the choice to revolt

revolution is not accidental. it is not stumbled upon or discovered. the great moves of God didn't just "happen," they were intentional. they were results of choices. the choices of a few can influence a congregation. the choices of a congregation can influence a city. a city can influence a region and a region can influence a nation and the world.

will we choose to push beyond self-sufficiency? will we choose to be unsatisfied in anything less than revolution? will we choose to give up anything and everything for God? that is the key. it is in the act of sacrificing our sacred cows that we discover our hidden idols.

personal renewal is based on three choices. the first of these is the choice to volunteer to God what belongs to Him. He is a jealous Lover, He doesn't want just a part of us, He wants our whole beings. He wants us to be willing to give Him everything even if we feel we're not completely ready. in our weakness He is made perfect, or His strength is tested and discovered to be perfect.

the second choice is to give God what He requires of us, whether we are ready or not- those things that we held back from Him after we made our first choice. when He starts to require things from us, we will discover who or what is our true God. each step along the way is a choice. every step is accompanied by the question, "do you want to go on?" do we? only we can determine how far we go. only we can decide how much is too much, and how much is enough.

the question i have is how content are we with discomfort? it sounds, at first like an impossibility, but in reality, it is a paradox. personal renewal is accompanied by discomfort and discontent. when we decide that we're discontent with where we are, with whatever toys we have been playing with; with whatever other gods we have been serving; with whatever sins we like to keep hidden, then we will pursue personal renewal.

the third choice is to choose to go on with God however long it takes for a breakout. i'm not talking about breakthroughs. a breakout is when a small, tightly-woven community of people passionately pursuing personal renewal begins to see the evidences of a revival in their congregation.

a fourth choice, if i may include one, is that of refusing our own desire to go out and publicize the revival when it first starts to blossom. renewal and revival are two different events. renewal gives way to revival and revival can spark renewal, however, revival cannot occur without renewal occurring somewhere in someone first. now i say we need to not publicize it because we, as humans, have the nature to embellish the story, even though we have good intentions. God doesn't need madison avenue's strategies to draw a crowd- He's been in advertising ever since He created it. He said, "if I be lifted up from this earth, I will draw all men unto Me."

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