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Friday 27 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Day 46

Baptisms are being held every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Kyle took the day off to celebrate his oldest daughter's tenth birthday in Dallas, so he didn't do any of them. He encourages whoever is discipling the believer to be the one to baptize him, so there were a lot of females baptizing females. He'd also encouraged people to reach out to their own family, so there was an elderly Puerto Rican candidate whose relative had led him to Jesus. Due to his frail physical condition, he was provided effusion in the place of baptism.

As I had predicted, a local government official was brought in to speak--the mayor, having been invited by his ex-next-door neighbor. His response to the request to share prayer requests for his city was a 20-minute prepared speech that hit on every single one of the Democrat talking points. What would Jesus think about a family losing their house because one of its members didn't have a health insurance, etc. But the striking thing was that, after basically apologizing for being a politician in a room full of Christians, he admitted that he considers himself to be a Christian, then reeled off a long list of offices he has held in his church; some of which he had to give up to serve as mayor, but--not to worry, said his pastor, Phyllis--he was serving God and the church through the government.

I note that this is a pretty solid chord struck whenever a Democrat speaks to a crowd of Christians. Republicans, on the other hand, tend to harp on the need to bring America back to its Christian roots. Democrats would respond that in their opinion, America is never more reflective of true Christianity than when it is being led by--let's face it--unbelievers.

What this revival really needs is for the local sheriff to stand up and say that due to their efforts, his deputies have a lot less to do. That hasn't happened yet, but when it does, I hope that even the mayor would be grateful. He didn't mention that none of the deputies in this county earn what any liberal would consider a living wage--something the sheriff is trying to change, but hasn't been able to push past the Republican-controlled county government.

Thursday 26 February 2015

Turns out we were never at the brink of war with Iran, after all

Taking a break from my coverage of the Indiana Revival, I return to a topic which I covered heavily a few years ago: Iran's impending production of nuclear weapons, and the likelihood that Israel would attack to forestall it. This scenario made it into Joel Rosenburg's thriller The Tehran Initiative. But it turns out to have been largely based on Israeli misinformation: Netanyahu knew that Iran wasn't that close to having The Bomb.

 According to Spy Cables – a cache of hundreds of leaked secret intelligence papers from all over the world, published by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit in collaboration with the Guardian newspaper – at the time of Netanyahu's statement, Israel's intelligence service concluded that Iran was "not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons," estimating that Iran had 100 kilograms of uranium enriched to a level of 20 percent.

It's a bit ironic, that the Telecommunications Revolution which has made it all the easier for the government to spy upon its citizens, has also made it a lot easier for citizens to spy upon their government.

And thus the History books continue to be rewritten, with yet another version of the story.

UPDATE MAY 2015
Something happened to the cookie settings on my computer, and Google won't let me comment again. This is in response to Marko:
Thanks for joining in. I don't dispute that Al Jazeera has an agenda--but so does every  news outlet. You have to listen to both sides to know what either is being less than truthful about.

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Day 43

The long-suffering staff at the fabric and variety stores have found themselves visited again and again by Revive teams. Generally they follow the policy and shop at the store first, so it's been good for business. But the ecumenical spirit exhibited by Revive has been a trial for them. The lady at the fabric store keeps a pile of 1 Corinthians 11 tracts ready to hand out to any woman who attempts to pray for her without being religiously covered.

This week is a big push to share the gospel at several of the biggest RV factories in the area. Workers haven't all been receptive, but the Revive team is there for the ones that are.

Saturday, Kyle was invited to the home of an Amish woman who had been fasting the whole 33 days. And she was there that night. That morning, an Amish woman had given her life to Christ right in the morning meeting.

Saturday Kyle also unveiled Revive's discipleship book, containing 52 Bible stories with study questions. It's hot off the press and will be first used for following up on the hundreds of contacts from these 52 days.

Attendance at the evening meetings, still always over a thousand, is no indicator of the level of interest. Churches as far out as an hour away are opening their doors for simulcast showings of the meetings, with people driving another 40 minutes farther out to attend them. Among the various venues where the evening program is being live-streamed are the jails in Elkhart and South Bend. A congregation of ex-Amish in Parke County, several hours away, have been coming one vanload at a time after hearing about the meetings on a visit to Valparaiso. And of course, people are tuning in to one of the 3 radio frequencies or the internet livestream, which also carries the morning meetings. Audios or videos, respectively, of all evening meetings are archived at either maplecitychapel.org or clintonframe.org.


Wednesday 18 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Day 37

A humorous incident happened Tuesday when a team took to the community to pray for people. The usual procedure is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide the team to a Divine Appointment, then poll the team members to see where the Spirit is leading. If all are in agreement, that becomes the battle plan.

Just to give an example that was shared publicly, G. was clearly led to pray with a specific woman at 3:30 on a specific day at a specific Dairy Queen. She would have shoulder-length red hair and glasses. So he put his team together and showed up at the restaurant half an hour early. The place was virtually deserted, with only one male customer present. As each customer walked in, the team looked up eagerly to see if it was The One. But as time passed, no one materialized, and at 4:30 the dejected team left the Dairy Queen. G. shared the results of the failed mission with Kyle.

The next night, the story came out, and this is how it unfolded: Kyle stepped down from preaching to tell G. in amazement that right there in the front of the auditorium was a woman with shoulder-length red hair and glasses, wearing a Dairy Queen uniform! G. approached her, and it turned out that she had in fact passed by his group on her way to work in the back, but with her red hair up and concealed under a net. She sensed what they were there for, and was in no mood to be prayed for, so she hurried to the back hoping they wouldn't corner her. G. had been so focused on customers that he'd never thought to examine all the workers! So she got prayed for anyway, just a day later, once the conviction typical of true revival compelled her to the meeting, still in her work clothes.

Okay, so back to Tuesday's adventure, involving a not-quite-so-disguised redhead:

O., the team leader (wearing both jeans and dangly earrings, which she admitted wouldn't get her past the door back at the church she grew up in), felt that God was leading them to pray for a red-headed woman at a clothing store. As they made a wrong turn on their way to the location assigned to their particular team, all agreed that this was God's way of redirecting them. R. (sporting a minimal beard and a wedding ring), like O., had flown in from out of state to join the outreach. He had the car turn around when they passed a fabric store. "That must be the place!" L., a local woman who sometimes purchases fabric at the store to make her own dresses, pointed out that there were two stores next to each other, so the team split up to cover them both. O. headed for the fabric store with L., whilst R. and the rest of the team took the variety store. When they tarried long, O. and L. headed over to see what was taking them so long.

Sure enough (or was it 'close enough?'), there had been a Mennonite woman behind the counter at the variety store, her red hair neatly pinned beneath a transparent cap. When R. (a former Mennonite himself) offered to pray for her, he was taken back by her response: She wasn't about to have any man pray for her who was wearing jewelry! Rather than remove the ring, R. called L. over, on the grounds that she was at least as plainly attired as the proprietress. L. proceeded to pray for her, thankful along with ex-conservatives R. and O. that the team had included at least one currently conservative member! For his part, R. realized that having a Mennonite background isn't always enough when it comes to being able to connect with a Mennonite!

Despite her initial reluctance, the red-haired proprietress ran out as the team was getting ready to drive off, and handed each of them a CD of a capella music she'd pulled from her discount rack--implying, perhaps, another sore point between her and Revive INDIANA. 

Monday 16 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Days 33 & 34

Day 31 doesn't seem to have involved any shark-jumping after all. On Friday night, worship included the theme song of the Welsh Revival--although some stumbled over the Classical English, and modern choruses were inserted between the stanzas. Apparently having a modern congregation sing a 110-year-old song was a lot to ask.
Saturday morning, the worship was awesome. No drums! "Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me" is only 85 years old, apparently not to much for this crowd to handle. The dancers who have been waving flags up front for 5 weeks were very organised this morning, with long modest outfits that someone apparently had sown for them.

A winter storm blew in during the morning outreach--not so much snow as fierce winds that blew up instant whiteouts. By the middle of the day, roads had become treacherous and the rest of the day's activities were called off. About 80 people showed up anyway at Maple City Chapel to hear Kyle baptize two of them and preach to the gathered thousands over the radio (the figures being reported are 25-30,000). There was the question, however, of what to do with the 250 boxes of pizza that had been ordered.

Presidents Day, being a school holiday, again brought out hundreds of teens for the outreach.

Friday 13 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Days 29 & 31

In my last post, I mentioned that there wasn't much to report on the Amish Bishops Meeting of Day 29 (2/9). Since then, I've received a bit of secondhand information on what went on--which isn't enough to form a clear picture, but way more that what has been shared so far from up front in the meetings. Since it isn't being reported anywhere else, I guess I'll go ahead, for the sake of my readers, and disclose an outline of what I've heard so far--subject to correction from eyewitnesses.

To begin with, no Amish bishops actually attended--despite every one in the area having received a written invitation. Although some concerned ex-Amish who hadn't been invited showed up, the only actual Amish who came were those already involved in Revive Indiana [CORRECTION: one uninvolved Amish minister came]. The building instead was half-filled with pastors from Revive-associated churches; I don't know what they were thinking, to stack the deck so much that even if 10% of the invited Amish leaders had showed up, they would have been outnumbered by the English.

A Black pastor in attendance publicly rebuked the Time to Revive leadership for the style of music which has characterized the meetings so far--electronic worship music with a heavy beat, right in the style of the sponsoring megachurches, but totally incompatible with the Amish lifestyle and conservative values. There has been no attempt to tone it down over the course of the first 5 weeks, and Day 31 even featured an electronically backed-up "Christian rapper" on the stage.

There's no questioning that the musical component so far appears to be attracting far more than it is repelling--Wednesday night's turnout at Maple City Chapel was over 3000, with another 400 watching from a satellite location in Topeka, usually used to tune in to services of Nappanee Missionary Church. But it's just possible that this was the week that Revive Indiana jumped the shark. Or, the significance of the Monday meeting may turn out to be that it began to change the direction of the revival to the prophesied new level of praise and worship.


This list of prophecies delivered at Maple City Chapel in 2014 was published during Week Two:
1. Many people will ask, "What is going on?"
2. Cities will be stirred up.
3. Churches will be cleansed and realigned with the will of the Father

4. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus by His supernatural works, and the gospel will be furthered
5. Some will be offended by the move of God.
6. Praise and worship will go to another level.


A group will be skipping Saturday night's meeting to pray for the revival [UPDATE: Saturday night's meeting was more or less canceled due to a snow emergency].

There's been a lot of interest in this post, and word continues to filter in about what happened. On Day 41, Kyle finally admitted that only 2 ministers had shown up (one of whom, we know, has been involved with REVIVE all along). But it also turns out that 3 people showed up who hadn't been invited: two ex-Amish, and a missionary to the Amish who started a church of Amish who were excommunicated for fellowshipping with him (the very charge for which Dennis Miller, the instigator of the whole Revive INDIANA project, was finally excommunicated). Their presence there seems to be more significant than that of the two Amish, neither of whom spoke; two of the non-invitees, however, spoke at length.

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Day 30

Jackie came Monday night, along with her husband Dean, her mom, and most of her district staff. I didn't realize she was so tall--and Dean is even taller. She rearranged her weekly return to Washington so she could take in at least one night of the Revival. And of course she was given a chance to share. She warned that she may break out in tears, and she did. She focused on her former missionary service in Romania, and the chances she has to pray with--or for--world leaders, especially those in the Middle East. She mentioned that Israel is America's best ally, and that "those who have read Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation know how the story ends." Again, several pastors prayed over her. It's interesting that despite the egalitarian flavor of this movement, prayers of a rather different sort went up for "the Walorskis." There was a lot of focus on their marriage being strong despite the weekly separations. I suspect we'll begin to hear from some more local politicians before too long.

Monday was the first night of broadcasting in Spanish over WLDC, so, appropriately enough, a Hispanic pastor spoke. She was also the first female pastor so far to take to the pulpit. A man served as her interrupter, so from an English perspective at least, he delivered the written sermon.

And half the 'worship team' was of color, so the racial barrier is pretty much missing in action at Revive Indiana.

The local NBC affiliate gave detailed coverage on their 11:00 report--run supposedly because it was a slow news day, but of course this was the biggest local news item of the week. They interviewed Kyle, a sponsoring local pastor, and a high schooler who was an early instigator of the Skip for Jesus program. And news came in that yet another high school, not even in Elkhart or LaGrange County, has already approved a skip day for March Forth.

The meeting at 4:30 Monday with an assemblage of Amish bishops, ministers, and deacons (0ver 600 were invited) didn't yield any explosive results so far, but just the fact that even a few did show up to dialog with the Revive team was significant. [NOT QUITE--see next post]

I wrote earlier that Monday mornings aren't all that well attended. Not so yesterday--over 200 showed up.

Things show no sign of winding down, and there's a lot of talk about how we are going to keep this revival going long after the 52 days have come to an end. Next week, Revive Tupelo kicks into high gear--without the Revive team, who are all busy here in Indiana. A major focus there is healing between the races.

One humorous note--Kyle hardly ever lets a day go by without managing to work in a 'shameless plug' for his parents' Ace Hardware store in Middlebury.

Sunday 8 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report Day 27

Well, the 52 Days of Prayer are now half over, but the Revival continues to go strong. WFRN has been carrying all 2 hours of the evening services, pre-empting Adventures in Odyssey. Now the Spanish station is Elkhart will begin carrying the simultaneous translation. More and more people are driving in. Hundreds are still going out every Saturday, with fewer on the weekdays, especially Monday. Dozens of churches have canceled their Wednesday evening programming for the duration, making Wednesday one of the biggest turnouts for the evening service.

Since all the evening services are held in a Mennonite church, it's a bit ironic that they often feature baptisms in a tank of water on the platform (Mennonites don't baptize, they sprinkle).

Congressman Marlin Stutzman was part of the program Saturday night. He first shared his heart that the Revival would spread throughout the country, then had hands laid on him by pastors representative of the community (even an Amish minister!), who fervently prayed that he would be God's man in Washington.

A young lady who had been in a wheelchair with Lyme disease since October came from Lansing, MI, hoping to be healed. Kyle wasn't available at the time, but bystanders encouraged her to stand up and offered a prayer of healing. The former cripple got up out of her wheelchair and walked around without pain. This sort of thing is becoming commonplace.

The final day has been entitled March Forth, with details to follow. It will be a grand finale to the 52 days.

Monday will be another crucial day. Details to follow.

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Indiana Revival Report: Days 17-19

Wednesday, January 28, 2015 shattered a few records.
To begin with, there were the students. Eight hundred of them, skipping classes from 14 different middle or high schools in a 3-county region. Then, 250 adults to form teams of four, spreading across the region with their young charges to pray for people. It was, by anyone's estimation, the largest organized one-day evangelism effort known to modern Christianity.  Then, that night: 3400 in attendance at the meeting. Eight hundred chairs were brought in and set up in the fellowship area to amply hold the record crowd. There hadn't been that many people in that building since the last Black Friday Sale back when it was a Wal-Mart.

If then.

On Thursday, another record: Ninety new pastors from the city of Elkhart joined together to hear what God was doing through Revive INDIANA, and another few dozen churches were now on board. More chocolate to go with all that vanilla!

On Friday, yet another record. A cabinet factory shut down its production lines for the bilingual preaching of the gospel, and 31 workers responded--all Hispanic. That's most of the factory.

Elkhart/LaGrange County is finally starting to see what The Church actually looks like.