GOD IS BUSY CLEANING HOUSE [“These Are The Days Of The Baptizers!”]

“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life…The main character in this drama… will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house – make a clean sweep of your lives… everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

[Mt. 3:11-12/MSG]

In 1995 Robin Marc composed a song in an Irish church kitchen while the service continued, to be sung at it’s conclusion: ‘These Are The Days of Elijah!’ It’s been highly popular since. With that melody and the lyrics ringing in my ears, I feel like there’s another song being composed in heaven for such a time as this: “These Are The Days of The Baptizers!” This refers to John’s and Jesus’ baptism of repentance and the Spirit! I believe (with many others around the globe) that ‘JESUS IS BUSY CLEANING HOUSE’ (Mt. 3:11-12/MSG). Of course it wouldn’t be the first time: recall his cleansing of the Temple recorded in all 4 Gospels, “on entering the Temple, Jesus started throwing out everyone who had set up shop there, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of the bankers and the stalls of the pigeon merchants… then he taught them, ‘My house was designated a house of prayer for the nations; You’ve turned it into a hangout for thieves!'” (Mk. 11:15ff/MSG) [I would love to have been a fly on the wall, and wonder what Jesus would do in many a seeker-friendly church sanctuary today?]

For months now I’ve felt a heavy ‘burden’ for God’s people across the continents. Then I read this recent article from Christianity Today (Feb. 2024) by Sarah Breuel: ‘What’s the Impact of Asbury’s Outpouring? John the Baptist Offers 3 Lessons’ for the Church:

(1) a call to repentance and consecration (2) a call to prayer (3) a call to something bigger/beyond the present! Like many others I followed the Asbury University awakening of 2023 with interest. One morning 18-19 students lingered to worship and pray after chapel, this grew and continued 24/7 for 16 days non-stop with a crowded-out auditorium, eventually drawing 60,000+ people from universities and states across the US. I followed this phenomenon closely because it seemed to include most of the marks of true revivals in history. It gave me new hope for our youth (Generation Z) at the core of the awakening, and in fact every generation! I’ve summarized the article as follows:

1. ‘We often only realize that we are living through historic events by looking back on them.’ The author refers e.g. to the Moravian believers fleeing persecution from the modern-day Czech Republic and commencing a non-stop prayer-relay in Hernhutt Germany in 1727 that would last a 100+ years and launch a global missions movement. E.g. John Wesley and George Whitefield were together in a prayer meeting (1738) when they were overcome by God’s presence and joy! This led to their popular field preaching and nation-wide revival in England, spilling over to N. America.
2. Last year at Asbury University (Kentucky), following a short exposition of Rom. 12, students recorded that ‘For the first few days of the Outpouring, it seemed that repentance and forgiveness were almost all we could do. All over the auditorium, people were making their way to another, tumbling over one another to make the first move of offering apologies, owning mistakes, forgiving grievances, and explaining misunderstandings. The front steps of Hughes auditorium were populated by people on their phones sending texts of reconciliation and restoration!’
3. Pastor Al Gordon from London, visiting Asbury, reported feeling a heavy weight even in the parking lot, demanding a ‘getting right with Jesus.’ Before he stepped into the chapel he was crying out in repentance, confessing his pride and humbling himself before God. He witnessed Asbury students confessing all over the sanctuary and campus. Their testimony has since spread all over America and beyond.The university leaders were very careful to monitor all up-front ministry, lest it be hi-jacked by celebrities from outside campus – key in my opinion to the awakening continuing.The burden was also for this revival to spread to other campuses, congregations, society and the nations at large. As a result many hundreds were publicly baptized as a testimony to their change of heart and life. ‘This is not a time for business as usual. It is an invitation to wherever God has placed us, to prepare the way for the King. It is a call for repentance and to get straight with God in our personal lives, our ministries, and our vocations.’
4. On the subject of prayer-outpouring, it’s noteworthy that John the Baptizer was born out of prayer, specifically those of his elderly parents. When the angel appeared to his father, Zechariah, his first words were, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard!’ (Lk. 1:13). Following Asbury, 3 London churches organized monthly all-night prayer meetings with about 1,000 students and young adults participating. ‘The atmosphere is so dense with the presence of God, you could light the air with a match,’ says Pr. Al Gordon. Mark Sayers, pastor of Red Church in Melbourne, opened up a special prayer room for daily intercession for repentance and revival. After several months, he relates that one evening ‘the room filled with the most tangible sense of God’s presence, no one wanted to leave. Quiet, peaceful, unlike anything I have experienced in a prayer meeting or service.’ Pete Greig (below), renowned founder of ’24-7 Prayer’ with 25,000 prayer rooms in 78 nations recently declared, ‘There’s a rise in prayer… a deeper expectancy!’

[I recall years ago being part of a South African leadership team visiting Antioch Mission in the ‘Valley of Blessing,’ on the outskirts of Sao Paulo Brazil. They had a prayer chapel decorated with a huge world map and prayer booths dedicated to 24/7 prayer for the un-reached countries of the world. The visit was life and ministry-transforming for me and our team! The Brazilians are now celebrating 40 years of mission: from small beginnings they’ve commissioned 100 missionaries over the years, serving God in 20 countries across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Cf. https://www.faith2 share.net]

Breuel concludes, ‘One year has passed. And it is only just the beginning. Will the global church be ready to make way for the King?’ Will you, will I?? Will our local faith communities??

[For the sake of accuracy, what does Scripture mean by ‘repentance?’ ‘Metanoia’ = ‘a radical change of mind.’ Rom. 12:1-2 refers to our being ‘transformed by the renewal of our minds.’ Under God we’ve been commanded to change our minds: a) about ourselves, b) the ‘world,’ c) Jesus himself. Remember, our person, family, culture and religion, are rooted in the kingdom of darkness. Thus the apostle Paul charged the Colossian church, ‘Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory’ (Col. 3:1-4/NLT). The Philippian Letter calls us to have the ‘same mind’ as Jesus! (2:5-11) This holiness comes not via the false ‘gospel of trying harder’ but only via the indwelling life of Christ (Col.3:1-3). This also implies receiving Christ not only as ‘personal Saviour’ but as supreme Lord of our life: Rom. 10:9-13 & 14:9; Phil. 2:4-11; etc] [Cf. for my Afrikaans-speaking followers I highly recommend the VITA DEI talks of Riekert Botha on YouTube]

Where/how do we begin to change, under God? Individually one could start a process of praying and meditating through David’s penitential Psalm 51, perhaps using a Bible version we’re not over-familiar with…

Corporately (in your local congregation) with the imbibing of Ps. 24 and obedience to it’s message: in a small group context, with the blessing of your leadership. (This could be risky! Cf. my ABOUT)

NB. Other relevant posts in my Archives on the Spirit’s work in believers include: “Revival: Questions & Submissions” 14 Nov. 2018; “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” (Baptism of the Spirit) 21 Dec. 2020; etc.

[Right Barvas church on the Isle of Lewis, powerfully visited by the Spirit 1949-1952. Google Beautiful Feet for the fascinating story. Cf. prayer below]