Thoughts on Revival

We have been talking a lot lately on the concept of revival.  To be honest, it hasn't been a dominant theme for us at SHOP.  We have focused more on issues related to His love for us and our corresponding devotion, His glorious Second Coming to the earth and the understanding of the priesthood.  But, recently the Lord has been highlighting the idea of revival for me.  And, it has been a great experience.

For some reason, my perspective on revival was such that I was more than open to have it happen in our city, but was just as inclined to let other churches and ministries take the lead on seeing it develop.  I realize, of course, that revival is not something we create or develop...it is a sovereign work of God that completely surpasses any of our normal efforts.  He descends with His presence in a way that brings the kingdom of God with power, and suddenly there are good things happening everywhere.  I was never opposed to such a thing, but for some reason I saw it as a season that others would lead.

But, God has been showing me (and us) that He has plans for this city, and every city I suppose, that involve Him coming in a powerful visitation.  And He wants our house of prayer to play an active role in seeing the fullness of this come to pass.  Passages like Acts 2, poetic as they sound, are becoming increasingly important to us as we call out for Him to "pour out His spirit on all flesh". 

I was recently studying this theme and considering the thoughts of a comrade in the prayer movement.  He said a most intriguing thing and it just struck me.  He was talking about the revival season in the Hebrides Islands in the early 1950s and how the presence of God had descended over the small island and "saturated" the entire place.  People didn't have to go to the church or the evangelistic meetings to encounter God...He was everywhere and the people could feel Him.  Of course, this produced sudden and rather shocking results.  The people were turning their hearts to God, aware of their sinfulness and longing for connection with this one of great kindness.  The researcher then made a fascinating statement: 

"Imagine what it would be like to have the presence of God thick in the atmosphere and be absolutely everywhere?  There would be no place you could go to avoid Him.   You would feel the presence of God all the time".

As I heard this statement, I was aware of the strong pull to this and the strong fear of it at the same time.  The holy and perfect God of all creation would come in an increased and tangible way and there was nowhere to go to escape His presence!  For those who love Him, this is a wonderful reality.  For those who don't even know Him, it is a moment of invitation unlike any other.  But, for those who do not love Him and have chosen to live apart from Him, this would be a fearful and most uncomfortable season. 

God will not come in a season of revival, a moment of increased dwelling, simply to surprise us and make our lives a little easier.  He draws near to have us draw near to Him.  It is a foretaste of the future, really.  He will one day draw entirely near to us and we will be with Him on this planet forever.  Jesus will reign over all that He has purchased with His own blood.  Revival presses us to act accordingly. The "presence of the future" is a blessed kiss on our hearts and solemn warning to not resist.  He is surely in love with His people and He is coming to our city.

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

Awesome

We had a Worship Leaders Meeting last night. This is typically a time to review and adjust all that we are doing. After a number of hours of talking, discussing and thinking about the future, it occured to me: we have the best worship leaders in the world!

May every church and house of prayer be blessed with men and women of devotion, integrity and passion as those we have here.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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Thankfulness

We just completed an 8-week focus on the theme of gratitude and, boy, was it a great experience. It all began in the middle of the summer, a low point in our attitudes about life and the future. You know how it is, I'm sure: things don't go as expected for a prolonged period of time and pretty soon you are feeling despair about it all. It wasn't anything specific for us, however. It was a collection of personal and corporate struggles that all seemed to weigh us down at the same time.

God was gracious, however, and gently revealed that we were SINNING! It was not ok to dwell on what we didn't have. In fact, letting those things weigh us down, agreeing with the "injustice" done to us because we didn't attain to what we felt we deserved, was wrong before Him. We were just grumbling to ourselves, we thought, but in reality we were saying that God was a bad leader. After all, look how He had led us up until now. On top of that, we were saying that He wasn't to be trusted with our future either. Once we saw it for what it was, we were eager to back up and change our thinking.

He provided a way forward in the form of gratitude. The more you are in touch with what God has done for you, the more your spirit comes alive with genuine love and thankfulness. We focused all our sets on this theme, gave each worship leader freedom to find themes they wanted to express before the Lord and went for it.

In no time at all, things began to shift. Our hearts were swelling with all that God had done well, and we were beginning to see that the future was going to be good if we trusted in Him. On top of all that, His presence increased among us and that encouraged us all.

Now, eight weeks later, I am eager to keep gratitude in the centre of the way we approach what we do here. Lord, keep us from our self-centered pursuits. Give us clear eyes to see what you are really doing in our midst.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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