The great revivalist Gypsy Smith was once asked about how to see moves of God or how to have a Spirit-filled ministry. He answered, “Go home, lock yourself in your room, and kneel down in the middle of the floor. Draw a circle all around yourself and ask God to start the revival inside that chalk mark. When He has answered your prayer, the revival will be on.”
In the 1980s, the Wendy’s hamburger chain used a commercial shown across North America and Canada featuring an elderly actress named Clara Peller who receives a competitor’s burger with a massive bun (the competitor’s slogan was “Home of the Big Bun”). The small patty prompts the gruff Peller to angrily exclaim, “Where’s the beef?”
In evaluating children’s ministry, we must ask Clara’s question, “Where’s the beef?” Have we become the “Home of the Big Bun”? Have we forgotten what it is like to have a “real” hamburger? What I am seeing is that we have all of the “fixin’s” associated with the hamburger and settling for a tiny portion of the hot and juicy meat patty.
We can’t settle for the status quo. The bun and “fixin’s” aren’t enough. Let’s follow Paul’s admonition to Timothy. Let’s “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2). Let’s expect the Spirit of God to manifest His presence with children being born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, healed, and set free from strongholds that have been passed down from generation to generation. Let’s expect the Holy Spirit to make His presence known by His visible demonstrations of power.
What will happen as we cry out “Where’s the beef?” and begin to expectantly long for the Spirit of God to move among us? We will see the same results as the psalmist David when he said, “I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1, The Amplified Bible). Jesus will once again walk among us by His Spirit. We will see Acts 1:3 begin to happen in our services. “To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion (His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to them during forty days and talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of God.” (The Amplified Bible).
Any student of revival has studied the great Azusa Street Revival that was led by William J. (“Daddy”) Seymour, a black one-eyed preacher. Seymour “had the funniest vocabulary,” records John G. Lake, “but there were doctors, lawyers, and professors listening to the marvelous things coming from his lips. It was not what he said in words; it was what he said from his spirit to my heart that showed me he more of God in his life than any man I had ever met up with up to that time. It was God in him who was attracting people.” (John G. Lake, Adventures in God, pp. 18-19).
Thank God for our teaching techniques, props, and training. But, it might be wise to see if we are missing the most important ministry ingredient, the God in us. May our prayer be that He will overshadow our strengths and weaknesses, our tools and props, our dynamic personality and charisma. May only His voice be heard, His presence felt. That my friend is true revival.
Are you longing for a children’s service that allows the Holy Spirit to move mightily among your children? Are you ready to see your children fulfill Joel’s prophesy (Joel 2:28) and begin to flow with the Holy Spirit?
Let me encourage you to join people from all over the United States and other countries coming together for the 2008 Ignite the Supernatural Conference on January 31 – February 2, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. While many children’s ministry conferences teach a wide selection of workshops covering puppetry, object lessons, discipline techniques, etc., this conference focuses every workshop and general session on preparing you and your team to lead your children into a relationship with the Holy Spirit that will cause them to turn their worlds upside down. (Acts 17:6).
The Ignite the Supernatural Conference includes 16 workshops, 5 general sessions, a keynote evening with one of America’s most dynamic teachers John Bevere (www.messengerintl.org), 3 meals (dinner Thursday and Friday evening, lunch Friday), and the conference notebook, all of this at a registration price way below most national conferences.
For information, visit www.ignite-conference.com today. Check out the workshops and teachers. I know that you will want to join us. I guarantee that your ministry will never ever be the same again!
Let me set the scene of how many children’s workers abandon their pursuit of revival. You’ve heard the word of the Lord and are convinced that God wants to pour out His Spirit upon your children’s ministry. You’ve prayed and even fasted for this move of the Spirit. Time goes by and you are seeing little change. To make matters worse, some of the parents or even your staff are misinterpreting your pursuit. After a while, a new attitude sets in. Why fight the indifference. You begin to take the easy road of just picking a curriculum and providing a spiritual nugget each week and then send the children back home to their parents. Sound familiar?
Let me share a principle from Paul’s life that will help us to get past these roadblocks in our pursuit for an outpouring of God’s Spirit. In Acts 23:11, Paul hears Jesus tell him, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.” In the next few chapters, roadblock after roadblock presents itself to keep Paul from fulfilling his assignment. First, forty men plot to kill Paul. Next, church leaders bring false accusations against him. Paul endures a long imprisonment in Jerusalem. Upon leaving Jerusalem on his route to Rome, Paul is shipwrecked off the island of Malta. After making it safely to land, Paul is bitten by a poisonous snake. As you can see, Paul experienced setback after setback that could have easily pushed him off his God-assigned mission.
Here’s what enabled Paul to keep on keeping on. It is found in his encounter with the poisonous snake in Acts 28:5. “But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not hurt.” Did you see the answer? Paul shook off his adversity. He didn’t allow his adversity (the snake) to cling onto him. He was able to keep on keeping on because he knew what he had heard from God and knew that adversity couldn’t prevent him from fulfilling his assignment unless he allowed it to.
Why do many children’s workers give up on their pursuit of a Holy Ghost revival? They allow the adversity to cling on them. If allowed to stay, adversity will drain any dream that you have. When adversity comes (and it will), we must shake it off. We must follow Paul’s example and continue because we heard the word of the Lord.
What is our word from the Lord? God gave us a promise in Joel 2:28 that our sons and daughters would prophesy. We know that this promise is to us and to our children. We know that TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost.
Shake off the adversity of discouragement, loneliness, and weariness. Stand strong. Guard your heart and your mouth. Continue to use your voice to proclaim that TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost. (See last week’s blog Revival is Waiting for the Sound of Your Voice.) Like Paul, you will fulfill your God-given assignment!