My longtime friend, Ché Ahn, senior pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California, and apostle of Harvest International Ministry, a global network of over 25,000 affiliated churches and ministries, since the 1980s has been praying for and preaching about the need for revival to come afresh to America. Little did he know that part of his assignment would be political.
Following the results of the 2020 presidential election, Ahn said God drew him to a place where he was even more desperate to hear His voice for this moment in history. He cried out to God and felt a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit come upon him as well as an anointing to step into the ongoing struggle for the soul of our nation.
Blueprints for Revival
With a renewed touch from heaven and a fresh commissioning from God, Ahn received what he called a “spiritual download” regarding where the church in America goes from here. God showed him what he calls the “blueprint of historical revival” and told him to call the church to action. In a recent address to pastors, Ahn proclaimed three points of this blueprint:
1. The church gets revived. Scripture tells us that judgment begins in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Many in the American church have dumbed down the requirements of the gospel in order to be relevant to our culture, Ahn said. Yet in our newfound “cultural relevancy,” we have become irrelevant to the kingdom of God moving on the earth. As a result, many pastors and leaders are bound by spirits of fear and of pleasing man. “Even though it is now legal to meet in California, churches are paralyzed with fear, and many won’t have in-person services,” he said.
2. The harvest comes in. This doesn’t refer to a soul getting saved here and there but rather to a moment of time when the masses are turning to Jesus. Ahn referenced the mighty Welsh Revival that occurred in the early 20th century and the more contemporary Jesus movement, which took place from 1967 to 1977. Some 20 million people found Christ as their Lord and Savior during the Jesus movement, reports estimate.
3. Society is transformed. Genuine historic revival must include the transformation of society—the salvation of souls on the micro level and the renewal of government systems on the macro level, Ahn said. He referenced the English politician William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who worked tirelessly over decades to see the slave trade abolished in Great Britain. Ahn proclaimed that abortion is the chief scourge of our nation today and as long as we have life in us, we must work to protect the lives of the unborn.
Strategy for Revival and Reformation
Now is the time for revival and societal transformation, said Ahn, who has been sharing a strategy for revival and reformation with pastors across the nation. What was the strategy?
1. Establish a house of prayer in every church to contend for revival in California and the United States. Pray specifically for the government and governmental leaders. Prayer moves the hand of God, and it is our privilege and responsibility to come before the throne of grace to implore God’s mercies over our communities, he said.
2. Equip and encourage fivefold leaders to return to and maintain their first love for Jesus. Every local church pastor must resist the temptation to let their love grow cold because of the lawlessness now being unleashed in our country. Now more than ever, pastors and leaders must press in to God and rekindle their first love for Jesus and the gospel.
3. Activate local churches in personal evangelism, and partner with Ephesians 4:11 evangelists in public revival meetings. California churches are partnering with ministers such as Mario Murillo, Sean Feucht and Jay Koopman to gather the lost and share the gospel en masse. Ahn said it’s time to once again “cast our nets” to reach a harvest as never before.
4. Plant as many ekklesias—small groups in the marketplace, homes, or churches—as possible. Ahn has a vision for small groups forming across the nation where believers work together to stay focused on the gospel and on letting God use them for the purposes of revival and reformation in every sphere of influence.
5. Activate every believer to be involved in the government mountain by exercising their privilege to vote biblically and also to run for local, state, or national office. From city councils to school boards, there are vacancies that should be filled with godly, Bible-believing people with hearts to serve God and serve their communities. Changing and impacting our government must be practical, and if every local church has at least one person elected to office, we would immediately see a massive impact on the societal and political climate in America.
God only knows what will happen next. But all signs point to the fact that the rumblings of revival are beginning. Every church, pastor and believer will have to decide how to participate in God’s purposes in the earth at this time. Let us pray that God will indeed send a fresh revival to our land and that it does nothing but grow in intensity and spiritual fervor that we might see a mighty awakening in our day. {eoa}
Excerpted from chapter 10, “Hurricanes of Revival,” from God and Cancel Culture by Stephen Strang (Charisma House, 2021).
God and Cancel Culture is set to publish on Sept. 7, and you can pre-order it on stevestrangbooks.com. When you do, you’ll get $120 worth of free gifts, including four e-books and a subscription to Charisma magazine. {eoa}
Stephen E. Strang is an award-winning journalist who founded Charisma magazine, the only national evangelical magazine to endorse President Donald J. Trump. He is also the bestselling author of God and Donald Trump, God, Trump and the 2020 Election, Trump Aftershock, and God, Trump and Covid-19.
Voted by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America, Strang has interviewed four U.S. presidents—including Donald J. Trump—and has been featured on many media outlets, including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and CBN.
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