Revival - 2007?
By Jack Humphries The Covenant News ~ January 04, 2007
James Rutz' magnificent and inspiring book, Megashift: Igniting Spiritual Power, should be read by every American Christian. His is an account of God's move around the world in what can only be described as Revival. The evidence that God is pouring out his "latter rain" around the globe in an unprecedented Revival is undeniable. The book is replete with accounts that God has showered spiritual blessings on many who are the poorest of poor.
The results of God's move are remarkable. The growth in the underground church in China, the growing Christian movement in India, the miracles of God occurring throughout Africa, which include the election of a Pentecostal believer as president of Zambia in 1991, testifies to God's faithfulness to believers who earnestly seek Him despite facing economic deprivations, beatings, torture, persecution, imprisonment and death.
Unfortunately, this latter day blessing of Revival has surpassed America and Europe. Europe is preparing for its end time role as the European Superstate from which Antichrist arises. Europe is a spiritual wasteland with its great Reformation history forgotten and its people living in a spiritual vacuum. Its great church buildings are now sold to governments and entrepreneurs using them as restaurants and museums. It would not be surprising to find them housing prostitutes in the future. The real church—comprised of European Christians—is a vanishing breed, now estimated at less than three percent of the population.
What are the prospects for Revival in the Christian church in America? The 18th and 19th centuries saw Revivals in America. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God in the early 20th century in America and England is well documented and culminated in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements in the latter 20th century. These blessings laid a foundation for much of the great awakening occurring around the world in this century because of the American church's faithful adherence to sending missionaries to spread the Gospel.
The American church today, however, has been overwhelmed by idolatry in the secular world. The Protestant church is no longer protesting; it is somnolent. Catholics have issues with perversion among its clergy. But one might argue that we don't bow to graven images like those believers in the Old Testament. And he would be right except for one thing. Our idolatry today comes in the form of money, celebrity, sports and entertainment that aren't graven images. Unfortunately the members of the church are no different in their beliefs, behavior, and idolatry than the non-believing community of citizens. We have turned our backs on God. Let's look at two examples.
Church members are more likely to rely on a member of the medical profession for health problems rather than first turning to God for healing. Yes, God can heal through doctors although it seems they mostly are in the disease management business. But God heals today through ministers of His word and by His sovereign provision. Often a Christian will pray in those circumstances—that the doctor will have the skill and wisdom to extricate him from the danger his disease or medical condition requires. Relying on Scripture is taboo. Prayer for healing from the God who can heal all of our diseases is too often a last resort rather than a first principle. (See. Ex 15, 26; Ps. 103: 3; and Ps. 107:20)
Let a young Christian girl fall into sexual sin or become a victim of crime and become pregnant out-of-wedlock and it is not uncommon for a grandmother, mother and daughter to show up at the abortionist's altar to sacrifice the fourth generation to the Molechs of our day. Feminism (a male has no say in what a woman does with her body—even if it means the slaughter of his offspring), careerism (this will hurt our daughter's chances of getting into the college of her choice), hypocrisy (our need to present a façade of perfectionism to the community) are some of our idols. For years, Rev. Jim Rudd, who is the editor of CovenantNews.com, Rev. August David Henderson and others have preached the word of God at abortuaries around the country to stem the tide of this child sacrifice. They have witnessed older generations bringing this curse on its offspring often.
Instead of choosing blessings over curses (Dt. 30:19), instead of trusting in God to take them through, Christians have turned to Satan and his altars of death to solve their problems. In a deception so great that it could originate only from the pit of Hell, abortion is today presented as something "good" and "adoption" as bad.
No doubt Satan delights in this deception of the Church. Every baby aborted means one less child to remind Satan of the God he rebelled against. Every baby aborted means once less child created in God's image who gets the chance to do the will of God ordained from before the universe was created (Ps. 139:14-16). And the blood of 80 million or more aborted American babies cries out for justice. In America, justice is lying abandoned in the sewers of its cities. Woe to those who call good evil and evil good (Is. 5:20).
The state of the American Protestant Church is perilous. George Barna has polled Christians and found that only 5-7% of Christians actually allow their beliefs in God and the teachings of the Bible to affect their daily conduct. Fortunately, God always has a remnant to work through. So what does this have to do with revival of the American church? It has everything.
Many Christians in the aforementioned remnant are praying for Revival. They had a taste of Revival in the mid-1990's with God's move in a Pentecostal church in Brownsville, Florida. The taste left them wanting more. But Revival can be elusive in America. My wife and I were members of Word of Life Church in Springfield, Virginia, during this time. The pastor of this church, Pastor Wendell Cover, is a holy man of God; an intercessor of renown in Pentecostal circles. He invited the Brownsville leadership team to his church in the Washington D.C. suburbs in 1997 to usher in a move of God in that region.
Within weeks, the Brownsville team had to relent. Just as Jesus found he could not perform miracles where there was much unbelief (Matt. 13:54), neither could the Brownsville leaders succeed in Revival in Northern Virginia. There was a stronghold of doubt and unbelief that precluded Revival there.
What about the conditions for Revival ten years later? 2 Chronicles 7.14 is often cited as a model for ushering in revival. This Scripture verse is a continuation of the previous verse and begins "[I]f my people . . . will humble themselves . . ." What does humbling ourselves have to do with revival? First God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5). God is not going to usher in Revival to a people who are puffed up, arrogant, and utterly convinced of their self-righteousness and of their economic and spiritual invincibility. But God will respond to those who fast and pray and seek His face.
There are about 600,000 Christian churches in America. How many of them have pastors who are preparing their members for Revival? For instance, how many have consecrated a fast for 2007? How many pastors are calling for prayer for Revival? Right now there is one faithful man of God known to this author who has consecrated a fast for his church and prayer for revival —Pastor Tim Halbfoerster, River of God Church, in Pennsylvania. If any other pastors have consecrated a fast at the time you read this, please provide the information to jgh037@epix.net. If any pastor decides to do so after reading this, please email your information about that pastor and his church to the same address.
In asking for the Lord to bless us with Revival, His people are to pray and ". . . turn from our wicked ways . . . ." What "wicked ways" are we involved in? Let us not be ignorant of Satan and his devices. We have fallen into deception--the deception that seeks to lead astray the very elect in the last days.
God wants to work through a holy remnant for He commanded that "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:15-16). You cannot be holy when you love anything more than God, his Son, Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit. Do you, Christian, love _____________ (fill in the blank: pornography, adultery, fornication, money, sex, football, sports, shopping, collecting things, traveling, living with the opposite sex without benefit of marriage, drugs, etc.) more than God and doing what is right? If so, you are in idolatry. Turn from your wicked way(s); ask God to help you; seek help from a Godly minister or counselor; resist Satan and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Deal ruthlessly with personal sin so that your prayers will not be hindered (Zech. 7:13; Jn. 9:31); so that Revival can come.
What sins should our nation, its businesses, and its churches and their leaders turn away from? The Old Testament minor prophets, Hosea, Amos, Micah and Nahum, speak of the injustices in their societies: Lying, murder, insincerity, ingratitude, idolatry, greed and covetousness were rampant. The use of false weights in business was a way to improve profits. In Amos 1:13, the Lord decided to punish the Ammonites because "they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory." Judges were corrupt; justice was perverted. Community and business leaders trampled on the poor and cheated them out of their property. This doesn't sound like America? Read this list of American sin and explain where you disagree (with the category of sin described for the morally obtuse):
A legislature that makes laws for the nation that don't apply to its members (injustice);
Retirement packages for legislators that can only be described as royal (greed; the servants serving themselves at others' expense);
Welfare laws that promote the creation of single-mother families and deny fathers their parental rights (lying—Republican congresses for 12 years promised to fix this but never did);
Laws that export and fund abortion overseas (murder; injustice);
Businesses hiring illegal aliens (unjust; depriving citizen-workers jobs and taxes to the government; and greed);
Businesses and their insurers denying legitimate workers' compensation benefits (greed; injustice to employees who are poor);
Wal-Mart: Hiring part-time workers with no health insurance for full-time work positions (greed; unjust); refusal to pay overtime (fraud); selling Plan B abortion pill (murder); member and supporter of homosexual Chamber of Commerce (abomination);
Medicine: Stem-cell research using aborted baby tissue when it knows it hasn't worked (fraud; lying; abomination);
OB/GYNs: performing abortions and performing them in hospitals and billing the procedures as anything other than abortions (murder; fraud); failing to report abortions on minors (aiding and abetting criminal misconduct);
Legal profession filing cases such as Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton that are not factually based (fraud); excessive fees (greed);
A justice system that permits governments at all levels to conspire to condemn and take the real property of citizens without just compensation;
Christian churches who select abortionists as elders and deacons (murder; profaning God's name):
Some pastors and many priests involved in sexual perversion (sexual sin);
Consumers: Credit is our God; we put our trust in money (greed; idolatry);
Entertainment industry: Profane TV programs, movies, music, and pornography (idolatry, sexual perversion and sin; flouting God's righteousness).
These are just some of the national sins of which we have to repent. Well, you may object by saying those aren't my sins. Think again. Have you paid taxes to the Federal government? Have you given offerings to your church whose tax-exempt status comes from the state and federal governments who maintain and promote the availability of abortion? Have you shopped at Wal-Mart? Are you still shopping there? Have you voted and elected anyone to a government post who is pro-abortion? Do you still have enough of a conscience left to know that we must seek God's help?
If you are a Christian living in America, it is time for repentance. It is time to separate ourselves self from these abominable and profane practices as much as we can, become righteous in our conduct, and pray to the Lord that our nation and its leaders will hear and turn from these wicked ways. If this happened, America could be like Ninevah. The Gentiles of Ninevah heard the prophetic words of Jonah, a Jewish prophet, calling for repentance and turned from their evil ways. Then God saw their works and relented from the disaster He planned to bring upon them. Ninevah was revived.
As Americans we have turned theirs backs on our only Protector. If we don't repent individually and corporately, the Day of Judgment will be severe for "to whom much is given, from him much will be required (Luke 12.48). Now is the time for repentance. It can bring Revival.