We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Debra Dean. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Debra below.

Hi Debra, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

The big U-Turn that I have seen in industry, education, America, and our world, in general, is the turn away from God and the alignment with evil. It’s a topic that makes us feel uncomfortable because it is now “taboo” or “politically incorrect” to talk about God. However, the rise of evil, crime, witches, demons, and all sorts of sin (according to the Bible) is easy to see in our families, our neighborhoods, our schools, and our workplaces. Why is it so wrong to talk about Jesus, yet so easy to talk about sin?

Just this week, I saw where people were condemning a young couple for getting married, saying they were too young. However, there seems to be no age limit for transgender modification or abortion.

Not that long ago (maybe 10 years), it was taboo to talk about politics and how much money someone made. There was a general agreement in society that we all behaved according to social norms, and that helped us all get along. Now, it seems like chaos, criticism, disrespect, rudeness, and telling people what they are doing wrong to their face or tattle-telling to others is commonplace.

Also, this week, I saw that a family with chickens in their yard was told they had to get rid of them. They had the chickens for a couple of years without any problems. However, someone anonymously reported it to the neighborhood committee, which made them get rid of the chickens. These were animals that helped feed their family. They were hens. They were not loud, and they stayed in the backyard. Others commented that dogs barking in the neighborhood were more offensive than the chickens. What happened to minding our own business and not letting everything rattle our feathers?

I believe that the real reason we are all so offended is that our relationship with Jesus is not where it needs to be. Many are scared to talk about Jesus. They are scared they will be persecuted in some way because they believe in Jesus and talk about Him. Having a relationship with Jesus softens our hearts. It also makes things very clear as to what is good or bad and what is right or wrong. Having a relationship with God gives us the perspective to treat others the way we want to be treated and to love all people.

There has been a major disservice to Americans over the past decade or two. I believe churches have been scared to offend people and, for that reason, they have not told the whole truth. It has been easy for them to talk about loving people, but not easy to talk about what is right and wrong (according to the Bible).

The first revival on American soil began in the 1730s. Think about that. Our country needed a spiritual awakening before the country was even officially formed in 1776. The main reason for this is that people took their eyes off God. The most popular book in the 1600s was called The Day of Doom by Michael Wigglesworth, published in 1669. In that time period, people were concerned with going to heaven and doing all they could to stay out of eternal hell. By 1758, Benjamin Franklin published The Way to Wealth, which was, at the time, more popular than The Day of Doom. This shows that people became more concerned with making money than eternal things.

In 1741, Jonathon Edwards preached his famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. We have not heard sermons like this preached in my lifetime. With each Great Awakening in America, there was a return to Christianity. A byproduct of an awakened nation is decreased crime. Wouldn’t we all love to have less crime in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our schools?

In 1820, the Second Great Awakening began. There were several; reasons our nation turned its back to God. The market revolution enabled Americans to make more money than they had made before. They were able to do business with people outside of their local neighborhood. The Erie Canal and marketplace expansion caused people to question how they could trust that their financial transactions (sale of goods or services) would be honored since they did not know who they were doing business with any longer. There were many social changes happening at this time too. The abolition of slavery, prison reform, the temperance movement (reducing or eliminating consumption of alcohol), and women’s rights were all part of this time period. With so much change and focus on humans being good, honorable, and doing the right thing, there emerged a need for people to read scripture and learn how to have virtues, values, integrity, and honor.

Log College was the first Presbyterian theological seminary in North America. It later became Princeton University in 1896. Kentucky Holiness College was the first holiness college in America. It was founded in 1890 and later became Asbury University. Today, many universities that started as Christian organizations are far from where they began.

In the early 1850s, there was great economic prosperity in the United States. By 1857, the first financial crisis occurred and a panic set forth. There was a run on the banks. The stock market crashed. Employees were laid off. Businesses failed. This was the start of the Third Great Awakening.

The Fourth Great Awakening (also referred to as the 20th Century Revivals) began in 1906 with the Asuza Street Revival. It includes the Latter Rain Revival in the 1940s, the Healing Revivals in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Charismatic Revival Movement that continued through the end of the century.

The San Francisco Earthquake occurred on April 18, 1906. Within 1 minute, 3000 lives were lost, 200,000 people were homeless, and 25,000 buildings were destroyed. Although this was a catastrophic event, it was not the start of the Asuza Street Revival. On April 9, 1906, three people attended the prayer meeting. On April 14th there were 100 people. After the earthquake, there were 800 people outside and 500 people inside praying and worshiping God. The preparation for this revival was divine. There was prayer for 5-7 hours a day, reading of the Bible, and a 10-day fast before the first prayer meeting was held on April 9th. I hope we can have unity in prayer and fasting as we prepare for the next great awakening.

All of these revivals are well documented, but not like the revivals that began in the 1940s as many of them were recorded and we can watch them on video today. Miracles were happening on regular occasions and were being reported in newspapers and on the radio. Billy Graham said, “God is the author of revival. We Christians can prepare the atmosphere through our earnest prayer, exemplary living, and being contrite and humble. But only God can revive the spirit and revive the heart of a person.”

My hope through this interview is that Christians will no longer be afraid to be Christian in America. We will realize that we have been suppressed and persecuted in our own homeland. I’m not asking for a revolution or anything. I am simply asking that we stop and think about our daily activities and consider if we are living like a Christian with a Biblical worldview or not.

In my latest book, Jesus Come Revive America: Forgive Us for We Have Sinned, I elaborate on these revivals in more detail and provide the Biblical truth about right and wrong, good and evil. Billy Graham said it many times. The problem with our country is a sin problem. Until we realize we are sinning, we will not turn from our sinful ways. I wanted this book to be full of truth. Yes, it will probably offend many. But for those willing to read it with an open mind and open heart, I believe it can be the difference between an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell.

Debra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Dr. Debra J. Dean is a Christian, first and foremost. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She worked in corporate for 25 years and experienced the demise of industry firsthand as she felt like she was alone as the only Christian in the workplace, and her value system did not align with the value system of her employer any longer. In 2017 she earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Her dissertation is titled Religion and Spirituality in the Workplace: A quantitative evaluation of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. After graduation, she considered writing a book but was told by God to wait. In 2019 she was prompted to begin writing, and in 2022 she was told to finish. The book was published on February 1, 2023, and the Asbury Revival began on February 8, 2023. God is doing something in America. There is an awakening that has already begun. It is time to make a U-Turn back to God in America.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2018 I left my corporate job. I had plans to stay there until I retired, but it was clear that it was time to leave. For more than five years, I have been intentional and purposeful with my time. I want to do all that I can to honor and glorify God. This has caused a major pivot in every facet of life. I am learning to trust God in ways I did not know I needed to trust Him. I am learning to depend on Him too. Time and time again, I see that He is with me. He has not forsaken me. I am also reminded often that He has a plan for me. It is not the same plan that I have for myself or for my family. We are all on this journey together and are following God obediently. I have learned that His plan is much better than the plans I had. They are not easier, but they are better. I’m so glad I am along for the ride.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I was taught to be an independent and successful woman. I thought I had done that. However, I have learned that my definition of success was flawed. My original definition involved the amount of money I made, the title I had at work, the location of my office, the type of car I drove, and the appearance of my home. I now realize that my definition of success is whether or not my family, my friends, my neighbors, and I will be in heaven for eternity. I cannot take material things with me after I die. It won’t matter what my job title was or how much time I invested at work. What will matter is if I have a relationship with Jesus. My definition of success for me is knowing that my loved ones and I will be together in heaven forever.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drdebradean.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.debra.dean/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDebra
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debradean1/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrDebraDean1
• Youtube: @dr.debradean
• Other: http://hiskingdommatters.com/
• Book: https://a.co/d/3wwm37l

Image Credits
Katherine Marie