Revival?

Over the next three weeks, Trinity Church is preparing to host Life Action Ministries and participate with one of their ministry teams in a revival summit. Revival is an old school term that carries some pretty heavy baggage with it. So over the next three weeks, I am going to be making postings here on my blog to talk about what revival is and why we might need it in our lives.

I want to start by describing what revival is, by describing what revival is not. First of all, revival is not a meeting or an event. Many people with church backgrounds grew up going to “revival meetings.” While those events were likely significant, they may or may not have brought a fresh touch from God.

Revival is also not a mass evangelistic event. Revival is for God’s people. To “revive” means to “come back to life” or “full strength.” In order to return to life, there must have been life to begin with. There comes a time in our lives where we simply get comfortable with the status quo. We get comfortable living from day to day, seeing little power and little kingdom impact.We get so used to it that we end up thinking that it is normal. We lower our expectations of what it means to follow Jesus in a loving, devoted relationship.

I personally ascribe to Richard Owen Roberts’ view of what revival is. Roberts’ writes, “…revival is an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit producing extra ordinary results.” (Roberts, Revival! p. 16) Revival is an extraordinary movement of God whereby we should be able to observe extraordinary results. Revival is something that God does. We cannot schedule it on our calendar. What we can do is seek God for it.

When it comes to praying for revival, we must follow the model of prayer found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “…if my people who are called by name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Revival is all about falling in love with the Reviver all over again. Falling in love to the point that all we long for is His presence to be made real in our lives.

Over the next few weeks we are going to take a look at some indications that show we need to fall in love with Jesus again…. that we need the Spirit to come and wash over us anew so that we can give Him the glory He is due.

Missions

At Trinity, we are in the middle of a series entitled Missions. The title is far from original but it is an accurate and straightforward description of the series. We often think of missions as something that other people do. There are those people who have given their lives to traveling to foreign lands to spread the good news of Jesus Christ we call “missionaries”, and then there is us. Missions, however, is not only overseas it is all around us. If we are followers of Jesus we are commanded that we should be joining God in making other followers of Jesus. It’s called the Great Commission. Missions is here, it is our school, our neighborhood, our work, and even our home.

Missions is all about joining God in brining people who do not yet know Jesus Christ personally into relationship with Him. It is what every follower of Jesus Christ has in common. We are all part of God’s mission of missions. It is time that each of us viewed ourselves as the missionaries that God has asked us to be.

One of the downsides to vocational ministry is not being in the mission field of the workplace. I discovered way too late in my secular work experience the joy of being used by God in missions in the work environment. Those of you who have the opportunity to invest in God’s kingdom in your workplace do not overlook the mission field where God has placed you. Be encouraged that God is looking to use you in every area of your life, particularly at work, to make a difference for His kingdom.

Communication

I have taken a little break from posting on this blog and I am not totally sure why. I think the major thing is busyness. I have been working in my life on how not to be busy. The bottom line is I don’t want to be busy because it leads to a lack of depth in every relationship I have. I know this for sure, that busyness is the enemy of spiritual growth. I also know that attempting to keep the lines of communication open is a constant battle.

This is true in every area of life. Keeping the lines of communication open in relationships and in organizations requires diligence. I know this is true in my relationship with Jesus, my relationships with my wife and children, in my relationships with friends. It is also true in my relationships with those I work with closely as well as those who are part of the Trinity Church family.

When I get busy, I stop communicating. Over the past few months I have had to make choices about what I will and will not do. I have had to choose what it is that I am committed to. Through this time I have set some goals as far as communication. I am committed to communicating the Word of God with clarity. I am committed to communicating with those who attend a weekend service and take the time to respond with a communication card. I am committed to communicating with those that I pray for. I am committed to communicating with my wife and children. Most importantly I am committed to communicating with Jesus.

This past weekend I taught on Matthew 7:1-12. In my preparation the fresh insight that God opened my eyes to was in the part of the passage that I thought I knew the best. In verse 7, Jesus tells his disciples that they are to ask, seek, and knock. I believe he is teaching us to be persistent in our relationship with him; that when we desire his righteousness above all else, we will be seekers of his presence in our lives. We will be people who long for communication with the King, who are then empowered by his presence to live out the life he has for us. This is the best gift we could ever receive. The best gift is Jesus' presence giving us joy, peace, and contentment in order for us to live lives that reflect this incredible Sermon.

Who is it that you need to renew your commitment to communication with? May God bless you as you take the time to slow down so you might ask, seek, and knock.