Monday, March 15, 2010

Revival or Life Support?


Luke 14:23 And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

In just a few weeks we welcome Evangelist Ed Newton for our Spring Revival. He has been here before and will be a great blessing if you have not heard him. Some of my fondest memories as a boy were revival services. Dad worked second shift so mom would make us go. I would fuss for a while but once we got there it was usually a great blessing. I can remember the excitement in the two churches we attended in Dayton. The singing would raise the roof and the preaching was intense. I mean, they didn't dance around the tough subjects and called sin....sin. He would preach sin destroys, hell's hot, and heaven is real. He would preach Jesus, and stand on the truth of God's Word. The altar would be a friend in a revival.

You don't hear much talk about revival anymore. I wonder why?

When we invite people, we tend to invite other Christians most of the time. I am not sure that is exactly what the Lord meant in Luke 14:23. What used to buzz seems to have become a fizz as we have opted for "more important things." What is more important than a fresh touch of God on a life?

I used to get inundated with invitations to attend revivals from other churches, and now hardly a postcard. I wonder why? Is it because we are closer to God than ever and don't need it? Is it because we are way more busier than ever?

The longer I pastor, the more it becomes a battle. REVIVAL means to live again. The devil will do anything He can to keep a church in a life support mentality. If he can deceive a pastor, leaders, and the people, he will be happy I believe to watch us tread water in a type of ineffective spiritual coma.

Let me tell you what I am praying for. I am asking God to do something in the life of our church that only He can do. I mean the supernatural. A great movement of God as Christians get real before a Holy God and turn from sin, re-surrendering lives to Christ, the lost come to Jesus in repentance of sin, and relationships reconciled. The kind of thing we will talk about the rest of our lives. The story that is told to our grand kids about the revival that broke out in Camden, Ohio in 2010.
I look down at my feet. Draw a chalk circle around my feet, and beg the Lord to send revival, beginning in that circle. Will you join me?

A Christmas to Remember!

I must say that I am a lousy blogger having not posted since September, but the Christ of Christmas certainly is worthy.  It has been a rema...