At first glance you would say no. In God’s design you are born into a world that already is moving in a particular direction based on the guiding governmental, ecclesiastical, educational and business philosophy of the day. You almost by default are swept up into the existing system and begin to live in light of it; even if your life begins an extreme circumstances, let’s say you are born into a religious niche, you remain part of the system.

However, the Scriptures teach you reap what you sow; this is one of man’s greatest problems – trying to reap where he did not sow- so he doesn’t always understand the cause and effect. But Rev. George Whitefield and even Rev. John Wesley apparently did. They both sowed so much that reaping was inevitable. In Rev. Whitefield’s case he was perhaps the great singular evangelist ever; preaching 18,000 sermons and so much in the American Colonies that he was more well known when he died in 1770 than future first President George Washington. Contemporary author Tommy Kidd wrote a book entitled “George Whitefield: Americas Spiritual Founding Father“.

Meanwhile Rev. Wesley preached so much in the UK that eventually the Methodist Church was birthed. He set out to form “Holy Clubs’ or discipleship groups throughout because he perceived the members of the Church of England needed to be discipled. He organized the initial Holy Club in Oxford in 1729 with his brother Charles and of which Rev. George Whitefield became a member but Wesley’s goal was to form these clubs throughout the land and he did it. Many volumes have been written but suffice it to say it appears to be an agreed upon truth that he and were the primary Whitefield contributors to the 18th Century revival.

It is written too that what spared England from the rebellion that France was experiencing during the same time was the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley and his Methodist preachers.

The point is they changed the course of the world. Did they set out to do that? Not in a way an historian might view political changes but yes in the way the Kingdom of God works. They believed that faith comes by hearing and that men need to be discipled. They laborer strenuously on both fronts and left a Christian legacy that influenced the world for 200 years.

So yes it is possible to change the course of the world. Is that what you want to do? Or perhaps the better question is are you willing to labor so strenuously that the course of the world will be changed? That’s the question in our day: are we prepared and willing to labor to the degree necessary to change the course of the world? I.E to see the Kingdom of our God advanced into all the world?

Because if we will labor that degree we will see it altered.