Revival

At small group, we’ve been focusing on Revival for the past few weeks. I don’t attend that church, but it’s interesting to hear the snapshots of sermons and the study notes.

I caught up with two good friends of mine after uni yesterday. And he mentioned the Azusa revival. I had no idea what it was and had to conduct a small independent research on it.

It started in a meeting of a small home on April 14, 1906. It represented a huge change; inter-cultural mixing, dramatic worship services and the speaking of tongues. (Taken from Wikipedia) Back then, the notion of racial superiority was dominant. This revival was hugely contested and represented doctrines of heresies. That’s where Pentecostalism started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azusa_Street_Revival

What caught my attention was that revival didn’t start from the wealthy. The wealthy had everything they needed; they lived a life of luxury. Revival started from the ghettos, the desperate, and the bottom of the social order. This passion birthed from desperate cries of people experiencing injustice. They had nothing and no one else to turn to. They needed a change. It was either this or to suffer and die on the cold, hard floor.

“Jesus was bigger than the synagogues. He had to preach outside of the synagogues.” So was this revival. How come are we Christians operating within the four walls of the church? Why are we contented with being in the safe zone where everybody else believes the same thing that we do? I’m not saying to abandon the church and leave the pastors to run it. The church is not a building, but the church is made up of the people in it. What happened to going out to the ends of the world, showing God’s love? I’m not saying that we are to turn into extremists and yell out prophecies of the last days on the streets. But what I’m posing is a personal challenge. Jesus was bigger than the synagogues. It wasn’t the wealthy ones that needed help, it was the ones at the bottom of the social class that were frantic for a sense of hope.

We’ve got the hope. No use staying within the confinements of the church when we’ve got so much to offer. The world is a dark one; they need to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We don’t just hold the candle, but we are the light because the presence of God radiating from our very beings.

I'm praying for that spirit of desperation. But knowing in mind that this is a dangerous thing to pray for. Nothing in the world seems good enough until experience that personal revival. That's how I am at the moment. Discontented of everything around me, frustrated at many points of the day because I don't know what I'm searching for. Frustration leading to impatience and irritation. I apologize for being inhospitable to anyone for the past few weeks, lol.