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Religion Professor’s Views on Revivals Challenged

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* In regard to the column “Religious Revivals of Limited Value” (Aug. 24) by Benjamin J. Hubbard, I have to disagree with Mr. Hubbard’s opinion that “revivals are more about feeling good than doing good.” Just ask the former gang members, the reunited families, the former drug dealers and drug addicts, and scores of others whose lives have been radically changed.

Take the young man who was on his way to rob a liquor store to support his drug habit, but saw the lights at Anaheim Stadium, decided to check it out, then decided to make a lifestyle change by committing his life to Jesus Christ. Take the father who was reunited with his two estranged sons at the crusade in San Diego. Take the drug dealer, who, after making a decision to follow Christ, decided to leave the drug trade and threw away his pager. Then there are the three young women who had tried to commit suicide just weeks before attending the crusade, but have chosen to give life another chance with Jesus Christ.

These are just a few of the documented stories we hear after the crusades each year, but they illustrate the point that as lives are changed, they, in turn, affect the lives of those around them.

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The crusades have made such an impact in the city of San Diego that this year Susan Golding, San Diego’s mayor, proclaimed July 11 as “Summer Harvest Crusade Day.” Among other things, the proclamation commended Harvest Crusade for touching “tens of thousands of San Diegans in a positive way” and for strengthening “family ties and helping thousands of individuals throughout San Diego County.”

In addition, we have conducted food drives during our free crusades in San Diego and Hawaii. The church I pastor also works to minister to the body as well as the soul. Our drug and alcohol outreach has grown to 1,150 people.

I’d like to echo the words of C.S. Lewis, well-known Christian author and philosopher: “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

Throughout history, revivals have done more good for society than any moral reform or social campaign ever did. That’s because they’ve dealt with changing the person before trying to change the person’s environment. To do it the other way around is to place the proverbial cart before the horse.

Above all, these events show that young people today have a deep, spiritual hunger. I, for one, want to lead these people to the Person who has made such a profound difference in my life and the way I live: Jesus Christ.

GREG LAURIE

Riverside

Greg Laurie was the featured evangelist of the Harvest Crusade held at Anaheim Stadium.

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* Benjamin Hubbard’s commentary on revivals is a perfect example of the attitude of modern-day educators. Ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Revivals are not about changing the world. Jesus never came to make the world better. He says the world’s going to get progressively worse. Revivals are about changing man’s heart, through the simplicity of his gospel.

Greg Laurie and Chuck Smith have the right idea. Introduce the kids to Jesus and let him do the rest. Many a professor of religious studies still has not grasped his simple message, “Give me your heart and follow me.”

JOSEPH G. COMADURAN

La Habra

* Benjamin Hubbard’s commentary on July’s Harvest Crusade in Anaheim and the recently concluded World Youth Day in Denver offers a curious insight into the mind of one charged with educating our youth. Mr. Hubbard correctly notes that “our times are different” and cites the “epidemic of youth crime” as a reason for debunking attempts to rise above our difficulties and search for the ideals we need to focus our feeble attempts at solving the problems of society.

Frankly, I miss his logic. The times may indeed be different, but people still need idealism and must feel good about themselves in order to make a difference. If we can’t see beyond our instant malaise to get our bearings, then how can we possibly set a course to a better destination.

We must believe in inspiration and ideals as important motivators of the very social activism that Mr. Hubbard advocates.

Maybe if more of our youth were exposed to the influence and camaraderie of a Harvest Crusade or World Youth Day, they would be less inclined to destroy each other in gang wars, and be moved to work in their communities to eliminate the roots of the epidemic that we all would like to end.

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And wouldn’t it be nice if our leaders in the classroom and elsewhere exhibited their support and encouragement for the institutions and events that attempt to expose our youth to the ideals of our founders, even if they come clothed in religious garb?

BILL ORDWAY

Santa Ana

* It is amazing to me that a professor in the department of religious studies at Cal State Fullerton would write and hold himself out as an expert about something that he knows so little.

Benjamin Hubbard calls the gathering of half a million Catholic youth at World Youth Day a “revival.” He writes that those attending are there “principally for inspiration and reassurance that God cares for them, not for making the world a better place for the young (or for humanity generally).” Mr. Hubbard summarizes by saying that instead of gatherings like this and the Harvest Crusade, people should instead be out volunteering for various programs to help people.

Mr. Hubbard obviously knows nothing about the makeup of the youth that made the trip to World Youth Day. They were an amazing group of dedicated Christian Catholics that didn’t need to “revive” anything! They were affirming what they live every day of every week. They were not there just for themselves but to share their faith with others like themselves from around the country and the world.

I wish they had these Catholic programs for youth when I was their age. These kids live the message of Jesus Christ every day in their lives. They had been regularly volunteering to help clothe, feed and shelter the homeless, building homes for the poor in Mexico, visiting the sick in convalescent homes a long time before they made their trip to Denver.

JOHN MISURACA

Laguna Hills

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