What If The Next Great Revival Is Already Happening?

Every few decades the Christian Church experiences a revival that restores the original vision of Jesus and redirects the faith back onto a more Christlike path.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, American churches experienced a number of revivals in 1727, 1792, 1830, 1857 and 1882.

More recently, in the 20th century, we had the 1906 Azusa Street Revival, the 1930 Balokole Revival, the 1970 Jesus People Revival, the 1971 Bario Revival, and the 1990s “Emerging Church” movement which many today consider a much-needed revival away from “church as usual” to a more introspective season where Christians started to ask themselves, “why are we doing things this way?”

Today, the Christian Church is going through something commonly referred to as the “Deconstruction” movement. Marked by a radical questioning of every major pillar of the faith – the Inerrancy of Scripture, the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, Eternal Torment, the End Times, Salvation, and even the purpose and nature of the Church itself – this movement isn’t going away anytime soon.

In fact, the ironic thing is that it might just be the next “Great Awakening” that the Body of Christ needs most right now.

Most of those who pray for Revival to come to the Church are asking for God to restore something old; to bring the Church back to “the good old days” of “Old Time Religion” where people happily dressed up in their Sunday best and the entire family attended Sunday morning services where the wise old pastor preached a sermon of Hellfire and Damanation and people ran to the front during the altar call to rededicate their lives to Christ….again.

But, what if the Revival we want isn’t the Revival we need?

What if the Revival we’re currently experiencing is exactly what the Scriptures refer to as the process of purification and the preparation of the Bride of Christ?

Think about it. Over the last 2,000 years or so the Christian Church has been slowly accumulating doctrines that distract us from the “Good News” of Christ. We’ve focused on everything except the calling to love God and love others as Christ has loved us. We’ve expended too much energy on calling out sin rather than proclaiming the message that God isn’t counting our sins against us but has, instead, reconciled the entire World to Himself through Christ. [See 2 Cor. 5:19]

So, now, the Spirit of God is bypassing the pulpit and going straight to the heart of His people. God is removing the scales from our eyes. God is directly revealing Godself to every man, woman and child as One who loves, forgives, restores and transforms us into the image of Christ.

Yes, those pastors will keep on preaching, but slowly and inevitably more and more people are choosing not to listen. They’re hearing from the voice of the Good Shepherd and resonating with the message that says, “God is love and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” [1 John 4:16]

This may not be the Revival some of us wanted, but it is absolutely the Revival that the Body of Christ quite desperately needs today.

Can I get an “Amen!”

This Revival isn’t happening in any Church building. It’s not being hosted under any big top tent in the cornfield. It’s a Revival taking place – right now – within the hearts and minds of millions of people who just want more of Jesus and less of the religion we invented to keep him out.

If you’re curious about the End Times and wonder what the Bible really says about the Second Coming of Christ, I invite you to join me starting Monday, June 7, 2021 for a 3-week online course designed to help you make sense of it all.

Keith Giles and his wife, Wendy, work with Peace Catalyst International to help build relationships between Christians and Muslims in El Paso, TX. Keith was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church over a decade ago to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today he is the author of the best-selling “Jesus Un” series of books, including “Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath With Unrelenting Love” which is available now on Amazon.