What We Really Need For Revival Today

             Let me say this up front - We do not need to work harder for God to bring revival. We do not need more flowery Christianese language in our sermons. We do not need more church meetings. While Church meetings can be good, they very easily can become another statue we've erected in honor of our own goodness. We do not need any of those things for revival - because we are not the ones who bring revival. God ALONE is the sole deciding factor in that equation. We don't need to do more for God - we need a heart transplant. We need God's heart for people. We need to be brought so low that the only thing we have to offer God is our brokenness. That's when we will see how vast and eternal is the love of our God, and how constant is our need for His deliverance. If we want revival - I mean REALLY want it - we need to get this point - and get it at our deepest level of understanding: We are NOT good people and those who don't believe in Jesus are not bad people for one simple reason - according to the Bible there are no good people - ANYWHERE. We say we believe that in our churches, but our legalistic actions and vain attempts to earn favor with God by "all we do for Him" deceive us, and this mindset is simply destroying our ability to affect the world around us in the long term. There may even be some success at first, but eventually people all see that they simply can't measure up to the image and they either lower the requirements of God to match their behavior, and put on their church mask to appear better than they really are, or these sulk away from the Church, feeling defeated and angry.
            Please understand this - bringing into the light the poisonous mindset of legalistic, self-absorbed Christianity is not sowing discord among the brethren any more than Jesus was sowing discord when He challenged that same mindset among the Pharisees. This heresy is a cancer in our churches and needs to be eradicated by the chemotherapy of Gods radical grace and His love toward His oft misguided people.
            You who preach revival - do you all really want revival? If you do - then stop making your faith all about what God wants to do for us and make it about who we can love for Him. Stop having church meetings for the same twenty people six nights a week and go bowling, or for a walk in the park, and you may get the chance to love someone who hasn't been to a church in years. Stop with all

the silly spiritual mumbo jumbo that no one outside the Church understands and go love someone who is dirty (just like you, by the way) in Jesus name. Learn to look at the imperfections in the world and realize what they truly are - just a reflection of our own imperfections. Get off your religious high-horse and come be with the masses of people who just need to be listened to and not preached at - people who need to be loved and not judged or Bible-bashed. In order to grow the Church we MUST COME OUT OF OUR CHURCHES and bring our faith outside ourselves. Remember - His children are safe in His arms and nothing can change that. I didn't say it - Jesus did. Oh yeah - He said this too - IT IS FINISHED! When the Church starts to act as though we really believe that - then we will see revival.