Revival, This Time It Means Business
Revival, This Time It Is Different
Revival, Reformation, Revolution
Revival is our midst. Revival is pouring out in cities, stadiums, people groups and even in social media. Charismatics and Evangelicals alike are seeing millennials, Facebook and places like Southern California abuzz with a new sense of God and His holiness. This time it is different. In the past, revival would result in more churches being built. This time, the result will be more businesses being built.
“The Lord said, “I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the whole earth in one generation.” Not this movement, or that movement, but God Himself will do this through all the thousands of movements and millions of ministries.” Mike Bickel (1982)
We are in the midst of a 40 year generational church change. In the early 1970’s the community church movement (Hybels) and the rebirth of Christian music (Stonehill, Gaither, Carmichael) changed the way church was done. Today, it is time for another generational shift. Millennials and Generation Xers alike are disillusioned with church inside the four walls.
Bob Jones had a question for the body of Christ (1975) “Did you learn to love?” In 1988 Bob shared “The Holy Spirit will restore and establish the first commandment worldwide to the weak and broken people.”
The church, the ecclesia, the bride, is ready to love and ready to restore the first commandment along with the second. This love has been confined within the four walls of the church and it is time for it to be released. The current revival and prophetic movement we are experiencing needs a new place to go, a new place to birth and new place to plant. It has out grown the four walls concept.
500 years ago, October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door. 500 years later, this generation is tearing down the door -and the walls- “en masse”. Luther encouraged reading the Word (logos) for ourselves, today’s generation is taking that a step further and rising up to hear the Word (rhema) for ourselves. Our current revival will lead to reformation. However, with the walls torn down, reformation will lead to revolution.
Revolution is real change. Revolution will prompt God’s love to flow through us in ways never before imagined and this time it will be economic.
People must see God’s love manifest in real and practical ways in order for it to change hearts. The church has become impotent behind its four walls and has dropped the ball on discipling nations. Economics is the first stop. The United States is leading the world with a Cyrus experience in politics; the next step is economic impact. After God appointed Cyrus, He then released massive economic provision. (Isaiah 45:13-14) Not just huge economic provision but provision from the region where the Hebrew children had been previously enslaved. Jesus constantly used business as analogy including commanding us to occupy, do business, until he comes. (See Marketplace Mandate by this author.)
“We are in the time when the primary motivating power in the world is economic. However, the foundations of military, religious and political power are still with us and still have significant influence.” – Rick Joyner
God is rising up a powerful economic army to do business with power, love and a sound mind. The evangelist and the prophet are making way for the apostle and the teacher. It is time for the ecclesia to inhabit the words of the prophetic by putting them in action. We will experience a micro-church revolution in the marketplace that needs to be supported by the local church. Prophets, pastors and evangelists, the revival you have enabled is ushering in reformation of many awaiting apostles and teachers to empower revolution. The church will be anchored in love as the bride of Christ should be but will also have a reach deep into the marketplace. Business is economically woven throughout society and is a covert pathway for God’s love as it follows those economic threads. Marketplace miracles will follow both in lives and in business. New converts because of the micro-church will need the local church partnership to disciple and equip. This partnership will birth a perpetual spirit of revival. We will see business built and a new kingdom influenced economy, a revolution born from revival. (Originally Published June 23, 2017)