Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/94

Contributor - Case Koolhaas

Title - What Does Biblical Renewal Look Like?

Topic - Renewal

One doesn't need to do very much reading about the church in the world, to realize that the picture is changing rapidly. Amid stories of the decline of some denominations in North America, we read how other denominations have doubled in membership in the past ten years. We also read stories of unbelievable church growth in other parts of the world. In China there are some thirty five thousand conversions per day. According to one source it is estimated that there are over one hundred seventy thousand conversions per day in the world.

For us in Canada, these statistics are hard to believe. Yet, they force us to ask some hard questions. Is God pleased with the state of the Church in Canada, or are we part of a badly warped picture of the Church God intended us to be?

Last fall I was privileged to spend two weeks in Argentina to study church growth and evangelism. Through that experience I have come to see God's power and greatness as truly "awesome". If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He is, then certainly what happened in the book of Acts, and today is going on in South America, China, Korea, and Africa, can also happen in Canada. When I see how Christ brings to conversion half the population, sometimes more, of evangelized cities in Argentina, then I know that the Church in Canada stands in need of renewal and revival.

What does renewal or revival look like? Historically we see a number of key active ingredients. A few of them are:

1. A spirit of repentance and brokenness before God, and before one another.

2. A desire for holiness.

3. Extended times of prayer and fasting, individually and corporately.

4. A spirit of humility and servanthood.

5. A deep concern for those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

6. Unity of the pastors in a community, demonstrated in praying, working and worshipping together.

7. An emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts

8. Understanding and applying the Biblical principles of spiritual warfare.

Is what is happening Biblical? That is an interesting question. Are the stories which we read in the Book of Acts Biblical? Peter preaches in the temple and three thousand people repent and are baptized. Peter and John heal a crippled beggar in the name of Jesus and a couple of thousand more people join the church. 'The Apostle Paul also heals a crippled man and does many other extraordinary miracles.' In fact, we see the believers not only praying for the ability to speak the word of God with boldness, but also asking God to stretch out His hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders.' Then there are all those references to being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.'

Is it Biblical that those same events are happening again (or still) almost two thousand years later? Living in North America we may insist that the more dramatic gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped after the Apostolic Age. However, spending two weeks in Argentina and reading what is happening in the rest of the world, has convinced me that the Lord continues to give His spiritual gifts to the Church just as He did during the Apostolic Age.

The Apostle Peter quotes the prophet Joel' who said that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on all people. If we are still living in the last days should we then be surprised that God is fulfilling that prophecy?

How should we pray? Should we also pray before the Sunday morning worship service the prayer of the early believers: "Lord, stretch out you hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders" and then enter into worship with an expectation that the Lord will fill us with His Spirit?' A year ago I would have said "I don't think so!" But now that I have been healed, seen others healed, witnessed other great miracles, and come to understand that Jesus commanded His disciples to heal the sick" and do greater things than He did", I ask myself, "Who am I to say 'No'?

What can we do to bring renewal to my congregations? Pray for yourself, your fellow church members and pastors, that the Holy Spirit will bring an increased conviction of God's desire to pour out His Spirit upon the churches of our cities and villages. Pray for a holy sense of dissatisfaction with the lack of evidence of God's power in our personal and church ministries. For some, that dissatisfaction will be heightened by the lack of unity among churches. For others it will be driven by a deep concern for the lost. Many of us have long been troubled by our lack of spiritual power and our lack of boldness.

Perhaps the Lord has given you a sense of discontentment with an area in your own life. Begin to pray about that yearning in your heart. Ask the Lord to open your eyes. Spend time listening to God's Word as it applies to the concern the Lord has laid upon your heart. Ask Him to show you what to do and expect Him to direct you. Be open to being stretched to new ways of understanding and doing the work of His Kingdom.

A key ingredient in every renewal or revival movement in history is prayer. Individuals were moved to pray fervently. Such prayer often led to groups of people gathering for prayer. In South Korea the key to the revival is prayer. Thousands of believers get up at five o'clock in the morning to pray for the conversion of their neighbours; and the response to the Gospel in that country is truly miraculous. At our church, Emmaus Christian Fellowship of Langley, BC, the turning point came when, along with several other things, we began to meet for prayer on Saturday evening and Sunday morning before the worship service -- praying with a greater expectation for the Lord to fill us with His Spirit. All over North America pastors are joining together for "Prayer Summits" where they spend several days together with no other agenda except to pray for their city, its people and churches.

Pray for the unity of the pastors in your community. Jesus prayed for the unity of believers in His "High Priestly Prayer." That concern should be our high priority also. As I listened to pastors in Argentina and saw what God is doing there, I came to the conviction that a spirit of oneness in Christ among pastors is not just a nice option. It is a prerequisite of God before He will grant His blessing upon the congregations of a community. To act as if such unity is optional or impossible is a denial of Christ's teaching, a misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit's power and a rejection of what God is already doing in many parts of the world today.

The growing emphasis on spiritual warfare is new to our generation. Never before has this topic been studied so intensely by so many people. In Argentina, the awareness and application of spiritual warfare principles is a vital ingredient in the ongoing revival. That is why it is such an important place to study evangelism. Many global church leaders believe that the application of spiritual warfare principles is the key to a worldwide revival in our time.

Many Christians in North America seem to be oblivious to the fact that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Sad to say, the battles we fight are against fellow soldiers rather than against "...the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. " We need to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to teach and lead us in the battle against the "prince of this world"."

Finally, you need to go see and hear for yourself what God is doing. You may not be able to go to a foreign country, but you can work to make sure that your leaders go. As a newly formed Synod of Canada with a mandate for evangelism, we should insist that our leaders know first hand what God is doing to bring whole cities to a renewed spirit of evangelism. Would you like to see your pastor and elders renewed and filled with a new spirit of joy and awe for what God can do in your community? Then I urge you send them to the International Harvest Evangelism Institute in Buenos Aires this November. Here they will see the power of God in action. They will also be taught by outstanding men of God from around the world. I believe we have a duty to expose ourselves to experiences where the power of God is being demonstrated and then go home to pray and read the Bible in the light of what we have seen and heard.

John the Baptist, while in jail, wondered if Jesus was really the Messiah. So he sent his friends to find out. The response of Jesus should speak to us also: "Jesus replied, 'Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news preached to the poor." Signs and wonders are Jesus' calling card!

In our day many are turning to Eastern religions and cults because they see a Christianity that is anaemic and churches that are focused on programs and buildings, rather than on the power of the Holy Spirit to "...convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement." Jesus said"God so loved the world...... and His heart is broken that so many people of the world still do not know that He loves them. Renewal and revival are essential if Canada is to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour as a nation and live for His Glory. The Lord Jesus delights to bless His Church in this way. Rise up O people of God! Have done with lesser things! Give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of kings!

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