Some people think that revival is seeing the lost come to know Christ. It's not. That is Awakening. Awakening is a sovereign move of God's Spirit that results in people coming to know Christ. And though this is not revival, the compassion for the lost that precedes an awakening is a characteristic of a Body that God is preparing for revival and even bringing revival to in that moment. Awakening often accompanies revival, but the two are not to be confused. Awakening is bringing to life that which has never been alive. Revival is the brining back to life that which is dead or near to death but was once alive. These are Jesus' words to the churches in Revelation, that we say we are rich and that we have need of nothing. We have all the best facilities, worship environments, software, trappings and toys, but we don't realize that we are wretched, poor, pitiful, blind and naked. Yes, we have the reputation of being alive, but really we are dead. We once were among the living, but we lie at death's door. Oh how we need the Holy Breath of God to fill us now.

Revival is not something we advertise on the church marquee out by the road. It is not a series of meetings that are and have been on the church calendar annually consisting of 5 nights in June. Revival is not something that happens in a tent. There is nothing wrong with having those meetings, and even sometimes, by the grace of God, there are strains…hints…inklings of true revival that manifests here or there, but let us not confuse our terms. Revival is not something we schedule in our Daytimers.

Revival is not clean. It is messy. It is messy because life is messy and relationships are messy and revival deals primarily with life and relationships.

Revival is not easy. It must be fought for, prayed for, sought after, and wept over. It does not come in a cellophane-wrapped, shiny box, prepackaged and marketed for our immediate and mass consumption. It cannot be purchased in the drive thru window of Mega-Churchianity for the sake of our convenience. It must be toiled over in the field, having sown with tears and patiently tended with prayers. It must be cultivated, harvested, and brought in to the house of God, washed in the Word and prepared in the crockpot of intercession, seasoned with the broken-heartedness of the saints of God.

Our frail attempts to manufacture revival have failed. The heart, which once beat for our First Love, is weak and the pulse of the Church is fading. Our own arms are too feeble to perform CPR on ourselves, to pathetic to compress the chest of the Church and thereby keep it alive. We need the Holy Spirit of God to break out the defribulator paddles and shock us back to life.

God is not mocked. As a man sows so shall he reap. Where we have toyed with sin as Believers, we are reaping consequences. Where we have been selfish, our relationships are hurting. Where we have failed to confess sin and rid our lives of it, it has taken control and has mastery over us. Where we continue to feed ourselves with worldliness through media and pop culture, the result is a Church full of Biblically illiterate, self-absorbed, apathetic, church-going, pew-sitting, feed-me-first, fat baby Christians who don't have a clue about the battle we're in. Nor do they care. Where we have cuckolded our Groom and fornicated with the spirit of the age, he has been a fickle lover and we find ourselves abandoned in a house full of bastard children who do not want to be fed, but only entertained. God forbid that we should challenge them or cause them to be inconvenienced. In our day, blaspheming the Holy Spirit has been replaced by making church-goers uncomfortable as the unpardonable sin. This is state of affairs here in Laodecia.

But don't lose heart and don't be confused. All around us in the Body there is conflict. Character issues are springing up. Marriages are breaking up. Sin is abounding and commitment to Christ is waning. Is this revival? I believe it is. At least, these are the first signs of a coming revival.

We have excelled in hiding our sin, justifying it, and dressing it up in religious clothes. We have kept in darkness those things which Scripture says were to be brought into the light. We have not allowed Christ unfettered, unrestricted access to every hidden place, every deep place, every black recess in our cavernous, wicked hearts. We have not repented earnestly before him. Oh, we've been remorseful, make no mistake. Remorseful at the hurt we may have caused others. Remorseful over the ways in which sin has affected our status quo. Really, just remorseful over getting caught. But we have not been repentant. We have not turned from sin and adultery with the world and embraced holiness and righteousness.

Christ is desirous to return for a radiant Bride. In our day, we are seeing a cleansing like never before. All our sin, He is dragging into the Light of His Presence, even if it must come kicking and screaming. He is bound and determined to purify His Church, and that is what we are seeing now. The conflict, the character issues, the infidelities and indiscretions, and the abundance of other sins in the Church are being brought to light. They aren't new. They've been here all along. They've just been hidden, but He's just not going to let us go pretending and playing dress up any longer. Welcome to revival. We can fight it, but it is to no avail. The sooner we willfully and volitionally bring our own sin to account before one another, the sooner we humbly bow before Him and bend the knee in His Presence, the better off we'll be.

Well, I was back in the saddle last night (Friday 7/20/07) being downtown after dark. It has been several weeks since I have had the time to be down there, praying and witnessing. I must admit that I felt a bit out of sorts. I usually tool into town on my scooter, park, and try to look dangerously cool carrying my helmet around with my leather gloves stuck in it. It was hard to strike that pose cruising into Athens in our minivan. Nonetheless, I got my sea legs under my quickly, caught up with our little band of folks and began to pray.

A couple of them were already engaged in conversation with a skater in front of Repent bar. You can read earlier blogs if you want to know more about Repent (A on my map). I didn't want to crowd him, so I passed by a prayed for them and took a peek in the bar next door called Room 13. I walked through and prayed for wisdom and insight. I came back out and was joined by David Betts, one of the guys I disciple. We walked a little further on and found a shop (B on the map) tucked away down what used to be an alley. What caught my eye was all the djembes (African drums). Of course there were some African tribal masks hanging about, but I wasn't surprised. Then I started noticing all the candles and candle holders for sale along with incense. Much of it was occult related. And then I saw the back wall and display case with what has to be the largest assortment of bongs Ihad ever seen in one place, all for sale. We came out of there rather quickly and moved on through another shop that was laden with crucifixes and icons of Jesus…rather strange. Emerging from there, we rejoined our group to pray.

As we all progressed down the street, we happened in front of what was Flicker bar and theater. On the door was a sign that said "Closed and For Sale." So we stopped to pray again that God would provide every dime needed to place a group of Believers in that space. It's located (C on the map) between those bars and the 40 Watt, which is where a lot of bands play in Athens. 20-somethings are constantly walking through there and it is a PERFECT location for what we want to do. So if God prompts you to give several thousand dollars, walk in obedience…

One of the things that the Lord has shown us over the past several weeks is that this one city block (highlighted in purple on my map) seems to be the darkest section of downtown spiritually. Not just lost, but oppressed. It would be a miracle for God to place us on that block and provide the resources we would need. Good thing He still does miracles, huh?

We headed back the way we'd come and at the corner, we went left, just walking and praying, and every once in a while, I'd just wander off into a bar to walk around and look and pray and maybe talk to some folks and ask how I could pray for them. At the next corner (D on the map), that is just what I did and imagine my surprise when I encountered an old WDA alum behind the bar. Dan struggled as a student after his parents divorced. From our brief conversation it appears that he is not walking with the Lord these days. Pray for Dan.

Another block north and we arrived at Club Detour (E on the map). Now, this is the part I enjoy in my blog. There's this place deep inside that finds perverse delight in shocking "church people." That may or may not describe some of you, but consider yourself warned. Detour is a gay bar. It was early in the evening and things weren't really cranking yet, so we decided to have a look inside. I mean, why not? I'd already gone in 3 bars that night. The only difference with this one is that everyone inside is gay, right? Well, at the far end of the bar we encountered "Pebbles." He (in drag) was quite a large man. We shook hands as David (who formerly was in that lifestyle) introduced us. "Is this your boyfriend?" was Pebble's first question to David. I quickly offered a "no." We talked for a few minutes until I excused myself to walk around and pray. I wasn't disgusted, but what I felt the Spirit doing in my heart was breaking it. I left that place humbled. We gathered outside to pray once more, and then began walking back the way we'd come. David broke down and began to cry. His heart was broken, too. It was a mix of feeling the temptation of that old life still calling to him, repentance and brokenness over that old life, and incredible heartbreak and sadness over Pebbles and the other drag queens we'd left back there.

After some more prayer and humbling ourselves before the Lord, at the next corner we encountered a group of ladies (F on the map). I was out front and they saw me coming and were smiling. Now, as a single guy back in the day, that would have been a welcome sight, but given my status and what we're about, I got rather concerned. It was a soon-to-be-bride and her girls out on the town. They were smiling because I was to be their next victim. They wanted $1 from me in exchange for the opportunity to suck candy of the shirt of the bride. I politely declined, sighting imminent death delivered by my wife upon learning of such behavior, not to mention the immoral nature of what was being offered. It was sad really to see another clear example of how our culture views marriage as bondage instead of freedom. Here she was, out sowing her wild oats before the nuptials, before she had to "settle down."

Down another block south and then left onto Clayton Avenue. On the corner sits Last Resort (G on the map), a nice restaurant. In the parking lot, I spotted a waiter smoking on his break. I approached him and introduced myself. His name was Joel. I asked if I could pray for him in any way, and his response was not what I expected. He told me plainly that he didn't want prayer, he didn't believe in my God or in Jesus, or any of that "Christian bull****!" I was a little taken back. I stood there, looking quizzically at him for a moment. He added "My karma is good." I chuckled a little. I asked if he had done enough good things to outweigh the bad things in his life and he reassured me that he had, and closed the conversation by letting me know that he simply wanted to finish his break in peace and to be left alone. Oh well, nothing left but to shake the dust off my sandals…

We meandered a ways more, passing numerous bars, and tons of people. Finally we reached the highest point in downtown Athens on College Avenue, near the intersection with Washington Street (H on the map). This is the spot where we will be gathering 1000 Believers on August 3 to pray for the city of Athens. We stayed there a while just praying for the city and for that night coming up in less than 2 weeks. It was a sweet way to wrap up our time together. David and I debriefed over a late night meal at The Grill near the UGA arches. I drove home listening to Bach's Mass in B minor. "Kyrie eleison! Christe eleison!" "Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on us!" Those Latin words have never rang so true in my spirit as they did at that moment…

Continue to pray for Athens, for the coming Awakening and Revival, and for the work that God has called us to here! Below are some links if you'd like to see for yourself what Athens is like from my route last night…

http://www.myspace.com/repentbar

http://www.40watt.com/

http://www.myspace.com/detourofathens

I had a graduating senior here at UGA recently pose this question to me:

Below it is my response. I hope it stirs you to thoughtfulness about the Word and what we believe…

Do you think a person can be a Christian without believing the Bible is the Word of God? Essentially, they believe the story of the Gospel to be true, but that the Bible itself is not God inspired. In other words, is it a requirement to believe the Bible is the Word of God in order to be a Christian? This person believes the words of Christ were the words of God, and that the Bible contains truth, but that does not mean it is the word of God. They do not believe any man can claim divinity of words or books. Only God.

Modus Ponens: IF A, then B, but not necessarily if B, then A.
If something is God's word, then it is true, but not necessarily if something is true, it is God's words.

Case in point... I watch sportcenter tonight, see the boxscore, and that is true. But it is not necessarily God-inspired.

First, a bit of philosophical hair-splitting. When we talk about facts and truth, there is, I think, an important distinction to be made. When we speak about a fact, we mean a thing known to have occurred or to be true; a datum of experience. A fact is generally conceived to be something that has been or can be irrefutably proved by the application of scientific knowledge and that would appear quite reasonable despite the situation being that science can be wrong. So in a sense, it is something more tangible than truth. Truth is, or at least can be, self evident and can exist outside of the realm of the tangible. So it is much like squares and rectangles. All squares are rectangles by definition but not all rectangles are squares. In the same way, all facts are true while not all truths are facts. I say all that to address your example of SportsCenter. While the score from any major league sporting event may well be factual AND true, it is not true in the same sense that God is true. This applies to His Word as well.

So I would begin by saying that a person CAN accept Christ and be born again without having a full understanding of the nature of the Bible, but given that it is the ONLY source of the Gospel, already at justification, the groundwork is laid to accept it fully if one develops a fully coherent worldview. And it makes no sense not to follow logically in the worldview and adopt the Scriptures for what they claim to be.

But back to the question at hand: can a person accept Christ and NOT accept the Bible as the Word of God? As I've already stated, I think that person can, in ignorance, accept the truth of the Gospel and not understand the doctrines of the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture, but I firmly believe that a person cannot profess Christ while volitionally holding to the position you've offered in your question. I'd like to explain why.

It has to do with the very nature of the Word itself and it is tied closely to the Reformation Doctrine of Sola Scriptura. First, the Bible claims over 2800 times to be the very Word of God. No other 'holy" book can even come close to touching that claim. And if it makes that claim that adamantly, then it at least deserves to be examined for what it claims to be. I would venture a guess that your friend who doesn't believe in the Bible has yet to really read it – even the New Testament. Jesus had much to say about Himself being the Word incarnate, and not just the red letters in some Bibles. He is the Word from Genesis 1:1 all the way to Revelation 22:21. John 1 tells us that "in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God," and in verse 14 "the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us." You cannot separate Christ from the Logos. When confronted by the religious leaders Jesus said to them that " the whole of the volume of the Book (OT) testifies to who I am."  Every page screams Jesus Christ. (You may have noticed that I take a VERY high view of Scripture!) He said that "not one jot or title would pass away until all had been fulfilled!" That's an amazing statement as to the purposefulness and intentionality of Scripture as inspired by the Holy Spirit. To assert that every detail is there by design according to the will of an omniscient God is incredible!

In 2 Timothy 3 Paul admonishes Timothy to "continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…" and goes on to say how Godliness had been lived out for Timothy by his mother and grandmother and by Paul himself, but that it was the "sacred writings"  which are able to make you wise unto salvation. He goes on to say that ALL Scripture is God-breathed – again, this is the entirety of the Bible. Now, if that's not true, that's fine – throw the entire Christian message out! And you'd have to, because from what other source do we get our beliefs? The Bible only. So if it's not God's Word as it claims to be, then you have to throw it ALL out! There is no message of salvation in Christ apart from Scripture, so for someone to say that they believe Christ but don't accept the Bible as true or inspired by God doesn't make any sense at all! It would be like someone claiming to be Muslim but not adhering to the Quran. How can that be possible? It can't. Now someone could convert to Islam without understanding the Quran, and so we have come full circle. It would be in ignorance that one would do this. So tell your friend that if he rejects the Bible, he rejects the Logos, Christ Himself. It is an inherently contradictory position that makes no sense whatsoever.

I trust that you'll be firm, but more gentle in your delivery than I have been here. I wasn't seeking to address the individual directly but to answer your question with the clarity and veracity it deserved. Thanks for asking me.

So we had our prayer gathering on Legion Field tonight where almost 70 years ago revival broke out in Athens. It was well attended, but by mostly folks over 60! God brought the Remnant out to pray and encourage us younguns! Some of them have been praying for Athens longer than I've been alive. Well, in preparation for tonight, I was praying this afternoon about what to say regarding repentance and the Lord gave me this clearly and I wanted to share it with you. I would "Enjoy!" but its not the kind of thing one enjoys.

Repent:
To agree with God about sin; to turn away from and change one's mind about sin
To be done with worldliness
For do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Repent!
It's what we need to do tonight

For the wickedness of a nation
For the thousands of unborn lives that are sacrificed on the alters of convenience and choice
For the Pulitzer Prize winners, and Nobel Laureates, for the Diplomats and Heads of State, the elementary school teachers and college professors, the athletes, the mothers and fathers of future generations whose lives have been snuffed out before they had a chance to be heard
For the rivers of innocent blood that flow in our streets
For our lack of moral outrage as a people
For valuing the amassing of wealth over and above the value of human life
For striving to become rich in finances instead of poor in spirit
To him whom much is given, much is expected
I can think of no other nation on earth in the last 5 decades that has been given what we've been given and it terrifies me to think of the Judgment of God that is yet to come
Repent!
It's what we need to do tonight

For the waywardness of a generation
For buying hook, line, and sinker every lie that our TV's and radios tell us
For allowing ourselves to become so anesthetized to violence through the media that school shootings and the murdering of one's own parents would become common place in our culture
For becoming not just tolerant but enamored with pornography, so that what passes for PG-13 in movies today would not have been given a showing 50 years ago
We prosecute the sick deviant who watches through the window of a private residence under cover of darkness and then we enter into a dark theater and do the same and call it entertainment
Woe to a generation that calls evil good and good evil
Repent!
For clinging to an entitlement mentality that believes that everybody owes us something, especially God
Woe to this generation for getting that right, for what the Holy One owes to us, what we rightly have earned by our repulsive sin, Scripture says is death and Hell
Repent!
It's what we need to do tonight

For our corporate sins as the Body of Christ
For our pride and arrogance, looking down our noses at people who are "different" from us
For the naiveté that would presume that this present generation of college students and 20–somethings will eventually settle down and return to their Christian roots when they have been given no roots to return to
For the rampant spirit of religious ambition that keeps pastors and ministry leaders focused on their little "k" kingdoms instead of our Master's Capital "K" Kingdom
For the same spirit that makes us divisive and suspicious of one another instead of submitting to the Holy Spirit who longs for us to embrace one another in Christ
For the club-house attitude that is pervasive in much of American Christianity that puts the happiness and contentment of its members above and before being missional in a community
For ferociously guarding our favorite padded pews instead of falling on our knees before Almighty God
For seeking comfort and complacency instead of going and serving and wading out into the muck and mire of humanity up to our elbows in an effort to love people who are made in the Image of God
For being ashamed of the Gospel so as to water it down and make it about happiness instead of righteousness
Repent!
It's what we need to do tonight

For our individual sins – the pet sins that we keep chained up and hidden away that we think no one sees, that we rationalize about and stroke and feed and nurture
You know which ones
Even now as I speak God brings them to your mind
Be done with them
Repent!
For our apathy about sharing the Gospel while 9 out of 10 people around us on this campus is dieing and going to Hell
For making time to watch 24 and see Jack Bauer save the world when we won't go to the trouble to see one person saved from the wrath that is to come
For sitting down to watch Grey's Anatomy every week when we put forth little or no effort to invite the Great Physician to examine our hearts and lives
For ritualistically gathering to see this week's episode of Lost when we don't even see those right next door to us who are eternally lost
For choosing worldliness over Godliness
For indulging in the lust of our flesh instead of crucifying it
For rallying to the battle cry of this generation when they say "Live for self!" instead of embracing the heart-cry of our Lord who says "Die to self!"
Tonight, men and women, we must repent

OK. So you need to know up front that this may come off as a little peculiar, but hey, after all, Scripture says that we are "a holy priesthood, a peculiar people." Often, I can relate more to the latter than the former, but I digress. Yesterday (Tuesday April 18) was a fairly incredible day, and I want to take a moment to relay some of the strange happenings that marked my day. Two, in particular, stand out.

In the morning I met with Dana and Amantha (on the Board of Directors for Tribe Issachar – the Athens prayer room) about this Sunday night and our wrapping up of 21 days of 24/7 prayer. We knew the Pagan Student Association is planning a major event called "Take Back" this Friday on campus, but had no other information. Our heart for Sunday night at Legion Field is a calling to repentance and earnest prayer for an Awakening of the lost and Revival in the Church here in this community. Neither me, nor the ladies had any inklings about the format of this time, so we agreed that we will show up and see what God does. Since we had 20 minutes left with nothing to actually plan, we began to pray for that time and a moving of God's Spirit on the campus. Here's where it gets interesting…

I have to preface this by telling you that I do not usually have visions. But as we prayed, in my mind's eye I began to see Legion Field where we will be meeting. It was just after sunset and things were dark as people were gathered to pray. As we cried out to God, HUGE drops of rain began to fall. They were enormous – the size of VW Beetles! And it wasn't a heavy rain – it was just the onset of a shower with a light sprinkling, but here's the really cool part. As the drops hit the ground, they weren't water! They were comprised of light! And wherever the drop hit, instead of being wet, the darkness was pushed back and there was a ray of warm, golden light in that spot. As we finished praying, I shared what I had seen with the ladies, and they began to chuckle. At the risk of having my fragile male ego crushed, I asked what was so funny. "Oh nothing really." was the reply. "It's just that Dana had the same vision this morning at 4am in the prayer room!"

How awesome is our God? I am terrified and excited about what might happen this weekend at Legion Field. Is this the onset of what we've been longing for and praying for so long?? We shall see…

Later that afternoon, Scott (one of the guys I disciple) and I were downtown. We saw the line for Ben and Jerry's for the free cone and it was down the street and around the corner, so we went up to the prayer room. No ice cream cone is worth waiting in line for 2 hours. In the prayer room, I say Dana's sketch of the vision we'd both had. Chills.

Scott and I prayed and worshipped for a while and then we went walking around downtown Athens. Someone had told us about a new bar that had opened back in September called "Repent" and that it was an incredibly spiritually dark place. We thought we'd go check it out for ourselves. So we got there and sure enough, the presence of the enemy was oppressive just standing outside looking at the place. The ragged wings on either side of the name "Repent" clearly mocked the Truth, and as we stood there gawking, a goth-looking girl came out the door. I told Scott I wanted to go in and look around, so we approached her. She works there and said it would be ok to go in, so we did. The Satanic elements and symbols were heavy all around the room. The first thing I noticed was the huge clown hanging from the ceiling over the bar, grinning with sharp fangs and demonic eyes and giving everyone the finger.

Scott and I were only in there for maybe 4 minutes, but we both sensed in our spirits that we had overstayed our welcome. On the way back to the door, I noticed something I missed coming in. It was a subtle, blurred mural near the entrance that consumed an entire wall and I was astounded that I hadn't seen it earlier. It was a demonic face staring at you with red, glowing eyes.

Now, I've been doing outreach in front of the Toppers strip club for almost 2 years now. The darkness there is heavy, but it is the kind of place where the people inside are deceived about their sin. They think that it's ok and good to be doing what they're doing and they would vehemently deny any demonic presence or backing in what takes place inside that establishment. "Repent" was VERY different, and the darkness we experienced there was far more pronounced and brash. It was an in-your-face "Here we are!" kind of darkness that is clearly embracing the demonic. The impression on my heart was that of a group of people who are clearly unashamed about their allegiance to Satan and unafraid to stand up and make it known. My prayer is that God would raise up a generation of people who would be as bold for Christ…may it happen soon.

Tonight was different. Something happened that we've not seen before. As Jonathan was talking to some particularly rowdy guys, one of them really began to engage him and listen. But this isn't about that guy. The older man standing behind him was listening intently to what Jonathan had to say. After a few minutes, the younger abandoned to conversation to return to the pleasures of sin, apathetic to the condition of his soul. But the older man stayed, gazing at Jonathan. He approached and spoke to him.

"I am convicted by the Holy Spirit."

Those were his words. And he meant it, too. He said that he knew that he could not go back into the strip club. And he didn't. He and Jonathan disappeared around the corner to go get food and talk – anything to distract him from being tempted to return to his friends inside. Over dinner, Jonathan discovered that Moondog (Paul) is a gypsy who currently resides outside of Atlanta. Moondog called his family on his cell phone and made Jonathan talk to them about the Gospel and Jesus. It was amazing! 20 months of doing this and we've not seen that kind of Godly repentance in anyone. When they returned, Moondog would not stop thanking us and offering to buy us food and water. He was so grateful. Even when his friends begged and pleaded with him to return inside, he did not, but sent others in to fetch them out when the taxi finally came.

Pray for Moondog (Paul). Pray that God will continue this work in his heart. He is a natural leader and some of the other men who were with him who also were gypsies respected him and looked up to him very much. Pray that God will sanctify his heart and use him to reach the Romanian gypsies that he lives among as they nomadically migrate around the county looking for work.

Man, it was good to see God working so clearly tonight. Keep praying for Athens. The dam is about to break.

But I digress. I need to back up and share with you, my beloved reader (those among our culture who can actually read), and explain what moment of clarity brought me to such utter despair for humanity and contempt for my fellow brethren. I was at Starbucks. Forgive me. I was meeting a friend there and he was buying. I realize that this admission is enough to negate everything that follows for some of you, but bear with me. I was at Starbucks and I had to go to the bathroom. Now, I do my best thinking in the bathroom, but it was not a moment of deep thought or even grunting that brought me to this revelation. It was after, during the washing of the hands.

Now, it might be news to you, but no one beyond the age of 6 ought to need be reminded to wash their hands after going to the bathroom, especially in a public place, and ESPECIALLY if they are an employ who handles food or drink products. Unfortunately, we as a society are already so idiotic that we need to place signs in bathrooms to remind people to practice proper hygiene. As I immersed my hands in the spout of water there at the sink, I noticed the paper tower dispenser next to me with said sign upon it. But what caught my eye was just beneath the reminder. There was a comic strip in 6 frames depicting how to go about this endeavor as if hand-washing were some long-lost, ancient art that had only recently been unearthed necessitating a visual explanation of how to go about the chore. And it was in that moment that I realized that we are morons. We have come to a place as a people where we need cartoons in bathrooms to help people, adult people, do the most basic of tasks. Such is deserving of being conquered and made subject to France. God help us…

Christian Vampire.This phrase has haunted (forgive the terminology linked to the macabre) me since I read it recently in Dallas Willard's book "The Great Omission." I've not been particularly struck by the profundity of the content, but consider that for more than 8 years I have worked for Worldwide Discipleship Association, committed to Biblical disciple building. So you must forgive me for not being overwhelmed at the thought that the church is not fulfilling the Great Commission with our easy-believism-man-centered Gospel. But that one phrase that I read in his book has stayed with me and I have rolled it over in my head for several days.

I see the poignancy and irony of the idea in clear, theological ways. Willard lightly expounds on the idea by saying that the approach many modern Christians in the west have towards Christ is "I want your blood." That's all. Just the justification, thanks. See ya when I get to heaven, but not before. When it comes to Christ, many are simply blood-sucking fiends who want to drink their impulsive fill and high-tail it back to the dark in an effort to avoid the light of day.

There's another good word picture for what I am trying to get at. Light. Specifically, daylight. Jesus employs sunlight as an image of trial and hardship in the parable of the sower. It shows the false convert in rocky, shallow soil for what he is. In Luke 11:33-36 Jesus speaks to this idea. John, the beloved disciple, in his Gospel (ch. 3) tells us that men love darkness and continue to do so even though the Light has come into the world. He later employs the same metaphor in his epistle again and again. It's deadly stuff light. It shows us our sin, our heart's attitude and motivation. Christ wants to drag the hidden places and deep recesses of our hearts into the light so that we can deal with them and be healed, but we, in our selfishness and desire to stay comfortable would rather fight against it. Make no mistake though, the Light is deadly to vampires, Christian or otherwise.

There's also the whole undead thing. Vampires are not alive. In an effort to gain immortality, they have become undead, neither living nor dead. I see legions of the undead in the church, though from a Biblical perspective, we approach this in it's inversion. Scripture tells us that all humanity apart from Christ is dead in their sins and transgressions. When we truly come to Christ and are soundly saved, we become alive in Him. Jesus said in John 10 that He came to give us life and to give it more abundantly or to the full. So we pass from death into life, whereas in the vampire myth, a person passes from life into undeath. The Christian vampire passes from death (in sins) into undeath, not life. Again we are dealing with false converts who have come for fire insurance, not desiring to lose their life in order that they may find it. Christ demands complete surrender – our everything. These church culture nosferatu only give lip service to the King. Again, they only want the blood, not the conformity of character to that of Christ which is our true and high calling (Romans 8:28-29).

Here's the crux of the matter (again forgive the word usage), a false convert/Christian vampire does not truly desire the cross. It is indicative of death to self, not life for self. It represents everything antithetical to the Christian vampire's quest for "My Best Life Now" and the reward of Heaven eternal later. It spells out in no uncertain terms that the best life God intends for the true Christian right now is one of death to self, sacrifice, trial, hardship and purification.

Unfortunately, Jesus made it clear in advance that the Church would always be thus, full of false converts as well as true believers. And it is not our job to separate the two. He reserves that for the angels at the Judgment. But I think we can do 2 things that will help without overstepping our bounds. The first is to share the actual, Biblical, entire Gospel. No more "Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Let us not set the carnal mind up for disappointment and disillusionment when they find out that Christ is not primarily concerned with their comfort and material blessing. The second thing would be to create an atmosphere at the local church level of true Biblical disciple building. People need to know when they come into a particular church that there will be no bench-warming on the back pews. This is life is a calling to follow our Rabbi and walk in His steps. If we do these 2 things we will make it difficult for the vampires to flourish, for in so doing, we fill our churches with daylight and crosses.

Just some thoughts…

**DISCLAIMER**

--> -->1)     I see myself and my flesh too often in the tendencies described above. That is not to say that I see myself as a false convert. I battle my flesh daily and seek to crucify it that I might life for Christ and He live His life in me. I would caution you that if the above describes your faith more often than not, then you would be wise to take Paul's advice to examine yourself to see whether or not you are really in the faith. If you are, in fact, offended or put out or any other form of being bent out of shape or discomforted within, might I suggest that the conviction of the Holy Spirit is no small thing and not to be ignored. --> -->

--> -->2)     I realize that in all this talk about blood and such that some might take me to mean the Eucharist. Let me officially go on record as saying that there are few other heresies so damnable as that of Transubstantiation and Continual Sacrifice. The detriment it has done the Body of Christ is immeasurable, and for many, irreparable. 

True Horror…

So I like vampire movies. I do. I know they're not "Christian" or "Christlike" or edifying or anything like that. I know that my wife does not like them and does not like me to watch them. It's true that the genre typically pulls sensuality into the storyline and if one is not careful, one may see more than is appropriate. Thank God for the skip chapter button on the DVD remote.

I guess the important question is "Why do I like vampire movies?" I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've had some insights. Much of it has to do with immortality. I need to go ahead and submit to you that what I'm about to share, I think, applies to everybody who digs this genre whether they realize or not. It's just one of those existential realities that simply is. So don't waste your time trying to convince me otherwise, or I'll fly into your room at night and suck out all your blood….

I believe John Eldridge is right when he speaks of stories resonating with our hearts because the elements in them that are true are True of the The Story. I think this happens even when the elements of the True Story have become twisted as well. In the vampire legend, immortality is gained by what means? Blood. Drinking it. The life is in the blood. Are these not the words of God to His people in the Bible? Do not eat the meat with the blood still in it. Do not murder for the blood of man is precious and the blood of the murderer must be spilt in recompense. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins…on and on about blood.

But the vampire myth twists the Truth of the importance of blood in a couple of ways. First, it makes blood in general, not just the exclusive blood of the Son of God, a way to immortality. First, you've got to be bitten, and then, you either have to drink vampire blood or you die. So there's a death. This is similar to the Christian idea that one must die to sin and to the world and be raised to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

Second, it offers the same shortcuts that Satan tempted Christ with at the end of the 40 days of testing in the wilderness. The things that Satan offered Jesus were not bad things. But the way that he tempted Jesus was in taking the easy way or a shortcut to get to those things. Vampirism offers the same temptation in a sense. Instead of dying to the world and to sin, immortality is offered along side full indulgence of this world and sin. The desire to live forever and the desire for pleasure are not evil things. They are God-given and He longs to fulfill them in ever person that He has made, but in His timing and in His way. In contrast to the perseverance and trust that are required in true salvation and relationship to God, the vampire offers a cheap imitation.

In short is offers a counterfeit redemption or salvation. So my fascination and resonance with the myth is, I admit it, not a good one. I t resonates because it is false and there is a part of me, still in my flesh, that is tempted by the shortcut, tempted to take the quick and easy way out. I must confess, some days I do indulge that fantasy of being able to go back to childhood while retaining all the knowledge and experiences you have now. It is appealing when I consider all that I could do and leverage to my advantage. It is only on rare occasions that I realize all the pain that would be involved in such a decision. (I might explore this idea specifically in another blog some other time…). And those are just some thoughts on blood sucking undead people….hope none of them that read this blog were offended.

It's Saturday night and I ought to be in bed like a good husband/daddy resting up for church tomorrow, but I'm too wired up to sleep. Spent Friday running Ethan to school and Noah to the doctor (all's well now) and the my folks came to visit all day today, so I've had no time since events transpired Thursday night to relay them to you. I am, however, still excited about them, so hang on and let me tell you…

I hadn't been out to the Toppers outreach in literally months. With Abigayle's arrival and adjusting to being the new director of the Journey this summer and fall, life has just been to crazy for me to have time to stand on a sidewalk from 11pm – 2am on Thursday nights. Finally, life is settling down, so this week I ventured back out.

I'd had a taste of evangelism again lately open-air preaching with a friend at the Tate student center. We preached for 4 hours and the first 2 were dry. Students just kept walking by, apathetic to the Gospel. But then the entire staff of the Wesley Foundation, who were having a day of prayer and fasting, arrived in the plaza to be our "crowd" and pray for us the second 2 hours, and the most amazing thing happened…lots of students began to stop and listen and ask questions and engage us. It was GREAT! So, given how dry my summer has been considering how little I've had to offer anyone else, that day of preaching got me stirred up again.

So out I venture on Thursday night, returning to what I began almost 1 year ago. A handful of faithful guys show up, we prayed with the ladies of Tribe Issachar, and off we went to the sidewalk in front of Toppers. Now, I had several good conversations with people that night, but there are 3 that have really stayed on my heart that I want to share with you…

The first is Forest. Yes, like Gump. He is a large man. Probably 6'2" and close to 275lbs. Gentle guy though. He was talking with Jonathan and some of the other guys initially, but brought Matt and me into the conversation a different points. Turns out our new friend Forest is a DJ at Toppers. He tells us that he knows that the environment that he works in is wrong and harmful, not only to the girls who work there, but to him as well. So we're chatting and he says something that perks my little ears up. He says, "You know, I can see myself where you guys are in 10 years or so…I'm starting to bend this way…" We ask for him to elaborate on this "bending our way" idea.

He is talking when a petite little blond walks up and side hugs him. She's mainly looking at the ground, not wanting to interrupt but I can see enough of her face to see the dark eyeliner and harsh makeup of someone who works on a stage. Our eyes meet and I ask her name. "Carrie," is her reply.

"How are you tonight, Carrie?"

"Pretty good. I'm running an errand to go get cigarettes for a friend inside. I'm a dancer here."  Eyes back to the pavement.

"Carrie? My friend Matt and I were just wondering if there is anything that we can be praying for you about."

Eyes peer out, surprised from under a brow and face that is still mostly parallel to the concrete. She studies us for a moment to see if we're serious, and then, after deciding that we're legit, she offers, "My kids."

Well, of course I begin sharing about my kids and connecting with her. She lights up as she relays stories about her 5 r. old and almost 4 yr. old. Carrie almost apologetically offered that her kids go to church every day. They're in day care at a church and she wants them to get a better upbringing than the one she had. It's amazing how the conviction of the Holy Spirit can come on someone you've only offered to pray for. But she knows why we're there and what we're about. She finishes telling us about her kids and I said to her, "Can we just pray right now for them?"

Again surprise lights up her eyes and she smiles and enthusiastically says "Yes!" So we bow our heads, 2 campus ministers and a stripper on a sidewalk in downtown Athens at 12:30am and begin to call out to the God who made Heaven and earth that He would watch over 2 special children, that they might be assured of the love of their mother, and also, that they would be even more assured of the love of their heavenly Father. It was so great to see Carrie beaming as she walked away.

Once she left, I turned my attention back to Forest. He was wrapping up with some of the other guys and getting ready to leave. Now, I have on my person lately several little cards that have the days of the week and a blank line underneath that says next to it "Time of Day." At the top it reads:

APPOINTMENT CARD

Fill in the date of your death

And then beneath the place to fill in day and time it says:

Please don't forget to call me on the day you're going to die. Then we can discuss eternity.

Just under that is my name and cell phone number. On the back is a Gospel presentation. Someone gave me a stack of these and I have been using them a lot lately.

So just before Forest leaves, I ask him about the "10 years from now" thing he said. I wanted to know if he knew that even had 10 years to live. He laughed it off, apparently not worried about dying, so I asked "Can I give you this?" and I handed him the card.

He took a moment to look at it and the expression on his face changed from one of careless enjoyment of the evening to one of sudden realization and concern. He looked me right in the eyes and said "Man, that's heavy."

"yeah, it is, Forest. And the truth is, you can't fill that card out because you don't know when you'll die. It could be next month, next week, tomorrow, or even tonight. Think about it. This isn't something you want to put off – this is your eternity we're talking about here."

Forest went away still looking at the card and thinking about what we said.

Finally, there was Joe. Joe was drunk. Joe is in his 60's. Joe came out of Toppers and wanted to know what we were doing. Joe didn't have any concept of personal space. We began to talk and the short of it is that Joe was in Vietnam, was a preacher, was a police officer and now crawls inside a bottle to try to forget life. He challenged us to quote verses and he would finish them before we could. He knew the Word. He tried to tell me he was Secret Service and was in Toppers to bust a couple of pedophiles. I looked him straight in the eyes and said "If you want to go in there, you're a grown man and I won't stop you. But Joe, you don't have to rationalize your sins to me." He stood there staring at me and turned away in a huff. 10 minutes later he was back in my face.

As he was relaying his story to me in between trips in and out of Toppers, it came up that Joe had been shot twice in the line of duty as a police and that there was some resentment over not having received any commendation for that. He was angry at police and angry about crack heads who got out of jail within 24 hours only to go back to their drugs and crime. He was just angry.

I began to talk to Joe about the failure of the Law to change men. I was explaining that that was the whole idea Paul explored in Romans when the Holy Spirit spoke to me and showed me the more excellent way.

I stopped mid-sentence. "Thank you, Joe."

"What?"

"Thank you. Thank you for being a police officer. Thank you for taking 2 bullets to protect innocent lives."

"Stop it man! You don't need to thank me." He countered. 

But Joe, I'm down here tonight and my wife and kids are home alone and it's men and women in uniform that protect my family on nights like tonight. I wasn't there when you got shot, but I want to say thank you on behalf of those who never had the opportunity, or the courage. Thank you, Joe. I mean it." And I placed my hand on his shoulder.

Joe stared and me and then his eyes began to fill with tears. Then he couldn't stop the weeping. After a few minutes of sobbing on the sidewalk, Joe said "I'll be right back," and disappeared into Toppers. 2 minutes later he was back on the street and came to me and said, "I don't need to be in there. I know better. And I'm done drinking. I need to go home. I went and asked the bartender to call me a cab." 

Just before he climbed in to the cab to leave, Joe took my hand in his and thanked me and said, "No one's ever done for me what you did tonight." And he was gone.

I think about those 3 lives that I had a chance to touch and I just think how amazing it is that I get to do what I do. Is there any better life than that of one lived in obedience and service to the King?