Liberals, Conservatives, and Traditionalists

 I've been musing lately on a certain sociological phenomenon, that humanity (at least in the cultures with which I'm familiar) can be divided into three distinct categories. Now, whilst the categories are distinct, it's also a phenomenon that many people, and groups, can be placed into one category for one issue, and into yet another on a completely different issue, and that these positions can change over a generation, and over a lifetime. Now, the distinctions all relate to how people view change. Liberals embrace change, believing it by nature to be good; on the other end of the spectrum, traditionalist reject change, believing it by nature to be bad; and, in between, conservatives are reluctant to change, but do not resist it per se, realizing that it may result in an improvement, just not assuming so without testing it first. A conservative came up with these categories, so those in the other two camps may not agree that they even exist as described; being probably too close to the question to further describe one of the categories objectively, I'll just focus my detached objectivity on the others.

Liberals tend to confuse the other two categories, as the people within both categories will often line up on the opposite sides of an issue, and seem to be the same. But traditionalists will likewise confuse liberals with conservatives, as those two groups will often appear to line up on the opposite side, all depending in either case on whether the change in question has passed the testing and found the approval of the conservatives.

The labels themselves can also be problematic: traditionalists don't call themselves by that title, and even liberals often prefer a label like 'progressive'. So it's one thing to label the categories, and yet another to get people to accept the label that describes them best.

Another interesting thing is the instability seemingly inherent in two of these categories. One would think perhaps that traditionalists, who hold that no improvement is possible over the old ways, would have passed on that belief from ancient times. But it turns out that in many cases, today's traditionalists are less than a handful of generations removed from liberal who got tired of stridently proclaiming that every new thing was by its very nature an improvement over the old, decided to give the pendulum a nudge back toward the other side of the spectrum, and didn't know when or how to stop its momentum. And many liberals are but one or two generations removed from traditionalists who had made a similar decision, just in the other direction. Apparently few can long endure a residence on either edge of the spectrum; excepting those few, and of course the many for whom the pendulum has happily found rest at the bottom of the arc, all are on the move, across any given generation, in one direction or the other.

I have seen this happen over the past generation with the licensing of homosexual relationships, which has become official government policy in the USA, and indeed throughout most of the world, only within the past decade. For a long time before that it was becoming more widely acceptable to liberals, at least in theory, being part of the preference for change which their category demands. But once the public policy debate was over, and it actually began to happen, many liberal Christians found that they didn't really want to be that liberal after all—that here was one issue on which they did align more with the conservatives and traditionalists. Thus a split began between those liberals holding tight to that end of the spectrum, and those liberals (for now) who wanted to nudge things back in the other direction, and that division continues to this day among the large denominations in America. One may be tempted to think by this that some sort of revival is afoot, but it's more likely just revealing a sociological axiom at work.

Revive Indiana Really Does Jump the Shark. But That is not All. There's More, So Much More.

A thousand days after launching what was originally to be a one-week revival, Kyle Lance Martin returned to his homeland of Elkhart County, Indiana to "Fan the Flame" with another week of meetings at Maple City Chapel and Clinton Frame Mennonite Church. In this video you can watch what happened at the tail end of "Day 1005." After Kyle had spent the previous hour laying out his vision for what "more" might look like, and the closing song had been sung, Kyle came back up and announced that a "sister" named April felt led to "release tongues" over the audience, and he asked a man named Adam to "interpret" so that all would be "in biblical order," using "a safe, biblical model." You can see Kyle tell the backstory here.

So, a woman comes forward, stands silently for a minute, and then begins babbling through her sobs the same staccato syllables, over and over. More silence. Then she ends by saying in English, "We just want more of You God." After another interlude, Adam takes over. "Oh my children (2x) How much I love you (2x) Oh, children, I paint the day every morning for you, and every evening I paint the sky for you. I love you so. I have things for you each new day--new things. Oh my children, what I have in store for you. Oh, how much I love you my children."

Kyle then came back up and encouraged the audience to "ask the Lord for the interpretation of what you just heard . . . Everything you heard pointed to the Lord. Nothing you heard contradicted Scripture."

But it just ain't so, bro. Scripture says, "women are to be silent in the assemblies." In fact, it's right there in the very same passage that encourages members of the assembly to speak orderly in tongues. I think it's highly significant that it was a woman who felt "led by the Spirit" to "release tongues" on the assembly.  And that it was a woman who told Kyle, "Let's do it." And I would almost be willing to bet that just about every interpretation Adam ever comes up with has "My children" in it several times.

Now, the reader may recall that I devoted several weeks, nine years ago, to examining this passage right here on the pages of this blog, and I'm not advocating the muzzling of women in the assembly. But to say that something doesn't contradict Scripture, when it in fact does so to its face, raises red flags. To say that justification is by faith alone, without works, contradicts Scripture to its face. To claim the blessing of heaven on that which contradicts Scripture isn't going to work for eternity.

I have to say one thing for Adam, he did a good job of attempting to match his interpretation to the message: lots of repetition. But linguistically speaking, there simply wasn't any correlation between "the tongue" and "the interpretation." Yes, they represented different "gifts:" the tongue, a gift for producing a meaningless message; the interpretation, a gift for producing a meaningful platitude. But what's the point? We could have completely skipped April's contribution and gone directly to Adam's. The church was no more edified with the tongue than it had been without it.

Here's a test. Have three people watch the video of April's "tongue" and give their inspired "interpretation" of it. What do you think are the odds that all three will be identical?  To the thinking person, this is all a lot of nonsense. Sure, Paul encouraged tongues; but at the end of the very same chapter, he banned women from speaking in church. If the one still applies today, why not the other? Kyle had no answer to that question; he didn't even bother raising it.

Now shift the scene. It's three weeks later, and just across the state line into Michigan. Riverside Christian Fellowship is a church that, like Maple City Chapel, was founded by conservative Mennonites, but doesn't carry on their name. A church that tries to hold on to what was important of that which has been passed down to them, and let go of what wasn't. It's a half-week of revival meetings, and the pews are packed. Even Amish have come in from the surrounding area. But it's not Kyle Lance Martin from Time to Revive speaking--it's Israel Wayne from Family Renewal, preaching sermons based on his books Questions God Asks and Questions Jesus Asks. And his message strikes a decided contrast to that of Kyle Martin. When Israel talks about salvation and works, he doesn't see any need to warn against mixing the latter in with the former. In fact, he speaks of salvation as a coin with two sides: on one, faith, and on the other, works. To claim one to the exclusion of the other is like a quarter with two heads or two tails: it's fake. A faith that does not produce works is of no saving value; Works that spring not from faith are no redeeming worth. Israel says, "Jesus didn't have a problem with his disciples obeying him too much; he had a problem with them obeying him too little."

After four days, Israel packed up and headed home with his family of twelve. There was no extending the revival, no taking the church out into the streets. No meetings in businesses and at Amish league football games. No baptism truck. But neither was there rushing people through a marked Bible, reading Ephesians 2:8-9 but skipping over verse 10 (which says we were created to do good works). No printing off an instant Birth Certificate and assuring people that because they had prayed a prayer, they were now in the kingdom of God.

Interestingly enough, both Kyle and Israel talked a lot about the way they were raised in the churches they went to, and how there seemed to be something lacking, something not right about it. Bear with me here, I'm going to try not to be too simplistic. But for Kyle, the solution was basically to get a woman to teach him how to babble, and a man to transpose that babble into English. For Israel, it was getting Dietrich Bonhoeffer to teach him the cost of discipleship. Both preached "more;" but only one submitted his preaching to the what the Word actually says. And there is certainly nothing of the cost of discipleship in "I make the sun to rise and set for you, and I have more in store--oh, so much more."

Preaching about the costs of discipleship probably won't get kids to leave their schools to hear you. It won't bring thousands of people out to march around downtown Goshen behind you. It won't get you wall-to-wall coverage on a local Christian rock station. But it may just result in actual disciples.

Israel had a message for the Riverside Church. It combined two letters to the leadership of the church in Ephesus: Paul's, and that of the risen Christ. Paul told the Ephesian pastor to "Remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." --ESV

Jesus told the Ephesian pastor, "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent."  --ESV

The Ephesians passed down the right doctrine, and proved those who taught it. But in the process they missed the whole point, which was love. Yes, it's important not to mishandle Scripture. Yes, it's important to teach the whole counsel of God, not just the parts that make us feel good. It's important to stand for the truth, and not compromise. But the whole point is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Lose that, and you've lost it all.

Persecution Update: of Produce and Pronouns

It's been two and a half years since the bulk of my Indiana Revival Reports, but I've continued to follow Kyle Lance Martin and Time to Revive, as they held extended meetings in Florida, Ohio, Dallas, and now Wisconsin. An interesting update came out in a recent sermon in Wausau: at about 1:40:40 in this video, Kyle Martin tells about the Michiana farmer who lost a majority of his wholesale business after putting peel-away gospel stickers on 600,000 of his watermelons. I saw some of those rejected watermelons, donated by the crate to a local food pantry, the sticker still on them. They tasted just fine.
Like a frog in a teakettle, American Christians are experiencing such a gradual loss of their liberty that most young adults have no idea how much their country has changed just in their lifetimes. Thirty years ago, for example, women were typically addressed as either Mrs. or Miss; those titles have almost universally been replaced by Ms.--not, as far as I know, due to a single court decision--definitely not to an act of Congress--but the social pressure to conform to the new normal has sufficed to snuff out two words that were, not all that long ago, among the most commonly spoken ones in our vocabulary. And now, a six-year-old is investigated for calling a friend 'he' when he now prefers 'she'. Two even more common words are in immanent danger of disappearing themselves.

Elizabeth Elliot lived among naked savages in Ecuador--well, they were still naked savages when she met them, but contact with incarnated Christianity was rapidly changing that. She ate what they ate, lived where they lived, spake as they spake, and even let her daughter run wild with their children--but she drew the line at dressing as they dressed: a single cotton string around the waist, or--if they really wanted to dress up--one around the upper arm as well. She didn't want to just identify with their culture--she wanted to uplift it. And as they saw the three incarnate Christians wearing clothes, they all started wearing them too--and have ever since.

Christians just aren't going to be socially acceptable to a depraved and fallen culture. They needn't bother to even try to keep up with the decline. Any who continue trying to comply with the culture's escalating demands are just hoping that the crocodile they feed will eat them last.

Probably the last Indiana Revival Report

There have been several phases of Revive Indiana, the first two of which have been pretty well covered in this blog.

One: Elkhart County area, one week extended to 52 days, with a month off, then one week more.

Two: The Seven Stars: one, two, or three weeks of meetings in six other counties throughout the northern two-thirds of the state, extending over the next three months.

Three: The Nineteen Rays: more localized outreaches to various other communities across the state, spearheaded by locally trained and sent leaders, as well as the new locally supported Time to Revive full-time missionaries; still ongoing, more than a year later.

Remember me saying that Revive Indiana was the first Time to Revive outreach to be named after an entire state--and the first that broke out of the original target area to spread across the state? Well, all TTR outreaches that were initiated after Revive Indiana have followed the same pattern: Revive Florida (which spread to two other counties), Revive Ohio (now spreading to its third county), and now, for next year, Revive Texas. Now, TTR has gone back and renamed all their earlier outreaches, including the original Dallas event which is now gearing up for round two next year, to incorporate the name of the state and the city. Just look at this list of recent outreaches released by TTR:

reviveARIZONA :: Sedona
reviveFLORIDA :: Sarasota
reviveINDIANA :: Jasper County
reviveMICHIGAN :: Flint
reviveMINNESOTA :: Twin Cities
reviveMISSISSIPPI :: Tupelo
reviveOHIO :: Darke County
reviveTX :: Dallas-Fort Worth
reviveWASHINGTON :: Seattle

Revive Indiana continues to stand out as a turning point in the movement that is Time to Revive, serving as the model for all future outreaches. And Indianans, more than those of any previous revival, still travel to every new venue providing a jump start to the local outreaches, returning home pumped up to continue what started there.

But what are the lingering results in Indiana? There is still an increased level of cooperation among churches (although some have backtracked on their involvement), but Elkhart itself remains a murder capital, with recent triple and double homicides making the news.

Indiana Revival Report - Day 182

It's been six months since Time To Revive first came in force to Indiana. It must be said with some amazement that they haven't left yet. The original six days in Goshen were extended to 52, then another week after a month of rest. This was followed in quick succession by a week in Kokomo, then a week in Bloomington, a week in South Bend, two weeks in the Valparaiso-Gary-Hobart area, and a week in Terre Haute. Finally, a week in Fort Wayne. Each city was followed by a week off, to give the team time to prepare for its next city.

Because every Revive Indiana city was within a 2 hour drive of a previous location, there was a growing army of Revive veterans from each city helping to jump-start the outreach in the next city, or the one after. An array of red T-shirts were designed with the logo of a respective city on the front, all with a map of Indiana on the back, with the "seven rays" design from the state flag superimposed.

Things were supposed to have wound down last week in Fort Wayne, but it didn't happen. From the first day to the last, turnout for the morning and afternoon outreaches was strong and steady. Reports soon came out of people being healed, both in the meetings and on the streets. Over thirty churches got behind the movement in a massive display of unity, and it became clear by the middle of the week that this outpouring was a repeat of Elkhart County half a year earlier. Sure enough, Revive Indiana (Ft Wayne) has been extended through this week. [UPDATE: it's been extended yet another week.]

First Assembly's Senior Pastor Ron Hawkins wasn't eager to get on board when it was first suggested that his church building would be the ideal place for Revive Ft. Wayne to meet. He'd been heavily involved in a general revival that had swept Ft. Wayne 20 years earlier, and wasn't interested in any other than the real thing. These were the five characteristics of revival that he was looking for before he'd get involved. And yes, once he found out that they were all characteristics of Revive Indiana, he jumped on board.

1. God said, I will pour out My Spirit in greater measure in the last days.
2. It will be more in the street than in the building.
3. It will be when "all the brothers are in the house."
4. There will be signs and wonders that rival those in the New Testament.
5. It will not be about a man, a ministry, or a manifestation; it will be about Jesus.

I've written about the lack of impact this revival has appeared to have, for example, on the local crime rate in Elkhart. But that seems to be changing; last night's testimonies included a report of a potential reprisal murder miraculously stopped, and the would-be murderer was there in the meeting to attest to his change of heart--and life.

I'm thinking that the Holy Spirit has a lot more to work with in the Black community--perhaps more on that later.

Revival Now--but what follows?

“It is a delicate matter, to write up revival!” wrote Dr. Joe Church, who, by his own account, seeded the East Africa Revival in 1929 by studying the Scofield Reference Bible with Simeon Nsibambi in Kampala, Uganda. Full revival was then launched from Gahini, Rwanda in the early 1930's as preachers fanned out with the message of repentance unto salvation.

Nay, counter the Ugandan Anglicans. The Balokole Revival started there in 1922, and spread to Rwanda from there in the late 1930's--and it was in spite of, rather than due to, Joe Church and his associates, who objected to their revival being taken over by unruly natives.

And an unruly revival it did become. As the Balokole threw aside both Anglican liturgical ceremonies and the animistic syncretism that had crept into them, they had to contend with a rash of new hyperspiritual fads, such as meeting naked (to demonstrate a complete freedom from lustful desires), ecstatic utterances (which had actually begun in 1916 in the Uriya Forest, and 1912 among the Luo), and dramatic physical signs such as collapsing, hyperventilating, quaking, grunting, shrieking, and thrashing--behaviour usually associated in those climes with demon possession. Muslim evangelists produced similar manifestations in their disciples, but without the public prayer and confession of sins that characterized the Anglican revival.

So, like revivals tend to be, it was messy. Yet it swept across East Africa for decades until it finally burned out in the 1950's. Lasting legacies of the East Africa Revival are numerous indigenous religious movements, still outside the mainstream of Christianity. And although Rwanda and Burundi remained over 90% professing Christian, what good did that do in the decades that followed, when both nations reeled under one genocidal bloodbath after another, that cost upwards of a million lives?

Be careful what you pray for, as you may just get it--and its typical aftermath. It's difficult to see how the countries at the epicenter of the East Africa Revival--Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi--could be any worse off now, had revival never swept their land.

Indiana Revival Report: Day 100

This will probably be my last update on ReviveINDIANA. Throughout the past 90 days, I've tried not so much to provide a play-by-play, but a commentary; so I can't say what might happen that would arouse me to comment again--but things are taking off to the point that my own reporting probably won't play so large a role as it has to date.


ReviveINDIANA (Kokomo) is in full swing this week, now with its own website, and Bloomington likely to be the next city on the map. Chicago is continuing to get a lot of attention, with focus diverted from Reinhard Bonnke's Christ for All Nations to Patricia King's XP Ministries. Dozens of cities are vying for the chance to bring in Revive teams, which look to more and more be made up of pastors and song leaders from former Revive cities, in order to capture the momentum.

There's no question but that the past 100 days have marked another turning point in what Kyle Martin started seven years ago in Dallas. One recalls the words attributed to a critic of William Booth's rapidly growing evangelism organisation, about the time it became known colloquially as The Salvation Army:

"I wouldn't say it's a matter of them wanting to take over the country; what they intend to do is take over the world."

And Sarasota ("Southern Middlebury"), stand by. You're on the list.

ETA: I should really add that ReviveINDIANA is seeing strippers in Kokomo come to Christ and leave their workplace. This could be the beginning of an outbreak into the underworld.

Here are a number of media mentions of ReviveINDIANA:
Bethany High School Student Editorial
Christian News & Commentary also, Kokomo coverage
The Elkhart Truth--originator of the "Pray, Eat, Revive, Repeat" slogan now seen on mugs and T-shirts
Goshen News--the only paper to give advance coverage of Prayer Week
NBC News local affiliate

Day 116 update: Kyle continues to work in references to his parents' Ace Hardware Store in Middlebury, no matter where in the state he is speaking! In recognition of the National Day of Prayer, he returned to Chicago for the One Cry Prayer Summit, carried over the Moody and AFA Radio networks. South Bend will be the next city on the ReviveINDIANA schedule.

Indiana Revival Report: Day 90

News of what is happening in Indiana continues to spread like ripples on a pond. And as in the game called Telephone, details can get a bit murky. Titles like "Time to Revive" and even "Revive Indiana" get stripped away, and people end up searching for terms like "Amish Revival" and "Indiana Tent Meetings." Kyle Martin gets mixed up with other Martins of Mennonite renown, and--to Wes Weaver's potential dismay--the muddling extends even to the meetings he condemned, with the meetings in which he condemned them. But for hundreds of miles to the north and south, people are hearing that wonderful things are happening in Indiana within and amongst the spiritual descendants of Menno Simons and Jacob Amman. This is one case in which good news seems to be traveling faster and farther than bad.

As for ReviveINDIANA, the news has never been better. The Kokomo meeting Sunday night at the Christian Heritage Worship Center overflowed the overflow. In a tableau almost never seen in the First World, members of the extended audience were not only standing outside the doors, but even clustered around the windows. It may not have spread very far into the assemblies of the inebriated, and may only be starting to emerge amongst the suspendered and bonneted, but a hunger for Christian unity in the church at large is rapidly increasing.  

The Elkhart Truth notes:

Since Oct. 3, 2012, there have been at least 28 incidents involving gunfire in the city, resulting in 13 deaths (including four by Elkhart police) and 13 injuries, according to Elkhart Truth archives. That works out to about one incident per month and a death by gunfire about once every two months.

What does the city of Elkhart have to show for 90 days of revival? Even one violent death would have been within a standard deviation of the mean; there have been at least two injurious shootings in Elkhart in the past 90 days, but no associated fatalities so far this year. But given the cold weather (and associated cooler tempers) of the period, this is probably no less than could have been expected. Warmer weather has returned, allowing a true glimpse over the next few months of the impact of this revival on those not just literally, but figuratively outside the church.

UPDATE April 14: Today saw Elkhart's third shooting, and first related death of the year. Typical.

Indiana Revival Report: Day 85

Well now, this is interesting. The most incriminating website revealing a collaboration between Time to Revive and Christ for All Nations has been taken down. Here is how it read:
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Reinhard Bonnke Evangelism Kick Off Event
Hello Pastors, Ministry Leaders, Evangelists and Friends, We would like to extend and invitation for the Reinhard Bonnke Gospel Crusade Evangelism Kick Off Event on Tuesday, March 17th at Noon. Inter-denominational leaders from the Revive Indiana movement will be in Chicagoland specifically to share with you about this incredible move of God already spreading throughout the USA.

Evangelism Kick-Off (Featuring Kyle Martin and Pastors from Revive Indiana)12:00pm Tuesday, March 17, 2015 RSVP below Oak Brook Community Church 3100 Midwest Rd. Oak Brook, IL 60523

Goshen, Indiana recently experienced over 50 consecutive days of thousands gathering for prayer, evangelism, intercession and unity (visit www.reviveindiana.org for testimonies). We are praying for unity between the states and churches to cultivate an environment of on-fire Christians, and to see thousands come to Christ during multiple outreaches leading up to the Reinhard Bonnke Great Lakes Gospel Crusade at the Allstate Arena, June 26-28, 2015 and continuing long after. Please join us as we hear from people already witnessing revival and working together, led by the Spirit, to see it in your community! We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder declaring, “America Shall Be Saved!”

There will be light refreshments served. Please RSVP below if you will be attending or sending a representative. Sincerely, Tim Marshick, Dan Bawinkel and Joshua Porter Local Crusade Directors 407.854.4421 Great Lakes Gospel Crusade June 26-28, 2015 at the Allstate Arena www.GospelCrusade.org/Chicago
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There are no online mentions of collaboration dating past April 4th. It would appear that, as of this week, TTR is no longer associated with the GLGC. And indeed, they will have their hands full enough without it: ReviveINDIANA is in the process of spreading to six other locations across the state over the next four months, according to a prophetic vision of the seven rays of the Indiana State Flag. Interestingly, the state statute only mentions six rays, but there are, in fact, seven on the flag, the shortest one seeming to indicate Ground Zero for the campaign:



The first stop will be Kokomo, on April 12, with a 7pm kickoff rally at the Christian Heritage Worship Center, following meetings throughout the day with interested pastors and congregations. A week of outreach and fellowship is then planned, following the usual model. All this will culminate with a mass meeting at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds Grandstand on July 26. It will probably be the largest crowd ever assembled in Elkhart County, with hundreds of acres of parking available and a potential audience of a million fairgoers. [UPDATE: This didn't pan out. Instead, the Statewide Gathering was to be held in Fort Wayne.]

Getting back to the local venue: In order to avoid overcrowding the facilities, small coloured flags are distributed at the entry doors, in number corresponding to the newly enlarged official building capacity. These, and only these, can be used to save seats, such that only people who are already in the building can reserve one. And of course, they make for a pretty display when waved during worship. Once all the flags are distributed, latecomers are sent to one of three satellite locations in the area. So far this week the precaution hasn't been needed, but attendance is growing by the day, with first-timers continuing to arrive, both locally and from out of state.

Indiana Revival Report: Days 53-82

Well, it appears that the Revive INDIANA story is far from over. It's going to stay in the news, but if you want to know a lot of the inside scoop, you're going to have to keep turning to the White Man's exclusives.

First, this report has come in from a visitor to Maple City Chapel on Sunday, March 5:

Those used to having to save seats hours in advance to get a direct-sight view of the stage were in for a treat when they arrived for the special 10:00 am service at MCC. Ushers assured arrivers that there were still some seats available up front, although the overflow was almost full. A glance around indicated that not only were the 9 and 11 am worshipers congregated together, but a lot of Revive attendees from other churches just hadn't been able to break the habit yet and had returned to a familiar venue yet again.

"Welcome to Day 57 of Revive INDIANA!" proclaimed the worship pastor (it was actually Day 56). And what followed was almost indistinguishable from a regular Revive service--especially the music, which was followed by a reprise of Day 52, in which Pastor Shetler called up all the members of the MCC staff to publicly thank them for "exploding their box" over the past eight weeks. Then, nine baptisms in the same tank that Revive had used. The remainder of the service was given over, first to another Revive-style mass communion, and then to testimonies from Revive, several by parents of the children who had just been baptized. And, of course, a fellowship meal followed with everyone invited.

So much for Maple City Chapel. How about Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, the weekend venue for Revive? Well, they started up something called Ice Cream Sunday, a 5 pm informal get together around ice cream and acoustic guitar music that hopes to carry on the ecumenism of Revive through the active participation of multiple churches. It started up the last week, so word went out and a small but growing smattering of the community has started to show up for it--so far, without any need for parking attendants!

And, despite the proclaimed 30 Days of Rest, local Revive leaders (with Kyle's blessing) are already planning to Go Forth on Saturday, March 21.

This page will stay open throughout the 30 Days of Rest, to accommodate any further updates.

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Revive continues to be on everybody's lips. Just as an example:

The weekend of March 14, Elkhart County hosted an national conference of ultra-conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Brethren. Following each lecture, there was a time for questions and answers--allegedly open to the hundreds of women in attendance, but they knew better and kept their silence. Opening it up for questions, you see, can easily lead into something else. And thus it was with the final "question" of the conference, when Wes Weaver stood up to sound a clarion call of warning against Revive INDIANA. They are an Emergent Church movement, he warned the 800 or so in the audience, operating in the Spirit of the Antichrist. With their rock and roll music, they are out to get your children--and some are already gone.

When he sat down, moderator Nathan Overholt thanked him for that report, saying he'd wanted to take in one of the Revive meetings but hadn't had the chance. He lives in Florida!

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On March 17, there was a meeting at the Community Church in Oak Brook, IL between Revive INDIANA staff and pastors, and Chicagoland staff and pastors preparing for participation in this summer's Christ for All Nations Gospel Crusade at the Allstate Arena. This collaboration is significant, because of the similarities and differences between the two ministries. Although both are inclined toward ecumenism and charismata, Time to Revive is primarily focused on discipleship, whilst CFAN is primarily focused on mass altar calls. While Kyle Martin may hope to greatly expand his reach through this collaboration, it cannot help but dilute his message.

Indiana Revival Report: Day 52

What a day. Everyone knew it was going to be crazy, after Kyle implored the tens of thousands who have been following ReviveINDIANA to do whatever it took to be there for March Forth. At 7 am, Maple City Chapel already held thousands of people. Fortunately one last downward plunge of the thermometer had ensured that the grass parking lot behind the building would be useable, rather than a sea of mud. Most surrounding business (notably including Menards, whose competitor Ace Hardware has received about 52 promotions from the pulpit, and notably not including the bank, whose drive-in window had unfortunately been blocked the third Wednesday) had opened up their parking lots, either next door, down the street, or even across the highway.

After an in-your-seats breakfast (there were still over 500 donuts left at the end), somewhere upwards of 500 4-person teams were assembled and sent out in waves. The last teams to be made up barely had time to go anywhere before returning to Goshen to assemble at Rogers Park at 12:30, where 2000 people somehow all fit in a single pavilion for a snack lunch (15,000 had been made up, and were also distributed to the satellite locations so attendees there could also share a fellowship meal) and a brief song. Then, for about half an hour, a steady stream 2-3 people wide issued forth to walk over the bridge, past the courthouse, and around the old jail. The vanguard returned long before the end of the march had left the park.

It was cold and icy, with a biting wind; one woman slipped on the driveway of the park and suffered injury when she fell. Many young people hadn't worn gloves or boots. And there was a bit of an outcry from the surrounding businesses who found their parking lots and restrooms overrun by a couple thousand people and their cars. But, no matter the weather, at least they did March Forth.

The prolonged march also cut into the time for afternoon teams--crazy it was. Then, by 5:30 the parking attendants were already turning away anyone without a reserved seat, sending them to one of 7 simulcast locations spread over 4 counties (the closest, only about 3 miles away). The regular overflow area was full; all but the center aisle of the sanctuary were full; the cafeteria area was full (requiring another in-your-seats snack meal). All three theaters were full, with extra chairs in the side aisles. Best estimates are that upwards of 4000 people were in attendance, and the Fire Marshall came that close to shutting everything down.

More craziness: Nine baptisms, or eight if you count the fact that two teens got baptized together. Yes, and what a touching scene it was: a severely disabled girl was brought up in her lay-down wheelchair, and her friend explained how she had reached out last week to share the gospel with her at school. Now that they were sisters in Christ, she wanted them to be baptized together. She then climbed into the stock tank, while her friend was lowered into her arms; then they passed through the waters together.

Then Kyle spent quite a bit of time bringing up the entire Time to Revive team and introducing them. Somehow, even the ones in charge of the Children's Ministry managed to get to the stage.

On all 47 days, a local pastor had the opening. This time is was Phil Byars, of Elkhart Baptist (he'd spoken much earlier, being one of the leading members of the pastoral team). He shared an extensive clip from his favorite movie, the Wonkavator scene from Willy Wonka. By the time he was done applying it to the present situation, it was almost nine.

When Kyle finally got up, he was pretty brief. He'd been sharing for the previous two nights on stages in the life of a hair follicle, and admitted that he'd long had a problem with the third one: it stops growing and goes into a time of rest. But this is what God had showed him: Taking a cue from Mary v. Martha, ReviveINDIANA was to take a 30-day rest, and then come back together again on Holy Saturday. No meetings, no outreach teams. Spend time in the Word, both individually and in the 50-some Bible Studies that ReviveINDIANA is setting up across the area. But on Day 83, the team will be back to Pray, Eat, Revive, and Repeat--and he's convinced that they'll be able to do so without having lost any momentum.

This brings an end to The White Man's reporting on ReviveINDIANA.

Unless it doesn't.

Indiana Revival Report: Days 47-50

Fourteen baptisms on Day 48, nineteen on Day 50. As Kyle says, when you're doing discipleship, you're going to have a lot of baptisms. One boy had his leg in a cast, so the dipping was a little creative. It's interesting to see some who got baptized a few days earlier, now administering baptism.

Day 47 was the regularly scheduled training night, but Gary and Tony had finished their course, so Kyle did some training on how to pray for healing. This mostly involved about a fourth of the audience coming forward for prayer. But beforehand, Monica stood up and testified how she had come into the meeting in a wheelchair three weeks earlier, unable to stand up without intense and lingering pain. Heather (who flew in from Germany for the first week and still hasn't left) shared how she and at least a dozen others had "prayed relentlessly" for her until Monica finally got the faith to respond to their repeated urgings to "stand up!"  When she finally did, she proceeded to walk all the way up the aisle.

Heather has been in contact with her ever since, and even drove the 3 hours to see her. Monica met her at the door dancing! There weren't any spectacular results this night, other than a 28-year old woman who ran to the front and threw down a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, declaring that for the first time in 16 years she was free of her addiction.

Day 48 included a touching video of Bill Lantz, whom Kyle and his team had prayed for weeks earlier, just before Bill was hospitalized for his terminal illness. But that week, he was released to home hospice care, and Kyle was invited back to pray for him again. Kyle told him that God was keeping him alive until he was ready to say "Yes" to Jesus, to which Bill responded, "You're scaring the heck outa me. Does that mean I'm going to die today?"

Basically, yes. Bill did give his life to Jesus, and by the end of the next day he was in heaven.

Day 50 started the wind-up to the Day of Jubilee on Wednesday. A record crowd filled the overflow, and a cry went out for more children's workers. Kyle began a 3-part series on growth, based both on the first half of Acts 16 and a vision his sister Janae Werner had about hair follicles. His cousin was back from Canada to paint another picture, this one slightly abstract to illustrate "Breaking out of your box." Kyle urged the audience, and specifically his brother Shannon (manager of Ace Hardware in Middlebury), "Don't go back to your box."  There are still over 200 names of contacts waiting for discipleship, which will kick into gear beginning on Day 53. Here is what was sent to REVIVE's email subscribers:

When Old Becomes New...

What do we do when we have new patterns of living, of walking in the Spirit, of eating together, and of frequent worship in community? Today is Day 50 of Revive Indiana.  On Day 52 we will March Forth and we will move into yet another phase of life. For me, the last week has been a flurry of activity in itself and I am tired. When we have lived with this revival for 52 days, the new can become old.  But as God changes our lives, we wonder how these changes will carry forward as we return back to our old lives. Here are some ideas to make this transition:

1. Don't Go Back at All. Some of you may look at what it means to go back and realize that if you do go back, you will lose everything you gained. For you, it may be important to find a new job, a new place to live, or moving to a new community. Ask God what new thing He has for you and earnestly seek it. 
2. Go Halfway Back. If you are married, live honorably in your marriage vows. If you have minor children, be the parent God asks you to be. But even within these commitments, there is space to make changes as God invites you into new things. Perhaps you will make some radical shifts in your social life and hobbies. Don't automatically start
3. Embed in a New Way. This may be the most difficult choice. We have all kinds of triggers around us that remind us how we used to be, and shame can shut us down and temptation can pull us back. But perhaps you can shift all the parts of your life to effectively live differently where you are.

No matter which direction God leads you, don't just go back. Don't go back to the old habits; binge watching, eating or drinking. At the core of all of these changes is a continued attentiveness to God and the Holy Spirit's guidance to have everyday encounters with people. Remember the joy that has been given you and continue to engage in activities that feed that joy. Intentional practices of prayer, worship, gathering with believers, and going out into the streets together will sustain and support your continued joy. 

We also need places to cross over and gather with believers from other churches. Last night we gathered with about 60 people from variety of ages and churches to have ice cream, worship, sharing, and games at Clinton Frame. We will continue to do that each Sunday at 5 with a continued welcome for everyone to attend. Perhaps there will be other ways these kinds of gathering will continue on a regular basis. Revive Indiana will have monthly gatherings in April and May with a week long outreach effort in June. Pastors will continue to meet every other week for fellowship and prayer. God has brought us great joy by bringing us together. Let's live in that joy.

John M Troyer
Pastor of Youth & Young Adults
Clinton Frame Mennonite Church

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.