You know what’s crazy to me? A world where (at least in the United States) everyone is calling for equality and yet they all purposely miss what (or rather, Who) gives them equality.

In the 1700s, the church of England didn’t let certain people into their parishes. Those people weren’t good enough to enter into a house of God. Who were these people? Anyone that the church of England deemed less than – poor people, slaves, anyone who didn’t have status or money.

Well, a preacher comes along and changes that, preaching to every human about how we were all created in God’s image and if we follow Him, we are all equal and children of God. Guess who did not like that message? If you guessed the church of England, you would be correct. They banned this preacher from preaching inside their churches ever again. The church of England couldn’t quite get behind the idea of equality. No, ignoring that part in the Bible seemed like a better idea to them. Wouldn’t want a revolution or something to happen.

The church of England still managed to control churches in the colonies through the Act of Toleration in the 1600s, where other groups, like Baptists and Presbeterians could meet, but they still had to swear allegiance to the King as the head of the church, they could not meet privately, and they were unable to hold office. England was slowly losing its grip on the churches in the colonies. Especially when the preacher they kicked out visited the colonies.

See, this preacher did something that would eventually be called the First Great Awakening, from the 1730s to the 1770s. This preacher united all of these different churches, proclaiming that salvation was personal – not based on family or tradition – and that all were equal in the eyes of God. This was bad news for Britain, those unruly colonies started to believe in something much Higher and that gave them the power and courage to believe that they could fight for freedom. That all were equal, and that the king of England had no right to rule over churches.

You know I love Sight and Sound. They currently have a movie out, A Great Awakening, for just this weekend. My husband and I went to see it Thursday. If it is in a theater near you and if you have time, I think you should go watch it. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. No spoilers in this post, though, that you wouldn’t have gotten from some basic history lesson. I didn’t want to spoil it for you if you were going to see it.

We all know what happened with those pesky colonies. It wasn’t just because we outsmarted England, after all, at that time they did have the largest navy in the world. Rather, those patriots fought and relied on God for everything. It think it’s time we start returning to seeking after God.

If you are not 100% sure that you’ll go to Heaven when you die, now is the time to repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you have any questions or doubts about your salvation, click here to learn how you can be saved!

Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions below, or you can contact me here! I love hearing from you!