As I understand it, the cycle goes something like this:

1. The church endures a period of “decline” which is characterised by secular philosophies dominating a nation’s agenda.
2. A series of events (eg. big church meetings and crusades) spark a burst of excitement and frenzy within the church – hope is renewed!
3. This leads into a lengthy period of sustained growth as church growth accelerates.
4. Enthusiasm tapers off, leading back to point 1.

There’s a decent overview of revivals and previous examples at Wikipedia.

The prospect of a Christian revival in Australia has been on my mind for something like two years, and I blogged about it in November last year on this blog.

But what’s really prompted me to write about it again is because the subject keeps coming up spontaneously in lectures at Tabor College. Part of the reason is that there is a massive revival under way in Florida, known variously as the Great Florida Healing Revival, the Lakeland Revival or the Florida Outpouring. Watch it here on ustreamtv, on Todd Bentley’s site, his YouTube channel, TV report which is a pretty good overview or the Ignited videos. Any way you look at it, this revival is massive!

To anyone not familiar with what can happen during revivals it could all seem really weird, if not freaky. I’ve gone through a whole range of emotions myself. And I’ve now come to the view that if this revival is coming to Australia (if it’s not already here!) then it’s useful to understand the bigger picture. So here’s what I’m thinking at the moment. Please don’t take this as gospel, but my reflections:

1. The Holy Spirit brings about revivals according to His will, not ours. There’s nothing we can do, or should do, to “manufacture” revival.
2. The purpose of revival is to build up and encourage the church, bring new people into the Christian faith, heal people and glorify God. It’s not about glorifying the revival’s leaders.
3. The same “rules” apply to preaching and healing – preach from the Scriptures, not “another Gospel.”
4. Revivals don’t normally fit into our view of what’s “normal” – hence all the “strange” behaviour you will see on YouTube. Try and look beyond the methods and look at what’s happening to people. You judge revivals by outcomes – what are the real, true-life testimonies of healings, for example?
5. Don’t set people up for disappointment, or worse, harm. If you believe you’ve been healed make sure you get medical verification and advice before changing medication etc.
6. Various people associated with the Florida revival have prophesied that this will come to Australia soon. If that’s the case, bring it on!
7. The media around the world has started to pick up on this revival and report on the healings & miracles. This should be encouraged – independent verification of healings is always good for the integrity of the revival. Here’s one blog report, a local news report here and this one from msnbc.
8. Finally, I’ve always believed Geoff Bullocks song “Great South Land of the Holy Spirit” was a prophecy. But does that mean Australia will be caught up in this revival? That question’s been rattling around my brain for some time. I really don’t know, but God does.

So, that’s what I’m thinking. You?