week 4
I went to church yesterday and am feeling more and more optimistic about where The Church at large is headed. If we as Christians keep preaching hope and the Love of Christ then we can position ourselves for a spiritual revival.
“Revival” a word that has entered my ears countless times since I was a kid. My parents talked about it, my pastors preached about it but it never seemed to really happen. Even when we went to “revival meetings” the people there talked about how we are just catching a glimpse of the revival to come. Well, where was it?
I began to imagine revival as some kind of circus that was just gonna come rolling through town someday. And, sooner or later, it would roll right out (like the ones in the past that my parents talked about). Maybe this was just my young, naive understanding but I’m still wondering “Where is revival?”
Did you go to church yesterday (or Saturday)? What is one sentence or a few words that would describe how you felt during the experience? If you didn’t go to a church, what is one sentence that would describe how you felt during that experience?
remember:
Don’t Hold Back!
be authentic, be honest, be sincere
6 Comments
For the first time in ages, my wife and I missed AM church through illness. I hate that.
We were well enough for PM though, and I think the best phrase to describe that is ‘refreshingly powerful’.
Like you, waiting for revival, but feeling closer than we’ve ever been. For me, part of this is the cleaning up that’s been going on of late – prominent leaders having secret sin exposed. There’s more of that to come I believe – which is both scary (ie: who/what else? what about me?) and necessary for the Church to rise.
David (@dg4G)s last blog post..Worship Confessional : Sun 15 Feb 2009
Where do I begin?
First of all I would like to apologize for being a downer yesterday. I hope to be a positive person, but I am very passionate on how the gospel should be taught.
Yesterday my skin was crawling during service. The lack of discernment and a us vs.them mentality doesn’t start revival. It causes division. If we really wanted revival, we would close our doors and pray that we would become more like Christ instead of asking God for a better service or for more people to raise their hands during worship. We should be and do what Christ has called us to, not what we think we should be or do.(i hope that makes sense.)
Just because people do not know Christ does not mean they are demented or do not have the ability to make right choices. We are made in the likeness and in the image of our Creator. We as a whole are broken people redeemed by a love that is to wide and to deep for us to comprehend. It is out of a desperate love that we are saved. Just because I have a relationship with Christ doesn’t mean that I’m better or more intelligent than people that do not have a relationship with Christ.
I did not agree with the message that was given yesterday and I’m still having a hard time dealing with what was said. In order for a real revival to start we must represent the Gospel better than what was presented yesterday.
I love the church too much to let it be seen and represented in a distasteful way.
Live.Dream.Inspire
Twitter: themarkthomas
@David: Great thoughts. I’ve been eyeing the same trends and wondering what will happen next!
@Smitty: Dude, I agree w/ you. We cannot allow division into the church. The only way to revival is to become transparent and show people Christ. If they experience Christ there’s no way they won’t be changed and revival will be imminent. We must present the Gospel in true pure form.
The revival won’t come from a divisive Christian vs. heathen, Conservative vs. Democrat message. It also won’t come from a watered down, seeker sensitive message. People need Jesus. They need the Word. They need to experience the Holy Spirit. They need healing, deliverance and freedom. They need God: unfiltered, unsoftened, real and raw.
The greatest revival is the one that starts inside a man.
The revival of the Gospel is a call to action. To be selfless instead of a selfish institutionalized religion.
I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of students and people come to Christ. They didn’t accept his forgiveness because they finally understood the 16 fundamental truths. They accepted the message because they knew deep in their souls they didn’t choose God, but God chose them. They knew this because of the representation of Christ around them. 600 students my senior year gave their life to the calling of God because a few of us decided to be the red letters. To love more. To give more. To show up. To be their biggest fan. To care more. To be more. This is revival. We understood the Gods grace instead of the 16 fundamental truths. When someone hurting, theology goes out the door and the love of God fills the room.
Thanks for your post this wekk
finally, praise God, i went to church :]
after about 3 weeks absent due to various things.
this saturday my parents were in town, and we were at the university church. since it was “parents weekend”, and alot of tuition-paying parents were present, my school [Southern Adventist University] did what it does best — be conservative.
part of the conservative foot forward for the parents was our university combined choir, which i’ve come to enjoy, not just because of the large numbers of my friends in it, but because they usually surprise me with something new and amazing. [ http://is.gd/jVRO - not our choir, but an example of the song performed by a much smaller choir].
i feel like experiencing the choir perform this song was much more relevant to me than the subsequent valentine’s day sermon given by one of the associate pastors.
also, in skimming your comments i saw “16 fundamental beliefs mentioned.” while not a personal fan of “fundamental beliefs” being enforced, i see their worth.. i’m curious what denomination [if any] those fundamentals are affiliated with. for example, i was born into the Seventh-Day Adventist church, which currently has a whopping 28 fundamental beliefs. mere curiosity.
once again, i’m really glad you put this question weekly.
i really look forward to answering it :]
kristopherhs last blog post..kristopherh: // discussing the overal response to the "Jesus is Dead" article [ http://is.gd/jVBD ] in last week’s accent with monica bliss, editor..
Twitter: themarkthomas
Well, when it comes to the “16 Fundamental Beliefs”, one is most likely referencing the beliefs of Assemblies of God denomination of Christianity. My church (Orchard Road Christian Center), where I work and lead worship, was once affiliated w/ the AoG church but is pretty much non-denominational now, and has been for some time.
Either way, we are basically evangelical Christian, but I hate saying the word “evangelical” now because of the political connotations the word now carries. Maybe a better word would be “pentacostal”…but that’s more how I grew up. I’m just a Christian, man…trying to follow the teachings of the Bible as best as I can interpret. And looking, constantly, to people who have been there before me.
Does any of that make sense?