Why have Revival? Why not Renewal?

These are the words from Rev. Duane Eastman, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lamar, CO. This was printed in the FBC Lamar newsletter The Messenger.

Last year Myrna and I enjoyed a rare Christmas with our grandsons in West Virginia. We never dreamed that we would celebrate Christmas in Lamar in 2007. It's a new experience for us, and that is good! That's because Christmas is about how God comes to us in the new.

There is a lot of talk these days in evangelical churches about revival. When I asked a colleague what he meant by "revival" he responded by expressing a longing for a movement of the Spirit of God as in the days of Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, or Billy Graham. Sometimes we long for the "good old days" of the Spirit, as if God is not as powerful now as He was in the past. It is a spiritual nostalgia myth to believe that if we go back to doing things as they were done back then, we will experience the same kind of spiritual awakening, i.e. "the good old days." But for the believer, the good days of the Spirit of God are always right now.

The word "revival" does not appear in the Bible. "Revive," as in "to resuscitate," appears only four times-all Old Testament references. To return to the nostalgic past has never, ever been the way of God. While it is the natural way of mankind it has always been a barrier to our experiencing the new things God is doing. The Israelites failed to see Jesus for who he was, because of nostalgia. They were trapped into seeing the status with God defined by the "good old days" of temple worship, military might of David's throne, and possession of the land. That nostalgic memory blinded them to the vision of God's kingdom and purposes as fulfilled in the church.

In contrast to "revival," the word "new" appears nearly 200 times in the Bible with significant emphasis on concepts such as new hear, new covenant, new people, new way, new teaching, new wine, new wine skins, new commands, new creation, new self, new order, new name, new birth, new heaven, new earth, new song, etc. In Revelation 21:5 is the final proclamation: He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Obviously, to understand the church in the paradigm of the old, as a modern equivalent of ancient Israel, is a critical mistake. in the same way, to try to return the church to what it was in the past is also a mistake. too many things are new. Virtually every facet of our social structure (government, education, community, family, corporate business, etc.) has gone through a major revolution. Accordingly, it seems that instead of praying for "revival" we should be seeking "renewal."

To suggest the use of "renewal" instead of "revival" is more than semantics. It is a critical awareness of the radical nature of the New Covenant initiated by the birth of Christ. He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Renewal is a return, but not to the forms or formulas of the past. It is a return to daily dependency on the Holy Spirit, who always leads God's people into the realm of the "new mandate." Renewal means that the focus is not on the way things were, but on the humbled hear and transforms it into a heart for God. Renewal means to trust God, not our habits. Renewal means to respond to all situations for a heart that is motivated by love.

It seems appropriate that only a week after we celebrate the birth of the Savior that we enter a new calendar year.

Love lives and thrives on the vibrant, fresh edge of life.

James and I went to a marriage seminar called "Marriage - How to Make a Good One Better" the other day and we really, really liked it. It gave us a lot of valuable information and has made us understand each other so much better.

Rev. Dr. Ray Lincoln was speaker at the seminar. The words that I am going to put here are his, and something I suggest everyone who is married take to heart. I must suggest if you ever have a chance to take one of Dr. Lincoln's seminars, you should do it!

Nutrients to Grow Your Love-
The Way to a Better Relationship
The growing edge of your mind is the exciting frontier of your own world. It is where ideas are born and love is kept fresh and new. So, keep mentally fresh; learn more about yourself, your spouse, your world, and God. Read; study; get informed; explore! Fill your inner life with a lot of joy-passion and/or excitement-and it will change the nature of your outer world, keeping love vibrant. Live on the edge!

Dull people are never good lovers. Dull minds are poor meeting grounds for hungry souls starved by the routine boredom of daily grind. Freshen up the cutting edge of your life. Put some thrill back into living. Do exciting things; explore the vast unknown world out there that holds the power to renew your spirit and your mind. God gave it to us for this very purpose and we pay a price when we neglect to enjoy God's gifts. Love is not an emotion to be protected lest it be lost. It is a living, fragile dynamic to be risked in the thrills and bumps of life.

Grow your life and love; the alternative is deadly! Don't get so caught up in the demands of living and working that life itself passes you by and routine causes you to lose life's sparkle.

Learning is the potent wind of change that blows over our lives stimulating us all to new things - making us fresh and exciting in all we do. Stop learning and the edges of your life begin to shrink and the green leaves turn brown as you fade into a long autumn of diminishing motivation. In this context it is not without meaning that this withering is called "fall." The learning edge of life is where our attention must be focused if we are to achieve a refreshingly exciting love.

One more important thought. Love is a life force. Any life force that is not nurtured and fed with atrophy and die. For loves ultimate health feed it a variety of nutrients.

Those nutrients are:

• Joy
• Hope
• Peace
• Kindness
• Patience
• Understanding
• Longsuffering (This smooths out the rough places. God's health packet contains a supply of it for emergencies)
• Goodness
• Loads of appreciation and love shown in what we do, and always in our words, is dessert for the human spirit.

Other nutrients are found in the Bible!

• 1 Corinthians 13
• Romans 12
• Philippians 4

Dove commercial... "Evolution"

14 Down... 93 to go...

I stepped on the scale again this morning and it showed me 248. I think that is possibly the lowest since I started WW. I have such a long way to go, 93 pounds in fact. I am trying not to get down on myself. I am not losing as fast as I would like. I know a lot of it is my fault for not eating the correct things. I have been sticking to the points, but I haven't been eating the veggies and fruits like I am supposed to. I have been drinking pop too. That, I stopped yesterday. NO MORE POP FOR ME! Hopefully that will help. I am pretty sure it will. I will be drinking more water and less calories!

Anyway, I am going to go swimming here in a little bit, so I have to actually get out of my pajama's. I'll post more later.

Today....

So, I stepped on the scale this morning and was back down under 250! I weighed 249. Only 1 pound under, but that is ok... its not 250!

I also went swimming today and started out by swimming a 500 freestyle. I have never done a 500 in under 10 minutes, even when I was a lifeguard at the Rec. Center in Gillette (which was a requirement). I did it today in 8 minutes!! I was soooo happy. I wasn't even that tired after it, so I kept swimming and did another 500. The second one was breaststroke and backstroke. Swimming just feels so good.

I also took my measurments this morning and was down another inch. I am down 11 inches since starting. I was only down 1/2 an inch in my waist and 1/2 inch in my hips since Nov. 9. Not a lot, but some. Hopefully I start losing more! Anyway... that's all for now.

Edited picture of the Fischer family

Thanksgiving Did NOT Agree With Me!!

Yuck... Yuck... Yuck. I even tried to be good for Thanksgiving. But alas, I have gained three pounds back in the last two weeks! I don't like it. I think it must have been the rolls. I made too many and ate them instead of eating pie. Oh well.

Thanksgiving was good. We went over to our friends house and had Thanksgiving dinner at about 1:00 then we hung around there all day and had seconds at about 7:00pm. It was so nice. There was three of us couples and we each chipped in to make stuff. I made rolls, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. I almost had a big oops before we went to dinner. I was boiling the mashed potatoes and almost boiled them down to potato soup. I tried to drain them and they just wouldn't drain. I ran upstairs and was upset and told James I ruined the potatoes. He dumped them into a bowl from the strainer and salvaged them, luckily. Otherwise we were going to have to stop by King Soopers to pick up some of theirs. But we didn't have too. They were actually good. I was just trying to do too many things at once.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. I only had one serving of everything except the rolls. And I really didn't eat too many of those. I did not have pie either. I don't like pumpkin pie and they also had a french silk pie that I don't like so I didn't have pie! I still gained weight though. I think I am not drinking enough water. In fact, I am pretty sure I am not drinking enough water.

Today I am starting over again. I logged my weight in on my Weight Watchers thing and I lowered my daily allowance of points from 32 to 29. We'll see if that helps. I need to be eating better too. I also have not been exercising as much. James and I did go for a 5 mile walk before Thanksgiving dinner. But the week before that the Rec Center was closed so I couldn't go swimming. Then I forgot to go swimming last week. Monday I was going to go, but I had to go pick up Jet from the Vet at noon. I know, excuses, excuses.

I did exercise a bunch last night. I was watching The Biggest Loser (such an inspiring show) and I exercise during the whole 2 hour show. I was running in place, jumping, sit ups, push ups, and I used some cans of soup as weights for bicep curls, flys, and a couple of other arm work outs. I hope to so that a little bit more! Anyway, I will quite rambling now!

You are Not What You Do...

This is taken from my Bible… the comments in it are written by people at Zondervan… here is some that I really liked.

“But now, This is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’” Isaiah 43:1

Regardless of what society or your family tells you (or even what you may secretly tell yourself), you are not the sum total of your pedigree, resume and credentials. You have one identity in life upon which you should rest all your aspirations: You are a daughter (or son) of God. That’s all. But how much that “all” entails!

• You are unconditionally accepted—not because you earned it, but because of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• Your past is forgiven (2 Corinthians 5:17).
• You have a promising future (Jeremiah 29:11).
• He will never turn you away (John 6:37).
• You are loved as you are and not as you should be (Jeremiah 31:3).
• You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)

Do you believe God wants an intimate relationship with you, not another impressive audition? The Bible’s revelation to the over-achiever is this: There is nothing more for you to “do” to earn God’s favor; Christ has already done it all. And because of the Cross (not by anything you’ve done), you are entitled to a promotion you didn’t earn, favor you didn’t seek, a status beyond your wildest expectations and confidence in the court of the King. The world will try to point to what you do in order to define your worth—as if a salary, title or home address could ever encapsulate the wonder of a person’s value. Remember, it’s not who you are or what you do but whose you are. And you belong to the Almighty God.

Other Readings

Psalm 46:10
John 1:12
Ephesians 1:5

Keep House for the Lord

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the LORD ‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.’” Haggai 1:7-9

Housework! I hate the word. Actually, loathe is probably the optimal word. I do not like to dust, vacuum, clean the toilets, or even do the dishes. But, like I told my sister the other day, I do the housework because it keeps everyone happy. I notice that things go so much smoother around my house when it is clean. My husband comes home happy and we can go out, have fun on a Saturday, instead of doing the work that I should have done during the week.

My piano students even notice when I don’t clean the house. They are five and seven years old and if I haven’t dusted in a week, or two, they point out that the piano feels funny (aka dusty). My student last night was even drawing pictures in the dust when I went to answer the phone. I was so embarrassed. I wanted a do-over. I wanted to be able to dust and get my house cleaned before they came over. But, I did not spend my time wisely, and the housework went undone.
Do you ever wonder what God thinks of your house? Is it pleasing to the Lord’s eye? Does it have too much “stuff” that you never use? Could that “stuff” be given to someone who has never had something like it? Or, is your house falling apart? Do you keep the floors, walls, ceilings clean and void of cracks and holes?

Have you thought about your church in the same way that you think about your own house? Your church should be God’s house. Does the Lord’s house get the same respect as your own?
This past Sunday, November 11, 2007, was Stewardship Sunday around the ABCUSA. Many people spent the month prior to Sunday thinking and praying about what they can do and give to their church to keep it running and out of debt. Then they made pledges and gave what they could to their church. According to ABCUSA General Secretary Roy Medley, United Mission (UM) giving is leveling off from its sharp decline, but is not near stopping in its decline. Giving in the local church usually, but not always, reflects the UM giving.

If you decided to give to your church in this next year, did you do it with the idea in mind that your church is God’s house? I know that if I, and all others in my church, gave comparably as much to God’s house as we spent on our own houses, in “housework” and in money, our church would not lack funds or workers for special projects and other “housekeeping.” I know very few people who actually like doing housework, but I do know that not enough people pitch in to do the housework for God.

Take time to speak to the Lord. Listen to what the needs are for the house in which God lives. It may not be money; it may be volunteering to teach, filling in for a sick janitor, or helping repair a leak in the roof. Whatever it may be, take time to do God’s house work. Take pride in where the Lord lives. Don’t let God’s house become something less than your own house. The care you put into the house of God will translate to visitors as care for the members and people of the church.

Prayer: Lord, help us to listen for the call for help. We know You take pride in Your house and Your people, so help us do the same. In your precious name, Amen.