#ReimaginePRAYER ~ Pondering Repentance ... and Revival and Renewal
Revival has ben hijacked by a specifc stlye of church protocol.
It refers to a annual series of meetings designed to produce an emotional response from the gathered faithful prompted by loud, fear-based ("hellfire and brimstone") preaching.
While the contrition and confession may have been sincere, the modes and methods utilized failed to produce a Spirit-led, Scripture-fed congregation of mature disciples.
- Repentance is more concerned with what changes inside than outside:
- Begins with a response to the Holy Spirit (often sensed by feeling sorrow or grief over our sin)
- But must be ore than that emotional response; our sadness must produce a cleansed, pure "heart"
- ...and that must produce a change of mind (think differently; Romans 12:2)
- "The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to (repent); ie, turn from sin and no one to be lost." (see 2 Peter 3:9)
- If we confess our sins is more than saying "sorry"
- We must concur that what we have done, how we have thought or where we have failed to be act obediently, is sin
- Confess = "agree with God that what the Spirit have convicted us of is truly sin
- Conviction without contrition is weak; that sin will easily repeat
- Three Transforming Questions
- What? ... is the sin God wants me to repent (turn) from?
- So What? ...why has the Lord pointed this particular issue to me (why is this sin hurtful to the Lord? to the Body of Christ? to our Christian witness?
- Now What? ... does the Spirit want to do in me, to make me more like Christ? (ask someone to forgive me? change an attitude? resume a spiritual discipline? research the issue biblically?)
- What is the difference between reviving renewing and repenting?
- Repenting is a change of mind/direction; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Reviving is to re-vive; regain life
- Renewing is to restore something old to a fresh (but not necessairly new) state
