-Revival Implications: The Kingdom and The Church

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We continually pray for the Kingdom to come and yet many of us ignore the implications. Jesus did not come to build a mega church or start another religious system nor will he be coming again to establish a new one on the earth. The Kingdom of God is already established.

During his life on earth he was constantly bucking up against and challenging the religious organizations, leaders, and the latest theologies of his day. I believe that one of the major characteristics and goals of the current and coming world revival is the shaking and realignment of the church and leaders toward actually reflecting the Kingdom rather than religious traditions of the past and the current popular thinking of the day.

Many of us who are looking for revival and a new awakening are trying to relive the glory of past revivals wanting God to do the same thing to us all over again. Those are actually lessons that the church should have already gotten and incorporated in our DNA along the way and should have prepared us for the coming Kingdom on earth.

There is nothing wrong with drinking from the wells of past revivals and we should incorporate and take serious every past move of God. But they are suppose to be like an oasis that supports us and helps us on our current journey. We are called to move on. When we stay at those wells and glory in the past we may end up limiting what God can do in our midst today. Some have actually camped out at one well and have established churches and religious systems and theologies that reflect that particular move of God and refuse to move on and question anything different.

The Reformation was a major move of God that brought major changes to the church. A major emphasis of that move was on the logos Word of God, the Bible and true theology. There are many churches and denominations today that have refused to move on from that major well.  When it comes to Azusa Street, there are many Pentecostals camped out at that oasis questioning the water everywhere else. One of the major problems of the Charismatic movement is a tendency among many to seek out only the rhema and the newest ever more radical ‘spiritual’ thing while ignoring what God did when he inspired Luther and Calvin and others to seek and nail down the foundational teachings of the Bible.

We continue to pray- “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

What if we really got what we prayed for? What would happen? Any move of God that brought the Kingdom into the midst of our churches today would bring radical changes. The church is called the ‘Body of Christ’ and is called to do what he did. Now that would be radical and that is what we are facing in the move ahead. It will not be about building mega churches or organizations or making new religious systems or establishing theocratic political powers. It will be all about bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God to all of the world before the coming of the Lord.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  –Matthew 24:14 (ESV)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,…Isaiah 61:1-2 (ESV)

Here’s a link to a great article that got me thinking about this issue in Ministry Today:  “16 Contrasts Between Kingdom Age and Religious Systems

-Bonnke: “America Shall Be Saved”

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  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Richard Bonnke has been known best for his major evangelistic campaigns in Africa for the last 30 years or so. Now he is turning his efforts toward the USA with a new campaign called “American Shall be Saved” beginning in July:

Bonnke’s next stop is Miami, where he will preach to a crowd at the American Airlines arena on July 18-19. Over 200 churches across racial, denominational, cultural and even linguistic barriers have joined forces to help Bonnke witness Jesus to South Florida.

Here’s what He has to say about the new effort:

“I am scanning the skies for men and women who pray and weep for the salvation of America. As Bill Bright used to say, ‘Let’s leave our logos and egos.’ Let’s rally at the foot of the cross of Calvary and preach the Gospel of salvation to the nation,” Bonnke says. “The Holy Spirit will cooperate. God is pouring out His Spirit with glorious indifference to our differences! He said, ‘I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh.’ And it seems to me He pours Himself into the mold of any vessel.”

Response: A few years ago many of us were expecting revival and a new awakening to break out across all of North America. Instead we ended up with the big push for gay and LGBT rights including same-sex marriage which is beginning to trump religious liberty in the courts and culture all across America. Increasingly we are being told that religious freedom is now only Constitutionally assured within the four walls of an official place of worship.

Now Christians who believe in the authority of the Bible are increasingly being cast and misrepresented as ‘bigots,’ ‘haters’, and irrelevant folks who are on the ‘wrong side of history.’ At least that is what is happening in the dominant American culture on the West Coast where I live and in New England and within the main stream American media.

This turnaround has happened in a very short time. In 2009 at the inauguration of President Barack Obama evangelical pastors participated in giving the prayers but by 2013 we saw a pastor who had been invited to give a prayer hounded until he resigned over preaching a Biblical lesson which included homosexuality 18 years ago. Now conservative Christian business owners who do not want to participate in same-sex ceremonies are being sued and forced to either provide their services or be fined. Times are changing in America so much so that if the trend continues Bible believing will soon be considered ‘immoral’ by folks in the dominant American culture.

Point is, it really is time for Revival and for Bible believing Christian to stand up for their faith and refuse to go quietly into the night. One way is to join in campaigns like what Bonnke is initiating and particularly join him in prayer to change America for the better before it is too late.

We are in the middle of a battle and most American Christians don’t even realize it and yet the Gospel is going forth among the nations at an unprecedented pace and millions are coming to Christ every year. Also millions of Christians are being persecuted and killed for their faith and we are actually in the midst of a new age of martyrs though it is being ignored by most American Christians.

I do not believe that God is through with America but it is rapidly becoming a mission field which may see African pastors and Asian evangelists from China and Korea soon helping in a new push to save Americans. I believe that Bonnk’e effort is just the beginning.  May God really bless America once more.

-Revival in North Africa

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    (North Africa: Wikipedia)

For hundreds of years very few Muslims came to Christ especially in Northern Africa. But now here is a report of revival going on in those very same difficult lands where Christians are constantly being persecuted.

Tens of thousands of Muslims have been converted to Christ in areas where missionaries are not even allowed and Christians are jailed for sharing their faith. Yet there is a secret revival going on under the most miraculous and difficult circumstances. 

From ASSIST News Service (Link NLA):

A Christian revival is touching the northernmost reaches of Africa. In a region once hostile to the gospel, tens of thousands of Muslims are now following Jesus. Muslims across Northern Africa are converting to faith in Jesus Christ in record numbers.

Speaking in a story by George Thomas for CBN News, Regent University graduate and filmmaker Tino Qahosh said, “What God is doing in North Africa, all the way from actually Mauritanian to Libya is unprecedented in the history of missions.”

Qahoush has spent years traveling the region to document the transformation.He said, “I have the privilege of recording testimonies and listening to firsthand stories of men and women, of all ages where they can be sitting in a room and see the appearance and the presence of God appear to them in reality, like a vision, some of them gave me stories of how they carry on a conversation, it’s not just a light that appears.”

He added that he sometimes feels jealous. “How come Jesus is visiting the Muslim world at this time and age and we don’t hear that happening in the traditional Christian community?”

Thomas said his interviews confirm what experts say is a profound move of God in the predominantly Muslim nations of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.

-Revival Continues to Explode in Iran

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              (Image via Wikipedia)

Iran is in the news as a country developing nuclear weapons and preparing for war against Israel and ultimately the USA. However, regular folks in the country do not necessarily support their leaders particularly when it comes to Christianity.

A full blown revival is going on in the country and government officials are trying everything they can to stop it. Authorities continue to arrest pastors and persecute Christians to no avail. Recently the government issued a decree forbidding churches from meeting on Fridays. Friday is the traditional ‘day off’ and the time to worship in the Iranian culture and most of the Middle East for that matter. This decree is only going to affect the ‘official’ churches however since most Iranian Christians meet in illegal house churches in secret.

<Here’s the latest report in Charisma from Open Doors on what’s going on there>

The Iranian revival continues to expand through dreams, visions, and healing. Some put numbers now at 500,000. This article estimates 370,000 have converted to Christianity through the recent revival. There is no way to get an accurate account since it is all underground.

Please continue to pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ that are now under a great deal of persecution from there radical Islamic government. Also, at some point in the near future it does seem likely that Israel will attack the nuclear facilities in the country.

What follows is anyone’s guess. The Ayatollah claims that ‘12th Imam’ Mahdi is already appearing to him and demanding that Israel and the Jews be destroyed.            

-China: Revival in the ‘Official’ Churches Also

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           (Image via Wikipedia)

Most of the time when it comes to China, Western Christians hear about all of the great stuff happening in unofficial house churches while many contend that the official ‘Three-Self Patriotic’ Churches are somewhat compromised by the government.

According to the following article, that is no longer the case as real revival has also come to the official churches and faithful leaders are becoming pastors and leaders in that movement and are increasingly left alone to teach and preach the Gospel.

Here’s a link to the article: “Fires of Holy Ghost Revival Burning in China

According to the writer, revival has been going on for some time in the house churches in the rural areas of China now it is raging also in the large official churches in the big cities with thousands of young people coming to Christ. Not only that but the ‘official’ churches are experiencing a genuine Holy Spirit revival with healings,  praying in tongues, and prophesying.

All we can say about this is that it is a real mark of a genuine move of God when a revival goes beyond the organizational, denominational, and political boundaries that people are comfortable with and touches people and places where most proper Christians will not go.

For a long time the ‘official’ churches were considered to be cursed and tainted by the government but God is doing a work there anyway touching thousands of young people in urban areas and bringing with it exponential growth. Praise God.           

-A Mighty Army Gradually Rising Up That Everyone Gets to Join

Last Sunday I was praying about revival in America just like I have for nearly every day since 2001 when the Lord gave me a vision of it. I was in the process of asking ‘when’ but really sort a demanding ‘now’ when the Lord flashed in my mind a picture of a great army slowly rising from the dust—kind a like Ezekiel. Then He reminded me of what was happening at my home church lately with folks getting saved and healed at every service and said—“if this happened 5 years ago you would be excited and think that you were in the midst of a revival”.

It is so true. Why didn’t I see it!

Is is like the proverbial frog getting gradually warmed up in a pot of water. We have seen a very gradual increase in those getting saved and healed but now it is becoming far more obvious and cannot be ignored. The point is—it didn’t happen over night and that was what I was expecting revival to be like. It would be wonderful if this just kept on getting better.

What marks the rising of this gradual revival army is the fact that everyone who wants too gets to join and everyone gets to go to battle and everyone gets to play. It isn’t based upon a handful of specially anointed leaders. It is all about the entire body of Christ rising up from the dust and becoming alive and corporately doing the works of Jesus and even greater.

What is happening at VCC Laguna Niguel is a small example of what I am talking about. Every service Pastor Mike Hudgins calls out for those who are sick in the body to stand up. Usually he will also call out specific illnesses but then instructs the members in the congregation to pray for anyone close by who is standing for healing.

There are no folks in this church with a specific healing anointing but people who are sick of all sorts of diseases are getting healed at every service. The faith of the entire church is rising up in the gift of healing so much that many members are now encouraged to pray for friends and folks at work who are sick. Now testimonies are coming back of folks being healed at work, at school, and even at Wal-Mart. The youth groups are particularly on fire.

It may not be full blown revival but it is getting there and the whole church gets to play.           

-What I’m Looking For Revival

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(North America by IronRodArt via Flickr)

A vision of the Revival I am looking for- January 20, 2001:

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my easy chair watching the events of the day on TV ( The inauguration of Pres. Bush) when all of a sudden I was in an open vision  above the earth looking down.

North America was covered in a thick grey fog. There were 4 black words in the midst of the dark covering:

Deception, Depression, Destruction, and Depravity. 

Then I saw Jesus on a white horse above the earth coming with an army. He blew away the dark fog and the Lord and His army descended upon North America.

Then I saw a light come on in the midst of America, next a few scattered lights; then soon lots of lights started coming on, like popcorn popping, all across the North America until there were 1,000’s of lights on in the USA and Canada.

Then I saw a huge tidal wave forming up on the east coast of Canada and New England and sweep across the Atlantic engulfing all of Great Britain and wash up on the northern shores of Europe.

Then I was back in my easy chair watching TV once more and I heard the Lord speak to me:

“This is my coming revival”

Here is something I wrote in August 2008 and it still reflects what I am looking forward to:

I’m Still Looking For Revival

Myself, I am still looking for revival to sweep across all of North America and affect 100’s of churches in hundreds of different places all at the same time. Then like a tidal wave engulf the UK and wash up on the shores of France and Northwestern Europe. A revival coming soon near you.

A revival that crosses all the man-made divisions and denominations. A revival with no ’superstars’ to elevate or tear down. A revival that looks to Jesus, engages culture, and brings repentance and change. A revival with lots of healing, that brings folks closer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So many are looking for Jesus to come for his church, I’m looking for him to come to it. Come to it? What exactly does that mean? I’m not entirely sure what that means except it’s a ‘word’ that I keep hearing in the Spirit and the church is going to get closer to Jesus and his people will hear his voice in a profound way.

I look for a revival that will bring with it ‘a changing of the guard’ and a whole bunch of new young leaders.  A revival that will change the face of the American church–the end of ‘churchianity’ and the beginning of greater outreach to the community.

This is what I was looking for when the Lakeland outpouring started and had hoped it would be the beginning of. In spite of all the controversy and division in the aftermath, I am still looking for revival…

I say, Come Lord Jesus and surprise us!

It is my prayer that the Lord comes with his army in 2010 and brings his revival. Come Lord Jesus.

Another Vision of Revival

Here’s another vision of revival very similar to mine: an account of a vision that Barbara J. Yoder (Link NLA) had in 2006.

“…it was as if I were taken up into the sky to the altitude where jets fly. I looked down at the United States and saw that there were very few lights on anywhere in the nation. The whole nation looked like very rural or remote places I had flown over. There was one light here and another light there, far removed from each other.

However, as this army galloped across the nation, lights began to turn on in the places that the army was moving through. Furthermore, the lights remained on in the places they had already passed through. The lights increased in number until the cities and towns across the nation were completely lit up. It was as if a massive fire had been set that engulfed entire areas. …

The further they advanced, the more lit-up the nation was, until there were huge areas where the lights had become contiguous. What had been dark was now fully lit. I looked down on almost blindingly bright cities, towns and even rural areas.

The Lord said, “This is My army.”

Come Holy Spirit, Bring Revival to our land. Amen.

-“Balokole”: The Effects of an East African Revival Still Going After 80 Years

In J. Lee Grady’s latest column (Link NLA) he writes about an East Africa Revival that started in September 1929. The Christians in that area call it ‘Balokole’ and the effects of the revival are still evident and active after all these years in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi in particular.

Grady shares a quote in the article from Michael Harper who writes of the revival:

“It’s effects have been more lasting than almost any other revival in history, so that today there is hardly a single Protestant leader in East Africa who has not been touched by it in some way.”

Later Grady writes that he is hoping for something similar to come to America. We will explore that in the next post.

-Jerusalem: An Interview with Heidi Baker, Part Three

Here’s Chris Mitchell’s third and final with Heidi Baker in Jerusalem: Longing for Jerusalem and Jesus (Link NLA)

The following is part of the Mitchell’s intro to this video:

“What’s God’s Heart for Jerusalem? How does lasting fruitfulness in ministry happen? These are some of the questions Heidi Baker answers…

Heidi’s passion for Jesus rings out as she talks about the joy of spending time with Him.”

-Jerusalem: An Interview with Heidi Baker, Part Two

Here’s Chris Mitchell’s second interview with Heidi Baker: “Back to Jerusalem”

The following is part of the Mitchell’s intro to this video:

Many of you may have heard of the “Back to Jerusalem” vision of the Chinese church. …

In this second part of our interview with Heidi Baker of Iris Ministries, she tells how they’re planting thousands of churches throughout Africa on their way back to Jerusalem. It’s all part of the fulfillment of the Great Commission…

Heidi also shares some of the lessons the church in the West can learn from the people who are “the poorest of the poor.” These are people dependent and desperate for God. As Heidi says, “if God doesn’t show up, they’re dead.” But she says He does show up, the God who is alive!