by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. Revival Historian

Below are some highlights from our School of Revival intensive at the YWAM Colorado Springs’ base January 30- February 2, 2023 with my team that almost got us kicked out the first night because they got drunk in the Holy Spirit and some of the students thought they were really drunk! Because the nature of the YWAM class we were teaching and students heading to closed nations, we were not able to post any pics from the teaching times or of the students but we did capture an anointed recording of our final session and the best teaching I never did.

After a week of sharing about the Power of the Testimony, the Moravians, Welsh Revival, Azusa Street Revival, and Fasting to increase hunger for God and more, we finished the final day with Creative Expressions as our second to last session. This is one of our favorite activations where the students take what they learned all week and create something to share with the class.

One person baked fresh bread that morning to bring in for us to do communion, another student sang a poem she wrote which released the presence of God in such a palpable way. Other students shared vulnerably, and it was astounding to see what they came up with in such a short time. One student received a prophetic revelation from God during one of our sessions that she turned into a song and played the Ukulele for the first time with dancers and a backup guitarist. It was a special second to last session.

Following this was to be one final session called “Living a Life of Fire.” However, when Elijah Andrews did the final creative expression in the prayer room on the same piano Keith Green once played on, the Holy Spirit started to move in a special way. When he sang, “I won’t leave til you set me on fire,” we were all on the floor. God was in our midst. 

I ended up remaining in that space as he continued to lead us in worship and decided to scrap my final teaching session on "Living a Life of Fire" because we were actually doing it. This must be one of the best sessions I never did teach!

I know of no other way to end a School of Revival intensive then sharing vulnerably with each other through creative expressions and then worshiping Him relentlessly and spontaneously because He is worthy. 

We all ended the week on our faces worshiping Jesus with no other agenda than to minister to Him. 

The date this happened was February 2, 2023, less than one week before the Asbury Revival broke out. Something is definitely stirring for the lingerers.

Don’t rush out from a place of God’s presence, especially when He draws close. That time with Him in that space is worth it, I promise you. 

Here is a taste of Elijah’s creative expression released that day (and used with his permission) that led us into a worship encounter. Hopefully you can experience a little of what we felt in the room that day. 

I pray as you soak and worship alongside of us, that God sets your heart on fire for Him again today in a special way.

Revival Series Part 3

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., Revival Historian

Moravian Fire Ignited

On August 13th, 1727, German nobleman Count Nikolaus Von Zinzendorf gathered the Moravian refugees living on his property in Herrnhut to bring them to a place of unity and overturn the discord in their midst. That day in the chapel at Berthelsdorf they were invited to consecrate their lives afresh unto the Lord and with each other.

As they put aside their differences and came together as one, choosing to make a covenant of love with one another, the power of God and purifying fire of the Holy Ghost fell upon them. Revival had come. Where the enemy came to kill, steal, destroy, and take from this community born for unity, they answered back with a resolute firmness to stand against all schemes to divide. They knew their destiny was unity and love. Ever since that moment, what tried to divide them brought them closer together. Seeking unity was catalytic to ignite this flame. This event later became known as the Moravian Pentecost.

Stewarding the Fire through the Furnace of Prayer

Now that they had the fire, they realized they would need to steward it so they wouldn’t lose it. On August 27, 1727, just two weeks after the ancient outpouring of love, some in the Moravian community arranged “a system of Hourly Intercession” so that this blessing would not be lost.[i] Thus, the seeds for a 100-year prayer meeting was born.

And if you know the rest of their story which will be coming out in my next book, from this place of prayer, they launched the Protestant mission’s movement where some Moravian missionaries eventually intersected with John Wesley in a storm. As they kept their eyes on Jesus in the midst of the raging sea, Wesley was struck by their faith and greatly impacted. He had his heart warming defining moment not long after and then became a part of catalyzing the First Great Awakening and then the Methodist movement with its circuit riders.

When God moves in power, it’s important to steward what He’s poured out. We need new wine skins to hold the new wine.

Once the Moravian community experienced revival in family, they realized that the fire needed to be stewarded so it wouldn’t burn out. They saw a need to build a “fireplace” to sustain the fire. The Lord led them to steward this fire in the furnace of continual prayer and intercession in the context of covenant.

If they tried to steward the fire that was released in the Moravian Pentecost by doing what they had always done before, that would no longer cut it. They needed to cultivate a new wine skin for the new wine the Holy Spirit was pouring out. Thus, a new wine skin was birthed to hold the new wine. Life was born and then structure was implemented to steward it, not the other way around. You can’t structure to find life. Once you have life, add wisdom to help focus it in the right direction.

Encounters welcome us into new seasons and new eras. This requires a reformation of the things we used to do before. If we have a radical encounter with God and nothing changes in our lives, we may have missed the point or not stewarded it well for its destined purpose. The Moravians recognized that something significant had occurred in their midst. They wanted the fire to increase and not to wane. Hence, a new fireplace of 24/7 prayer was birthed.

Questions for Reflection

When you have a powerful encounter with God personally or corporately, ask Him how you are to steward that encounter. Does He want you to change a rhythm in your life or take something out of your schedule to walk in greater consecration? Is He asking you to let go of something (a commitment, relationship, rhythm)? Is He inviting you to add a new discipline to your schedule to be intentional about stewarding what He is doing in your life in the new season? If He is releasing new wine, what does the new wine skin to steward that look like in this season?

Learn More

• Read about my trip visiting the historic site of the Moravian Pentecost HERE

• See what happened when I released the testimony of the Moravians on a ministry trip in Washington

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NOTES
[i] J.E. Hutton M.A., A History of the Moravian Church (second edition, revised and enlarged) (London: Moravian Publication Office 32 Fetter Lane, 1909), 211.

Revival Series Part 2

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., Revival Historian 

Now that we have explored semantics and some development around the term revival and exploring its meaning, let’s go even deeper to the impact it should have on one’s life and what comes afterwards.

In the natural, if someone is sleeping, barely alive, or has suddenly died, they need to be awakened or revived. Many times, someone will use smelling salts (ammonia inhalants) to awaken a person who has passed out or become unconscious. They put this aroma under the person’s nose to breathe it in. Suddenly, when this happens, the person is revived from their previous unconscious state. Once this person has become revived from their formal sleeping state, they do not need to remain in a state of trying to be revived because they have already come back to life. There is no more need for them to inhale the smelling salts. This person must now begin to live more empowered since their awakening.

This can be a metaphor for revival. Some people have become spiritually unconscious or fallen asleep and they need to be re-awakened. Others have become dead inside and need to be resurrected back to life. Once they have been awakened and brought back to life though, now it’s time to move from the resurrected state to the empowered state of living, being transformed, and stepping into their destiny.

Revival is only just the beginning. Once a person is awakened, then it’s time to fully live.

In Hosea 6:2, it says, “After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.” Here we see that revival is not meant to be a continual state as much as what needs to happen whenever our spirits begin to wither away or die on the inside. Once people are revived, they then need to live the abundant life Jesus died for them to have (John 10:10). Transformation, reformation, revolution, and destiny must follow. Once revived, we must learn to live as burning ones on fire for Jesus constantly remaining full of the oil of His presence.

Jesus is Revival

All that said, at the heart of revival is Jesus. Jesus is the truest revival we will ever know. Beyond living for revival, we live for the Reviver. When we become awakened spiritually, we fall more in love with Jesus. When we fall more in love with Jesus, transformation takes place within our hearts, and we impact those around us. Revival is truly just more of Jesus.

We are born to live revived lives in the Spirit of God. We are made to be burning ones who don’t burn out. We are born to live loudly for our King of kings and display His glory through our lives. As we become awakened to King Jesus, our destinies begin to unfold in a greater measure. We step out in faith, hand in hand with our best friend Jesus, and can bring hope to a world that desperately needs it. From a place of intimate union with God, as we yield to and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, we become agents of revival wherever we go. The burning flame inside spreads and ignites others whose flame has dwindled.

The Reviver by Rolland Baker

Rolland Baker, co-founder with Heidi Baker of Iris Global is a missionary in Mozambique, has experienced revival firsthand. His insights in the epilogue of his book, Keeping the Fire, are worth noting.

“I return at the end to where I began: with the Person of Jesus

Iris is not about us. It is about Jesus.

Revival is not about manifestations or miracles; it is about the Reviver, Jesus our Savior.

We have only one destination, one home, one reality, one resting place, one source, one

motivation, one reward, one possession, one point of contact with God, one source of real

satisfaction – and that is Jesus…

Everything we value has been found in Jesus. The key to our core values is therefore

falling in love with Him. 

Love is a gift of relationship, not just self-sacrifice. The secret place is not necessarily found in a prayer closet or a posture of soaking, or in battling for a just cause, or in a massive prayer and fasting effort. Even the most amazing miracles can leave us lonely and without relationship. We can run out of motivation advancing the noblest ideals and working at all levels to transform society. We can minister until we have no more strength, and still go home and lie in bed without the relationship for which our hearts are made.

Everything is okay with relationship. It is all that Jesus cares about, all that motivates Him. He could do many more amazing miracles to dazzle the world with His powers, but He is interested only in relationship. The entire creation, all the grandeur of the physical world, and all His works are designed to serve one thing: relationship. Revival has no content without it. Renewal and manifestations are pointless apart from it. Miracles only find their meaning it. Joy is shallow and groundless unless rooted in it. Without relationship we are the living dead…

Revival is all about Jesus.[i]

Revival Without God: A Warning

Revival can easily become an idol in our lives and take the place of Jesus. It can possess us and become an obsession. Not that there is anything wrong with desiring revival, but anything that comes before our passionate pursuit of Jesus becomes idolatry. We must always seek Jesus first, yield to the Holy Spirit, and pursue the God of revival. Revival never should become an idol in our lives. Our obsession above all else, including revival, must remain loving Jesus wholeheartedly. As we love God with all our minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits, revival is a natural overflow.

We don’t want to end up one day in front of God sharing how we released “revival” in the world but did it apart from personal and intimate relationship with Him. What would be the point of doing signs and wonders without Him and His presence or without love (1 Corinthians 13)? Moses could have easily had revival, stepped into his destiny, and saw his dreams come true. But without God’s presence, he wasn’t going to move (Exodus 33).

Revival without Jesus is not only empty, it is dangerous. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Casting out demons, setting the oppressed free, and performing miracles definitely feels like revival and that the kingdom of God has come in people’s lives. The only problem is that doing any of these works of revival is dangerous when not deeply connected to the Source of revival which is Jesus Himself. It appears from this passage that it is quite possible to do the works of revival without being known by God. This is unsafe ground to walk on. We must do the will of the Father and remain connected in relationship with Jesus as we do these works of revival. In their book about revival, Hansen and Woodbridge say, “You can have signs and wonders, but if you don’t have God, you don’t have revival. God-centered revivals withstand the temptation to treasure the blessings of revival over the one who blesses.”[ii]

More than anything, revival needs to be birthed from a place of a deep burning passion for more of God and from an overflowing relationship with Him. As we stay connected to the Source, His steadily burning and increasing flame within us will ignite and awaken many around us, releasing revival wherever we go. As we knit ourselves to other burning ones and learn how to live in the fire of His presence together, we encounter His love and power in a way that radically impacts our world. Let us be a people who burn for revival fire to be ignited in our own hearts and for that to spread to a lost and dying world.

See part one “What is Revival” in this Revival Series HERE

Join our School of Revival family or take a revival history course in our online School of Revival HERE

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NOTES

[i] Rolland Baker, Keeping the Fire: Sustaining Revival Through Love: The Five Core Values of Iris Global (Kent, United Kingdom: River Publishing & Media Ltd, 2015), 141-143 used with permission in an email dated 12/19/2022 from Tim Pettingale, Director of River Publishing & Media Ltd.

[ii] Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 25.

Revival Series Part 1

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. Revival Historian

*This was written before the 2020 lockdown and recent Asbury Revival outbreaks and is now a chapter in my book Sustain the Flame: Secrets to Living Saturated in God’s Presence and Holy Fire.

We hear the word “Revival” thrown around a lot these days, but what really is revival? In part one of these series, we will lay the framework for defining this term before going deeper into the realities that revival is only just the beginning and starting point, not the end all.

Semantics

Looking purely at semantics and the Scriptures to begin with, the term “revive” is used 23 times in the Old Testament in the New King James Version. It comes from the Hebrew word חָיָה châyâh which means “to live, to revive, to keep, leave, or make alive, to give life, quicken, recover, repair, restore to life, save, be whole.”[i] Notice the essence of staying alive once someone has been revived.

The first time the word revive is used in the Bible is in Genesis 45:27 when Jacob, who already grieved the loss of his son Joseph whom he thought was dead, realized that he was alive. It was then that his spirit was revived.[ii] In 1 Kings 17:22, the word goes beyond reviving hope of one’s spirit to mean resurrecting a physical human life. Here we see that Elijah prayed for a dead child who was brought back to life.[iii] Then in 2 Kings 13:21, the word was again used to describe one who was physically dead returning back to life when his body was thrown in Elisha’s grave.[iv]

The word revive is used the most in Psalms at 14 times and especially throughout Psalm 119. The Psalmist cries out for God to revive him according to His Word, His lovingkindness, His justice, and even His judgments. He also asks God to revive him in His way and His righteousness. There is also a turning back to God, deliverance from great troubles, and a hunger to be revived so that God’s people may rejoice in Him once again.[v]

In Isaiah, we discover a God who revives the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones. In Habakkuk, there is a desire for God to revive and make known His works of old once again.[vi] And don’t forget the revivals that happened under Kings Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah along with many other personal revivals that took place in people’s lives throughout Scripture.

In the New Testament, in all other translations included, nowhere was there an equivalent of this word used. This could possibly be because the church in the New Testament didn’t need revival because they were already fully alive and living it. Persecution many times proves to help along these lines of staying burning hot in our love for Christ.

Etymology

When we look deeper into the etymology of how this word has developed over the centuries, we see that roots for revive come from the Old French word revivre (10c.) and directly from the Latin word revivere which is translated “to live again.”[vii] By the 1560s, the word revive had the sense of “returning to a flourishing state” or of feelings or activities “beginning to occur again.”[viii] In the 1650s, revival meant the “act of reviving after decline or discontinuance.” At the essence of the word, revival is the call to live again.[ix] What has since died and been forgotten, needs to become awakened once again.  

In the 1660s there was a unique take on this term as it was used for “the bringing back to the stage of a play which has not been presented for a considerable time.”[x] Might it be time for an encore in the platform of Christianity to welcome the Holy Spirit back to take center stage once again? In the early 1700s, it is believed that New England Puritan pastor Cotton Mather was one of the firsts to connect this term to religion. In one of his writings in 1702, he connected the term revival with religious awakening in the community.[xi] By 1818, the term revival was used to describe “enthusiastic religious meetings (often by Methodists) meant to inspire revival.” A few years before this in 1812, the term Revivalist was being used as “one who promotes or leads a religious revival.”[xii]

Exploring Paradigms for Religious Revival

Moving beyond semantics now into the study of revival history, there are various perspectives on religious revivals by both practioners and revival historians. For some, revival only happens within the church, and for others, it’s when the world is awakened to Christ as well. Some see revival as something that we should be living in every second of the day while others see it as episodic moves of God.[xiii] Some see it coming as a result of prayer while others see it only as a sovereign act of God. While there could be a whole separate book on this subject alone, I present a small snapshot of a few of the varying perspectives below.[xiv]

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), known as the father of modern revivalism, believed that we very much play a role in awakening the church and bringing sinners to repentance as led by God. He saw a need for revival to happen periodically to wake up the church because it so regularly became stagnant. He saw revival as “nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”[xv] He compared revival to a crop of wheat and emphasized that God uses means to cultivate both. Finney believed that if the fire was kept burning in the church, there would have been no need for revival, but unfortunately, he saw that was rarely the case.[xvi] About revival, he wrote:

I AM TO SHOW WHAT A REVIVAL IS. It is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God. In the popular sense, a revival of religion in a community is the arousing, quickening, and reclaiming of the more or less backslidden church and the more or less general awakening of all classes, and insuring attention to the claims of God.

It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of a church from her backslidings, and in the conversion of sinners.[xvii]

Martin Lloyd-Jones described revival as “the outpouring of the Spirit over and above his usual, ordinary work; this amazing, unusual, extraordinary thing, which God in his sovereignty and infinite grace has done to the Church from time to time during the long centuries of her history.” [xviii] Christmas Evans (1766-1838), an influential one-eyed Welsh Baptist preacher said that “Revival is God bending down to the dying embers of a fire that is just about to go out, and breathing into it, until it bursts again into flame.” Duncan Campbell of the Hebrides Revival said that “Revival is a community saturated with God.”[xix]

In his study on Pentecostalism in The Everlasting Gospel, William Faulpel sees revival as having a seven-stage process: conception, gestation, labor, birth, growth, reproduction, and maturity.[xx] He compares it to the life cycle paralleling the birth of a new baby. Mark Stibbe from the U.K. defines revival as “a season ordained by God in which the Holy Spirit awakens the Church to evangelise the lost, and the lost to their dire need of Jesus Christ.”[xxi] He distinguishes renewal as confined to the Church while revival as something that reaches beyond the church and into the world.[xxii] He likens renewal to a stream and revival to that same river becoming a “flood that disturbs boulders and overflows banks.”[xxiii]

Like Stibbe, I would also say there are special seasons, windows of opportunity, or kairos moments, where the Spirit is at work to awaken and revive the Church.[xxiv] At the turn of the twentieth century, revivals were springing up all around the world in this sacred and set apart kairos season of time.[xxv] Revival broke out in Wales in 1904-05, in India in 1905, and then in Los Angeles in 1906 at Azusa Street amongst other worldwide moves near the same time. The early twentieth century was pregnant with revival. There was something anointed, set apart, and special about that kairos moment that these saints were able to recognize and tap into. The result was revival that is still impacting us over a hundred years later.

Defining Revival

As we seek to define revival here, I would say that revival is when the fire of first love for Jesus is re-ignited in the hearts of believers. As a result, their lives are transformed, and the kingdom of God is expanded all around them in various ways that impact, shape, and reform culture and society.

Revival is for Christians whose fire has waned. If someone has never encountered God’s love for themselves, they can’t necessarily be re-awakened to it. It is only when the fire of first love has been snuffed out that one needs revival. Once that original flame is re-ignited, the awakened ones naturally influence those around them, and many times others are brought to salvation as a result.

Ultimately, revival is becoming fully alive to Jesus again. And it’s important to understand that revival is not the end goal. It is only just the beginning.

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P.S. Before you completely disagree with me, wait to read Part 2 of this series “Revival is Just the Beginning.” Both of these pieces have been written before the 2020 lockdown and recent Asbury Revival outbreaks and are featured in chapters of my new Sustain the Flame: Secrets to Living Saturated in God’s Presence and Holy Fire. See Sustain the Flame ecourse for a whole teaching on the topic of what revival is and how to steward it.

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NOTES

[i] Strong's H2421 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2421/nkjv/wlc/0-1/ “to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:—keep (leave, make) alive, certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (God) save (alive, life, lives), surely, be whole.”

[ii] “But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.” –Genesis 45:27 (NKJV)

[iii] “Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.” –1 Kings 17:22 (NKJV)

[iv] “So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” –2 Kings 13:21.

[v] Psalm 71:20 is a call to be delivered from great troubles.Psalm 80:18 is a reviving in order to turn back to God.

Psalm 85:6 says, “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” There is purpose to praise in the reviving work. We see in Psalm 119:25,107, 154 that one can be revived according to His word: “Revive me according to Your word (119:25).” Psalm 119:37 we can be revived in His way: “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,  And revive me in Your way.” Psalm 119:40 we can be revived in His righteousness: “Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.” Psalm 119:88 and 159 we can be revived according to His lovingkindness: “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” In Psalm 119:149, we can be revived according to His justice: “Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.” Psalm 119:156 we can be revived according to His judgments. “Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your judgments.” Psalm 138:7 when in trouble we can be revived: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand. Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” Psalm 143:11 we can be revived for His name’s sake: “Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.”

[vi] Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) says, “For thus says the High and Lofty One, Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” And then in Habakkuk 3:2, “O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.”

[vii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[viii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[ix] According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word revival can mean: “1: an act or instance of reviving: the state of being revived: such as a: renewed attention to or interest in something b: a new presentation or publication of something old c (1): a period of renewed religious interest (2): an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings 2: restoration of force, validity, or effect (as to a contract).”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revival Accessed December 11, 2022

[x] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revival

[xi] Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 31.

[xii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[xiii] Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992), 92. According to Roger Finke and Rodney Starke, while “all organizations need renewals or revivals of member commitment, it is also true that these must be episodic. People can’t stay excited indefinitely.” Most people don’t have the capacity to remain in a heightened state of being revived.

[xiv] Prayer, surrender, consecration, and repentance many times precede personal and corporate revival. In all my research on revival up to this point (over two decades), I have noticed that hunger was the one constant that drew people to seek more of God in desperation, which resulted in revival. Prayer seems to regularly play a pivotal role in this. It’s not ours to determine how God will move, but it is ours to prepare, position, partner, pray, and invite Him to move in and through us as agents of revival. We must be a people who step out in faith to reach the lost as if their salvation depended upon us. We must be a people who immediately respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to use our lives however He wishes because we are motived by love for Jesus.

[xv] Charles Grandison Finney (1835). Lectures on Revivals of Religion p.14

[xvi] “There is so little principle in the church, so little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless the religious feelings are awakened and kept excited, counter worldly feeling and excitement will prevail, and men will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their principles are so weak, that unless they are excited, they will go back from the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of God. The state of the world is still such, and probably will be till the millennium is fully come, that religion must be mainly promoted by means of revivals. How long and how often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for God, without these periodical excitements. Many good men have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly, and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But however sound such reasoning may appear in the abstract, facts demonstrate its futility. If the church were far enough advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake, such a course would do; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are so many counteracting causes, that she will not go steadily to work without a special interest being awakened.

As the millennium advances, it is probable that these periodical excitements will be unknown. Then the church will be enlightened, and the counteracting causes removed, and the entire church will be in a state of habitual and steady obedience to God.”

Charles G. Finney, Lectures of Revivals on Religion (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868), 9

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/f/finney/revivals/cache/revivals.pdf

[xvii] Charles G. Finney, Lectures of Revivals on Religion (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868), 12

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/f/finney/revivals/cache/revivals.pdf

[xviii] Martin Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 1987), 199 in Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 35.

[xix] Duncan Campbell, The Lewis Awakening, p. 14-15

[xx] William Faupel, The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought. Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series, ed. John Christopher Thomas, Rickie D. Moore, and Steven J. Land, vol. 10. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996).

[xxi] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 14, 223.

[xxii] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 17.

[xxiii] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 49.

[xxiv] Jennifer A. Miskov, “Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?”, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19 (2010), 94-117.

[xxv] Additionally, I introduce “sacred time” into this discussion as a “special season when revivals, awakenings, and stirrings of the Holy Spirit are concentrated and occur in higher frequency than in other times… when people all around the world experience heightened manifestations of God’s presence” at the same time. Jennifer A. Miskov, “Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?”, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19 (2010), 115.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. in Revival History

If you haven’t heard already, something profound is happening Asbury University. As of writing this blog, they are currently holding non-stop meetings and God is pouring out His Spirit afresh. I had the opportunity to be there for days 7, 8, and 9 (February 14-16, 2023) of the revival. But before we get to more of that, let’s recognize the unique time we are in and take a quick review of Asbury’s revival history.

Kairos

­Proverbs 10:5 says, “Know the importance of the season you’re in and a wise son you will be. But what a waste when an incompetent son sleeps through his day of opportunity!”

If you haven’t figure it out already, we are in a Kairos Moment. Kairos is the Greek word in the New Testament for “time.” It is also translated as “the right time, a set time, opportunity, due season, short time, a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, and the decisive epoch waited for.”[i] It can also mean a divinely appointed time or a window of opportunity. There is a unique window of opportunity open to us for such a time as this where the Holy Spirit is being poured out in extravagant measures and there is acceleration of what God is doing all around.

Asbury Revival History

Asbury University is named after Francis Asbury, the Methodist circuit rider who took the model of the camp meetings and exported, modeled, replicated these to cultivate the atmosphere for revival to spread throughout the land. Asbury University has had a series of revivals break out throughout its history, primarily in the month of February or in the springtime. Prayer, testimonies, worship, confession, repentance, witnessing have been characteristics. Many times these revivals have been student led and have broken out in February, a special sacred space in this well of revival.

The following review is quoted directly from Asbury Universities website HERE

• “In February 1905, during a blizzard, a prayer meeting in the men’s dormitory spilled out to the rest of campus and the town of Wilmore.

• In February 1908, revival broke out while someone prayed in chapel; the revival lasted two weeks and was signified by prevailing prayer and intercession.

• In February 1921 the last service of a planned revival lasted until 6 a.m., and services were extended for three days.

• In February 1950 a student testimony led to confessions, victories, and more testimonies. This went on uninterrupted for 118 hours and became the second leading news story nationwide; it is estimated that 50,000 people found a new experience in Christ as a result of this revival and witness teams that went out from it.

• In March 1958 revival began in a student fasting prayer meeting that spilled over into chapel and lasted for 63 hours.

• On February 3, 1970 Dean Custer B. Reynolds, scheduled to speak in chapel, felt led to invite persons to give personal testimony instead. Many on campus had been praying for spiritual renewal and were now in an expectant mood. Soon there was a large group waiting in line to speak. A spirit of powerful revival came upon the congregation. The chapel was filled with rejoicing people.  Classes were cancelled for a week during the 184 hours of unbroken revival, but even after classes resumed on February 10, Hughes Auditorium was left open for prayer and testimony. These sessions were presided over by Reynolds, Clarence Hunter and other faculty. Some 2,000 witness teams went out from Wilmore to churches and at least 130 college campuses around the nation.

• In March 1992 a student confession during the closing chapel of the annual Holiness Conference turned into 127 consecutive hours of prayer and praise.

• In February 2006 a student chapel led to four days of continuous worship, prayer and praise.”[ii]

•  In February 2023, revival is currently breaking out and continuing strong as we speak.

Asbury Revival Today

God is doing a beautiful new work in the well of revival at Asbury University for such a time as this. After the chapel service on February 8, 2023 where speaker Zach Meerkreebs gave a message on Romans 12, a handful of hungry students lingered in the presence of God and continued to worship and press in even after chapel was dismissed. Some students went to class only to ask permission from their professors to return to chapel because they felt a stirring. 

Long story short, worship, testimony, and prayer have been going on strong now, primarily stewarded by the students. People have come from around the world to drink in and receive of what the Holy Spirit is doing here. Also, many have been impacted by watching these hungry ones worship, which has led to more moves of God being birthed on college campus and even around the globe. Thousands are flocking to this well to partake of what God is pouring out. 

Characteristics

My personal experience of being on the grounds and in the well of revival February 14-16, 2023 at Asbury was very significant. I had studied the 1970 revival in the past and was so moved when watching the documentary of students who were there still decades later being very much on fire and burning for Jesus. That the revival in 1970 started when the minister recognized he needed to move out of the way and make room for the Holy Spirit and give up his teaching time to let the students share testimonies moved me. He made room for the anointing and God moved powerfully through the release of testimonies in the students which was catalytic for that move of God. One moment in the glory marked and ignited a fire in their life that continued for decades.

Recognizing how one profound encounter with God at Asbury marked and shaped lives for generations to come, it lifts my spirit to thank God for all the students there now who are being marked by God in a lifechanging way. Some of the students I spoke with said that they wouldn’t even recognize themselves the previous week after all God has been doing.

At Asbury, there are no platforms, performance, production, or promotion. There is simply humility, holiness, hospitality, and invitation for the Holy Spirit to move. From what I observed and experienced on Day 7, 8, and 9 of the move of God there, I attempt to describe it t by using these 4 words:

HUMILITY: there is a very evident and felt deep desire in the leaders and those involved was that this would be all about JESUS and no one else. There is no performance, promotion, or platform Christianity present. It is a raw and humble desire to love Jesus in with a pure and repentant heart.

HOLINESS: there is a protection of the sacred space in the chapel and beyond and a stewarding what the Holy Spirit is pouring out with reverence and fear of the Lord. The centerpiece of the chapel says, “Holiness Unto the Lord.” They are attempting to get people to be present and receive from the Lord rather than live stream be on their phones all the time. They even turned down Fox News from coming out with their news cameras so they could protect the sacred space of worship in the chapel.

HOSPITALITY: there is a very felt sincere welcome and grace upon entering and partaking with this community. From host homes to free water and snacks at the entry way to staff of all levels humbly serving, one can feel the warmth of God’s love. I even heard that Salvation Army rented space heaters outside for those standing in line in the cold all out of their own desire to help. The unity in love and mutual submission to one another in the leadership is felt. Even their boundaries to protect the sacred space and also the students are presented in a way to make people feel loved and honored. There is also always room on the altar for people to come and now before the Lord. The time they take to pray for one another is never rushed but slow and deep, connected, and full of love.

HOLY SPIRIT: there is space created for the Holy Spirit to move in and through the people. Times have been set aside for people to share testimonies of what God has done, open Bible readings, and there has been space given for divine interruptions that turn into something beautiful the Lord is doing like the spontaneous generosity that took place one day. There is a sense that lingering in His presence is a good and welcome thing. This is mostly student led and they are making sure to honor what God is doing through this generation by honoring their voices.

 The Fire is Spreading

One of the reasons the Asbury Revival is spreading like wildfire is because over its century of revivals breaking out and stewarded well, it has paved a path for an invitation to linger in His presence and go deeper. Asbury Revivals give permission to the world saying, “it’s okay to go beyond the limits of expectations and time. For those who are hungry, there’s more. You don’t need to shut down the building and close the doors when the church service is over. It’s okay to linger, and look what might happen when you do…” There is permission to blur the lines of time constraints and accepted traditions, encouraging people they can cross the threshold, color outside the lines and even off the page.

Today in this kairos moment, it’s time to explore, really explore, what diving all the way into the deep end with the Holy Spirit looks and feels like. We’ve only just dipped our toes. The Holy Spirit is a limitless ocean calling us to dive all the way in and explore hidden riches uncovered. The only way to get there is to surrender, let go, and yield to the current of His love (Ezekiel 47, Revelation 22). Who is willing to yield to be all in?

Grateful

I want to thank and honor the leadership, staff, and students for cultivating a community bound together by love and humility and by opening up their hearts and homes for the world to also feast on the meal before them. May the Lord continue to cover, protect, and grant them wisdom as they steward this outpouring for the glory of God.

Our job is not to try and define this with previous moves of God but to recognize God is doing a new thing in our midst, and to celebrate and honor it even if it might look different than what we expect. My prayer for the Church that’s watching is that it might not try to define or put this move of God in a box, but rather celebrate, honor, cover in prayer, and ask God to fan the flame in our midst.

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To stay up to day on what’s happening at Asbury and access livestream go HERE

To sow into what God is doing at Asbury, you can give directly to the school HERE

To learn more about Asbury Revival Past & Present, join our upcoming School of Revival 3-day online intensive on that theme HERE

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NOTES

[i] Strong’s https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2540&t=KJV

See Ephesians 5:15-16 for an example of the word Kairos used.

[ii] https://www.asbury.edu/academics/resources/library/archives/history/revivals/

painting of Jesus by Lonnie Frisbee

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

I believe there are times and seasons when certain testimonies need to be released to breathe new life into new generations. I feel that God is highlighting the Jesus People Movement as a testimony He wants to release for such a time as this to prophesy into what He wants to pour out this year and beyond. The Jesus People movement was a move of God in the 1970s that came through the most unlikely of people, hippies. Nobody expected God to use this community and many even missed this vibrant move of God because they weren’t able to receive through others who looked so differently from them. This movement was messy. There was nothing traditional about it.

The Jesus People cultivated community and embraced a culture of family. Acts 2 was a model for them. They knew there was more to the Christian life than just following a program. They sought to do life on life with their brothers and sisters and created a rhythm of family, evangelism, and stirring each other on to good works. I believe the story of the Jesus People movement can inform where God wants to take us next.

God will pour out His Spirit through those we least expect and we may even be offended by. It is important that we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We must humble ourselves to receive all God has even if it comes through a package we least expect. God is also pouring out new wine. We must be open to new wine skins emerging to steward the new wine.

Lonnie Frisbee

Just as the movie Jesus Revolution is being released this February as a prophetic call for a new Jesus People Movement, now is also the time that the story of Lonnie Frisbee needs to be highlighted. *To read about my “accidental” encounter at Pirate’s Cove intersecting with the director of the film and the one who plays Jesus in the Chosen and Lonnie in the film , see my blog here.

This hippie preacher played a significant and catalytic role in the Jesus People Movement, Calvary Chapel Movement, Vineyard Movement, and releasing signs and wonders in everyday evangelism like hadn’t been seen before. Lonnie’s life gives people hope that if God can use someone who wasn’t polished around the edges or was perfect in any way but who was yielded to the Holy Spirit, He can use anyone for His kingdom.

Sharing his story is important for dismantling the cancel culture ideology and celebrating and honoring the legacy of people despite their failures. His story teaches us that we must not use people for their gifting, but we must become family together. His story is a call to fight for each other, believe the best, and cover each other in our times of weakness. It is a story about being fully yielded to the Holy Spirit and being used by God to spark revival.

Love

Another reason I feel to release the words “Jesus People” as a word for 2023 is if you love what these two words represent, you fulfill all the commandments. Our highest calling is to love Jesus before all other things. Then we are also called to love People as we love ourselves. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus says,

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The world will know we are Christians by our unfailing love for each other (John 13:34-35). I feel that in 2023, there will be a real stirring, melting down of walls, and invitation to seek greater unity within the body of Christ for the sake of the kingdom.

On August 13th, 1727, when the Moravians laid down their differences to covenant to run after Jesus together in love, the Holy Spirit crashed in with power. This became know as the Moravian Pentecost. From this encounter flowing from unity, the 24-7 protestant prayer movement was born not long after. Out of the prayer movement, a protestant missions movement was ignited, which eventually played a key role in launching John Wesley into his life-changing encounter before he started the Methodist movement.

Where there is unity, God increases anointing and commands a blessing (Psalm 133).

Unifying the Bride

I believe God’s heart for 2023 is one of unifying the bride. The body of Christ must learn how to lay down all offenses and come together in humility for the sake of making Christ known. Love must take precedent over all wrongs. We must become a people who stand with and for our brothers and sisters in the face of trouble. We must enter an era where we stop kicking our brothers and sisters when they are down but instead cover them, fight for them, war on their behalf against the principalities and powers trying to take them out, and always remember the true battle we face is never against each other.

Persecution will increase. We will need our spiritual family by our side. No matter how much we disagree with them on non-essential issues, they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. In a war, you stand by each other when the enemy attacks. We must learn how to stand by each other now, before the attack of the enemy increases. We must learn to lay down our weapons and seek to worship and glorify Jesus, the king of kings. We must come back to our first love without anything clouding our paths.

May 2023 be a year where we love Jesus with everything inside of us. May we be so overcome with receiving His love, that we freely love our brothers and sisters in Christ at a deeper level than ever before. May there be a common focus to glorify the name of Jesus above all else that melts down walls of offense. May unity among the Church cause an increased anointing for the glory and presence of God to overshadow us. May heroes arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances to shine like the stars in all the earth. May God use whoever gives their wholehearted yes to Him to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. May we become a People known as those who walk with Jesus. May we become a People marked by Jesus once again.

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Jesus People Movement II

February 23-25, 2023

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.  

Ankeny, Iowa

October 1-2, 2022

October 1, 2022 I found myself at Heartland Church in Iowa for Fan the Flame Women’s conference (2 Timothy 1:6-8) revival fire day conference. So much prayer, fasting, and expectation preceded this beautiful assignment. I was invited earlier this year to speak at the women’s conference at Heartland church by Kate McGovern. When she was praying for who to invite, she felt God told her to watch Sid Roth. When she did, it just happened to be the episode I was on! The very next day, a beautiful one named Sandra who I had helped with her book project years ago via Writing in the Glory called Kate to suggest if she hadn’t found a speaker yet to consider inviting me. That was crazy confirmation. Immediately, when I got the invitation to go to Iowa for a revival fire women’s conference, I felt God all over it and knew deep within my spirit this was not just a nice little ministry trip, this was a God ordained and orchestrated assignment from heaven. As our team of intercessors and theirs too, prayed and fasted leading into the event, we all felt there would be a birthing and also saw that the fire of God would mark people.

Episode on Sid Roth where I share about the Welsh Revival and Azusa Street Revival

The first meeting on Saturday, I invited the women to spend some time simply waiting upon the Holy Spirit. As we “dove into the River” of His presence and waited upon Him, He began to move in power. People were weeping, others having birthing pangs as if in labor, some singing out prophetically, and others experiencing freedom simply by taking the time to hear what God wanted to say to them. After a good time of waiting upon the Holy Spirit, I proceeded to share about a teenage girl named Florrie Evans who loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all her heart and boldly proclaimed her love in a 1903 meeting in Wales. Her sold out and personal devotion to Jesus was the match that lit the revival fire that would later spread to and ignite a young coal miner named Evan Roberts who in turn led the Welsh Revival (1904-05). During and after sharing about the Welsh Revival people came up to the altar to lay their lives down and welcome the fire of God to burn in them.

I was so blessed to have Sara and Christy from School of Revival and Amy from Destiny House come all the way to Iowa to partner together in helping birth this church and region into a greater realm of the Holy Spirit. After the first meeting, Christy shared

I've had many instances of people being ignited with fire when I laid hands on them but something new took place this time; women would instantly start weeping with the laying on of hands and I would literally see Jesus over them cupping their hearts, their faces, their dreams, their visions, their families and releasing his Fatherly love so preciously that I started weeping as well. It was the most touching experience I've had while ministering. It was a love for his daughters that was like giving the gift of a Father's blessing to be fully known and fully loved in the purest form possible so that they could burn brighter for him. 

In the morning session, while standing in the back of the room after Jen took time to wait on the Holy Spirit I saw the Spirit sweep across the room touching people and releasing them from restricting lies and affirming them of their worthiness to be loved. So much love being released to fan the flame of the fire that these women were carrying with their hunger for more of Jesus. And then, at the end of the 1st session, I was led to just start prophesying to women's hurts with love from the Father. That He saw their pain, disappointments, discouragement and hopelessness but he was giving them the ability to move past it and receive the truth of how he saw them. More tears and so many redeeming hugs!! Hearts were getting filled with the spring of life like Jesus did for the Samaritan women at the well in John 4.

In the second session, we opened it up for people to share testimonies of what God had done earlier so we could all celebrate and give Him glory. In Revelation 19:10, it says that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Celebrating what God did in the past prophesies and releases breakthrough for Him to do it again! Here are a few of the testimonies that were released:

• One woman who laid her life down at the altar, was healed of mental health issues.

• Another had her voice restored to her where she had previously felt shut down. God revealed that He had always heard her!

• One woman felt fire as she laid at the altar and deep pain from her past was healed.

• Another testified that she believed she was healed from ovarian cancer.

• One saw a vision from the Lord of her dancing with Him and Him restoring her first dance.

• One woman who had been devastated by loss of many in her family within the last year was completely delivered and set free from fear, anxiety, death, and oppression from the enemy. Her countenance was visibly different the rest of the conference. 

The evening session that same night was open to men, women, and children. After waiting on the Holy Spirit and sharing about the Azusa Street Revival, God came with His power from on high and baptized people with the Holy Spirit. Many people were trembling under the mighty hand of God, on the floor, shaking, feeling electricity. God was empowering people to live boldly and become burning ones for Him. Saturday night was a commissioning where many were set apart and marked.

I got asked that night to speak at church Sunday morning by Pastor Dave who is an incredible intercessor and has a passion for revival. I felt so welcomed by him and his team all weekend long! I was so honored to continue in the flow of what the Holy Spirit was pouring out in the region. On Sunday morning, we continued in the momentum of what God had been pouring out and began by waiting upon the Holy Spirit and then diving deep into the Ezekiel 47 River. The altar was full again of those ready to dive all the way in. I found out that while we were fully immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit and just lingering in His presence and glory, one man’s neck was fully healed. I later got a testimony that one person’s mom had come to church that day, was overcome, and weeping in the presence of God, went to the altar. She wept for about an hour there, encountered Jesus and received her prayer language!

The hunger in that region and preparation of the soil by prayer made it ever ready for a fresh wave of revival. Please continue to pray that every seed that got planted and every encounter, revelation, move of God remains and only increases in their fire and devotion for Jesus. They are perfectly positioned for a mighty move of God to spread from the heartland like wild fire. They’ve experienced revival in the past and are a praying church, positioned to steward a fresh move of the Spirit. Pray for more oil and that the fire was ignited afresh spreads across the land.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

This is a true story of God’s faithfulness and miraculous provision to bless exceedingly abundantly above all we could hope, dream, or imagine. It’s also a story of simple obedience. May you be blessed and stirred with increasingly greater measures of faith than ever before.

Reflecting of the Testimonies of God’s Faithfulness over the previous Decade

Back in February of 2022, I was reflecting on the 10-year anniversaries that happened for me a decade before. New Year’s Eve December 31, 2011, I was ordained by Heidi Baker. A week after that, I began a project on the Apostolic Inheritance of California where I interviewed her and Bill Johnson the same week. In early February, I launched my first Writing in the Glory workshop at a local coffee shop with 3 other people. Then in February 2012, I stepped out in radical faith to found what later would become known as Destiny House. During this unique birthing season, I had no car, little money, and was sleeping on a blow-up air mattress on my friend’s floor, contending and believing for breakthrough while being stretched beyond what I had experienced before. In March, I released my 4th book Life on Wings: The Forgotten Life and Theology of Carrie Judd Montgomery (1858-1946) and then several months after that, I began working on Defining Moments book with Bill Johnson. To read all God did in that unique season, see blog entitled Destiny House History and Breakthrough.

“God wants to give you a home, but you have to start looking”

So fast forward to ten years after that significant birthing season in my life to now in 2022. Because of the weight of the 10-year anniversaries, I felt led to reconnect with Heidi to invite her to pray into the next decade with me. We were supposed to meet on the Friday, but it got switched to where I ended up with her and her friend on Saturday February 5, 2022 where we sat on the beach and she shared testimonies of house breakthroughs in her own life. Then she prophesied over us and prayed that God would also bring us breakthrough in that area. She told me, “God wants to give you a house, but you have to start looking.”

I had tried to buy a house by faith years back and had also looked into purchasing a home in a few different places but nothing ever came to pass. What she said to me in that moment was not on my immediate radar or anything I was considering at that time. I had forgotten about my dream to get a home because it felt so impossible and out of reach. I honestly didn’t do much with her encouragement because I knew I didn’t have the resources and I was fine where I was at. Then when I found out she was coming back to the area and speaking at my church in June, I realized I better get the ball rolling before she came back to honor her speaking into my life and take it seriously.

Finally Beginning the Process

It wasn’t until May 16, 2022 that I actually began to apply for a house loan so I could position myself for this miracle. God connected me with an incredible loan person named Kim who I had met doing tent revival stuff the summer before. She prayed for me throughout the whole process and was such a gift. On June 14th, two days after Heidi Baker spoke at my church, I got approved for a loan which was a miracle in and of itself. As I was searching online for homes, I realized if I was going to step out in faith for a home, I needed to love it and for it to feel like a refuge and retreat. I couldn’t come near affording anything in Orange County so I ended up being drawn to look in the mountains where I would regularly go to unplug and write in small mini-houses in the forest. Homes were more affordable there and they were right in nature.

“The only reason I’ m looking is because my spiritual mother told me that God wanted to give me a house.”

I had already booked a mini-house Getaway stay in the mountains about an hour from my home in June and decided to look at homes in the nearby area since I was already out there. My real estate agent, Jon, drove all the way up to the mountain to show me some homes on June 16, 2012. Nothing really caught my eye and I remember telling him, “I don’t really need to buy a house, and I am not in a hurry, and I don’t have the money. The only reason I am looking is because my spiritual mother told me that God wants to give me a house and I need to start looking to position myself for the miracle.” After every house falling short of my expectations, I felt bad for Jon since he had come all that way for nothing. Then at the end of a tiring afternoon, I asked him to come see where I was staying so he could get a better idea of what I was looking for. I showed him the inside of the mini-house with the one big window looking out into nature and told him I want something like that. He probably thought I was crazy, but I knew the only way this was ever going to happen was if it was a miracle straight from heaven.

Could this be the “one”?

As the weeks went on, I was busy traveling, and honestly a bit discouraged after our first failed attempt of looking at houses. I didn’t look for houses as vigilantly as before and only looked online here and there. Late July, I was getting ready to go up to Redding for the first time since I was there when the world locked down in March 2020 and Jon reached out to see if I had any time to look at homes again. I literally only had Saturday, on July 30th, open before heading out of town again. I had been watching one home that I really liked and saw that the price kept dropping. I wondered if this could be the “one.” He encouraged me to find a few other homes so we could look at several since we were already making the trip out there. I found a few others to look at and one that caught my eye but was way over my price range just for fun.

We met up and looked at a few homes but I didn’t connect with any of them. Then we went to see the one that way over my budget but had some cool windows and furniture. It was super close to the town but felt secluded at the same time. There were no homes in front of it and it had four windows looking straight into the forest. There were wood floors, 3 fireplaces, and 4 air conditioners which was rare to find in the mountain homes. I liked the home, however this was not the one I had my heart set on originally that we had not yet seen and it was $200K over my price range. When we finally made it to the one I had been watching online that was more in my price range, it was nothing like I thought it would be. I didn’t like the location or anything about the house. That was a clear no. We still had another couple homes to check out after that one. We did find another home that also looked like it could be a good fit. It had a separate little room on a hill that could work well for a prayer and writing room and was out in the country. But my heart kept leading me back to the earlier home we saw with the four big windows looking into nature with wood floors and furnished.

At the end of the day, it was clear, I really loved the house that was outside of my budget, but since God was giving me a home and I felt that I had found the pearl of great price, I decided to trust Him and dive in.

Stepping out of the Boat

August 1, I put in an offer with a letter encouraging the seller to sell me the home because I wanted to have a place to pray and write. The seller didn’t come down much at all but he did agree to sell me the home and thus I could avoid any potential bidding wars and house drama. I still felt really drawn to this home so by Tuesday night (8/2/2022) after a little back and forth, while I was at my homegroup, I signed the contract to purchase the home. I headed to Redding that next week and was also working on finalizing my 10th book All Who Are Thirsty which had also been on my heart and in my computer for ten years waiting to be released. I canceled my trip back to Maui that month because getting approved for a loan and buying a home felt like a full-time job with all of the paperwork and inspections and things, I needed to do to get ready.

Miracle or Bust

There was no way I could close escrow at the end of the month and make the final payments to close without the miraculous intervention of God. I was trusting that God would make a way where there was no way and taking each step as far as I could. Praise God, He provided through the body of Christ in a special way.

Triplets

August 30th I released my 10th All Who Are Thirsty book in my homegroup which was so special to do together in family. Michael & Ivey Ketterer and the whole homegroup was praying with me step by step as I moved forward with believing for the impossible. The next day I signed like a million documents to finalize the loan and September 1, I launched our School of Revival intensive on the Apostolic Inheritance of California. My goal was to move into the new home to teach from my own land, carrying the authority and putting a stake in the ground in the soil of California. However, there kept being delays. So, by Friday, I drove by faith toward the property praying that by the time I got there the city would have it recorded so I could legally move in. I had to get the internet set up that night in order to teach the next day from there. On my drive there, I got the call that everything went through and that the home was officially mine! I got the internet set up that night, then taught the final sessions on the Apostolic Inheritance of California from my own home in California!!! This all happened on Labor Day weekend! I feel I just birthed 3 babies and it was over Labor Day weekend: My 10th book, the Apostolic Inheritance of California training I had been waiting 10 years to release, and of course, my miracle home released all in the same week!

Receive Great Faith

All that to say, there is something powerful in submitting to those you are in covenant with. Buying a home was not on my radar in this season at all but it was on God’s. I am so grateful Heidi shared her own house breakthrough testimonies and prophesied over me that day on the beach in February. I am grateful that God gave me the grace to step out by faith to begin the search and see what He might do. I am grateful for all of the midwives who partnered in prayer every step of the way with me and for those who sowed in to making this dream become a reality.

I am wondering if there might be more windows of opportunity available to step into in this Kairos moment if we simply step out of the boat to follow the slightest stirrings of the Holy Spirit for such a time as this. This home is exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask, hope, dream, or imagine. It feels like it was hand crafted and made just me, hidden until the perfect time He wanted to release it. Sometimes we simply have to just take that first step of faith and move toward Him and what He is putting in front of us and the doors might just open wide.

There was not just one window peering directly into nature, but four. I don’t know about you, but that just demonstrates the goodness of our God to do the impossible on our behalf simply because He loves us and has good things in store for us. This is probably the third time I’ve ventured out to buy a home by faith. Third time is charm and when God is on it, He’s on it. I had a praying mortgage lender, a kindhearted real estate agent, and help and confirmation wherever I turned. But I still had to take the first step.

What might He be saying to you in this season? Are there any slight stirrings that are deep within your heart that He might inviting you to explore once again? Might this be the season, the time, the Kairos moment when things that were impossible in times past come together in perfect alignment under the kingdom for such a time as this? Is there a window of opportunity waiting for you to step into?

If you never step out and go for it, you will never know.

Blessing you with razor sharp focus to keep your full attention on the face of Jesus and supernatural faith to lean into His promises over your life for such a time as this.

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ­–Revelation 4:1

Thanks to everyone who partnered in prayer, sowing in, and having faith alongside of me for this life-changing breakthrough. None of this could have been possible without your support! If anyone else would like to sow into all God wants to do in this Miracle Home, you can do so at JenMiskovMinistries.com.

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. and Revival Historian

For those who have eyes to see, there is a powerful prophetic destiny over California. As the saying goes, “As goes California, so goes the nation.” The influence that comes from California has the power to impact the world. Just imagine what would happen if the entire state of California was on fire with revival, it could transform the world.

I never realized calling out the gold in a region could be so controversial, however, it must be done, and the truth must be told. California is an anointed land of revival. It is a land where revivalists are born and where many are launched into their destinies.

I freely admit that I was born and bred in Southern California, and I truly LOVE this state because I am able to see it through heaven’s redemptive lens. I grew up under John Wimber’s ministry in the Vineyard, enjoyed the in-depth Bible teaching of Calvary Chapels, intersected with Heidi Baker when I was a student at Vanguard University and later was ordained by her, and later spent seven years under Bill Johnson’s ministry in Redding before returning full circle back to Southern California. All that to say, I don’t believe it’s an accident that God placed me here for such a time as this. And whether you are from California or not, I pray this small offering will shift your perspective to see and call out the gold of this apostolic state and inspire you to dig to find the gold in your own region as well.

“Hot Furnace”

The name California is derived from the Spanish origin to mean “hot furnace.” California truly is a furnace with revival fire ready to catalyze another great awakening. God’s heart for California is for redemption and alignment in accordance with its truest identity and destiny. God’s heart is burning to touch the nations through yielded lovers fully surrendered to His call. This land is pregnant with yet another great awakening.

Economic, Media, Natural

California is a place where apostolic Holy Spirit revival movements are birthed. When I use the term apostolic, I am referring to something that has great influence, is exponentially multiplied, releases impartation, and is exported around the world. Not only are there deep wells of revival in California that have watered the world with the rivers of living waters, but there is also an apostolic anointing on the economics, media, and even physical land.

Aside from looking at anything spiritual, California alone, if it was a country would have the 5th biggest economy in the world ($3.1 trillion). Some of the big name companies that have influenced the world started or found their home here: Apple, Facebook, Wells Fargo, McDonalds, and more. The technology that influences our generation is housed in this state. Hollywood, the pioneer for media that shapes the world, found fertile soil in California. Disneyland, “the happiest place on earth,” was also born here. Whatever gets birthed or makes its home in California, knowingly or unknowingly, is tapping into the apostolic nature of this land. What people plant here has the potential to grow exponentially and be exported around the globe, whether good or bad.

Even in the natural, this land yields a great harvest. This state is the 5th largest supplier of food and other products to the entire world and is the largest provider of food to the nation. The diversity of the land allows for over 450 different crops to be grown here. California produces and exports the most almonds than any other place in the world. It is also the fourth largest producer of wine in the world and provides for over 90% of the wine in the U.S.A. It also leads the nation in providing strawberries. And the list could go on.[i] 

California is unique in other ways. It has the highest population of any other state. California also has the highest point (Mount Whitney 14,505 ft) and the lowest point of 282 feet below sea level (Death Valley) of any other states on the mainland. The Golden Gate Bridge that was built in San Francisco in 1937 was at the time, the world’s longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world. It was said to have been an impossible feat.

Spiritual

Aside from the significance and influence this state has in economics, natural resources, and influence in both media and technology for the world, there is a great spiritual inheritance in this land. California is a place where revivalists are born and a place where budding revivalists come and are then birthed and launched into their apostolic destiny. Many Holy Spirit movements that have impacted the world found their beginnings in California. This land of pioneers has seen spiritual pioneers paving the way for us. 

• Carrie Judd Montgomery (1858-1946) pioneered some of the earliest healing homes in our nation when she moved from New York to California. She established the Home of Peace healing home in Oakland, CA in 1893, over 20 years before John G. Lake’s healing rooms. Her ministry was catalytic to launch missionaries, revivalists, and healing homes across the nation.

• The Azusa Street Revival which birthed American Pentecostalism which has impacted more in our generation with encountering the Holy Spirit than any previous generation. This apostolic revival movement that is still impacting us today began in a little home with a handful of people in Los Angeles in 1906.

• Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) left her hometown in Canada and came to California when her ministry was launched. She was the first evangelist on the radio in 1922 and pioneered the first Christian radio station in 1924. She built her Angelus Temple in Los Angeles in 1923 and launched her apostolic movement International Church of the Foursquare Gospel in 1927. From her ministry base, she fed more people in the Great Depression in Los Angeles than the Red Cross.

• Billy Graham (1918-2018) was relatively unknown until he ventured to California to do a tent meeting in Los Angeles in 1949. When publisher William Randolph Hearst sent a telegram to all his newspapers to “puff Graham,” the newspapers gave him free publicity, he extended his meetings for weeks, and the evangelist Billy Graham became an overnight celebrity.

• The Jesus People Movement with mass baptisms of hippies at Corona Del Mar was in part catalyzed by a hippie preacher named Lonnie Frisbee (1949-1993) who allowed himself to be used by the Spirit in his day. He not only impacted the Jesus Movement, but he was also catalytic for the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard Movements.

• John Wimber (1934-1997) launched the Vineyard Movement to new heights and spread healing, signs and wonders, intimate worship, and a heart for the poor around the globe from Anaheim, CA.

• Heidi Baker (1959-present), who has since gone on to transform the nation of Mozambique, was born in Orange County, went to Vanguard University (fruit from the Azusa Street Revival) where she met her husband Rolland, and through pioneering Iris Global, has touched nearly every nation in the world.

This is only the TIP of the Iceberg. I don’t have time to share about Keith Green who established The GreenHouse in L.A. where he lived with his family and then opened their home to those in need. They later opened other houses and launched their ministry to help drug attics, prostitutes, and those in need. His music shaped a generation. Henrietta Mears was a Sunday school teacher at Hollywood Presbyterian Church from  1928-1963 who impacted Bill Bright who launched Campus Crusade for Christ, Jim Rayburn of Young Life, Billy Graham and more. Chuck Smith launched the Calvary Chapel movement from Costa Mesa, CA.

Loren Cunningham founded Y.W.A.M. (Youth With A Mission) in 1960 in his parent’s California home. Trinity Broadcasting Network that has released Christian media around the globe was founded in 1973 in Southern California. Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life, led Saddleback Church for many years which touched the globe. Bill Johnson led Bethel Church in Redding, CA in releasing impartation of the revival culture there around the globe. Revival Culture. Lou Engle birthed The Call while in California. And the list of revivalists and/or global apostolic ministries that have been birthed in California could go on and on.

There is an Inheritance Awaiting

I have only just scratched the surface here but I do notice a pattern. This is a land of apostolic inheritance. The wells of revival are deep in this land. These waters are freely available for all who can choose to honor the past and see the gold. This land is pregnant yet again with another great awakening. I pray your perspective, prayers, and understanding of California has shifted and become more aligned with heaven’s perspective. May God not only reveal the gold from this state to you, but also the gold in your home region, your family, and even deep inside yourself.

To learn more about this theme and dig even deeper, join us Sept. 1-3 in our online School of Revival training for our more in-depth training on the Apostolic Inheritance of California. Learn more or register here today!

Notes:

[i] https://blog.aghires.com/california-largest-food-producer-u-s/ accessed 8/20/2022

[1] https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-california

[1] https://www.forbes.com/places/ca/?sh=26964b413fef accessed 8/20/2022

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

I had the opportunity to minister in Washington this past weekend (June 24-25, 2022) and wow! The hunger, expectation, and way they prepared the ground with intercession was powerful. God moved in such a marking way during the Friday night revival meeting. There was one moment I will never forget as long as I live.

After worship, I got invited up to speak. My teaching never got released in its original form because God showed up and released it in His manifested presence and power instead. As we dove into the river of the Holy Spirit and just waited upon God, He began to stir the waters. His presence descended upon us. We were not hasty to move from that place. We remained there, fixing our eyes upon Him and leaning in to see what was on heaven’s agenda for that night. While we were waiting, praying, I had a prophetic word for someone who I later found out was a pioneering leader in that region.

Even though I did not formally give the message I had prepared, the call nevertheless remained the same. I’ve always been struck by the Moravian missionaries who were willing to lay down their rights for the sake of the Gospel. Some even sold themselves into slavery so they could reach the slaves for Christ. Having several close friends who are a part of the persecuted church and hearing firsthand stories of what is happening around the world now as well as recently finishing our School of Revival intensive on the theme of Martyrdom, I felt compelled to do something I had never done before. I was in the presence of a people whom God had prepared and made ready. He was inviting, even just one, who would lay down his or her life and be willing to be martyred for the call of Christ. Technically, this is the call of every Christian when we choose to surrender our lives to Christ. But there was a weightiness and in the presence of God and river of the Holy Spirit, I asked if there might just be one who would be willing to lay down their life for the cause of Christ no matter what the cost.

I believe God is preparing the western church for persecution that we haven’t yet faced. We must be ready. So, as I was sharing about this call and encouraging people not to make this decision hastily but to really weigh the cost before responding, a young mother who had a baby strapped on her chest RAN from the back to the altar trembling under the mighty hand of God. The fire and anointing was increasing upon her there at the altar. Following her courageous act of devotion to Jesus, others soon rushed to the altar to lay down their lives in surrender, willing to pay any price.

This is the fearless mother, Stephanie, who ran to the front with her baby the night before this. Such a radical pioneer Jesus lover.

If we can get to the point where we would be willing to die for Christ, I believe the way we live would look a lot different. My friends who are literally on the front lines and experiencing some of the most horrific persecution you can imagine, they live differently. When you are on the front lines, your perspective, and the way you live your life is never casual or compromising in any way. You literally are depended upon Jesus for your very life.

All that to say, something beautiful and marking happened in Washington this past weekend that I will never forget. I am so grateful to God for crashing in and so moved and humbled by the response of these laid down lovers. I can’t wait to see how God will use their absolute yielded devotion to Him to release His love, fire, and glory to this world.

I believe this testimony is a prophetic call to many more hungry ones around the world who might be willing to lay down their rights for the sake of unity and even their lives for the cause of Christ. If that’s you, I encourage you to lay prostrate before the Lord as an act of total surrender and ask for Him to send His fire upon your life. Lay down all your rights. Ask Him to come and fill you with His Holy Spirit. Then yield quickly to the leading of Holy Spirit and see how God will use your laid down life for His glory for such a time as this.

“Embracing the call to martyrdom is not so much about aiming to die well as much as it is about aiming to love well.” –Dalton Thomas, author of Unto Death: Martyrdom, Missions, and the Maturity of the Church 

“If you have not discovered something you are willing to die for, then you are not fit to live.” –Martin Luther King Jr.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” – Romans 12:1 written by the Apostle Paul, who was later martyred for his faith

Learn more about or join our next Martyrdom School of Revival module HERE

P.S. I also got to stay on a farm, ride a horse named Jack, and enjoy the random “heat wave” they like to call it of perfect sunny Southern California weather I brought with me to Washington. Super grateful to Tracy for inviting me to be a part of what God is doing in her community, Tina and Gateway family for welcoming me, Dawnelle for her warm hospitality, and my incredible team of School of Revival and Destiny House family that came together to help birth a new thing there. Sara, Amy, and Tracy so grateful for you coming out to partner together. Such a special time!