Revival

Psalm 85:6
Will You not Yourself revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?

School's out....
Summer is just around the corner....
Celebrations and parties...
Going to the lake and on vacation...
Summer time is not far off.

I spoke yesterday at the Vineyard. Saw many old friends and met some new ones.
God's presence was in that room. Several baptisms yesterday. I don't want to say they were impromptu, but when it comes to the leading of God's Holy Spirit, some of the best times are when we think them to be spontaneous. Lot of rejoicing and hugging on those who had been baptized.

I couldn't help but think about summers long ago. (no this isn't a Star Wars moment)
Summertime always meant revival. Even as a kid, I looked forward to these week long events. Visiting preacher coming to our church to stir us up. I wasn't sure what we needed stirring up for, but I just knew that things would happen during these meetings.

Church to me, back then, was family. It wasn't something that I was forced to do (even though that was the order of business when I was a little tyke). It was something that I looked forward to each week. The revival was an opportunity to hear the Word of God from a new perspective. It was a time to see people come through the church door that you might not have seen in month's. 

There were morning meetings every day. These were very informal gatherings that touched on topics such as "how to pray" or "how to win your loved ones to the Lord."
It was the night time meetings where things got serious. I remember men like Levan Parker coming and standing at the pulpit, delivering a message that burned with passion and the fire of God. I never lost interest or had my mind wander when He was the preacher. 

I think back to a warm July night....no air conditioning, but the fans provided by a local insurance company filled the church with movement.
Gallant Baptist church...
Hugh O. Chambliss was the preacher.
The place was packed as he moved through the word of God.
I was seated to his right about midway down the row of pews. 
Thirteen years old.
My whole world was that small community and this church that was so important to me.
The message was from Isaiah 6:8...God's commission of Isaiah.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?"
I knew that night that God was calling me. My heart was beating out of my chest ( l now know that this was the Holy Spirit speaking to me). Preacher? Me? No way. Yet the message burned deep inside me. Who am I? I'm thirteen years old. What would God want with me? I managed to survive that evening without going forward to answer the call God had placed on me. What I didn't understand that night was that I may have rejected God's call........but the call had not rejected me. It would follow me for the next 33 years. 
It would not be until 1997, with my ordination to pastor, that God's call would be realized. 
That which I ran from for so many years, is now a comfort and a compass that gives me direction for each day. 

Things have changed over the years when it comes to revivals.
The week long events have been replaced with 3 day revivals.
Morning sessions have been dropped in favor of night time only. 
I'm not a stickler for tradition or "That's the way we've always done it" kind of mentality.
But I do think there is validity to special times and meetings for God's people.
The Living Sacrifices Worship Conference held at Gadsden Vineyard recently was as close to a revival as I have attended in a long time. What is a revival? It is a time where the people of God are awakened. Fresh fire...fresh wind....fresh word...are all a part of being revived. This all took place on the weekend of the conference. Several who attended said the same thing..."I felt the presence of God in a new way. I feel as though I have been put back together." What I hear in such comments is "I am revived."

Now the real test of any revival or awakening is what will we do with it.
Will we allow God to have His way and simply follow His directions, or will we go back to business as usual.
I choose to feed the fire of God.
I choose to be consumed by this fire for His kingdom.
I choose to infect, effect and affect those around me that I come in contact with daily.
Not in a religious effort to "win the lost" but in a relational effort to show them the love of God. From this place, I can speak life to them and let the Holy Spirit do His work.
Revive us again..

God on you....
mb