From the beginning...

My early days at church were in the 1990’s. These were the days of Pensacola and the Toronto Blessing. Days of Billy Graham crusades and moves of the Spirit. I saw people falling down when they were prayed for at the altar calls. We even had a few chapel services at high school where kids were praying for kids and being ‘slain in the Spirit’. We saw people weeping and laughing, sometimes for hours. Then there was a ministry where gold was featured. Gold dust would appear on people’s hands and faces, people’s fillings would turn to gold. This was described as the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Women were even asked not to wear make-up to church so that we would not be in doubt to the origination of the gold dust. I had it. I saw it. I fell down (sometimes for real and sometimes just so I wouldn’t be left out!! – I was only in primary school!) These were the days of revival! And then… those days faded out into the mundane again.

For years after that I remember churches crying out for revival again. We stopped hearing about the revivals in Toronto and Pensacola. Altar calls were stock standard and the gold dust dissipated. For years I never thought much about it. I assumed that the Holy Spirit would do as He will, and will come when He wants, and will breathe where He feels. I wouldn’t really have said as much, but when I think about it – I think that’s how I felt. And I was ok with that. The Holy Spirit has sovereignty – just like us.

Then I experienced the debate on whether we should even be chasing revival. But I guess that comes down to the definition one is prepared to employ. The main points were that we don’t need a revival because that indicates the move of the Spirit is only for those who are already born again – and we really need to focus on those who are yet to be saved. The other was that we shouldn’t be chasing a revival because it will last a few years, then disappear, then people will leave the church because they feel the Holy Spirit has left them on their own.

However, if the word revival can be used as a term to describe the renewed life – one fully focused on obtaining all that Christ left in our inheritance – then I guess now I can be labelled as a revivalist. This process started just before I left for Indonesia in 2011 and, like most things in Indonesia, grew at an accelerated rate and now is becoming an insatiable thirst. One might suggest that listening to other revivalists on podcasts, and reading their books might create a bit of a one-eyed view on this possibility. But I have not been slack in studying the scriptures myself, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit I am discovering more and more about living a supernatural lifestyle.

I have had people ‘concerned’ that I am putting my energy in the wrong place by seeking miracles. That somehow I have exchanged my pursuit of Jesus for a pursuit of the supernatural. To be honest – I’m not sure it’s even possible to exchange something that should go hand-in-hand. If one was to compare the fervour of the apostles to the attempts of most Christians today, then we can see that there is a vast difference. Wherever the apostles went were explosions of the Kingdom of Heaven entering earth. People healed, set free, made whole… there is an entire book dedicated to their acts. And it doesn’t stop there. Don’t get me wrong. There is a place for building relationships and showing Jesus even without using words – but that just takes sooooo long! I’m all in favour of the long haul. But… What if we were actually called to more. What if the evangelical modes of the apostles were accessible today? What if you, too, could bring healing and wholeness to those whom Jesus yearns to be in relationship with? What if Jesus actually intended miracles to be showing the love of Jesus every day? I have committed my life to serve my saviour – and I’m preparing to live using all the tools I have at my fingertips! I have decided to live out my existence in communion with the Holy Spirit and endeavour to do what I see Him doing and say what I see Him saying. I want to live like Jesus did.

I want to see blind eyes healed, crippled people walking, deaf ears hearing, cancers disappearing, organs replaced and minds renewed because I was in tune with Heaven. I want to see lives changed because of the violent demonstration of love that God wants to send to Earth. I want people’s conversions to be as a result of experience the powerful presence of God so that there will never be a doubt in their mind that they made the right choice. If Jesus promised his disciples that they would do greater things than he did – then I want in.

The first step I really needed to take to access this lifestyle was a renewal in my thinking. This is why Paul tells us that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our current doctrine tells us that we are sinners saved by grace. This is true – but I would like to emphasise that we were sinners, but after we have received Christ and been baptised then our bodies – our sinful natures – are buried with him and we are raised out of the water as new creations. The old has gone, the new has come. If the old has gone… Then this obviously means that God no longer refers to us as sinners. We have permanent access into his presence. Sin is no longer an issue for us.

Now I know some of you may get a bit antsy about this statement. I had to come to terms with it too. Many people will argue that because we still ‘sin’ that makes us sinners. Well, I suppose that on a level it’s true. The same way that if you teach you’re a teacher. There are people who teach who are not qualified to teach – in the English language that makes them a teacher. But there are also qualified teachers who also teach. So in this way we have saved people who sin but sin has no power over them. There are also people who are still sinners who have yet to meet Jesus and take up his offer of erasing their sins. Grace is the doorway to the renewed life. Jesus died for us, as us, which means we are  no longer accountable for our sins. If you don’t believe me – then invite the Holy Spirit to read Romans to you and you will see it. But, as it is also mentioned in Scripture, this is not our opportunity to sin as much as we like because we can get away with it. It is more about focusing on becoming closer to Jesus rather than focusing on avoiding sin. In my experience I find that the more I try not to do something, the more likely I am to do it. So I need to change my focus. Otherwise known as renewing my mind. And this is done only with the insight of the Holy Spirit (which may come direct to us, or through the Bible or through other people, dreams, visions etc.)

I have really enjoyed being challenged in my thinking. God is so good to me that he was not content in my mundane Christianity. He wants to take me on an adventure, and I’ve accepted. I’m beginning to care less and less about what people think about my new perspective. The closer I get with him, the less I tend to be consumed with ‘human’ concerns. People may even suggest that I’m losing my mind. You know what? I’m ok with that. I’m chasing a mind that is not of this world, and it comes with the heart of my saviour and friend.