Allow me to start with a disclaimer; I am not writing this blog for any other reason than to bring glory to God. All of this material is what God divinely lays on my heart, and confirms it over, and over to where it just burns in me to no end to share the life God has given me with those that make their way to this page. With that said, I have a bombshell of a hope that God has shown me numerous times. So I ask very specifically for you to stop right where you are, and pray that the Lord would open your heart to this thought, and that your eyes would be seared with the glory of God as He plays this thought out. Ask Him to give you faith to buy into this, and boldness to be a part of it……
People, the world WILL end in 2012……. Kidding! Actually in all seriousness God has given me a sense of the opposite to come. Over numerous instances a reoccurring theme has resonated in heart as a shocking explosion of truth and marvel that my soul longs for the actualization of this incredible theme. This theme is REVIVAL. Just one of many instances, God floored me with the thought, and the blessing to know 44,000 people heard it. As Christine Caine spoke she nailed us with the cold hard facts of the darkness of sex trafficking, and slavery that has exploded in the world that we have let slide by, she proceeded to speak on how we had to be a light to this darkness, and to make a change. Then she said it, "It is time for a REVIVAL!" followed by several reasons why it is time for a revival. But the word just rang in my ears, REVIVAL. It literally took me from sitting up in my chair, to forcing me into the back of my seat almost in tears at the realization that the Lord had just confided in me something incredible! The thought of revival intimidates me in so many ways! Can’t you just feel this? I look around, and everywhere I turn God whispers in my ear this thought, “Look at what I am doing in people’s lives; this half commitment to me will not fly anymore. It is time for this world to be reminded I am GOD!” Also, He quickly reminds me that this takes the dedication of people to be non-conformist, and to rebel against what society is (shout out to all my hipsters! Rise up!). Romans 1:16 is a loaded verse, stew on it with me a moment. “For I am not ASHAMED of the gospel, for it is the POWER of GOD for SALVATION to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Let me kind of break down where I am going with this.
In this verse I feel it is safe to say that there is a big responsibility that we have to uphold, and that is to share the gospel. As believers in Christ His love compels us to share the grace we have been saved by with other people. Lets say your mother was rushed to the hospital, and doctors were doing everything they could to revive her heart beat, and that no earthly force had not been exhausted to bring her back to life, to fill her lungs with air, and to bring a person near and dear to your heart back to life, but failed even though they did their best. They throw up their hands, and tell you, “We are terribly sorry, we just couldn’t do enough to save her, we did all we could.” But just then the heart monitor begins to beep, and again, and again. Your mother miraculously comes back to life! She was saved in a way that could only be explained by God. You would tell everyone you know!!! You would tell every reporter that came knocking about your mother coming back to life, and every person that simply asked, “How is your day going?” you would ecstatically tell them, “I am freakin’ fantastic! My mother was dead, but now she is alive!” That is what happens every time a sinner’s life is changed to conform to the image of Christ! I want to tell the WORLD that, “Look, I was dead, but by God’s grace and mercy I am alive because of Christ! It is a miracle!” The gospel is not this intimidating debate where you convince a raging mob through impeccable apologetic logic that has developed unprecedented hermeneutics in your life, and if they do not do the same hell awaits. The gospel is speaking the truth in love that you were headed for destruction, and Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins, and that kind of love has transformed your life to tell others the same.
There is something else in Romans 1:16 that compels me to be unashamed of the gospel. As I step out in boldness to share the great news of Jesus, I am wielding the power of God! (I say that humbly, and prayerfully that God shows up every time I share the gospel.) The verse not only says it is the power of God, but it is the power of God for salvation! We have the power to be used by the Holy Spirit to raise the dead to life! We get to be a part of expanding the Kingdom of God! We are coheirs and conquerors through Christ! These life changing, incredible FACTS lead me to my next point. The way we rid ourselves of the sin in our lives after Christ changes our hearts is to foster, and grow our affections for God. This was a very foreign idea when God put this on my heart. I thought, “Sweet, God, I want my affections to grow for you! But how do I do that??” And God was faithful to show me, and is still showing me more and more. The first way he has shown me is that my heart is warmed and affections increase when I share the gospel, and God calls a person to Himself! To see a person walking down the path I was headed down, and then to see God step in and say, “This one is mine, you will follow me now,” absolutely makes me rejoice in the God I serve because He is a God that is in the business of saving lives. The dilemma is I do not always “feel”(ugh) like sharing the gospel, and that comes from the sin in my life. God gives me victory over this by beckoning me to my knees, and calls me to pray intently for forgiveness, and to be empowered by His Holy Spirit to wage war!
Let us discuss this thing I struggle with greatly, this thing called prayer. I know we Christians are not suppose to admit this, but I am a weak prayer that does not do it enough. My knees are not scarred enough, and my reactions are not sharp to respond with prayer in all situations. The good news is that I am convicted about it, and that I desire to change. I desire to incorporate prayer into all of my life, largely because that puts me in constant community with God. Also, prayer keeps me from sin. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” What would Francis Chan say about this verse? “Why don’t we just do that? Let’s take all the excuses out and just do that!” If anyone knows me, they know I am not always peaceful, or quiet, certainly not godly, and I lack any kind of desirable dignity. But the implications of this verse are that through prayer in every facet of life, these characteristics are attainable! So there is hope for this poor sinner!
Another thing that gives me hope is what I see in my brothers and sisters in Christ around me. Strangely (I say sovereignly) all of my dear friends desire these same changes! Just sitting around talking with some friends the other day the conversation was brought up about how shallow, and unbiblical our friendships are most of the time. We replace encouragement and exhortation with crude humor and belittlement (and this was mostly aimed at me! Dagger to the heart! Oh what cruel/honest friends I have!). The best way to fix this is to 1) pray for God to give us new desires in friendships 2) come together as friends and 1 Timothy 2:1-2 together! Also, it is time for us to start DOING and stop talking about doing! Practicality>>>>Theory
I have found two common results of sharing the gospel in my life. My affections for God grow, and I come to know Him more. As a result, the life I live becomes infectious to other people. The most attractive thing in the world is the gospel! That attraction grows your affections for God, and infects other people with the truth of the gospel! I find that as I step out and portray the life change that has come from giving my life to Christ, when people hear that the sin I was stuck in has been stripped away by a savior that replaces my desires, with His desires, Christ becomes infectious in people, and they find Christ's affection for them produces affections within themselves for Christ! It’s a crazy circular argument, but any good argument is self sustaining. Take the Bible for instance!
All of these last two paragraphs substantiate the feelings of revival God has placed in me. It is no coincidence that our generation is a generation that tends to be sold out believers, we walk with a different faith than past generations, and we come together and brandish our faith together as a community to advance the gospel. I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, or the timing of it, but I know this; that if we as the church come together, stop the petty drama amongst ourselves, start portraying the attractive gospel we have been entrusted to, pray for an unnatural desire for God’s word, and ask God to move through us in a way that is disproportional to ourselves, the time for revival is now! In the words of my good friend, “This is our generation.” God hit me with a thought the other night before I spoke at a church. So much of our past affects what we choose, and how we feel in the present, and what we choose in the present has vast ramifications on our future. I look at the past generations with the lethargic faith, and lackluster ambitions for the gospel, and I KNOW that is not the choice for me right now, or ever! So if I am not going to choose apathy as my path, what does that mean for my future? What does choosing authenticity with my faith, and chasing after a biblically founded life mean for the future of Jordan Thigpen, and those around me? This is the sense that I have gotten, the prayer I want to be actualized, and the spirit I long for tangibly: REVIVAL.
