Another

British Invasion

15.  Another British Invasion

 

A revival is a restaging of a former hit play at a later date.  New material may be added.  A revival meeting is [also] a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a religious body and to gain new converts.[92]

 

“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit.  I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. 

I reply, ‘The Beatles did.’”[93]

 

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”[94]

 

Vicki took an eight-month break from formal journaling but didn’t stop writing.  For example, while I was packing for a mission trip to Africa, she put a memorable note in my Bible that I discovered my first night away from home.  She was also placing more sticky notes on our bathroom mirror.  Notes like:

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat” (Lily Tomlin, 1939-), and “The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children.”  (Clarence Darrow, 1857-1938)

She started journaling again on June 6, 1996:

God is good, and His blessings are many!  For example, TAG is growing!  We have 300+ people attending now, and we have 20-30 women regularly attending W.O.W. 

God is leading me to look at the great revivals that are happening in Florida and South America in order to see what lays the foundation for a supernatural … and much needed … move of God.  I believe, as does Lowell, that the time is NOW for TAG to prepare for the outpouring of God’s Spirit that He showed Lowell He wanted to do all the way back in 1986 – when Lowell had the vision for Trinity (10 years ago!).

 

In November of 1995 Vicki and I had adopted as our New Year theme, “Let’s make 1996 a year we experience personal revival.”

What do you think of when you hear the word “revival?”  Elmer Gantry? 

Elmer Gantry is a 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis.  It tells the story of a young, narcissistic, womanizing college athlete who, upon realizing the power, prestige, and easy money that being an evangelical preacher can bring, pursues his “religious” ambitions with great relish, contributing to the downfall, even death, of key people around him as the years pass.  Although he continues to womanize, is often exposed as a fraud, and frequently faces a complete downfall, Gantry is never fully discredited and always manages to emerge triumphant and to reach ever-greater heights of social status.  The novel ends as the Rev. Gantry prays for America to be a “moral nation” and simultaneously admires the legs of a new choir singer.[95]

Maybe Lewis’ fictitious character is the reason many people in our country believe a revival is a combination of “hell, fire and brimstone preaching” and an emotionally unstable audience.  Maybe, at a subconscious level, people think of revivals (in the religious sense) as something to be avoided because they associate them with phony, tearful televangelists always begging for money.

When Vic and I talked about revival, we saw it as a positive thing – the only true antidote for all the hypocrisy and dysfunction that eventually infects Christ’s Church as it operates on this fallen planet.  Right or wrong, we used the words revival and “renewal” interchangeably.  We defined both as the collision of God’s HOLY Spirit with the earthy and worldly habits of backslidden[96] Christ-followers.  We believed that when the Holy Spirit moved in a group of God’s children, impurities would come to the surface, repentance would take place, and the spiritual life of the affected people would move into a higher dimension and a more mature level. 

Vicki and I were reading about previous and contemporary revivals.  We were praying for one to come to Trinity, and Richmond for that matter.  If no one else did, she and I wanted and needed revival.  We came to believe that we couldn’t wait for someone else to be revived first.   We earnestly began to pray for personal renewal.

Lowell and I agreed to fast and pray, asking God to reveal to us the areas we each need to grow so that we will be completely surrendered to Him.  I believe that great things will begin to happen this summer.

Ron Hanson spoke last Sunday night, and it was very anointed.  His message was directed mostly to the youth of TAG, but Lowell and I were touched deeply.

“… To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48 – “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”)

Lord, help us both to value and appreciate Your gifts, and give us strength to serve You to the end.  (Luke 12:4 – “I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.”)

It’s so exciting to see Chris sold out to God.  He is going on his first mission trip to Washington, D.C. in August.  I know it will have a great impact.

 

June 15, 1995

(During our Florida vacation)  God is doing so much in our lives right now.  Lowell and I are both sensing such an assurance that He is on the verge of sending a great move of His Spirit to TAG.  He’s been preparing our people and us for what He is going to do.  He wants us to be a part of it and participate in it, but first our hearts have to be seeking after Him.  WE have to be serious about putting aside “our agenda” in order to fulfill “His agenda.”  We have to humble ourselves in prayer before Him and ask Him to search our hearts and cleanse us from anything “unclean.”  Then we will be in a position to be used by Him to accomplish His agenda (His purposes) at TAG and in our own family.

There is a hunger for renewal and revival in the women’s ministry, men’s group, and in the Youth.

God has been revealing Himself to Lowell in new and exciting ways.  His trip to California with Gene Norton was very eventful, spiritually.  God seems to be preparing us for something very significant.  I actually have a sense that I am about to start accomplishing what God created me to do.  It’s as if all the training I’ve had up to this point is about to come together in a time and place where God is saying, “The time is now.  I am going to accomplish a great and mighty thing, and I’m going to use you in it.”

I feel a boldness growing inside me that I’ve never felt before.  But first, I know there are many areas in me that He needs to purge and clean.  Some of them I already know about.  Others He’ll reveal to me.

(1) Repent of my conditional love for people – I only love a select group of people that meet my standard of worthiness.  I have little or no love for people who have nothing to offer me.

(2) Repent of my lack of concern for lost souls – I don’t seem to care that people are headed for a lost eternity (hell) … people that I know.  I don’t take personally His command to “go into all the world and preach the Good News.”

(3) Repent of my love for privacy – I’m only willing to open myself up to people in a very controlled environment.  I don’t like to be inconvenienced by people.  My free time is very protected, to a fault.  I need to be willing to give more of myself to other – for the Kingdom’s sake.

 

While Vicki was preparing her heart for renewal something happened that neither she nor I expected.   We had been praying for my sister Claudette and her husband for years.  Claudette and Gene had, after graduation from Bible college, had taken three positions at three different churches in three states in about three years.  Each move was a disaster.  Dysfunctional pastors led all three churches.  In all three cases the weaknesses, deceptions, and failings came to light I no time.  Claudette and Gene hit the wall.  Despair and disillusionment derailed their church careers.  “Three strikes and you’re out” was their reason for going into secular work.  We couldn’t blame them.  We’d have done the same thing.

What followed their disillusionment, however, was a dreadful decision.  They tossed the whole idea of Church.  The hypocrisy present in all three experiences led them to surmise that the whole Church – around the world – was a stinky sham.  Like so many others have done when offended by bogus, two-faced Christians, Claudette and Gene turned their backs on Christ.  Because the Church was faulty, they presumed Jesus was impotent, or worse – not all He claimed to be.

Unfortunately, Vicki and I knew many people who had done the very same thing.  That’s why the next journal entry was so special.

June 17 and 18, 1995

God is so BIG!  So wonderful.  His timing is always perfect.  We’ve been praying for Claudette and Gene for years, and this Sunday (Father’s Day), Claudette publicly gave her life back to God … and she did it at Trinity’s altar!  Thank You, Lord for Your faithfulness!

God is moving.  Revival is coming.  Lowell said today’s service was the best yet.  I want to be used by God in this revival.

Here I am, stranded for three hours in Charlotte, North Carolina’s airport.  What do You want me to pray for, Lord?  Where do you want my passion(s) to be?  Who can I best minister to?

I feel like God spoke to me, and so I’m listing what I think I heard:  Women, complacent, lukewarm Christians, God wants people with hungry hearts; people that long for purity and holiness.  He wants US to see the lost as He does.  He wants us to love the lost as He does.  He wants us to win the lost … by representing Him well (which we’re not doing).  He wants us to convince the lost that He is gracious and kind and forgiving.  IF WE DON’T, WHO WILL?

 

We were soon to have another special experience – an encounter as a result of our concerted prayer for revival.  An encounter with a Scouse accent.

One reason Vicki and I were so compatible was because we both loved The Beatles.  We didn’t like every lyric, and we didn’t buy into the spiritual search that led John Lennon and George Harrison to transcendental meditation and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  We didn’t always agree with their world-view.  We just enjoyed their music.  Vicki loved this one John Lennon quote: “There’s a great woman behind every idiot.”

Vicki and I were surprised when we came to love Liverpool for another reason.  I was invited to attend a breakfast meeting of Richmond-area pastors on Friday, June 23rd, to hear the story of an English pastor.  Initially I blew off the invitation, claiming a full schedule, and thinking I wasn’t quite ready to deliver my Sunday morning sermon.  Honestly, I just wasn’t interested in hearing another story.  But the closer I got to that Friday, the more I felt I should go.

It turned out Dave Connolly, the guest speaker for the morning, had a fantastic story!  As I listened I was captivated by his humility, openness, his Scouser mannerisms, and the refreshingly direct way he communicated.  Funny thing – during his talk we looked at each other in a way that said, “I’m sure I know you, but I don’t from where.”

After he finished, Dave came over and sat right next to me to eat his breakfast.  After his food came he asked, “Do we know each other?”  I laughed and said, “I’m sure we don’t, but I sensed a connection.”  From that moment until today, Dave and I have been close friends.

I never invited anyone to speak at Trinity unless I knew him or her well, and I was sure they wouldn’t teach some kind of heresy.  However, during my breakfast with Dave I kept getting this sense that he was supposed to speak at TAG.  I ignored the inner voice for a while, and then surprised myself when I blurted out, “Do you have a speaking obligation for this coming Sunday morning?  I’d love to have you come to Trinity and share your story with our people.”

In a way, I felt relieved when Dave said, “Sorry, but I’m booked Sunday morning.”  For an instant I thought what might have been the voice of God was something else … just an impulse … when Dave continued, “I do have Sunday evening open.”

June 26, 1995

Lowell invited a team of people from Liverpool, England, to minister at TAG last night, and the power of God came!  The best way for me to describe what happen is to say that God moved – mightily.  The worship time was unlike any we had experienced at TAG – it was so focused on God, and our love for Him.  Many lives were changed.

After the service we met with Dave Connolly, the leader of the team and one of the lead pastors at Frontline Centre in Liverpool.  He spoke to us like he was a prophet, and he said some amazing things.  He told Lowell and me that he believed we “… are going to have a unique and significant revival” at Trinity because the people were so hungry for it, and “… God loves to visit spiritually hungry people.” (That’s exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6  - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”)  He said that we might be weeping one minute and laughing the next.  Dave also said that Lowell would have “a very significant impact in the years ahead.”  (That rocked Lowell, and embarrassed him a little – he’d much rather stay in the background and watch God do His thing than be facilitating God’s move.)  Dave just said that Lowell should have a core of people around him that will pray for him as God uses him. Dave went on to say that we would experience something like what was happening in Argentina and Pensacola, Florida (and he didn’t know that I had been reading extensively about both of those revivals!!).  He repeated that God would do “a new thing” at TAG.

In spite of Lowell’s initial hesitancy, he told Dave we were open to whatever God sends, and that we don’t want to be held back “by preconceived ideas of what God would do.”

Dave went on to say that if we maintained our passion for God, we would have compassion for the lost – which is exactly what Lowell preached about yesterday morning!

So many of the things Dave said were IDENTICAL to the things God has been saying to Lowell and me over the last few months.  It really raised our confidence in Dave (as a person who heard God’s voice) because most of what he said was confirmation of what we have believed for, and hearing from God ourselves.

He told me that I was to disciple women – teach them to pray, to admit their sins to one another and God, and to seek God with all their hearts.  (Dave didn’t know I was the leader of W.O.W.!)

Last night Dave asked me if I would be his prayer partner so that he could pray for women.  He felt very strongly that most of the time he wasn’t supposed to touch women while he prayed because he didn’t want anything he did to distract from what God wanted to do, or be misinterpreted in any way. 

I have had this strong desire to be used by God to touch people, but last night God blew my mind.  I have never seen anything like it.  Someone (an individual or a husband/wife couple) would be standing in the front of the church, waiting to be prayed for.  Dave and I would go over to them, and most of the time, ask them what they wanted from God.  (Sometimes we’d just pray for them.)  Several times when we prayed for women, Dave had me touch the woman – he wouldn’t touch her – and she would close her eyes while Dave prayed.  THEN Dave would softly, almost imperceptibly, touch the top of my hand … and the woman would just fall gently backward!  There was no way they could know when Dave touched my hand.  It was amazing, and it was God!

 

Vicki and I were in total agreement.  What we had witnessed and been a part of was a “God Thing.”  And we wanted more.  In fact, two words became our prayer:  “More, Lord.”

Lowell hired a secretary this morning.  God’s timing couldn’t be better – it’s always perfect.  If and when what Dave said was coming comes, things are going to change radically at TAG, and Lowell will be consumed by this time of renewal. God is preparing a way to free up more of his time.

What is my desire?  Help me not get in the way.  Help me to be open to anything You speak to me.  Help me to earnestly seek You every day, and to have my love for God translate into a love and passion for the lost.  I want to personally have a part in bringing souls to Christ.

 

Every day God was dropping His thoughts into our hearts.

June 27, 1995

Luke 22:31 and 54 – Jesus knew that Peter was weak, and that he would disown Him, but He loved him anyway, and encouraged him to come back even stronger after his denial.

In the same way, I believe God wants Lowell and me to love and encourage those at Trinity who will disappoint us and even deny that what we’re doing is from God.

 

Two more journal entries contained significant insights and heart-felt sacrificial promises.  Vicki wrote on July 1, 1995:

I asked God today to help me not be jealous of the time Lowell needs to be spending at Trinity in the days ahead.  The reason I prayed this is because there have been so many times I have made it difficult for him to do ministry because I wanted more of his time.  But … I know that if this move of God’s Holy Spirit is to come – and I’ve been praying for it – it will require more time from Lowell. 

God spoke to my heart and said, “You wouldn’t even have Lowell right now if I hadn’t given him back to you”  [She was referring to the fifteen months of depression/mid-life/spiritual crisis, and my subsequent recovery].  God told me that one of the reasons He gave Lowell back to me was because I had listened to Him, and obeyed Him when He told me to love Lowell as He did – unconditionally.  That was a key to his healing.

Then He told me that I shouldn’t be afraid; that if I would listen to Him every day, He would tell me what to do.  Each day, from now on, is going to be important … significant.  I must listen to Him every day.

I’m feeling overwhelmed by God’s love right now, and His compassion for us both.  He has decided to pour out His Spirit on our people.  He will not leave us alone, to cope with things on our own.

Thank You, Lord.

 

July 7, 1995

God is encouraging me to see through “eyes of faith,” and not the eyes of my flesh.  (I read Luke 18:35-43)  Like the blind man in that story, when Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” – I want to reply, “Lord, I want to SEE!”  I want to see things differently … through Spirit-eyes or spiritual eyes.  I want to see what He sees, allowing Him to unfold the plans and dreams He has for me, our family, and TAG, and have me see it all in perfect focus; see the world as He sees it; see the love and compassion He has for the lost. 

I CAN see that He’s not going to do this new thing at TAG because we’re worthy.  What He wants to do can never be based on our performance – as in, “I’ve worked hard for this, therefore You MUST do what I want You to do!”  How can we ever be worthy of God’s favor?  He’s not OUR SERVANT!

God’s going to do what He’s decided to do at Trinity, for His Kingdom’s sake, and for His glory.  All He does is NOT FOR US, even though we benefit.  God’s move at our church, or anywhere for that matter, has NOTHING to do with our abilities/worthiness/performance, etc., and very much to do with His sovereignty and His grace-filled love.  He certainly wants us to be willing participants.  He wants us to desire His presence.  And He did say, “If you seek Me, I will be found by you, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)  So we can seek Him – that’s our part.  But He is the one doing everything, not us.

Somehow I’ve got to understand this, and get it.  This line of thinking has got to become part of me.  I’m not supposed to worry about how He’s going to do what He wants to do.  I just need to seek Him – seek His counsel every day as to what He wants us to do.  If I am faithful to ask, He will be faithful to answer.

Matthew 21:22 – “And everything you ask for in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”  Wow!