Why Revival? Meet Me at the Crossroads

Hello friends.

Oh what a ride it's been for me coming from survival mode last month and entering into a revival this month. Our God is so faithful to allow what needs to die, to die. So that what must live, shall live.

Serving as a minister for 8 years had its up and downs. But one thing that kept me going was always that touch from Heaven that rescucitated the dead in me. For me, the conference God used that was so powerful enough to raise a missionary in me and remind me of my calling and destiny in Christ was the One Thing Conference hosted by the prayer and missions movement based here in Cebu City–Cebu House of Prayer (CHOP). I got my first missionary calling last 2016 after living a compromised (double-life) life for 2 years since i became born again.

The next conference that God used to touch me greatly was the conference they held last 2018. I was already serving as a full time missionary at that time. And in that conference, God strengthened me with His might as i served Him and shared my testimony about purity in front of around 900-1,400 people. That was nerve wracking as i prepared for a speech that would expose the darkness that held me for years before my 2016 revival.

I also attended a One Thing Gathering in Singapore in 2018 hosted by Burning Hearts SG. It was very impactful as houses of prayer communities around the world came to gather to worship God in this conference. This strengthened my calling in the House of Prayer at that season of my life.

But nothing compares to being revived in your own city where you were born and raised. From death to life, from a great darkness into His wonderful light becomes more real as you see yourself on fire for God in a city that used to hold memories of your past life before truly encountering Christ.

Then here comes 2024. It's been a long time coming since 2018. With the pandemic hitting last 2019, typhoon odette surprising a lot of us Cebuanos last 2021, and for someone still serving God's church at present, i've found myself at times serving in my own strength.

We all need at some point, a greater touch from Heaven that will leave us ignited and wanting more.

When the church is deprived from a touch from Heaven that can sustain us through pandemics, storms, offences, bitterness, hurts, and exhaustion, the church will die spiritually because your walk with God is never enough without the corporate body coming together in community and in prayer ignited by God's Word.

Without a touch of revival, the church will just be serving in dead faith.

I don't want an archived faith. And i didn't choose to live for Jesus over building my own kingdom just to fall into dead religious works.

Why Revival?

From a servant's perspective

1. Because intimacy with God alone is not enough

Cultivating the oil of intimacy in our Secret Place with God is a lifetime, everyday kind-of-thing. It's a relationship with the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). It is a lifestyle that sustains the born again believer as our minds get renewed daily from our carnal and cultural way of thinking resulting to a change of lifestyle, character, and behavior.

But doing life alone with God is not sustainable. It is a deception from the enemy to think that we can do life with God alone. For even the Father have Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus showed us the example of how He walked-- with his 12 disciples and with community and family that believed in him and followed him throughout his ministry journey.

2. Because there is greater power in corporate prayer and worship

If God's touch in our individual walks with Him is enough to make us fall in love with Him each day, how much more when this is expressed in the bigger body? The church that gathers; the church without walls; the church that declares His majesty and praises Him with our hearts, minds, and with one voice.

How can God not shine His face upon a people that corporately cry out and call to Him? He will show in the mightiest way.

3. Because the workers are few and the harvest is great

We are all called in different spheres of influence. And time will come when we allow the rhythm of life and slowly allow the rhythm of the world and social media to dictate our lifestyles, our eyes grow dim and our hearts grow dark. We forget why we have given our lives to Jesus and we allow the fire that once ignited out spirit to die out. Workers either grown dull and lukewarm or forget they are called to the harvest.

Revival sparks our fire for the lost souls, like we once were, and re-ignites our identity, purpose and connection to God and His bigger body-the church. When we are ushered back to our spheres of influence, we are stepping back in our mission fields with the understanding and awakening of who we are and to what purpose we are called-- as sons and daughters called to win souls and reach out as God's hands, feet, heart, and voice to the lost.

4. Because we are first called to Christ before we are called to the world

Revival meetings is a place God shows up in a great measure. The anointing is present. The atmosphere is easy. Deliverance just happens. Freedom is evident. Sin is exposed. A desire for God is either ignited or re-ignited.

It is a great reminder that we are living in a dark world where Jesus is not yet king. Because dominion was given to the devil in the Garden of Eden, revival meetings awaken sons and daughters to their God-given destiny

5. Because servants of Christ need it for the long run

The bible talks about the Christian life being a race reaching towards a common goal in the faith. In some instances, we are called to walk by faith. In other instances, we are called to run the race to win the prize. However our pace looks like, we've entered the race and we need the Holy Spirit to walk or run well.

Serving in ministry for so long, one can get tired an weary. We all need a fresh touch from Heaven to remind us of our calling and the why to our purpose in working towards the given ministry assignment.

I praise God for using the Gravity Conference 2024 hosted by Crossroads Church as a catalyst for my revival this year. Their heart for worship and creativity really opened my heart and eyes to see the beauty of my Creator in the expression of His creations and their calling. My eyes started to see color and my heart started to dream again.

When Pastor Jonlee spoke to open the three day Youth Revival Conference, he said that the vision for Gravity is "a birthplace for revival." He has captured a vision from God for the next generation and has incubated and birthed God's heart through this ministry.

Thank you for blessing the body of Christ by answering your call. I thank God for meeting me at the Crossroads.

Until the next leading to write to you.

In Christ,

Christy