Revival's in the Air

The Lord is calling us to know Him better and to know and discover His ways, so that we might walk a 
path of holiness and righteousness, bringing honor to His name.  Isaiah 57 states:
13b ... he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain."
14 And one shall say, "Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

This passage gives us some insight into positioning ourselves for revival, so that God would have His way in us and do what He intends.  We block the work of God by selfishness, but we allow Him to work through humility.  Contrition is an element that is mentioned in verse 15: we have to be willing to confess and repent of our sins, to recognize where our ways have not lined up with His, and surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit. 

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God calls us to draw closer to Him - in our proclamation and our practice - so that He is extremely evident in us. Hosea 6 speaks of revival, which we desperately need in our country and the Church:
1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Author, speaker, and teaching pastor Robert J. Morgan, who has been a guest on The Meeting House program on several occasions, shared some sobering, yet encouraging, words about a unique and challenging time in the history of our nation in a piece for Decision Magazine.  He described an America that, "grew economically and wrangled politically," but as that occurred, he says, "the light of Christianity dimmed. French rationalism seized the colleges, which became hotbeds of atheism. Church attendance plunged. John Marshall, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, feared the church had declined too far to be saved."

Sound familiar?  This time period Pastor Morgan described was in the latter 18th Century, during the early days of our nation; days in which the President, George Washington, had written the governors of the 13 colonies and included this prayer:

"I now make it my earnest prayer that God … would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific [peaceful] temper of mind which were characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion [Jesus Christ], and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.”

That was written in 1783, and expressed sentiment that many did not share.  So, as Morgan points out...

That’s when the Lord sent another great revival—the Second Great Awakening. It began in the early 1800s on college campuses in the East and at Kentucky Camp Meetings in the West. Thousands came to Christ in a massive revival that birthed the modern missions movement, launched the spread of Sunday schools, filled America’s pulpits with Biblical expositors and sent hundreds of itinerant evangelists into the untamed frontiers.

He points out: "The United States of America came into existence between two of the greatest revivals ever recorded. We have a God who still sends seasons of refreshing on His church around the world."

Is it happening?  Please allow me to present some evidence.  A few weeks ago, I reported on a church in Tennessee that baptized over a thousand people between the week before Christmas and Easter Sunday.  Yesterday, I aired a conversation with Sean Dunn of Groundwire, which saw well over 100,000 people come to Christ in the year 2020 and has a goal to more than double that this year. You also heard about a movement called The Whosoevers, which is ministering across America and internationally, using creative events including music, speaking,...and skateboarding, in order to share the gospel.

That Decision Magazine edition that had the article from Robert Morgan also featured Sean Feucht, whose "Let Us Worship" events have been held across the country - from California to Minnesota to New York to Washington, DC, where an estimated crowd of some 35,000 gathered on the National Mall for prayer and worship.  Feucht is quoted in the Decision article as saying:

“I’m praying for an awakening and a revival in the nation, but more important, I’m praying for an awakening and a revival in the church. I’m praying that we would start living the Gospel message, that we would take a stand for righteousness and truth, not back down, not try to be politically correct, but that we would live according to the Gospel. …

“We need a revival of the simple Gospel message in America. It is not complicated, it is not difficult, it is not hard. It is the Gospel message of Jesus Christ that’s endured for thousands of years and still works today.”

CBN.com, in a recent feature earlier this month, states:

Feucht and his "Let Us Worship" team have traveled across the country over the past year and he's pointed out that they have no plans of stopping.

He recently shared the "summer of revival" tour schedule where he is looking to lift up the name of Jesus in 34 cities, within 15 states, over the course of 87 days.

And, just this past weekend, an online event called the "National Senior Sendoff" occurred, featuring a number of speakers and musical artists.  The website says:

The feeling is inescapable: something new is about to happen.

If you’re a student, that “something new” can be a catalytic season for your relationship with Jesus Christ. The next season of life will be so formative, and having a strong gospel community can build a foundation of faith that will follow you for the rest of your life.

The work of the Lord is moving forward, in-person and online.  People whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic are looking for hope, looking for answers. God is able and God is available in order to provide what they are searching for.

We hear quite a bit about revival - but what does it look like?  There is a desire, a yearning, to know God better, to enter into repentance so that our lives reflect the inner work of God in our hearts. In order to experience revival, we have to set aside our selfish desires and allow the Lord to change us. We can strive to put Him above all else.  Revival is more than an event, more than an experience, it's entering into the presence of God and allowing Him to enter in to every area of our lives, so that He permeates our very being.