What does revival look like?

Maybe if I could actually answer that question I would not be posting on a blog, but publishing a best-selling book.

Back on March 1-5, 2008 we had a revival that was just that. It was revival, renewing, and refreshing. It was unbelievable. Our church is still feeling the positive effects of what happened in that particular series of services. Certainly there were some who, following the week of services, reverted back to the same sub-standard Christian life they had before, but as a whole the church took a leap forward in a intimacy with God. There are individuals in the community that still talk about that revival.

The church as a whole and individuals of the church have definitely faced difficult times since the beginning of March. Physical, financial, stress, temptation, trial, and more seemed to be magnified following what God had accomplished in the life of the Greensburg Church of the Nazarene.

Then we approached Green River Camp Meeting 2008. I must admit that my expectations where that we would have a series of service similar to those we had in March except that they would be more intense and far reaching in our church and community.

It did not happen that way.

Instead, the church went through a purification process. The evangelist came pretty near preaching a message like you would read in the New Testament (specifically a typical sermon by John the Baptist... Luke 3:7). Some of it was near scathing and at times I sat in bewilderment the faithful core was attacked for lukewarmness, spiritual callousness, apathy toward spiritual matters, or outright sinfulness.

I must admit that there were a few times that I was discouraged as well as completely confused spiritually as to what was going on. I remember praying during the week of camp meeting on a number of occasions in which I asked God to show me whether I need to stop the services, the evangelist, the worry, or my own doubts.

I stopped worrying.

I continued to test the spirits throughout the services and found that consistently there was an oppressive "spirit" about the service. Resistance seemed to reign.

The thing is, people were changed. Yes, some sinners were saved. Yes, there were a few Christians who were sanctified through and through. But the most dramatic changes have been observed following the revival. Individuals committing to being in the presence of the Lord. People I have never seen in church at a Wednesday night Bible study, save something special, have started to come. Couples, families, individuals, singles, etc. are starting to come every service.

There is an enthusiasm in the church from people have never been enthused to be in church before. I am hearing new people talk about what God is doing in their lives that I have never heard talk about such things before.


Real change.

As I continue to try to put together what exactly happened during camp meeting, I hope that I never miss what God is trying to do like I did that time.

What does revival look like? Emotion, feelings, hard decisions, sacrifices, & surrender.

Who knows what revival looks like; I just know what it looks like to see people moving forward spiritually.

Green River Camp Meeting 2008

Tomorrow, Aug. 31, is the beginning of Green River Camp Meeting 2008. (It is August 31st- September 4th.)

Services will be held here in Greensburg, KY at the Legion Park underneath the pavilion.

Rev. Kenny Greenway, from North Carolina is the evangelist and Rev. Jason Coulter, a pastor from Stanford, KY is the song evangelist.

Service times are Sunday 10:00am and 5:00pm and Monday through Thursday at 6:00pm nightly. (All service times are central time.)

Pray for these revival services as we are seeking an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is the desperate need of our churches, our community, our nation, and the world!

The three churches sponsoring the Green River Camp Meeting are the Buffalo Church of the Nazarene, Greensburg Church of the Nazarene, and Summersville Church of the Nazarene.

The Emergent Movement Distrurbs me!

For background on my post, you will have to go to this webpage on Emergent Village.com.

Oprah, who appears to be attempting to start her own religion flooded with the same old humanistic new age mumbo jumbo through the teachings of Eckhart Tolle the author of "A New Earth."

Tolle apparantly had a "spiritual experience" (along with every other David Koresh; Jesus-wanna-be) that changed his life for the good.

What troubles me is not that there is a new wack-o (and that is the technical label) running around spouting off new religious beliefs, but that Christians are now trying to glean truth from falsehood.

Now some may argue that it can be beneficial to sit at the feet of Tolle as Jenell Paris does in the article linked to above, by trying to say it would be something similar to sitting through a biology class taught by an atheist. Truth is truth they might say.

Well, I certainly agree (and I doubt any emergent would bank to hard on the statement 'truth is truth') that truth is truth, but my point is simply this: while truth is truth, falsehood is still falsehood. In other words while you might learn in biology the process of photosynthesis (truth) you might also learn about evolution (no, I'm not interested in debating this issue, just stay focussed with me) which is false. Easily distinguised.

However, what Tolle is teaching is not some true & some false. His whole religion is based upon a lie... namely that Jesus Christ is not the way, the truth, and the life and anyone can get to God, enlightment, heaven, nirvana, etc. anyway they please.

Lets get back to some Deuteronomy 13:1-3; Matthew 5:19; and Matthew 7:15!

I think it's called Universalism. Get ready church, it will seek to lead more people away from the absolute truth that is Christ!

A Mine Field...

Here is some fodder for any antagonist out there. I would only ask that you come up with a creative, original, or never-before-heard-by-me argument against the following passages of Scripture.

Long-haired men.
1 Corinthians 11:14-15 "Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering."

Buying and Selling on Sunday.
Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

Tattoos.
Leviticus 19:28 "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord."

Smoking. Gluttony. Tanning Beds. (And anything else that is obviously harmful to our physical bodies).
1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Immodesty.
1 Timothy 2:9 "...likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire..."

Okay, fire away!

(All Scripture is from the ESV because I am not cool enough to use "The Message.")

How to Make a Relevant Pastor Blog...

The full context of this list can be found at this website. The following is taken directly from the website linked to, it is in no way original thought of my own (of course nothing ever is if you think about it).

1) Show others that you are not afraid to be open and transparent with your love life. That makes you seem "real". Talk about your wife in gushy glowing terms, like you can't wait to get home to see her every single day. Blog about how you always call her at lunch just to blow kisses in her general direction. Blog about every last thing that you do for her that's nice (ie: how you buy her flowers every Friday, etc.). Seekers will really look up to this and will want to convert to Christianity in order to get a better love life like yours.

2) Share with your readers what Rock concerts you've been to recently. When seekers find out that they don't have to give up their U2, Bon Jovi , and INXS - they will realize that Christianity is not such a big step after all. In fact, maybe they'll feel like they can even invite you (their pastor) to some cool (wild) parties.

3) Refer to everybody in your church as a "dude". And for all 37 pastors that work for you, on your hand-picked staff, refer to them in your blog posts as "my boy". So a proper sentence on your blog might be constructed like this: "My boy Justin and I are taking a few dudes to the U2 concert next week". If you have no fear of God whatsoever, you can do what I've seen in the seeker blogs, and also refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as "a dude" as well.

4) Whenever you go to a Rock concert, tell your blog audience how much better your church's Rock worship band is than the Rock band that you just paid to see. Say things like this: "Bon Jovi was cool, but my boys in our worship team Rock!". Also, don't be afraid to talk about how your church's half-million dollar sound system "rocks" ($?).

5) Put lots of pictures of yourself on your blog, especially ones of you "relating" with seekers, but make sure you are wearing jeans and a long untucked shirt. That's what everybody wears, so even if you happen to be 60 years old, show them that you can dress just like them, like a teenager. Then they'll be less afraid to come to church.

6) Use the following words as much as possible, because they really have an enticing effect on other seeker pastors. Then they will read your blog a lot, and perhaps one day they'll ask you to have your own conference to teach them about "your vision". The words are: Leadership, Connecting, Unchurched, Goals, Relevance, Buzz, and Vision.

7) Whatever you do, don't kill your blog by saying words like the following. Not only will you turn-off the seekers, but other relevant-pastors will see that you are not cutting edge and will stop reading your blog. Those words are: Doctrine, Theology, Elders and Deacons, Bible Commentaries (oops some of these are two words), Hermeneutics, or any of those kinds of things that pastors have cared about for centuries.

8) Talk a lot about the TV shows that you watch. Tell your readers how disappointed you were when certain shows ended differently than you expected. Mention how you watch TV with your wife.

9) If you bring up scripture on your blog, keep it short and sweet, perhaps give your "life verse" or maybe mention a verse that talks about "vision", but be sure to quote from The Message. It will often give a completely different meaning than any of the other bible translations, but the important thing is that people will be able to understand what it's saying.

10) Stay upbeat! I can't stress this enough. Christians are always supposed to be happy, and seekers will fuel off of your enthusiasm. It's contagious you know. Even if your dog dies, stay upbeat about it. Remember, even if you are not a very inspirational person, people will think you are, just because you are so enthusiastic.

11) Link to the right people. If you have all of the "cool pastors" in your blog roll, people will think that you too are cool. So be sure your blog has links to Perry, Gary, Tony, Andy, Mark, Ed , and Todd. Talk about those guys a lot in your blog posts, and make it sound like you are best buddies with them by using that familiar "my man" prefix when you refer to them by name.

12) You need to be prepared for anyone who might leave a negative comment on your blog that would seem to question "your vision". Those ruin the whole upbeat enthusiasm thing. The way to handle these is to cover-up any biblical points that they made, by citing the number of baptisms you had last month. Ask them how many baptisms their church had. Show them that "numbers" are the end-all indicator of ministry success, and try to make them feel less successful if they don't produce as many numbers as you do. That might discourage them from arguing with you. If they persist by questioning your obsession with numbers, remind them that "numbers are people" and "we count because we care" etc.

13) Your blog posts should be evenly distributed in this manner: 50% of them should talk about the EXCITING things your church is doing and how unique and innovative your approach to ministry is, 40% of them should be humor, and 10% should talk about your personal life (upcoming vacations, your entertainment preferences , the cold you just got over, your kids birthdays, etc.). Don't get too 'heavy' by talking a lot about things you gleaned out of the bible study time that you were able to squeeze in this week.