I have recently listened to several different radio interviews featuring Sam Harris (author of: The End of Faith & A Letter to a Christian Nation) and Richard Dawkins (God Delusion) who are agressively opposing religion and calling for greater controls and ultimate suppression. They particularly favor outlawing religious education of children referring to it as “brainwashing” and a form of “child abuse”.

Fortunately, even the main stream media is currently challenging some of their radical perspectives. An article in February 2007 Christianity Today entiled: The New Intolerance documents some of this opposition.

Yesterday I was thinking about this particular article and said to myself that it will all be put to rest when true Revival shows up and thousands of people start getting healed. I was truly surprised with an impression that came back immediately into my mind:

No these people will even be more threatened with an active Spirit filled church. Particularly when some of their colleagues are converted. When it comes to healing, they will support ‘scientific’ experiments to demonstrate and prove that healing is merely a natural latent ability that some humans have. The opposition in the demonic realm will be more than happy to help out in the ‘research’. Wo!!

Today I was thinking about Revival, and it occurred to me that others from the entertainment industry, business leaders, educators, politicians, and quite a few religious ‘leaders’ will probably end up opposing any Revival because of all the changes it will bring to our society on a diverse number of levels. Well it is just a thought, can’t imagine folks preferring the dead old cultural church that prevails today.

In addition to the blog posts mentioned in Part I, this article was largely inspired by a message given by Steve Thompson (Director of MorningStar Ministries) who recently ministered at VCC-Laguna Niguel (12/8-10). He talked about how jealousy continues to divide Christian ministers, ministries, and churches. He said that this is similar to the reaction of Cain to the favor that God showered upon his brother Abel.

He linked it to why ‘small Revivals’ seldom grow into large nation shaking events. He said that they usually get short circuited by the enemy who sows jealousy, division, delusion, and falsehood. However, Steve Thompson spent the majority of the time talking about the solution. His conclusions: Ministers and leaders need to learn to rejoice when others are blessed or receive a greater impartation and anointing. We all need to learn to agree with what the Father is doing and seek to be in tune with the heart of God.

His teaching continued: When we are in tune with what the Father is doing and rejoice when others receive, then the way is clear for us to receive also, possibly even a greater blessing. When we have some difficulty with the blessings and anointings that the Father gives to others, then the blessings that God intends for us may be delayed or blocked.

Also, the ‘judgment principle’ kicks in when we question why God is blessing others who seem to us to be less deserving. Then the Lord is obligated to judge us by the same measurement (Matt. 7:1-2). However, if we rejoice in the Father’s mercy and grace towards others, then we may be eligible to receive the same.

My conclusions (at least for now): We can’t do this by ourselves, it requires greater intimacy with the Father and only his Spirit can give us the necessary discernment. If we try to do it on our own and try to train and discipline ourselves to rejoice when others receive, it could degenerate into witchcraft. We could end up rejoicing in order to receive. It’s probably why Cain’s offering didn’t receive favor from God. He was probably giving in order to receive, rather than giving in the spirit of true worship. That’s probably why he was so angry when Abel received favor from God instead. Things would have turned out different if he had rejoiced with his brother.

I believe that there is a trap that Christians fall into here. We can be so intent upon receiving greater anointing from God individually and for our own church that we sometimes ignore what the Father is doing with others if it doesn’t involve us. Greater Revival is a corporate body of Christ deal which requires lots of folk to cooperate not only with what the Father is doing in their own lives and churches, but also be engaged with what God is doing in the lives of others, and be sensitive to what the Spirit is doing across the entire Body of Christ.

I believe that this is why the Holy Spirit is touching so many prophetic folk right now to talk about seeking greater intimacy with the Father. I believe that the Lord would like to open up the heavens soon and bring a Revival that will shake the nations. However, greater intimacy with God will be increasingly essential in order to properly support the move and to make the changes and continual adjustments necessary in order to keep it expanding and growing.

One of the dirty little secrets which seem to prevail and continue to divide Christian ministers, ministries, and churches is jealousy (or call it whatever else you want). This is actually similar to the reaction of Cain to the favor of God showered upon his brother Abel. Cain probably taught his younger brother everything he knew and yet Abel ends up with the greater blessing from God? We all know how that episode turned out. Christians are usually far more subtle and most would not even consider their reactions as jealousy.

It usually starts out with one minister asking God to bless his ministry as much as another that he has observed. Maybe there is another church in town that is growing fast and you wonder why. This is not necessarily bad, unless one begins to covet the anointing and position of another. There can be a fine line between seeking the best gifts and anointings that our Father has for us, possibly being mentored by one who moves in those giftings, and actually being jealous (or sad) when someone else receives a greater impartation than we have or gets ‘promoted’ before we do.

I started thinking about this issue after reading an earlier article which references a group and a blog which spends an incredible amount of time and energy opposing a successful minister and mega church in my own neighborhood (I can see the church from my house). A ministry which has brought hundreds and maybe even thousands to Christ and has a good reputation in the community. It is definitely not a Revival but the ‘opposition’ modus operandi is similar.

It all reminded me of a time 18-20 years ago while I was attending VCF Anaheim, John Wimber was the Pastor, the place was rocking and the Spirit was moving in a dramatic way. Maybe it wasn’t Revival but it was close, and it was definitely a move of God. Then along came the self-appointed ‘heresy hunters’, next the opposition pamphlets and books. I attended every service and conference and could never figure out where they picked up those ‘heretical’ quotes. It certainly didn’t represent anything that I had ever heard or experienced.

Now, If Revival falls on a place and every one in town begins to show up, the other churches begin to wonder why it happened at ‘that’ place. Then many conclude that if ‘true’ revival was going to show up in this city it would naturally start here in ‘our’ church, after all we are the one with the: (add whatever) 24 hour prayer room, anointed Bible study, larger church facility, preacher w/ a doctors degree-that guy didn’t even go to Bible college, sound doctrine, healing ministry, after all, that church is part of that..(add+denomination, group, movement, or whatever) and etc. Finally, all too many church leaders end up saying something like this: “There must be something wrong with what’s going on over there–it’s way too popular–must be false. We will have to check it out and ‘protect’ our people.”

Mean while, it was the Lord’s intention to bring Revival to the whole city and to every church, and then spread it to the next town, but it gets short-circuited by our attitudes and responses. We all should be rejoicing when Revival falls anywhere and get on board. Instead we let the enemy divide us and actually use ‘the Revival’ as the excuse. Remember, Revival is always messy, never perfect, usually different than the last move, and then the enemy always adds his own stuff to the mix.

One wonders what Toronto would be like today if every church in the city had gotten on board and road it out. Would Florida be the same if everyone cooperated in Pensacola? I experienced some of the Toronto move. I could tell you all about what the enemy sowed there but won’t. Praise God, you can still see the effects of that little move world wide, I can still see it effecting the lives and ministries of hundreds of folk that I know.

This article is already way too long for a blog post. We’ll hold over the rest of our thoughts for the next. Part 2 -will feature some further observations and conclusions that were inspired by a message given by Steve Thompson (Director of MorningStar Ministries) who ministered last weekend at VCC-Laguna Niguel.

I ran across this interesting story in an article in November 2006 Christianity Today: “Behold the Global Church” by Brenda Salter McNeil. The whole article was good but this particular part is incredible and I pass it along to all of you seeking and looking for Revival:

I once met a brother from Ghana, West Africa, who was completing his Ph.D. in the School of World Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary. During one of his trips home, he attempted to share the gospel with several people who lived in his community. Although they listened respectfully, no one turned to Jesus Christ. He later learned that they were intimidated by a witch doctor who lived nearby. The witch doctor kept a symbol of his authority hanging outside his home: a lattice basket, filled with water, that never leaked.

My friend decided to pray that God would empty the basket.

He stayed outside the home of the witch doctor and prayed all night that God would demonstrate his power. At some point he fell asleep. The next morning he was awakened by a commotion. The basket was empty. That town saw a mass revival as people learned about the God who caused the water to come out of the basket. There had been a power encounter and God had won.

Brenda McNeil also gives several ‘spot on’ comments and observations following the account:

We who were raised in the West, with the West’s rational worldview, can try to explain that story away. But I believe we need African Christians to teach us how to preach the gospel in power. The West is overwhelmed with information for information’s sake and wary of truth that is rational yet impotent. The next major evangelist may well emerge from Africa or Latin America or China or Singapore.

We will need them, and simply saying that we will need them is a big step for many of us. The culture of America, of American Christianity both white and black, has been one of self-sufficiency and independence. But what God may be doing in this dramatic, perilous kairos moment is calling us to something different”a culture of interdependency, where we depend on one another across racial, ethnic, and national boundaries.

Many of us in America and the West have thought about going to Africa or Asia to preach the Gospel. What if the next move of God in the USA and Europe is helped along by African or Asian evangelists? An interesting possibility.