Revival is Coming!!!

Many of us know we are on the cusp of something great.  The move of God that’s coming to the United States and the rest of North America will be historical in nature. There’s a coming convergence of historical type revivals, movements and local outpourings and the awakenings that have shaped the history of the United States and spread from there to Europe. If God’s people honor what He’s doing, then we will see waves of outpouring that will bring revival to God’s people, awakening to the lost, reformation to the church and renaissance to society. We’ll see the kingdom coming in power in ways that will fill chapters of church history books.

Of the coming waves of revival, awakening for the lost is what concerns me the most.  Without another great awakening the future of our nation, culture, way of life, freedom and prosperity we have known will be at great risk. The honor of God in our society will continue to be diminished, and friends, neighbors and community members will face eternal damnation.  The consequences have never been higher. 

After a season seeking God for revival and awakening with great intensity the Lord gave me a download in regard to the coming awakening.  He showed me some trends that will occur during the awakening and some indicators to know it’s getting close so we can lean into it when the time is right. He gave me the download when I was at the gym on the elliptical machine, and in many ways I’m still unpacking it.  Though I am firmly in the Pentecostal/Charismatic tribe, the Lord clearly communicated to me that He has the full intention of using a wide range of gospel proclaiming churches.  He plans to use His whole body during the next move of God.

To understand the trends in the second wave, we must first understand the foundation of what will happen in the first phase of outpouring. 

The first wave of outpouring will result in revival among God’s people.  Dedication to God, holiness, prayer, worship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit will all be on the rise.  This will not lead to measurable change within the nation, but it will begin to shift the atmosphere. As the outpouring and revival begins to develop, the shift in the spiritual atmosphere will begin to birth an awakening among the lost. In this phase the lost begin to be saved in large numbers. North America has experienced two major Great Awakenings and the third is on it’s way.  Let’s take a look at the trends and indicators that will occur during the awakening.

Surprisingly, the first trend the Lord showed me is there will be massive amounts of people genuinely saved in evangelical seeker-sensitive churches. Most seeker-friendly, seeker-sensitive, or seeker-driven churches are led by gifted evangelical evangelists who have a God-given heart for the lost. Masses of people will flock to these churches and find salvation during the coming awakening. Many consider these churches apostate due to the lack of repentance preaching, but the Lord reminded me they are part of his body and he plans to use them mightily in the coming awakening. They’ll play a major part in the awakening. Let me tell you how. 

First, they’ll be a feeder to other churches. Many of the established believers and leaders in these bodies will become extremely hungry spiritually.  This hunger will be due to the shift in the spiritual atmosphere as a result of the revival that’s moving through God’s people.  These hungry saints will make a mass exodus from these churches.   They’re longing for more than just the message of salvation and the basics of discipleship will lead them to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and powerful activation in the power gifts.  Groups of them will begin to land in Spirit-filled churches that have embraced the move of God. 

Second, in spite of this exodus from these seeker churches these pastor evangelists that lead these churches will not feel slighted or upset in any way over this exodus.  On the contrary, due to the fact that so many people are being saved in their churches these leaders will feel more satisfied and fulfilled than they ever have. These leaders have a heart for salvation and the Lord will nourish their heart. The Lord will work through them in ways and in degrees they have never experienced, and they will be filled with joy. They’ll actually be glad that seats are opening up for new believers. 

The third way the Lord will use these seeker churches during the awakening is many of their pastors will be convicted of the lite gospel they’ve been preaching and the low quality of disciples they’ve been producing. A hefty percentage of these leaders will shift the culture of their church away from decision-making to disciple-making.  They will be effective in this transition. God’s grace will be with them.  They’ll build healthy communities of faith that exemplify holiness, character, relational health, servanthood and a love for the poor. They’ll break the image of preaching a compromised gospel. Their shift from quantity to quality will make them immune from the exodus and they will satisfy their spiritually starving leaders.

The second trend in the awakening is a natural outflow of the first.  There’ll be exponential church growth among Spirit-filled churches that have embraced the move of God.  Spirit-filled churches that don’t acknowledge the outpouring that leads to this awakening will experience business as usual. Accepting and honoring what the Holy Spirit is doing in the body at large will be vitally important, and those that embrace the preceding revival will partake in the awakening. Yet there will be some who receive great harvest where they have not sown. 

Embracing the new people that arrive from the large seeker churches will be important because they will bring skills and wisdom that many Spirit-filled churches lack.  The Holy Spirit will give greater wisdom in how to integrate the systems for growth and the move of the Spirit. These two realities will not be in opposition to each other, but the integration of the two will build a wineskin that will be able to retain the fruit of the awakening. 

They will experience large numbers of salvations especially as they impart, activate and equip their people to move in power.  These spiritually hungry and empowered believers will bring the kingdom to the market place and to society in ways we have not seen in America or Canada. 

These churches will truly be sending communities. The acceptance and development of the five-fold ministry will continue to spread and will be carried out in greater skill and maturity than what we’re presently seeing. The Spirit-filled community will begin testing five-fold leaders during the awakening. Look for first-fruit churches that embrace the five-fold ministry, but will also test their leaders in a healthy process. These first fruit churches will be a sign the awakening is close. 

The third trend is there will be an evangelical house church movement that will sweep across the land. This will be driven by Millennials and Post-Millennials. It’ll be impossible to measure their number. Not because they’re innumerable, but because they will pop up everywhere. This will be a fast growing and multiplying group of believers. Their disdain specifically for the institutional church and institutions in general does not equate to a disdain for Jesus or the Kingdom of God. They’ll keep their theological preferences, but their expression of them will be dramatically different. After the awakening these generations will have transformed the face of evangelical and non-charismatic Christianity within North America. 

I’m not saying charismatic house churches will be omitted from this movement, obviously, they will be present and active. But the charismatic house churches will not transform the essence of the charismatic and Spirit-filled churches at large like the house church movement will for evangelicals and mainline Christianity. When one sees traction toward the house church movement not just a few pockets here and there, but from coast to coast, then you must know this is a bellwether sign.  When this starts happening, the harvest is coming in and the awakening is about to begin. 

Their preference for a more community-centered forum of Christianity will be instrumental in reaching their peers for Christ and producing a higher quality disciple than we have seen in the last 50 years of denominational Christianity. This house church movement will transform missions as well. Their focus on community will produce an effective missions movement that sends out teams to other nations, similar to the Moravians, in style and function. Missional teams that live in community will provide support and sustainability for their mission endeavors. Some of these teams will raise support, but many will just immigrate to nations for the sake of the gospel.  These missionaries will be particularly effective in Europe and the old Soviet states.  The awakening will reshape missions and will open up new mission strategies.

As you can see the stakes are high!  So let’s continue to sow our lives into the coming outpouring so we can position ourselves to ride the wave of revival into a clearer manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. 

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

Hosea 10:12

LIVING AT A NEW LEVEL

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