Revival, Lakeland and Other Junk…
Revival, Lakeland and Other Junk….
Recently I was just invited to a worship meeting that was being lead by a well known worship leader from the infamous Lakeland Revival. Once again this stirred up something in my spirit on the topic of revival and had me questioning, once again, “what is true revival?” I have been a student of revival since 1996 when I first encountered the power of the Holy Spirit. I grew up in a church where the Holy Spirit was virtually non-existent in the life of our meetings. When I came into a head on collision with the power of the Holy Spirit at an inner city church while in college, my Christian walk was revolutionized. So the concept of “revival” is not new to me. I’ve been in revival meetings…real ones. When I say real, what I mean is a meeting without the “popular worship leader”, without the loud music and without the theatrics. Many of those revival meetings happen in my prayer closet at home.
Pondering this the past few days, I’ve wondered where the concept of “revival” is in the New Testament? For some reason, we don’t see the church having “holy ghost parties” or rock concert like conferences. (For the record I’m not outright against either one of these, but do have my qualms of the fruit of such meetings).
What seems to be the lasting fruit that is generated by these “revival” meetings? The fruit of Lakeland unfortunately ended with horrible controversy from which many are still being effected by today. As with all things, God used Lakeland for sure. The same way he uses an ass to speak to those he wants to get a message to. However, lets not credit those associated with such things as being “anointed or specially gifted” to bring revival. If we are found dry, spiritually dead or lacking in our walk with Christ, let us first find revival within our own hearts. I could be wrong, but shouldn’t revival truly start with the individual?
I’m not sure I’ll make it to one of these “revival meetings”. There is lots of work in the harvest fields to accomplish that I hardly have time to get within another “holy huddle” to get blessed.
I’m reminded of the “riot” that occurred in Ephesus in Acts 19:23-42 when Paul brought the kingdom collision with the pagan culture of that day. It says:
“About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, ”Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all.”
Shortly after a riot broke out in the city of Ephesus that had to get the government involved. Sure we all want the church to experience a revival, but how many of us welcome the effects of a riot breaking out that effects our streets, cities and governments on a high level? May the revivals that we do experience and are a part of result in the turning away of considerable numbers of people from useless gods and turning toward a faith in the true living God.
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