It is the story of how God used a dead cow to bring the gospel to a village in Asia. A miracle reviving of a dead cow opened up hearts to Jesus.

Response: It is time for us comfortable Western Christians to reach out and pray for our own ‘dead cows’ and open up the way for God to work miracles.

It might be a failed business or marriage. A relationship given up on long ago. It could revolve around someone who you think could never come to Christ. It could be someone who needs to be healed.

Sometimes it is risky to pray for others or particularly to even ask someone if they wouldn’t mind being prayed for. The results could be a miracle that changes lives. God does it but we must still participate by asking for the miracle or healing in the first place.

It is time for us to participate in a revival culture- one that expects God to move.  What would have happened when Elijah confronted the priests of Baal if all he did was silently and privately prayed but never publically exercised faith in calling down fire from heaven?                *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Revival Issues: America is Like Nazareth? It’s a Matter of Honor

                            (Image via Wikipedia)

“And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” -Mark 6:5  (ESV)

“…for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” -1 Sam 2:30-31 (ESV)

Is America like Nazareth? So much of the time we get excited when a few sick people are healed while blind eyes see and the dead are raised in Africa and the lame walk in other places around the world. It reminds me of the ministry of Jesus and all of the miracles he did except when he went home to Nazareth. There he was only able to heal a few sick folks.

We send missionaries to India and they lay hands on folks and the blind see and the lame walk but the minute they come back home it no longer works in the same way. Why it that? It is obviously a different faith atmosphere and jurisdiction.

We live in a secular culture that no longer honors Jesus and it even rubs off on those of us who are Christians. The church in America thinks we know all about Jesus and we even have him clearly boxed up and defined in 1,000’s of books that have been written over the years.

There are even many Bible teachers here that have taught and have theologically concluded that miracles ended in the first century when the Bible was completed and the Apostles died out since they personally never saw any. Since they rarely happen here we have concocted all sorts of theological reasons for it. The only problem, around the world for nearly 2,000 years folks continue to be healed in the name of Jesus and in every generation the miracles have continued.

Intellectually we think we know Jesus and what he can do and in our case not do. We even pray- “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth” and have no clue what that might really involve.

Whereas major healings and miracles seem to be a natural part of the Gospel in the 3rd world here in America and much of the West we assign them to the separate category of  the ‘supernatural’. Then Western philosophers seriously argue over whether there is even such a thing or not.

However, any evangelist or minister that travels to India, Africa, or the 3rd world will confirm that major healings and miracles still take place all the time even if they cannot duplicate them when they get back to the states.

It is all matter of expectations and world view –but ultimately it is really about faith and honor. Jesus is no longer honored in the public square in America – guess where revival must go. Jesus is no longer honored in our schools and colleges -guess where revival must go. Jesus is no longer honored in our businesses –guess where revival must go. Jesus is no longer honored in our neighborhoods –guess where revival must go. Jesus is no longer honored in many of our homes in America –guess where revival must start.

Jesus is honored in our churches for a short time on Sunday –guess when revival must happen in America –Monday through Saturday.            *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Revival is In the Marketplace?
2. -Japan: A New Opportunity to Spread the Gospel and Bring Revival?

                       (Image via Wikipedia)

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Beyond the green beer and rowdy drunken debauchery that typically surrounds the occasion is a historical character that was God’s apostle to Ireland—forget ‘Saint’ this guy functioned as an apostle and a power evangelist.

There is all sorts of stories about Patrick that today they call ‘myths’. I believe that a lot of the myths were probably based upon true events that seem far too supernatural for secular folks to accept today.

This we do know about Patrick, he lived between 340 to 440 AD. He was born to a wealthy Christian Roman family living in Britain. At age 16 he was taken from his home and enslaved by Irish Celtic raiders. He tended sheep for his new masters for 6 years and became closer to God in the process. The ‘voice of God’ directed his escape and later commissioned him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He went to seminary and became a Priest in preparation and later a Bishop.

It is said in documents from that period that he “baptized thousands of people”, and ordained hundreds of priests to lead new Christian communities and villages. He also converted the sons of Kings and chieftains leading to the conversion of an entire pagan nation to Christ.

Legend has it that he was a healer and that he banished snakes from the island though scientists today doubt whether there were that many snakes if any on the island after the last glacial period.

Here’s an example of the spiritual condition of the church that St. Patrick left behind—part of a prayer attributed to him but probably written a couple of generations later:

From “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate”:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ below me, Christ above me, Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye which sees me, Christ in every ear which hears me.

We could use this kind of spiritual maturity. What a great declaration to live by–an example for those seeking a Kingdom culture and economy.               *Top

Christianity Thrives among ‘Gypsies’ Despite Prejudice(Image by . SantiMB . via Flickr)

Here’s an interesting article from Christianity Today about a little known revival going on among a controversial people spread all across Europe:

“Christianity Thrives among ‘Gypsies’ Despite Prejudice”

Thousands of the Roma people called ‘gypsies’ with a reputation for roving, thievery, and deception are coming to Christ in droves and have been for years.

According to one Roma pastor, John Boyd who is part of an Assemblies of God ministry to the Roma People:

"Most people still hate Gypsies, especially in France. [Yet] revival hasn’t stopped. God is calling Gypsies all around the world."

Pentecostal Christianity continues to spread among the Roma. In France alone among the 500,000 or so there at least 200,000 have been converted to Christ.

The ministry among the Roma has been successful because the evangelists translate the Gospel and teach the Bible in the Romani language making it more understandable. According to Thomas Acton, a professor of Romani studies at the University of Greenwich:

"As if God were a Gypsy. The Romani churches have nativized the gospel. It’s not a foreign ideology; it’s the gospel that has taken on Romani colors. When you hear [a] Romani translation of the Bible, it sounds like it was written yesterday."

The Roma that were recently kicked out of France are now actually reaching out to the Romanian communities with their new found faith.  Beni Lup, an attorney and regional director of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries has observed the Roma sharing their faith at a recent Roma Christian music festival held in Sibiu, Romania:

"All the Gypsies had boxes of literature, and they go to Romanians and say, ‘See, the people in France kick us out, but Jesus sent us to give you this Good News of the gospel.’

"[Roma] tell me, ‘We are known as people who steal and people who deceive others. Now we want people to see our testimony, and then our life will be different.’ "

Response: This is an incredible story of the Gospel transforming a people right before our very eyes. Not exactly the sort of thing that you will read about in the regular media which seems to be fixated on everything going wrong.

One thing that the Christianity Today article doesn’t mention is the role of healings, Spiritual Gifts, and signs and wonders in bringing this very superstitious people to Christ. It is a ‘power encounter’ that is winning this people over not the traditional anemic Christianity in Europe.

The regular European Christians won’t have anything to do with this people. This revival was started by Pentecostal missionaries reaching out to the Gypsy communities.   

This story gives me hope for Europe which otherwise seems to be headed towards secularism and Islam. May this be just the beginning for a new Revival to sweep across all of Europe once more changing all of those dreary demographics of doom for the future of Christianity in Europe.            *Top

John 4:34-36
35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
NIV

On Saturday while I was praying the Lord showed me a golden field of grain that was ripe and ready to harvest. Then the scripture above came to mind along with the words:

–This is the day of your visitation don’t miss it.

I meditated and prayed over the meaning and timing of the word and the following clearly came to me:

-Reap Now! Don’t wait for revival.

I believe that this is a word particularly for the American and Western church. Revival is already going on nearly everywhere else—Africa, India, China, and even hidden revivals in North Korea, Iran, and all over the Middle East. There is a great world-wide harvest going on everywhere but in America and the West.

Many of us have been praying for revival with the perspective that once it came then there would be a great harvest and untold thousands would accept Jesus and turn the whole country around. But now I believe that the Lord is telling us to begin the Harvest and not to wait for revival. The fields are ready right now.

Now is the time to bear your testimony and tell folks about how Jesus has blessed your life.

Now is the time to pray for that sick neighbor.

Now is the time to demonstrate the Love of God that passes all human understanding to everyone around you.

Now is the time to reach out to all those unsaved relatives that you have been praying about for years.

Now is the time to teach your children about Jesus.

Now is the time to lead your adult children back to Christ.

Now is the time to teach your grandchildren about the Good News.

Now is the time to encourage that fellow worker that is depressed and tired of living.

Now is the time for all of the servants of Jesus to begin an all out harvest and signs, wonders, miracles, and healings will follow.

In the midst of it all we will realize that revival has come and it won’t be just another ‘feel-good’ time at church. This revival is destined to be in the marketplace, in the schools, on the job, at the malls, in the neighborhoods, on mainstreet, in the ghetto, and at Wal-Mart too.

 -Reap now and revival will come.

*Top

This YouTube video was shot during a revival service on Friday August 27 at the Mobile Convention Center. It is 13 minutes long showing a progressive healing. It begins with Delia Knox in a wheelchair as she has been for 22 years since she was paralyzed in a car accident on Christmas Day 1987.

After several minutes of prayer she begins to get some feeling in her legs then after more prayer stands up with some assistance and walks haltingly around. Incredible!

The second video is 2 minutes long showing her at the Revival service one week later on September 3 and now she is able to walk some without assistance:

Delia Knox is a music minister and popular singer who pastors Living World Christian Center in Mobile, Ala. along with her husband, Bishop Levy Knox.

The revival service was led by former Brownsville Revival leader John Kilpatrick who remarked that the services in Mobile, called the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival, looked like they had the making "of another powerful revival":

"We have miracles taking place, we have souls being saved, the glory of God has moved back in like it did on Father’s Day 1995.

“Already things are happening quicker than they did even at Brownsville," he said in late July. "The word’s spread. I think it has the potential to be a really powerful revival."

According to a Charisma article before the Knox healing the Mobile, Alabama revival had already seen numerous signs, wonders, and miracles including healing of the blind and the deaf, and even some folks who watched the services online.            *Top

Last month a conference in Greytown, South Africa, drew 250,000 men or more over a weekend event. It was sponsored by Shalom Ministries which was started by a farmer- turned evangelist Angus Buchan. The theme for the conference

was centered around Ezekiel 3:17: 

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me."

Numerous signs, wonders, and healing marked the meetings as Buchan challenged men to become godly leaders in their own homes and to change their lives.

Response: This is in direct response to the Holy Spirit moving in that nation. There are examples like this all over Africa. Lord let the fire fall here also and fill the stadiums with your power and glory all across America.            *Top

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Beyond the green beer and rowdy drunken debauchery that typically surrounds the occasion is a historical character that was God’s apostle to Ireland—forget ‘Saint’ this guy functioned as an apostle and a power evangelist.

There is all sorts of stories about Patrick that today they call ‘myths’. I believe that a lot of the myths were probably based upon true events that seem far too supernatural for secular folks to accept today.

This we do know about Patrick, he lived between 340 to 440 AD. He was born to a wealthy Christian Roman family living in Britain. At age 16 he was taken from his home and enslaved by Irish Celtic raiders. He tended sheep for his new masters for 6 years and became closer to God in the process. The ‘voice of God’ directed his escape and later commissioned him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He went to seminary and became a Priest in preparation and later a Bishop.

It is said in documents from that period that he “baptized thousands of people”, and ordained hundreds of priests to lead new Christian communities and villages. He also converted the sons of Kings and chieftains leading to the conversion of an entire pagan nation to Christ.

Legend has it that he was a healer and that he banished snakes from the island though scientists today doubt whether there were that many snakes if any on the island after the last glacial period.

Here’s an example of the spiritual condition of the church that St. Patrick left behind—part of a prayer attributed to him but probably written a couple of generations later:

From “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate”:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ below me, Christ above me, Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye which sees me, Christ in every ear which hears me.

We could use this kind of spiritual maturity. What a great declaration to live by–an example for those seeking a Kingdom culture and economy.               *Top

Related articles by Zemanta

• Prayer for the Faithful by St. Patrick (willhumes.net)
• Saint Patrick’s Breastplate (triptbishop.blogspot.com)
• Apostle of the Isle… and the States (whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com)

We have talked about the hidden revival among Muslims before.

Although on the front pages of the world media, radical Muslims seem to dominate the news with terrorist acts and promises to take over Europe and eventually put America under the yoke of sharia law, here is the latest report from Charisma magazine about the ‘tsunami of faith’ miraculously bringing thousands of Muslims to Christ:

“…a tsunami of faith is quietly overtaking the Muslim world. Islamic adherents are laying aside their allegiance to Muhammad to follow Jesus Christ, despite the social ostracism, persecution and possible martyrdom that converts to Christianity face. Propelled by dreams, visions and miracles, this wave of revival is bringing vast numbers of Muslims—some say millions—into God’s kingdom.”

The article ends with this plea for Christians to pray with their Muslim brothers:

Prayer is vital. However, three converts in Egypt told Janssen that Christians in America should pray "with" them, not "for" them.

"If you pray for us, you will pray for our safety, and the persecution will stop," they told him. "If you pray with us, we can be sure the persecution will increase. Pray we will see millions [come] to Christ. We know there will be backlash. Pray we will be faithful, even if it costs us our lives."

<<Read the whole article>>               *Top

David Turner (pictured, right) a Phoenix-based businessman-turned evangelist believes that a revival of miracles will soon come to America.

"I believe God is about to do an explosion in America," said Turner, who has seen thousands healed during large-scale crusades he led in India with evangelist Harry Gomes (pictured, left). "We will start seeing [healings and miracles] even with stadiums of people."

Turner is hosting the Harvest America Healing Explosion at the 14,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix this week and hopes to see the beginnings of Revival at the 3 day conference. Come Holy Spirit!            *Top