Revival has been on mind lately. I have been reading about revivals to glean some insight about what sparks revival in a particular place and time. Recently I stumbled upon a revival that I had never heard of. It’s called the Fulton Street Revival and it occurred in New York City in 1857. Jeremiah Lenphier started a noontime prayer meeting On September 23rd. His story is a powerful one and you can see it here:
I love this story because it reminds me that one person can make a significant impact on the world. Jeremiah’s risk to follow after God was inspiring. He had no way to know how things were going to end. For all he knew he was going to be alone praying by himself and for the first 30 minutes of his very first meeting that is exactly how it looked. Yet, Jeremiah saw the need to pray for his city and its people. Then, an amazing thing happened. God moved in the city and people came to know Jesus. I wonder what would happen in our own cities if we followed Jeremiah’s example on Fulton Street. What might God do if we gathered together to pray for our city and its people? How might God move in our communities and our churches? How might God move in us? Lets find out!
Acts 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers”
Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”
James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
I have been reading through Acts over the last couple of weeks and was recently reading about the conversion of Saul in Acts chapter 9. If you want to check out the story scroll to the bottom of this post.
The story of Saul’s conversion got me to thinking about how the churches I have been apart of in the past talk about conversion. We used phrases like,
“accepting Jesus into our heart’
“asking Jesus into our heart”
“saying the sinners prayer”
I could go on and on, but my point is this. We don’t see any of those kinds of things here in Saul’s story. Saul is going about his daily business of persecuting Christians and in so doing persecuting Jesus himself according to the text, and has a unique encounter with Jesus. Jesus asks him a question about persecution and then sends him on to Damascus blinded where he meets Ananias. Ananias prays and something like scales fall from Saul’s eyes. He rises, is baptized and then eats.
There is no mention of Saul accepting Jesus into his heart. Saul does not say the sinners prayer. As far as I can tell, Saul had a transformational encounter with Jesus and from then on he lived differently. As I think about it, the same is true with the disciples. We don’t see the typical churchy language at their conversions either. There was a call to follow Jesus and they did.
With this in mind, I have these questions that I am currently wrestling through. Does the way we talk about conversion in the church today match the experiences of conversion in the early church? Should it match? Have we added some things that shouldn’t be there? Are we not talking about things that should be?
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
As a Pastor, I find myself wishing I could use the Jedi mind trick on people to get them to do what they should do. No mess, no fuss…just a wave of the hand and a few simple words to convince people that they need to live for Jesus.
If only it were that easy. If the Jedi Mind Trick were and effective evangelism I could sit on my couch while watching my favorite TV shows after having Jedi mind tricked whoever passed by me that day and in know time the world would be made Christian. It would mean I would never have to fear rejection. I would never have awkward conversations about my faith. I would never have to show or compassion to anyone. I would never really have to share the Gospel. How easy it would all be if the Jedi Mind Trick was an an evangelism tool?
It seems to me that while I can’t imagine anyone employing a Jedi mind trick approach to evangelism, we tend to look for the magic formula or the quick and easy way to reach people for Christ with a minimal amount of effort. We do what we can to avoid making people feel uncomfortable or to avoid rejection and we almost but never really share Jesus with others using actual words because we are afraid. I know I am often hindered in sharing my faith because I allow my fears to dictate my behavior instead of allowing God’s love for me and others to drive out the fears in my life.
To see others come to Christ more often than not requires hard work, relationship building, trust building, and sacrifice. It requires us to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit in our life and in the life of the person that we are building relationships with instead of cheap tricks and tactics that allow for us to sit idle without doing the hard work. Much is required for those who follow Christ…the cost of making disciples is high. If we are going to make disciples a simple wave of the hand will not work. Magic formulas won’t work. We must involve ourselves in the lives of others (and our communities) as messy as that might be so that the Holy Spirit can provide opportunities to bear witness to Jesus in the messiness of life. Those opportunities will not come to us as we sit on our couch hoping that God won’t ask anything to difficult of us or as we wait for him give us everything we think we deserve in the form of big houses, cars, or money. God isn’t so much interested in our best life now as He is interested in his followers living up to the calling That Jesus left to us to make disciples.
In College Church this semester we are talking about some of the essentials to the faith. Last week we talked about creation and this week we will be talking about sin and its effect on creation. As I have been doing my prep work for the sermon this week, I am reminded of the song lyric from my favorite Christmas song O Holy Night that says:
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Until He appeared and the soul felt its worth
Because I wanted to be sure I had a clear understanding of the word pining here I went and looked it up and decided I should post it for you:
pine 2 (pn)
v.pined, pin·ing, pines
v.intr.
1. To feel a lingering, often nostalgic desire.
2. To wither or waste away from longing or grief: pined away and died.
v.tr.Archaic
To grieve or mourn for.
n.Archaic
Intense longing or grief.
Now, I am specifically interested in the more archaic definitions here especially as this song was written by Adolphe Adam in 1847. So what we have here is a lyric that basically states that the world lay mourning its sin until the advent of Jesus. It goes onto say that in His coming, the soul finds its worth. I can’t help but wonder how many people out there are struggling with the whole sin and error pining thing and are unable to find forgiveness, healing, redemption, or reconciliation because they have not acknowledged that the soul finds its worth…truthfully its very identity in Christ.
Gratitude. We all know we should be thankful for the things that we have. We have all been blessed by God in countless ways. I know it is hard to see that sometimes, especially when everything around us is falling apart. Even in the worst of times there is much to be thankful for. The air we breath, a roof over our heads, or even the fact that we opened our eyes this morning can all be attributed to the great grace of God. Yet, we often forget or neglect to offer him thanksgiving and praise for all that he has done for us. I think that this is a serious issue in the church. Every week in a number of churches a doxology is sung:
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Or if you prefer:
Yet, I wonder if we are really paying attention to the words. Do we really believe that that all blessings flow from God? If we do believe that how often do we thank Him privately and publicly. Do we allow the gifts of his grace to change how we live? Do we bear witness to what God has done and is doing in our lives? In other words, are we living our lives in doxology?
Think about Psalm 116:12-19
What can I give back to God
for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah! (The Message)
I have been thinking about seeking God today and have been meditating on a number of different verses that I thought I would share with you this morning.
Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 7:7-11
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him![1]
4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.[2]
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”[3]
Lamentations 5:21-22
21 Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old 22 unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.[4]
Psalm 51: 10-12
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me
I can’t help but notice that the path to restoration requires God’s act in us, but also still requires action from us. Seek, find, knock, and call all seem to indicate that while God renews, restores, revives and recreates we must also play our role too.
I have been thinking a lot about the phrase “God with us” lately. His presence seems to be an ever present and reoccurring theme for me as of late. I have come across the verse from Revelation 3: 20 a number of times recently so I been meditating on its meaning.
Here i am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will com in and eat with him and he with me. (NIV)
“The wonderful verse ‘I stand at the door and knock…’ was originally penned for believers and not unbelievers. We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us.He desires a perpetual Eucharist feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart.” (Celebration of Discipline)
I can’t help but think that so many of us are lost in life or feel disconnected from God because we have simply ignored the knocking. Could it be that our lives have become so full of busyness, technology, running from place to place, that we have simply not noticed that Jesus has been knocking on the door waiting for us to take the time to invite Him in and commune with Him.
For the last several days I have for the most part been stuck on the couch dealing with severe back pain because of a herniated disk. Because of this I have been in a position that I don’t much care for — depending on others to help me. My wife has been an amazing help to me through this as have a number of people from our church.
This is such a tough place for me to be. I hate to rely on others for my care. It feels unnatural to allows others to do for me what I should be able to do for myself. The truth is, at the moment, I can’t do for myself so I must do what comes so unnaturally to me… allow others to help. I hate it, but God is teaching me something significant here. While I am stuck on the couch, the world has not come to end. God has raised folks up to help me in a number of different ways and to continue on in my ministry where I have been unable in the last couple of days. Perhaps I should pay more attention to what God is capable of doing in my weakness instead of what I can do in my strength.
Consider 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. (The Message)
I have been wondering a lot about how learning about social media has developed into a must for anyone doing ministry. So much in our lives is done through some sort of technology that is supposed to make our lives easier…though I would contend that the technology meant to free us really serves to enslave us (not a conspiracy theory, just an observation about human behavior).
I can’t help but wonder if all of these outlets, whether its facebook, myspace, email, texting etc. aren’t actually giving us a false sense of community. I certainly like the fact that I can talk with friends all around the world, but I spend a lot time paying attention to what others who may live just down the street are doing. Instead of stopping over and seeing them, I feel like I am keeping up with them by checking their statuses. For me this begs the question — Are we substituting virtual interaction with human face to face interaction and calling it community when in fact we aren’t really connecting with each other in any significant way?
I came across this verse in 2 John 1:12 yesterday:
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
John was using the technology of the day (letter writing) to communicate with those at a distance. However, that wasn’t good enough for him. His joy wasn’t complete until he was able to see these folks face to face. I think John is reminding us that letters are good but face to face interaction is better. I think we can go a step beyond and say texting/email/facebook are good, but face to face is better.
I am not entirely sure how to strike the best balance all of the time, but I do think it is important that we get off our phones, computers, or whatever serves to keep you “connected” and as the folks in my former congregations described it, do some legitimate “neighboring”.
A. W. Tozer managed to work me over pretty good today. I read the following passage and was challenged to think about what little effort I put into my pursuit of God.
“The idea of cultivation and exercise, so dear to the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture. It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer returned from afar.
The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in Gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmen methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.” (The Pursuit of God)
I am personally guilty of reading a chapter or two saying a a prayer and rushing off to some other task whether I have encountered God or not. I can’t say it any better than Tozer, so I will let his words speak for themselves save this. Perhaps our lives are hollow because we fill our lives with hollow things.
James 4:8:
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Maybe, just maybe, God feels distant, because we have not done what we need to come near to him.
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