Brad Huddleston, one of Virginia Christian Alliance advisors is a specialist in dealing with the effects of technologies such as smartphones and the devastation it is having on our children. Brad has returned from missions to South Korea and Australia where he ministered to 6,000 students. He has seen the effect of governments preventing the mention of God is our schools. At the end of the article Brad ask, WHERE TO WE GO FROM HERE?
The answer is we need for him to minister here in Virginia. As a start we are running Brad’s article- Smartphones- Not Always So Smart to appear next week.
God Is Breaking Up the Fallow Ground
Years ago I remember reading a tract from Last Days Ministries (Keith Green) written by Charles Finney entitled Breaking Up the Fallow Ground: An Outline for Repentance. The title comes from Hosea 10:12 (NIV) where God says,
“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.
God is obviously telling us that our hearts can become hard and we need to soften the soil of our spirit so that He can work in us. Hardness of heart keeps God’s seed, fertilizer, and water from entering the most secret areas of our lives. In this passage, the responsibility is clearly ours to begin this process and then God joins us in this process.
There are other times when, in His mercy, God pursues us. This could not have been made clearer than when Jesus died for our sins.
Matthew 27:51 (NIV) At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Perhaps you’ve read this verse a million times and never really pondered the significance of the curtain being torn from top to bottom. The symbolism here is both powerful and personal. This passage is letting humanity know that when we were not even looking for God, He came down here looking for us. That’s why the rip in the curtain started at the top and ended at the bottom. Simply put, He loves us and is chasing us down, even when we’re unaware of Him.
At the time of this writing, I am in Australia. Before coming here, I spent six days in South Korea delivering a keynote, conducting workshops, and preaching at Global Youth Forum 2013. Over the past two months, I have spoken to approximately 6000 students, parents, teachers and church attenders. For the first time in many years, I can now honestly say that I am witnessing God visiting students on a big scale. Let me explain…
I am not seeing full scale revival in this generation but I do believe we could be headed that way if we are willing to invest prayer, fasting, time, and resources.
I have been in one public school after another, day after day, and have watched the Holy Spirit descend and keep the students riveted for as long as 65 minutes. I am often complimented on my public speaking abilities and while I certainly appreciate and need the encouragement just like anyone else, I can tell you that only God can hold teenagers’ attention for that long in this day and age. The Lord is truly up to something.
When I say that I have watched the Holy Spirit visit public schools, I want to be clear in what I mean. The law prevents me from outright evangelism. I have not given altar calls. We are not at that stage (yet). If you are someone who is shielded from the secular world, you might not realize just how lost this generation is. You have likely read how hostile the culture has become toward Christians. Trust me, its one thing to read about it and quite another experience to actually be on the front lines.
For the first time in modern history in the western world, much of the current generation has absolutely no spiritual frame of reference. We are literally starting from scratch when it comes to evangelism. Yes, we have always had sins such as drugs, alcohol, and pornography, however, never have we seen the sheer volume of pornography and related digital addictions in so many people, especially at such young ages. This is due in part to smart phones in the bedrooms of people of all ages, but most alarming, in children. I am not sure how to relate to you how it feels when you’ve encountered pornography on third grader’s smart phones. Yes, grade 3.
None of this has escaped God’s eyes. His heart still breaks for those who are lost in depravity. So let’s go back to what I am seeing in school after school. I am watching God visit thousands of students. You can see it on their faces as I speak to them. My heart breaks when I leave a line of unsaved students waiting to speak to me. The ones I get to speak to are so honest. They often confess their porn addiction, cutting, video game addiction, and phone addiction (just to name a few). It is so refreshing to see the conviction from the Holy Spirit and yet the majority don’t even know what is happening to them. They are hungry. So what do we do?
Space will only permit me to answer that question with two examples of what is being done.
I was recently hired by the Queensland Police to tour with Cyber Safety Expert Sergeant Nigel Dalton. Nigel is a true man of God who has a call on his life to serve (minister to) young people. In those 7 days, we spoke 24 times to almost 3000 students and 180 parents and teachers. We watched in absolute amazement as God visited students. The cry for help from many of them was at times inspiring and yet disturbing.
The second example I would like to relate is that of Pastors Ivan and Roslyn Waldock in Goodiwindi, Australia. The Waldock’s have been in ministry for many years and while they don’t have a full understanding of modern technology, they can clearly see what has happened to their community and they sense an urgency that something must be done right away. Even though they had no experience with contacting schools, they reached out to both Christian and Public Schools in their community and offered my services at no charge. In other words, their church paid for everything, including me, just because they care and want to see Jesus move in their town. And He did.
As I would speak day after day, there sat Roslyn in the back of the classrooms interceding the entire time. As I would speak, the Holy Spirit would descend in such a sweet way and captivate the hearts and minds of the students. The vast majority of them had no idea what they were experiencing but they loved it. What they were actually enjoying was the love of God being brought in by the church. The Scriptures talk about God’s favor. For example…
Luke 2:52 (NIV) And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
All of the Principals from every school, both Christian and Public, took it upon themselves to invite me back next year. That is God’s favor. Through the efforts of Christians such as Nigel, Ivan and Roslyn, God is helping these students, who don’t even know Him, to plow up the hardened soil of their hearts. He loves them. He came down here, tore the curtain from top to bottom because He loves them. I am witnessing this everywhere I go.
Where do we go from here?
I am seeking God as to what to do next. So far, I am being led to return to the same schools. I want to plan off-campus crusades. I will take time off at the end of this year to create discipleship materials by faith. My faith tells me that if we are willing to fast, pray, invest time, money, and be willing to endure persecution, we will see a harvest of souls. I will leave you with this for now…
Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV) Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Brad Huddleston has degrees in Computer Science and Bible. He is an author, speaker, and Evangelist. He and his wife Beth travel the globe ministering in conferences, churches, schools, and retreats. Brad often appears on radio and television. His book can be ordered at www.bradhuddleston.com and www.darksideoftechnology.com, and he can be reached at brad@bradhuddleston.com.
© 2011. Brad Huddleston Ministries. All rights reserved.
