Revival or Jesus?

There is A LOT of chatter on Christian blogs at the moment about revival, stirred up by the events at Lakeland, Florida and Todd Bentley and the events at Dudley here in the UK. To be honest, I've not been that interested. Hype puts me off not draws me in. But, people are church are starting to hear, people I know have visited Lakeland or Dudley, it's becoming hard to ignore.

So for a first hand report of a trip to Dudley read Peter Kirk's account here which is informative for a number of reasons - the worship was OK, the sermon was forgettable and the moment of ministry was brief, yet the final verdict - was very positive.

Anyway my intention is not to be critical, that's too easy and well none of us are perfect. But a few things have bugged me - the charismatic urge to go where the noise is - what's with that? Yet revival has been happening in China in the underground church for 50 years and we've not flocked there. OK so language makes a difference, but then so does TV and this one is on TV. Not that I can or have seen it. The thing is, if we really DO believe in the omnipresence of God, then He is just as much here as He is there. The difference is not with Him it's with me.

Now I accept the principle of blessing through the laying on of hands, don't understand it but I do accept it. So the idea of receiving something from someone else is not bad. People flocked to Jesus to receive the healing he was able to give being just one of numerous examples. And the reports are that healings are taking place - who's going to knock people getting out of wheelchairs? That's life changing stuff, worthy of praise to God.

But I see people being more interested in the anointing than they are in Jesus. Trevor Baker from Dudley, while in Lakeland, made an unfortunate statement. Todd Bentley was praying, all excited about this coming to England and said 'it was all about Jesus'. Great. Then Trevor said 'and the transferable anointing'. Oops. We'll let that one pass due to excitement. But it made me nervous. Nothing and no one stands alongside Jesus who is not a member of the Holy Trinity.

Anyway, I'll visit at some point I'm sure. Being an armchair sceptic won't help anyone, even the Pharisees went in person to investigate Jesus. But what I'm concerned about, is the glory of Jesus. Seeing people come to know Him and follow Him with their whole lives. I'm not interested in noise, or fruit that doesn't last. At the end of the day, seek first the kingdom.

So we shall see, I don't want to miss what God is doing in our nation or be harsh towards those who believe this could be revival at the same time, I believe the Bible when it tells me I lack nothing I need in Christ. (2 Peter 1:3) so I'll look to Him first, if that's OK.