Remember
the movie Backdraft? Someone was going about killing influential
people by setting fires. But the arsonist wasn’t crudely tossing Molotov
cocktails into windows or the like. He was very sophisticated. He carefully
set fires in places that would tightly seal shut. Deprived of sufficient
oxygen, the fire would smolder for hours until someone opened that room.
Then the fire would take a giant gulp of fresh air and explode into flame.
Many Christians have shut their hearts tight, allowing the flame of the Spirit to flicker and go out so that only a smoldering ember remains.
However,
the Holy Spirit is also a mighty, rushing wind. We cannot fail to notice
that the Spirit has begun to blow afresh worldwide in the last few years.
Reports of revival fires breaking out continue to reach us. But revivals
don’t start with a directive from the district office or even at the local
Second Street Assembly. Revival starts when someone with a glowing ember
allows the fresh wind of the Spirit to blow open his heart’s door.
There’s a particular order of events with this spiritual backdrafting. Once the door is open the spiritual fire kills the influential man of flesh right away: repentance comes first. Then our whole house catches on fire: everything about us is affected. Finally, our neighbors’ houses and our friends’ houses also catch on fire! This is God’s intent. Ultimately, revival is not for us; it is for those around us who need us to share the warm fire of Jesus’ love: evangelization.
By design, FCF poises us where we can be on the leading edges of the conflagration. I confess, though, too often I feel and act more like an airtight room than a house afire. So where did I put my keys? I’ve got a door to unlock. Now who did I borrow this soap box from? (Must be Watchman’s.)
Lodestone