What is Revival to you?

What is revival to you?
How will it be minifest?
How will you determine if revival has come?
What will you do to bring it about? Or can you do anything?
I would really like to hear your perspectives on the above questions, any or all.

Thank you for your time,
Lori

Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to hear the viewpoint of these "leaders". I am also very much looking forward to the viewpoint of the members of Sermon Index.com as well.

Lori

Lor_E wrote:
What is revival to you?
How will it be minifest?
How will you determine if revival has come?
What will you do to bring it about? Or can you do anything?
I would really like to hear your perspectives on the above questions, any or all.

Thank you for your time,
Lori

Lori,

Revival is a remarkable work of God whereby many are saved by His sovereign hand. He seems to pour out an extra portion of grace at various times in history.

I think it is mainly manifested by the saints becoming more desirous of God and His mercy than anything else. There is greater fervency in prayer and in preaching. Methodology gives way to the Word of God. Holiness is yearned for by the Church. The trappings of Vanity Fair lose their luster. And the damned see the Word preached and hear the Word preached in our everyday lives.

We become more in tune with eternity, and become far more concerned about the lost. We sense the reality of their hell-bound plight and can even smell the sulfur on their clothing.

We are a far cry from revival, but I believe we can rent our clothing and put the ashes of repentance on our heads and pray for revival. O God, how I long for a deeper passion for You, that I may see the plight of my fellow and bring him the Good News of Your Kingdom. Forgive my pride and uncomfortable-ness in reaching out to a hell-bound sinner, for apart from Your grace such am I. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Thank you Davyman for your response.

I suppose I was hoping to spark some interest in discussions regarding the need and response of revival. It does, however, concern me that so few people have responded at all! No matter, I wonder though:
#1

davyman wrote:

Revival is a remarkable work of God whereby many are saved by His sovereign hand. He seems to pour out an extra portion of grace at various times in history.

I so appreciate that statement : that it is a "remarkable work of God"; oftentimes it seems we humans try to bring about revival by our own human means, which often leads to strange doctrines and stranger still practices.

In the 24 years that I have been a Christian, I have seen many different movements, many claiming revival, many churches experiencing a "revival" in their midst, but it does not extend out from there. I have seen groups of people that have fire that burns in their hearts for the lost and for their brother and their sister, yet the whole thing came crashing down because of gossip and base sin. I have seen thousands gather in Times Square Church and felt the urgency of the hour walking around the streets of NY city, and some things did change, some things did move people to a "more desirous" relationship with God.

However, the word which speaks, "My brethren you have need of endurance.." seems to fall by the way, and while some may "grow roots downward and bear fruit upward" others are, as the parable speaks, wilting, stunted by rocks and hardend ground, overtaken by thistles and weeds, even whisked away by a clever enemy which steals the seed before it becomes rooted.

"We are a far cry from revival"

I wonder, when I consider the prayers of the saints over the years, the prayers of Leonard Ravenhill, Kieth Green, Corrie Ten Boom, my great grandmother, your prayers, the prayers of many within this site, and the prayers of many- too numerous to mention and even know of who have prayed for America and for the church within this very hour for years! Many, many tears; many, many fastings; many, many "spaces of grace" extended to generations to repent. No doubt:
"If My people which are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin,
and will heal thier land."

Forgive the long post please!

"Brethren we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God, will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the Word. All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down. Brethren pray that Holy Manna will be showered all around.
Brethren see poor sinners 'round you, slumbering on the brink of woe; death is coming hell is moving can you bear to let them go? See our fathers and our mothers and our children sinking down; brethren pray, and holy manna will be showered all around." George Atkins 19th century

Let the sower do his work! Let the seed be sown in love! let the rain water the ground, and let the FRUIT be borne 100 fold!

I will sow in tears, and wait for the reaping, I pray, patiently, for the harvest which comes from the Lord's hand!

Lori,It is essential that the leadership of the church allow the Holy Spirit free reign in the midst of the congregation.
When the Holy Spirit sweeps into the assembly He does business with people.
Everything changes and people weep or fall in awe or worship.
Another interesting thing happens ....demons cry out and manifest through people.
I have seen this.
Those with theories think "the Holy Spirit doesn't make people roar or bark " and they are right. But demons will manifest under the weighty presence of the Holy Spirit.
So one great hindrance of revival is leaders erroneously ascribing demonic manifestations to the Holy Spirit. "we dont want any barking or roaring around here"
They misjudge whats happening.
we say we want revival but restrict the freedom of God and make rules as to what God can and cant do in the midst of the assembly.
I visited three modern revivals and it was so awesome I will never forget it.
Amazing and weird things happen in the weighty presence of the Holy Spirit.
The cost of revival pales in the light of the fruit of revival.
But ........the cost is very high.

David

Interesting.
Sometimes I forget that the modern sense of revival is so different from what I'm used to.
You know in my life I have seen many things, I've seen a drunk run to the altar and throw himself down on the ground in front of everyone and cry out for God's mercy, because of the annointed testimony of a believer.
I've seen a simple prayer for a girl with an affliction turn into wonder on her face as the affliction was gone.
I've seen entire congregations go to the altar and weep, and pray, and repent, and worship. I've seen people get all kinds of excited, get all kinds of loud, get all kinds of emotional, dance and cry and make all kinds of noise.. and I've seen those same people get swept away by some of the smallest things.
Yes, I agree that the cost of any revival is very great, I just hope and pray for that fruit that lasts: throughout every trial, every heartache, every temptation, every dissapointment and every idea that becomes as rubbish when God confronts our ideas against His.

Thanks for the post.
Lori

I "hit and run" post on another "Christian" BB. The reason I don't linger there is that the discussions run along the lines of "is it OK for a Christian to watch R rated movies?" Yech!

These unfortunates say that they watch this filth and ignore the nudity or don't take the satanic themes to heart or can "get over the non-Christian stuff" and enjoy the entertainment qualities of the film.

I am afraid this is the prevalent attitude of the visible church. Entertainment the god of America (my overseas brethren will verify this for their own countries as well, I suspect). We are addicted to fun. TV is fun, shopping is fun, work is fun and CHURCH SHOULD BE FUN, TOO. I am sickened by this. R rated movies aren't that bad; women parading in their underwear on prime time TV isn't that bad; hip-hop videos, God-slandering comedy, homosexual sit-coms etc. just aren't that bad.

This is why I say we are far from revival. When Christians trash their TVs and turn to their Bibles and knees, then we'll see revival (if the Lord wills). Those of us who have done these things still have much to repent of. Blatant consumerism comes to mind.

I am praying for revival. I am praying that God revives my heart to His majesty and glory. I'm praying that I would realize heartily that "at His right hand are pleasures forevermore."

SDG,

Dave

Lori, both the pre-times square and the pre-brownsville revivals are documented.
Both accounts are very moving.
Pre-revival is the only way to revival.[I hope i can say that] maybe not.
But it does seem key" to say the least.
Ive never been so awestruck in my entire life as in the Brownsville revival.
The Holy Spirit in his weighty presence can change more in 5 minutes than 10 nuclear explosions.

David

Pre-revival is the only way to revival.[I hope i can say that] maybe not.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "Pre-revival"?

One thing I have noticed in different circles of different types of church goers; humans are humans. Unfortunately as humans we are easily sidetracked, easily swayed, easily distracted from singularity in Christ. Even as the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the churches in the book of the Revelation from Ephesus to Laodecia His consistent words were to them "Repent".

I have been around those who have chosen not to have a tv, and those who do; one seems to look upon those who do with disdain and the other seems to try to make excuse for what they have- seems to me that there is much missing in both camps. We as humans have such a tendency to look at the other humans around us and judge ourselves by what they do or do not do; instead of fixing our eyes on the Christ who is perfect in ALL His ways and seeking to be justified only by Him.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I agree with you that we here in the "civilized western world" have MANY gods- not the least of which is self fullfillment by whatever means are available at the moment. Yet, I see a deeper cause and effect by our human comparisons and human understandings- one that detours us from the true vision of personal and corporeal revival and spiritual awakening...

I'm praying that I would realize heartily that "at His right hand are pleasures forevermore."

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive honor and glory and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev 4:11

I am praying that God revives my heart to His majesty and glory

Thank you for your post.

lori, What i have witnessed in "corporate revival" is the holy spirit runs a "plow" through the congregation and deep repentance "corporately" takes place.[pre-revival]

David

Lor e:

I don't condemn anyone for having a TV. I guess my point is that revival comes when Christians yearn to love God with all their heart, with all their might and with all their soul.

I am disheartened when confessing Christians see nothing wrong with MTV or Victoria's Secret commercials or TV shows that celebrate sodomy. I am a lot happier to be without the boob tube, I'm not saying that it will last for the rest of my life, but I feel cleaner. That's my personal testimony.

As for as revival goes, I pray earnestly that God will continue to soften this stony heart in my chest. I want to see Him move in power to save those that are heading to hell. I guess I've never forgotten what it's like to be a rebel, an enemy of God. I also see that it must happen first within the church. We need to look different to the world. We need to act differently. We need to speak differently. We need to live differently than the world.

SDG,

Dave

Thanks Dave,
I did not mean to insinuate that you were condemning, only that it has been my experience that in some circles it does happen. And I praise God when men (humans in general and men as being the leaders God intended them to be!) actually stand up and are examples of a self disciplined life under the direction of the Lord!

Yes and amen! I agree very much! We should be different than the world, if we belong to Christ-we are different, we just have much to learn about being Christlike as opposed to being self driven!

Thank you for your post,
Lori

Thank you for your response David. May the "plow" of the Lord run through every congregation to bring repentance!!!

A friend of mine many years ago mentioned to me that "corporate" a form of "corporation" meant that no one is to blame, a form of this worlds governing powers; but that corporeal- was "the whole man" meaning that the whole body is involved. I always think of that now when I think of what you are speaking of.

Thankyou,
Lori

Lori,

So how are we different? Is it that we hang out a church on Sundays rather than the local bar? I don't know the answer, but I suspect that Christians need to disentangle themselves from the trappings of the world. My own example: I am really coveting a new Imac. It looks cool, the new OS is unbelievable (they've added 300 new features, after all!), and my computer is 5 years old! How petty is that? I repent every time the thought comes up that I NEED a new Mac. I just read about an orphanage in Africa that a missionary descibed as "a bomb exploded in a landfill." These are Christian brothers and sisters that are SUFFERING for the sake of the Gospel. I need a new computer: Jesus, I need new priorities!

To me, when Christians come together in repentance for our blatant covetousness and consumerism then we can begin to pray earnestly for revival. God hears our prayers for revival served up with our divided allegiance to the "stuff of earth" (as Rich Mullins put it) and it is a stench to Him.

My opinion: revival will come with an economic depression. When real, Bible-believing Christians lose their stuff, when we are confronted with dependence on God for survival, when the Church begins ministering to her own; then revival will come to this land, if God wills.

SDG,

Dave

Lori, There may be something to the "get rid of the TV and the world" view of Davy.
However TV wont stop revival.
Revival"comes" through faith,
Jesus promised us revival and it is "laid hold of" just like salvation and healing.
We will have revival in the near future.
I believe that.
It will come through one man like it always does.
When times square church was visited with revival one can look to the pre-revival days and see a remarkable phenomenon.
Dave suspended all church activities and opened the church 24/7 to prayer and repentance.
It was so moving it was actually disarming.
I knew i was in the midst of people that were far,far beyond me.
I never knew what corporate repentance was like. I was never,ever in the midst of hundreds of people crying LOUDLY their sins and confessing before God in anguish.
It moved me so much I could barely make it back to my seat.
One lady asked me "sir are you alright?"
People must be "conditioned" {plowed] to prepare their hearts.
The encounter with God in your prayer closet is different than the encounter "corporately" with the saints.
It is much much more powerful and weighty with a congregation.

David

How are we different than the world? When I say this I mean several things: 1. We answer to a different ruler than the world. 2. We will be judged differently than the world. 3. We are held to a different standard than the world. 4. We have hope, the world doesn’t. I’m sure this is not a definitive list just a few that are on there.

My point in this discussion regarding outward expressions such as tv and so forth is this: I know non Christians that do not have tv’s and it does not make them spiritual; perhaps smarter as they don’t “veg” out and perhaps use their brains more than someone that merely sits and lapses into a television coma. Although my understanding of scripture says that Christians already are spiritual, if indeed they are “born again”. Now that does not mean that they, those that name the name of Christ or have been “born again”, are wise, discerning, mature, obedient, and are not instead rather “soulish” (being led about by their emotions, their thoughts and their own ideas). Being a Christian also in my estimation of scripture does not mean that they can not be judged together with the world, such as Rev 18:4 “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

But when you mention “consumerism”, I wonder, where does it spring from? What is the root cause, the foundation of the mindset which falls into: bigger, better, more expensive? For that matter, what is the origination for those that would find pleasure in watching sin- regardless of where it came from?

Now, I must compare this train of thought to the source that brings revival, on the other hand where does revival come from? Since we know that revival comes from God than I must consider that it is not mere externals that is keeping revival from happening- rather some abhorrent to God- not that those things which are represented on the television are not abhorrent, but they belong to the world, their source comes from the world. Instead, those things that belong to God are the things that He chooses to work through- isn’t it? So therefore it seems that according to scripture it is a vessel - a human vessel that God desires to work through- to reveal His testimony through- to be on this earth even as Jesus Christ were. However, there must be some inward issues, some source, some basic discrepancy, some place of disobedience, doubt, pride, double mindedness, self exalting heart conditions that are hindering revival.

Can ridding oneself of a bad habit change your heart?

I’m reminded of the statement I heard regarding the Welsh revival in which AFTER revival no one attended sporting events or parties.

I wonder, if being revived/ as in revival, being as others have suggested the sweeping and cultivating, cleansing power of the great God that we serve; wouldn’t the act of revival itself cause those who love Christ and desire Him above all else to put away any other distraction? Or would the latter come before revival actually moved upon hearts of men?

If television keeps me from being obedient throw it out! If magazines, books or even newspaper ads keep me from being obedient, ignore them completely. If it is rather my own heart needing to be changed more in the likeness of the obedient, humble, loving Christ rather than my (sick) surrounding culture- Lord PLEASE do so to me!

To simply answer the question of the original post, I believe revival has to do with the church. It's when the body of Christ, through conviction, falls on their faces in repentance and returns to the Word and holy living.

"thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"