Revive Us Again

Psalm 85
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
¹ You, LORD, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
² You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.
³ You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.
⁴ Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.
⁵ Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
⁶ Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
⁷ Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation.
⁸ I will listen to what God the LORD says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
but let them not turn to folly.
⁹ Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
¹⁰ Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
¹¹ Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
¹² The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
¹³ Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

On Friday, May 4, 2012 at 6:30pm Christians from all over Central Illinois will gather at Victory Christian Center (18180 US Highway 150, Bloomington, IL, 61705) for an evening focused on one theme: REVIVE US AGAIN.

Are you hungry for revival?
Are you longing for it?
Do you desire to see God move amongst us again and transform lives forever?
Are you praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our time?

This Kingdom-minded gathering is all about seeking God with this question from Psalm 85:6, "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"

Expect intimate worship aimed at exalting the Lord. We won't be holding back at this event! There will be no headliner artist or special guest speaker at Revive Us Again. We're gathering whoever the Lord draws into this evening of pursuing Him.

Tell others. Spread the Word. Talk about revival. Pray for revival. Think about revival. Fast. Pray.

Any day now...

It could be any day now. Contractions are becoming more frequent! I will soon be the proud father of 4 children! Elizabeth and I are very excited. We're still wrapping our minds around the blessed fact that we'll have 4 children. But with this comes great responsibility, dedication and even a change in my own heart and attitude.

The other day Elizabeth went off to a class to prepare for Judah's arrival, so I stayed home and watched our 3 little ones. Rachel is 5 1/2 years old, Jaron is 4 and Justus is about 17 months old and climbing everything. After getting settled in and Elizabeth off to her class, I took my shoes off and walked a short distance to the kitchen. Almost immediately my son Justus ran to my shoes, lifted his feet and struggled to place his inside. I thought it was cute so I helped him out and the photo below is what transpired...

I know, I know...he looks just like his daddy. Haha! Any way, this picture is definitely cute but a sobering one at that. Here it is parents...OUR KIDS WILL ONE DAY WALK IN OUR SHOES!

Did you know that your church's leadership only gets about 80-100 hours a YEAR with your child?
Not including Sundays or the time you spend sleeping, did you know that as a parent you get over 90+ hours a WEEK with your children? Man, that's convicting to say the least. That's well over 4,000 hours a YEAR!

What's my point, you ask? Check this out...

Who wants revival? Who wants their children to follow Christ? Who wants their children to succeed and be genuine, honest people? We all do! Revival starts in your home!

But we can't rely on only 80+ hours a year to change our kids' lives. I'm not downing the Church. Don't misinterpret this. And please don't think that Elizabeth and I have it all together. We're only in our mid-twenties and we're definitely still learning.

We, as parents, must come back to discipleship in our homes the way God designed and intended it to be. Children learn morals, ethics, character traits and so much more from their parents and the example they live. Does that wake anyone else up? Here's something that challenges me. My kids can sometimes quote movie lines better than scripture! OUCH! Are you with me parents?

We long for revival. Maybe one of the keys is not only prayer and a hope for it but also in how we raise up the next leaders of the Church, a revival generation! I know this is tough to swallow but it needs to be said. I'm so proud of the direction and effectiveness that Victory Christian Center's children's ministry has gone with in raising up children who know God's Word, love God's Word, confess Christ and are not ashamed of it. What if the parents took the next steps and began to disciple their children into following hard after Christ?

Parents, listen, we can use all the words we want but in the end our attitudes and actions will be the example our kids live by. We must learn, love and live God's Word out! Get back to the basics!

One last point. True discipleship is not just becoming a learner. True discipleship is about learning and FOLLOWING à living it out! Jesus told His disciples to 'Come, follow Me!' Why? Jesus was going to teach them Truth and how to live it out. Our kids and others around us need examples to live by. Apostle Paul said, 'Follow me as I follow Christ.' Paul was discipling believers and giving them an example to live by.

Believe me when I say that your kids, right now, are looking for you to lead them.

Now, what are you going to do about it?