the advancing revolution

what is revival? i have thought about that a lot lately. is the success of revival determined by numbers? if so what numbers? the number of souls saved? the number of people in attendance? the number of dollars that rolls in? what if what we're looking for isn't what we should be looking for?

what is our end-game? i'm not asking about our exit strategy, we are not to have one. we are called to occupy until He returns; to fill the earth and subdue it. again, i ask, what is revival?

the nature of revival is not to get the unsaved saved- that is a fruit of revival. see, the definition of the word revival is "to make vibrant again; the restoration of force, validity, or effect." in order to be revived, one must first have been vibrant. now, this looks like just semantics, but i believe it is a part of why we are not witnessing what we are expecting.

if you can schedule it, host it, hold it or contain it in any way, it is not a revival, it is a counterfeit. if we plan it, we are serving up an over-hyped, emotion-based religious activity- not a true revival.

i see, in the great moves of God that we can trace our personal spiritual heritage back through, three categories contained within those moves. the only part we actively play is making the choice to be used of God in whatever shape or form that may be. we must decide to take the first step. God will never force us to do anything against our own will.

there is, first, the imperative renewal. we must, as individuals be daily transformed by the renewing of our minds. He doesn't want us reformed or conformed, but He wants us transformed. as individuals, we must seek His will for our individual lives as a part of His body, the church. we must do this in our prayer closets alone with God. no christian is greater than his prayer life. to quote ravenhill, "the pastor who is not praying, is playing; the people who are not praying, are straying. the two prerequisites to successful christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born in and maintained by prayer."

as our visions and passions grow and we emerge from our prayer closets to fellowship with fellow believers who are themselves emerging from their prayer closets, our passions merge and begin to spread. others begin to get a taste of our salt. as they lick the salt from their lips, they are made thirsty. the fire begins to grow.

it is at this point in time that the nature of the "revival" is tested. if it stems from anything man-made, it will fail, and be exposed as a fraud. people are truly tired of the counterfeit.

next, we are faced with the impending revival. when we have been so consumed by His holy passion for our lives, He starts to move in ways that are more manifest. as the individuals create small pockets of holy desperation, a vacuum, if you will that sucks the fires of His holiness towards it. those who need pruning will be pruned so that they can grow. what has been pruned is consumed by the fire. those who are dead and have no life left, are destroyed by the fire. it is for this reason alone, i am partially grateful that we have not seen God move this way yet. there are so many people sitting in the church that stand to be exposed when this great move of God sweeps in, and it is by His grace that He has tarried this long. we are still in the springtime of this move of God, He is still pruning, but the time is soon upon us when the pruning will be done. we must check our hearts or we will find ourselves in the ashes after the fire has gone.

the fire has grown throughout the pruning process, fueled by the hunger for His holiness in our lives. and finally we discover the third part of the advancing revolution: the imminent reaching out. not reaching out to bring others into the service- that is not what the services are for. it is not the pastor's job to win your friends to Christ. it is his job to impart into you what God has given him so that you can go and win your friends to Christ. it is a refueling station, a retooling station, and an armory where we can collect the spiritual weapons by which the battle for the hearts and souls of men will be won. and our weapons are lives of holiness, integrity and, above all, love.

revival is not the end-game. it is not a place to simply linger as the end of a journey. it is where we need to come to be refreshed and refilled so we can go back and reach out. i believe it is God's desire that every time we come together as a fellowship of believers that there is a continuous revival. and when we take a step back to see what God has set in order, we will see the advancing revolution tearing the gates off of hell and rescuing lost souls. this great firestorm is the never ending increase of His kingdom and every nation, tribe and people will worship Him from coast to coast, each one in his own land.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...