How to Know God's Will for Your Life

I've been thinking about how someone might be able to know God's Will for their life. Here's what I've got so far...

1. Be in relationship with God. This is the only context by which God's Spirit directs you beyond a move to toward repentance. If you are not in a right relationship with God, then that IS God's will for you at that time (2 Peter 3:9) Nothing else really matters if you are not where you should be spiritually. I am frequently consulted, as a pastor, on what God wants of someone's life and I first refer them to this context. No other decision in life matters if you have not first made a decision to follow Jesus as a disciple!

2. Be sanctified wholly! There are at least two specific areas in Scripture about what God's Will is for our lives. One of them (listed above) is about repentance and beginning our relationship with God. The other one, found in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, is about sanctification. Entire Sanctification "is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service. Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by grace through faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness." (from Article of Faith X of the Church of the Nazarene) This is essential!

3. Throw out a lot of things you might have heard and even come to believe that are not Biblical in nature. For example, there are some who believe that God's will would never involve suffering or hardship or anything difficult like sickness. That simply is not true. It is actually a derivative of the "prosperity Gospel" that is popular among many tele-evangelists. God's Will is not always the easiest thing, the most convenient thing, or even that thing which would appear most beneficial to our material possession, bank account, or even physical health. The truth is, sometimes, God's will is just hard, but it sure is worth it!

4. Eliminate distractions. There are always plenty of voices giving advice and plenty of things to distract (social media, entertainment, and a general sense of being busy). It's hard to learn, but to really hear from God we need to learn to be quiet before him for longer than 30 seconds! Turn your phone off, turn the music off, turn the computer off, turn the television off and just abide with Him. In the stillness of those moments your spiritual ears may pick up on His voice.

5. God's Will never contradicts His written Word. The Bible is authoritative when it comes to God's Will. It is a revelation given to humanity that cannot be re-written, revised, or changed. It's not a buffet, it's the main course. A lot of the options for a choice you have to make are easily eliminated with some knowledge of the Word of God.

6. Never use the "open door" policy. I hear lots of people talk about God's will being the first option to open up. Sometimes you might need to sit tight and be patient. Jumping at the first 'open door' can be a recipe for disaster. Just don't do it.

7. Remember that the Shepherd does speak and his sheep know His voice (John 10:1-5). It might take some patience and some fasting won't hurt, but it will come. Don't panic. Don't make a choice out of fear. Don't rush. Just wait to hear the voice of the Shepherd. He does speak.

8. Evaluate your past record of discerning God's will for your life. What has the fruit of your life been? Has God been glorified in your past decisions? If past choices have the aroma of self-interest, self-promotion, or self-centered tendencies then you might want to renegotiate your discernment. A pattern of wrong choices may lead to some poor discernment that needs to be dealt with.

9. Turn off ungodly council. There are a host of warnings in Proverbs about listening to the advice of the ungodly. Just don't do it. The ungodly don't wear name tags but you will find them walking on the broad path. Use caution in listening to their council as their priorities, values, and goals will be different from those of a Christian. Your source of wisdom can derail your path.

10. Be aware that the authentic believer can not go wrong. You might choose the wrong food item off a menu, the wrong ministry idea, or an outfit that doesn't match, but you won't miss the big thing God is doing in your life. You will not miss Heaven if you are seeking Jesus with all your heart! We simply do not serve a God who tempts us with a 'carrot on a stick.'

There's growing skepticism among some that God still directs His people. That's because, in our "microwave" society discerning God's Will may take more than watch a 5 minute YouTube video or reading a 7 minute blog. It's going to take time with the Savior to learn His desires for you.

What might you add/subtract from my thoughts?

Transformation is Available!- A Testimony

I have the privilege of serving as the pastor of people from all walks of life. It never ceases to amaze when I hear the testimony of those who have been transformed by the love of God in Christ Jesus. Let me share the testimony of Joyce in her own words...

I was raised in a church in Michigan City, IN. When I was eleven years old my brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was fourteen years old. His accident was horrifying, and I knew it would change my life, but I never realized how much it had, until I was older.

After my brother’s death, my parents went in total different directions. My dad hated God. My mother consumed herself in the church. Soon my dad started drinking and started abusing my mom verbally and eventually even physically. Then he started abusing me physically and mentally. So by the age of 13 my parents were divorcing. My dad was becoming an alcoholic and didn’t even realize what he was doing. He hardly ever paid child support, which left my mom working two jobs to try and make enough money to support her and I.

Mom and I ended up living in government housing on the lower side of the city, which is where my problems started. My mom was gone a lot and I was forced to grow up quickly, taking care of things at home. I began to see guys, which led to premarital sex by the age of 15.

When I was 17 years old my mom decided to move down to Princeton, IN to help my brother start his restaurant. She decided to leave me with an older sister and her husband. I was a junior in high school and just wanted to finish high school there. That became my goal: stay focused and finish school. I was working and going to school, which became pretty difficult. I worked at night and then went home to do homework. The more tired I became the more my sister and I fought. It was time for me to leave. I moved back in with my father who was now drinking more than ever. I lived there for a month and then I got kicked out. I’m not really sure why, but I have always felt like it was because dad felt like he might hurt me again and so I needed to go.

By this time I had a steady boyfriend and his parents were Christians. They told me maybe their older son and his wife would let me stay with them. I was thinking it would be good to be around Christians. Well it turned out, the son wasn’t a Christian. I did stay with them, and they also lived in government housing, so my lifestyle started getting worse there. I started drinking alcohol and fighting all the time. Gangs were everywhere, however, I just couldn’t see myself being controlled by anyone, after being out on my own for a year. Gang leaders controlled their people so I avoided the gang scene!!! I thank God every day for that.

Soon alcohol and partying turned into drugs and alcohol every day. I was taking speed to stay awake to work and go to school. Alcohol was my downer to sleep at night.

I remember the day that I realized God hadn’t left me. It has stayed so clear to me all these years. I slept in a water heater room, on a small cot that I had to fold my legs up to sleep on, but I didn’t complain. I wasn’t sleeping on the street, and they were very nice to let me stay there. They were doing drugs and partying pretty hard one night and I went to my cot, because I had a huge history/government test the next day that was going to make me either pass or fail the class! I wanted to graduate!!

I wanted to sleep so badly, and it just seemed like they were getting louder and louder. Now, you have to know, that I hadn’t prayed since I was 12 or 13 years old... I’m not even sure I knew how BUT, I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling in that room.

“God, what am I doing here?” I questioned.

I felt God's response to me, “Joyce, I never left you, you left me.” I thought yeah Joyce, you’re crazy, and there is no way that was God. God would never answer you… I lived in the ghetto and was doing things God would never approve of! He wouldn’t speak to me. I rolled over and ignored what I had heard in my heart. Once again I was ignoring God. I just didn’t feel like I needed God or anyone else’s help; or so I thought!!

I started noticing little things that were odd. I know now that it was God being the father that I needed. He was watching and keeping me out of things that I shouldn’t have been involved with. STRANGE!! There were a couple things that I remember off hand. One was how every time I was headed to a party that I shouldn’t have been at, my car either broke down, ran out of gas, or end up with a flat tire. There were so many things like this…all of a sudden someone was watching out for me again?!! Weird, I thought. Another thing I remember was how I loved journalism class… I loved to write. Now I know why. It is freeing to pour your heart out!! 

I would be writing poems in class and the poems would be about things that I needed to hear, like wake up calls. I wasn’t sure where the words were coming from, but they were always good words.

In the meantime, I got into a fight with the people I lived with and ended up moving in with another friend and his family. I was still dating my high school sweetheart and we were going to be married as soon as we graduated in May. We thought July would work. One night I was at my friend’s house and my boyfriend had gone to the beach with some friends and apparently decided to try some drugs. When he came to the house that I was staying at, he was angry at me about everything. He was influenced by the drugs and beat me until I had bruises everywhere. When he stopped hitting me, I told him that he would never see me again. That was in May 1985, and to this day, I have never seen him again.

I didn’t know what to do. I called my mom in southern Indiana and told her I had no insurance and didn’t want to go to the hospital because they would arrest him and he was just out of it and would be fine tomorrow. She asked if I could drive down to Princeton, IN or if I had somewhere to get away from him. I jumped in my car with no money and nothing that I owned, not that I had much anyway. The little I had, was my treasure.

I planned to stay there just long enough to heal and then I was heading out. I didn’t want to live in a little country town. Then I figured out that God had other plans. Still He was right beside me, never leaving me!!!

I started being a hostess at my brother’s restaurant in Princeton. I met a lady that was so sad, that she would come in for coffee. I started talking to her and found out that her husband died of cancer just two month prior to meeting her. He had been only 42 years old. She came to have coffee to just get out of the house. We became friends and she told me that I needed to learn Evansville, because it was a larger city and I would probably like it better.

One day we were headed to Evansville, IN to go shopping and she was going to show me around. We had to stop by her house before we left town and there was a handsome guy sitting on her couch. At this point, I had no idea who he was, but he was cute. We got in the car and she told me it was her son. Well long story short, he is my husband now. We have been together for 33 years and married for 31 years. We have a beautiful daughter who is 28 years old and an amazing son who is 20 years old. Speaking of my daughter, that takes me to the final part of my testimony. She was an angel God sent to help change my life.

After she was born we met a couple that we started bar hopping with every weekend leaving her with his sister or my mom. We would pick her up and bring her home and tuck her in bed, like the good parents that we wanted to be!! One night when my daughter was 5yrs old, I was tucking her in bed and she said, “Mommy, don’t kiss me, you stink, I don’t like it, please!”

I lost it. I cried myself to sleep that night. I thought back on how I felt with my dad’s beer breath breathing on me when he was hurting me, or his beer breath screaming in my face. Thinking I HATE that smell, and here I was doing the same thing to my beautiful baby! Not hurting her physically, but mentally doing the same to her.

I laid in bed that night looking at the ceiling and said “God, what am I doing?” Yes, the exact words I used in that water heater room 17 years earlier. I didn’t feel God say anything that night.  I went off to sleep. The next morning, I turned the TV on, flipping for cartoons for the kids I was watching. I flipped past a woman who was talking, but I noticed at the bottom of the screen her name was Joyce also. So, I stopped to see what it was. 

In her message she was talking about her father hurting her and how she always felt like it was her fault. But, she talked about how God had healed her heart and she was able to forgive both of her parents. I wanted that, too!! I started crying, and fell to my knees at my couch. God heard my heart, I had no words, and then I heard in my heart again “Joyce, I never left you, you left me!” My heart was melting as it was receiving Gods words.

I knew then that I needed to repent and ask God to forgive me of my sins. That was in September of 1995. From that day on, we began to go to church and I started working in the church office. I became best friends with my pastor’s wife, who was my age. I learned a lot from her and started praying the prayer that Jabez prayed in 1 Chronicles 4:10. I wanted God to use me and widen my borders to help with His kingdom, yet never let me hurt people. Never in my wildest dreams, did I ever imagine that God would so richly bless this sinner with all the love of my husband, children and friends. I am so blessed.

Joyce (on the left) with her husband and family.

I could go on with my testimony, because God is still doing huge things in my life.  I opened my business because, at 3am one morning, I was awake, tossing and turning. Laying in my bed looking at the ceiling yet again and praying and I said “God, why have you led me to this job, I was working in a salon, that is robbing me of all the joy and peace that you have given me over the last 10 years.”

Gods answer was simple: “Open your own shop and widen your borders to spread my word.” So my salon has been open 10 years now. I get to talk to people every day, I encourage them when life is getting too hard, to find where their help comes from.

Without Christ I am nothing, but through Christ I can do all things!

********

Also check out these other articles...
"A Perspective Change"
"All Out for Souls"

Some things you need to know...

Yeah, I know, there's always someone claiming you need to know one more thing. But here are six related things I really think you need to be aware of...

1. Holiness is required by God. 1 Peter 1:15-16 "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

2. Holiness is provided for in the atonement of Christ. Hebrews 13:12 "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood."

3. Holiness is wrought by the Holy Spirit (in other words: The Holy Spirit is the one who sanctifies.). Romans 15:16 "...sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

4. If holiness is not attainable in this life, then it cannot be required; of if it is required then God has required an impossibility.

5. If holiness is attainable then every Christian has a responsibility to seek and pray for it!

6. You too can experience the entire sanctification wrought about through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and sustained through a day by day walk in with the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who call you is faithful; he will surely do it."


For more on God's work of Sanctification see the following article by A.M. Hills on "What Sanctification is Worth."

*These are notes summarized from reading articles and sermons by J. B. Chapman an early Nazarene minister.

Why I still have a Sunday Night service.

I believe in more than a Sunday morning religion!  Maybe all my reasons don't apply to the situation you are in, but I wanted to share why I still have a Sunday night service.

1. Sunday is the Christian Sabbath. It's the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior! What an opportunity! What a blessing to join with our brothers and sisters to exalt the name of Jesus! Would you limit this great blessing to an hour on a Sunday morning? What if we recognized that one out of seven days is devoted to the holy endeavor of worship! No, the Bible does not give the imperative of two worship services on Sunday, but neither does it declare the Sabbath hour on Sunday morning.

2. The proclamation of the Gospel is desperately needed in the church today. To hear, understand, and live out the full counsel of God is necessary among Christians. In a time that is clouded with false teachings, liberalism, and a general ignorance of Biblical truth; the message of full salvation, the character of God, and the lifestyle of holiness are needed truths! We do not need less preaching of these things; we need more!

3. The Bible calls Christians to not forsake the formal assembling times of the Church. The New Testament church did not gather only once on Sunday. They gathered together every day of the week. Worship birthed fellowship and fellowship birthed worship! Many Christians see other Christians only once a week for about an hour and a half on Sunday morning. What if we began to take steps toward more worship and more fellowship? Some Christian leaders spend more time in board and committee meeting than they do in assembled times of worship!

4. What do you think we will be doing in Heaven for all eternity? Certainly, worship will not be the only thing we do, but it will be the primary thing that we do gathered around the throne. The centrality of the beauty and blessing of Heaven will be centered around the one who sits on the throne! Revelation 19:6 "Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!'" (ESV) If we will be worshiping in Heaven, then maybe Sundays is a great time to get some practice in and spend some time in the 'closest thing to Heaven on Earth.'

5. What an innovative way to reach people for Jesus: a Sunday night service! Multiple services for some churches are a new idea and Sunday night services are old fashioned. What if we just reinvented the wheel? Maybe this is a great way for some people to make a service who wouldn't normally come? What about all those who work on Sunday mornings? What about the elderly who are unable get around early in the morning? If you have one service per week, there will be some who will be unable to ever attend.

6. Sunday night services make greater allowance for the family worshiping together. Sunday mornings and other services we tend to split up the family when they come through the doors: babies to the nursery, children to children's church, teenagers to youth group, fathers to men's group, women to the ladies' Bible study, etc. Is there ever a time when the family worships with the church community together? I know that it's hard to worship with a crying baby or fussing little ones, but maybe that's closer to Heaven than the alternative of splitting up the family.

7. Sunday night services tend to be less formal, less showy, and more intimate. There is definitely a different feel to a Sunday night service. It is hard to develop relationships on a Sunday morning only pattern. Sunday night's laid back feel fosters friendship among the saints! Early Churches of the Nazarene used Sunday night as their evangelistic service and Sunday morning as their discipleship service. Maybe these have been flipped over time, but both evangelism and discipleship are still necessary! Maybe Sunday night worship is what we ought to always 

8. It may not always be the case, but some of the people who walk with Christ in the deepest way are those who attend a worship service on Sunday night. It's not an equation to holiness (that's works righteousness), but it gives me pause due to the correlation. There is a hunger among the genuine Christian for more of Christ, more of His Word, and more fellowship with His people. In areas of the world where the church is persecuted they still risk punishment, imprisonment, or even death to gather with one another!

9. Sunday night worship has ceased to be an obligation for me; it is a privilege. The reluctance of having a Sunday night worship service is usually referred in two areas: (1) lack of desire among Christians and (2) lack of desire by Pastors and staff to put on another production. Sunday night services might just indicate value & priorities for some of our church members today. Is it really too much to ask of people to spend another hour in worship? Is the "Sunday morning production" and the weariness it causes an indication that we are doing something in a counter productive way?

10. How can you go wrong from attending or promoting a Sunday night service? When we finish our journey on earth and stand before God will anyone testify that they spent 'too much time' worshiping the Creator? People accept Christ, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and grow in Christ as a result of time spent in a Sunday night worship service. It really happens. It will never hurt, only help to gather again on Sunday night to glorify Christ. After all, He promised if He was lifted up that He would draw all people to Himself! 

I'm asking different questions these days. It's no longer about how much church I have to attend to get to Heaven, but how much time can I spend in His presence? I am not dictating a secret recipe for church growth success or a quick 'fix all' to the problems your local congregation is having; I'm not really into "3 easy steps." I just think we do not spend enough time in corporate worship, singing praises to Jesus, listening to the Word of God preached, and responding to the Holy Spirit's call on us.

Maybe you disagree. That is okay. I have known churches that have a Sunday night worship service that are not very good churches. The only time they spend with Jesus is in the building. They only thing they do in response to God's grace is take up space on a pew or chair. They are greater 'hearers' of the Word, but not so good 'doers' of the Word. I know some churches that make their worship services a holy huddle, but never fulfill the Great Commission. I understand these things, and more, are a problem but that does not take away from the value of a great time of worship on a Sunday evening!

I will see you this Sunday night for worship! Why don't you come? You might just like it!

I'm not watching Deadpool 2.

Many Christians watch the Internet for rumors of the next movie like they should be watching the Eastern sky.

I'm not arguing for or against watching a movie or going to a theater in general, just specifically about Deadpool2. My concern is that some "Christians" have lost their ability to discern. Entertainment has become our idol.

I won't be watching Deadpool 2, just like I didn't watch Deadpool 1. Let me give you some of my reasons why...

1. It promotes the culture that constantly orients toward the sexualization and degradation of women. Just what we need! Hollywood increases its hypocrisy by both speaking against and then integrating into their movie an intense and extensive amount of female degradation. Whether you are the president of the United States, Harvey Weistein, or a middle school student... this is wrong.

2. Profanity is the linguistical crutch of the inarticulate. Let me quote to you from IMDB.com's parent guide on profanity in the film: "About 90 f-words, 35 s-words, two c-words and scads of other profanities, including "a--," "b--ch," "d--n," "h---", "p---ies" and "d--k." God's name is misused more than a dozen times (thrice with "d--n"), and Jesus' name is abused 10 or so times. Characters make several obscene gestures." This is not a word here or there. With a 119 minute runtime, this is multiple obscene words every minute as well as the vain use of the name of Jesus.

3. Crude and perverted references about sex are prevalent throughout. The promotion of homosexuality again surfaces (no surprise here) and the main character's own confusion about sexuality further demeans and any Christian approach to sexuality on any level. Sex is sacred, not the subject of filthy humor.

4. Disrespect, of a profane level, and the explicit profaning of holy things wraps up a my rejection of the movie. I've not come to expect things coming to the big screen to promote holiness. But the low and debased level this movie stoops to mocking Christianity is wicked. The main character makes references to himself being 'Lord' and the film makes a number of references to Christianity (none of which are positive).

In short, I don't think a Christian could sit through a movie like this one. What redeeming value can be found among such filth? This movie is a promotion of all that is wrong with our society. What you feed on in your entertainment is what you will become. Walk away from the filth. It's just not worth it! Maybe our desire to spend time on such perversion is indicative of a problem in our hearts.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8

So what are you going to do?

Need more information? Check out...

Pluggedin.com's review of Deadpool2.

Screenit.com's review of Deadpool2. 

imdb.com's parent's guide.

What Sanctification is Worth

by A.M. Hills (Published in the Church of the Nazarene's "Preacher's Magazine" 1926)

Sanctification is costly. It means dying out to the world, and to sin, and to self, and going out alone with Jesus, bearing His reproach. Does it pay? Is it worth while?

I. NOTICE, DEFINITELY, THE COST:
1. It means the sinking of the obstinate human will into the will of God. God “gives the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” “Obedience” is complete submission to the will of God about everything. The depraved heart does so like to have
its own way!
2. It costs entire consecration, the turning over of everything to the Lord- body, soul, time, talents, friends, possessions, influence, reputation, to belong to Him for ever. All good and innocent things, even the beloved son Isaac.
3. Then, by simple faith, receive the cleansing baptism with the Holy Spirit: “So wash me, Thou, without, within, Or purge with fire, if that must be, No matter how, if only sin, Die out in me, die out in me.”

II. CONSIDER WHAT IT WILL DO FOR YOU.
1. It takes away the proneness to sin, the appetite for sin from the heart.
2. It spoils you for the world. There will be no more hunger for the leeks and garlics of Egypt. No more slavery to human opinions and customs and fashions and pleasures.
3. It gives power for service. Bob Burkes, of Kentucky, when converted in middle life could not read. He was saved and sanctified and led a thousand a year to Christ until he died. As it was with Carvosso, he lived to lead sixty thousand souls to God. This is the great, silent power back of all conspicuous service in winning souls.
4. It gives power to suffer the will of God, as Paul did at Philippi and at Rome.
5. It puts a holy zeal into a man or woman. Paul was once zealous for the devil; this blessing made him equally zealous for Christ.

This is the greatest blessing this side of Heaven and it is cheap at any cost. No dying man was ever heard to say that it cost him too much to get sanctified.

About the author, from this site:
Aaron Merritt Hills (1848-1935) was an American Methodist. Raised in a Christian home, he was saved at a revival meeting at the age of eleven. After high school, he attended Oberlin College.

After college, he pastored two churches over the course of sixteen years, and then entered into evangelistic work. At some point in his life, he found that he lined up more closely with the Nazarene church, and so threw his lot in with them. After a successful time as an evangelist, he accepted the position of president at Texas Holiness University (later Peniel College).

Throughout his life, Hills wrote many great books, and contributed much to the Kingdom of God. His legacy has long survived him, and doubtless he will be remembered for generations to come.

All Out for Souls (Abridged)

By J. B. Chapman, 1946

I want to propose “All Out for Souls” as a battle cry. I was born in the fire, and I cannot endure the smoke. I am a child of the bright daylight: mists and fogs and depressing gloom are not to my liking. I want to go all out for souls.

I know we have some matters of policy to think about in this conference, but I wish these matters might take their places as spokes in a wheel, the hub of which is soul passion, soul burden, souls! Souls! Souls that are lost! Souls for whom Christ died! Souls that are near and dear to us! Souls for whom we care and for whom we pray! Souls for whom no one cares and for whom no one prays! Souls! All out for souls!

I glory in our denominational history. Even with its setbacks, it is a romance all the way. I am glad we have a big Manual, even though there are now so many rules and regulations that I am not always sure I know what they all imply. I am glad for our departments. I am heartily in favor of good church buildings and parsonages and Sunday school equipment.

I am glad for our world-wide mission, for our Publishing House and the periodicals that it sends out, for our district organizations that keep our people united and efficient, and for our denominational headquarters, the Seminary, the radio, and everything that, by the help of the good God, we have been able to gain.

I think we have gone about far enough on at least some of these lines. I hope our legislative and judicial systems will become static at about their present level…After a certain point, organization, like added belts and pulleys, becomes a hindrance to efficiency and unity, and I think the history of denominations shows that some bodies have carried on their changes in the interest of static existence, rather than in the interest of vital life and true progress.

In other words, I do not believe there are many more worlds for us to conquer in the way of order, organization, and law. Let us stop now with the gains we have made on the matters of order, organization, and law, and let us turn to the fields of vital accomplishment where are new and larger worlds to conquer than either our fathers or we have known.

I propose that we get down before God in sackcloth and dust and ashes, and that we pray until we pray. That we then preach until we preach with unction, and that we win the victory for God and for souls.

I want a revival that, like a summer shower, will purify the atmosphere of our churches everywhere, and that will awaken the dormant forces of our people young and old. I want something so general and so divine that it will be uncontrollable. I want something that will re-emphasize old-time moral and spiritual conditions. Something that will reform and regenerate drunkards and save respectable worldlings. Something that will bring in the youth and the little children. Something so attractive that it will break over into the circles of the pleasure loving.

I want a revival that will set people on their back tracks to make restitution for wrongs committed. Something that will bring God to bear upon our domestic problems to save our people from the twin evils of divorce and race suicide. Something that will inject honesty, veracity, purity, and other-world-mindedness into our preachers and people. Something that will make this namby-pamby, soft-handed, compromising, cringing sort of holiness as obsolete as Phariseeism was on the Day of Pentecost. Something that reveals a man's credentials by means of souls saved and sanctified and established in Christ Jesus.

It will take a changed leadership to bring it about, but that change can come in the present personnel as well as it could come by a change in personnel. Our churches need new pastors. God grant that the men who have charge of the churches now shall become new men! We need new general and district superintendents. May the good God grant us new ones, either by making us, who now encumber, over new or by replacing us with the type of men God designs us to be!

Some of our large local churches have shown no growth in membership within a period of years. Some of our strongest districts make a very poor showing in terms of souls saved and members gained. The fault is deeper and more fundamental: there is not enough heartbreak over the lost, not enough soul burden, not enough groaning and weeping and fasting and crying.

John Knox was a great preacher. But Queen Mary admitted that it was his prayers she feared. John Wesley was a scholar, but he would sooner preach without intellectual than without spiritual preparation…. He feared there would be a time when (the denomination) would build institutions and initiate programs that would require the help of the rich, and that they would then tone down their message so it would not offend the rich, and the movement would become decadent.

John Wesley said that no revival could well be permanent, because the fruits of a revival have a way of devouring the revival itself. He said that a revival requires such devotion on the part of those who promote it that it must find its promoters among the poor and humble. But when people become true Christians, they become industrious, frugal, and provident, and these are the prime conditions of prosperity. Converts of the revival become trustworthy and efficient; these are the elements that rightly lead to promotion.

Then, the converts of the revival, within a short time, become well to do and are promoted to places of responsibility and honor. They become careless about prayer and sacrifice, and soon the conditions for revival are wanting, the revival itself passes, and the conditions go back to the place where the revival is needed, but is not forthcoming.

Dr. P. F. Bresee was a seraphic pulpiteer and a wise leader. He came to the pulpit with shining face because he, like Moses, had spent his time in the mount with God; and his successful altar services in practically every Sunday morning service were not accidents, but were the logical sequence and consequence of a day and a night spent in groaning and tears before the Lord.

We speak not only of the unfinished task of Christianizing the world, but of that other task which Dr. Bresee called "Christianizing Christianity." For we have, in addition to the task of preaching Christ to those who have not yet found Him, the further task of bringing the people of God into the grace and blessing of Bible sanctification. We preach holiness, but we must also be holy and help others to become so.

I know you can organize churches. I know you can help fit pastors and churches. I know you can operate the machinery of the church, and I want you to do these things. But I would not make these the standard to measure your fitness for your present task. I ask you, “Do you love souls? Do you find it possible to pray for souls with heartbreak and with tears? Do you preach with passion and unction and do you make souls your aim? I know you ask our evangelists to do these things. I know you want the pastors to be like that.” But I ask you, “Are you like that? How long since you have gone through the throes of birth pains for the deliverance of the ungodly?” And I must not excuse myself.

For a general or a district superintendent to interpret the principal responsibility of the office in terms of business meetings and the improved functioning of machinery is to demote the office to a position unworthy of the time of a God-anointed preacher of the gospel. Let the name continue, but make the office imply intercession with God more than tact with unspiritual church bosses and lame encumberers of the ministerial office.

Is it possible that we can be content to raise money, make pastoral arrangements, conduct district assemblies, and yet suffer the spiritual leadership and soul-saving success of the movement to atrophy before our eyes and pass away forever? Is there no one that can wake us up? Is there no way to start a fire in our bones that will cause enough heat to make the water of our concern boil and become powerful steam?

We have done good things, but we have made a poor showing with the best things. We have been occupied with the means, and have not in sufficient measure reached the end. We should have done what we have done without accounting it the purpose. We should do these things again, and better, but should turn more definitely to the one thing that can keep us from becoming just another denomination. Just a people with a circle of influence, and a nest of static contentment!

The greatest lack there is among us is our want of life-shortening soul passion. And even when we champion the cause of soul burden and revivals, we do our chore principally in talking. It is our complacency that agitates me. Our hearts are really broken. We are taking the matter to heart. Our eyes are fountains because of it.

Men and movements backslide in heart before they deteriorate very far in practice. What, then, is the great need in the Church of the Nazarene? Is it the enactment of more legislation? No, we have a workable system. Is it for more organization? No, we have ample machinery for much more work than we are doing. Is it for better talent, improved art in service, or better standards of ethical practice? Even these things we would allow to rest for the moment in order that we may lay our emphasis on the one indispensable point—a passion for the souls of men.

 J. B. Chapman (in 1946)

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