God Con Carne

 “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” – John 1:14 

I met my wife on a blind date when we were in college. One afternoon, one of my buddies pulled me aside and told me that a girl he liked would only go out with him if it was a double date. So, he needed me to go out with this girl’s best friend: Christine.

Well, I was pretty hesitant. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck on a date with a girl that I didn’t know. “What if she has a weird personality? What if we have nothing in common? What if she looks like Cruella De Vil?” So, my friend said, “I’ll tell you what. When you get to her dorm room door to pick her up, if you don’t like what you see, just pretend you’re having an asthma attack. Then you won’t have to go on the date.”

Well, that sounded like a pretty good plan. So, later that day, I knocked on Christine’s door, and there stood one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. Beautiful blonde hair, big brown eyes, a cute smile—I couldn’t WAIT to get to know her better! But before I could introduce myself, she took one look at me, clutched her throat … and started having a fake asthma attack.

Okay, that didn’t really happen. But I am SO glad that Christine didn’t start gasping and wheezing the first time she met me. And aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t fake an asthma attack the first time He laid eyes on you? On the contrary, according to John 1:3: “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” That means that before Jesus ever laid eyes on you, He saw you, He knew you and He loved you. So, He created you. Before the very foundations of the world were laid, you were in the mind and heart of the Word of God: Jesus Christ. Before God ever said, “Let there be light!” the Word of God, Jesus, saw you and knew you. And Jesus loved you with an everlasting love.

Notice that from the very first verse of John 1, John refers to Jesus as the Word of God. He could have called Jesus any one of several other names: the Truth, the Life, the Good Shepherd. All would have been correct. Why did John refer to Jesus as the Word of God? I believe verse 14 helps to give us the answer: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

You see, the entire Old Testament is a record of God communicating with His followers. And God’s spoken words and His written words were intended to do three things: 1) to reveal Himself and His glory; 2) to provide a roadmap for finding God and being reconciled to God; and 3) to teach His followers right from wrong, and how to glorify Him with their lives. That’s the threefold purpose of God’s spoken and written word. So John calls Jesus the Word of God, because Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all three of these purposes. The WORDS of God lead us to God in black and white. But the WORD of God leads us to God in living color. He is Lord in the flesh … the Divine with meat … God Con Carne.

When we take a closer look at those three purposes, John 1:14 gives us three Life Lessons:

Life Lesson #1: Because the Word became flesh, you can now see the glory of God in living color. If you want to see the majesty and beauty of God, you need look no further than Jesus. And, most importantly, if you want to see the character of God, carefully study the character of Jesus. No one characterizes God like Jesus. He reveals and displays the character of our holy and beautiful God in Heaven … perfectly.

Life Lesson #2: Because the Word became flesh, you now have a clear roadmap for finding God and being reconciled to God. Jesus didn’t just come to earth to SHOW us a roadmap to God … Jesus IS the roadmap. If you want to find God, just find Jesus. If you want to get right with God, get right with Jesus. If you want to go to heaven someday to live forever with God, you have to follow Jesus there. Jesus is the Way—the ONLY Way—to God. 

Life Lesson #3: Because the Word became flesh, you now know exactly how to glorify God with your life. Some might say, “Wait a minute! I don’t know what career God wants me to have! I don’t know who God wants me to marry or how many kids He wants me to have! How can you say, I know ‘exactly’ how to glorify God with my life?” Well, Jesus has made glorifying God with our lives much simpler than you might think. Whatever job you have, whoever you’re married or not married to, however many kids you might have … do these three things every day: Trust Jesus, love Jesus, and obey His commands. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.

Two thousand years ago, the Word of God became flesh. He moved into our neighborhood to show us EXACTLY what God is like. He came to offer us a much clearer path to getting right with God and glorifying Him with our lives. So, trust Him. Love Him. And obey Him.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us livestreaming online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

The Word of God … In Person!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
– John 1:1

Growing up in the 1950s was hard for Mary. She knew that she was different from the other kids. You see, Mary was born with a cleft palate. So, every day, kids stared at her and teased her about her misshapen lip, crooked nose and garbled speech. So, Mary grew up hating the fact that she was “different.” She was convinced that no one, outside her family, could ever love her … until she entered Mrs. Leonard’s class. Mrs. Leonard had a warm smile, shiny brown hair, and most importantly, she was kind—especially to hurting children.

One day, it was time for the teacher to give the children their annual hearing test. It was called the “whisper test,” and it was given by having a child walk across the room, then repeat something that the teacher whispered. Teachers would often say things like, “The sky is blue,” or “What color are your shoes?” 

But not on that day. When it was Mary’s turn, God must have put the words in Mrs. Leonard’s mouth, because they changed Mary’s life forever. From across the room, Mary heard Mrs. Leonard speak these seven words as clear as a bell: “I wish you were my little girl.”

Words … are … powerful. And the most powerful of all is the Word of God, sent to us in the form of His son, Jesus Christ. Today I’d like to look at just one verse from scripture—but what a powerful verse it is: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”  (John 1:1).

John writes in very simple language—but at the same time, the content of John is incredibly deep. Martin Luther said, “Never in my life have I read a book written in simpler words than this, and yet the words are inexpressible!” Many evangelists help to reach the lost by giving them, not an entire Bible, but the Gospel of John. Why? Because it saves lives, with its simple language and direct message about God’s love.

Around the time John wrote his gospel, people had been studying and quoting an influential Greek philosopher named Heraclitus for over 500 years. Heraclitus believed the universe operates according to a orderly structure. All the laws of physics, mathematics, logic and morality could be traced to this one ordering principle, which he called “logos.” That translates as ‘the Word.” “Logos” was a big concept in those days: the idea of an uncreated divine mind that gives order and meaning to the universe.

So, the Apostle John basically adopted the concept. In John 1:1, he’s saying: “You know OF a single orderly Source. You know OF the uncreated divine mind. Well, this orderly Source is a living, breathing being. This uncreated divine mind is a person. The logos—the Word—is Jesus Christ. And the news gets even better. The Word of God is knowable. You can actually know Him personally. You can talk with Him, fellowship with Him and love Him. In fact, He beat you to it. He has already been talking with you, reaching out to fellowship with you and loving you long before you ever thought about loving Him.”

The Gospel of John teaches us, over and over, that the Intelligent Design stems from an Intelligent Designer, and that Intelligent Designer is knowable and is worthy of our trust. In fact, the greatest privilege in life is to be able to personally know and trust the Word of God.

I’d like to offer three life lessons from this important verse:

Life Lesson #1: For almost 2,000 years, the Gospel of John has been a tool in God’s hand to lead hundreds of millions of people to salvation in Christ. One of the most loving things you can do is to share the Word of God with those around you. You and I can’t open a single closed mind, soften a single hard heart, or save a single lost soul. But the Word of God CAN. Jesus Christ CAN. So, bring them to church where Jesus Christ will do what He specializes in: Softening hard hearts, opening closed minds and saving lost souls.

Life Lesson #2: Because Jesus is the Word of God, He can bring order to all the chaos in your life. As the Word of God, Jesus Christ is, by definition, the One who creates and maintains order in the universe. The unchanging laws of physics … the amazing order in mathematics … the beautiful symmetry of music … Jesus did ALL of that! He created unfathomable order in an otherwise disorderly and chaotic universe. And if Jesus can bring order to an entire universe, what do you think the chances are that He can bring order to the chaos in your life?

Life Lesson #3: Because Jesus is the Word of God, He can bring meaning to all the meaninglessness in your life. Never forget: God … doesn’t … waste … anything. He can take anything in your past—good, bad or ugly—and somehow use it for His glory. He can use your past addictions, your criminal record or your broken marriage for His glory. He can use every sin, every failure, every screw-up for His glory—if you’ll only hand them over to Him and let Him work all things together for good. In God’s Kingdom, nothing is meaningless. Even if it’s out of His plan, Jesus Christ can weave it into His plan … IF you’ll let Him.

Every day people ask, “How could Jesus Christ possibly make something good or useful out of my mess?” I don’t know HOW He does it. All I can tell you is, He DOES it. And that shouldn’t surprise us, because He is the Word of God.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us livestreaming online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

A Savior for the Nobodies

 “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” – Luke 24:27

There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Lord of the Rings and those who don’t. I’m in the camp that DOES like the trilogy. And there’s a marvelous piece of dialogue near the end of the third book, “The Return of the King,” that didn’t make it into the movie.

After accompanying Frodo on a terrifying, exhausting quest to destroy the ring of power, Frodo’s best friend, Samwise Gamgee, collapses and is unconscious for a period of time. When he awakens, he sees the wizard Gandalf and blurts out, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself.” And then Sam asks a question that reveals one of the most profound truths in the entire trilogy: “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”

Sam’s question is so profound. True deliverance and salvation aren’t just a matter of our wishful, happy dreams coming true. At a deeper level, deliverance and salvation are about our real-life nightmares becoming … untrue.

Last week we celebrated Easter, and on that first Easter the followers of Jesus Christ saw a genuine nightmare become untrue. Let’s take a look at one of Jesus’ less-talked-about appearances following His resurrection: His appearance to two men on the road to Emmaus. We know almost nothing about these men, except that they were followers of Jesus. And we read in Luke 24:13 that they were walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Why is so much time spent on Jesus’ appearance to these two unknown Christians? Just two verses in Matthew are dedicated to Jesus’ appearance to the women at the tomb. Just seven verses in John are dedicated to Jesus’ appearance to the 10 disciples in the upper room on the evening of the first Easter. But strangely, a whopping 23 verses are dedicated to Jesus’ appearance to the two men on the road to Emmaus. Why?

Well, Scripture doesn’t give us a definite answer. But I believe there are several life lessons we can draw from this passage that help us get closer to an answer.

Life Lesson #1: Jesus doesn’t just give celebrities the time of day. He’s a living Savior for nobodies as well. I’m no Apostle Peter. I’m no Apostle John, Billy Graham or Mother Teresa. And I am SO grateful that Jesus Christ is every bit as much my savior and yours as He is theirs. Jesus wasn’t just born for the great saints. He was also born for you, died for you, and conquered death on Easter morning … for YOU. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Life Lesson #2: Jesus gravitates to those who are both humble and teachable. At one point in their conversation with Jesus, the two men on the road expressed doubt about the resurrection. Jesus said, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (v. 25). In case you were wondering, that was NOT a compliment. But these two Christian men didn’t respond the way most people would, by lashing out or getting offended. If they had, they would have missed out on the single greatest experience of their lives. As Jesus explained to them how prophecy had been fulfilled, they remained humble and teachable. And as a result, their lives were forever changed.

Life Lesson #3: Jesus is looking for dedicated followers who will go and tell others the Good News. During his three-year ministry, Jesus’ normal practice was to tell people he healed not to blab about it to anyone. Jesus never said, “Tell all your friends about me! Come on out and see me again! I’ll be here till Tuesday!” But after His resurrection, Jesus urged His followers to tell everyone about Him. On that first Easter, His two main messages were, “Come and see!” and “Go and tell!” I believe Jesus chose to spend several precious hours on Easter Sunday with these two men from Emmaus because they were ready and willing to come and see Jesus for themselves AND go and tell others about Him. They didn’t wait. They got up from the dinner table and headed right out the door to walk seven miles uphill and tell the others that Jesus is risen, just as He said.

These two men knew the Good News was worth sharing right away. Because Jesus Christ conquered sin on Good Friday and conquered death on Easter Sunday, your real-life nightmares can become untrue. Your physical pain can become untrue. Your heartache can become untrue. Your addictions and your hopelessness can become untrue. Best of all, your sin, the eternal punishment for your sin and your broken relationship with your God can ALL become untrue.

Through Jesus Christ, everything sad for Christians will come untrue. At the end of time, Jesus Christ “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). Jesus has made a way to make everything new. Now, you can’t keep that good news to yourself. Tell a family member. Tell a friend. Tell a coworker. Tell EVERYONE! And bring them with you to church next Sunday to find out more.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us livestreaming online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

 

Learn to Weep for the Lost

“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it.” – Luke 19:41

Years ago, there was a small town in the Midwest that had three churches. And each house of worship was being overrun with pesky squirrels. The squirrels were running amuck: making noise, chewing holes in the pews, swimming in the baptisteries and making a mess all over the place. So, each church came up with a solution. At the first church, the leaders determined that God had predestined the squirrels to be there, so they shouldn’t interfere with God’s divine will. At the second church, they tried to drown the squirrels in the baptistery, but that didn’t work. Once the squirrels were baptized, they were so excited, they brought all their friends with them to church the next week.

The third church came up with the most effective solution. They led the squirrels through confirmation classes and made them all members of the church. Now the squirrels only come to church on Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter.

Now, I hope you’re in church more than a few times a year. But since tomorrow is Easter, I’d like to take a look at the events leading up to one of Christianity’s most-observed holidays, starting with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

For the past three years, Jesus had traveled throughout Israel urging people to repent of their sins and accept the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. But, for the most part, Jesus kept a low profile. He didn’t go out of His way to draw large crowds, and when He healed someone, He usually did it privately. So, Palm Sunday marked a major shift in Jesus’ ministry. This time, He entered Jerusalem with a whole lot of fanfare. He rode a donkey, the frequently-chosen mount of a Jewish king. He was greeted by a cheering crowd who laid palm branches at his feet, a symbol of victory. And they cried “Hosanna!”—which translates, “Save us now!”

I think they wanted Jesus to ride that little donkey all the way to the temple, declare himself king, and lead an army to slaughter all their Roman oppressors. But that’s not what Jesus did. According to Luke 19:41-42, “As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” From the perspective of the crowd it was very anticlimactic. They thought their cheers were leading to a great military victory. But within minutes their bubble was burst. Jesus got off his donkey, looked around a bit and left.

Jesus didn’t bring a great victory on Palm Sunday. But little did the crowds know that in just five days, Jesus would bring the first of the two greatest victories in the history of the world: the victory over SIN. And just seven days after Palm Sunday, He would bring the other greatest victory the world has ever seen: the victory over DEATH.

I’d like to share two Life Lessons we can take from those events:

Life Lesson #1: Don’t be a church holiday squirrel. This lesson sounds silly, but we really DO need to take it to heart. And it isn’t just a lesson for people who only go to church on special occasions. All of us who call ourselves Christians have a tendency to make church too much about what’s convenient for us, and not about what is commanded by Christ. Have you ever wondered how some of the same people who shouted “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday could turn around and yell “Crucify Him!” just five days later on Good Friday? They were fair-weather FANS of Jesus, not committed FOLLOWERS of Jesus. They wanted Jesus to meet their needs and do what they wanted Him to do. They weren’t willing to change their plans to align with His plans. Being a true follower of Jesus takes commitment and discipline. Jesus didn’t save you in order to make your life easier and more convenient. He saved you in order to make you holy and useful to Almighty God.

Life Lesson #2: Jesus calls us all to weep over our Jerusalem. Jesus Christ wants us to pray for our Jerusalem: the unsaved family members, friends and neighbors in our lives. He wants us to build relationships with unbelievers and to always be ready to invite someone to church or share Christ with them. And all of these efforts to help Him save others are more effective when they are mixed with heartfelt tears. Psalm 126:5-6 tells us: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”  When the gospel seed is mixed with tears, God works in extraordinary ways. Your efforts to build relationships with unbelievers, invite people to church and steer conversations to Christ will ALL be more effective when mixed with tears.

What is true for you as an individual Christian is true for Christ’s Church. We are called to make a greater impact in our community for Jesus. And we will do so much more effectively if our heart truly breaks for our community and we weep over the Victor Valley. Allow the Spirit of God to break our hearts as we see the people around us who desperately need Jesus. Let’s weep over our Jerusalem, and lead others to hope and salvation.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us livestreaming online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Revival Begins with You

 “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’”
– John 21:15

In the late 1870s—so the story goes—a group of wealthy friends gathered together at a Scottish estate. They were having such a good time that they didn’t notice one of their little boys had fallen into a bog where he got stuck in the thick mud and was slowly sinking. The gardener heard the boy’s cries for help, jumped in, and rescued the drowning child.

The little boy’s parents were so grateful, they asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor." The grateful parents immediately responded, "We'll see to it." They promised to pay for the gardener’s son to go to medical school.

Years later, while Winston Churchill was prime minister of England, he developed a life-threatening case of pneumonia. The country's best doctor was summoned: Dr. Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered and developed penicillin. Dr. Fleming was the first person in his family to become a doctor. In fact, his dad was just … a gardener. The same gardener who had saved Winston Churchill’s life years earlier. According to the legend, after recovering from his pneumonia, Churchill remarked, "Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person."

If Winston Churchill had actually spoken those words … he would have been wrong. You see, when Jesus Christ is involved, it’s not rare at all. Jesus doesn’t just save us once. He saves us again and again. When we pray to Him for revival, we’re basically saying, “Jesus Christ, save us again. Save ME again. Lately my Christianity has been like a pile of dry, dead bones. Forgive me. Breathe fresh life into me. Revive me again.”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve focused on the need for revival in our nation and our church. Together we must humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways. But each of us, individually, needs to be revived. And Simon Peter is a great example of personal revival.

In Matthew 26, shortly before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that all of them would fall away from Him (v. 31). But Peter boldly proclaimed, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (v. 33). And Jesus prophesied, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (v. 34). You may recall what happened later. Three times that night, after Jesus was taken away by soldiers—mocked, slapped, punched, and tortured with scourge whips—Peter broke his reckless promise. Three times, when asked, he said he had never been with Jesus, going so far as to say, “I don’t know the man!” (vs. 69-74). There’s no sugar-coating it: The great apostle Peter fell. And he desperately needed to be lifted back up and revived.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. According to 1 Corinthians 15:5, Peter was the first apostle He appeared to after His resurrection. It was clear that despite all his failures, Peter held a special place in Christ’s heart. But as the days passed, Peter still needed to experience the full forgiveness and restoration of Christ. That forgiveness and restoration came in a conversation we read about in John 21:15-22. Three times, Jesus asked: “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Three times, Peter affirmed that love. And each time, Jesus responded with a command to take care of His sheep (His beloved followers). I want you to join me in answering these important questions:

#1: Why did Jesus call Peter by his birth name, Simon, instead of by the nickname Jesus had given him? I believe it was because Jesus was giving Peter a fresh start. The name “Peter” means “rock.” But that rock had crumbled under pressure. So, in John 21, Jesus took Peter back to the beginning and gives him a fresh start—a new opportunity, by God’s grace, to be the Rock that Christ had called him to be.

#2: Why did Jesus ask Peter three different times, “Do you love Me?” On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter had publicly denied Jesus three times. So, Jesus gave him an opportunity to publicly confess his love and commitment to Jesus three times.

#3: Why did Jesus follow each of Peter’s confessions with a command to feed or take care of his lambs and sheep? In John 21, Jesus forgave Peter and fully restored him to his position as the lead apostle. But that’s not all. Jesus does something very significant here that the metaphors clue us in about. The first time Jesus commissioned Peter, He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you a fisher of men.” But this time, Jesus switched metaphors. I think it’s clear that Jesus fully restored Peter as a fisher of men. But here Jesus adds to his role. From this point forward, Peter wouldn’t just be a FISHER of unsaved men. He would also be a SHEPHERD of saved Christians.

Isn’t that just like Jesus? He doesn’t just forgive. He restores. He revives. And He promotes. Jesus took a big chance on Simon Peter, and it paid off big time. Peter was the lead apostle of the Church in Jerusalem. He was used by God to lead thousands of people to Christ, and he wrote two books of the New Testament before he was martyred for his faith. In the Book of Acts, it’s plain to see: Simon Peter was a man on fire, fully revived and filled with the Holy Spirit. God worked in and through him in extraordinary ways. And He can do the same with you and me.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Beginning on Easter Sunday (April 9^th), join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Bringing Revival to a Nation

 “Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord.” – 2 Chronicles 34:21

In the 1990s, 70 percent of the Colombian drug trade was controlled by a cartel in the city of Cali. The Cali Cartel was one of the largest and richest criminal organizations in history, exporting half a billion dollars of cocaine every month. As cartel members drove their shiny black Mercedes through the city, all other traffic would pull to the side of the road. Many drivers who defied this etiquette were blocked, then shot. As many as 15 people a day were killed—just for failing to get out of the way. 

By the early 1990s, Cali Cartel interests controlled virtually every major institution in the city, including banks, businesses, politicians and police. Like everyone else, Christians were weak and scared. But in the mid-1990s, all that changed. A few pastors started meeting for prayer. They prayed for the Christians in Cali, particularly the pastors, to develop a hunger for prayer, unity and holiness. Some of the pastors rented the civic auditorium to assemble their congregations for an evening of joint worship, repentance and prayer. The pastors prepared for a few thousand people. But at the “Cali Revival” event in May 1995, more than 25,000 people filed into the auditorium. They prayed for God’s active participation in their stand against the drug cartels. At one point the mayor proclaimed, “Cali belongs to Jesus Christ!” 

Forty-eight hours later, the headline in the daily newspaper was: “No Homicides!” For the first time in as long as anybody in the city could remember, 24 hours had passed without a single murder. The Colombian government declared all-out war against the drug lords. Over the next four months, 900 cartel-linked officers were fired from the metropolitan police force. One by one, the cartel leaders were arrested or killed. Tens of thousands of Christians were revived and countless unbelievers were saved. Revival had come to Cali, Colombia.

The Cali Revival gives us a taste of what could happen across America when God ushers in the next great revival. In the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 34 tells of another inspiring revival: the revival under King Josiah of Judah. Josiah was descended from two of the most evil kings Judah ever had. But Josiah didn’t walk in the wicked ways of his father and grandfather. Eight years into his reign, King Josiah began seeking the God of his forefather, David. He set out to purge Judah and Jerusalem of all idols and pagan worship centers, and he repaired and purified the temple (vs. 3-8). Then, in verse 14, a high priest found an ancient scroll of the Torah (most likely the Book of Deuteronomy) hidden somewhere in the temple. When the high priest found it, he gave it to Josiah’s secretary, who read it to the king.

How did King Josiah respond? “When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes” (v. 19). This was a sign of deep sorrow … and, probably, fear. He said, “Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord” (v. 21). He sent messengers to ask a prophetess, Huldah, what punishment the people could expect for the sins of Judah—past and present. The news wasn’t good. Huldah replied that God would “bring disaster” on Jerusalem and its people. God’s anger “will be poured out and will not be quenched,” because “they have forsaken God” and “provoked Him to anger by all that their hands have made” (vs. 24-25). Judgment was coming.

However, because King Josiah had torn his robes, humbled himself before God and wept over Israel’s sin, God was going to delay His judgment. It wouldn’t come until AFTER Josiah’s death.

So, in verse 30, King Josiah gathered all the people of Judah and read the Book of the Covenant to them. And King Josiah led the people in a renewal of their covenant with God. They promised to turn from their sin and worship and obey God alone. And they kept that promise: “As long as [Josiah] lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers” (v. 33).

Today, I think you’ll agree that America has a sin problem. So, if we desire God to bring revival to our nation the way He brought revival to the nation of Judah, we have to repent. The people of Judah had to turn from their wicked ways, and we have to turn from our wicked ways.

When we Christians confess sin and repent, we tend to just confess and repent from our own personal sin. And on the rare occasions when we do confess the sins of our nation, we tend to confess the sins that disgust us the most. But if we are serious about turning from our wicked ways and ushering in an extraordinary move of God, we cannot simply confess and turn from the sins of our nation that disgust US the most. We must confess and turn from all sin, because all sin disgusts GOD. (I encourage you to listen to my message, “Revival – part 3,” on YouTube for a list of national sins that you might not have considered.)

In the mid-1990s, God moved in the city of Cali, Colombia in extraordinary ways as the Church confessed and turned from the sins of their city AND the Church. God brought revival there, and He will bring revival here if we will humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. He WILL hear from heaven. He WILL forgive our sin. And He WILL heal our land. But turning from our sin begins with confessing our sin. And there’s no doubt: We have a lot of confessing to do. 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Beginning on Easter Sunday (April 9^th), join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

How to Pray for Revival

 “I pray that you may grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
– Ephesians 3:18

Back in 1857, a Christian businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier started a noon prayer meeting in New York City. He distributed thousand of flyers calling on businessmen to come to the Old Dutch Church on Fulton Street at noon on Wednesdays to commune with God. Well, on the first day of the prayer meeting, 12 p.m. came and went, and Jeremiah was sitting in the room by himself. 12:10—still nobody. Jeremiah started praying. 12:15, 12:20, 12:25—still nobody. Finally, at 12:30, one businessman came in, then another and another. Six joined him for that remaining half hour of prayer.

The next Wednesday, there were twenty. Then they started meeting daily, and within six months over twenty prayer meetings had sprung up all over the city, until 10,000 businessmen were gathering in New York City for prayer. Prayer meetings also popped up across the country: 200 towns in New York, 150 in Massachusetts, 200 in Ohio, 150 in Indiana, 50 in Missouri, and so on. Historically, we know it as the Fulton Street Revival, or the Prayer Meeting Revival of 1857 and 1858. It is estimated that at the peak of the revival, 10,000 people a week were becoming Christians in New York City alone—50,000 total per week in the United States.

The Fulton Street Revival was a small taste of what could happen across America when God ushers in the next great revival. God is always at work in and through Christ’s Church. But during times of revival, His presence and power reach a whole new level. During times of revival, the Holy Spirit of God FIRST does an extraordinary work among Christians in the Church, and SECOND, He works through revived Christians to do an extraordinary work among unbelievers outside the Church. Tens of thousands—sometimes even millions—of unbelievers get saved.

If you’re looking for an example of revival in the early Church, we see it in the apostle Paul’s time in Ephesus. For three years, Paul preached the Gospel, started a church and sent out missionaries. And according to Acts 19:11-12, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” What took place in Ephesus during those three years was very revival-like. God moved in extraordinary ways.  

A few years later, Paul wrote his famous letter to the Ephesian Christians, and his revival prayer in Ephesians 3 is an integral part in teaching the Church to reach its full potential in Christ. In verses 16-19, Paul prays four things for the Ephesian Christians:

#1: Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus to have inner, spiritual strength (v. 16). It’s very common for Christians to say, “I want to know God better” and “I want God to use me in greater ways.” But honestly, most of us are too spiritually puny to know God better. And we’re too spiritually flabby for God to use us in greater ways. You and I may say we want God to bring revival to our church, families and nation, but, honestly, most of us aren’t preparing for it. We can’t remember the last time we prayed for more than five minutes at a time. We have no spiritual strength or stamina. So, Paul prays that we would bulk up spiritually. Those who experience revival on Day 1 tend to be those who have been prioritizing prayer, so they’ve been strengthened by the Holy Spirit to receive a greater outpouring of God.

#2: Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus to have inner spiritual depth (v. 17). If we as Christians are serious about making a greater impact in the Victor Valley for Jesus Christ, there’s no way around it: We have to dig deeper and make sure we are solidly grounded in God’s Word and Christ’s love. One of the greatest prayers you could ever pray for me (or for any other Christian you know) is for us to be rooted and established in the Word of God and in the love of Christ. 

#3: Paul prays for Christians in Ephesus to have inner spiritual insight (v. 18). We talk, preach and even sing about the unconditional, never-failing love of Christ. But Christ’s love is immeasurably wide, unfathomably long, incomparably high and unimaginably deep. We have only begun to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. So, Paul prays that the Ephesian Christians—and you and I today—would grasp the love of Christ.

Why did Paul pray so fervently for the Ephesian Christians to have inner spiritual strength, depth and insight? Because, #4: Paul wanted the Ephesian Christians to be filled with the knowledge and fullness of God (v. 19). Paul’s ultimate desire for Christians is that they would know intimately the love of Christ and be completely filled with as much of God as possible.

That sounds like revival to me. Revival is “God.” During times of revival our eyes are opened, and we realize that, up to that point, we’ve barely known God. And any spiritual hunger we had for Him before revival came is only intensified when revival actually comes. We wanted to know God and love God more, but during revival our desire to know and love God intensifies.

If our culture is transformed, it will be on the heels of Christ’s Church being transformed. Christ’s Church is the hope of the world. The Church is Jesus’ chosen vessel for expanding His Kingdom of Heaven here on earth and bringing glory to God. So, won’t you join me in praying for the Church’s revival?

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.