Revival God’s Way – Asking the Hard Questions
Revival God’s Way –
Asking the Hard Questions
Major Anita Caldwell
Retired Officer
USA Southern Territory
In his book, The Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive, Thom S. Rainer tells stories from his research about closed churches. He tells of meeting a caretaker who walked him through a darkened building. Finally, he came to one room and the caretaker said quietly, “This room is the one room that caused division and the start of our decline. That room had special rules as to the furnishings and who could enter the room. Arguments over the years caused anger and hurt in the church.”
If only someone had asked the tough questions, and reviewed the health of the church prayerfully, change could have taken place. Is your corps alive or dead?
Corps Health
- Do your corps members pray together?
- Do your corps members pray for unbelievers to know God?
- Is your corps outward-inspired or inward-maintaining?
- Do you have someone who reaches out regularly to unbelievers?
- What is your top priority? Money? Budget? Rules? A room?
If you realize the answers are not healthy, then it is time to check the soul health of each corps member.
Soul Health
- Do I have sin in my life?
- Has the power of the Holy Spirit transformed my life?
- Do I pray daily for the lost?
- Do I have a passion to win souls to Christ?
- Do I read my Bible daily?
- Do I gather with others to pray for unbelievers?
- Am I burdened by the Holy Spirit to win others to Jesus?
- Who am I leading to Jesus right now?
If you realize your answers do not honor God, pray, and ask Him to give you spiritual health, spiritual enthusiasm and radical faith that first transforms you. Then you can cultivate this deep desire to lead others to want to know God. Are you ready and willing to be honest before God and admit your need for Him to revive and renew you? For revival to come, we must be alive in Christ.
No Sin Allowed
Revival will not come to our corps if we have unrepented sin in our lives. In Psalm 51:10-12, David said, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not
cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David knew he had sin and wanted a complete transformation of his heart to take place. Sin cannot remain in the heart – not in the corps officer’s, not in the corps members’ – if there is to be revival. May we first make sure that there is no sin in the camp. In John 8:11, Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Alive in Christ
Revival will not come to our corps if we have no daily life in Christ. In Genesis 3:8, we read that God wanted to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Our souls were created for these moments with God when He speaks to us, and we share with Him in both prayer and Bible Study. Our relationship must come alive in Him every day. We can be excited to hear what He has to say to us and if we are that close to Christ, we will want revival and renewal in our corps.
Souls for Christ
If there is no sin in our hearts and we are alive in Christ with transformed hearts, the natural outcome is that we want unbelievers to know Christ. Prayer is important in this step. We should ask God who He wants us to lead to Christ. He knows the exact person for each of us chosen specifically for us to lead to Him. Let God guide you as you start the fishing process. It may take seven years for some people to give their lives to Christ, and for others, they may be ready today. Pray each day for the person God has given you. Engage with him or her in small and great ways. When God asks you to take that step, invite that person to know Christ. People want to take this step but do not know how. Guide them in prayer and invite them to your corps.
Radical Faith for Transformation
One key question is this: do you believe God is able to transform? The next key question: Do you have radical faith in God that He will transform you as both a corps officer and a corps member? Are we happy with a dying faith that is gasping for air? Or are we seeking a radical faith that transforms us and others?
Will you have such radical faith that the result is defiant commitment to the salvation of others? Will you make this your first goal and priority? Will you seek God every day to lead you to that one person who really needs Christ and is anxiously waiting for transformation?
Our Corporate Prayer
Dear Lord, when we look at questions like the ones in this article, we squirm because we know how we wish we could answer but honestly before You, we know how we have to answer. So, in these moments we ask You to help us be honest before You and to let You speak to our hearts so that we can live our lives for Your glory. We especially want to know that You will use us to win someone else to Christ. Show us that person and show us how we can effectively speak to that one. Don't let us pass it along to someone else. We sometimes are afraid we will mess it up or won't know what to say. We need Your help. Show us how. Give us strong hearts for Your Kingdom's sake. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Pakistan Territory
Thinking It Through
Major Caldwell's article opened with the story of a church that was ruined because it was distracted from its mission of winning people to Christ by the use of a room. What things can distract us from our mission from being soul-winners as individuals? As a corps?
Notable Quotable
Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist. - Oswald J. Smith
"How Beautiful" is a great song reminding us of the privilege of sharing the gospel.
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: SpiritualLifeDevelopment@uss.salvationarmy.org or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory