Not The Pursuit Of Revival

Not The Pursuit Of Revival

Let me state this clearly. Many are in pursuit of revival because they want to experience a miraculous move of God. They want to see masses saved. They want to see meetings extended. They want to see scores of people falling in repentance on bended knee. They want to see another Great Awakening. They want the signs and wonders. They may even want all of this more than they want God Himself.

Even the pursuit of revival is not more glorious than the pursuit of God Himself. 

I spent many years more in the pursuit of revival than God. I led prayer meetings for revival. I organized prayer walks and rallies. I wrote about revival. I preached about revival. I read everything I could find about revival. I even traveled to attend revival meetings when I heard about special moves of God around the country. I called the church to repentance. I wanted to taste true revival like the ones I read about in books. I hungered and labored for that more than anything else. I walked in this deception for more than a decade. Trouble was I was not revived.

Not until God became my ultimate pursuit. When He became my focus I experienced personal revivals many times over. I found God was the source of the elusive revival flame. I did not have go to a service or conference. I did not have to rad a book to get revived. All I had to do was go to God consistently and let Him set my soul ablaze for Him.

When I learned that God began using me like I had never seen before in revival ministry. Again let me sate emphatically I AM NO EXPERT ON REVIVAL. I am just a hungry heart and thirsty soul in pursuit of more of God. Like Moses I want to see more of Hi glory. Like David I hunger and thirst for Him. Like Mary I want to sit at His feet as often as possible and hear from Him. That is my most glorious pursuit. I pray it will become yours as well.

Nobody Satisfies But God

To get serious about the glorious pursuit of God we must hunger and thirst for more of Him. In fact, we must come to the place where there is nothing on planet earth we desire more than Him. Not food or drink. Not sex. Not entertainment. Not possessions. Not fame or power. Not spouses or children. Not houses or lands.

God must be what we hunger and thirst for. He must be our deepest craving, innermost longing, and most intense desire. David had this. Check out what He wrote.

Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV)
¹

 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 63:1-2 (ESV)
¹

 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Other Psalmist communicated the same heart beat of intense hunger for God.

Psalm 73:25 (ESV)
²⁵  Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

As long as we hunger for lesser things more than God we will never truly know Him as He wants us to. We run after other things. C.S. Lewis wrote, 

“We are half heartedCreatures , fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offerd us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

We are far too easily satisfied with the lesser trappings and pleasures of this world. Seeking God offers so much more. More than we can conceive if we would just be willing to pursue Him all of our days and with all of our beings. Nothing on this earth can satisfy like Him. Nobody can satisfy our hungering or quench our thirsting like Him.

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[1] C.S. Lewis, The Weight Of Glory (Grand Rapids. Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1965). 1-2.

My Journal Entry - A Surprising Phone Call

Jesus, I need You. I don't have to have bands, loud music, lights, or special services to meet with You. Tonight I sit among hundreds of worshippers. I'd rather be sitting alone somewhere enjoying You and meditating on Your word.

 I know You are here. Do You have something to say to me? Your call on my life is to follow You. Your call on my life is to follow You but to also count the cost for doing so because, it is not an easy road. Do You have all of me Jesus? You use the one who says, "Here am I send me no matter what!"

I surrender. No matter what the cost is I surrender. I surrender to follow You. I live for You. I exist for You. I am Yours do with as You please. 

That truly is my heart. That journal entry could have been taken out the pages I prayed and wrote this morning. The fact is I wrote that at a youth camp I preached at on July 15, 2008.

It is one thing to write such things. It is a whole different matter to pray them. You go a step further when called to actually live it.

I sat in a park under the shade of large tree reading that entry today. At first I did not even know it was a journal entry. I found it in a small book I write in from time to time. I use it to take notes and write in it when I don't have my journal of choice, a spiral bound notebook, handy. I read that entry with great interest this morning.

It sounded pretty similar to things I prayed earlier this morning. When I saw I wrote those things back in 2008, nearly nine years ago to the day, it shocked me. Just a year later God would call me to leave FBC Paradise to go to Seminole.

When I finished reading that journal entry my phone rang. On the other end was Joel Perritte. He is a guy I poured my life into when he was college aged. He is now a husband, father, pastor, and missionary. What he told me next tested what I just read.

He told me of a church near where he lives. Joel reported the church is an inner city church in a high crime area. He further relayed the city boasted one of the highest murder rates in the state of Texas. He told me about the racial diversity of the congregation and what they were doing to impact the lives of the inner city. He said for a month he has thought of this church and wanted to send my resume there. The purpose of the call was to see if I would be interested.

There I sat. Talking a good game lately and as far back as 2008 about being surrendered, wanting to follow Jesus, and willing to pay the price for wherever His call might lead me.

Inner city. High crime zone. Murder. With all of that in front of me am I still willing to follow? Am I still surrendered? Am I still counting the cost? Immediately I think of the words to the song I blogged about earlier this week, MAKE MY LIFE A PRAYER TO YOU and the words; No empty words, no white lies, no token prayers, no compromise. 

Joel asked if I was interested. I responded, "Jesus has my yes. I put no restrictions or filters on that yes. I will go wherever He wants me."

Now, that does not mean that church will even be interested in me. I have to entertain the opportunity. That is what any true follower of Jesus would do. He never said following Him would be easy. To the contrary, Luke 9:23 (ESV) 
²³  And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 

That does not mean to suburbia behind security fences and gated communities. He sometimes sends His followers to high crime areas in inner cites with mass murders. I am a hypocrite if I am not willing to follow Jesus there but jump at the chance to follow Him to some prestigious church where the members have deep pockets and I live in comfort and minister in the lap of luxury. 

While I cannot say with any certainty I know clearly where I am called to go I just know I have to remain willing to entertain all options until He opens the door. All options are on the table. We will see what lock Jesus chooses to unlock and open the door.

At This Time Next Week

At this time next week, Lord willing, I will be arriving under the tent getting ready for our first Kermit meeting. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. Only God knows when it will end. Only God knows how many days the meetings will extend. Only God knows hen I will return home.

It is hard to believe. After months of praying and planning we are entering the home stretch before the meeting. I pray God moves so powerfully He advertises Himself in Kermit.  I find my prayer for Kermit is exactly the prayer Elijah offered on Mount Carmel.

1 Kings 18:36-37 (ESV)
³⁶  And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
³⁷  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 

The Offering Of Me

What can you give to someone who has everything. It is frustrating to go buy a gift for someone who has everything they need. When you ask what they want they even tell you they have everything they need. Nothing you purchase for them seems sufficient.

What can any of us give Jesus? He has everything. No matter what we give He always deserves more. We can never give enough money, service, or devotion. He is worthy of more. More than our best gifts.

In my prayers this morning that thought took hold. I have no great wealth to offer Him for Kingdom causes. I do not have the singing and piano playing talent of a Keith Green. I do not have the writing talent of A.W. Tozer. I not have the preaching talent of Charles Spurgeon or D.L. Moody. I do not have th intellect of Jonathan Edwards. I do not have the evangelism gifting of Billy Graham.

All I have to offer Jesus is me. My life. It is not much but it is the best gift I have to offer One who gave all for me. Me is all I have. It is my best and most sacrificial offering. One I gladly offer and lay at His feet.

The offering of me is my desire to live on His altar yielded to Him and His plans. Romans 12:1 (ESV) 
¹  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

I cannot compare my offering with others. Others have so much more to give. All I have is the offering of me. I choose to offer my all. My present and my future. My preaching. My writing. My heart to love. My feet to go. My hands to serve. My eyes to see with compassion. My ears to hear Him and the needs of those around me. I offer my mouth to preach as often as He will allow me. All of me freely offered to my King Jesus. It is not nearly enough but it the best that I have to offer. So Jesus, I offer you me. 

NO EMPTY WORDS NO TOKEN PRAYERS

There are some words to a song written by Melody Green and sung by her late husband Keith Green that are biting into my soul early this morning. Here are the lines. "Make my life a prayer toYou I want to do what You want me to, no empty words, no white lies, no token prayers, no compromise."

Those words have sunk deep in my soul with the ferociousness of a Great White Shark. I cannot shake them. I think of just this past week. How each day I passed over Isaiah 6:8 (ESV) 
⁸  And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me. This verse was etched on the sidewalk outside the building we worshipped in. I passed over that verse at least two to three times everyday at camp. Each time I paused and offered up a prayer. I asked the Lord to choose me and to send me. I even preached on that passage one day. I meant each prayer.

Did I offer token prayers. Did I offer God empty words and white lies? I pray I did not do it but God knows my heart. How often are empty words and white lies offered to God? I do not want to be counted in that number. 

Like the words of the song, I want to do what He wants me to. No token prayers. No compromise. 

What does such a life look like? What does living that kind of life look like in the flesh and blood of real people? The apostle Paul. David Brainerd. Jonathan Edwards. Hudson Taylor. George Whitfield. A.W. Tozer. Leonard Ravenhill. Keith Green. Fanny Crosby. Amy Carmichael. Lottie Moon. 

I do not worship such people. I admire them for their devotion and for living what they preached and sang. They inspire me that it is possible to fully devote a life to God. To live consecrated to Him. None of those were perfect. They all had flawed sin natures just the like the rest of us. Yet, they had hearts to be more fully surrendered. They did not offer token prayers filled with empty promises. They laid down their very lives in service to Jesus. 

Do I really want to do what Jesus wants me to do? He wants me to go to Kermit for the revival meetings in one week. I want to obey though so much still seems uncertain. I want to offer prayers I really mean. I want to keep the promises I make to Him. I do not want to compromise. 

I can never do any of these things in my own strength. If Philippians 4:13 (ESV) 

¹³  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  ever meant anything to me it means Jesus will strengthen me to live out my life as a prayer to Him to do what He wants me to. No empty words and no token prayers.

The Next Adventure

I stand at a crossroads. One chapter of my life ended. The next chapter not yet written and unknown. Life thus far has been an adventure. The word adventure means:

verb [no object] dated engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory: they had adventured into the forest.

That is what is before me. It is both exciting and hazardous. Instead of hazardous I would use the word risky. Everything hinging on the call and commands of God. Each step of journey built on the foundation of God's faithfulness and faith. God's invitation to explore the unknown with Him and to possess new territory for Him. 

I have been following God in faith steps for three decades now. There are familiar patterns. I get a clear direction from God. Many times I either deny God's invitation or rationalize why it is risky and illogical. When the invitation persists, backed by scripture and deep conviction of the Holy Spirit, then a decision must be made. Obedience or disobedience. Faith or fear. For me that decision was made years ago. I resolved to take those faith steps no mater how outlandish they might appear. 

Still I get nervous. My pulse quickens. I have to pray through for the courage to follow through. Often I even ask God for confirmation in addition to the original invitation. God has graciously given me this extra reassurance multiple times. 

Then it all comes down to obedience. Like God telling Abram to go to the land that God would show him. God spoke. Abram heard. Abram obeyed by faith. Genesis 12:1 (ESV) 

¹  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 

Hebrews gives a little more light on this. Hebrews 11:8 (ESV) 
⁸  By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Abram obeyed by faith. He trusted God and the call of God on his life to follow. This is easier said than done. To obey God by faith means stepping into an adventure where you do not see the outcome and only have the call of God and His promises for assurance. These are scary steps if you look with human eyes and think of all the things that could go wrong. 

Abram just obeyed God. His confidence was not in himself. His entire confidence was in God. His trust in God triumphed faith over fear. He just did it. Too many Christians hide behind fear. They prefer comfort and security to adventure. As I understand my relationship with God, I do not get to choose the path. He determines the course and I am to follow where He leads. 

The miraculous work of God in my life has always been on the other side of His invitations to step out in faith. Like holding the revival in Seminole that went on for 23 straight days. Like the time He told me to trust Him for provision after CentrePointe Community Church disbanded. Like when He called me to leave FBC Paradise to go to FBC Seminole. Like calling me to go to Kermit to hold tent revival meetings. 

The adventure continues in other ways as well. In what I believe to be a clear leading from God to trust Him, followed by the peace that surpasses all understanding, I stepped down from serving as pastor of Faith Community Church. I do not have another church to go serve. I have no job waiting in the wings. I know I am to go to Kermit at the end of next week. Beyond that I don't know what is next. It is the next chapter in the adventure. So I step out on faith. I choose the path of obedience and adventure. While I may not be able to see the future I can predict the outcome. 

God will prove faithful again. He will open doors. He will provide for my family. I will write and preach about His faithfulness and the great adventure of following Him. Stay tuned. I am betting the next chapter will be more exciting and adventurous as the previous chapters.