Revival… Will We Know It When We See It?

I grew up in a small town in southeastern Oklahoma in a vastly different time from today.  Instead of computer games, we played real games.  My adventures were limited only to my imagination.  Everyday I was outside with my friends and oh the fun we could have with the simplest of things! 

One of the most exciting games we would play was racing our bicycles down Red Hill.  Red Hill was this very steep mountain a few blocks from my home.  It rivaled Pikes Peak in its height.  The kids in my neighborhood would push our bikes up that gigantuous incline and race each other to the bottom.  The key was to never touch the brake – that was real adventure!  As a ten-year-old boy, I literally took my life in my hands with that daredevil feat.  It is a wonder I survived.

A few years ago – after telling this story to my family many times – I took them to see Red Hill.  I really do not know what happened.  That huge mountain was gone replaced by a small hill.  The place of so many of my boyhood near-death experiences was not what I remembered at all.  I have got to tell you my stories of grand conquest over an enormous challenge lost its luster.  Reality was not what I recalled at all.

I have noticed many times in life we paint pictures in our minds of how certain things were or should be only to be disappointed when we discover reality.  Sometimes this can be amusing as my example.  Other times we can miss the joy of the real by holding onto the imagined.  It is healthy to dream but it is important to be able to process those dreams through reality.  I want to be a man of big dreams, but I do not want to be a man who lives in fantasy.

Today in the church there is much talk about revival.  I am one of those who believe we are on the brink of a spiritual outpouring.  I sense a stirring in my spirit that is unlike anything I have ever felt before.  I, like many others, believe God is about to do something truly spectacular in the earth.  The question is – will we know it when we see it?

Having spent all my life in Pentecost I have read about and witnessed many moves of God.  I have seen many people set free and delivered from the shackles of sin.  I have seen many people healed of all manner of sickness and disease.  I have seen God answer prayer by making a way where there did not seem to be one.  I have seen God move in His power and demonstrate His great glory.  These experiences have shaped me and made me the man I am today.

But I have been wondering – is what I have seen what God wants to do again?  Is what is coming simply an updated version of what we have already had?  Could it be possible what God has planned will look quite different than our past experiences?  Could my expectation based on my experience cause me to miss what God has planned?   Could I really miss the revival God is sending because I am looking for something else?  Will I recognize this revival when I see it?

I am seriously considering these questions in my own life.  Recently in prayer I believe the Lord brought to my mind five characteristics of the revival He is sending.  I will not take the time to elaborate on each of these in this blog – that may come later.  Here is what I believe a last-day revival is going to look like:

– It will not be a public relations opportunity for a church or an evangelist but a total shift to Jesus.

– It will not just produce converts but disciples.

– It will not just be a spiritual outpouring but radical transformation.

– It will not produce programmed benevolence but a lifestyle of servanthood.

– It will not be an event but a revolution.

This looks like far more than I have experienced in my ministry.  This seems to go much deeper than a Jericho march and an extended altar call on Sunday night.  These things will not automatically occur in a prayer line.  I like Jericho marches, extended altar calls and prayer lines – these have been genuine elements of past moves of God and we do not have to lose them but world changing revival is more than this.  I do not want my memory of what was to keep me from the reality of what is.

I am concerned many churches – especially classical Pentecostals like myself – could miss what God is doing while waiting for something else.  We know what God has done but to stretch and go further requires risk we are unwilling to take.  But deep inside I sense the Holy Spirit is saying, “relax and follow me.”  This next revival may not look like yesterday’s, but it will be what we need to cover the globe with the Gospel and usher in the return of Jesus.  This revival may look different, but it will make us more like Him.

Our world has plunged into utter chaos.  Things are so broken neither a Democrat nor a Republican can fix them.  The downward spiral has become so drastic conversation cannot stop it.  Vaccines, stimulus checks or legislative action will not bring about the change for which the masses are calling.  I have come to the conclusion revival is the only thing that is going to help – not the revival I remember; not the revival in which I have become comfortable but a revival that shakes us to our core and transforms us fully to the Church for which He shed His blood.

You may ask, “how can this happen in my church?”  This answer is simple.  Any church – large or small; city or rural; young or old – that is willing to pray until it happens and not settle for anything less will see this revival.  The moves of God of the past will pale in comparison to the far-reaching transformational revival that is on the way.  You can be part of it!

Revival is coming!  The question that must be answered is – will you know it when you see it?  I am determined to be prepared and spiritually sensitive to what God is doing.  I will not miss this last-day revival.