Yo from sunny Philly. It's been a long time and believe me a lots been happening. Among them is an event that a few friends and I are putting together this coming June. It's called Revival 2K10 and you can find out more about it here.
This event has one main purpose. To launch a movement that seeks to restore a God centered focus to our faith, life and salvation. Below is a letter I wrote to several pastors in my denomination (Presbyterian Church in America) about the event and why I believe it's necessary. If you're in the area please consider attending the revival. If not, please keep it and us in your prayers.
Greetings brothers in the name of our Lord. I hope you, your families and God's people are doing well in Him.
In the sphere of religion, in particular, the present time is a time of conflict; the great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology. —Christianity and Liberalism
These are the words which J. Gresham Machen used to describe the various forms of liberalism that presented a direct challenge to historic, redemptive Christianity. One of the things that made liberalism so dangerous was the way in which it used traditional Christian terminology to describe itself.
Brothers, myself along with a number of other black TE's within our church are convinced that a similar challenge now confronts orthodox Christian faith particularly within the historic black church. For the balance of the 20th century the mainstream historic black church while not reformed certainly held to the main tenets of orthodox faith. However towards the end of the last century the prosperity gospel (which in its various forms had always lurked near the fringe of the black church) moved closer and closer to becoming the central theology believed and practiced by the black church.
To give a little perspective on this imagine that the liberalism against which Machen wrote and he and other evangelicals fought against not only grew in prominence within theological circles but actually became the substance of the faith of many if not most of those within the pews. Imagine if relatives of yours who once held to the historic orthodox faith began articulating a full throttled liberalism even while continuing to use traditional terms. And imagine that they had little to no contact, input or challenge from evangelical churches that were countering this heresy.
That is the situation that most all of the black TE's within the PCA find ourselves. The churches in which we grew up or came to faith now spout this destructive form of heresy.
And this is where we need your help. A few of us are in the process of hosting an event that we pray will launch a movement to counter this heresy. Revival 2K10 is an event scheduled for June 4th through 6th at the New Song Community Church in Baltimore MD. The purpose of this event is to impact the black church and black community with historic, redemptive Christianity that is biblically grounded, gospel driven and Christ-centered. We are using the term 'revival' because so many within our community are familiar with that term. However, our hope is that in time more and more of our brothers and sisters in the Lord and in the flesh will attend this revival not too see sensational 'spiritual' antics but to observe and participate in Christ-centered worship that features sound, expository, passionate preaching. Moreover, our hope and earnest prayer is that having been exposed to worship that is Christ-centered, joyful and orderly they will listen to what we have to say regarding biblically reformed theology, mission and practice.
I've included the event schedule in this letter and am asking you to consider doing at least three things:
First, please pray for the speakers, the worship services, the breakout sessions and other activities connected with this event. I'd ask that either the session or one or more small groups within the congregation take some time to pray for these things on a regular basis.
Second, please consider annoucning the event to the congregation and encourage those who can to attend and worship the Lord with us.
Third, please consider giving us a one time donation to help offset some of the costs of this event.
In conclusion brothers please understand that we are in no way seeking to be exclusive or to just narrow our focus to the black church and community. We invite and welcome any who wish to be a part of this effort to bring reform to the black church. Our desire is not to cause any kind of separation. We only hope to see God work among our people who as we know have had little exposure to biblically reformed theology for over a hundred and fifty years.
Other than a $10.00 charge for lunch on Saturday afternoon there is no registration fee for this event. We are however asking people to register just so that we can have a count of whose attending. You can register by emailing New Song Community church at info@nsc-church.org (please be sure to put Revival 2K10 in the subject line) or via Facebook by searching for Revival 2K10: Worshiping God Through Preaching, Praise and Prayer and indicating your RSVP.
Thank you for your consideration and prayers.
Joyfully in Christ,
TE Lance Lewis
Pastor Christ Liberation Fellowship
Philadelphia PA
(267) 350-6456
lance818@verizon.net
