Revive to Survive

Last week, after a tough couple of days and some troubling news concerning several of our members deciding it was time to move on, I was have difficulty sleeping (Tues. March 23rd). Waking at 2:30 am to let the dog out, I went back to sleep, or at least a twilight sleep and had two words appear in my mind. "Revival" and "Survival." A voice told me that the difference between these two words is minor, just a few letters, but the meaning of these two words is much more significant.

When I awoke, I tried to recall the words, and only remembered "revival.' But a day later, in a conversation with Jennifer, the word "Survival" came back to me and the impact of the dream/vision became clearer.

Then, on Friday night, we went to the "Wave" at Gateway to see some friends and to celebrate God together. I asked several people for prayer and shared the dream with them. They were very encouraging. But on Saturday, the strangest thing happened. It was stranger than having a donkey talk, actually. As I was watching the College Basketball playoffs, a banner rolls across the bottom of the screen, an advertisement for a vitamin water. What did it say? "Revive2 Survive.com"

This impacted me greatly, as I realized that if I merely try to "survive" as a pastor or a church leader, or to help the church to merely survive, to maintain the status quo, the present state, or to backtrack to keep people from leaving, I will be in "survival mode." And there is no future in that. If anything, survival is a living death. The only option is Revival. "If my people, who are called by My Name, HUMBLE themselves and PRAY..." (2 Chr. 7:14)