If the church is lukewarm, we need go no further than ourselves to ask why.  What’s the point in talking about the church at large if we’ve failed to address our own lukewarmness?  Revival of the church begins with the individual: 

“Will you not revive us again: that your people may rejoice in you?”  -Psalm 85:6

What is true revival in the biblical sense?  Is it not God pouring forth His Spirit because we have declined and wandered from Him?  Throughout the history of the church God has called  His people back to Himself through times and seasons of revival.  These periods are usually marked by a great number within the church being impacted by the outpouring of God’s Spirit.  But is it a faceless mass on which God moves by His Spirit?  Hardly!  Revival comes as one by one, we are awakened and respond.

There’s no revival without repentance

No true revival ever comes without repentance.  Read through Revelation 2-3 and notice how many times the church is called to repent!  Spend time in Acts and the same message is clear: repentance is key to spiritual life.

One of my favorite scriptures is, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”  Acts 3:19

The scriptural order is: first comes repentance and turning back to the Lord, then comes refreshing!

Living in Laodicea; or seated in heavenly places? 

Are you inclined to think that since we are living in an apostate time in church history there’s nothing more that can be done?  Have you resigned yourself to the status quo?  We may be living in the days of Laodicea, but there’s no excuse for Laodicea to be living in us.  Early in my Christian walk I traveled as an itinerant singer/evangelist.  Money was often scarce and living conditions weren’t always great by worldly standards.  But God always provided and I had a roof over my head.  On one occasion I was offered living quarters by a brother in the Lord who owned a very run down piece of property.  I rented a small room along with 3 other Christian brothers.  Frankly, the house was a dump!  Unfortunately, a couple of the guys I lived with decided to treat it as a dump and live like it was a dump.  On one occasion the owner of the house came home to find it in an ill treated condition.  I will never forget what He said… “Just because the house is a pigsty, doesn’t mean you have to live like pigs!”  Absolutely!  Conditions do not make us what we are, we can chose to live above them.  The Christian life is a call to “come higher”. 

Is the church in the land of Laodicea?  Understand then that “here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”  (Hebrews 13:14)  Put on your heavenly garments and live like a child of God though everything around you is decay!  You are called to come higher, to press toward the goal, that you may win the prize, for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus!

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”  (Acts 3:19)

How do you become a Prodigal son or daughter?  It’s not that hard really; all you have to do is walk away from the Father’s love.  Sometimes we just walk away and everyone knows it; we go back to the pigpen of the world and it’s obvious to everyone.  Sometimes it happens like erosion; we don’t even know how we got where we are.  We’re still “talkin’ the talk”, going to church, smiling our Christian smile… but if we just stop to think about it, there’s nothing inside; it’s not real anymore.  You’ve become a prodigal. 

The scariest thing is that you can be a Prodigal and not even know it!  Jesus tells the church of Laodicea that they are “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”… but they have no clue! They have “Prodigal” written all over their foreheads but don’t see it at all. You can look, sound, and act like a Christian… and be a million miles away from your Father’s house.

I wrote this song because I’ve been there, and it just seemed such a strange contradiction to be a “Child of the King” and be so empty inside. Our Father’s heart is that we’d come to our senses and return home. He’s so ready to receive us with open arms!

The Prodigal Son:  Luke 15:11-31

The song, “It Shouldn’t Be Like That”  is available at iTunes and amazon.com .  Also available on my site here, and at CD Baby here , and at other download sites.