How Does Revival Happen?

"Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
'Cause Your grace still amazes me"
-Philips, Craig, and Dean

Last week, my wife and I had the privilege of attending a wonderful conference at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary just outside of Boston.  I'm not normally a conference kind of guy.  I find them high in calories and low in "intellectual and business fiber."  The Pastor's conferences at GCTS are the exception.  Every minute on campus is an inspirational moment that presses me to be better at my craft and go deeper in my soul.  "The Surprising Work of God: Calling The Church to Spiritual Renewal" was no exception.  

Dr. Walter Kaiser (President Emeritus, GCTS) and Dr. Timothy Tennant wonderfully book-ended the conference with two brilliant lectures.  One might describe them as Kaiser making the case for revival and Tennant’s pressing the possibilities for how revival might happen in this generation.

Kaiser showed us that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is paradigmatic for revival in Ancient Israel and in our day.  He stated how revival occurs:

1. In a time of moral darkness, Biblical ethics have been overturned and morality and justice have been distorted.

2.  When a consecrated servant of God becomes an energizing stimulus.

3.  Bold preaching.

4.  Destruction of idols or and competitors to the Living God.

5.  A return to worship and adoration of the Lord God.

6.  Determination to separate oneself from sin.

7.  Exuberant joy.

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

Dr. Kaiser cited four conditions for revival to happen:

1.  A Call to Humble Ourselves

2.  A Call to Pray

3.  To Seek God’s Face

4. A Call to Return to the Lord.

And when the conditions are met, Kaiser reflected on five results of revival:

1.  Relevant to All People

2.  Jeremiah 18 – The Potter's House

3.  God's Forgiveness

4.  Begins with the nation of Israel and extends to all people

5.  The Bless on the People and Land who obey God's call.

Tennant built on Kaiser's foundation with particular emphasis on the globalized definition of God's (MY) people.  Out of space, but just want to share two ideas from Tennant:

First:  Forces of World Christian Movement (which include): Globalization, Immigration, Technology, New Church Planting movements.

Then he addressed three major paradigm shifts in Global Revitalization Movements.  He states that it is:  "Time for a new generation of Christians, committed to apostolic faith to declare minimalistic, reductionist Christianity a 'failed project.'"

Global emergence of Christian revitalization is helping the church regain confidence in the truth of the gospel.  Deeper ecumenism can move the church forward in the face of the challenges of our day

The upshot is that revival can happen again and again in our today.  But, we can't be satisfied with trying to provoke the Holy Spirit to action via 'same ol, same ol.'  Our Gospel must match the hour.  When it does, when we do, God is hovering just waiting to surprise us again. After all (his grace):

"It's deeper, it's wider
It's stronger, it's higher
It's deeper, it's wider
It's stronger, it's higher than anything my eyes can see!"

Written by Major Carl E. Carvill, D.Min.
Asbury Park Corps 

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Love from the Most Loving

I'm not sure how a four letter word is sufficient enough to express a pool of emotions conjuring in my heart. A picture is said to be worth a thousand words, but how many words can I use to express the numerous ways God has been there for me and never forsaken me?

Out of all the words going through my mind, only one becomes repetitive: Love, a simple but powerful four letter word. A word so small that made such a difference in my life. Love is what embraced me in the presence of God, and it is because of love that God has gifted me with his mercy. Love is God, and God is love, but one can never understand how meaningful this relation truly is until acknowledging who God is and what love is.

To me, God is purity and perfection. He is so GOOD and mighty that because of my worldly life, my sinful eyes would be extinguished in his mere presence. But somehow, he finds a way to bless me with his touch and words, so that I know he is there through my praises and battles that he fights beside me.

To me, God isn't just my guiding father and uplifting warrior, but he is that conscience I feel when I am full of guilt, and somehow, at the same time, I am still filled with a grand amount of indescribable love and compassion. Before I even knew I was going to sin, God had already forgiven me and embraced me with open arms, and that to me is love.

This is the same love that stopped the stones from slaughtering a woman guilty of adultery (John 7:53-8:11 NIV). He reminds us constantly that although we are sinners, his love toward us is pure UNCONDITIONAL love.

esus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,"

Have you really thought about how wonderful it is that we have a choice? God doesn't get in our face and tell us "you must" do one thing or another. He allows us to live the way that we do. Of course, it isn’t always the life he wants for us, but we should know that no matter what path we take, we can always turn around, and he will be there.

"He will never leave you nor forsake you" is what Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) kindly reminds us. He loves you, and he loves me, and he loves us all. All we have to do to end our own self-conflicting heartache is obey him. He tells us, as well as the adulterous woman, to "Go now and leave your life of sin." If we would just live for him and him alone, we could live a life of love and be the image of God we were created in.

Day after day within my relationship with God, I have found that his love is indeed four things I am able to understand within my own reasoning. To begin, his love is Ludicrous, and it's ludicrous because I see it to be foolish, insane, and unreasonable at times. Why? Because it is so out-right crazy to what extent God truly loves us. I cannot honestly say I would love someone who betrays me, cheats me and lies to me. I find it to be ludicrous to love someone like that... but that someone is me, and God loves me. Somehow, through all the mess in my heart and life, God loves me, and that to me is beautiful.

What is so significant about the woman whom committed adultery is that we are that woman. God tells us that no sin is greater than another. That is the significance of that story; we have all been in both positions. We have either thrown the stone or been the victim of the hit. BUT WE ARE ALL SINNERS. We forget that Gods love isn't just for us; it isn't just for me or you, but it's for us to share with the world.

 A song that convicted me of pointing fingers at everyone but myself is a song by Casting Crowns, "Jesus Friend of Sinners." One important phrase I love from this prayer song is "open my eyes to the world at the end of my pointing finger, let our hearts be lead by mercy." Although it may be ludicrous to love your enemy, it isn't impossible. We can all be more forgiving of those around us. I know I can.
 
Secondly, my next word is Optimism. God's love has allowed me to become more positive about the trials I face in life. I was reminded in a video posted by my friend, Stephany Bento, that God doesn't give us trials we cannot handle. Philippians 4:13 (NIV) says "I can do all things through him who gives me strength."

Steph reminded all her viewers that God "always has a hand in everything that happens in your life," and He is "never going to give you what you can’t handle - He knows what you can handle."

Her words couldn’t be truer, and when you understand his love, you will see that doors close not because God hates you, but because he opened a better one for you. He will never betray you.

God's love is so Varied. He shows us his love in more than a way or two. Allowing us to take another breath in the morning is by his loving grace, and the opportunity to be forgiven is by his loving mercy. We are able to get through our toughest days by his love and protection, and this list could go on forever. There is nothing that God does for us that isn't out of love and with love. his love is just that immense; everything that has to do with him deals with Love.
 
Last but not leas, God's love for us is Eager. Eager because he solely wants us to love him as he loves us and be the children he created us to be. I believe that whenever another sinner gives up his or her life to God, that he is enthusiastic about this exchange of love. He must be, because angels rejoice with him over our redemption. God is eager for us. He loves and hopes for us to be just as eager to love him as he is to love us, and the wonderful magical thing about this is that no matter how much we push him away and deny his love at times, he doesn’t give up. He continues to love us, accept us and be eager for us regardless of how we react to him.
 
The ongoing statement is that He loves us NO MATTER WHAT. He loves us with unconditional love. He loves us without a reason and his love, like his water of life, is never ending. God, who is an everlasting God, loves us with everlasting love, so therefore God is love, and love is God. That four letter word may just be more then enough to express His love after all.

Written by Elizabeth Ramirez
Newark Ironbound Corps

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Your Psalm

Ignorance.

By definition it means a lack of knowledge or information.

A source that I have found to be a fountain of knowledge and insight once uttered, "Before I do anything, I ask myself if an idiot would do that. If the answer is yes, I do no do that thing!" - Dwight Schrute of "The Office"

While I don't necessarily condone the use of calling others idiots, I do wholeheartedly believe that the essential idea of this quote is life-altering for the believer. We are a people with a long and eventful history. It's filled with heroic and group highs, yet riddled with individual and community lows. We need not look far to find examples of this, however, I would like to direct your attention to the book of Psalms where we find examples of both in abundance.

The author of many of the Psalms is a man from the people who had a range of emotions not unlike our own. He had urges, fears, troubles and nightmares just as we do today. Apart from all his great accomplishments and exploits, perhaps his greatest gift to us today was his writing.

Sometimes, I like to imagine this people's champion perhaps stepping out on his balcony and bursting into song!  "My gift is my Psalm, and this one's for you!"

No matter who you are, where you are in life or your walk with the Lord, there is a Psalm for you, "...and you can run and tell everybody, that this is your Psalm."

Seriously, there is great theology in the Psalms which encompasses the human dilemma of life, while also reminding us of our victory through God over the world. The most powerful message I gain from the Psalms isn't found in the themes of sin, suffering or faith. No, my hope isn't found in an acrostic or a motif. It's not in chiastic structure or the parallelism of any particular Psalm.

My hope is found in the simple fact that there are more than one Psalm of King David. I don't celebrate his numerous shortcomings, even though I can relate to multiple failures. I celebrate his numerous attempts to get it right. David embodied the "get back up again" attitude that we desperately need today. "Forgive me Lord, and try me one more time..." I love that song because it speaks about me. It speaks about David. It speaks about you.

None of us are perfect. We fall, we lose, we make mistakes. Thanks be to God that we can also learn from them! We can learn from the lessons taught in the Psalms through the lives of others so we no longer have to be ignorant or doomed to repeat them. We don't have to make the same mistakes anymore!

"Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction..." - 1 Corinthians 10:11

Written by Lt. Darell Houseton

Newark Ironbound

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Keepin' it Real

Have you ever known someone who prides themselves on keepin' it real? This may mean different things to different people, but to me, someone who is keepin' it real calls it exactly as they see it. No punches pulled - it may not be what you want to hear, but at least you know what they really think and feel.

Jesus was all about keepin' it real. In Matthew 19:16-30, He was talking with someone who is described as a young man. This young man asked Jesus what "good" things he must do to ensure eternal life. Jesus is real in saying, "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments."

Boom. Right away, Jesus tell this man exactly what he needs to do - no ifs, ands or buts about it. After asking which commandments, the man says he has kept them all and asks if there is anything else he must do. So, Jesus is blunt: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." He kept it real.

This was too real for the young man. He went away sad because the Bible says he had great wealth. This young man let his stuff, his possessions, get between him and the Lord of all creation and eternal life. When Christ was real with him, the solution he was seeking hit a little too close to home.

Let me keep it real. Is something holding you back from going all in to follow Jesus? The crazy part is you don’t even have to sell all of your possessions. You don’t have to leave your home. You just have to ask for forgiveness from your sin (keepin' it real - we are all sinners), and take up your cross and follow Him. And while you may not have to give up your worldly possessions, you will have to give up the things of this world steeped in sinful nature. But -real talk- isn’t eternal life worth it?

Written by Bramwell Applin
Community Relations Manager

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