Update – Sun. June 29th
Morning service, Abundant Joy Fellowship, Tarentum, PA
Pastor – Greg Blythe
Pastor Greg and I go way back, all the way to the first time Teen Mania
brought the Acquire the Fire Convention to Pittsburgh. We were both
Youth Pastors back then and Diane and I and he and his wife
Cathy all became good friends. He had asked me months ago
to speak this weekend because he was going to
have to go to a wedding.
I asked Ben Baum to go with me because Diane couldn’t
as she was showing a house to someone after lunch. Ben and
I with Maggie (our Magellan Maestro GPS) headed out around 8am.
We arrived at AJF just in time to join in on the Pre-Service Prayer. I
knew the upcoming service was going to be awesome because
God visited us during this prayer time. I recognized that there
were people here that thought along the same lines concerning the
things of God as I did. Unity wasn’t something to be achieved, we
were already there. As David hungered and thirsted for God’s
Presence these folks were up to following God’s footprints
in His Word to arrive at the place where He is.
Greg’s head elder Bill Fergerson met us with a smile. He got me all
wired for sound, explained the way the service was going to go to me
and basically cut me loose. In the sanctuary I knew this was my kind of
church as they had removed the front pews so there would
be more space for ministry to take place.
The service began with some announcements and then Praise and
Worship began. They had several musicians on the platform, mostly
young people with a couple saints in my age category thrown in.
They did an awesome job bringing us into the Presence of the
One we were seeking. A young lady began playing a song on a
violin and you could just feel the spiritual level rise in the sanctuary.
They then introduced me and I began to share the message that I
felt God had put on my heart. I was thinking about this and I believe I
should give you the message from my outline and notes, then
I’ll tell you what happened. Here it is:
“Digging the Wells of Revival”
Pre-Intro. – Joel 2:28 is a verse I refer to a lot because I believe
that it is talking about the time we are in right now. The context
is a time when Israel is a nation and in her own land. It says that,
“In the last times God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh…”
In other words the last days are going to be a time of heightened
Spiritual activity. Using an analogy a friend used in a Saturation
Service we had once, “Sunlight is everywhere, it covers half the
entire earth at a time. It’s warm and helps the plants grow. If you take
a magnifying glass and concentrate that sunlight into a small dot, it’s
intensity will burn through metal.” God is everywhere, He is
“omnipresent”. There are times though when His Presence is
concentrated more one place than it is another. Right now there
is a healing revival taking place in Lakeland Florida with the
ministry of Todd Bently. One of the ear marks of this move of God
is the concentrated Manifest Presence of God. He is there in such
intensity that it’s discernible to the senses. People are getting
saved just by encountering God in these services. They are being
convinced and convicted of their need for Him simply by
experiencing His Presence. This is a well of revival that
has started flowing.
Introduction –
Gen. 26:18 “Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had
been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had
stopped them up after the death of Abraham…”
God’s Presence I will equate with fresh water
God loves to cause wells to spring up.
*(Many times in my notes I just put a phrase and when I am
speaking I elaborate on it. That’s why this message from my notes
may seem a little ‘awkward’. I’m not elaborating just giving you
my outline and some notes I put in the margin, I’m going to trust
the Holy Spirit to ‘elaborate’ on what need to be elaborated
on when you read it)
It can be shared. In our time places like Toronto, Pensacola, Smithton
Mo, Sunderland England, Melborne FL and currently Lakeland, FL
w/ Todd Bently. God opened wells of revival in these places and
people from all over the world came and drank if you will and took it
back with them. When God does this from everything
we’ve seen it’s transferable.
One thing that the “Philistines” represent in scripture is the “flesh”.
That carnal nature and that part of us that feels that we can do it all on
our own w/o God’s help.
Gal. 3:3 Paul is speaking and says, “Are you so foolish? Having
begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
God down thru the years made a lot of Spiritual wells flow in this area,
Katherine Khulman, John G. Lake and so many more that went before
us. This very church is old, it’s been here a long time. Only what’s
real endures. This place would have been turned into a coffee
house, restaurant or gas station if the seeds of what has taken
place here weren’t powerful. God caused many Spiritual wells
flow in this area and for some reason many have ceased to flow.
They are stopped up. They didn’t disappear. The source is the
same and I believe that it’s the time that’s different.
John 4: You are probably familiar with the story. Jesus encounters a
Samaritan woman at a well. He tells her of living water….
John 4:14-24 (esp. :23,24) Many have the truth down pat, aren’t
so clear about the Spirit. Jesus impresses her with a
word of knowledge about her marital situation.
God likes to impress people. – walking on the water – sent disciples
on ahead. He knew what He was going to do. Why did He do that?
He wanted them to know who they were dealing with. That there was
no one like Him or would ever be. Even the laws of nature were
under His authority
- water into wine – they had already drank all the wine they had.
He had a house full of drunk people. If they just needed something to
drink they had water there. Why did Jesus turn the water into wine
, (good wine)? He did it to impress upon them that He was no ordinary
Prophet and Teacher. He did it to show them that even the elements
obeyed His command and desire.
- well of revival starts flowing. Great sense of God’s Presence.
Heightened Spiritual activity. It impresses people. They sometimes
for the first time in their lives “know” that God is real. They
change their priorities and lifestyle.
Amos 9:11 “In that day (Israel in own land, never to be rooted out
again :15) I will raise up the fallen booth (tabernacle, tent) of
David, And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old.” Part of this prophecy deals
with what was the preeminent feature of the Tabernacle of David,
that being Praise and Worship. In these days we are living in a
new sound is coming, a cutting edge Praise and Worship that
is out of the throne room in heaven. The part of the prophecy
I want you to consider is that the Tabernacle is where the “Ark
of the Covenant” was at. God’s visible Presence was between
the wings of the Cherubim on the top of it. The Tabernacle was a
‘tent’. It moved around and the tribes of the nation of Israel were
camped all around it. We have here the picture of God’s
Presence in the midst of His people. I believe that is one aspect
of the rebuilding of the Tabernacle that God is restoring
through the opening of what I call “Wells of Revival”.
“Digging the Wells of Revival”
Hold on we are going to move fast now.
I) Re – Discover – Jer. 2:13 – 2 evils – forsaken Me the fountain of
living water, hewed cisterns that can’t hold water. (holding on to
what’s there, not seeking fresh) Living where God was (ba. In
the day) not seeking Him where He is now.
Isa. 43:18,19 “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder
things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will
spring forth, will you not be aware of it? I will even make a
roadway in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Not new source, seek same source in a new time.
Ecc. 1:9 “That which has been is that which will be, and that which
has been done is that which will be done…” I believe that rivers of
revival flowed here before. God says that He works in cycles.
“What goes around- eventually –comes around”
Isn’t original, God said it first.
II) Re – Position – 2 Cor. 3:17,18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom, And we who
with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being
transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Leaving the old behind. Freedom – position, Transformed – condition
III) Re – Dig – All about getting closer (getting all the junk out of the
way) – way to personal revival.
Rem. Isaac, he re-dug the wells of his father Abraham. In biblical
times dealing with wells I’m not really sure how they ascertained that
the spot where they dug actually had water down there. It’s easier,
almost guaranteed to be successful if you re-dig a well. You know
there was water there once. Just gotta remove
everything between it and you.
James 4:8 “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” (In the
same verse it continues) “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify
your hearts, you double minded.”
Come near – position Wash– condition
Being where God has opened a well of living water, where His
very Presence is concentrated causes people to change their
priorities. “Coming near to God will cause you to
have your focus totally on Him”
IV) Re – Vival – Breathing life into our spiritual life. Getting all the
junk out of the way can open the path to experiencing God in a
way you never have before. Being hungry for Him draws Him
close. It creates an atmosphere that He can’t resist.
Acts 3:18,19 – 1st repentance then refreshing
Acts 3 20,21 – Most of the prophecies have been or are in the
process of being fulfilled. Jesus is coming soon.
Holy Spirit – Urgency for God’s people to be a city on a hill
that can’t be hidden, to be the light of the world – bright witness.
We should be experiencing change in our spiritual lives.
“Ever increasing glory” implies powerful transformation.
At this point in the service I just asked if there was anyone
who wanted more of God in their life. I explained that God draws
close to the humble but resists the proud. It’s a humbling thing to
receive prayer and ministry. I said God will meet you here, He
said for those who hunger and thirst for Him He would fill.
People began coming up for prayer. For most of them I don’t
even touch them, I just have my hands toward them and ask God
for more. Sometimes if I feel led I place my hands on each side
of their face. God began moving, many overcome by the power
of God fell down and the bodies started piling up. People
were moaning, crying and praising God. I started at 10am and
ended at 12:30pm. No one left, all stayed for the end of the
message. In my opinion many received that “more” they were
looking for. Only time and the fruit that comes out in their life will
tell how valid their experience here today was. I knew when
I came that I was speaking to mostly believers that’s why I didn’t
go “Evangelistic” on them. People in the church are thirsty for
the rivers that are flowing in our day and time. Wells of revival
are springing up all around, maybe there’s one near you. Don’t
judge a place or a people and miss what God is doing. He is
doing the most unlikely things through the most unlikely people.
If you’ve ever seen Todd Bently you know what I am talking about.
I have a category in the “Weekly Word” BLOG on our web site
called “More of God”. If you are one of the ‘thirsty ones’ and
want to know more about what God is doing right
now check it out.
Here is the link to articles in the Weekly Word BLOG
http://weeklyword.freedomministrynetwork.org/categories
/More%20of%20God.aspx More of God
Here is our website http://www.freedomministrynetwork.org/
God bless you as you seek more of Him, Pastor Danny
