Well here we are traveling along our Lenten Journey of Faith.  I pray that you have been intentional about seek Jesus and reading God’s Word during this time.  For I believe with all my heart that what the church needs, what each one of us needs is a personal revival, a breathing the breath of God, being saturated with God, a work of God’s Spirit in us.

            What is revival to you?

For some of us, the word revival provokes images of sawdust trails, emotional outbursts, off-key singing, finger-pointing preaching, and hell-fire praying.  But the revival I’m talking about – the revival God is calling you and me to experience – is something completely different.  It’s authentic, personal revival.

            A major, national newsmagazine recently ran a cover story on spirituality in America.  The writer reported that spirituality, the impulse to communicate with the Divine, is thriving.  The article stated that 75 percent of Americans say that a very important reason for their faith is to forge a personal relationship with God and that if you feel God within you, and then the important question is settled.  The rest is just details.  The writer concluded that the world is filled with hungry people, looking for a deeper relationship with God.

            My prayer for you during this Lenten journey is that you will experience an authentic, deeper, richer relationship with God in a life-changing, fire-blazing personal revival.  The pathway to doing this is in knowing God with our heart.

            Coach Tom Landry stated that during his career he came across many good athletes – but very few great ones.  He said the difference between a good athlete and a great one is eighteen inches – the distance from the head to the heart.  Good athletes have exceptional ability and a thorough understanding of the game, but a great athletes have heart – a passion to play that drives them to selfless sacrifice, brutally long hours of practice, undivided focus, and ultimately, to achieve extraordinary accomplishments.

            I believe the difference between a good Christian and a Great one is the same eighteen inches – the distance from the head to the heart.  We know Jesus died on the Cross to save us, but we’re really not sure from what, although we have prayed and asked Him to come into our heart.  And we know going to church is the right thing to do and makes us feel good.  And Spiritual gifts?  Aren’t they what we exchange at Christmas?

            If we are honest, even though we’re authentic Christians, we would say that although we don’t know much, the little we do know is more about God thane actually knowing God Himself.  We seem to have a working knowledge of God in our heads, but do we also seem to lack heart.  Heart for His Word, for prayer, for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for a lost and dying world, for each other, for Jesus?

            Why is it that we can be passionate about our favorite sports team, or a job promotion, or a dreamed of vacation, or the latest weight-loss plan, but we don’t have that same passion about the things of God?

            I believe the answer is that there is more to knowing God than just head knowledge alone.  I believe the kingdom of God is desperate for churches that are filled, not with good Christians, but filled with great ones – Christians whose knowledge of God has made the eighteen-inch drop from our heads to our hearts.  I believe we need a fresh vision of God and I pray that like Isaiah our Lenten journey will bring us to that fresh vision of Jesus Christ on the throne of our lives!
A Servant of Christ, Pastor Thom