Best of Broadcast: Five Reasons Why We Must Have Revival

The following is a pre-recorded program. Revival. We must have it.

I'll give you five minutes. That's 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Fire. I am not here to duplicate what others are doing so well. I'm not here just to be another conservative talking head, giving insights on what's wrong with our culture and why conservative values are better.

Plenty of folks are doing that, doing a great job. I'm not here just to be teaching and preaching the Word of God. So many pastors, so many leaders with fine broadcasts doing just that. I'm here to serve as your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. I'm here to bring the unique thing that God's called me to bring, just as you have your unique role and function, and we each do. And hopefully, as I fulfill my role in calling, it will help you better fulfill your role and calling. On today's broadcast, I want to give you five reasons why we must have revival. I preached on this theme over the weekend as I was praying yesterday, praying last night, Lord, which way do we go? Which direction do we go on the show this week? We've got some special interviews planned.

We've got some other things for later in the week. How do we start the week? Often I'll start with looking at what's happening in the world around us and getting a divine perspective and seeking to speak into that. But this theme was on me so strongly, and I know that I know that one of my roles in serving you and serving the church and serving leaders is to help spark the fires of revival. Our ministry, as many of you know, has three Rs, three main emphases, all with the letter R. Revival, meaning revival in the church.

That's the first of the three, and everything flows out of that. And then the second revolution, meaning gospel-based moral and cultural revolution in society. As Jesus changes us, we change the world around us through the gospel. And then thirdly, redemption in Israel, seeing all Israel saved. These are the things we live for and burn for day and night, and I know that it's absolutely essential if the nation is to be changed. It's essential if the Great Commission is to be fulfilled. It's essential if we are to come into the image of Jesus on any dramatic level in this world that we must be a revived people. We must be a people that return to our first love.

We must be a people grounded in the Word, full of the Spirit, loving Jesus, loving the lost. And often in church history, we see it right within the New Testament, that things may start well, but then there's decline. There's failure. There's discouragement. There's traditionalism in an unhealthy sense. There's becoming like the world.

There's being pulled down. Whatever happens over a period of time, we need to be revived. It's just like the way you feel today feels normal, and you look normal, but then you go back and look at an old picture. It's like, wow, my hair got all gray, or wow, I gained a lot of weight, or wow. The changes have come, but you don't realize them because they're so gradual. Then you get jarred by reality, and many times God comes by His Spirit, by His Word, to jar us back to reality, to stir us. And we realize, I've become compromised, and I hardly knew it. I've become lukewarm, and I hardly knew it. I've become like the world, and I've hardly known it. I've just become a professional in ministry, and I've hardly known it.

I've left my first love, and I've hardly known it. That conviction comes that's God drawing us back, not to condemn us, but to draw us back, to revive us. Revival in the church can lead to awakening in society. Question for you. If I asked you, what is the greatest evidence in the church, or in the society, that we must have revival?

If I said, okay, give me the nerve. If you had to look at one thing, and one thing only, either the state of the church in America, or the state of the nation, and you may be watching, listening in other nations, you can apply it in your own country as well. What would be the most pressing thing, you think, that this is the number one reason why we must have revival? The state of the church, the state of the nation. What would top your list? 866-342.

You can call in 866-348-7884. If you're watching on YouTube or Facebook, go ahead and interact there with one another, and post your thoughts. But first, I want to stir your hearts, just with the theme of revival. Revival is not a series of meetings that we schedule.

Certain parts of America, especially in the South, we're used to that. Oh, we're holding a revival next week. Oh, we've got a revival schedule for next month. You can no more schedule a revival than you can schedule a hurricane. You can no more hold a revival than you can hold an earthquake. Revival is not something that man works up. Revival is something God sends down. But it's an answer to the prayers of his people. God stirs our hearts.

God creates a hunger, a thirst. He makes us aware of our need. We begin to seek him earnestly that prepares the way for outpouring, repentance in our own lives, prepares the way for revival. As Frank Barleman greatly used to journal and spread the news of what happened in the Azusa Street revival over 100 years ago, he said that the depth of any revival will be determined by the spirit of repentance that is obtained. So when we speak of revival, we're speaking of a season of unusual divine visitation, of God coming and God visiting in ways that are shaking and radically changing when your whole sense of reality turns upside down. It's almost like during times of revival, you call a friend from a church service, you go, it's real! It's real!

What do you mean? Jesus is alive! It's like, we all know he's alive. No, no, you don't know. It's the things you always know, suddenly you know.

And like Isaiah coming into the presence of the Lord in the temple and Isaiah 6, suddenly undone. Oi, lie, kinied, maitre, woe is me, I'm undone. Why? Because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.

Oh no, it's over. A deep sense of conviction. So today I want to give you five reasons why we must have revival. First I want to play a clip from Leonard Ravenhill. Leonard Ravenhill most famously was the author of the book Why Revival Tarrys. If you've never read it, read it. Oh, it'll jar you, it'll shake you. It came out in the early 1960s.

A.W. Tozer wrote a tremendous foreword to it talking about the ministry of the prophet and likening that to Ravenhill's call. I had the privilege of becoming a dear close friend of Leonard Ravenhill the last five years of his life. He was 82, I was 34, and he asked me to be his friend. It was a divine connection and one of the greatest privileges of my life was to be his friend and to pray with him and to listen to him and to learn from him. He carried this tremendous brokenness in God and often when he would speak, by the time his message was finished, everyone was on their faces crying out and weeping and wailing before the Lord because of the sense of conviction and then encountering Jesus and his love afresh. So I want to stir your hearts today. I want to do what God's called me to do. I want to help burden you, give you a vision for revival.

Listen to this clip from Leonard Ravenhill. The one thing that alarms me in America and England is that there is no alarm in the church. You say America needs God.

No, she doesn't. The church needs God. If the church gets God, America will soon feel it.

She'll be staggering. A preacher said something the other day that's very disturbing to an audience that he was addressing. He said, I want to tell you that if God withdrew the Holy Spirit from my church today, it would function tomorrow the same way we wouldn't even know he'd gone. And he thinks that might be written of many churches in that we become so mechanical. We go in at 11 and come out at 12 and the Holy Ghost must come and we open the door to the church and he must leave when we lock it and we try and lay down the track and say come Holy Ghost, for thee we call Spirit of burning come but come our way. We lay down the conditions. Holy Ghost come but please don't violate our theology.

Don't upset our status quo. Don't break our hearts over a lost world. Oh yes, yes, yes preachers.

You and I will raise our hats to Finney and Bull and we raise our hats to the mortars and we thank God for the last drop of their blood but we won't give him the first drop of ours. I can't live another day without the fire of God consuming me everything that's unChristlike, consuming me everything which hinders surrender of everything. That's revival. When you can't sit through the meeting you feel you've got a burning cancer. If I don't get to the cross now I may die before the meeting's over. Every preacher who has lost the fire, you should be on your face down here. You used to burn but you got so busy with organizing the fire has gone out.

Come on. You can't patch up your prayer life when you get to the judgment seat. You can't sacrifice when you get to the judgment seat. You can't weep when you get to the judgment seat.

It's all between here and there. Listen, if our God is a consuming fire and he is, if he takes a residence in you, you'll burn till you die. God needs a torch of holy fire in your house. He wants a fire in you to read the word of God to your family.

He wants the fire of God he wants the fire of God your neighbors will know. I can't live in coldness anymore. I can't live in blindness anymore. I can't be indifferent to a dying world.

Yeah, and if the video went on a little longer, the clips you were listening to or watching, you just hear people weeping in the background. That's what happened when he spoke. That's how he lived. I would spend a few days with him a couple times a year and staying in his home. That's how he lived. That's how he was. He'd come out of his prayer closet the same way.

I can't live another day without the fire. He's just burning. But what burdened him the most was the state of the church. He would come out of his prayer closet. You know, we'd spend time praying together and talking theology and talking the word and different things and then he'd get alone to pray and he'd come out of his prayer closet after an extended time alone just in tears like the church is naked and blind she doesn't realize. He'd be so overwhelmed with that burden and it was out of such a deep love for Jesus. Friends, we were talking last night, my family and I, talking last night what would Len be saying today?

How broken would he be today at the state of the church in America? Friends, if God's stirring your heart even now, just cry out to him, oh God, oh God, I need a fresh touch in my life. I need revival fire to burn in me. Pastors, leaders, if that's where you are, do it. When we come back, I want to start with five reasons why we must have revival in America.

Thanks, friends, for joining us today on the Line of Fire. Five reasons why we must have revival in America. Here's the first reason. Reason number one, the fate of the nation hinges on it. Reason number one, why we must have revival, the fate of the nation hangs on it.

Why do I say that? I say that because the church is the key to the health of the nation, because we are called to be the salt and we are called to be the light. Jesus said if the salt is lost and saltiness, what good is it?

It's just going to be trampled underfoot by men. He said that the light, in another context, if the light within us is darkness, how great is the darkness? I've often said that when I go into a hotel, check in at night, first thing, yeah, open the door, flip the light on, because it's dark in there.

If nothing happens, I don't get mad at the darkness. I wonder, what's the matter with the light? What's the matter with the switch?

Which is the right switch? I'm trying to find out, where's the light? That's God's question in America today. Where's the light?

You say, but why are you saying it's urgent? America right now is at a terrible moral crisis. America is in free fall in many ways. Moral cultural anarchy is upon us. And plus, in so many ways, we are being torn apart at the seams that the only way to move forward without a national collapse is massive revival in the church that leads to national awakening. It's been the key that saved America or changed the direction of the nation in the past. Historians, both church and secular historians, will often recognize that. That's been the key that changed the direction. I am convinced that a spirit of madness has descended on our culture.

A spirit of absolute madness, where we have literally lost our way and lost our minds. Let me give you an example. A woman is in a spa with her daughter.

Well, here, let her tell you directly what happens. Let's listen. I went to the Wee Spa in Los Angeles, California. And while I decided to go around the different jacuzzis, I decided to take a nap.

Upon my nap, I got up and I wanted to get water. As I was walking, I noticed something that really was disturbing. Something that caused me to feel that I must have been transported into the men's locker room, the men's jacuzzi area.

Yeah, a man, a full on man, fully naked, completely exposed. This was not normal. I'm in a safe place.

But now I'm not. Little girls are there. Their mothers are there.

Other women are looking about and they begin to put their robes back on them. I went to management. Management did nothing. I even told the guy he should leave. This is not right. And he didn't leave.

We had no help whatsoever. All right. So here's a woman. I said her daughter, other little girls there.

A man, a male goes into women's spa naked. And there's more she said, just couldn't play at all. Okay. Just to describe exactly what's going on there.

He is exposing himself in the presence, not just of women, in the presence, not just of women. That's terrible enough. That's abusive enough. That's traumatic enough. But little girls, the spa management said there's nothing they could do about it.

Others have stood up for the spa. Why? Because it's actually a female. He identifies as a woman and therefore he can do it. Now, aside from the fact that any sicko, any guy that just wanted to expose himself in the presence of women and girls could go in claiming to be transgender.

So put that aside. Did somebody just say, I'm transgender and claim that they were and have this cultural madness where there's nothing you could do about it? Well, because it says he's trans. Let's put that craziness aside that the door is now open to, and you better believe there are sexual predators and sickos out there that want to do that very thing, find ways to be abusive and expose themselves. But then there are also those that genuinely think that they are in the wrong body and biological male that genuinely believes he's a female.

And that is diluted enough in the midst of that painful self-deception, painful lack of biological reality lining up with emotional reality. It actually can think I can go in there naked and it's okay. Even if he was convinced he was a woman, he should still realize, okay, I have male parts here.

Under no circumstances should I walk in there. This madness is now pervading our society to the fact that there's national debate over this as opposed to just stop it. Well, we're not even talking about should someone allow to identify as transgender or have sex change. We're not even talking about that. Just stop this madness.

Well, no, trans. This is a perfect example of the fact that America has lost its mind. We have lost our moral bearings.

Why? Because the church has not been standing in a strong moral way because the church is so much like the world. And often when we fight, we fight primarily politically rather than recognizing these are ultimately spiritual and moral battles first. Yet we stay involved politically, but that's down the list of what we do.

And often the values of the world have become the values of the church. Why are you getting all exercise? What's the big deal? That's the way we've been living for years. A colleague sent me this picture from Instagram and it's not the end of the world.

It's not the worst thing ever, but it's just typical again. HBO Max discover kid-friendly fun. So this is subscribe to HBO Max and discover kid-friendly fun. On the right is a picture of the animated cartoon Scooby. Okay, that's kid fun.

Yeah. And to the left, this series called Witches. Yeah, this is kid-friendly fun.

I'm just talking about the normalizing of things for children so that they just embrace this all just Scooby and what's witches instead? Just symptomatic, just illustrator. And then in the midst of all this, friends, check out this headline. Recent Gallup poll. This is from this year. This is from 2021. U.S. church membership falls below majority for first time.

So this was in March of this year. U.S. church membership falls below majority for first time. So we're talking about years, decades, decades, decades of doing these studies. And every time the majority of Americans were members of churches. In many cases, the strong majority, as long as Gallup has been doing these polls, which is for quite a few decades. Now, obviously, many people are church members who are not believers. Many people are church members and don't follow God at all, but they're just listed as members of a church.

But when the membership is now under 50 percent, that's telling you something. Now, I know there are plenty of people in house churches and others who don't register as members of churches, but we cannot downplay this and ignore it. It is symptomatic of an ongoing spiritual decline in America. People dropping out of churches, people losing Godly values, people losing sight of biblical morality. The fact that you have so many young people buying into gay, lesbian, transgender talking points, even spiritually, I'm not saying this to condemn the kids because it's ultimately up to parents and how they're raising kids to have a great impact on them. But in many cases, the parents have not been aware of the onslaught on their kids. The parents have not been aware of what the kids were exposed to in school, exposed to in social media and peer pressure and in Hollywood and all of this, and don't realize the degree to which their kids have been influenced.

And maybe the parents influence them, no big deal, whatever. Don't realize now that the very the very theology, the very foundation of marriage, the very foundation of families under severe attack and people have been sleeping at the watch post and many pastors not willing to address controversial issues. Now we are reaping the fruit and just having this convenient what's in it for me gospel. Just come to Jesus and just get blessed and get all the benefits as opposed to come to Jesus and be transformed and now live the rest of your life for God. Lack of making disciples, we're in the mess we're in today.

Here's what I want to do. I want to give you the other four reasons why we must have revival today, then the rest of the broadcast I'll break these down. So number one, the fate of the nation hangs on it. Reason number two that we must have revival, it has to do with the reputation and glory of the Lord.

The reputation of the name of the Lord depends on it, requires it. So that's reason number two. Reasons number three that the promises of God call for.

Again I'm going to break each of these down. Reason number four why we must have revival, the longing of our soul demands it. And then reason number five why we must have revival revival is is the next generation. The next generation must be touched by God.

They must experience God in a fresh and living way. So I'm going to break those down the rest of the broadcast. You may want to go back and listen to this again, watch it again. The easiest way, if you don't get the podcast so you already have it in the form you can just listen, you can just go to our YouTube channel Ask Dr. Brown, Ask Dr. Brown and just watch it there. This way as we're playing audio clips you'll see video with many of them as well. And when you're on our Ask Dr. Brown YouTube channel make sure you subscribe. If you're not a subscriber click subscribe and then there's a bell.

Click the bell. This way you're notified when new videos are posted or when we go live. We'll be right back. I want to stir and encourage your hearts today for a fresh move of God in our generation.

We'll be right back. Welcome, welcome friends to the line of fire. We are here on the air to help equip you, to help strengthen you, to help you run your race and be everything God's called you to be. To equip you to answer the the challenges of the culture, the objections of the hour and also to help you stand strong in the Lord. And whatever I can do to help you connect more deeply with God, to be more intimate with him, to experience his presence in a more real and powerful way, to whatever extent I can help you to do that it's a privilege and honor and joy.

Welcome to the broadcast. Today we're talking about five reasons why we must have revival in the church today. Revival comes when it's non-negotiable. You know the old question is asked why is it that we don't see more revival and the old answer is because we're willing to live without it. When you get to the place of desperation, you get to the place of realizing that something must change or else, that's often when you begin to pursue God earnestly and cry out to him more desperately. And when you do it prepares the way for God to come because you're hungry, you're thirsty.

It's just like before maybe a Thanksgiving meal you don't eat through the day until you get to it because you're going to have a big meal and you want to have room for the big meal. Well we make room for God with spiritual hunger in our hearts. So one reason that we must have revival that it's non-negotiable is the state of the nation today that the fate of the nation hangs on it that America is in such a confused state morally spiritually and that so much of the church is in such a backslid and compromised state that the only way we can move forward without a real national crisis tearing ourselves apart or just collapsing into complete moral and spiritual anarchy is is with revival in the church. Let me give you a second reason why we must have revival today. It is simply this the reputation of the Lord requires it. Reason number one the fate of the nation hangs on it. Reason number two the reputation of the Lord requires it.

What do I mean by that? Well what's the first prayer, first petition, and what we call the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11? Our Father who art in heaven, right?

King James' phraseology. So our Father in heaven, our heavenly Father, hallowed be your name. May your name be hallowed. May your name be regarded as holy. May the people of the world, may the people in the church, may humanity recognize you as holy.

May your name be hallowed. His name is holy, right? His essential nature is holy.

Everything about him is holy. This is a prayer that he would be seen as holy. That the holiness of his name would be recognized. That there would be a depth of recognition of who he is. That's the beginning of the prayer and then your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven flows out of that. For God to be sanctified in the name of the Lord sanctified in my life your life means that we are living lives that bring glory to him. That the world sees and recognizes who he is when he brings his judgments, when he separates his people, when he brings us to repentance it magnifies his name as holy. And one of the great stories from the Hebrides revival ties in with this.

A prayer for the glory of God's name. Before I tell you that story let's just take a glimpse back and remember what this was. The Hebrides revival 1949 1952.

Here's just a little snippet of an introduction. Back in 1949 revival broke out and began to spread across several areas of the Hebrides. This outpouring had arrived after a prolonged period of intercession for there had been great concern that the church seemed powerless to hold young people and that general indifference towards the gospel message was common. In response Christians were encouraged to seek God for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and on the island of Lewis two old ladies one blind and the other crippled with arthritis began to press into God. The disabilities of Christine and Peggy Smith meant that they could not attend the church but they could be in God's presence at home and in intercessory prayer. After some time these two old ladies knew that God was going to send Duncan Campbell to Lewis and that revival would come. With this word from God an invitation was sent to Campbell but it was refused and the two sisters were told that he would not be coming. In boldness they declared that's what man says God has said otherwise he shall be here within a fortnight and he was. Duncan came to preach for 10 days but when God moved he stayed for over two years. Yeah it's just a little snippet of what happened these two sisters and others praying people desperate crying out to God. One of the key issues is well here in a moment young people left the church not interested in God.

Very traditional area Calvinist background very much skeptical of human and the hand of emotionalism and being manipulative. In other words if God was going to move there it would have to be one of these sovereign things and that's what happened and when these two praying sisters felt that Duncan Campbell should come and an invitation was sent to him he said no can't come he was going to be speaking at a conference he was already booked and one sister says man says he's not coming God says he's coming and she was sure of it. Sure enough last minute something happens the conference he's supposed to speak at gets cancelled all the all the rooms were booked for other events and and the conference lost its its its ability to to go on and sure enough Duncan Campbell's there and and listen to how he talks about one of the great needs that that the church leaders agreed there was a great need before he came and before the revival sparked that we know historically is the Hebrides revival from 1949 to 1952. Listen to what Campbell says. The presbytery of Lewis met to consider the terrible drift away from the ordinances of the church, especially the drift away from the church by the young people of the islets. Now here are words from a declaration that was read in all the congregations the presbytery affectionately plead with their people especially with the youth of the church to take these matters to heart and to make serious inquiry as to what must be the end should there be no repentance ah what's gonna happen if there is no repentance God moved sovereignly they had powerful outpouring in different parts of the islands they moved to a new location to hold beatings the meeting was pretty packed but it was mainly people coming from other parts of the islands locally there was great resistance to the revival in fact a neighboring church had brought in other other leaders other pastors from Scotland to preach against the revival so when they held their first service in this new location on the Hebrides they hit tremendous resistance tremendous spiritual resistance something terribly wrong so after the meeting was over they went to one of the brothers homes just to pray and they were in prayer till about midnight when Duncan Campbell felt distinctly led to ask the blacksmith to pray and the man cried out for a half an hour in prayer for revival for the Hebrides a reverent man a God-fearing man then after a half an hour he said Lord you promised to pour out water on the thirsty land and you're not doing it and he paused they had a promise and Isaiah 44 came alive to them that as God poured out water on the thirsty land he poured his spirit on his people that became alive to them as a promise from God to that community you promised to pour out word water on the thirsty land and you're not doing it and he paused and then he cried out again don't you know that your honor is at stake see this is about the reputation of the Lord this is about the honor of Jesus name and then he paused again and with great reverence said I challenge you to keep your covenant commitments right then the little granite house where they were shook like a leaf the men fell to their faces some thought it's an earthquake Campbell immediately knew no acts 431 when they prayed the place was shaken they stayed on their faces till about two or three in the morning when they got up to go home Campbell says in every home in the community lights had been turned on people were seeking God crying out for mercy God came to that district in the Hebrides men were carrying chairs on their back to go to the church building to camp out around the night for it to open the next morning that's what happened when God came sovereignly to the Hebrides it's about the honor of the Lord how else will the honor and glory of the name of the Lord be recovered without a sweeping revival in the church we're talking about in America today okay reason number three while we must have revival reason number three the word of God promises it the word of God promises it friends when you read through scripture when you read through scripture about the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit about the promise of radical repentance and salvation when you read through scripture and the things that God promises us individually when you read through the words of rebuke in the book of revelation to the seven churches in Asia Minor to five of the seven and the promises of restored fellowship and what God will bring there is more and there are the old testament promises and the prayers for revival I cannot read the Bible honestly with integrity before God studying it exegetically the best way I understand in its proper historical context I cannot read it without knowing there must be more I cannot read it without being convicted by God that he wants more of my life dedicated to him in daily obedience your voice of moral cultural and spiritual revolution get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is Dr. Michael Brown five reasons why we must have revival number one the fate of the nation hangs on at number two the reputation of the Lord requires it number three the word of God promises it reason number four why we must have revival this this is my list I preached down over the weekend felt stirred again to talk to you about it on the air today so not preaching at you but just talking to you heart to heart but but with prayer with a burden that these words will ignite something in you and and create a deeper desire to press in as we're talking about the nation hey how about your life how about my life pastor how about your life how about my life how about our family how about our local church how about our community can we believe God for that can we press in for that can we take the days weeks months years ahead to cry out until we see our our own region ablaze with revival I've been in moves of God I've seen the Holy Spirit poured out I know the dramatic change that can come I've lived in it where all you can do is fall on your face and worship God because of his holy presence and because of the depth of conviction of sin and the the power of the spirit changing lives I can't afford to live the rest of my life without seeing God do something even greater for another generation so reason number four why we must have revival the hunger of our souls demands it the hunger of our souls demands it I don't know about you friend but the more time I spend in the presence of God the more I long to be with him I think of Moses talking to God at the tent of meeting in Exodus the 33rd chapter out outside of of the camp because God had to move outside the camp because the sinfulness of Israel and the more he communes with God what does he say let me see your glory show me your glory the more he's with him the more he's burning to see a display of the power and majesty of God not for some superficial carnival way but divine reality the the longing you know that Paul expresses that I may know him this is a man that knew God better than just about anybody on the planet very few people knew God the way he did and yet he had a deeper desire to know him the hunger of our souls demands oh God that you would rend the heavens yet again that you would shake your church yet again that revival fire would burn yet again that we'd be restored to our first love that that the passion that we used to have for the loss that the burden we used to have in prayer that the faith we used to have and step out of Lord we've got to experience that again that the encounters with God that we used to have that were life transforming now they become almost legendary because they're just not part of our lives anymore oh God do it again and then the fifth reason and this this is just so strongly on my heart and and this could be the one and only reason and and it would drive me to my knees the rest of my life reason number five the next generation must experience it the next generation must experience it what's written at the end of joshua 24 that the children of israel served the lord during the lifetime of joshua and of the elders who had experienced the works of the lord so those who were who were children when they saw god's hand delivering them from egypt and saw god's hand preserving them through the promised land or through the wilderness and bringing them into the promised land and saw his mighty hand there they had experienced and seen the works of god they they knew it they could talk about it they could lead the nation when they died israel backslid why because the next generation their kids did not experience god the way they did and we were talking last night nancy and i with our daughter mager husband ryan and her grandson andrew uh other granddaughter that lives locally was was was a way working so we were together and just after dinner just started talking about revival in the presence of god and started sharing stories about men of god that i'd work with and was close to and ravenhill and david wilkerson and right at the end richard wormbrond and the people i got to know at different levels and and the walk they had the burden they carried and just played some clips from david wilkerson talking about anguish tears started streaming down my cheeks played some short clip from leonard ravenhill and say we don't need a new definition of christianity we need a new new demonstration of christianity with the broken heart with which he preached and ministered and prayed and wrote and son-in-law ryan in our school in pensacola touched in revival three men our daughter mag in our school but but here is a family nancy and i ryan and may we we experienced the fires of revival we were there in pensacola as the spirit was poured out we we saw the dramatic repentance and the lives dramatically changed and the people who are changed to this day out serving god around the world ryan was out on the streets he would lead evangelism teams and saw some of the dramatic dramatic conversions and i mean people just encountering god and conviction of sin falling on the streets and falling on their knees and getting right with god and now in the mission field many years later we we saw these times when the spirit just sweep in and and take over and and the next thing the conviction so heavy that just a momentary call a short call and people are running to the altar to repent get right with god and we're talking about lasting results emotionalism is just as a temporary high and then you're going to be lower afterwards that's why i hate emotionalism you end up worse because of it you're getting more cynical because of it more skeptical because of it end up questioning the whole thing because of it no but when god moves yeah emotions disturb when god moves but we we've seen it we've experienced it and other moves are in part of and then telling stories from around the world as ryan's traveled as i've traveled and things that we've seen it's like so our grandson andrew he's he's a godly young man 17 loves jesus serious about the lord loves the word loves the things of god living a godly life i i mean you're talking about a 17 year old never gone through rebellion honoring of his mom and dad super honoring of his of his grandparents and and and loves jesus but he's never experienced the fire the way we did the sister ellie great young woman 20 years old going into her sophomore year of college same deal never went through serious rebellion and intrigued by the world and the pull of you know drugs and drink and all that and but she's never experienced what we experienced she knows the lord but hasn't experienced some of these things and this young generation is under extraordinary pressure my heart goes out to them what they've been bombarded with in the public school system what they've been bombarded with in social media what they've been bombarded with from their peers what they've been bombarded with through hollywood tv movies video games i mean just a ton of influences that previous generations had very little of or none of and almost all going in the same these influences in the same anti-god direction hostile to god reaction direction contrary to scripture direction they've been bombarded and then so much of the church has provided a superficial answer to the devastating demonic attack of the hour and so much of the church has not provided adequate discipleship you know young people's meetings are supposed to be fun and games okay go ahead and have the fun and games but also encounter god go ahead have the fun and games but also get in the word make disciples and and i'm convinced that many young people will be as radical as as they can be meaning if rather than preaching a watered-down gospel a deluded message to to think we'll get more young people in if we show them the radicality of jesus and how counter-cultural he was and say hey let's just follow him together i'm willing to take the plunge will you take it with me i believe many of them will take the plunge and run ahead of us we've done them a terrible disservice by trying to water down the water down the message and water down the reality of the cross and water down the the call to to lay our lives down and follow jesus and and with that the experience of resurrection power when you don't go by way of the cross you don't experience resurrection power so you've got kind of a superficial message you're just encouragement encouragement encouragement encouragement without ever truly encountering god and it's no wonder that so many young people have embraced the talking points of the world and they're on the wrong side of many moral issues today and please hear me the last one that i'm condemning is young people i'm talking about the failure of the church the failure of many parents the failure of the older generations to to bring them into a healthy encounter with god for themselves or to to disciple them in a serious enough way that's that's what i'm talking about but they are on the wrong side of so many of these issues because they haven't been properly grounded in the word and they haven't encountered god deeply enough thank god for those who are thank god for young people listening to me right now and your hearts are burning and you see my friends my friends hey god's gonna hear your prayer for your friends god sees your tears for your friends maybe you're praying for your mom and dad to get on fire for god you said god there's got to be more that's a prayer that god will answer lord there's got to be more take me deeper in you bring me a greater revelation of your son jesus give me a greater hunger for your word give me a revelation of holiness and help me to walk it out give me a greater understanding of how much love you have for me and the power of your grace give me a fresh burden to reach the lost god whatever i'm lacking i've never had a first love bring me into that first love where i've left my first love bring me back friends these are prayers that god will hear i'm convinced to the core of my being i believe that god is preparing to send another wave of revival let it begin with you let it begin with me with your family my family your community my community we can't live without it next another program powered by the truth network