Re-amaze the Amazement

Sometimes I am amazed at my lack of amazement.

Let me explain.

As a pastor I find myself talking about spiritual things a lot. I mean a lot. Like sometimes all day. Now--don't get me wrong. This is a calling. I'm grateful. I believe it's a gift. But sometimes I can be sharing something of eternal significance and feel very casual about the matter. Not at the level of faking it--just not overwhelmed by the reality. If you can imagine a tour guide at the Grand Canyon who can get more excited about the lunch hour pudding cup--then you get the dilemma.

There is an old phrase that goes like this..

Familiarity breeds contempt. 

I think my familiarity with Jesus sometimes breeds contempt. The other morning I read these words.  

 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
(Revelation 1:14-16 ESV)

I don't know about you, but I don't normally think of Jesus this way. Oh...I have plenty of pictures in my mind. Ask me to describe Jesus and I might talk about a child being held by a teenage girl, a boy teaching adults in a temple, a Rabbi preaching from a boat, a miracle worker distributing bread, a Savior weeping in a garden, a Lamb dying in our place, or a Victor leaving an empty tomb. I might even talk about the ascension of Jesus that left his disciples gazing up--and how he poured his Spirit out on the church and lives to give grace to his disciples. All these scenes are glorious. I may even be able to give you some chapters and verses to win your confidence. But I don't think the first place I would go is the last place the Bible leaves us with.  I don't think I would quickly reflect about a face shining like the noon day sun in full strength. When I tell my kids about Jesus, I've never thought we should probably go outside and stare at the sun for a while--or until Mom gets mad.

 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 

You have got to love this honesty. John was the one who laid his head against the chest of Jesus. He's the one who had the nerve to ask Jesus if he could sit at the head of the table when he established his kingdom. Now he sees the King and he goes down like a sack of potatoes. No high fives. No requests. No concern about being top dog. He just lays there at the feet of Jesus--waiting for Jesus to make the next move. Moreover, the scene doesn't surprise us. It's not like we read this and want to whisper, "pssst...John...bro....get up. seriously...this is embarrassing." Rather we're saying, "good call. I totally get it. Let me join you."

But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
(Revelation 1:17-19 ESV)

 It's right here that we get good news. Where the blazing holiness of Jesus makes John fall down, his perfect love picks him back up. Jesus places his right hand on John and speaks familiar words to his disciple, "fear not." Peace could not arrive any quicker than through hearing those two words. Why? Not because there's nothing to be terrified of--but because John is his friend. Jesus reminds his friend that he is the first and the last--the living one--and that his transcendent glory is not bigger than his immanent grace. Notice he's not one of many--but the definitive living one who actually died--not "as though dead" but truly dead--and never to be dead again.

And then he says "look at me" or "behold I am alive forevermore (v. 18)" as if to say "take this in, John--this is the extent of my love and glory. I've got the keys of Death! Death can't lock me up because I locked it up. Hell can't conquer me because I stormed the gates and won."

A.W. Tozer once said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." If that's true--I need this image of Jesus--this final revelation of Christ--to be bigger in my life. I need his shining face to melt through my casualness. I need those five words, "behold I am alive forevermore" to re-amaze the amazement.

Tim Keller: 5 Things to Prepare for Revival

In this post and this post I shared Tim Keller's thoughts on revival. Here are 5 things he said are common to any move of God that could be described as an "intensification" of the "ordinary" work of the Holy Spirit.

1. Extraordinary Prayer--Every revival has this in common. This corporate praying is kingdom-centered, repenting, and prevailing. It evidences people coming to a King with large petitions asking for God to do great things--extraordinary things.

2. Recovery of the Gospel--Edwards saw revival when he recovered "justification by faith alone." Keller made it clear that "the average person doesn't get the gospel." He challenged us to consider that most people don't get the gospel in "the slightest." When people realize the depth of grace--they come alive in new ways.

3. Transformed Formidable Leaders--Individuals catch on fire personally and become leaders. Every revival shows that leaders grasp the fullness of the gospel and have a new boldness.

4. Experience Meetings--This was a new idea for me. Keller said in almost every revival you have meeting "venues" where people have an opportunity to "process" what God is doing in their lives. Venues for talking through experiences matter in revival.

5. Creativity--In every revival you see some new revolutionary (and often initially scandalous) means of getting the gospel out. For Whitefield and Wesley it was outdoor preaching--stunning for the times. For the rival in NY City--it was a business man starting a prayer meeting in the middle of the day--unheard of and radical for the time.

Tim Keller: 3 Marks of Revival

In a previous post I shared Tim Keller's definition of revival as an "intensification of the ordinary operations of the work of the Spirit." More than (but not minimizing) supernatural manifestations (healings, gifts, miracles) the intensification is mostly characterized by an increase in conversions, conviction, personal assurance and awareness of God and can happen for a varied length of time.

Keller said that 3 things happen when you see this intensification or "revival." Regardless of time period or geography you will typically see...

1. Sleepy Christians wake up. Believers suddenly become aware of God's presence and power in a new way--new waters of faith spring from already regenerate hearts.

2. Nominal Christians get converted. Keller said you almost always hear of someone who "thought" they were a Christian suddenly realize they were not. This usually spills over into an even greater outpouring of God's Spirit. He said it's usually not the clergy or spiritual leaders that serve as catalysts for revival--but the stories of a few nominal Christians that come to life for the first time and give witness to it.

3. Unconverted get attracted. In revival the unconverted are attracted to what they see happening. They see past their objections to the church because of the undeniable life manifested in the body of Christ. They are attracted to the new and fresh witness of the church.

Tim Keller Definition of Revival

I recently went with a friend to an Anglican church planting conference in Plano to hear Tim Keller speak. Not knowing exactly what his topic was going to be I was surprised by his topic being revival.

His message was "Marks of Revival and Spiritual Renewal"

He opened with a testimony of how he came out of the Jesus Movement of the 1970s and referenced the Asbury Revival of 1970. From there he gave a definition of revival and how he experienced revival in planting Redeemer from the start. Here's his definition. I will give his points in future posts.

What is revival? "Revival is an intensification of the ordinary operations of the work of the Holy Spirit."

In other words--all that the Spirit does in converting, convicting, reminding, assuring is intensified--and this intensifying of the Spirits work can happen over a long duration of time, a short time, a season of time--and even be given to a specific geographical location.

Keller experienced this intensifying work of the Spirit in the first 18 months of the church being planted in NY. For 18 months to 2 years they experienced an unusual number of people come to faith--around 200 people.

They have seen many come to faith since then as well--but not with the same degree of intensity. He likened this moment of revival to Spurgeon's ministry which in total saw many hundreds come to faith in Christ--but uniquely and intensely from the years 1857-60.