The Next Generation

“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you moreand more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts allday long—though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaimyour mighty acts, Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yoursalone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare yourmarvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till Ideclare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are tocome” (Psalm 71:14-18).

I came across this paragraph in 1979 when Bessie and I werein Vancouver, BC. It has been my life verse since then—the next generation! AsI look at Christian history, it seems to be history that only takes care of thepresent generation, not the next one.

The seventeenth century in England and Scotland was a timeof revival until there was a Christian king after the glorious revolution of1688. The next two generations were of great moral decay. It ended with JohnWesley and George Whitefield, Count Zinzendorf, Jonathan Edwards, and DavidBrainerd. This included the Wesleyan Revival in England and the Great Awakeningin the American Colonies. Then, after the American Revolution, there wasanother generation of great moral decay. Then another awakening occurred in1790 and continued on and off through 1858 where a half a million people wereconverted in the Northern States.

Other evangelicals (Moody, Torrey, Sunday, and Billy Graham)had an effect, but in between them and now after them there is more moraldecay.

Here is my point. Presently there are many evangelisticorganizations in the United States: Young Life, Campus Crusade, InterVarsity,the Navigators, and many others. They are effective. We also have manyevangelistic mega churches, believing seminaries, and Christian schools. Yetsomething is very wrong. The moral decadence in the United States today isgreat in quality and quantity. Christian families are not reaching their ownchildren, and churches are not reaching the next generation.

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