All posts tagged: Revival

Is Christianity declining? Pick a god, any god.

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I remember a story from a time before I was born. The church that my family went to when I was a boy had something called a “revival.” I’m suspicious about the name, but something happened, something spiritual. For reasons that are lost to us now, people got concerned and focused on God. The church had extra services and people came, in large numbers. I think this was in the 1920s, and the city had a strange problem, for that time; traffic jams. Apparently, streetcars were filled, and traffic management became an issue on Sunday evenings, in a small city. Where else did a church cause traffic jams? That might have happened somewhere else, but it is kind of weird. God is just not that popular. If we accept that spiritual revivals can happen, I remember something about that church in my childhood. There was a confidence and sense of purpose that I have not seen in many other groups. When I was a boy, I thought those older people were bossy, and they had …

A Holy Jealousy for the Reputation of the Lord

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By Dr. Michael L. Brown Revival is often birthed when we get to a place of spiritual desperation, when we are sick and tired of the way we are living, when we have had it with our halfhearted commitments, when we cannot live any longer without a breakthrough. Revival can also come when we are grieved and burdened over the state of the society, when the sins of our generation mount up to heaven and we know that judgment is near. That also drives us to our knees in intercession and repentance, leading to an outpouring of mercy from on high. But there is something else that can spark revival, something else that moves us to prayer and grips us with deep travail: jealousy for the reputation of the Lord. Our hearts are broken because our Master’s name is maligned. Our souls are grieved because the people of the world despise their Creator. And it is all because of us. When We Make Him Look Bad The Lord’s name is mocked because of our failures, …

The Humiliation of the Church and the Coming National Revival

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By Dr. Michael L. Brown It has been a very difficult season for conservative Christians in America. There have been countless scandals, both minor and major, sexual and financial, rocking all different sectors of the church. There have been prominent leaders who have renounced their faith. There have been well-publicized, failed prophecies about Trump’s reelection. The list goes on and on, and we have egg on our face. Lots of it. And what about the extreme politicization of so many Christians in the last 5 years, to the point that some of us became better known for our support of a political leader than for our allegiance to Jesus? This is time of humiliation, of confusion, of dishonor, a time to get low before the Lord rather than a time to strut. Worst of all, we have brought reproach to the name of Jesus and disrepute to the reputation of the gospel. We have driven people away from the Lord more than drawn people to Him. Yet all is not lost. To the contrary, the …

Europe’s Gypsy revival

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There is a revival taking place among the Gypsies of Britain, but it is also causing a bit of controversy at a religious festival that recently took place in Rutland, a small market town in England. Also referred to as travellers or Romani, many of this group lead a nomadic life, living in trailers or caravans as they are referred to in England, travelling back and forth across Britain, with the summer being their most active time. They earn their living by providing casual workers for agriculture, asphalt paving and as well selling horses, scrap metal, wood sculptures and other items and as well by holding fairs. Many have settled down and bought permanent homes, but still travel to festivals and other Romani gatherings. The group is made up of people who migrated to Europe from Northern India between the 10th and 12th century. But there is increasing evidence that God is moving in a powerful way among this often stigmatized group, as a recent article in the Daily Mail spoke of a Pentecostal festival …

The Q Great Awakening vs. God’s Great Awakening

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By Dr. Michael L. Brown There are many Christian leaders and believers in America who believe that another great awakening is our only hope. They (or, more accurately here, we) believe that only a sweeping revival movement, leading to national reformation, will turn the deadly tide in our country. As we have said repeatedly, it is literally “revival or we die.” Yet not everyone means the same thing when they speak of the coming “great awakening.” To some, it is a spiritual outpouring which will result in massive repentance in the Church and massive salvation in the world. To others, it is a political upheaval, with the military restoring Trump to power, a Democrat-run pedophile ring being exposed, and the American people waking up to this reality. Not all “great awakenings” are the same! As conveniently summarized by a secular news site (with reference to the larger Q conspiracy), “QAnon purports that America is run by a cabal of pedophiles and Satan-worshippers who run a global child sex-trafficking operation and that former President Trump is …

Revival: When God Steps Down from Heaven

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By Dr. Michael L. Brown In a certain sense, God’s presence fills the universe. Yet there are times in history when God manifests His presence in a particular place or in a particular way that is unique and distinct and powerful and transformative. We call those times “revival.” During such times in the past, children would say, “Did you hear that Jesus came to my village?” Preachers would say, “God stepped down from heaven.” Something had changed, and everyone knew it. As I explained in the definition I have used for revival for many years, “Revival is a season of unusual divine visitation resulting in deep repentance, supernatural renewal, and sweeping reformation in the Church, along with the radical conversion of sinners in the world, often producing moral, social, and even economic change in the local or national communities.” Note in particular those words “a season of unusual divine visitation.” That is the very essence of revival. There are passages in the Bible that describe God’s presence as being everywhere (see Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24). …

What we can learn from the Long Hollow Baptist Church revival

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As the Apostle Paul was struggling with issues in his ministry, in his second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote how God told the Apostle, that the Lord’s grace was sufficient, and that God’s power was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. A couple sentences later, Paul added, “for when I am weak, I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:11). And a story by the Baptist Press on the revival currently taking place in Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN is testimony to this verse. The church pastored by Robby Gallatay has been experiencing a revival since the end of December and the church has recorded over 1,000 baptisms by April 11, 2021. The church estimates that upwards of 75% are new declarations of faith and 80% are adults. This included 201 baptisms during the Easter service, that exceeded the total number of baptisms the church recorded in 2018. It all started shortly after two of Gallatay’s ministerial friends, who had spoken at Long Hollow, committed suicide. In an interview with the Baptist Press, Gallatay said: …

“The church has left the building”: California Revival?

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It has even caught the attention of the LA Times that is reporting a revival is breaking out on the beaches of California — Huntington Beach to be exact. It’s partially in response to California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent hypocritical ruling limiting church services to maximum of 100 and disallowing singing or chanting, while putting no limits on demonstrations, and in fact is encouraging them, where he allows people to shout and chant all they want. So in protest, Sean Feucht, who is a worship leader at Bethel Church, in Redding, California, and others decided to hold a church service at Huntington Beach on Friday, July 10, 2020 in defiance of Gov Newsom’s edict. Let’s call it a “worship protest” and include some signs and everything should be fine. Sean has also started an organization called “Hold the Line“to fight government’s intrusion in the life of the church. Writing for the LA Times, Hillary Davis describes what happened at Huntington Beach: There is a revival taking place on the sand at Huntington Beach. On Friday, …

God is moving among fortune tellers

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Christian revivals can happen anywhere. The world may not notice, but God is at work. The “Travelers” are like Gypsies from Ireland. They have lived, mostly in the British Isles, for centuries. Recently, many have begun to follow Jesus in a personal way, and this revival is mostly ignored by people around them. In their own community, this is a huge change, from nominal loyalty to traditions, to strong personal convictions about Jesus. READ: How Gypsies have moved from fortune-telling to fervent Christianity

Credit: Tony Webster/Flickr/Creative Commons

ARGENTINA 2008 – ‘Spring up O Well’

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Español: ARGENTINA 2008 – ‘ La Fuente del Avivamiento ‘ We were in Argentina in 2008 and had made contact with a church in Resistencia that had been involved in the powerful revival that shook that country in the 1950s. I believe God had sent me to Argentina to open the revival wells and bring it north to Canada. The pastor of the Resistencia church, Alejandro Juszczuk, had invited me to speak. I Corinthians 12:4-6 says that there are varieties of gifts, ministries and effects, but the same God who works. It is not up to me to tell God, but to follow Him. When I got to the service the next morning and stood in the pulpit, after Alejandro Juszczuk said “Peter, you speak” and I said “Yes, Alejandro, I will speak” I looked to see if the Sign from God was in place. The ministry couple was sitting in Row 4, on the aisle, just as God had told me. So in obedience to the Sign from God I opened the Revival Well. …

Resistencia, Argentina Credit: patricurcio/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

ARGENTINA 2008 – How do you birth a revival?

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Español: ARGENTINA 2008 – ¿Cómo naciste un avivamiento? It was now five years after receiving three Heavenly Visitations (read here and here) in which the Angel of the Lord had said “I want my Argentinian Revival to move north, the Resistencia Fountain open!” I desperately wanted to give to the Lord what He desired. He wanted it; I wanted to give it to Him, but how? The answer is both profound and extremely simple: “My Father is working until now and I myself am working.” (John 5:17) “Whatever the Father does these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19c) How do you birth a revival? You see and you obey. I attended a retreat weekend at Saskatchewan Beach when I was 19 years old, in 1973. A 21 year old, named John, spoke a word of God to me (prophesied). He said, “You are like a young child that lets go of his father’s hand and runs ahead and falls down scraping his knee. Then the father comes and picks you up …

Credit: Orlando Castro/Flickr/Creative Commons

The ‘set times’ of refreshing?

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CBN is reporting on a revival that has broken out in Greeneville, Tennessee, a small town in the Northern part of the state with a population of just over 15,000 people. It started on April 15, 2018 at the Greystone Freewill Baptist church. The church had invited Evangelist D.R. Harrison to speak at a week-long revival meeting. By the third week, it was standing room only at the church. The pastor was becoming concerned because more people were wanting to attend than there was room in the church. As they were praying for direction, a North Carolina man stepped forward donating a large 80 foot by 140 foot tent that could seat up to 1,500 people. With this extra room the revival has continued unabated for three months with people attending from several states and a variety of denomination backgrounds. In an interview with CBN, Harrison reported that not only is God moving in power restoring lives and marriages, but people are also getting saved with over 230 people accepting Christ so far during the …

Schiltach in the Black Forest of Germany Credit: Harke/Wikipedia

Pulling down the strongman in Germany’s Black Forest

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Christians need a major shift in perspective. It seems many have taken up a defensive position, holding out until Jesus returns. We need to standup, shake off our fears and refocus, because God wants us to take up our battering rams and go to war. There is a verse in Matthew that for years I misinterpreted. When I first read it, for some reason I believed that the church was under siege and that somehow Christians needed to hang on until the end. But in fact it said the exact opposite. God intends the Kingdom of God to be the aggressor and taking the battle to the enemy. In Mathew 16:18 (NKJ), Jesus said to Peter, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Greek word for Hades, ‘hadou’, refers to what we know as hell. The place of torment (Luke 16:23). And the gates guarding hell would not be able to hold up against …

Hall of Supreme Harmony, Beijing, China Credit: See-ming Lee/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is the world building for a revival?

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Amid news of the Chinese government’s crack down on Christianity, reports are also circulating of the remarkable growth taking place in the Chinese church. Of course, with the government being so tight-lipped it is impossible to verify the accuracy of these accounts. It is also difficult to know how many Christians there are in China. In 2010, the Chinese government officially said it had 23 million Christians. However, that only included those attending the legally sanctioned church — the one run by the Communist government. When you include the underground church, the numbers would obviously be higher.  A 2010 survey conducted by Dr. Yanga Fenggang of Purdue University put the total number of Christians closer to 33 million (30 million protestants, 3 million Catholics). However based on a 2011 survey,  Pew Forum estimated the number of Christians at 67 million. If this number is right, the underground church is nearly twice as large as the officially sanctioned church. Curiously, a recent Global Trends (GT) survey of 23 countries in September-October 2016 uncovered evidence that may …

The Glory of God is falling on West Virginia. Photo: small church in West Virginia's coal country on a mountain near Snowshoe, West Virginia. Robert Du Bois/Flickr/Creative Commons

Revival hits West Virginia coal country

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Reports are coming in of a massive revival building in small towns through out West Virginia’s coal country hard hit by the economic crisis and America’s harsh environmental policies putting thousands out of work. An estimated 4,000 people have accepted Christ in this largely rural area where communities range in size from 500 to a few thousand people. The first inkling of what was to come appeared in late March, 2016, when a student at Logan High, Skyler Miller — a leukemia survivor, spontaneously started preaching in the school hallways. Logan, West Virginia has a population of 1,779 according to the 2010 census. Rather than reacting negatively to the message, many students stood and watched. The Holy Spirit showed up and some even responded while other students were looking on. But the revival that tepidly stirred among the youth spread into a Church of God in nearby Delbarton, West Virginia — population 579 . Pastor Mitchell Bias of Regional Church of God believed God wanted him to bring in a young 31-year old evangelist, Matt …

Was Kim Kardashian’s family saved by a 165-year-old prophecy?

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Kim Kardashian, 34, is an American TV celebrity most famous for her reality TV show Keeping up with the Kardashians. It was rumored she was the highest paid reality star at the time. She has since branched out to other TV programs, movies and the retail and fashion industry. Her father, Robert Kardashian, is a 3rd generation American-Armenian and most famous for his role in helping defend former NFL star OJ Simpson in his notorious murder trial in 1995. Research by the Daily Mail has recently uncovered a strange story of how a prophetic word by a 11-year-old boy saved Kim’s family on her father’s side from the Armenian genocide. The Kardashian family originated in Russia and at that time had the last name Kardaschoffs. Sometime in the mid to late 1800s, they moved to the village of Karakale, in present-day Turkey. It is found near Mt Ararat, considered the resting place of Noah’s ark. The family was considered religious rebels as they did not belong to the Russian Orthodox church but instead favored the …

Gay activists fail to derail evangelistic crusade in Iceland

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When gay activists in Iceland discovered Franklin Graham — son of Billy Graham — was planning an evangelistic crusade September 28-29, 2013 in Reykjavik their capital city, the activists rose up in opposition. The Franklin crusade was part of the Festival of Hope sponsored by the Billy Graham Association and 41 Icelandic churches. The activists were disturbed because of Franklin Graham’s position on Gay marriage. When President Obama publicly supported gay marriage in 2012, Franklin Graham issued a release calling it a “sad day for America.”  Gay marriage has been legal in Iceland since 2010. Though the crusade was free, the Festival of Hope committee allowed people to reserve tickets online for the event being held at Reykjavik’s Laugardalsholl arena.