Problems such as teen pregnancy and school shootings will be solved only if Christians turn to God and pray for revival in America, Billy Kim warned.
Problems such as teen pregnancy and school shootings will be
solved only if Christians turn to God and pray for revival in America, Billy
Kim warned.
“What America needs today is a generation of God-fearing
mothers and fathers willing to kneel by the bedside and pray all night their
wandering sons and daughters back to the fold of God,” said Kim, president
of the Baptist World Alliance and pastor at the 15,000-member Central Baptist
Church in Suwon, Korea. “This nation needs revival. …
“There is no other nation on the face of the earth that
has been blessed by God as the people of the United States of America,”
Kim insisted during a recent address at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
“Whether you like it or not, youre the world leader militarily, politically
and even religiously. Whatever you teach here, sooner or later it will influence
our part of the world.”
In an address based on Habukkuk 3:1-3, Kim warned that moral
decline in America will continue – unless Christians begin to pray for
revival.
“Ninety-six percent of all Americans say they believe
in God,” he noted. “Eighty percent profess to be Christians. Yet families
are splitting apart in record numbers. Countless unborn babies have been killed.
And there are a hundred times more burglaries in so-called Christian America
than there are in so-called pagan Japan.”
Kim offered more troubling statistics, noting a major crime
is committed in America every 22 seconds; a murder is committed every 34 minutes;
125,000 high school girls become pregnant every year; and 100,000 high school
students carry guns to school every day.
“America needs revival,” Kim emphasized.
“American churches need revival.
“American Baptist churches need revival.”
However, such revival only will come as Christians pray, Kim
continued. “Prayer is the premise to revival. The only way that God will
send revival across the United States is (if) Christian people begin to take
prayer seriously.”
Kim told how God has sent revival to Korea, where many of the
countrys larger churches dwarf what are considered “mega-churches”
in the United States. Kim said the number of churches in Korea grew from 5,000
in 1955 to 32,000 in 1985. In that time, the number of Christians increased
from 1 million to 10 million – and the Christian population continues to
grow four times faster than the regular population.
The worlds largest Presbyterian, Methodist and Assemblies
of God churches are located in Korea, with one particular churchs membership
totaling about 700,000, Kim said.
“Somebody asked me, What about Baptists?”
he said. “Well, you give us time. Were going to get there.”
Aside from the working of the Holy Spirit, Kim said he thinks
there are five reasons Korean churches are experiencing revival. He noted that:
The Korean church has stressed the importance of prayer.
“Every morning, at 4:30 or 5 oclock, you see most
of the Korean churches praying,” Kim said. “Furthermore, the senior
pastor is asked to preach every morning. If you dont think thats
a chore, you try (it) sometime.”
Kim told of a conversation he had with a fellow pastor, whose
congregation consists of several hundred thousand members. “One day I asked
him, Why is it that on Sunday morning you have 500,000 people rushing
to hear you preach, but my church has only about 10,000 people?”
Kim said. “He said, How long are you praying every day? I told
him about 30 to 40 minutes. … He said, I pray five hours a day.
“I have no question (that) when a man prays five hours
a day, God will begin to use that man,” Kim said.
The Korean church preaches the Word of God.
“Theyre very conservative,” Kim noted. “Theyre
preaching the Word.”
Kim recounted how some Korean seminary students recently asked
him about the future of the Korean church. “I told the students, If
you preach the Word, the Korean church will survive, but if you dont preach
the Word, the Korean church will be like the European church, with a great big
church building (and) 50 to 60 people on Sunday morning.”
The Korean church stresses moral and theological purity
among its members.
“Our churches must have a high standard,” Kim said,
suggesting that many of the churches in the United States could be confused
for social clubs. “Unless our churches will have a sanctified life and
a purified life and a holy life, God will not send revival to our churches.”
The Korean church praises God in all situations.
Kim told how revival broke out in Korea in 1983 – despite
the fact that the nation endured two tragedies. In one, a Soviet fighter jet
shot down a Korean Air Lines passenger plane, killing all 269 people on board.
Later that year, 17 South Korean delegates were killed by a bomb during a trip
to Burma. It had been planted by North Koreans.
“Yet that year, Korean churches sold more hymn books than
any other nation, …” Kim noted. “Even through all the sad circumstances
we have faced, Korean Christians have learned to praise God in all the difficult
circumstances.”
Praise must precede revival, Kim insisted.
“God expects us to praise him through all the circumstances
that come our way, and unless we realize that we praise God for all the blessings,
God will not send a great revival.”
The Korean church has endured persecution.
Kim told the story of a church that was burned to the ground
when Japan occupied Korea during World War II. At the time, its members were
inside, worshiping.
“While they were singing, Japanese locked the door from
the outside and threw gallons of kerosene (on it) and set the church on fire,”
Kim recounted. “A squad of Japanese police was standing all around the
church and ready to shoot if anyone would jump out.”
Decades later – after Japan no longer occupied Korea –
delegations from both countries met together for a time of healing. Members
of the Japanese delegation were so heartbroken about the incident that they
raised money to build another church at the same spot. It opened in 1971, and
Kim was there for the dedication. He said members made a point to sing “At
the Cross” because that same hymn was being sung when the church was destroyed
decades earlier.
During the church dedication – and during the singing
of “At the Cross” – the Japanese delegation stood up and walked
over where the Korean delegation was sitting, Kim said.
The two delegations embraced one another,” he related.
“They hugged another. They forgave and they forgot, because thats
the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (BP)
