I was listening to “You’ve lost that lovin’ feelin”, “Unchained melody”, and “(You’re My) Soul and inspiration” by The Righteous Brothers. Maybe my favorite songs of the 60’s as I was in high school (graduated in 67). So many other great songs in the 60’s.

But then I saw a video of the 12 “rebellion songs” of the 60’s, like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the wind”, Barry McGuire’s “Eve of destruction”, and the Beatles “Revolution”. These songs were often banned by radio stations but very popular among youth. The 60’s were troublesome times in the United States.

AI: “Yes, the 1960s were incredibly turbulent in the U.S., marked by intense social upheaval, political violence, and cultural clashes (Woodstock), driven by the Civil Rights Movement, the divisive Vietnam War, countercultural shifts challenging sexual norms (hippies, free love), drug use of LSD, marijuana, and others, “duck and cover nuclear drills”, and shocking political assassinations (JFK, MLK Jr., RFK), all against a backdrop of Cold War fear and growing generational divides.” There were a lot of good things in the 60’s (color TV sets introduced to homes; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Beatlemania (their early songs like “I want to hold your hand” were great); Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind); Motown Magic with the Supremes and the Temptations; drive-in movie theaters. But the troubles of the 60’s overshadowed the good for the most part.

It was a weird time for religious movements to begin in the 60’s (we would expect nothing less). AI: “The 1960s in America sparked diverse religious movements, including the countercultural Jesus Movement (evangelical Christian response to hippies), the rise of Eastern traditions (Hare Krishna, Buddhism, Transendental Meditation), the emergence of the New Age Movement (yoga, astrology, spiritual transformation), and new spiritual paths like Satanism (Church of Satan and Anton LaVey),  and Wicca. Supreme Court rulings in the early ’60s ended mandatory prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Billy Graham crusades thrived, and new evangelical institutions formed, though debates over theology (Calvinism vs. Arminianism) continued.

So what do we have today? The cultural clashes are at a new heighth (or depth). Gay marriage and the LGBQT movement, and the steep rise of the nones, those who say they have no religious affiliation, are probably the two main cultural shifts that affect and have split religious fundamentalists and denominations.

There is hope. AI: “Gen Z Is Hungry for Spiritual Growth. A staggering 74% of Gen Z seeks to deepen their spiritual lives. This isn’t merely about religion; it’s about genuine encounters with Jesus. Campus revivals are Igniting all over. Students are leading worship nights, prayer gatherings, and baptisms worldwide, and they are making a tremendous impact.” Many non-profit organizations are feeding and providing medical care for the poor worldwide, drilling clean water wells in Africa, providing disaster relief, and supporting persecuted Christians.

So, might we have a nationwide revival like the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, or the “prayer revival” of the 1850’s in major U.S. cities? Maybe. But to do so we wll need to get back to the belief that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that homosexuality is condemned by God in the Bible. The homosexual issue is perhaps the “litmus test” for fundamentalists today. We can disagree over many Christian issues and minor doctrines, but there are some basic doctrines that fundamentalist Christians cannot reject, like the Deity of Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and not “practicing sin” that God defines as damnable (like the LGBQT doctrines). AI: “About 64% of U.S. adults in 2023/2024 considered same-sex relations morally acceptable (Gallup). 67% of Americans support same-sex marriage (PRRI, 2024).” What’s even more disturbing is that Pew Research shows broad acceptance of homosexuality of 59% among religious people in 2023-24). “In 2015, 51% of Millennial evangelicals felt homosexuality should be accepted by society, a significant shift from older generations.”

The bottom line is that you can’t have a revival if you disagree on what sin is. People are not going to repent of sin if they don’t even think it is sin that needs to be repented of. What can we do? We can pray for our nation. Pray that God will do whatever it takes to humble us back to a full belief in the inspiration of Scriptures. We must defend the apostleship of Pau just as he had to defend his apostleship in the New Testament. After all, it is the inspired writings of Paul that condemn homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). Many want to accept the teachings of Jesus but not the teachings of Paul, but we can’t do that. The apostle Peter, whom almost every Christian would accept as an inspired apostle, said that Paul’s writings were on the same level of inspiration and authority as those of the Old Testament Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16).

Again, pray and preach. 2 Timothy 4:² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction. ³ For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Thanks for reading.