The
[u]nited States have never been very friendly toward traditional, which is to
say Orthodox, Christianity. Once the
South, which was trending in some ways back towards pre-Modernity before the
War and therefore acted as a sort of restraint on the radicalism of New
England, was defeated by the North and folded back into the Union, she shed
most of her pre-Modern ways in order to cooperate in the building of Babylon
America, and the doors were thrown wide open to all kinds of spiritual
corruption throughout the States. Things
have declined dramatically since that time.
Now,
in the midst of this chaotic religious scene, as well as growing political
unrest and violence and terrible natural disasters, comes the turmoil of a mass
murder event in Las Vegas. The delicate,
pampered modern American psyche, unaccustomed to suffering and struggle, will
not be able to cope well with all this.
‘Never
let a crisis go to waste’: The devil and
the demons know how to leverage a crisis, just as much as human politicians
do. What are they planning through all
this? Possibly, this is where the Third
Great Awakening (i.e., a further initiation into the religion of Antichrist,
though it will be presented as something completely different: a new outpouring of the Holy Ghost, etc.)
that many have been talking about lately begins. And when deep Elite players like former Pres
George W. Bush are also talking about it, we should probably take heed:
President Bush said
yesterday that he senses a "Third Awakening" of religious devotion in
the United States that has coincided with the nation's struggle with
international terrorists, a war that he depicted as "a confrontation
between good and evil."
Bush told a group of
conservative journalists that he notices more open expressions of faith among
people he meets during his travels, and he suggested that might signal a
broader revival similar to other religious movements in history. Bush noted
that some of Abraham Lincoln's strongest supporters were religious people
"who saw life in terms of good and evil" and who believed that
slavery was evil. Many of his own supporters, he said, see the current conflict
in similar terms.
"A lot of people
in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including
me," Bush said during a 1 1/2 -hour Oval Office conversation on cultural
changes and a battle with terrorists that he sees lasting decades. "There
was a stark change between the culture of the '50s and the '60s -- boom -- and
I think there's change happening here," he added. "It seems to me
that there's a Third Awakening."
. . .
Source: Peter Baker, 13 Sept. 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201594.html, opened 4 Oct. 2017
To
the point, this weekend (Oct. 6-9) in Washington City a great Protestant Evangelical
revival gathering is planned, called Awaken the Dawn, which is pushing the idea
of a new Great Awakening and a renewed focus on ‘Jesus’:
Awaken the Dawn is a
worship movement, a prayer movement, and a missions movement. We gather around
the worth of Jesus. Our dream is to see a generation galvanized with the glory
of Jesus and the presence of God.
The gospel was made
to go viral. Now, more than ever, we believe it is time to present a millennial
generation with the greater pleasure of knowing and encountering Jesus. A Third
Great Awakening is not just an idea. It is not just talk. It is time to take
our place in history.
Source: http://www.awakenthedawn.org/about-us/, opened 4 Oct. 2017
IN THE LATE SIXTIES…
There was a viral counter-cultural movement
fueled by self-love, pride, psychedelic drugs, and music. This was a negative
worship movement. It didn’t take much in marketing budgets and mobilization to
get a generation to Woodstock or Haight Street in San Francisco. The heart and
imagination of a generation was captured. In a similar way, there was a Jesus
Movement in the same generation that was fueled by a sound of the good news of
Jesus. Now, we believe that it is time for a generation to be galvanized by the
worth of Jesus and the Great Commission—God’s storyline. Jesus will go viral.
Source: http://www.awakenthedawn.org/vision-and-plan-2017/, opened 4 Oct. 2017
Blessed
Fr Seraphim Rose (+1982) warned us against such ‘Jesus movements’ in Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future:
JUST IN THE PAST FEW
YEARS, significantly, the figure of "Jesus" has been thrust into
strange prominence in America. On stage and in films long-standing prohibitions
against portraying the person of Christ have been abrogated. Sensationally popular
musicals present blasphemous parodies of His life. The "Jesus
Movement," which was largely "charismatic" in orientation,
spread spectacularly among teenagers and young people. The crudest form of
American popular music is "Christianized" at mass "Jesus-Rock
Festivals," and "Christian" tunes for the first time in the
century become the most popular in the land. And underlying this whole strange
conglomeration of sacrilege and absolutely unenlightened worldliness is the
constantly reiterated expression of seemingly everyone's expectation and hope: Jesus
is coming soon.
The careful observer
of the contemporary religious scene - especially in America, where the most
popular religious currents have originated for over a century - cannot fail to
notice a very decided air of chiliastic expectation. And this is not only true
of "charismatic" circles, but even of the traditionalist or
fundamentalist circles that have rejected the "charismatic revival."
Thus, many traditionalist Roman Catholics believe in the coming of a chiliastic
"Age of Mary" before the end of the world, and this is only one
variant on the more widespread Latin error of trying to "sanctify the
world," or, as Archbishop Thomas Connolly of Seattle expressed it [as]
"transforming the modern world into the Kingdom of God in preparation for
His return." Protestant evangelists such as Billy Graham, in their
mistaken private interpretation of the Apocalypse, await the
"millennium" when "Christ" will reign on earth. Other
evangelists in Israel find that their millenarian interpretation of the
"Messiah" is just what is needed to "prepare" the Jews for
his coming [17]. And the arch-fundamentalist Carl McIntire prepares to build a
life-size replica of the Temple of Jerusalem in Florida (near Disneyworld!),
believing that the time is at hand when the Jews will build the very
"Temple to which the Lord Himself will return as He promised" (Christian
Beacon , Nov. 11, 1971; Jan. 6, 1972).
Thus, even
anti-ecumenists find it possible to prepare to join the unrepentant Jews in
welcoming the false messiah - antichrist - in contrast to the faithful remnant
of Jews who will accept Christ as the Orthodox Church preaches Him, when the
Prophet Elijah returns to earth.
It is therefore no
great consolation for a sober Orthodox Christian who knows the Scriptural
prophecies concerning the last days, when he is told by a
"charismatic" Protestant minister that, "It's glorious what
Jesus can do when we open up to Him. No wonder people of all faiths are now
able to pray together" (Harold Bredesen, in Logos Journal ,
Jan.-Feb., 1972, p. 24); or by a Catholic Pentecostal that the members of all
the denominations now "begin to peer over those walls of separation only
to recognize in each other the image of Jesus Christ" (Kevin Ranaghan in Logos
Journal , Nov.-Dec., 1971, p. 21). Which
"Christ" is this for whom an accelerated program of psychological and
even physical preparation is now being made throughout the world? - Is this our
true God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who founded the Church wherein men may find
salvation? Or is it the false Christ who will come in his own name (John
5:43) and unite all who reject or pervert the teaching of the one Church of
Christ, the Orthodox Church? [Bolding added--W.G.]
Our Saviour Himself
has warned us: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the
Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if
possible, even the elect. Behold I have told you beforehand. If therefore they
shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not forth; Behold, he
is in the inner chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh forth
from the east, and is seen even unto the west, so shall be the coming of the
Son of man" (Matt. 24:23-27).
The Second Coming of
Christ will be unmistakable: it will be sudden, from heaven (Acts 1:11), and it
will mark the end of this world. There can be no "preparation" for it
- save only the Orthodox Christian preparation of repentance, spiritual life,
and watchfulness. Those who are "preparing" for it in any other way,
who say that he is anywhere "here" - especially "here" in
the Temple of Jerusalem - or who preach that "Jesus is coming soon"
without warning of the great deception that is to precede His Coming: are
clearly the prophets of antichrist, the false Christ who must come first and
deceive the world, including all "Christians" who are not or do not
become truly Orthodox. There is to be no future "millennium." For
those who can receive it, the "millennium" of the Apocalypse (Apoc.
20:6) is now; the life of grace in the Orthodox Church for the whole
"thousand years" between the First Coming of Christ and the time of
antichrist [18]. That Protestants should expect the "millennium" in
the future is only their confession that they do not live in it in the present
- that is, that they are outside the Church of Christ and have not tasted of
Divine grace.
Source: http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/sign/coming.shtml, opened 4 Oct. 2017
That
Awaken the Dawn is more than likely a product of demonic delusion is
discernible from the way its leaders write about the origin of this event, that
it is largely the product of dreams. Here
are a couple of outtakes from the story they posted about themselves:
In 2011, an older
Christian leader in his 80’s visited Fredericksburg, VA for a gathering under a
5,000-person tent. He shared with us that we would help lead gatherings on the
East Coast in the years to come. They would be characterized by masses of young
people. To use his own words, there would be “porta johns and hotdog stands
beyond your wildest imagination.” There would be music and prayer. It was a new
Jesus movement, a Holy Spirit Woodstock. He told us about tent cities that
would be part of these gatherings. As he shared this word, the Holy Spirit
began moving on our leadership team in a way that I have rarely known. A number
of us began weeping. God was speaking to us.
Fast-forward two years.
In
2013, we were in the middle of a season of extended fasting and prayer and
someone in our community had a very vivid dream of a gathering on the east
coast where the church would come together. Shortly after this time, I texted
Lou Engle that God was speaking to us about an East Coast gathering, perhaps on
the Mall in DC. Lou immediately replied saying that he had just been in a
prayer meeting where they had been praying these gatherings and he sensed the
same authority as when he prophesied the first Call in DC. Immediately, I
called Andy Byrd (Fire and Fragrance) to see when he might be in LA so that I
could plan a trip there around the same time and, perhaps, we could all meet to
talk about this storyline. We set up a meeting in October of 2014.
After
I booked the ticket to fly to LA to meet with Lou Engle, Andy Byrd, and Brian
Brennt and their teams, I was on a conference call with another friend. He told
me that he had a dream the night
before that I was meeting with Andy Byrd. I was shocked. I told him
that I literally just booked flight to meet with Andy Byrd. What he said next
shocked me even more. He said there is a massive gathering coming on the East
Coast. He used the exact same language as the dream we had during the fast. Was
God leading us to launch a gathering on the National Mall?
. . .
Source: http://www.awakenthedawn.org/our-story/, opened 4 Oct. 2017
It
continues on like this in a kindred vein.
But
the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church are clear: Do not trust in dreams.
From Sts Barsanuphius and
John:
Q: I have heard that if
one and the same dream appears to someone three times, one should recognize it
as true; is this so, my Father?
A: No, this is wrong; such
a dream also one need not believe. He who has appeared once to anyone falsely
can do this three times and more. Watch, lest you be put to shame (by the
demons), but pay heed to yourself, brother.
Source: http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/kinds-of-spiritual-delusion, opened 4 Oct. 2017
Those
with Awaken the Dawn did not even wait to see if their dreams appeared three
times. In their spiritual immaturity,
they do not seem to have considered the possibility that the demons could be
manipulating them. They ought to have
been more vigilant:
A rather dangerous kind of
prelest is trust in dreams. The Holy Fathers say that we should never pay
attention to them because they may originate from the demons.[43] St. John Climacus says: "The devils of
vainglory do their prophecies in dreams. They guess the future and, as part of
their deceit, they inform us of it so that we are astonished to discover our
visions coming true. Indeed we get carried away with the notion that we are
already close to the gift of foreknowledge."[44] The Wisdom of Sirach
reads: "The hopes of a man void of understanding are vain and false: and
dreams lift up fools. Whoso regardeth dreams is like him that catcheth at a
shadow, and followeth after the wind."(Wisdom of Sirach 34:1-2) "For
dreams have deceived many, and they have failed that put their trust in
them."(Wisdom of Sirach 34:7) If the person starts to notice dreams, looks
for signs about the future in the dreams, the demons can quickly increase his
trust to dreams to such extent that will lead to suicide or can turn the person
into heresy[45] or other deadly sins.
Source: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Prelest, opened 4 Oct. 2017
. . .
From the Orthodox
perspective, we also should assume that in many instances dreams do not carry
any profound meaning. The Scriptures say that trying to understand dreams is
like clutching shadows or chasing wind.
However, we also have to
be careful, especially if we consider ourselves "spiritual" in any
way, because demons can easily appear in our dreams as prophets. They make all
kinds of guesses about things that they know we care about but cannot see, and
they make us fall into sins of vanity and pride, leading us to the delusion
that we are holy and worthy enough to receive visitation by angels in our
sleep.
The Fathers warn us to
test all spirits. We also have to test ourselves: If we are truly visited by a
holy spirit for whatever reason, we will tremble in fear of God and recognize
our unworthiness of being present in such company. Dreams that involve
authentic visits from angels or saints will ALWAYS leave us repentant, contrite
of heart, and imminently concerned for our own salvation. Fear of God is holy
and good, but it is still fear nonetheless. If a spiritual revelation in a
dream ever leaves us feeling anything other than fear of God, it is a
"revelation" (i.e., a guess) from an evil spirit.
So, the takeaway points
from this post are:
1. Most dreams are merely
cognitive waste, or at best a by-product of things that we are thinking about,
either consciously or subconsciously.
2. Dreams that are
actually Godly and prophetic are typically frightening and make us aware of our
unworthiness of salvation.
3. Other dreams that seem
to reveal truths about spiritual things are often guest-appearances by demons
who at best are guessing (as they are not omniscient), or at worst
intentionally deceiving us.
The moral of the story:
pray, focus on your salvation according to our Church's teachings, and forget
about your dreams as soon as you wake from them. If God or an angel is trying
to reveal something to you, they will keep trying until you get the message.
You will know the message is authentic when it fills you with holy fear and
trembling—i.e., repentance and an insatiable desire to strive for holiness and
purity.
Source: http://www.orthodoxwriter.com/2014/01/dream-interpretation-orthodox-church.html, opened 4 Oct. 2017
There
is much to be wary of with Awaken the Dawn.
But there is a little more to look at in closing. The organizers go on to say,
We have reserved the
National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 6-9, 2017. We are calling America to
an unprecedented worship movement on the National Mall. When we gather around
the invisible God, the impossible becomes possible.
We will gather in 50+
tents covering the National Mall. It will be a tent-city filled with worship,
music, prayer, and the gospel.
Each of the 50 states
will have a tent for day and night prayer and relational connection. There will
be larger regional tents with full sound systems for day and night worship and
music. Nothing like this has ever been done before in our nation’s capital.
Washington, D.C. will be a resting place for the presence of God and a staging
ground for missions.
On the final day–all
day–we are extremely excited to partner with Rise Up in a big stage venue on
the National Mall! On this final day, we will worship, pray, preach the gospel
with signs and wonders, and commission a generation to complete the Great
Commission!
. . .
AFTER PRAYING ABOUT THIS GATHERING…
Multiple
leaders sensed that we were to gather on October 6-9, 2017. We later realized
that these dates are during the Feast of Tabernacles when Israel gathered in
tents in their nation’s capital, Jerusalem.
This
same weekend 20 years ago, over a million men gathered for a full day prayer
meeting called Promise Keepers “stand in the Gap”. We believe ATD is to be an
answer to those men’s prayers- that a generation would return to the Mall
simply as a love response to Jesus, in a Tabernacling expression. We want a
whole weekend together this time!
In
a time of unusual governmental shift in America, we are calling America to the
National Mall in a procession to bring the “ark of God” to our nation’s
capital. There is only one Man who is ultimately worthy. As we gather around
Jesus, righteousness will be effected in our nation including our national
government!
. . .
Our goal is not
merely a gathering, but a movement.
In 2018, our vision
is to see tents for worship, unity, and prayer in every state capital and on
university campuses nationwide, leading to a new Jesus movement around the
nation.
We also will be
giving practical steps for those who feel called to missions and leadership.
Our 2017 gathering will be a “staging ground” for missions and evangelism.
. . .
Source: http://www.awakenthedawn.org/vision-and-plan-2017/, opened 4 Oct. 2017
Here
we see a mixing of old covenant Jewish customs with what is supposed to be a
Christian event (something forbidden by the canons of the Orthodox Church), a
further sign of spiritual delusion by these folks, as we see in the teachings
of the Holy Fathers:
Saint John Cassian.
"Conferences".
The Second Conference of
Abbot Moses. On Discretion.
Chapter VII. Of the fall
and deception of a monk of Mesopotamia.
It
is a long business too to tell the story of the deception of that monk of
Mesopotamia, who observed an abstinence that could be imitated by but few in
that country, which he had practised for many years concealed in his cell, and
at last was so deceived by revelations and dreams that came from the devil that
after so many labours and good deeds, in which he had surpassed all those who
dwelt in the same parts, he actually relapsed miserably into Judaism and
circumcision of the flesh. For when the devil by accustoming him to visions
through the wish to entice him to believe a falsehood in the end, had like a
messenger of truth revealed to him for a long while what was perfectly true, at
length he showed him Christian folk together with the leaders of our religion
and creed; viz., Apostles and Martyrs, in darkness and filth, and foul and
disfigured with all squalor, and on the other hand the Jewish people with
Moses, the patriarchs and prophets, dancing with all joy and shining with
dazzling light; and so persuaded him that if he wanted to share their reward
and bliss, he must at once submit to circumcision. And so none of these would have
been so miserably deceived, if they had endeavoured to obtain a power of
discretion. Thus the mischances and trials of many show how dangerous it is to
be without the grace of discretion.
[There is actually no
distinction between the saints of the Old Testament and the New, as the devil
pretends here. All are together
glorified in the Orthodox Church--W.G.]
Source: http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/kinds-of-spiritual-delusion/135-trust-in-dreams/333-delusion-through-dreams-from-demons, opened 5 Oct. 2017
Those
with Awaken the Dawn have warned us, however:
They are not content with infecting Washington City with their ‘viral’
religion: They are coming for State
capitals and universities, etc., too.
Their
intentions may be good, but whatever ‘signs and wonders’ you hear about at
their revivals, keep yourself well away from them, Southron.
(The
title quote is also from Fr Seraphim’s Orthodoxy
and the Religion of the Future, 5th edn., p. 176.)
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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