To be perfectly honest, I loathed
them. Revivals that is. Not Revival. Revival is great and something that I hope
we all experience on a daily basis. Revival(S) are something much different.
Revivals are week long church services usually in outdoor tabernacles with a
preacher who yells more than he preaches and the bulk of his sermon is based
upon guilt ridden theology for the expressed purpose of making you doubt your
salvation and see how many people he can get to come forward at the end of a
service by singing an emotional hymn. At least that was my perception when I
was 9. Revivals caused me to miss baseball games. Thats all I knew about them.
I would usually bring a stack of baseball cards or smuggle in a bag of matchbox
cars to keep myself occupied and on one occasion, the preacher yelled at me
from stage in front of everyone. I believe Charles R. Osborne III was
my partner in crime for this particular sin.
Revivals we're commonplace in the
Wesleyan/Pilgrim Holiness tradition in which I was raised. Although I didn't
particularly like them, in retrospect, there are so many who's lives were
transformed as a result of them. The Great Awakenings in our country, both of
them, were a result of this type of spiritual fervor. My Grandmother was a huge
fan! Hazel Grate or Hazel "the" Grate as I knew her was the single
most evangelistic person I have ever known. She did share her faith verbally,
but more often than not she prayed people into the kingdom. With fondness I
remember a letter I received from her in her shaky handwriting during my first
year of ministry. It was filled with pleasantries and admonishments and love.
At the very bottom of the page she wrote "PS. Tito got saved this morning.
I have been praying for him every day for 5 years". I still have this
letter. More precious to me than gold it is!
During the first few years of
ministry, I had the opportunity to lead many people to Christ. It was common
place for me to share the message of Love with folks who had never experienced
it. Over time, like many things in our lives the passion to do it dwindled.
Doubt crept in. The world and all of its evil seemed unconquerable. So you slip
into a mode of maintenance in your spiritual life and begin a managerial role
of the programs you have started and the events you have planned, never really
expecting to see God move. That was something God did a long time ago. We even
hear well meaning elderly speak of the "the good ole days" with a
built in understanding that where we today is the antithesis of that. So you
except the status quo and move on.
In 2013 God stepped in. If I am
being honest I was at my lowest. Depression had gripped me, my faith was shaken
and I was beginning to wonder if I was called to this at all. I had started a
young adult ministry at MBC Loudoun and it was, somehow, growing. A young man
started attending who honestly looked like he would rather be anywhere else in
the world than at church. He was incredibly intelligent and was a strong
self-proclaimed atheist. He name is Joey. He sat in the back and listened to my
bland, passionless sermons every week. He kept coming. I thought, I must be
doing something right, he keeps coming back. Come to find out, there was a girl
involved in his attendance named Sarah. (Joey, you wise little fox you!) Then
it happened. Joey sent me an email and asked if he could meet with me before
The Crux to chat. Reluctantly I said yes. We sat down at a table, Joey sitting
at attention, me slouching faithlessly on the other side. I said "what
would you like to talk about Joey?' He blurted out "I want to get
saved" "like NOW!" I said OK! I watched through blinding tears
as Joey was birthed to new life right in front of me. He struggled to get the
words out through his own tears. It was the most sincere prayer I had ever
heard, and it may have just rescued me from my, as St. John of the Cross put
it, Dark Night of the Soul. Apparently, this girl (sarah) had experienced an
amazing life change herself, and his observance of this was the catalyst God
used to expose his own need for Jesus. Over the course of the next year I
discipled Joey every week. He is growing like a weed. Then he started dating
Sarah. Of course. Fairy tale ending? Sarah and Joey are now married and Joey is
in seminary studying to become a pastor. Obviously something changed in Joey,
but what he doesn't realize is that his brokenness before God was a lifesaver for
me and my wobbly faith. I found myself on my knees again. I discovered the
power of scripture in my personal life again, and I began to believe that God
was still in the business of saving people.
I found myself praying this
prayer by Habbakkuk written in chapter 3 of his minor prophet book. 3 A prayer
of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[a]
2 Lord, I have heard of your
fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time
make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
Since that moment, God has been
moving so powerfully through these passionate young adults. Several have found
Christ, many have returned to the faith. We tripled in attendance this past
year, and the worship is raw, real, and authentic. I find myself, once again,
in the midst of a revival...funny how things work.
Maybe you are in that place
today. You are doubting, down, depressed and done! I challenge you to pray this
prayer by Habakkuk every day this week, three times a day. Once in the morning,
once mid day, and once before you go to sleep. You might just experience
revival...
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