A Reflection On Revival

 

The Word:

“Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?” – Psalm 85:6 ESV

Reflection:

We live in a day similar to the time just before the first great awakening in America. In the 1700s the Church in New England was declining morally and spiritually. God used men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and John Wesley to help as instruments for revival. But, unlike present-day America, even during their spiritual decline, the colonies had a much stronger biblical foundation than we do today.

In recent decades the Church in America has been guilty of excessive materialism and prayerlessness. And we have become biblically illiterate and resistant to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Sadly, much of the western world is considered post-Christian. It seems (looking at it through natural eyes) irreversible. Europe has only its great cathedrals to point to their past Christian heritage. We in America can look back to the past when Christianity was acceptable in our society. Despite slavery and other obvious sins, the general population embraced a biblical worldview.

I believe the spiritual renewal of Churches in the west will precede revival. God is calling his people to repentance, to return to the faith of the early apostolic Church. This calling is to a radical commitment to Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus will have no rivals. This is a message to the Church.

It puzzles me that we expect non-believers to act like believers. Maybe it’s time we (the Church) start living the truth we proclaim. The world won’t agree with us, but at least they can’t accuse us of hypocrisy.

God still has a remnant in the western world who has not bowed their knees to cultural idols. We must resist cultural Christianity and return to the faith of the early disciples.

Pray for renewal in our churches so that we might see a spiritual revival in America and the rest of the western world. God uses ordinary people to pray and intercede on behalf of the Nations. It’s time to pray for the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in world history.

Watch and Pray: 

Father, would you open our eyes to see what you are doing on the earth. Open the hearts of your people to embrace the gospel that the early disciples both lived and preached. We ask you for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Your Church. Revive us again so that the world will see the truth of the gospel in our lives. And they will be drawn to the same Jesus that the early Church proclaimed. In Jesus’ name.

The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ: Reflections and Prayers of The Church Fathers

 

“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” – (Matthew 28:6 ESV)

“Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth; who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in the like fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him.” – Ignatius, (written around AD 110-115.)

A  Prayer
O God, who by your only-begotten Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life, grant us, we ask you, that we who celebrate the solemnities of our Lord’s resurrection may by the renewing of your Spirit arise from the death of the soul; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. [Amen.] –  The Gelasian Sacramentary 

Why The Stone Rolled Back?

An angel descended and rolled back the stone. He did not roll back the stone to provide a way of escape for the Lord but to show the world that the Lord had already risen. He rolled back the stone to help his fellow servants believe, not to help the Lord rise from the dead. He rolled back the stone for the sake of faith because it had been rolled over the tomb for the sake of unbelief. He rolled back the stone so that he who took death captive might hold the title of Life. Pray, brothers, that the angel would descend now and roll away all the hardness of our hearts and open up our closed senses and declare to our minds that Christ has risen, for just as the heart in which Christ lives and reigns in heaven, so also the heart in which Christ remains dead and buried is a grave. May it be believed that just as he died, so was he transformed. Christ the man suffered, died, and was buried; as God, he lives, reigns, is, and will be forever. – Peter Chrysologus, Sermons 75.

A Prayer
“O God, who for redemption have your only – begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of the enemy, Grant us to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him, in the joy of the resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”  – Gregory the Great

“For indeed the Lord remained on the tree almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on the third day He rose again.” – Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, XCII, (AD 100 – 165.)

Enlarge Our Hearts

 

The Word:

I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! (Psalm 119:31-32 ESV)

Reflection:

As finite human beings, we are limited creatures. It takes an infinite Holy God to enlarge our hearts. We can’t grasp God and all his fullness. We need God by his Spirit to open our hearts to reveal his thoughts and loving intentions he has for us – to us. This love surpasses human knowledge and understanding – it’s experiential.

When God enlarges our hearts, our response is spiritual hunger. This hunger can only be satisfied by God’s Word and his presence. To be a people of the Word and not a people of His Presence makes us merely spiritual consumers of knowledge – that doesn’t produce spiritual fruit in our lives.

American evangelicals have a right to hold conservative political views. For some, patriotism and politics have become the main focus – they hurt the cause of Christ. Progressive Christians seek to deconstruct the faith. Both sides use God to push their agendas. The lack of spiritual depth in American Christianity has become evident for the world to see.

America is morally bankrupt and divided to the point that reconciliation between the political right and left seems impossible. Just look at the anger and division on Facebook and Twitter.

Prayer and repentance is our only answer. Scripture teaches, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:7) Many of us (not all) have become spiritually anemic and lack internal spiritual transformation. Thankfully there are still Christians growing during these days and are bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God, but in most cases, we rarely hear their voices among all the political bickering.

Watch and Pray: Father, please enlarge our hearts so that we can have the capacity to love you and our neighbor as ourselves. Pour out your Spirit on your people so that we will run after your commandments with humble hearts and demonstrate the love of Jesus to a confused and conflicted culture. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Do Skinny Jeans Make You A False Teacher?

 

I just heard of a pastor saying that those preachers that wear skinny jeans are false teachers. But, Jesus said: “Stop judging(1) by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24 NIV) Jesus was challenging the religious leader of his day and I think his words could be equally applied to us in our day. Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” – (Matthew 23:27 ESV)

So, a conservative haircut or a nice suit and tie doesn’t mean all is well with your teaching. The content of your message is the determining factor if you are a false teacher or not. Not your choice of clothing or style of worship.

The New Testament doesn’t deal with worship styles. Culture changes and worship styles change, but the Gospel of the Kingdom never does. The truth is eternal. The great protestant reformer Martin Luther wrote hymns accompanied by music played in taverns! At one time the pipe organ was considered evil! And what about the hippies of the “Jesus movement” and their unconventional style? 

 Let’s consider the content of the message before we crucify the messenger.

And why don’t we consider becoming all things to all people that some might be saved, without compromising the truth? 

” To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” – (1 Corinthians 9:22-23 ESV)

(1), κρίνω (krinō) ‘to judge’ (G2919)

“to decide, consider, as preferring one thing over another or determining the correctness of a matter; by extension: to judge, pass judgment on, condemn in a legal sense”

“pluperfect, κεκρίκει (3 singular), primarily to separate; to make a distinction between; to exercise judgment upon; to estimate, Rom. 14:5; to judge, to assume censorial power over, to call to account, Mt. 7:1; Lk. 6:37; Rom. 2:1, 3; 14:3, 4, 10, 13; Col. 2:16; Jas. 4:11, 12; to bring under question, Rom. 14:22; to judge judicially, to try as a judge, Jn. 18:31; to bring to trial, Acts 13:27; to sentence, Lk. 19:22; Jn. 7:51; to resolve on, decree, Acts 16:4; Rev. 16:5; absolute to decide, determine, resolve, Acts 3:13; 15:19; 27:1; to deem, Acts 13:46; to form a judgment, pass judgment, Jn. 8:15; passive to be brought to trial, Acts 25:10, 20; Rom. 3:4; to be brought to account, to incur arraignment, be arraigned, 1Cor. 10:29; middle to go to law, litigate, Mt. 5:40; in NT to judge, to visit judicially, Acts 7:7; 1Cor. 11:31, 32; 1Pet. 4:6; to judge, to right, to vindicate, Heb. 10:30; to administer government over, to govern, Mt. 19:28; Lk. 22:30 ”  (Step Bible)

Ask For The Nations

 

The Word:

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” – Psalm 2:8 ESV 

Read and meditate on Psalms 1 and 2.

A Reflection:

As intercessors, we need to grasp the implications of Psalms 1 and 2. In Psalm 1, we see how meditation on the Word shapes our lives. Psalm 2 invites us to partner with Jesus in prayer for the nations. We pray for those on the mission field. It takes both prayer and witness to carry out the great commission. Scripture teaches that all believers are to support and participate in spreading the gospel to all nations (Mathew 28:18-20.)

Prayer is the key to the success of the mission.

Prayer warriors need to be praying bold and audacious prayers for a worldwide move of God.

In partnership with Jesus, we have the privilege of asking the Father for the Nations. Our influence on world leaders and their rebellion against God is not political but spiritual – prayer is the key.

Below is a lengthy quote from Stuart McAlpine’s book, “Just Asking.”

“Here is the great asking of the Son by the Father, asking Him to “ask of me!” Having established in Psalm 1 the necessity for life according to the Word, we are here presented with asking as God’s essential and non-negotiable means for engagement with His purposes in the nations.

The personal meditation in the Word that is encouraged in Psalm 1 is followed by an invitation to public mission in Psalm 2 by way of asking. In other words, God’s Word in us is for God’s world.

The most common reason that so many believers are not acting like believers is because they are not asking ones. Right at the beginning of the introduction to the Psalter is this massive invitation to ask for huge things, for transformations that defy the imagination and challenge faith.

Herewith is the agenda of faith: the call is to speak out in prayer what needs to be spoken, God’s Word, and what cannot be silenced by the world’s mocking, raging and raucous unbelief. What is the strategy to take the nations? Asking is the strategy that overcomes. We inquire, then find that we acquire nations as our inheritance. Who would ever have thought! And whoever would have thought that the meek (humble askers) would inherit the earth?

Here is an invitation to bold asking in a world that threatens us and would think it has the right to push us around and mock the choices of the congregation of the righteous. The tumult of the nations in the first stanza looks unchangeable, unstoppable, invincible. What is the use of hoping, of opposing, of praying about it? It is too much, and it is too late, so too bad. But suddenly the asking Son is installed, and He is invoking the Father. He still is, as He ever lives to make intercession for us. Now He invites us, His anointed ones, to join His asking of the Father.”

Watch And Pray:

Father, we thank You that we can approach Your throne of grace anytime we wish. Jesus told us to ask ( Matthew 7:7-8.) So we ask for a heart for every ethnic group on earth. Raise – up more intercessors to pray in the harvest. Fill those on the field with your Spirit, so they can boldly proclaim the gospel. And help us all to be a part of making disciples of all nations. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Guard Your Thoughts

 The Word:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds”. 2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV

A Reflexion:

” I can’t help you, I can’t even help myself.” These were the thoughts of a friend of mine trying to give counsel to a young person. I believe in cultural strongholds. The influence of paganism is evident in the western world. Cultural Marxism has gained a foothold in America’s educational system – which influences every sphere of society. The Believer’s mission is to share the countercultural message of the Kingdom of God to the world. We can’t change our culture unless we allow God to change us. Learning how to watch over our souls in prayer is significant for our influence to be effective. Hopefully, this quote by Dean Sherman will be helpful:

” I have heard people use the term strongholds to refer to humanism, Islam, communism, and other religions and institutions. However, in II Corinthians, strongholds does not refer to massive, complex systems, human or demonic. Here it refers to the strongholds of the mind. These strongholds are castles in the air built up in our minds through wrong thinking—through unbelieving, depressed, fearful, and negative thinking. . . . Every military post has guards. They stand quietly at their posts until they hear a rustling in the bushes. Then they immediately ask: “Who goes there?” and are prepared to evict any intruder. We too need to post a guard at the gate of our minds to check the credentials of every thought and every imagination, ready to cast down that which is not true, not righteous, or not of God. If it doesn’t belong, out it goes. This is spiritual warfare: being alert to every thought. The Bible says, “As he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). One of the devil’s greatest schemes is to nullify the effectiveness of Christians who are genuinely saved. Even if they go to heaven when they die, Satan will be happy to blunt their lives while on earth. He disables them, stealing their days, months, and years by influencing them to think wrongly. Unfortunately, Satan has successfully neutralized thousands of potential victors this way.” (1)

Watch And Pray:

Father, we thank you for the spiritual weapons you have given us. Help us to meditate upon Your Word daily. Help us start each day in prayer and to post a guard at the gate of our minds. Your Word says that the way we think dictates our behavior. Lead us in victory over our minds so that we can be effective agents for your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

(1) Dean Sherman, Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian: How to Live in Victory and Retake the Land (Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 1989), 52–53.

Watch You Doctrine

 

The Word:

“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” – 1 Timothy 4:16 NKJV

A Reflexion:

Ignorant and proud of it, right? My college English teacher would say that at the beginning of our class. I found that to be humorous every time he said it. But, ignorance of biblical doctrine (teaching) is not a laughing matter. Let me explain, many intelligent people have neglected to study the Bible in context. Some of the best workers for the kingdom are in this category. I’m not casting stones because I am a work in progress myself.

I have heard well-meaning Christians talk negatively about doctrine. They say that doctrine is not relevant to them – which is a doctrine itself!

You can love God, be an authentic believer, and quote a Scripture that is not the author’s intended meaning. (The only One who understands the Bible perfectly, is the Holy Spirit who inspired it.)

Questions:

We all have favorite verses, but do we understand them in light of the whole chapter? What do the previous verses mean leading up to the passage you are teaching? And what about the historical context and how to apply it today? These questions need answers.

Truth matters. Our teaching must be biblically sound to benefit those who listen to us.

God gave teachers to the Church for a reason. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy to pay close attention to his life and message. Paul warned Timothy about the danger of not persevering in the truth for his own sake and those he influenced. That truth applies today. Bad teaching will distort our understanding of God and hurt those he has given us the responsibility to teach.

A good watchman studies Scripture in context.

A spiritual person embraces both sound doctrine and the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Scriptures For Meditation:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:24 ESV

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” – 1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

Watch And Pray:

Father, we live in a world of deception. Deliver Your Church from anti-intellectualism and the fear of your supernatural power. Lord, you meant for our study of theology to turn into doxology (worship.) Your Word commands us to pursue supernatural gifts of the Spirit. Teach us reverence for Your Word and Your Spirit. Keep us from deception and help us worship You in Spirit and Truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.