I am not a sports guru nor do I typically encourage using sports as a connection point for relating to a church audience. However, Trent Griffith, who directs our THIRST team, made a great analogy this past Sunday morning at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Boone, North Carolina. It is the home church of a couple of hometown heroes, including Franklin Graham and the head football coach of Appalachian State University . . . the only Division II football team to ever beat a ranked Division I team. It happened a few weeks ago when they traveled to the “big house” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and beat the then 5th ranked Wolverines.

So this past Sunday morning, Trent simply introduced our ministry by saying, “You brought your team from North Carolina to Michigan to teach us something about the improbable; now we are bringing our team from Michigan to North Carolina to teach you something about the impossible” . . . what God can do in revival! This pastor has a very deep hunger for revival. He saw God work in 1988 when Life Action was in Ft. Worth for six weeks. He saw the fire, and the smoke is still on his clothes! He cannot escape the longing in his heart for the Lord to “do it again.”

Also, I received a call from Steve Canfield on Saturday for the express purpose of saying, “You won’t believe all God is doing in this church here in Palm Bay, Florida.” It was still the first week, but the extent to which God was at work exceeded anything Steve had experienced for several years. Because the summit is still going on, I want to be careful about specifics. But marriages are being restored. Reconciliation between parents and children is taking place in a major way. In one case, a parent who has not talked with their child in ten years has repented and restored the relationship. People are being set free from deep-seated bitterness, sexual abuse, and a myriad of other critical issues. At least 25 individuals have professed coming to Christ . . . and the summit is being extended through this coming weekend, or however long God leads.

And 2000 ladies attended our Denton, Texas, conference this past weekend in the Dallas area. God used Nancy powerfully as she poured her heart out before the Lord and the ladies concerning the need to “trust God” with the impossible. A former prisoner by the name of Stacey, who was sentenced to a 60-year term but came to Christ and was recently released, shared how God has used Revive Our Hearts radio to bring spiritual maturity to a number of fellow inmates. A powerful video story! She then came on stage and signed a song that depicts her journey in Christ. Hope flooded the hearts of the women as they saw the power of a life message.

Then, yesterday, I spoke at a revival track at the Straight Up pastors’ conference at Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicago suburbs. This is the church that James McDonald pastors. He is one of our Heart-Cry Conference speakers this coming April. I entitled our session Infusion,  knowing that this simple term describes what most pastors are longing for in their ministry, both personally and also in their respective ministries. Perhaps that is the most precise description of revival that I have considered. Infusion of God into everything that we do! Not just an outpouring of God, but an inpouring of His mighty Spirit into our powerless activities and feeble attempts to do His work.

Don’t forget, this Saturday is our fourth National Prayer Meeting for Revival broadcast across the nation on many radio outlets, and on the Internet live at 10:00 AM (Eastern). Every revival in the world has either been birthed, nurtured, or sustained through prayer!

Each Wednesday, I am meeting with about 25 of our home-based leaders to help train our next generation of leadership. We are studying the classic Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. I join other Christian leaders who say if they could only recommend ONE book for training leaders, this is it! I couldn’t agree more.

Thank you for praying and believing God with us for revival!