Spurgeon's Prayer for Revival

I recently came across this prayer which concluded the sermon The Pentecostal Wind and Fire preached by the preacher's preacher, Charles Spurgeon, on September 18, 1881. This prayer summarizes my passion and desire.

"May God send us a season of glorious disorder! Oh for a sweep of wind that will set the seas in motion and make our ironclad brethren now lying so quietly at anchor to roll from stem to stern! As for us, who are as the little ships, we will fly before the gale if it will but speed us to our desired haven! Oh for fire to fall again—fire which shall affect the most stolid! This is a sure remedy for indifference. When a flake of fire falls into a man’s bosom, he knows it. And when the Word of God comes home to a man’s soul, he knows it, too. Oh that such fire might first sit upon the disciples and then fall on all around!

And, to close, there was then a daily increase of the Church — “The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” Conversion was going on perpetually! Additions to the Church were not events which happened once a year, but they were everyday matters, “so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.” O Spirit of God, You are ready to work with us, today, even as You did then! Delay not, we beseech You, but work at once! Break down every barrier that hinders the incomings of Your might! Overturn, overturn, O sacred wind! Consume all obstacles, O heavenly fire, and give us now both hearts of flame and tongues of fire to preach Your reconciling Word for Jesus’ sake. Amen."

I can't add to this cry of desperation. Lord, grant our prayer.

Merry Christmas from the Burns Family

Four Generations of Burns at Christmas!

Billy and Vickie

Our oldest son, Jason, and his wife Elisabeth, and our FAVORITE grandson, Joey
My parents, Bill and Elizabeth
Directly behind me is our youngest son Aaron and to his right
is our second son, Michael

Rarely am I a person of few words. Circle this blog. You'll never read another posting from me that is this short! But, tonight all that I can share in this blog is that Vickie and I wish you and yours a merry, Christ-filled Christmas!

John Wesley's Prophecy

John Wesley was once asked if he was fearful that the Methodist church in America would cease to exist. "Never!" he replied. "But," he added, "I am fearful that it will cease to exist as a movement with power and godliness and become only a church with a form of godliness, denying the power thereof."

Sadly, in many churches, John Wesley's fear for Methodism has been realized. What was birthed in revival has seen the fire diminish and the power disappear. The move of God is restricted to historical accounts of the denomination's beginnings.

I don't want the children in our Pentecostal/Charismatic churches to hear stories about our beginnings and not see that the Holy Spirit is alive and well today wanting to demonstrate His power as seen in the Book of Acts. I don't want what has happened in Methodism to repeat itself in the children's ministry in our churches. I desire to have children who are fulfilling Joel's prophecy and being a powerful, Spirit-filled force in this earth.

God didn't promise something that He couldn't deliver. Today can be the day that the Holy Spirit begins to work mightily among your children. Today can be the day that they begin to speak boldly for God (prophesy). Instead of reading about His history, your children can begin to make history!

How can this happen? Train your children's ministry leaders and volunteers to learn how to flow with the Holy Spirit. When they begin to flow with the Holy Spirit, the children will begin to recognize and respond to His presence. When they begin to respond, watch out ... new chapters will be written in the Acts of the Holy Spirit (the Book of Acts).

Unfortunately, you won't find many books to equip your leaders. Few seminars and conferences will challenge your staff to grab ahold of their passport and begin to travel into the realm of the supernatural.

We want to help you to raise up a Spirit-led, Spirit-equipped children's ministry team. We want to help your Sunday school, Children's Church, and mid-week Bible clubs to become a launching pad for a Joel 2 generation of boys and girls. Take a minute and look at the Ignite the Supernatural Conference web site at www.ignite-conference.com for additional information.

Today is the Day of the Holy Spirit!

People responding to the salvation altar call Sunday morning

at El Pacto in Bogota, Colombia

I'm tired ... or beyond tired ... I'm exhausted. A few hours ago, Vickie and I got back home from our first South America Ignite the Supernatural Conference held in Bogota, Colombia.

I wish that you could have been with us. The Holy Spirit "outdid" Himself as children's ministry workers from churches all around Bogota attended sessions Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday morning. It was amazing to see God ignite a passion for raising up a Joel 2 generation. As if that wasn't enough, schedules were interrupted by Holy Spirit "suddenlies", people were healed, and many were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

What we witnessed in Bogota is being seen in our conferences around the country. The Holy Spirit loves to demonstrate that He is a today Holy Spirit. He is confirming that He is looking for places to fulfill His God-given assignment in the earth. When desperate, hungry people come together, anything can happen!

This hunger is genuine. This hunger is global. Children's ministry leaders are tired of the business-as-usual mentality. They recognize that there must be more. This hunger is made evident to me in several ways:

1. People from all over the globe are looking for a way to ignite and fan the flames of a Holy Spirit fire in their ministry. Their dissatisfaction and desperation are bringing many of them to our national Ignite the Supernatural Conference on January 31 - February 2. Like those in Acts 2, they know that when hungry, desperate people come together to expect the unexpected the Holy Spirit will show up. For more information on the conference, go to www.ignite-conference.com.
   
   
2. People from all over the globe are searching for others with the same passion. That's made evident when people from 11 nations and 26 states in the United States read this blog. People are looking for someone to articulate their desires and give direction to raise up a Joel 2 generation. I don't know how that they are finding out about this blog. Perhaps you are telling your friends.

Vickie and I are so glad that we went to Colombia. We are convinced that what we saw in our last meeting of 2007 is only a foreshadow of what God is going to do in 2008. To quote T.D. Jakes, "Get ready, get ready, get ready." Our national conference in Orlando and our 2008 regional meetings are going to be out-of-this-world!

Supernatural Tour Guides

If you've ever been in one of our Ignite conferences, you've heard me tell about a trip that Vickie and I made to Romania. Let me set the scene for this trip. This trip was pre-9/11. The traveling rules were quite different. We were allowed 3 bags each with each bag weighing up to 70 pounds. This trip was made before luggage had wheels. You have the picture. Two travelers. Six pieces of very heavy luggage. Too much luggage for just two people. It was a comedy in the making!

Our travel agent, Joanne, booked our flight reservations and made it possible for us to spend a night in London on the way to Romania. Upon arriving in London, Vickie and I secured our luggage, used the airport carts to transport the luggage to the bus, and then rode the bus to the closest drop-off spot to our hotel. Much to our surprise, the closest spot wasn't close at all. It was blocks away. Are you picturing this? For blocks, Vickie and I inched our way to the hotel. It wasn't a pretty sight.

What caused this fiasco? Joanne had no idea about how children's ministry workers travel. We carry a ton of props to use in our meetings and leave behind for the local teachers. Joanne also was sending us to a place she had never been. She had no idea of the great distance between the bus stop and hotel. Her lack of knowledge caused us major frustration.

I use this story to teach that God has called us to be tour guides, not travel agents. What is the difference between the two? A travel agent will send people to a place where they've never been. A tour guide knows the trip and accompanies the people, pointing out the sites along they way.

As children’s ministry leaders, we can’t afford to have travel agent mentality. We can’t try to send our children to a place we've never been to experience things of the Spirit that we've never experienced. Instead, because of our passion for things of the Spirit, as tour guides we can echo the psalmist David when he said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” because we’ve tasted and experienced the joy of being in His presence.

Make time to enjoy being in His presence. Find time to lose yourself in Him. Pull away from the day-to-day routine of life so that you can see sights that you’ve never seen, taste the fruit of heaven about which you’ve only read. Then, let’s take our children to these places to experience the taste of heaven. Let’s be tour guides of the Spirit!