Life Action

Setting the Sails (Updated)

"We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the winds of heaven . . . " Learn how to "set your sails" for God's revival wind--practical steps you can take to begin experiencing the power of God.

Articles In This Issue

Something from Heaven
  • ArticleArticle
  • Jim Cymbala
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

Having entered a new millennium, it is vital for us to take a fresh, unbiased look at what God intended for the church. Church services today in many places are like cemeteries-totally predictable, timed to the minute, devoid of any spontaneity, and with little or no sense of the Spirit's presence. On the other side of the spectrum, many more are like insane asylums with bizarre abuses going on in the name of the Spirit of God. In the meantime, the world we live in is increasingly antagonistic to our beliefs about Jesus Christ. Our Christian values are rejected ...

Is There Any Hope?
  • ArticleArticle
  • David Bryant
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

The Bible is preeminently a book about hope. It affirms that almighty God is at work within history to bring forth a future by which all things will be made new. In fact, Christ summons us to become co-laborers with Him in birthing this new order in our lives, our communities, and in the larger world. Here's how Scripture describes the hope of the gospel, "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you" (Col. 1:5-6, emphasis added). Such a biblical hope provides the unshakeable foundation from which ...

Return to Me
  • ArticleArticle
  • Henry Blackaby
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

How does a person, a church, or even a nation move away from God? Much like a marital divorce, most people don't just wake up one morning and decide to abandon their relationship with God. They drift. God knew that His people would tend to depart from Him, so He gave them a stern warning, "But if your heart turns away . . . I announce to you today that you shall surely perish . . . therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live . . . ." (Deut. 30:17-20, emphasis added). Notice that God gives only two options to His departing people: return ...

Six Things Revival Will Bring
  • ArticleArticle
  • Iain Murray
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

Winston Churchill once wrote to his schoolboy grandson, urging him to be a student of history because history provides the best means for making intelligent guesses about the future. However, by reading Scripture Christians can do more than guess the nature of a future awakening. We know it will be in accord with all that we are told about the character and work of God. This is not to say that revivals are identical, yet certain main features are always present and it is not speculation to believe that these will be present again in future awakenings. 1.  Revival Changes ...

A Passion for Holiness
  • ArticleArticle
  • Nancy Leigh DeMoss
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

For over twenty years, the people of Romania suffered under the iron-fisted, Communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu—one of the most repressive and corrupt dictators of the 20th century. Christians were especially targeted by the regime and were subjected to intense intimidation and relentless harassment. Evangelical believers were ridiculed and were referred to in derision as "repenters." In 1969, the government revoked the preaching license of a pastor in Timisoara. After struggling to find work, the pastor finally ended up gluing paper shopping bags to support his family. For four years, as he did this work, he prayed for revival ...

Reviving New York
  • ArticleArticle
  • William Petersen, Randy Petersen
  • Fri, May 30, 2008
  • Permalink

It was not a good time for churches in downtown Manhattan, and the North Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street resorted to creative measures, hiring a businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier as a sort of outreach minister. He knocked on doors in the neighborhood and distributed pamphlets and Bibles, but response generally was dismal. "One day as I was walking along the streets," Lanphier wrote in his journal, "the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o'clock, would be beneficial to businessmen." The idea blossomed: a weekly prayer time, open to anyone ...