by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

Alignment

(noun), arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions or a position of agreement or alliance.

While I saw 2018 as the year of Family and 2019 as the Year of Focus, I see 2020 as the Year of Alignment, Synergy and Unprecedented Outpouring. Last year was a time of uprooting, relocating, and then re-planting. It was a year of God moving people around as if on a chess board getting them into perfect position for His next great move.

I know for me, 2019 was a whole year of massive transition. Since July of 2018, I have not had a permanent address or known where I would live since transitioning from Redding. I have been traveling the world doing full time itinerant ministry in 9 nations, 5 States, 28 cities and loving it. At the end of my second European tour of the year this fall, God made it clear where I was to base next. Home. He had brought me all the way around the world to show me that He was bringing back full circle in every way. I’m back with family, back at the church I grew up in at Anaheim Vineyard, and in January, I begin teaching at the university I graduated from 20 years ago.

Teaching at Vanguard University was a dream I had in my heart since I graduated from there. It was the original reason I went off to get my Ph.D. in the first place but I had since forgotten about this dream. Luckily, God didn’t forget, He was waiting for just the right time to bring this perfect alignment. The first class I get to teach there is about the Azusa Street Revival (which I wrote a book about, Ignite Azusa, and have been teaching around the world). When I begin teaching there this January it will 20 years after I graduated from there as well as it will be their 100 year anniversary of the founding of the school (which was birthed and influenced in part by the Azusa Street Revival). If that’s not alignment and synergy, I don’t know what is. Full circle, not what I would have thought or expected, but very much the hand of the Lord upon it all.

In 2019, God has moved people from places they have been established and has repositioned them to be exactly where He wants them to be, with whom He wants them to be with to link arms together, for such a time as this. When alignment happens and kindred hearts come together in God’s perfect timing, it sets people up for synergy.

SYNERGY

(noun), the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

2020 is Go Time. It’s the due date. It’s check mate. It’s a time of synergy and convergence. God has repositioned His people to be in perfect alignment for what He’s about to pour out next, His Spirit in unprecedented measures.

Unprecedented

(adj.) never done or known before.

Outpouring

(noun) something that streams out rapidly.

We’ve seen God do so many incredible things throughout history. I believe, pray for, and declare that 2020 will be the time of the greatest outpouring we have ever seen at such an unprecedented level we won’t even be able to compare it to any previous revivals. The Momentum of the ages is upon us. It’s our turn and our time to step into the momentum of the flow that has already gone before us.

There are specific hot spots I see around the world that I believe will bloom and burst forth into revival in 2020. Europe is pregnant with revival in a big way. Germany is already a forerunner. I especially see Brussels, Belgium as ripe for revival and Switzerland too. There’s something on Russia right now as well. Although a little biased, I also see all of California, from Southern California to the Bay Area to the North experiencing a fresh move of God on the West Coast that will spread all across the nation and beyond. Southern California is a birthplace of apostolic movements that have traveled the globe and touched generations. I believe we are perfectly positioned for another great outpouring of the Spirit.

I also believe God is pouring out His Spirit in such a massive way that everybody who is hungry no matter where they are will be able to embrace it. All throughout the earth, revival and a fresh outpouring of the Spirit is in the air. God has positioned His people and is ready to make His next move.

And while we’re in position to ride this next wave, remaining full of the oil (Matthew 25), and waiting for this new move of God, unprecedented outpouring, billion soul harvest, new wave of revival in our day, if we have eyes to see and look around, we can recognize that revival is already all around us. We’re not simply waiting for one massive new move of God, we’re already swept up in it. It has already begun. The Momentum from all who have come before is great, God’s Spirit is already being poured out in all the earth in increasing measures. Vision 2020 is also about recognizing what we’ve had in Jesus all along rather than just reaching into the future trying to grasp for something unseen. The more is coming but we also need to remain present in the now all around us.

The revival we’ve been praying our whole lives for is already upon us. It began this past year with God consecrating and setting apart Christians to be burning ones, wholly His, learning how to walk unified in love, throwing off everything that hinders and running fully after Jesus with nothing holding them back. He has been waking us up and setting us apart in wholehearted surrender. He has been getting us, the Church, ready, linking us together with other believers who look and even think differently from us but who exalt the Name of Jesus above all others. For He knows that each one is needed to link arms to be the net for the massive amount of capturing, carrying, and discipling this massive incoming harvest. We are being awakened and made aware of the wave of revival that’s already begun and are invited to dive in even deeper.

Keys for positioning, welcoming, and stewarding the incoming outpouring in 2020

1. Stay full of the oil of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 25). When this tidal wave of His glory is poured out and revival awakens people, it will be easy to get busy doing great things for God. In the hype, favor, opportunities, we must never neglect time ministering and connecting with Jesus in the Secret Place. Prioritize the sabbath rest in the midst of great momentum and outpouring. Everything must flow from Him our Source. We minister from a place of intimacy and rest (John 15).

2. Stay deeply connected and knit together with the Body of Christ (Ephesians 2). The amount of people who will get saved will be so many that we will need to link together with the Body of Christ to be able to disciple and steward the great harvest. Make sure not to neglect family and important relationships in the midst of favor and revival.

3. Make space for God in your schedule, in your heart, in your home. Allow God to interrupt your agenda and to rearrange your plans. Make space for God in your quiet times and in your meetings. Whenever we make room for God, He comes.

4. Expect the unexpected. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Be open to God moving in new ways through those least expected. Don’t criticize what you don’t understand or what’s uncomfortable. Be open to search it out and also receive the more of what God is pouring out even if it’s coming from someone unqualified or in a way you’ve never experienced Him before.

5. Discernment (Hebrews 12:1-2). Don’t say yes to every opportunity or open door. Good is many times the enemy of the best. Only take on what God is asking you to take on. Don’t bring into this new season what you were called to carry in the last one. Don’t be afraid of offending or disappointing others to remain obedient to Christ. Don’t settle for silver when you’re meant for gold. Throw yourself into what you’d be willing to die for.

May all of your fruitfulness flow from a place of intimacy with Jesus and connection with family. Blessing you as you cling tight to Jesus and stay knit together with the tribe of riders He’s connected you with in 2020. I believe we’re in for the ride of our lives and that it’s already begun. Surfs up.

Exodus 33 / Ephesians 3:20 / Haggai 2 / Nehemiah / Psalm 71 / Exodus 40 / Matthew 25

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

For the past seven years, I have been a part of building a revival culture in an intentional worshiping community called Destiny House. Every Friday morning, we opened our doors for a worship encounter time and essentially hosted a house church together. Because this has been such a huge part of my life, many might think I would naturally lean toward the deconstruction of the formal church structure and move away from anything “organized” or institutionalized. However, from personal experience of being committed to the wider church at the same time and a recent epiphany when reading the book of Acts, I cannot say that house church is the only way forward, though I do believe it is essential and will play an important role for where God is taking us next. We all are the church and that can come in lots of different shapes and sizes (1 Peter 2:5). Ultimately, the kingdom of God is all about family, however that might look in our day.

I have friends who lead churches, movements, and even stadium events that I fully believe in, support, and have participated in. Because of these things, while I tend to overemphasize the smaller more intimate spaces of connection, I also believe there is something important about the larger gatherings, whether that be weekly celebrations with the wider body of Christ or even stadium events to go after mass evangelism. As we continue together on this journey of reframing what the church can look like in our generation, please note that this article is an invitation into my current thought process which is still being shaped. I am also not trying to define what church is here but may attempt that another time. I look forward to the dialogue that will come.

Since we are all members of the Body of Christ, it is important we stay connected to Him and to each other, so we can fulfill His purposes on the earth (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Each one of us plays a special role in what God is doing in our generation. We need each other to be able to step into the fulness of our destinies (Ephesians 3:20). Both church gatherings with the entire community coming together and cultivating revival in family around God’s presence in smaller settings can go side by side to strengthen our connection as the Body of Christ.

During an in-depth study in the book of Acts, some Scriptures stood out for me that demonstrate the value for both larger formal gatherings with corporate direction and the more spontaneous organic ones that take place in smaller settings (this is a generalization). After Pentecost when many were added to the church, to continue to steward the fire they had just received, the Christians in the early church

Continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47

A little later in Acts 5, Peter and the other apostles were imprisoned, beaten, and told to be silent for their faith. They left that persecution rejoicing for being found worthy to co-suffer for the sake of Christ. Right after this in Acts 5:42 it says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

The apostles in the book of Acts gathered in the temple, or what we might call a more organized place of worship or church, to proclaim the gospel and they also met in private homes to disciple the new converts. They realized the importance of meeting together in the wider corporate meetings to teach the truth and share vision and also saw significance in nurturing the newer believers in the smaller setting of a home. The rhythm of the Christian life in the early church was not either larger gatherings or house meetings for connection in the midst of the move of God, it was both and more.  

Acts provides us with a paradigm for healthy growth and discipleship within the Body of Christ. Wider church celebrations are just one leg of building healthy community. The other leg is meeting together in smaller groups in the intimate space of the home or other place. Location is not important. Connection is, no matter how that might look. Having a balance of both corporate times to be together to worship as well as making time to connect in smaller groups so that each one is fully known, can be important elements in spiritual growth. It is easy to go to a weekend celebration service and hide in the back. But in a smaller setting, each person has the opportunity to be seen and loved at a deeper level. And at the same time, if one only shows up at a house church that is in isolation from the wider body of Christ, it has the potential to become ingrown and get weird.

If we were to lean heavily or only on one of these legs, either the larger church gatherings or the smaller homegroup meetings, there would be an imbalance, and something would still be missing. It’s hard to run with only one leg. It’s not a question of either big church or small group house meeting, but it’s a both/and more opportunity to be walking, and running, in the fullness of what God intended for us as the Body of Christ. God is always moving. We need two legs to swiftly run after Him.

In this dialogue of exploring what it looks like to become the Body of Christ in the fullest measure, I pray that God surrounds you with your people to run with in this season. May you discover your tribe within a tribe so that you can grow into the full maturity of all that God has destined for you.

*To dive a bit deeper into learning how to find your tribe and also developing rhythms of doing life together, see blog entitled Finding Your Tribe.

**To learn more about our rhythm of doing life together at Destiny House go here or get access to the Walking on Water E-course that goes into great depth with several sessions exclusively about our story and community life there.