Revival: what is it?

It is almost useless to ask most Christians if we need revival. The reason? They don't have a clue what it is, or what it is suppose to provide to them and their family, the community, the local church, or our Nation. There is an increase in opposition to the church and Christians in our Nation. There is increase in every imaginable wickedness. Do we ever wonder why? Maybe it is because the true meaning of revival has been trapped and held hostage by the enticing words of many leaders wisdom. However, given our present conditions, we must ask, what is revival and do we need it?

Revival mean: A bringing or coming back to life or consciousness; a bringing or coming back into use or being after a decline; restoration to vigor or activity; renewal of validity.

I am convinced; we need a restoration of life and consciousness of Holy Spirit presence and power in the Church (the believers)! There has been a decline and we must return to our first love: Lord Jesus Christ! There must be a restoration of love, praise, worship, commitment, submission and loyalty to the things of God. We must be willing to drop the social club status, apply the cross and follow Christ! We cannot try and add Jesus to who we were in this world. We must be made new, born again, transformed and made alive in Jesus Christ. He won't be added to our old life, Jesus Christ changes lives!

This kind of talk makes people edgy, uncomfortable and uptight. The greatest defense of those who are edgy, uptight or offended is the cry of legalism. The cry of legalism does not stop the violence in urban America and neither does it give birth to revival. We must get real, come clean and do something about our condition. Suburban America (the church foremost) must be confronted with this reality; if you don't pray, witness, win people to Christ and stop the violence now, it will soon spread to where you now live. You see; I pastor a church that is right in the middle of gangs, shootings, drug dealing, drug killings, prostitution and anything else you can name. We are here to make a difference. I have had to run drug dealers off of our door- steps while they were swinging a drug deal. As a Pastor, on more than one occasion, my life has been threatened; but God has always protected me. Some of our young people were standing on the church steps and saw a guy get shot and killed right up the sidewalk from our building. I could tell you more harrow stories, but I will spare you.

I will also say that we have had gang members come inside and hear the gospel (one surrendered his life to Christ). Prostitutes have gotten saved, broken families were mended and bodies have been healed. We are not the fastest growing or largest church in the city, (we are doing well) but we have reached people whom otherwise know they would have never made it. In that we glorify God! We have seen our neighborhood change. Whenever someone moves into the neighborhood and get out of line, we pray and they have to get saved or move out. We control the atmosphere of the neighborhood by the power of God. That is revival! Where do the people go when they leave our neighborhood? They find a safe place where there are no serious praying Christians around to stop their wickedness. Are you a praying Christian who understanding the power of revival and what it provides to you?

If you want revival, (you should) I warn you; it is costly to produce. It calls for humility, repentance and prayer. The first thing we must do is; make sure that the prince of this world has nothing in us. Before Christ can increase, we must decrease. When true revival does comes, it will be different than Church as usual. It will be different than you ever imagined. When true revival comes, sinners will be saved, bodies will be healed, Christians will love each other and began to pray together. When the presence of God is restored, people will quit making excuses, be faithful in their church, submit to their leader, and honor God with their tithes. True revival produces a love for the Lord as never before: a desire to witness for Christ as never before: an increase in church attendance, a demand for truth and life: radical prayer, radical praise, radical worship, radical Holy Spirit baptism, healing and miracles. That's Revival!

Blessings, Bishop Jim McIver Sr

God's Call To The Ministry

People conjure up all kinds of reasons for going into the ministry. If God didn't call and choose you, ministry won't work out for your best. Regardless of how attractive it looks, don't go into the ministry seeking for an easy way of making a living. If that is your only reason, you may lose everything you've got! If it is convenience or comfort you are looking for, the ministry is the wrong place to look. A person will be sorely disappointed if they are entering the ministry for the purpose of gaining a prestigious reputation in society. These days, ministers don't have the respect they had twenty-five or thirty years ago.

Paul, who had persecuted the Church before he met Christ, declared that God had "called" him by His grace (Galatians 1:15). To succeed in the ministry, you will need the grace of God!

However, there is a great difference between being called, chosen and then sent. This has been the downfall of many would be ministers of the gospel. Many people who have sensed the call of God on their lives have mistaken the call for the commission. Having mistaken the call of God for the commission, many have headed out unknowingly on a collision course. Once a person understands that they have been called to the ministry, they must also understand that it is their responsibility to qualify themselves for the ministry. That individual must wait, look into the Word of God, seek their leader's counsel and know what they must do to qualify to be chosen and sent by the Holy Ghost. At the beginning you really don't have that much to say. You must be still and get to know who God really is and what it is He wants you to say! Make no mistake, you will not be chosen and sent by the Holy Ghost until your house is in order, and you are equipped to be effective in what He has called you to do.

Until a person's house is in order, they are not qualified to be in the ministry or to be called a minister. We have been too swift in conferring titles and positions on those who are only a novice. There are natural principles that would serve us well if we would only take heed to them. In the Marines, a man is not called a soldier until he has gone through basic training. Until he finishes basic training, he is only a recruit. A recruit isn't sent into active duty; he is sent into a training camp. At this camp he is trained and conditioned to be a soldier.

It is to a person's detriment when we confer upon them a title, a position and a minister's license too quickly. We must look at their personal life outside of church on Sunday. We must look at their marriage, family and home life. They must have good work ethics. Do they have a job? Do they work faithfully and consistently? In the event it is a woman, is she submitted to her husband in all areas? Are her children well taken care of? Is her house clean? Another important area of whether or not a person qualifies for ministry is how they handle their finances. Do they owe everyone? Do they pay their bills? Are all of their credit cards spent to the limit? Is their mortgage and car payment always behind? God uses money to measure our faithfulness, commitment and the condition of our heart (Luke 16:10-13).

Also, don't think its okay to mismanage money and not pay bills. It is not okay! Romans 13:8 says, "Owe no man anything…." If a person cannot faithfully manage a natural thing such as money, that which they have toiled all week for, they do not qualify to minister in the Lord's house to His people. If you are not faithful in that which is least, who will entrust you with greater riches?

The church has far too many novice leaders who are only guessing and practicing at how to minister in the Lord's house. There is no shortage of preachers in the Church. But we are in crisis proportion when it comes to having preachers around who actually qualify for the ministry. Many are called, but few are qualified!

Excerpt from Bishop McIver's Book; God's Chosen Vessels.