Time For A Revival

            A U.S. Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. "Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!" it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The bishop was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner that said, "Fire extinguisher."

            As Christians, how many times have we taken a fire extinguisher to the fire of the Holy Spirit?  Christians quench the Spirit for fear of offending someone, fear of being called a radical, fear of being ridiculed or an assortment of other excuses.  Christians are in a spiritual morass.  C S Lewis once stated that Christians are like wet dogs.  They go to church and get soaked in the Holy Spirit only to shake it off once they got outside.

            With the coming of the New Year, Christians need to have a revival.  Revival is not a bad term, nor should it only be associated with Charismatics and Pentecostals, but a term that must be in every Christian’s vocabulary.  Every Christian must experience revival.

            Where does this revival begin?  Here is one account of how revival begins:  A famous preacher was asked to hold a revival at a church.  Facing a packed sanctuary, he stares at the congregation for a couple minutes.  He asked if they have experienced revival in the last few minutes.  The congregation answered with a collective, “No.”  He stated, “That’s the problem with revivals, we expect them to come to us.”  He then drew a circle on the ground and stood in it, “Let the revival begin in this circle and go out from it.  Revival has to begin with our heart and move outwards.”

            While a church can hold revival meetings for a few weeks at a time, a Christian needs to have revival every day.  Christians need to renew their mind and focus daily, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect,” (Romans 12:2 NASB).  The “renewing of your mind” denotes a constant renewal.  It does not state “be transformed and once you renew your mind you can stop.”  It denotes a constant inspection and renewal.

            How would one go about a personal revival?  First is to pray.  Seek wisdom and guidance from our Heavenly Father.  All things must begin and end with prayer.  Without prayer, a Christian is a rudderless ship, swaying right and left, and rarely getting where they need to go.

            Second is to read the Bible.  Various polls have indicated a troubling trend, less than 5 percent of Christians read the Bible on a daily basis.  A vast majority of Christians read the Bible only once a week and that is when the Pastor states, “Let us open our Bibles to. . .”  The Bible is how God speaks to us today.  It is called the “Word of God” for a reason.  Because it contains the very words that God spoke to His people.  Spend time daily in His Word.

            Third is to act upon it.  Do not suppress the Holy Spirit.  Do not give excuses to quench the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Revival has to come from within and go out.  Every Christian needs to say, “Revival starts with me.”

            While a church can hold a revival meeting for a week, the effects of it; the spiritual uplifting, the emotional uplifting, the fellowship, will last a while, nevertheless, the effects will wear off.  However, having a personal revival every day, the effects will not wear off.  It is time for a revival, so put away the fire extinguisher.

 

Happy Daughter's Day

A group of expectant fathers was in a waiting room, while their wives were in the process of delivering babies. A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins. "That's quite a coincidence" he responded, "I play for the Minnesota Twins!" A few minutes later, another nurse came in and announced to another man that he was the father of triplets. "That's amazing," he exclaimed, "I work for the 3M Company." At that point, a third man slipped off his chair and lay down on the floor. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill. "No," he responded, "I happen to work for the 7-Up company."

Today is Father’s Day.  This is a day when fathers all over the United States receive beautiful ties and power tools as gifts.  They receive the tie so they can look nice at least once during the year and the power tools because there are things that need to be fixed around the house.  I often wonder what would happen to the father if he decided to get the mother a power tool, like a vacuum cleaner, for Mother’s Day.  I believe if the father did that he might be getting out of the hospital by Father’s Day.

Fathers have a great responsibility. First, they are to “train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it,” (Proverbs 22:6 NASB).  This training is more than telling a child what to do or how to act; it is modeling it for them.  Children learn more from watching your actions than what you say.  Want them to pray more; you pray more.  Want them to read the Bible more; you read it more.  Want them to attend church; you attend church with them. Want them to avoid bad habits; do not participate in the bad habits either.

Second, be an encourager to your children.  I have found out, sometimes the hard way, that my tastes do not extend onto my children.  They are unique individuals and will like different things than you.  If they have an interest in something, even if you do not enjoy the activity or even understand the activity, encourage them to partake in the activity.  Fathers are admonished in the Holy Scripture not to embitter the children unless they become discouraged, “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged,” (Colossians 3:21 NIV).  Encourage them when it comes to various endeavors.

Third be an imitator of God, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ,” (Ephesians 5:1,2a NLT).  Children will imitate those that have an influence on their lives.  Be the model that you want your children to become.  Live a life that follows the example of Christ and your children will follow your example.

Today is Father’s Day, but for me I call it Daughter’s Day.  If it were not for my two daughters I would not be a father.  While it is officially called Father’s Day, I will be celebrating Daughter’s Day.