Occasionally, a pastor, or just a desperate church person will ask me, “What’s stopping revival in my church?” I think it can have a lot to do with an inaccurate definition of revival.

There are a lot of religious definitions out there that have nothing to do with Biblical revival.

For instance, revival is NOT a twice yearly scheduled event with an out of town speaker brought in to pump up the people. When he leaves town, generally the excitement goes with him and it is back to the religious status quo until his next visit.

Revival involves God’s life returning to His people. It saddens me when I travel to other churches claiming they have revivaI, yet when I arrive and face their congregation, there is nothing but dullness and passivity in their eyes. Sure, the platform people may be jumping, but it’s not true Biblical revival until all the people of God in a church come alive, with fire in their eyes, and the Holy Spirit’s vitality energizing and motivating them.

True revival produces changed lives. It produces a body of believers who are being consumed by someone else besides themselves.