The term revival is being thrown around a bit due to what is happening at Asbury (and now Lee, Belmont, Samford and Cedarville Universities).
It brings to mind some amazing times when I took a satanist and a heroin addict (amount others) to a ‘revival’ meeting…
I hadn’t been saved long and I was incredibly excited that God had taken my physical pain, crushed my addictions, changed my heart and given me Eternal life! I was accustomed to God prompting me to say specific things to strangers. If I actually said these things (I often didn’t), amazing things happened…
Take one time. I had taken a group of recovering addicts out on some old jet skis I picked at an auction. One of the girls started playing chasey with a stranger on another jet ski. At one point, this man stopped and she ran smack bang into his (very expensive) machine.
Lain (not his real name) was fuming – he came back to shore yelling and screaming and kicking his machine. It was obviously damaged and he blamed this girl. I stepped in to try to calm things down. Log story short, we exchanged details.
A week or so later he threatened to take us to court, he had called the police and I offered to meet him. I felt God wanted us to try to help even though I believed he was at fault for the accident, stopping right in front of the girl on the jet ski.
I met with Lain and his girlfriend outside a pub in Leederville. I had written him a message in case he would not listen, but he did so I spoke to him. I said something like the below:
“Lain, I don’t think we are responsible at all for the damage to your machine but I am going to give you some money towards the damage – on the condition that you to listen to me.
I think that God told me to talk to you about witchcraft…”
I had a lot more to say, however I stopped as Lain was clearly agitated. His eyes were bright red, he paced left and right. Tears well up in his eyes and then he sort of shouted “stop – what are you talking about?”
I was about to answer when he continued:
“My mum was a witch”
At this point I was thinking ‘oh cool, God gave me a like word of knowledge!’. But then he continued to speak and everything changed. Right now, as I write this, it still grips me with powerful emotion even to think about it.
“She hanged herself in front of me when I was 9 years old”
All the good thoughts left, all I know is that I was not ready, capable, trained, wise enough – I had *nothing* to offer this man. But I knew someOne who had *everything* to offer…
I honestly could not tell you what else I said or what happened for the rest of the interaction. What I can tell you is that he was physically abusing that girl, badly and she could not get away from him.
But she came to faith and we helped her get away from him. He also came to faith, turning away from satanism and started to seek to follow Jesus.
I tried to disciple him and lead him to Jesus, to give him hunger for the Bible and I took him to meetings regularly during the week to hear the word of God, to worship God and meet other believers.
In one of those meetings, a church I likely hadn’t been to before, I too him to a Saturday night Revival service. I didn’t know what the term ‘revival’ meant:I was about to find out…
**** The music was loud and emotive, there was clapping, dancing and hands waving. Someone at the back at one stage was speaking in tongues during the worship quietly.
Lain head swung around like a possessed movie character glaring at this person. Did this mean tongues had power? Or that the satanist picked up false tongues (they speak in tongues too)? I wasn’t going to take my theology or form judgment from a satanists reaction…but it did raise a huge question! ****
One thing I was sure of: I *hated* what was going on. Not *only* was this satanist seeing what I saw as fake & people chasing an experience, there were others I had brought too.
One man, a friend of a friend was in a very low place. I had met with ’Simon’ a day or so earlier and witnessed to him. He was a heroin addict with a long history of pain and crime. I would later find out that tonight was the night that Simon had said to God ‘if you’re there please show me – I need help’. He had planned to end his life the next day.
Another guy (‘Clive’) I had known as a none Christian in the drug scene – a sceptic who had never experienced God despite all his trying. He was the one who asked me to visit Simon. He also brought another guy (’Shaun’), who used to fast before having psychedelic drugs.
‘Shaun’ had experienced crazy interactions with demons – at times waking up bleeding after being stabbed. (To this day he doesn’t know how he was stabbed as in his mind it was demons chasing him – were they real? Was it humans and he just ‘saw’ demons? Did he stab himself???)
There were many people that I wanted to experience Jesus and all we’ve got is this ghastly feeling chasing group?!?
As the worship came to an end the preacher took the microphone. It was a missionary from Malaysia – a woman. She said something like:
“What is happening here is not right. We can’t make mockery of God or chase feelings. If anyone feels they need to repent, or even come and bow down, feel free”
Amazing – exactly what I was thinking…does this mean that women *should* be able to preach?!
I went straight to the front and bowed down saying sorry to God, likely pleading for Him to open Clive / Shauns / Simons / whoevers eyes). I don’t remember everything but I do remember the music starting to play, it resonated with me in a way I can’t describe. As I stood up my feet felt like they were on fire, was it pins & needles from bowing down, causing my back / sciatica to play up?
The next thing I knew I was leaping and ‘dancing’ what seemed like an African tribal dance. I was filled with joy, though didn’t want to be a spectacle – I am *not* a musical person or coordinated dancer! It was when I moved away to the side of the church that I noticed it wasn’t just me who was acting strange!
What was happening in the centre of the church, most would have labelled as absurd. People were laughing, like *really* laughing. Crying with laughter. At one point water was getting thrown from the preacher. I *really* didn’t like some of it at all. I could have left. I could have argued and condemned. Instead I just prayed – “Lord, have Your way”.
We didn’t leave until after midnight and I can say that I will *never* forget… We were a crowd, a throng, as if we were the players that had just won the World Cup. Joy, excitement, shouting, laughing…we all descended the stairs and as we came out on to the street in Midland after midnight, people just naturally started witnessing to strangers.
On the way home, the borrowed 4wd I was driving ran out of fuel on Tonkin highway. We turned left and got out to push. I think there was 5 or more of us and we wanted to try to keep momentum as we were going up a long hill.
But something amazing – we struggled to keep up. This heavy Landcruiser Troop Carrier, not running, went up that hill as fast as we could run. We struggled to jump in at the top of the hill and rolled to the petrol station.
Shaun wanted to pull an all nighter and find people to witness to. One thing was for sure – we couldn’t wait for church tomorrow!
So many lessons and questions from this one small set of interactions! It was a rollercoaster ride with Lain the satanist. The journey continues with a number of people from that night. Shaun had a lightning few weeks, then decided he would prefer to be on drugs. He explained in graphic detail how, when in the shower, a hand appeared and wrote the words from John chapter 3 on the shower wall! Yet he still didn’t want to follow and preferred drugs. To this day I don’t where he is (if still alive).
But Simon? He knew that God had showed up that night just for him. Sure he still struggled with drugs on and off. But later, he would stay with us for another incredible God-orchestrated moment. (Read Here for another amazing story!) Today, he is married with children, clean and helping others who are on the wrong path.
Was this ‘revival’ meeting of God? Was it His will? Should a woman have preached? I could argue theologically against a lot of what happened in this one event. I could even condemn some people or organisations. But as the Bible says, knowledge puffs up and pride should not be how Christians should respond. (See 1 Corinthians 8)
Sure, there were problems. Was it the be all and end all? No! Christianity is a long endurance walk, there are hard lessons to be learned, there is vital repentance that is required, there is testing of our faith, there is training in doctrine that is commanded and helpful. Is it all going to happen in one place? Has *any* one place got it all 100% right? No!
How would you respond to this revival meeting? Stand back and judge, throw stones, condemn? Or even say that what was happening was not God or even of satan?
We are warned very sternly by Jesus on wrongly attributing the work of God 1Mark 3:28-30 (NLT) “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”
Jesus also takes it one step further. He says that Christians’ love for each other would be the sign to the world that we are His disciples. What??! He could have said that our doctrine, our theology, our submission, our following of the rules, our sinlessness – ANYTHING – could be the sign to the world that we are His.
But He chose love.
What does it look like to *love* other believers? Obviously to feed and home them if they need it 2James 2:15-16 (NLT) Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? , simple – not easy but simple.
But how do we show love to other believers that have a different stance or doctrine or methodology or practice?
Criticise them? Condemn them? Brand them as heretics? Attention seekers? Pass judgment that their doctrine is wrong? Or assume their motives?
We know people who were close, attend the same church, completely cut us off, ignore us and all attempts to contact them and see if they were ok. Years later we found out that they did it deliberately as we operated in a prayer ministry they disagreed with. No wonder the world sees Christians as disjointed and hypocritical!
How many denominations? Why can’t we celebrate our differences? Why can’t we learn from each other? Why can’t we allow other peoples beliefs help balance out our own?
SURELY our love for each other is bigger than our differences (our need to be correct)? Our different take on certain passages? The way we operate in certain settings?
Or are we so deluded that we think we have all our theology 100% correct? Really??Seriously!
When you got saved, was everything 100% perfect according to scripture or your own beliefs?
Or did the Master of the Universe somehow orchestrate a perfect outcome from imperfect people and maybe even chaotic situations?
He won’t share His glory, so don’t worry about how perfect you are. Don’t rely on your theology to save you. Stop judging and *do* what Jesus commanded you. NO more excuses. The world is waiting. So is He.
“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”
John 12:32 (NLT)
Footnotes:
- 1Mark 3:28-30 (NLT) “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”
- 2James 2:15-16 (NLT) Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?