This little blog is beginning to connect revival-hearted Christians from all over the world. Most are tired of doing stuff that doesn’t matter. Some are asking what needs to change in the church if we want to see another revival like our Jesus Movement Revival of the 60s and 70s.

Get Sober!

One big step would be to overcome our addiction to the big, the spectacular, the mega, and the impressive. Jesus never does it that way. His heart is always with the one, and His Gospel moves forward one heart at a time.

When Jesus was rejected by the culture of Galilee, He wasn’t bothered. He always knew He wouldn’t impress the popular and the powerful. He used their rejection to launch the only plan He ever had: He sent His disciples to do His work.

And they walked around Galilee reaching the very people the powerful and popular were trying to keep  from hearing His message of grace and mercy!

You can read about it in Mark 6:1-13.

Get Going

If you and I really want to see revival, we need to start thinking about the ones Jesus has put in our lives who need Him, pour our lives into their lives, and ask Him to make a difference.

Decades ago Robert Coleman told the church this in his classic, The Master Plan of Evangelism. Here are just a few of Coleman’s insights:

1. His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow.

2. Anyone who is willing to follow Christ can become a mighty influence on the world providing, of course, that person has the proper training.

3. This will require more concentration of the time and talents on fewer people in the church while not neglecting the passion for the world. It will mean raising up trained disciplers “for the work of the ministry” with the pastor and church staff (Ephesians 4:12). A few people so dedicated in time will shake the world for God. Victory is never won by the multitudes.

4. It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it.

5. We must decide where we want our ministry to count–in the momentary applause and popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone. Really it is a question of which generation we are living for.

Revival–the Unmega Plan with Mega Results!

You want to see revival? Really? Then tell someone about Jesus. Serve someone in Jesus’ name. Teach someone about Jesus. And equip them to do the same.

If you don’t know how, write me.

I’m not techy enough to block them.

But I couldn’t help wondering why the Christian community is so desperate to wear their faith on their sleeve.

I have to tell you that from the perspective of someone who came out of darkness (by that, I mean I wasn’t a church kid), a lot of these t-shirt messages would just flat turn me off.

So, I’m just saying. If you’re going to wear your faith on your sleeve, please don’t wear a mean faith.

And think about what the people reading your t-shirt message are reading from your life.

Main Street of  the small town in Iowa was lined with spectators. The grand procession of luxury cars and limousines followed the hearse toward the cemetery. Men removed their hats and mothers gathered children to their side. The richest and most influential man in the county had died and if you were anybody in the hierarchy of the little farming community, you were in the “pageant.”

Dick, a friend of mine recalled the big event from his perspective as a little boy standing next to his father outside the local barbershop. Nobody said a word as he watched wide-eyed, trying to be as somber as his wiggly body would allow.

It was 70 years later when Dick told me the story. He told it in a way that I could picture it in my mind and even feel his little-boy wonder. Dick continued:

“There was this goofy guy that hung around the barbershop. He was one of those guys that you knew would probably be sitting in the same barbershop when he grew old telling the same stories to his captive audience waiting for a haircut. I looked up at this guy. I remember him taking off his hat solemnly. And Ed, you know what he said as we watched the taillights of the last Cadillac turn down the road to the cemetery? ‘Man, that’s really living!’”

“Man, that’s really living,” Dick repeated. “Can you believe that? Even as a little boy I was thinking, ‘No, that’s really dying!’”

What Really Matters!

The sons of Korah wrote this, “For man in all his pomp must die like any animal” (Psalm 49:25). The main message of their Psalms (42-49) is that the nearness of God is the only good that lasts.

This is what we forget. No matter how much wealth we accumulate, how many careers we fulfill, how many church people we impress, how many vacations we go on, how many hobbies we pursue, how many friends we make, how many…how many…how many… Still, every human heart will stop beating and every human body will rot in the grave.

What we need to remember is that only our nearness to our God will matter in the end.

So, what will people say when your hearse drives your container to your grave? Will your family and friends be talking about all you left behind or will they be talking about all you sent ahead?

Real living begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Real living is drawing near to Him by walking with Him through life and investing our time, talent and treasure in what matters most to Him.

Now that’s really living!

“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).

I don’t know why, but I always felt like it was up to me to make sure Jesus got credit for anything I did in His name. For some reason I thought I should be the one to connect what His Spirit might prompt me to do with His glory.

If an opportunity to help someone in a small or even big way came, my first question was, “How can I let this person know that I’m a Christian, that I’m only doing this because He has changed me and He loves them?” Too often this meant that while I was still debating and calculating in my little brain how to guarantee that everyone would know that this moment was a truly eternal moment, the moment was gone!

I’m ashamed to admit that it didn’t bother me that much. “Sure wish there was a way to glorify Jesus there,” I would tell myself. “Oh well, maybe next time I will get a real opportunity to do something kind in the name of Jesus.”

Taking Care of My Responsibility to Serve Jesus!

We know that Jesus commands us to do good works of compassion and justice in His name. And we know that He promises to reward us when we do. So why do we hesitate?

I’m convinced that this is one of the greatest barriers to His resurrection life being expressed in the world today. We have taken responsibility for His job—glorifying Himself, while disregarding our responsibility to do our job—extend His love to the hurting, the marginalized, the poor, and the powerless.

He’s the one who connects our works to His glory, not us!

What a change this has brought to my life. Now that I don’t have to worry about how these acts of kindness connect to His glory, I can just do them.

Judy and I were putting our groceries in the car after shopping when I noticed an elderly lady struggling with her keys while she tried to wrangle her shopping cart full of heavy grocery bags.

“Let me do that for you, ma’am.”

Such a small thing for me; it took no more than two minutes. As I was pushing her empty cart back to the store and thinking about her, “Oh thank you young man,” I said to my Savior: This is for you, Jesus.

I’m discovering opportunities almost daily and here’s what haunts me. I wonder how many opportunities for kindness, mercy, and compassion I’ve missed because of my arrogant need to make sure it counted for Jesus.

It All Counts!

It all counts, and He, not I and not you, keeps the books!

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward ” (Matthew 10:42, NIV).

When living test-to-test, we try to follow five simple principles. We don’t claim to always live them out in strength, but we always come back to them after times of panic, doubt, anger at God, and questioning. They include the heartbreaking principles God built into our heart as we’ve suffered through my health problems, the almost-death of a son-in-law, my son’s three deployments to a war zone, and tragedies of divorce, disease, and even death in the lives of people we love.

1) Let it hurt.

The first mistake most of us make is thinking that if I can just keep it from hurting, it won’t. You probably already know that this is futile. But if you don’t, the time will come when the pain of your tragedy or disappointment will wash over your life and you will feel truly hopeless and alone. Though this is a desperate feeling, it’s the only starting point toward hope.

2) Let your feelings go.

I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to impress everyone with my capacity to control my emotions. What I didn’t know was that time wasn’t the only thing being wasted. All that work to suppress what was going on inside of me was wasting me away. When I finally began admitting and expressing the hurt to myself and those closest to me, it was like a heavy burden lifted from my life. The explosion of feelings might scare you, but it’s better to explode on the outside than on the inside.

3) Let God in.

One of the most serious misconceptions about God is that we need to somehow clean up our life–our questions, doubts, fears, and objections–before including Him in the process. This sure isn’t the picture of God His Son, Jesus Christ, gave us in the Gospels! Jesus loves moving into hopeless situations while they are still messy and confusing. The sooner you invite Jesus into the process, the better. He is always waiting for access to every part of our lives-especially our pain! The New Testament says that He constantly knocks on the door of our heart asking for permission to enter and make everything better.

4) Let God know.

Once you’ve given Jesus access to your life, He will be like any other caring and loving friend–He wants to know what you’re thinking, feeling, wondering, upset about, and, most importantly, what exactly you want Him to do to ease the suffering. This means you need to talk to Him, just like you would any other person. The Bible calls this prayer. I found great comfort in the fact that I knew that Jesus wasn’t shaming me for my questions and fears, He was listening as my loving Shepherd. He wasn’t ashamed of my tears, He was crying as much or more over my pain than I was. And He was waiting for me to tell Him exactly what I wanted Him to do. For me, it was a simple, one-sentence prayer, “Lord, please let me live and serve.” I wasn’t demanding, I was just asking. It’s important for you to know that He wants you to ask.

5) Let God work.

This is probably the most difficult step of all. Once you’ve told Him what you want Him to do, you need to trust in Him. Know that He has heard your prayer and that He is working on His answer to your prayer. Even if He doesn’t immediately “fix” everything, you can be sure that He is doing something. For some of you, the first answer to your prayer for help will be accepting His free gift of eternal life to all who will believe in Him. For others who have already accepted eternal life, it may be that your friendship with Him will deepen. And then you will see the many ways He is present in your life as He guides you lovingly toward His yes or no answer to your prayer. Then, no matter what the outcome, you have still received the best life any human being can live-a life lived in close friendship with the Son of God.

That’s the lead-in from my friend Charles Morris of Haven Today as he shares with listeners about two broadcast Judy and I did with him. On March 23rd and 24th, 2009, Haven Today broadcast the programs Judy and I recorded. Go to: http://www.haventoday.org/radio-stations.php to listen.

If someone in your life is struggling with a “why” situation right now, I encourage you to invite them to visit my Blog, listen to Haven Today and/or to give them a copy of my book, When God Breaks Your Heart.  But most of all, pray for them (right now!) and let them know you did!  You may be the person in their life whom God uses to remind them that they are not alone–the person to remind them that Jesus is near to the broken-hearted.

Revival.

I’ve been listening to the theories and advice of the so-called experts for over forty years. And I’m unimpressed, because I know something that they don’t. I know what it feels like to be a part of a genuine revival. I was a part of the last great revival in America. The Jesus Movement of the late 60′s and early 70′s.

I don’t have to wonder what it would be like. I was there. I didn’t meet Jesus in a church–I met Him on the streets of Bakersfield, California.

The Jesus Movement spilled over the San Gabriel Mountains from Southern California and into our Central Valley and thousands of us found meaning in life in the words of Jesus of Nazareth. Up and down the state–from the beaches of SoCal to the campuses of UCLA, Berkely, and Chico State, millions of the most angry and rebellious generation in US history became revolutionaries of a different sort. Spiritual revolutionaries, consumed by our devotion to Jesus Christ.

But here’s what you may not know about our revival: It wasn’t the long hair, rock music, and exciting big events that made the Jesus Movement move. It was just good Christianity.

We took Jesus at His word when He told us that He would be with us as we told people about Him and discipled then to follow Him. It was simply one friend telling another friend about Jesus. And then we gathered in groups and asked God to let us tell more.

And He did.

I miss it. We had a front row seat to the raw power of God–that radical life that lives on the edge of the frontier of faith. I’m tired of talking about revival; I want to see it again before I go to heaven.

So let’s stop talking about revival and ask God for another one. Another movement of spiritual revolutionaries willing to put it all on the line for Jesus Christ!

How about you? Does your heart long for revival? You don’t have to be an old Jesus Movement rocker like me to want more than the tame Christianity of the suburbs.

Let me know

Cancer Hospital Waiting Room

We’re gathered together in a room nobody wants to sit in—the waiting room of the USC Norris Cancer Center’s Outpatient Clinic. What we have in common is our deadly diagnosis, and our bandaged arms from the blood test our oncologist will read.

I remember well the first time I took my seat in this very room thirteen years ago. So weak I could barely walk and so embarrassed by my grotesque appearance, the emotions of actually being a cancer patient overwhelmed me. Judy had to support me—both physically and emotionally—when I tried to cross the street from the “regular” hospital to the cancer hospital.

Surveying the room this morning, I can see the despair in the eyes of the first-timers. They’re still either reeling from or resisting the idea that they belong here with people like me—people with cancer or lymphoma. They never imagined life could be so hard, so hurtful, so hopeless.

I want to tell them about the One who sits next to me today in this room of despair—the same One who sat with me eight years ago and every visit since. The One who is always with me whispering words of comfort and hope into my life.

His name is Jesus.

Your Room of Despair?

There’s no way to avoid life’s rooms of despair, the places where those who just received devastating news gather:

“We’re going to have to let you go.”

“You’re being sued.”

“I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”

“We’ve lost everything.”

“I’ve been unfaithful to you.”

“Your child will not live.”

“I don’t love you anymore.”

“It’s cancer.”

But there is Someone who will take your hand and never let go…–especially in your room of despair.

His name is Jesus.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Jesus Christ, Hebrews 13:5

“For every dollar you borrow you have to make two to pay it back.” (Dick Caddock, elder in our church in Oregon)

“Crawl up on your Heavenly Father’s lap and tell Him exactly what you want.” (Jo Stone, our former pastor, Ted’s, wife)

“You can never go wrong working hard.” (Bill Sandborg, the Superintendent of my Fulton Hotshots fire crew)

But maybe the best advice I’ve ever read came from the lips of a Jewish mother:

Well, maybe not that Jewish mother. But a Jewish mother by the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus!

It came on the day He let her know that He was about His Father’s business. She had turned to Jesus, her oldest son, to help her in a very real personal crisis. The wedding she was coordinating had run out of wine. This was a huge embarrassment for Mary, a social disaster. So, as she had been doing since her husband Joseph had died, she reported the problem to Jesus.

When Jesus replied that He just couldn’t fulfill this role any more because He was launching His public ministry as the Son of God and Savior of the world, Mary turned to the servants and said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2:5)

Sure enough, when they obeyed Jesus’ command to pour water in the purification water pots, Jesus turned the water into 120 gallons of the finest wine the wedding party had ever tasted!

It’s great advice. If you do what Jesus says, He will turn your water to wine. He will take our heartaches, your fears, your plans and your dreams and transform them according to His purposes…if you do what He says.

What is that one part of your life you would most want Jesus to change? Turn to His word to see what He has said.

And do it!

“Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).