Judges 2:10
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had for Israel.”
There is a cry in our Nation. A cry from the youth of our Nation. WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE? Fatherless, Forgotten and Lost in their identity.
From working with youth within the Schools and my Community, I am amazed at the amount of Christian Kids I’ve met that have never truly encountered Jesus. Yes, they claimed to be ‘Saved’ but their lives and beliefs are a far cry from that...
From growing up in the Church, I know what it is like being young and feeling the invisible war between the world and the church. The Church was always seen as playing second best to the world as "the most exciting place to be". I’ve seen youngsters come to the house of God out of duty, never really experiencing the reality of God. Their REAL desire was to experience the thrills of the World; their belief was that they didn’t fit in Church. Therefore they never stayed when they got old enough to leave.
To solve this problem within our Churches, many Churches came up with a logical solution. Maybe, if we try to make the Church look more like the world, maybe just maybe, the kids would come. And so they did...
This then gave birth to louder music, lights, smoke machines and the screens era. We enhanced the Church experience, and yes....the results were tremendous. We saw youth flock to the Churches.
Finally, the church was Attractive. It was a place to be. A place that we could finally find appealing. But the attraction was no longer a God who was worth giving up your life for, but rather a church that reassembled a club.
Don’t get me wrong. I am all for excellence and relevance in the house of God. But somewhere in trying to be relevant we lost the authentic potency of the Gospel. We’ve programmed a generation to be satisfied with a gospel that is diluted and miles behind what the early church was. A generation raised with no Glory but technology.
I had to search for this Glory. This search changed my life and unlocked my destiny. I pray that this blog will unlock yours too.
I always knew in my heart there was more. It went beyond the external comfortableness of church. A deep CRY from the CALLING of my HEART.
There must be more...
MY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
I remember the first time I experienced Holy Spirit “uncapped”. It shocked me. I had been in search of the real God, a supernatural God. I really wanted to know Him, in desperation for Him to change me, my thinking and set me free. I signed myself in for a supernatural school and decided to venture off into a new direction. I always read books on God’s Generals, my hunger was to experience God in that way. This school taught many peculiar things like Drinking in the spirit, laughing, prophecy, and hearing God’s voice. I also had never heard of the Fire of God before?? What was this?
When this hit my spirit, my rational mind was doing a hundred laps per hour. I didn’t understand what was happening, but my heart wanted more and more. I remember watching as my body was shaking under the power of GOD, like electrical currents streaming through my body. I was out of control, but didn’t want this feeling to ever stop. This Encounter changed my life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Yes, finally I found something more pleasurable than the world. This truth of the Holy Spirit I didn’t know existed.
Who was this God? I never knew this Person. He was so free, so wild, untameable, full of joy, uncontrollable, and powerful yet, at the same time, so gentle, so loving and kind.
This was not the God I had grown up with. God was always predictable. I knew always how He would move. You know...30min praise and worship, offering, word , altar call, lunch...or so I thought...
But this God could Not be controlled. He was not a Program. When He is around, things are Never boring, ordinary or predictable. Something new, something fresh IS ALWAYS bound to happen.
Is this all in the Bible you might ask?
DISCOVERING GOD
My experience with God did not line up with my Theology. And so, it was either God who was wrong or me. So I decided to search through my bible and church history. It is then that I realized that this experience was nothing NEW but rather a God who has never changed.
Shaking, laughing, rolling, visions, dreams, the fire of God, tongues, drunkenness in the spirit, prophecy and Spontaneous worship were seen throughout church history and scripture. There is so much evidence one can find about the moves of God and traits regarding revival. This was not something new but rather something forgotten. This was normal. In fact, these are the products of a life filled with the Holy Spirit.
MAJOR ON THE MAJORS NOT THE MINORS
It is then that I realized that the Church had forgotten Her identity. That is the reason why she had become unattractive. And that no matter how much make –up and beauty treatments she does. It won’t help her attract the Groom in showing up in her meetings, communities, schools, families and homes.
I have seen factors within our society that affect the spiritual awakening of our youth. Over this period of working with them in the Schools and Community, in music and worship, I’ve noticed a common trend in problems and stumbling blocks that prevent these kids from experiencing true revival in their lives.
One of the reasons is that we have a future generation who has not experienced who the Real God actually is. They know the music, the programs, the trends and bands but they don’t know this precious Holy Spirit.
The easiest and fastest way to bring true revival within our youth, schools and churches is to teach them how to surrender to the Holy Spirit – not trying to control Him and tell Him how to move, but allowing Him to move us.
It’s Cheaper, Faster and More effective. He leads to Holiness, Passion and a Genuine love for God. He is Addictive, Uncontrollable and is like Wildfire. He will spread beyond the borders of our Churches, theology and ideas. When He does it, it doesn’t take much to sustain it.
I’ve seen first-hand how just one Encounter with the Holy Spirit casts out depression from people in a moment. How asthma leaves their bodies. How the Fire of God ignites in them to seek and save the Lost.
This Move of God that we are seeing is Restoration. We are seeing God restore to us the Revelation of who He really is. It time for us to seek the God of the Bible. Our churches, communities and life must Resemble that of the Bible. It is the only way to save our Nations.
We must Return to our first love.