FLURE Revival

Taking revival to where you live.

Would you say there is an issue in the United States and other places in the world with any of the following: Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these? If so, I tend to agree with you. That list is actually from Galatians 5:19-26. Paul follows that by saying those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. I believe 2020 could be the poster child of selfish hate driven desires within the United States.

You may have heard Christians saying one of these two things. You may have heard someone say they hope Jesus is coming back soon, or you may have heard someone say what we need is a revival. I do look forward to the coming of Jesus, but I hope we will have done all we can to share the gospel message with as many people as possible before that time. Each person that comes to the Lord is a cause for celebration in Heaven, and each person that joins the family of God brings glory to our King. As for revival, I give you a resounding YES! We need revival. We do not know when our Lord will be returning, but we do know what is happening right here and right now.

We Christians are ready to pray for revival. Yes, praying for revival is important. Revival is a fire ignited in the followers of Christ. That fire needs to be followed by action. We may pray for guidance on what to do, but sometimes we forget to listen for the answer. Other times, we may simply lose the desire or energy to act upon the guidance.

Do not get me wrong. Prayer is an essential part of a Christian’s life. We should pray consistently, and praying for revival is a fantastic thing to pray for. Yet, we must be ready to respond to God.

Here at All Souls Count, I would like to suggest to you a Biblical process to try to get the embers of revival started. I will grant you that it would appear to many as a bit of a shotgun approach, because in the end it would be pockets of revival that could coalesce into something big. This process can be done in any part of the country and around the world. I am not greedy. All I am looking for is world revival, because our Lord and Savior deserves nothing less.

So, what is the process, and can you tell me why you think this is unique? The process is simple, and yet it is hard. We talk about revivals in our churches. I agree that we need revival in the church buildings. The problem is that we have all of these different churches in communities worshipping the same God. Yet, to the outside world it appears that they are in competition, and in a sense, they are. Jesus once said that a house divided cannot stand. How do we stand against Satan’s minions, if we cannot even stand together as a family?

I truly felt inspired to name this site All Souls Count - John 3:16-17, because God wants all to believe and come to him. John 3:16-17 reads as follows: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV) I read that and other scriptures, and I came up with two things, all souls are important to God, and salvation is through the belief that Jesus Christ came and died for my sins. In other words, churches have fought and split time and time again for different reasons, but if your reason was not due to a lack of belief in John 3:16-17 then you may want to take a step back.

I am not saying that many of the differences we have are not important. What I am saying though is we really need to remember the main thing here. Jesus himself said whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. What does it mean to believe? That is another conversation, but there are different creeds and confessions that give some of the basics, for example the Apostle’s Creed, Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Nicene Creed are great places to start.

Ironically, Bible believing Christians get this on a certain level. Christian concerts are attended by members from various churches. People from different church communities, cities, and states came together for the Prayer March in Washington, D.C. Yet, we hold tight to our divisions. In the eyes of the world, we cannot agree on what we believe. How can we be the agents for revival when the growth of churches comes from attracting members of other churches? A growing church can come off to the world as the flavor of the day, often spurred by a strong preacher. When it comes down to it, if your church growth comes only from gaining members from other churches, the true church is not growing at all. It is like a child moving the food around on their plate. They can move it around, but it is still the same food and the same amount of food. To be agents of revival, we need to be a true Bible believing family.

So, how do we do this? I suggest we start by building bonds within our local area. For example, I know of men in my neighborhood who are believers. They do not go to the same church that I attend, but I believe they have a heart for God. I will be reaching out to them to invite them to pray for the neighborhood. If they are willing, we would reach out to our other neighbors to find more men and women who would come along with us. This will create opportunities to support neighbors, believers and non-believers, in need of Christ and other physical needs. We will be the hands and feet for the Lord. Later, our community can reach out to other communities in the city.

The focus for this type of ministry can be called F.L.U.R.E. It is based on five concepts: Forgiveness, Love, Unity, Repentance, Evangelism.

Forgiveness: Matthew 6:14 says if we forgive others their sins, then God will forgive our sins. Mathew 18:21 tells the story of the servant who was forgiven his debts, but then he denied forgiveness to someone who owed him. We are to forgive others, but we also find in the Bible we are supposed to seek forgiveness. We are to seek forgiveness from the Lord for every sin, but we are to also seek forgiveness from those we sin against. Luke 12:58-59 tells us if someone accuses us of wrong, we should try to settle with them before we reach the judge. My favorite section though is found in Matthew 8:21-26. Here we learn that God does not even want your offering, until you go and reconcile with your brother. Our offering is not worthy, until we settle things with our brothers and sisters. Yes, we are to seek forgiveness from God, forgive those who trespass against us, and seek forgiveness from those we have sinned against. Can you imagine the impact on someone if you said, “I am a follower of Jesus, and what I did was wrong. I apologize, and I have come to ask your forgiveness?”
Love: We find the guidance for love in Matthew 22:36-40. When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, he breaks it down into two areas. First, love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul; second love your neighbor as yourself. Love God, and love our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? Everyone! The traveler helped the injured Samaritan beaten and left along the road. In John 15, we learn that if we keep the commandments of Jesus, we will abide in his love. His commandment was to love one another as he loved his disciples. There is nothing we can do that is stronger than to show the world love.
Unity: In John 17:20-26, we see Jesus praying that his people would become perfectly one, so that the world can know that he was sent by the Father and he loved us in the same way God loved him. Matthew 12:25 says that every kingdom, city, or house that is divided against itself cannot stand. In 1 Peter 3:8, the Apostle Peter tells us to have unity of mind, sympathy for others, brotherly love, a kind heart, and an humble mind. We as Christians need to pray for, support and stand with each other. Can you imagine what a powerhouse the true Christian church can be as we stand together with Jesus as our focus?
Repentance: Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (ESV) He started preaching this before he called his first disciples. So, do you think repentance is important? In the Old Testament we find in 2 Chronicles 7:14 the message from God telling his people to humble themselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from their wicked ways. This is a call for national repentance. When we become Christians, we still stumble. 1 John 1:9 tells us if we confess our sins, God is faithful and will forgive our sins. He will cleanse us of our unrighteousness. Repentance should be part of our prayer life. Repentance is something we as Christians need to share with our neighbors.
Evangelize: In John 17:8, we see Jesus praying for us. He is saying that he has given us the words that God gave him. We hold those words in our hands every time we pick up the Bible. So the first part of evangelism is to read and study the words of Jesus. So, what are we to do with this knowledge? That takes us to the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus tells his disciples to go out and make disciples. Notice that when you read this section that some doubted, and yet Jesus sent them out. What can we learn from that? You do not have to know everything or even grasp it all to go out and make disciples. You do not have to be a Super Christian to serve the Lord. You simply need a willing heart to serve Jesus. Imagine if we truly went out sharing the love of Jesus to the world, and sharing the cycle of forgiveness, love, unity, repentance, and evangelism with them.

Reaching and loving people who are local to us, and working to help those globally. I once read a book that contained testimonies of people who came to Christ from other religions. I apologize to the author, because I cannot remember his name or the name of the book. Still, it left a lasting impression on me, because what I saw time and time again was that someone the person knew showed them love, and that person talked to them about Christ. It was a personal loving relationship that created the path to knowing Jesus as their personal saviour. People get their first impression of Jesus by observing and knowing Christians. These people also knew their Christian friends had been praying for them. We can do this in our neighborhoods. With time those neighborhoods will start to connect, and in time we can serve the Lord in building revival. We are the hands and feet of Christ.

I will add one last note from my own experience. When I was in college, I would have called myself a Christian. Yet, I didn’t attend church, I didn’t study the Bible, and I really knew very little about what was in it. I had watched “The Greatest Story Ever Told” and “The Ten Commandments”. I also knew the story of David and Goliath and Samson from a record my parents owned. The one thing I had heard when I was younger was that church goers were hypocrites.

One day a coworker of mine at K-mart in Casper, Wyoming told me he was going to do an art show in a shopping center. This was in 1980. I went to his show, and I was the only one there. Bad weather had kept people away. So, we talked. He tried to tell me about salvation and the importance of a relationship with Christ. I was very argumentative with him. He was a good man, and he probably felt defeated when I left. Yet, his talk with me stuck with me. It was 19 years later when I was baptized and joined a church, but it happened. That man was part of the seed planting process. Just because it seems like we lost in our attempts to share our faith, don’t believe it. You may have had a bigger impact than you think.

I pray this is helpful, and you are in my prayers. I pray that we will together serve the only living saviour Jesus Christ, and that we will make him proud. May we be 2 Timothy 4:7 Christians when our time comes.

Your brother in Christ, Layman Ray

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Happy reading!