There were many things that occurred in 2023 that could cause a person to experience an abnormal level of anxiety and even fear. Sadly, these are the things that dominated the news this past year. What you probably didn’t hear or read about, was the move of faith that spread across our country and the world that drove out that fear and replaced it with the peace and joy that only accepting Christ can bring.
Let us first look at just some of the things that caused this anxiety and fear.
Our economy was a mess in 2023, despite what the left, and the media they control, tried to make us believe.
The facts are these: 62% of adults in December, said they were living paycheck to paycheck. Homelessness rose at the fastest pace ever recorded. Personal credit card debt topped $1 trillion. US homes haven’t been this unaffordable since 1984. Inflation was at a 40 year high. A recent poll showed that 93% of Republicans, 85% of Independents and even 61% of Democrats say the economy is in bad shape. Struggling to put food on your table or pay your bills can definitely cause anxiety and fear.
A record number of people came across our southern border last year. In December alone over 300,00 illegals entered our country. That is equal to the population of Pittsburg, Pa.
The total encounters of people who are on the terrorist watch list reached an all time high in 2023 and there is really no way to know how many have gotten into our country undetected. Drug dealers and sex traffickers poured into our country unheeded, and for the first time in US history, fatal overdoses of fentanyl peaked above 112,000 deaths, with young people and people of color among the hardest hit. Only 27% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of this crisis. Even our most liberal “sanctuary city” mayors cried out for a solution. Amazingly, the Biden administration and Homeland Security Director, Alejandro Mayorkas, keep telling us that the border is closed – with a straight face!
The most extraordinary development in American politics in 2023, was the indictment of former President Trump in four separate criminal cases, with alleged felonies totaling 91. That, plus Democrat-led states trying to take Trump off the ballot before the election, shows how much Democrats fear that Republicans will get back in power. But on the other side, Republicans have a great fear that Democrats will retain power. With all the bickering back and forth in Congress, it is no wonder that most Americans fear that our political system in broken.
On top of all that, there were two regional wars going on that had the potential to explode and drag us into World War III. The ongoing Russian/Ukraine War was pushed off the front pages, when on October 7, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis – men, women and children, including infants. They mass raped women and kidnapped over 240 hostages. While Nazis tried to hide evidence of their crimes against Jews, Hamas live-streamed them for the world to see. Israel struck back with massive force, resulting in anti-Israel protests – often violent – sweeping across the Western world. This occurred particularly in big cities and from students and faculty on campuses in America. It exposed an alarming level of anti-Semitism. Jews and those who support them now fear for their safety.
Crime is still a major problem, our schools are a mess, depression and suicides are at an all time high, and it takes a rocket scientist to figure out the proper pronouns to call the misguided woke cult that keeps trying to convince us that a man can give birth. So yes, there was a lot to be anxious about in 2023.
But God tells us in Psalm 34:4 that, “If we seek Him he will deliver us from all of our fears.” And in Psalm 46:1-2, we are told that “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble – therefore we should not fear.”
Maybe in the midst of all of the anxiety and fear people felt in 2023, we should not be surprised that people began turning away from fearing the things of this world, and started seeking the protection and the peace that comes when we give our troubles to Christ. This past year, we witnessed a powerful move of the Holy Spirit across our college campuses, beaches, prisons and churches – so much so that 2023 could be dubbed “A Year of Revival.” It could even point to the beginning of what many have called a spiritual awakening in America and across the globe.
Talia Wise, a reporter for CBN News, wrote an excellent article about the mighty move of God last year. Following are some of her findings:
Many would say that the biggest “firestarter” of them all was a simple worship service at Asbury University in Kentucky, where 100 people fell to their knees and bowed at the altar in Hughes Auditorium, just to worship God. During the second week in February, thousands flocked to the college campus where they sought God’s presence for more than two weeks, leading to repentance, healing, and salvation. What took place garnered national attention and began to spring up across other campuses.
Lee University, a private Christian college in Cleveland, Tennessee, is 250 miles away from Asbury University, but students from this small school felt compelled to take part in what was taking place and it began a movement of revival on their campus. Lee University Campus Pastor, Rob Fultz, noted on X, “What’s happening at Asbury is not and will not remain confined. It will, and already is, awakening the deep wells of revival on campuses across the nation.”
The revival continued to spread to schools in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
Some of the evidence that God was moving on college campuses did not involve massive worship services in an auditorium, but rather, outdoor prayer gatherings and spontaneous baptisms wherever there was water. In February, Michael Fehlauer, the lead pastor of the New Life Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, posted videos to social media that showed baptisms being performed in a public fountain at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
An impromptu baptism at Auburn University in Alabama started with one student wanting to be baptized, but grew to roughly 200 people who decided to give their lives to Christ. In September, hundreds of students made a public declaration of their new life in Christ by dipping in a a lake near Red Barn, as spectators watched in awe. More than 5,000 people showed up to Unite Auburn’s “Night of Worship.”
This spiritual awakening was not just limited to college campuses but spread throughout towns in America.
In a small community in southeastern Kentucky, hundreds of people were changed by a move of God’s Spirit. Pastor Scott Phipps told CBN News that for 77 nights God moved “in a mighty way” as people were delivered, healed, and set free from addiction. “People are really pouring their hearts out to the Lord, and the altars are full,” Phipps said. “Addicts have been delivered every night. And one thing about the people coming is that most of them do not have any background in any Christianity whatsoever,” Phipps added. “The Lord says those who have been forgiven much, loveth much and many of these people were at death’s door.”
In Hammond, Louisiana, a four-day church worship service turned into an eight-month-long revival at an old Baptist church. People from 17 states and two countries traveled to Old Zion Baptist Church to see what God was doing and thousands decided to put their faith in Jesus.
Inspired by the movie, “Jesus Revolution,” thousands of people came from all across America and the world to take part in the “Jesus Revolution Baptism” in July at the now-famous Pirates Cove in Newport Beach, California. Harvest Christian Fellowship Sr. Pastor, Greg Laurie, held the massive baptism event where 32,500 people gathered and 6,794 made decisions to dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ. Just a week earlier, more than 4,000 people were baptized on that same beach on Pentecost Sunday to celebrate not only the gift of eternal life, but to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jesus Movement.
God Behind Bars, a national prison ministry, baptized 599 prison inmates and saw 126,000 salvations last year. The organization strategically works to reach the more than 2.3 millions people in the prison system and bring the hope found in the Gospel. The ministry once shared that what is happening in the prisons is a “new thing” and it is evident in the joy that is felt and the lives that are changed.
Many churches across the country have experienced record-breaking water baptisms – some spontaneous.
More than 2,000 baptisms took place across Life.Church’s 40-plus campuses in August. “We’re not praying for a revival. We’re in the middle of one. I thank God for what He’s doing,” Life.Church founder and pastor, Craig Groeschel, said. “God is doing a big thing.”
Nearly 300 people were baptized one Sunday morning at The Biltmore Church in Arden, North Carolina. And in one service at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, TN, 136 people were spontaneously baptized.
Pastor Mike Signorelli took over Times Square in New York recently, bringing together thousands to worship and receive deliverance. Signorelli said of the massive revival, “It was powerful to see salvation spreading throughout New York City. And, to me, that was a sign that America is truly ready for revival. We are in those days.”
While God moved on college campuses, in churches, and through entire cities in the US in 2023 bringing hope, healing and redemption, it did not stop at America’s borders.
Entire countries, people groups and nations were evangelized for Jesus, making it evident that God is writing a story that includes Muslims meeting Jesus in dreams, entire nations falling on their knees in prayer, and whole villages sharing the Gospel with their unbelieving neighbors:
•Massive Move of God in Nicaragua: Missionary Britt Hancock of the organization, “Mountain Gateway,” told CBN News close to a million people have attended the outreaches this year in Nicaragua and tens of thousands have accepted Jesus Christ, and thousands have been healed.
•Historic Gospel Outreach in Cairo: In what has been called the largest Christian event in Egypt’s history, more than 17,000 souls attended a Gospel outreach and more than 7,800 people decided to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
•Muslims Meeting Jesus in Dreams in Levels We Have Never Seen: God has no limitations on how He can reach people and two Assembly of God missionaries shared multiple firsthand testimonies this year of Muslims coming to the Christian faith after encountering Jesus Christ in their dreams and converting to Christianity in levels not seen in 1,400 years!
•Guinea Bissau – Powerful Move of God of Biblical Proportions: A move of the Holy Spirit came to the northwestern African country of Guinea Bissau in 2023, where there were more than 18,477 documented decisions for Christ, during several open-air crusades in a country which is 70% Muslim. Thousands came far and wide to hear the Gospel. Some even traveled in canoes and boats on rough waters from islands off the coast to be a part of this.
•Over 200,000 People Attended the Crusade in Lusaka, Zambia: After a stirring message of repentance, people of every age flooded the altar to lay down idols, bottles of hard alcohol, drugs, witchcraft items, and many other things. Those items were later taken to bins and then burned. There were also more than 45,000 documented salvations.
•A Broad ‘Move of God’ in Latin America: Thousands of teenagers in Latin America are committing to Christianity, becoming engaged with Bible, and learning more about Jesus, according to a new poll. About 74% of Christian Brazilian teenagers said they believe Jesus offers people hope. Earlier this year, Evangelist Will Graham presented the Gospel to a group of 17,600 people in Brazil. Nearly 1,000 people responded to that invitation in Brazil and decided to give their lives to Jesus Christ.
•40,000 Revival Prayer Groups Spring Up in Taiwan: Meanwhile, God is also moving in a part of the world that’s teetering on the brink of war. Daily harassment from the Chinese military is forcing Taiwan to beef up its military and training with new US weapons, but believers in the country are using a different tactic – prayer. Thousands of Christians on the tiny island are meeting everyday, 24 hours a day, to pray for revival, unity, repentance, and protection over their land. More than 40,000 Revival Prayer Groups (RPG) have sprouted up, with members of China’s underground church movement also taking part. Each group has about 5 members, so that brings the current total to roughly 200,000 participants. Church leaders in Taiwan believe prayer can make the difference between war and peace.
Dr. Corne Bekker, Dean and Professor of the Regent University School of Divinity stated, “The time is now; the kingdom of God is here.” What should be our response? Repent and believe in the Good News.” Bekker believes this could be the last great move of God to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Let us all pray that the move of God that was birthed in 2023 continues to grow and more and more people realize that God is the only answer to the problems that we will surely face in 2024.