Where's the Desire for Revival?

 

"So continuing DAILY with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity
of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church DAILY those who were being saved."
Acts 2:46-47

I have been re-reading several classic books on the subject of revival over the summer, as well as some that have been recently published concerning this very important issue regarding the people of God.  Any committed and compassionate follower of Christ realizes that the current political climate, along with the hateful rhetoric of unbelievers toward anyone with a conservative viewpoint, is a sign of God's judgments being fulfilled. I believe that if we do not experience a Heaven-sent revival among the body of Christ, we are only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg of what awaits us in the days, months and years to come, as vile and vicious God-haters strengthen their grip on our nation. Church history, however, reveals that when God moves in mighty power among His people in revival, it culminates in an incredible awakening that ushers multitudes into His kingdom. The result is a dramatic change in the spiritual and moral condition of a people, and the intensifying judgment of God is postponed as multitudes begin to seek Him and His saving grace.

The Book of Acts is looked upon as the pinnacle of truth concerning the experience of revival and awakening in and through the body of Christ. No blood washed believer should be able to read this book without a tear in their eye, a longing in their heart, and a cry in their voice that says, "Do it again, Lord, do it again!" The breathtaking testimony of what God was doing begins to avalanche on the great Day of Pentecost. Thousands were brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and they quickly identified with His death, burial, and resurrection through their obedience of baptism. As God worked, the city of Jerusalem was shaken with His presence. These new believers had such an appetite for God's word and a longing for His presence, that the Bible says they gathered DAILY to worship and fellowship with one another. The testimony also reveals that as the body of Christ was filled with His Spirit, God was awakening and saving men and women on a DAILY basis. Wow! What an awesome revelation of God working in an incredible way! Praise His Name!

It was about twenty years ago that I was privileged to preach at a First Baptist Church in one our most notable towns in north Mississippi. The pastor had previously served in the ministry of evangelism for several years while living in another state. He and his wife were so gracious in their inviting Tammy to join me for this special Sunday evangelistic event. As they treated us to lunch, he shared a deep burden on his heart. "Charles," he said, "please give me your opinion on a matter. I have shared many testimonies of my experiences as an evangelist and have dropped occasional hints that we should set aside a special time to seek the Lord in an old-fashioned revival meeting. Whenever I approach this subject, however, many of my key leaders voice their opposition to such an idea. 'Bro. Tom,' they say, 'we love you, but please don't ask us to come to church several nights in a row. We are an extremely busy people, and we just don't have time today for those kinds of services that were so prominent just a few years ago.' What do you think, Bro. Charles?"

I immediately opened my Bible and read these verses from the Book of Acts. "Pastor, here's what I believe: The early church so longed to encounter the presence of God corporately, that they could not endure a twenty-four-hour period without assembling together. They desired to worship Christ and to share a witness of His love and grace with those who might join them in this special season of divine blessing. And their desire was to experience this TOGETHER!" I believe the key word is desire. This is something that they wanted to do; they were not forced to gather daily. i know that coming together every day to fulfill an obligation of attendance is not going to mature someone to become a super-saint. However, when church members display their desire to AVOID coming together on a DAILY basis, even if for a brief period of time, that shows a very real and deep problem of their own spiritually immature condition.

It has amazed me over the years how many churches never utilize those who have been called into the ministry of evangelism. Some choose to neglect this gift because of an unfortunate experience in the past with someone who was not a man after God's own heart. Others, however, simply do not consider using those with special gifts of revival and evangelism because they believe less is more. In other words, those events placed on the calendars of the past will not be considered today, because our folks are very busy people with very demanding schedules. I believe that we as church leaders have simply coddled to the demands of mostly carnal members. Not only do we not dare suggest some type of revival campaign, but now the trend is to eliminate Sunday evening services as well. After all, families today rush to and fro from school and work to fulfill important obligations all over the community, so let's help them out by asking less and less of their time, focus, and energy when it comes to the things of God. Amen? Or, oh my?

We cannot force the Spirit of God to work, and putting an event on the church calendar does not guarantee His presence and power. However, if the heart of our churches does not look something like the heart of the church revealed in the Book of Acts, longing to be together in order to experience Him, something is terribly wrong. And the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him;
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
Isaiah 55:6-7

Play Stupid Games; Win Stupid Prizes

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I will never forget the morning that I received wonderful, scriptural advice from an older pastor and dear friend. It was not only good advice, but a loving rebuke as well, one that I desperately needed. For some reason, he and I were the only ones in our carpool on that Tuesday morning headed to the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary campus in Memphis, Tenn. As I was unusually quiet, Bro. Mike asked me if I was feeling alright. When I assured him that I was fine, he asked about my family, and I told him that everyone was feeling well. 

"Bro. Charles," he said, "if you and your family are all doing good, how about the church? I can tell that something is bothering you. Is everything okay at the church?"

"Well, to be totally honest, I'm very disappointed in what happened at the church. I had challenged our church to break a numerical goal of having 100 in Sunday School for three consecutive Sundays, and I would preach the morning sermon off of the roof. We had over 100 in the previous two Sundays, but this past Sunday, we fell just short." (Just to give some context, when I first arrived at this church, we ran around twenty in Sunday School. Within eighteen months, we were averaging 80-85, but had seemed to hit an invisible ceiling that I desperately wanted to break through. I had seen a pastor's photo preaching from the roof of his church when his congregation succeeded in hitting a numerical goal in our state paper several weeks before, and I thought that would be good challenge with an unforgettable result. Not only could I get my photo in the Mississippi Baptist Record, but I could also submit it to the New Albany Gazette as well. Then everyone would know that New Oak Grove Baptist Church in Union County, Mississippi was led by a real man of God! LOL)

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, my friend replied, "Bro. Charles, quit pouting about not preaching from the roof, and get in God's pulpit and preach the truth." As I heard these words, I began to feel my face flush with anger. In my mind I thought, "You say one more word to me, Mike Sledge, and I'll grab your steering wheel, jerk this car over to the shoulder of the road, and whip your butt in this highway ditch!" That's what I thought, I'm very ashamed to admit, but the words never came out of my mouth. We were both silent for the rest of the commute.

Arriving on campus, I was so frustrated that I skipped my eight o'clock class and went to the prayer chapel. It was in this little room that God broke my heart. He broke my heart over my inner response of intense anger at my friend, and He broke my heart over the ridiculous challenge that I proposed to my people, as it was nothing more than a vain attempt to have a spotlight shining on me because our church accomplished some numerical goal.

Since this idea didn't originate with me, I'm sure that many others have performed similar, stupid stunts. Let's gather a big crowd, or collect a big offering, and I'll preach from the roof; or I'll swallow live goldfish; or I'll eat a habanero pepper; or I'll let the children throw pies in my face; or we'll rent a dunking tank and the deacons, the staff, and I will take turns being dunked in water. Hallelujah - God most certainly will be impressed with us! Don't you think so?

Now let's be honest, too many times we focus upon the trivial and foolish when we vainly attempt to perform the assignments that God has given us. As He has placed upon my heart a renewed vision of countless souls around the world, across our nation, and in our communities hurting, suffering, and dying, He has also renewed my burden over the reality of so many of our churches playing stupid games. I recently posted via social media about one of our larger churches in America beginning their worship service with their husband-and-wife pastoral team coming out on the platform dressed as Woody the Sheriff and Bo-Peep from the Toy Story movies. She tried to sound as if she had a southern accent. It was hellish. As I attempted to continue to watch it, my heart seethed. Why the shenanigans? Why the foolishness? Why display such childish stupidity in the name of Jesus? WHAT'S WRONG WITH US? People are going to HELL, people, wake up already and let's be THE CHURCH!! The Bible says that we "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." (1 Peter 2:9-12)

I've had enough of the pie throwing, roof preaching, goldfish swallowing, pepper eating, water dunking, and prancing around on stage like cartoon characters church services. Where are the displays of personal and corporate HUMILITY, BROKENESS, REPENTANCE, and CRYING OUT in utter desperation unto the Lord for REVIVAL and AWAKENING? Where is the true man of God who will "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins"? (Isaiah 58:1) Oh how we need MEN of God to lead the CHURCH of God to walk the HOLY PATHWAYS of God in order to experience the FULLNESS of God! A-MEN!!

In closing, allow me to return to my seminary days for a moment. A cassette tape was being passed around of a message that the late evangelist/revivalist Vance Havner had preached in a chapel service at a Bible college in Kentucky. I was blessed to listen to the message several times before giving it to a fellow student. I certainly wish I would have thought about making a copy for myself, but I didn't do it. Bro. Havner was preaching on accomplishing God's ministry through the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. He ended his message with this personal testimony: "I was recently at a church and with a pastor that I had never met before. It was a large imposing edifice that was abuzz with excitement for our opening service of a revival campaign. The pastor escorted me to a chair on the platform and whispered in my ear that he had to exit for a moment in order to fulfill a promise to his people. As everyone was finding a seat, one of the staff members finally approached the pulpit, welcomed everyone in attendance, then happily announced that a numerical goal had been met that morning. And as promised, the pastor and deacons were prepared to celebrate in a way that few would ever forget. As he said those words, the doors opened up in the rear of that large auditorium and the deacons began coming down the aisles throwing confetti into the excited crowd. As they made their way toward the front, another deacon stepped out of the middle doors with a rope, leading a donkey into the building with a clown upon it's back. The clown had a candy bag with him in order to throw sweet treats to the standing and cheering worshippers. As they got closer to me, I was finally able to recognize the face of the pastor. But being of such advanced age and dim of eyesight, I had trouble determining if the pastor was the clown, or the jackass."

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."