It's the last day of the fast and, similar to yesterday's thoughts, I want to ask a pertinent question, "So, why." Why were we fasting? Why were we praying?
I ask "Why?" because it points to motive and motivation. Are we fasting for selfish movtives or selfless? Last year's fast was focussed on Isaiah 58 and God is very clear about having right motives in fasting. Have I sought The Lord for what I would get out of it? Have I tried to make a deal with God? Have I worshipped, prayed and even sacrifices for my own comfort and pleasure instead of God's? God works in our lives for His good pleasure (Eph. 1:5,9; Phil. 2:13; 2 Thess. 1:11).
I had an interesting conversation with someone about church cultures. Specifically about chrismatic/Pentecostal church cultures. He noticed that many churches of our persuasion tend to be "bless me" clubs. Testimonies are often of the sort that indicate that God wants them to have a better car, bigger house and a more lucrative job. Often offerings are linked to these blessings. People are left with the impression that salvation is free but everything else you might want out of your relationship with God costs.
Does that mean that God doesn't intend to bless us? No. God blesses us becaue He loves us. God brings increase to our lives so that we can in turn use it to increase His Kingdom. You may need a bigger house for the sake of the Kingdom. You may need a better wage for God's sake and not merely your own. Our lives, every part of it, is for His pleasure and glory.
Thankfully, I know from the prayers I have heard during our evening meetings that this fast has been done from a heart of worship. This is praise to God. This is to please Him. That is the other half of the conversation I had with that man. He appreciated that we have testimonies like ones about people sharing Christ with others.
Happy to be moving forward as a church,
Merril
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Friday, 24 January 2014
Jan 24 2014 - Revivalist Lifestyle
This year's Fast for Breakthrough is almost completed. Tomorrow is the last day. We break-fast on Sunday. With that in mind, I have to ask the question, "So what?" So, what has this fast meant for you? So, what has fasting accomplished at the Freedom Centre? So, what will the day after look like? So, what was this supposed to all be about?
Don't get me wrong … these are not the questions of a skeptic or pessimist. These are the questions of someone who plans to press on. I did not respond to God's call to fast for ten days so that I could put a notch in my spiritual gun belt and feel good about myself. This fast is not about marking the beginning of the year; its about launching into the year. The momentum we have gained through fasting together is to continue on and hopefully also increase.
I fully believe that we have had breakthrough. We have not arrived at revival, yet … but we certainly have moved forward in our journey with God towards revival. I'm sure we all have mental pictures of what revival will look like. I'm also pretty sure that these images are not exactly what it will look like. However, in nine days of fasting and praying, I have seen shifts in the hearts of people at the Freedom Centre. I have seen the fire of revival birthed/rekindled/enlivened in people and, with it, they are becoming revivalists.
Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry defines a revivalist as "a believer who is focussed and passionate, willing to pay any price to live in purity and power because they are loved by God and love Him, whose manifest presence transforms lives and cultures." They link this to the culture of their school specifically in lining up with their core values. To live the life of a revivalist is to embrace the vision and values that constrains your life with the purpose of a revival that will being glory to God at the heart of it.
It comes down to character. Character is the infrastructure through which God's power and glory are supposed to flow. That's how it worked for Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 points this out: "who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." The word "character" actually appears here but you may not see it. Where the verse says "express image," it is the Greek word "χαρακτήρ" (character). It is when we are conformed to His image that glory and power will not adversely effect us. And, conversely, a genuine revival brings His character and nature in to sharp focus for all to see.
Dr. Henry Fish, in his "Handbook of Revivals" (1874), wrote that "… we would naturally receive a powerful work of grace, namely, that just then we should have the best fruits; less of men's work, and more of God's; less of calculation, and more of conviction; less of head-work, and more of heart-work; less of theoretical persuasion, and more of direct, practical, moral earnestness; and so developing a purer, more vigorous, and more highly vitalized Christian character than in times where there is less of 'the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.'"
God is calling us into maturity. It is the mature children that inherit the Kingdom (Galatians 4:1-2). The mature children have had the Father's character stamped upon them. It is because of this character that the Father can trust His child to use His resources in line with His heart. The fires of revival are burning. They are burning His image into our flesh … the flesh of revivalists. This will mean lifestyle change, but it is a welcome one.
Pressing on,
Merril
Don't get me wrong … these are not the questions of a skeptic or pessimist. These are the questions of someone who plans to press on. I did not respond to God's call to fast for ten days so that I could put a notch in my spiritual gun belt and feel good about myself. This fast is not about marking the beginning of the year; its about launching into the year. The momentum we have gained through fasting together is to continue on and hopefully also increase.
I fully believe that we have had breakthrough. We have not arrived at revival, yet … but we certainly have moved forward in our journey with God towards revival. I'm sure we all have mental pictures of what revival will look like. I'm also pretty sure that these images are not exactly what it will look like. However, in nine days of fasting and praying, I have seen shifts in the hearts of people at the Freedom Centre. I have seen the fire of revival birthed/rekindled/enlivened in people and, with it, they are becoming revivalists.
Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry defines a revivalist as "a believer who is focussed and passionate, willing to pay any price to live in purity and power because they are loved by God and love Him, whose manifest presence transforms lives and cultures." They link this to the culture of their school specifically in lining up with their core values. To live the life of a revivalist is to embrace the vision and values that constrains your life with the purpose of a revival that will being glory to God at the heart of it.
It comes down to character. Character is the infrastructure through which God's power and glory are supposed to flow. That's how it worked for Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 points this out: "who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." The word "character" actually appears here but you may not see it. Where the verse says "express image," it is the Greek word "χαρακτήρ" (character). It is when we are conformed to His image that glory and power will not adversely effect us. And, conversely, a genuine revival brings His character and nature in to sharp focus for all to see.
Dr. Henry Fish, in his "Handbook of Revivals" (1874), wrote that "… we would naturally receive a powerful work of grace, namely, that just then we should have the best fruits; less of men's work, and more of God's; less of calculation, and more of conviction; less of head-work, and more of heart-work; less of theoretical persuasion, and more of direct, practical, moral earnestness; and so developing a purer, more vigorous, and more highly vitalized Christian character than in times where there is less of 'the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.'"
God is calling us into maturity. It is the mature children that inherit the Kingdom (Galatians 4:1-2). The mature children have had the Father's character stamped upon them. It is because of this character that the Father can trust His child to use His resources in line with His heart. The fires of revival are burning. They are burning His image into our flesh … the flesh of revivalists. This will mean lifestyle change, but it is a welcome one.
Pressing on,
Merril
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Jan 23 2014 - False Revivals
I have had today's topic on my thoughts list from the start of the fast. It seems best to fit it in today. It wouldn't have worked to put it at the beginning and it certainly wouldn't be the thought to leave for the last. And, so, with only three days left in the fast (including today), I want us to think about whether there can be a false revival.
This gets tricky. I can see the hair rising on the backs of some necks even at the mention of it. How can anyone have the audacity to think they could judge whether what another church is experiencing as being real or false? Is it possible to do this from a distance? Can you really say one way or the other, even if you have been there? Who says what is flesh and what is the Spirit of God?
The only reason I bring it up is because I want the real deal. I'm not going to criticize, judge, or analyze anything that has happened somewhere else. I hope, since you are still reading this, that you also want a genuine revival. It is possible in the flesh, with human frenzy and fanaticism, to have what appears to be a revival from God and is not. The British invasion by the Beatles was not a revival. The fervour of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18) may have appeared to be in revival but their god wasn't. True revival came through the prayer of Elijah.
Dr. Edward Kirk in his "Lectures on Revivals" (1868, published 1875) said: "When the plans of Providence are approaching their maturity, and some new truth is about to enter the current of human thought, there are found persons of particular temperament, who are among the first to feel the approaching change, and seize the idea, its fragmentary form of manifestation, and who pluck the unripe fruit, and poison themselves and others with its crude juices. Elated with their discovery, they attack the established order and convictions rudely and unwisely, and present the coming truth in caricature."
In desiring a genuine revival, that means not wanting it in part but in the whole. If you showed me a Ferrari and said I could have it but the reality was that it had the engine from a Dodge Colt, I would be sorely disappointed. Sitting in it, the car feels like the genuine but it can't deliver. I'm not interested in something that looks and feels like a revival but doesn't really deliver. There is no room for style over substance. Seeking the Lord for revival means sticking with it to its complete fulfillment. It may take more prayer, obedience, sacrifice, humility and surrender to get it all in place, but we cannot settle for less. New theories, theologies and/or practices do not a revival make.
Dr. Henry Fish wrote in his "Handbook of Revivals" (1874): "Revivals may be either false or genuine. Under the former are to be classed mere religious excitements, extemporised by human agency, and subsiding without permanent results. There may be a whirlwind of agitation and no real revival. And these spurious movements have done much to harm the cause of true revivals."
The opposite can also been true of my car illustration. Some have experienced a Ferrari engine in the body of a Dodge Colt. In a very short time the car is totalled because the body wasn't proper for the power that was being applied. That power can originate either from the Lord or from the people but it is probably a mixture. Thrill and excitement are the byproducts of a genuine revival, but they are not the substance of it. Permanent transformation by the Spirit of God is at the heart of a genuine revival. Whether it is salvations, healings, impartations, commissionings or miracles that are part of the revival … they last. As Oswald J. Smith said in "The Revival We Need" (1925): "It is one thing to have hundreds of professed converts during the excitement of the campaign, but it is another thing to come back five years after and find them still there."
Thankfully, one does not negate the other. Dr. Charles Thompson in "Times of Refreshing: A History of American Revivals" (1877) wrote: "Spurious revivals cannot disprove the genuine. Popular objections that are urged against popular extravagances, or bad methods, fall powerless against the fundamental idea of a true revival of religion." While it can certainly be sad and even disheartening to think about false revivals, we must press on for the genuine. Stay the course, run the race with endurance: the reward is just ahead (Hebrews 11:6, 12:1).
Running with you,
Merril
This gets tricky. I can see the hair rising on the backs of some necks even at the mention of it. How can anyone have the audacity to think they could judge whether what another church is experiencing as being real or false? Is it possible to do this from a distance? Can you really say one way or the other, even if you have been there? Who says what is flesh and what is the Spirit of God?
The only reason I bring it up is because I want the real deal. I'm not going to criticize, judge, or analyze anything that has happened somewhere else. I hope, since you are still reading this, that you also want a genuine revival. It is possible in the flesh, with human frenzy and fanaticism, to have what appears to be a revival from God and is not. The British invasion by the Beatles was not a revival. The fervour of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18) may have appeared to be in revival but their god wasn't. True revival came through the prayer of Elijah.
Dr. Edward Kirk in his "Lectures on Revivals" (1868, published 1875) said: "When the plans of Providence are approaching their maturity, and some new truth is about to enter the current of human thought, there are found persons of particular temperament, who are among the first to feel the approaching change, and seize the idea, its fragmentary form of manifestation, and who pluck the unripe fruit, and poison themselves and others with its crude juices. Elated with their discovery, they attack the established order and convictions rudely and unwisely, and present the coming truth in caricature."
In desiring a genuine revival, that means not wanting it in part but in the whole. If you showed me a Ferrari and said I could have it but the reality was that it had the engine from a Dodge Colt, I would be sorely disappointed. Sitting in it, the car feels like the genuine but it can't deliver. I'm not interested in something that looks and feels like a revival but doesn't really deliver. There is no room for style over substance. Seeking the Lord for revival means sticking with it to its complete fulfillment. It may take more prayer, obedience, sacrifice, humility and surrender to get it all in place, but we cannot settle for less. New theories, theologies and/or practices do not a revival make.
Dr. Henry Fish wrote in his "Handbook of Revivals" (1874): "Revivals may be either false or genuine. Under the former are to be classed mere religious excitements, extemporised by human agency, and subsiding without permanent results. There may be a whirlwind of agitation and no real revival. And these spurious movements have done much to harm the cause of true revivals."
The opposite can also been true of my car illustration. Some have experienced a Ferrari engine in the body of a Dodge Colt. In a very short time the car is totalled because the body wasn't proper for the power that was being applied. That power can originate either from the Lord or from the people but it is probably a mixture. Thrill and excitement are the byproducts of a genuine revival, but they are not the substance of it. Permanent transformation by the Spirit of God is at the heart of a genuine revival. Whether it is salvations, healings, impartations, commissionings or miracles that are part of the revival … they last. As Oswald J. Smith said in "The Revival We Need" (1925): "It is one thing to have hundreds of professed converts during the excitement of the campaign, but it is another thing to come back five years after and find them still there."
Thankfully, one does not negate the other. Dr. Charles Thompson in "Times of Refreshing: A History of American Revivals" (1877) wrote: "Spurious revivals cannot disprove the genuine. Popular objections that are urged against popular extravagances, or bad methods, fall powerless against the fundamental idea of a true revival of religion." While it can certainly be sad and even disheartening to think about false revivals, we must press on for the genuine. Stay the course, run the race with endurance: the reward is just ahead (Hebrews 11:6, 12:1).
Running with you,
Merril
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Jan 22 2014 - Revival of Grace (Mark and Modifier)
I recently read or heard someone say that the next great revival will be "one of grace instead of condemnation" (sorry, but I can't find the quote right now). There is certainly a move of the Spirit of God upon the earth to remind the church of grace. Just as there were excesses to the faith movement, there have been excesses to the grace movement. This does not, however, mean that God is not bringing about a revival that will highlight His grace. The truth of the matter is that as I have read accounts of the different revivals over the last 400 years, all accounts give testimony to the grace of God at work. The expressions and understandings of that how that grace was being worked may differ from time to time, but it still is at work. And, so, I believe grace will not only be a mark of revival but a modifier that identifies the next revival from others.
Grace is at the heart of any revival. We cannot earn or deserve a revival. The fact of needing a revival is an indication that we need His grace because we have diminished or weakened our stance as individuals and as a church. Thankfully, we can boldly come to the throne of grace and approach Jesus, who understands our weaknesses, and obtain grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Our spirits (which are now united with Christ) may be willing, but our flesh can be weak (Matthew 26:41). Grace isn't just a pat on the shoulder saying, "there, there, it will be alright." Grace is the very enablement of God encountering us so that we change.
Grace removes the excuses from our live. If God's grace is truly sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) and abundant (1 Timothy 1:14), so that with Christ I can do all things (Philippians 4:13), then there are no excuses I can give to God for not moving forward in Him. Hebrews 12:1-2 says: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11), let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." This command exists because the grace to accomplish it exists.
I visited with Phil Nadeau yesterday (who has sadly been unable to attend the evening prayer times). He had a vision of sign-posts along the road of life with the word "can't" on them. They were the places where we tell the Lord that we can't follow His leading/direction/instruction/command. Phil then saw the signs change to "won't." The Spirit of Truth was encountering the sign-posts and revealing the heart of man. The truth is that we choose to not obey The Lord because His grace is available to enable us to do it. Don't get me wrong, God also understands process and timing in our development into the fullness of the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). We are moving from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), and glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). It's just that we often will not allow God to change any of our signs.
We are fasting because we are desperate for progress. We cannot get stuck in our own flesh. We cannot overcome the flesh with the flesh but only by the Spirit (take the time to read all of Romans 8). We cannot be satisfied with the level of life/glory/Spirit that currently is experienced and expressed in our lives. We must continue to offer up our lives as living sacrifices and be have the world's mould broken as we are conformed to God's image (Romans 12:1-2). We must embrace the cross and be conformed to Jesus' death so that we can shine forth His resurrection power (Philippians 3:10-11). Not thinking that we will ever arrive at perfection while we continue in our current bodies but also that we must live at the level that God has brought each of us to and progress further (Philippians 3:12-16).
Grace meets us where we are. Grace enables us to not remain where we are. Grace calls us all to press on and lay hold of all that Christ Jesus intended when He laid hold of each one of us.
A revival of great grace is coming. It is going to change our world.
Blessings,
Merril
Grace is at the heart of any revival. We cannot earn or deserve a revival. The fact of needing a revival is an indication that we need His grace because we have diminished or weakened our stance as individuals and as a church. Thankfully, we can boldly come to the throne of grace and approach Jesus, who understands our weaknesses, and obtain grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Our spirits (which are now united with Christ) may be willing, but our flesh can be weak (Matthew 26:41). Grace isn't just a pat on the shoulder saying, "there, there, it will be alright." Grace is the very enablement of God encountering us so that we change.
Grace removes the excuses from our live. If God's grace is truly sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) and abundant (1 Timothy 1:14), so that with Christ I can do all things (Philippians 4:13), then there are no excuses I can give to God for not moving forward in Him. Hebrews 12:1-2 says: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11), let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." This command exists because the grace to accomplish it exists.
I visited with Phil Nadeau yesterday (who has sadly been unable to attend the evening prayer times). He had a vision of sign-posts along the road of life with the word "can't" on them. They were the places where we tell the Lord that we can't follow His leading/direction/instruction/command. Phil then saw the signs change to "won't." The Spirit of Truth was encountering the sign-posts and revealing the heart of man. The truth is that we choose to not obey The Lord because His grace is available to enable us to do it. Don't get me wrong, God also understands process and timing in our development into the fullness of the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). We are moving from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), and glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). It's just that we often will not allow God to change any of our signs.
We are fasting because we are desperate for progress. We cannot get stuck in our own flesh. We cannot overcome the flesh with the flesh but only by the Spirit (take the time to read all of Romans 8). We cannot be satisfied with the level of life/glory/Spirit that currently is experienced and expressed in our lives. We must continue to offer up our lives as living sacrifices and be have the world's mould broken as we are conformed to God's image (Romans 12:1-2). We must embrace the cross and be conformed to Jesus' death so that we can shine forth His resurrection power (Philippians 3:10-11). Not thinking that we will ever arrive at perfection while we continue in our current bodies but also that we must live at the level that God has brought each of us to and progress further (Philippians 3:12-16).
Grace meets us where we are. Grace enables us to not remain where we are. Grace calls us all to press on and lay hold of all that Christ Jesus intended when He laid hold of each one of us.
A revival of great grace is coming. It is going to change our world.
Blessings,
Merril
Tuesday, 21 January 2014
Jan 21 2014 - Revival Marker of an Empowered, Active Church
You cannot use the word "revival" without having something or someone revived. Revival has to do with the church before it has anything to do with the community or world. Our current expression and experience of God's presence and power needs to increase. We are the ones who need a greater release of the Holy Spirit. We are the ones who need a greater display of what the revivalists of the 18th and 19th centuries called "experimental religion."
Oswald J. Smith, in his diary that appears in "The Revival We Need" notes: "I have come to the place where I realize that I know almost nothing about experimental religion. I have the 'form of Godliness.' but not the 'power.' [2 Tim. 3:5] It is in my head but not in my heart. My religion is theoretical, rather than experimental." The early church, the church in revival, was actively walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot settle for less. We cannot be comfortable with a Christian existence that is without the experience of the power to transform our own lives and the lives of others.
This challenge is not presented to bring us into condemnation but repentance. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The rest of the verse, however, says that we are not to walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Repentance is not about weeping and gnashing of teeth but turning and transformation. We need to own up to our need for change. The level of God's glory that is revealed through us is insufficient for our own needs and the needs of the world that needs to encounter that glory. We are supposed to be being transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Our unsanctified and untransformed flesh is the veil that prevents the glory of God that resides in us from being revealed. The revival we so desperately need is a greater release of the presence of God that we already carry. We are the temples, and corporately the temple, that contains the ark of the gracious presence of God according to the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21). This temple must open its doors wider. This ark must move amongst the people of the world with the glory of God showing. The tangible and transformational presence of God is supposed to be with us in power.
Seeking transformation from glory to glory,
Merril
Oswald J. Smith, in his diary that appears in "The Revival We Need" notes: "I have come to the place where I realize that I know almost nothing about experimental religion. I have the 'form of Godliness.' but not the 'power.' [2 Tim. 3:5] It is in my head but not in my heart. My religion is theoretical, rather than experimental." The early church, the church in revival, was actively walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot settle for less. We cannot be comfortable with a Christian existence that is without the experience of the power to transform our own lives and the lives of others.
This challenge is not presented to bring us into condemnation but repentance. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The rest of the verse, however, says that we are not to walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Repentance is not about weeping and gnashing of teeth but turning and transformation. We need to own up to our need for change. The level of God's glory that is revealed through us is insufficient for our own needs and the needs of the world that needs to encounter that glory. We are supposed to be being transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Our unsanctified and untransformed flesh is the veil that prevents the glory of God that resides in us from being revealed. The revival we so desperately need is a greater release of the presence of God that we already carry. We are the temples, and corporately the temple, that contains the ark of the gracious presence of God according to the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21). This temple must open its doors wider. This ark must move amongst the people of the world with the glory of God showing. The tangible and transformational presence of God is supposed to be with us in power.
Seeking transformation from glory to glory,
Merril
Monday, 20 January 2014
Jan 20 2014 - The Revival Marker of Truth
Alongside the revival markers of the sovereignty of God and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, the Truth comes to set people free (John 8:31-32). While revival is a renewal of the life and power of God working in His body, the church, it is also often an awakening to lost or forgotten truth about Christ and the gospel. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and this becomes diminished along with how we access all the Father has for us when the truth is also diminished. Revival comes to restore truth so we can walk in greater, fuller freedom again.
The truth of the Word is also the anchor in revival that prevents eccentricities and fleshly self-interest from skewing the work of the Spirit. Charles Thompson in "Times of Refreshing: A History of American Revivals" writes: "Preach, therefore, without the Spirit, and it is vain. And for life, movement, guidance of the people, the Spirit without the truth is vain." He also writes that "popular excitement that is not pointed to rest in the doctrines of the cross is only hurtful." Active and effective five-fold ministers can cause the church in revival to "no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ" (Ephesians 4:14-15).
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The cutting away of the things of the flesh and the release of what God's Spirit truly wants to accomplish only happens when Spirit and Truth operate together in unity (Hebrews 4:12). The revival some seek is not the revival God desires. The solution to a church actively promoting the truth without the power of the Spirit is not to have the Spirit without truth. Neither a dull thick sword nor a sharp thin sword are effective. The Spirit and the Word work equally, totally and fully together in producing the revival God desires.
To say there are no restrictions in the Spirit (at least as some would say it) is to deny the character and nature of God. The Truth encompasses that character and nature. All life flows within structure, order and boundaries designed by God. Life can explode on the scene. Many revivals have begun with such an explosion. For that life to remain and grow, it must flow within the bounds of truth. When God spoke into the "formless and void" to bring life and light, He did so with order and boundary (Genesis 1:1-5).
Excited to see a revival soon,
Merril
The truth of the Word is also the anchor in revival that prevents eccentricities and fleshly self-interest from skewing the work of the Spirit. Charles Thompson in "Times of Refreshing: A History of American Revivals" writes: "Preach, therefore, without the Spirit, and it is vain. And for life, movement, guidance of the people, the Spirit without the truth is vain." He also writes that "popular excitement that is not pointed to rest in the doctrines of the cross is only hurtful." Active and effective five-fold ministers can cause the church in revival to "no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ" (Ephesians 4:14-15).
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The cutting away of the things of the flesh and the release of what God's Spirit truly wants to accomplish only happens when Spirit and Truth operate together in unity (Hebrews 4:12). The revival some seek is not the revival God desires. The solution to a church actively promoting the truth without the power of the Spirit is not to have the Spirit without truth. Neither a dull thick sword nor a sharp thin sword are effective. The Spirit and the Word work equally, totally and fully together in producing the revival God desires.
To say there are no restrictions in the Spirit (at least as some would say it) is to deny the character and nature of God. The Truth encompasses that character and nature. All life flows within structure, order and boundaries designed by God. Life can explode on the scene. Many revivals have begun with such an explosion. For that life to remain and grow, it must flow within the bounds of truth. When God spoke into the "formless and void" to bring life and light, He did so with order and boundary (Genesis 1:1-5).
Excited to see a revival soon,
Merril
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Jan 19 2014 - The Revival Marker of the Holy Spirit
Yesterday I asked if there were markers to a true revival from God, and the answer was yes. While the sovereignty of God is certainly at the top, the tangible and transformational presence of the Holy Spirit is right beside it. Jonathan Edwards said of the revival in Northampton that there were "remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house." G. Campbell Morgan preached about witnessing the Welsh Revival saying: "The whole thing is of God; it is a visitation in which He is making men conscious of Himself, without any human agency." Both through His people and apart from them, the Holy Spirit impacted whole communities. The "kabod" (weighty glory of God) was experienced by many.
Jesus said in John 16:8-11 -- "And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see Me no more; of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged." The tangible presence of God by the Holy Spirit will yield such results. All of the revivals note people confessing their sins and repenting. Whether it be people in the world getting saved or people in the church heeding the call upward to walk in righteousness and holiness like never before, lives were changed for the glory of God. He is the HOLY Spirit, after all. And the devil's works were being destroyed everywhere (1 John 3:8).
In his book, "The Revival We Need" (1925), Oswald J. Smith, who founded People's Church in Toronto in 1928, starts the second paragraph of the book writing about the revival in Wales as, "Suddenly, like an unexpected tornado, the Spirit of God swept over the land." The Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost as "a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2). A.T. Robertson notes that "It was 'an echoing sound as of a mighty wind borne violently' (or rushing along like the whirr of a tornado)." It's interesting to note the weather in Edmonton the day before we started the fast was punctuated by record breaking wind gusts of 120 km/h and sustained wind speeds of 70 km/h. Man cannot make a coincidence like that.
There is no revival without the Holy Spirit's weighty presence. There is no life apart from the Holy Spirit. Continue seeking God for a greater revelation and release in our lives and in the community.
Blessings,
Merril
Jesus said in John 16:8-11 -- "And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see Me no more; of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged." The tangible presence of God by the Holy Spirit will yield such results. All of the revivals note people confessing their sins and repenting. Whether it be people in the world getting saved or people in the church heeding the call upward to walk in righteousness and holiness like never before, lives were changed for the glory of God. He is the HOLY Spirit, after all. And the devil's works were being destroyed everywhere (1 John 3:8).
In his book, "The Revival We Need" (1925), Oswald J. Smith, who founded People's Church in Toronto in 1928, starts the second paragraph of the book writing about the revival in Wales as, "Suddenly, like an unexpected tornado, the Spirit of God swept over the land." The Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost as "a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2). A.T. Robertson notes that "It was 'an echoing sound as of a mighty wind borne violently' (or rushing along like the whirr of a tornado)." It's interesting to note the weather in Edmonton the day before we started the fast was punctuated by record breaking wind gusts of 120 km/h and sustained wind speeds of 70 km/h. Man cannot make a coincidence like that.
There is no revival without the Holy Spirit's weighty presence. There is no life apart from the Holy Spirit. Continue seeking God for a greater revelation and release in our lives and in the community.
Blessings,
Merril
Saturday, 18 January 2014
Jan 18 2014 - Does a Revival Have Specific Markers?
When you're looking for something, it generally helps to know something about what you're looking for. If I'm looking for someone, then I need to know what they look like or what they will be wearing that will distinguish them from everyone else. Can this be said of a revival? The answer is yes. I will be looking at those over the next few days. Today we will start with the soverignty of God.
Man does not choose when and how a rivival happens. I am not discounting how God calls us to co-labour with Him - that will be dealt with in another devotional. It's God who chooses. The Bible says "when the fullness of time had come, God sent for His Son" (Gal. 4:4) and it wasn't a moment sooner or later. The Jewish religious leaders at the time of the birth of the Church recognized Peter and John as being "uneducated and untrained men" (Acts 4:13) according to their standards.
Historically, revivals have seldom, if ever, fit within expectations. Jonathan Edwards (a key figure in the First Great Awakening in the U.S.) wrote "A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God" concerning the revival in Northampton, Mass. in 1736. In it he recounts different surprises at how God chose to work through different and in different ways than he would have expected. He was particularly surprised by how God used a woman "who had been one of the greatest company-keepers in the whole town." He never thought she had any interest in living a Christian life in close relationship with God but the Holy Spirit got ahold of her and she was a catalyst in many lives for giving themselves wholy to God. The Welsh Revival was instigated through many young people, with Evan Roberts being only in his early 20s, and many older ministers came to try to bring order and stature to it but were overwhelmed by the presence of God at work.
Time is in God's hands and so is timing. Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8). In the same passage in Acts 1, the disciples ask Jesus when God would "restore the kingdom to Israel" but Jesus said, "It is not for you to know time or seasons which teh Father has put in His own authority" (v. 7). They did not know when the Holy Spirit would baptize them. It's possible that some were not in the house when the Holy Spirit came. Those who followed Jesus' instructions to wait and were in the house were the ones who received the promise. If we are to be part of the next revival, then we simply have to follow God's leading and be there when He chooses to do it.
Trust in the sovereignty of God. Trust in His timing. Trust in His goodness, grace and mercy. Trust Him. He fulfills His promises.
Blessings,
Merril
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Man does not choose when and how a rivival happens. I am not discounting how God calls us to co-labour with Him - that will be dealt with in another devotional. It's God who chooses. The Bible says "when the fullness of time had come, God sent for His Son" (Gal. 4:4) and it wasn't a moment sooner or later. The Jewish religious leaders at the time of the birth of the Church recognized Peter and John as being "uneducated and untrained men" (Acts 4:13) according to their standards.
Historically, revivals have seldom, if ever, fit within expectations. Jonathan Edwards (a key figure in the First Great Awakening in the U.S.) wrote "A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God" concerning the revival in Northampton, Mass. in 1736. In it he recounts different surprises at how God chose to work through different and in different ways than he would have expected. He was particularly surprised by how God used a woman "who had been one of the greatest company-keepers in the whole town." He never thought she had any interest in living a Christian life in close relationship with God but the Holy Spirit got ahold of her and she was a catalyst in many lives for giving themselves wholy to God. The Welsh Revival was instigated through many young people, with Evan Roberts being only in his early 20s, and many older ministers came to try to bring order and stature to it but were overwhelmed by the presence of God at work.
Time is in God's hands and so is timing. Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8). In the same passage in Acts 1, the disciples ask Jesus when God would "restore the kingdom to Israel" but Jesus said, "It is not for you to know time or seasons which teh Father has put in His own authority" (v. 7). They did not know when the Holy Spirit would baptize them. It's possible that some were not in the house when the Holy Spirit came. Those who followed Jesus' instructions to wait and were in the house were the ones who received the promise. If we are to be part of the next revival, then we simply have to follow God's leading and be there when He chooses to do it.
Trust in the sovereignty of God. Trust in His timing. Trust in His goodness, grace and mercy. Trust Him. He fulfills His promises.
Blessings,
Merril
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, 17 January 2014
Jan 17 2014 - Is Revival in God's Plan?
Maybe you’re like me — have you heard a lot about revival and the need for a revival but never really looked into it? It can be so easy to be in a community and Christian culture that promotes and proclaims revival and just go with the flow. You can end up following the crowd and not know whether you are following Jesus. So, is all this hype about revival just a bunch of tripe or is it something we really should know something about?
Revivals have been part of God’s plan through the centuries. The need for it isn’t because God overexerts Himself and needs a break now and then. God is tireless and all-powerful — we are the ones who have to wait on the Lord and have our strength renewed (Is. 40:28-31). Revival is bringing to life again that which has diminished in life. Knowing how we can let the flame of our passion for God lessen, God seeks to revive us (Rev. 3:15,19). He has not shrunk within us (how can you shrink the infinite God?) but, rather, we have shrunk in allowing His life to flow through us.
The Church sprang onto the scene in revival. The Church was birthed immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said “receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 20:22) beginning the Church. Revival is not necessary for people to become saved. People are still accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour daily, all over the world, without revivals present. Revival is God’s empowerment of the Church for radical expression of His presence and expansion of His Kingdom. This is why Jesus said they needed to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). Faced with persecution, it was not long before the early church was crying for revival and received it (Acts 4:23-31).
Dr. Andrew Bonar is reported to have stated in the 1800's: "Viewed on the human side, the philosophy of revivals, as they term it, is just a department of the philosophy of history. In religion has progress been uniformly steady and gradual, but as it has been now and then by great strides, by fits and starts, and such events as the Germans call epoch-making. In all the affairs of men there have been tides with full floods. ... We are all familiar with revivals in trade, science, literature, arts and politics. Times of refreshing are not much more frequent in sacred as in secular history; and they indicate the most interestinfruitful periods in both."
Revival is part of God's plan. I'm so glad we're getting with this part of God's plan in fasting and prayer this year.
Blessings,
Merril
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Revivals have been part of God’s plan through the centuries. The need for it isn’t because God overexerts Himself and needs a break now and then. God is tireless and all-powerful — we are the ones who have to wait on the Lord and have our strength renewed (Is. 40:28-31). Revival is bringing to life again that which has diminished in life. Knowing how we can let the flame of our passion for God lessen, God seeks to revive us (Rev. 3:15,19). He has not shrunk within us (how can you shrink the infinite God?) but, rather, we have shrunk in allowing His life to flow through us.
The Church sprang onto the scene in revival. The Church was birthed immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said “receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 20:22) beginning the Church. Revival is not necessary for people to become saved. People are still accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour daily, all over the world, without revivals present. Revival is God’s empowerment of the Church for radical expression of His presence and expansion of His Kingdom. This is why Jesus said they needed to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). Faced with persecution, it was not long before the early church was crying for revival and received it (Acts 4:23-31).
Dr. Andrew Bonar is reported to have stated in the 1800's: "Viewed on the human side, the philosophy of revivals, as they term it, is just a department of the philosophy of history. In religion has progress been uniformly steady and gradual, but as it has been now and then by great strides, by fits and starts, and such events as the Germans call epoch-making. In all the affairs of men there have been tides with full floods. ... We are all familiar with revivals in trade, science, literature, arts and politics. Times of refreshing are not much more frequent in sacred as in secular history; and they indicate the most interestinfruitful periods in both."
Revival is part of God's plan. I'm so glad we're getting with this part of God's plan in fasting and prayer this year.
Blessings,
Merril
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Jan 16 2014 - Is it NC (New Covenant) to fast?
This is a good question to be asking. As a church that believes in the completeness of Christ’s work of grace, why would we need to fast at all? We have nothing to prove and nothing to earn. The Spirit of God dwells within us, as Christians, and Jesus said that we should not fear about overcoming the world because He overcame it. Are we just fasting because church history is filled with it? Why are we fasting?
Firstly, yes, the early church did fast. There are only three passages, from the Book of Acts on, where intentional fasting is noted. Acts 13:2 says that there were prophets and teachers who were “ministering to the Lord” and fasting. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:5 that a husband and wife should not deprive each other of the sexual aspect of their relationship except for a specific period of time “that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.” So, we do see that people in the early church would fast in conjunction with worship or prayer.
Fasting and prayer is connected with commissioning leaders. Acts 13:3 and 14:23 shows fasting and prayer in the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas and in the commissioning of church elders. This could be linked to 1 Timothy 5:22, where Paul instructs Timothy to not lay hands on anyone suddenly. Fasting takes prayer out of the realm of the ordinary and moves it into a higher level of intentionality.
This is where fasting is often misunderstood to simply be about denying yourself. Fasting is never seen on its own—that’s dieting, not fasting. Fasting is not about the fasting. Fasting is about the worship and the prayer. The denial of the flesh is not focussed on having less flesh but about having more Spirit. Fasting joins prayer and worship as an intentional physical/psychological positioning before the Lord. It is not the magic pill that makes your prayers work. We can do nothing to earn the grace of God. It’s just that we often have so many other things happening in our lives that we have no room for more of God. Fasting with prayer and worship connects us with both sides of that coin.
As we enter this fast for breakthrough, recognize that the breakthrough we are looking for is firstly in us. I’ll write about revival in tomorrows thoughts.
Blessings,
Merril
Firstly, yes, the early church did fast. There are only three passages, from the Book of Acts on, where intentional fasting is noted. Acts 13:2 says that there were prophets and teachers who were “ministering to the Lord” and fasting. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:5 that a husband and wife should not deprive each other of the sexual aspect of their relationship except for a specific period of time “that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.” So, we do see that people in the early church would fast in conjunction with worship or prayer.
Fasting and prayer is connected with commissioning leaders. Acts 13:3 and 14:23 shows fasting and prayer in the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas and in the commissioning of church elders. This could be linked to 1 Timothy 5:22, where Paul instructs Timothy to not lay hands on anyone suddenly. Fasting takes prayer out of the realm of the ordinary and moves it into a higher level of intentionality.
This is where fasting is often misunderstood to simply be about denying yourself. Fasting is never seen on its own—that’s dieting, not fasting. Fasting is not about the fasting. Fasting is about the worship and the prayer. The denial of the flesh is not focussed on having less flesh but about having more Spirit. Fasting joins prayer and worship as an intentional physical/psychological positioning before the Lord. It is not the magic pill that makes your prayers work. We can do nothing to earn the grace of God. It’s just that we often have so many other things happening in our lives that we have no room for more of God. Fasting with prayer and worship connects us with both sides of that coin.
As we enter this fast for breakthrough, recognize that the breakthrough we are looking for is firstly in us. I’ll write about revival in tomorrows thoughts.
Blessings,
Merril
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