I was thinking back today to one of our outreaches in Mozambique. I remember how we had come, packed in the back of trucks, to this small village to peach the gospel of Jesus. For the first hour or two we had broken out into a massive African dance party with singing and shouting and excessive arm motions.
When it got too dark to see anyone, we played the Jesus film on a giant screen. Half way through the film the sound system stopped working, so we resorted to plan B... pray for the sick. Now I think as Westerners we think of missions and praying for the sick as this beautifully orchestrated and holy moment; all attention will be on the preacher and once the call goes out for healing, the sick will, one by one, come forward for prayer and God will supernaturally come through. That fairy tale was about to shrivel before my eyes...
The team stood backed up against one of the trucks as the masses pushed forward. Utter chaos was taking place and there was no possible way to pull things together. Everyone was talking over each other, pulling on you, pushing you, pushing others... I remember thinking, "this can't be right! People should be lining up for prayer. They are hurting each other just to get to us! I don't even know if they need prayer for healing. Half of them seem to be mocking us. And how am I supposed to pray for anyone? There's no way I can possibly get to a translator!"
In that moment I was faced with a question... Is love really enough?
We always talk about God's love being enough for every situation. But when you have hundreds of sets of starving, black eyes fixed on you for the solution to their problems, you begin to question what you REALLY believe. These people had no other options. They couldn't go to the hospital if our prayers didn't work. They couldn't just take some pain killers. Then you began to wonder, what do I have to give? In the face of that kind of need, when you are stripped from all sense of organization and control, you truly realize how insufficient you are. It's raw. It's real. And it's scary.
That night didn't end with some crazy miracle where everyone got healed and saved. There were some who got healed, but more than anything, I walked away with the question still burning in my heart - Is love really enough? Everyday we stare into another set of eyes or another scary situation where God's love HAS to be enough. Even if there seems to be other options, they are only good for a short time until the true need is exposed. At the very foundation of everything, if God's love isn't enough, there is no hope for this world. We can never be sufficient in our own strength or ability.
And now, as my adventure in Ecuador begins in less than a month, I think about that question again - Is love really enough? I cling to the truth, that it IS enough. It's what's holding me together when I think of how little I have to offer in of myself. Maybe I'm not qualified by the world's standards. But His love has qualified me.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Revival is a Reality
I stood at the back of the room, watching. I tried taking it all in but just became overwhelmed by the moment. Could this really be happening? Maybe a hundred years ago, or in some other country in Africa. But here in my city, in my nation, could this really happen?
The ground shook as 200 crazy young people jumped up and down. The air was electric as the same 200 people cried out in unison, with a force that reverberated throughout the room. What was their cause? To strike the ground over and over and over and over again til the day that we see the promises of the Lord fulfilled in this nation. 80,000,000 saved. 200,000 sent out. One word... Revival.
2 weeks ago I found myself in the very center of downtown Denver in a church in one of the roughest parts of the city, not sure what to expect, knowing only that I was signed up for YWAM's School of the Circuit Riders. I was there because the Lord had told me to do it. I knew it was going to be a school on evangelism, but I was not prepared for what the next 2 weeks would hold.
The first day I was up on a chair practicing preaching the gospel in 2 minutes at the top of my lungs. Ok, a little uncomfortable and slightly skeptical. Not sure this is going to work, but we'll see.
The next day a group goes to the memorial for the Aurora shooting and see a man born blind get completely healed.
Alright, maybe God is going to use this more than I though
The next day, souls saved.
Wait, what?
The next day the entire group is caught up in a time of intense worship and intercession for a wave of revival to hit the city of Denver.
Now THIS is what I know I am alive for. Partnering with God to see heaven invade earth.
The next day a paralyzed man gets up from his wheelchair and starts walking. More souls saved.
Ok I'm convinced. God is moving in the city.
By the end of the school - Over 250 people healed. Over 200 saved, delivered and set free.
Revival is a Reality!
For as long as I can remember I have been dreaming about revival. Even as a little girl, my heart came alive as my Dad talked about what it would be like if everyone in our neighborhood got saved and we had to start a church in our house. I would drift off into daydreaming when my mom read stories about revivals in the past. I remember being 13 and excitedly talking with my friends about what it would be like if revival broke out and everywhere you went in the city you would see people praying and worshiping. Revival has been my heartbeat. It has been the undying dream of my life. What if God did it again? What if He raised up another Evan Roberts or William Seymour? But never has it seemed like a reality.
It's so easy to grow skeptical. Each year begins with a prophetic word being released, "This is the year of Revival!" And each year goes by, and no Revival. I know it's on God's heart, but it has always seemed just out of reach. It's something that seems to always get stuck in "next year." But what if God's people stopped waiting for the next prophetic word and actually believed God for the last word? What if they stopped waiting for Revival to come and simply starting living like Revival is now?
God spoke so much to me during my time at the Circuit Riders. He addressed so much that was in my heart and challenged me in ways I least expected. But the one thing that is still drumming in my ears and beating in my heart is this - Revival is a Reality. This could actually happen. Not only that, it IS happening! I am so overwhelmed at God's goodness and faithfulness and the fact that I get to take part in this epic season of history. Let me not grow passive or skeptical. I want to keep burning for Revival!
The ground shook as 200 crazy young people jumped up and down. The air was electric as the same 200 people cried out in unison, with a force that reverberated throughout the room. What was their cause? To strike the ground over and over and over and over again til the day that we see the promises of the Lord fulfilled in this nation. 80,000,000 saved. 200,000 sent out. One word... Revival.
2 weeks ago I found myself in the very center of downtown Denver in a church in one of the roughest parts of the city, not sure what to expect, knowing only that I was signed up for YWAM's School of the Circuit Riders. I was there because the Lord had told me to do it. I knew it was going to be a school on evangelism, but I was not prepared for what the next 2 weeks would hold.
The first day I was up on a chair practicing preaching the gospel in 2 minutes at the top of my lungs. Ok, a little uncomfortable and slightly skeptical. Not sure this is going to work, but we'll see.
The next day a group goes to the memorial for the Aurora shooting and see a man born blind get completely healed.
Alright, maybe God is going to use this more than I though
The next day, souls saved.
Wait, what?
The next day the entire group is caught up in a time of intense worship and intercession for a wave of revival to hit the city of Denver.
Now THIS is what I know I am alive for. Partnering with God to see heaven invade earth.
The next day a paralyzed man gets up from his wheelchair and starts walking. More souls saved.
Ok I'm convinced. God is moving in the city.
By the end of the school - Over 250 people healed. Over 200 saved, delivered and set free.
Revival is a Reality!
For as long as I can remember I have been dreaming about revival. Even as a little girl, my heart came alive as my Dad talked about what it would be like if everyone in our neighborhood got saved and we had to start a church in our house. I would drift off into daydreaming when my mom read stories about revivals in the past. I remember being 13 and excitedly talking with my friends about what it would be like if revival broke out and everywhere you went in the city you would see people praying and worshiping. Revival has been my heartbeat. It has been the undying dream of my life. What if God did it again? What if He raised up another Evan Roberts or William Seymour? But never has it seemed like a reality.
It's so easy to grow skeptical. Each year begins with a prophetic word being released, "This is the year of Revival!" And each year goes by, and no Revival. I know it's on God's heart, but it has always seemed just out of reach. It's something that seems to always get stuck in "next year." But what if God's people stopped waiting for the next prophetic word and actually believed God for the last word? What if they stopped waiting for Revival to come and simply starting living like Revival is now?
God spoke so much to me during my time at the Circuit Riders. He addressed so much that was in my heart and challenged me in ways I least expected. But the one thing that is still drumming in my ears and beating in my heart is this - Revival is a Reality. This could actually happen. Not only that, it IS happening! I am so overwhelmed at God's goodness and faithfulness and the fact that I get to take part in this epic season of history. Let me not grow passive or skeptical. I want to keep burning for Revival!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)