final note,

Isn't it interesting that we are actually writing ourselves out of history? Look up the names given to America's generations throughout the past 200 years and notice the names that have been given to the last three:

Generation X,

Generation Y (also known as the Millennial Generation) and

Generation Z.

There's a camel on the highway!

It is nearly impossible to put into words the sheer devastation and hopelessness that has gripped the poor nation of Haiti. Nearly every structure has been destroyed or severely damaged. Very few have been able to return to their homes. Most live in small shanties constructed by debris and scrap metal. Clean water is hard to come by. Food is even scarcer. The corruption of the government continues to cripple the people. Food and supplies donated and sent from around the world remain undistributed in mass storage units. Very little has reached the people. People fend for themselves. There is very little aid reaching the people. What the media portrays is not what we saw during our short stay. The need is simply too great and the workers, too few.

In a nation where voodoo devil worship clearly reigns, it is not surprising to see such oppression and affliction. Yet, there is hope. As we traveled through the ruin, we were captivated, as are many of the Haitians, by what we saw. Homes, schools, businesses, government buildings, the presidential palace...all lie in ruin. Block after block of broken concrete, most of the nation's infrastructure destroyed.

Yet, to see a church in ruin was like spotting a desert camel on a well-traveled Ohio interstate. Not every church survived, but most did. Clearly, among the structures that survived, churches are at the top of the list. It has been the church of Haiti, not the government, meeting the needs of the people. It has been the church of Haiti, not the international aids groups, providing medical care and treatment, food and clean water for the people.

The church we worked with is called Light Ministries. It's pastor and his wife have lived and ministered in Haiti for 28 years. Of the more than 1,200 members of their local church, only two people lost their lives to the earthquake, though most of their member's homes were leveled. Five days a week they hold worship gatherings at their home with several hundred participants. They have seen multiplied hundreds of new converts since the devastation took place. God is on the move. There is, in the midst of great despair and hopelessness, an unexplainable hopeful and healing current sweeping through the nation. The standing churches are offering hope. It is not difficult to see that God is at work and people are noticing.

Our project was to reinforce Light Ministries' worship center, which houses the free medical clinic and weekly worship gatherings, paving the way for even more Haitians to discover the hope of Jesus in a time when most hope seems permanently lost.

I'll leave you with one last thought. A thought I have carried with me since experiencing the raw, abandoned, pure praise and worship of a people who have lost what little they had -

Perhaps they are not the unfortunate ones. Maybe we are. Have we pushed God aside to the kingdom of our comfort? Is our worship pure, abandoned and exuberant or luke-warm, second-thought, filling a weekly time slot?

Our fortune has blinded. Their misfortune has enlightened.

Haiti has a unique opportunity. They have little to lose. Oh, how blessed they are, that God would shake their nation at its' core in order to draw their attention to Him. You say, "How can you say God caused such a terrible catastrophe?". I say, "How can you say He didn't?".

Either way, He is capturing the attention of a nation. There has begun an outpouring of His Spirit. A regeneration of a people.

Shall we even consider crying out to God,

"Oh God, would you shake America?"

"Would you bring us to our knees?"

"Would you get the attention of this people?"

"Would you restore what is lost and hopeless?"

How desperate are you?

The Decade From Hell

No doubt, my favorite time of year is the Christmas season. But perhaps even more exciting than that is what follows. I am addicted to those “year in rewind” shows, and every channel’s got them!

The Top 10 Political Scandals of 09, The Top 10 Most Influential People of the year on Oprah, The Top 10 Music Videos on VH1, MTV and CMT, The Recap of Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC, The Weather Channel’s Worst Disasters of 09…and the list goes on.

So it seems natural that, at the dawn of a brand new decade, we look back at the previous one, if for nothing else but for a little reflection.

The new millennium was ushered in with every soul on planet earth crossing their fingers. Y2K was coming, or was it? Scary right? We had no idea what scary really was! It wouldn’t take long though to figure out; the most obvious, of course, was the September 11th terrorist attacks, no doubt the most pivotal moment of the last decade, and probably in American history.

I remember that day clearly. I had just finished a college class and decided I’d run to my car and zip to Taco Bell to grab some lunch before my next class. When I got to the parking lot it was so flooded with cars I couldn’t get out of my parking space. My first concern, of course, was the Taco Bell I most likely wouldn’t get to eat in time. Then, someone yelled out of their car window for me to turn on the radio. “America was just attacked”, they shouted. I turned on my radio and like everyone else, sat in disbelief. Could it really be? Needless to say, I forgot about the Taco Bell.

I had just joined the Air National Guard a few months earlier. I never saw this one coming. I didn’t answer my phone for a week. I was afraid of the inevitable, and the inevitable did finally come for me just a few weeks before Christmas. The dreaded orders had arrived. I was going to Afghanistan, by request of the President himself.

To reflect on the rest of the last decade makes my head hurt. No wonder Time Magazine titled their December 7, 2009 issue, “The Decade From Hell”. There was the first Wall Street crash from failing tech stocks in 2000-2001. The September 11th attacks led us into a global war on terror, including Iraq and Afghanistan. We had Anthrax letters, the D.C. snipers, the Wall Street scandals of Enron and WorldCom. Then right smack in the middle of last decade, in 2005 was the worst natural disaster in American history, Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,500 and cost more than $100 billion in damages. The slow response and chaos that followed was nothing short of disastrous.

The housing bubble is something Katie and I are personally paying for. Come to think of it, you are too. We all are. I read that the bailouts cost every American nearly $45,000 each. Yeah, you’re paying for it too. Our house has depreciated so much in value in the last 6 years from when we bought it that to sell it will equate to significant loss for us. Any renters out there? We're moving...

Wages are dropping, unemployment is soaring and Americans living below the poverty line increased to 13.3% in 2008. And our financial trouble is affecting the entire world. But it’s not just financial problems we’ve faced the last 10 years…

There were more mass shootings and school shootings like the Virginia Tech murders (32) and the recent attack on Fort Hood, than in any other decade. There were more large-scale terrorist bombings around the world in this decade than in any other. There were the never-ending Political Sex Scandals, Drug and Steroid Scandals by some of our favorite Athletes and Olympians, the Crash of the Auto Industry, soaring Gas Prices, Color-Coded Threat Levels, Abu Ghraib, Scott Peterson, Bird flu, Swine flu, (My flu, Your flu), Global Warming, Larry Craig, Bernie Madoff, Ahmadinejad, a $1.75 trillion deficit for 2009 alone, H1N1, Ted Haggard…shall I go on?

Of course, we as Christians are immune to this stuff right? After all, we live under the blessing of God. We are set apart. Aren’t we? Quite the contrary. We are set apart, but we are not immune nor should we act like we are.

To whom much is given, much is required.

As Christians, we stand at the brink of incredible opportunity. Are we outward focused, concerned and consumed with bringing light and hope into a dark and desperately lost world? Or are we inward focused, concerned about the effects of the world reaching its’ cold ugly hands into our families and homes?

What has the message of the church been this last decade? “The American Church is in DECLINE”. “Only 4% of this generation are Bible-Believing Christians”. “The American Church is following in close step with Post-Christian Europe”. “The American Church is dying”.

These messages may be true, but let’s not miss the moment. Yes, the Christian church is in decline. Yes, it’s been one hell of a decade (pardon my expression). Yes, we are definitely feeling the effects, in our churches, in our homes, in our families, in our wallets.

I’ve preached these messages. I've preached these messages with passion! I believe them. I believe that the church is in decline as much as I believe all of the other stuff I've posted in this blog.

But I also believe that the message isn’t that the church is in decline.

The message is really, “The Church is About to Dominate”.

Everyone likes to root for the underdog. Why? It’s exciting. Everyone likes a challenge. Everyone likes to see someone or something that looks like a lost cause come from behind and win. Thing is, we only look like the underdogs at the moment. Let's stop believing Christian America is a lost cause. It just looks that way right now.

So, as we look back at the last decade, and we look ahead to the start of a brand new decade, we stand at the brink of the greatest opportunity the church has ever seen.

In the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of a global war against fundamentalist terrorists and evil dictators, in the midst of a financial meltdown, in the midst of a church in decline,

Our finest hour awaits.

Join the movement.
Seize the moment.
Let’s not rewrite history; let’s create history.

What's it going to take from you? Where's the urgency? Where's the passion? Where's the selfless sacrifice? We are called to be a light to the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden or shaken. We are called to be catalysts of change, movers and shakers.

In the darkness is where the light shines the brightest.

This is the finest hour the church has ever lived.

We will rise.

We will dominate.

We will win!