Historians and theologians have identified four religious revivals in American Christian history. The First Great Awakening began in the 1730s and lasted to about 1740. The Second Great Awakening began in the late 18th century and lasted until the middle of the 19th century which came with reform movements. The Third Great Awakening ran from the 1850s-1900s and was characterized by missions, Chautauquas and the Social Gospel. The Fourth Great Awakening happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is often referred to as “The Jesus Movement.”

American religious  historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom writes on how The First Great Awakening was ushered in by the Grand Itinerant, the British evangelist George Whitefield who arrived in Georgia in 1738 and returned in 1739 before visiting New England in 1740. Beginning in 1740, Whitefield preached nearly every day for months to large crowds up to 80,000 people as he traveled throughout the colonies, especially New England. Whitefield had a loud voice, and developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audiences. In total, Whitefield made seven voyages to America from 1738 to 1770.

George Whitefield’s story can be seen in theaters at: https://www.agreatawakening.com/

This movie shows the decades friendship between George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin and shows how Whitefield would often preach on the freedom and liberty that Jesus gives those who accept Him as Lord and Savior and receive the “new birth.” A poignant part of the movie was the contrast shown between the English view of rights given by a ruler vs. the colonies view that rights were given by God. In fact, Franklin in the movie called George Whitefield “the American revolution.”

The evangelist’s sermons were promoted by Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette, which was one of the United States’ most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800.

After one of Whitefield’s sermons, Benjamin Franklin noted: “It seem’d as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro’ the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.”

Whitefield was born on Dec. 27, 1714 in Gloucester, England. In 1770, the 55-year-old Whitefield continued preaching in spite of poor health. He said, “I would rather wear out than rust out.” His last sermon was preached in a field “atop a large barrel.” The next morning, Sept. 30, 1770, Whitefield died in the parsonage of Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport Massachusetts, and was buried, according to his wishes, in a crypt under the pulpit of this church. John Wesley, preached Whitefield’s funeral sermon in London.

Whitefield might have been the “greatest evangelical preacher that the world has ever seen.” Mark Gali wrote on Whitefield’s legacy: “George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century. Newspapers called him the ‘marvel of the age.’ In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers.”

A Great Awakening in California: April 11 Prayer Rally Prophetic Words

Chuck Pierce: “I am going to come back to the gates of this nation. I have gathered my worshippers in Los Angeles. Because you have come, I will send my Spirit again. This is a historic point in this nation.”

Cindy Jacobs: “I am going to wake up the church in California, for there will be a great California awakening. I will raise a Generation Z church. I am the God of California and I say: ‘Wake up, California.’” 

Ed Silvoso: “The light that shines, must shine in your home. California shall be set free.”

(Editor: See https://calirednews.substack.com/p/los-angeles-memorial-coliseum-prayer.)