Blog – Welcome

Revival in Reality

February 16, 2023August 25, 2024

Since this has been a topic rolling around in my mind for a while with not really a good way to approach it, this feels like the perfect opportunity to address “Revival.”

I’m not here to speak on what is going on in a specific place, or any of the other places people are claiming “revival fire” is popping up. What I want to do is address Christian’s ~~obsession~~ fascination with “revival” and do we really know what it means. If “Revival” came to our doorstep, would Christians recognize it?

First, it’s important to define revival. Initially, when I think of the word revive, or revival, I think of something that was once dead or almost dead, revived. Brought back to a state of living. For instance, if you have a houseplant, that you say……forget to water and when you walk by, what was once growing upward, has now become wilted and sad ~~not that I would know anything about that~~. You have a very small window to water it so that it will be happy and return to its natural state, or if you continue to neglect it, the roots completely dry up and there will be no amount of water that will return it to life.

So far, not a good look for the Church. That’s probably another post. But let’s look at what Merriam-Webster says about Revival-

a: an act or instance of reviving : the state of being revived: such as

b: renewed attention to or interest in something

c: a new presentation or publication of something old

1): a period of renewed religious interest

2): an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings

Before I lose you completely and y’all fuss, I want to take you way back…to a galaxy far away….

..just kidding…

I want to look at what I feel makes for a true revival in scripture. One, ironically enough, before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every Believer.

In 2 Kings 22 we see an overview of the reign of Josiah. Josiah was a king in Judah. In previous overviews of the rulers in Israel and Judah, we see how many did evil in the sight of the Lord. We also see how some did right in the sight of the Lord but failed to tear down the high places. Those were places of pagan worship and many evil things happened there.

Since previous kings were not following the Lord, the temple of the Lord had fallen into disrepair. If you read through chapter 23 you will see they were using the temple to store everything from items made for Baal, Asherah, and all the starry hosts (v4) to housing male prostitutes (v7). Not a stellar start. So in all of this, Hilkiah the high priest finds the Book of the Law. He gives it over to the king’s secretary who reads it and then reads it to the king. Josiah hears all of this and is appropriately horrified and distraught. He sends his minions to go inquire of the Lord about what was found in the book. They go and find Huldah the prophetess and she has a pretty harsh message. The Lord isn’t happy about what has been going on with a people who are supposed to follow His ways and be an example to the rest of the world. The Lord is going to bring about justice, but because Josiah’s heart was responsive and he humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord declared he would not see the disaster He would bring about. (22v15-20)

Josiah hears the word Huldah spoke from the Lord and takes immediate action. In Chapter 23 Josiah gathers all the people, reads the Book so they can hear it, and renewed the covenant to the Lord to follow Him and keep His commands and the people did the same.

Then King Josiah gets to work. He removes all of the pagan idols, items, priests, mediums, fortune tellers and the like. He didn’t just take them down, they burned the items and/or ground them into dust. He tore down and defiled all the high places so they couldn’t be reused. He did what the other kings wouldn’t do (save Hezekiah).

"Josiah did what the other kings wouldn't do"

Now that you have that short history lesson, let’s look at the following responses Josiah and the people made when they understood something was very much amiss and they were not following the Lord.

You have a people who have turned away from the Lord and have been worshipping other gods.
When it was brought to Josiah’s attention they were not following what the Lord had instructed, he was distraught and tore his robes. He understood they were in for big trouble.
There was repentance and a decision to follow completely the ways of the Lord.
There was an immediate removal of everything that was not Holy.

Mmmmmm that last one tho. Gonna have to circle back to that.

I grew up of the Southern Baptist varieti, and when we talked about revival, that consisted of a week, or maybe a Wednesday-Sunday evening services of someone who was not our regular preacher. You’d sing some hymns, have a sermon, maybe some people would get saved or rededicate their lives to Christ (awesome!), eat a potluck (because that’s what Baptists do well hello) and call it a success. I know other people who recall tent revivals as I guess having your meetings in a tent outside constituted for more of a “revival” atmosphere instead of just being hot or humid.

Now when I hear people talk about revival, what they really want is a “move of God” or “move of the Spirit” and for many (by no means all), that means a super long worship service where they feel a tangible presence of God. It means “feeling” something. To some it means demonstrations of the Spirit, falling out, laughing or something like what was experienced at the Brownsville Revival.

I am not here to pick apart people’s experiences, nor the Brownsville Revival or what has gone on in the more recent years. So before people fuss… People tend to have a lot of emotion tied up in this subject. What I do want to highlight is what would a revival look like and is revival even something we need to be striving for? That is, if we are looking at this word as Christians look at it currently. And at the moment we are..

When we gauge whether something is “Revival label worthy” I want to look at a few things and they are going to parallel my points above.

There is going to be a tangible, “Oh poo moment.” An “oh no, we have not been following the Lord like we should and a move to rectify it.
There is going to be true humility and repentance. No place for pride if we want a move of the Spirit.
There is a realization that the Most High is Holy and we are called to be Holy like He is holy
There is an immediate removal of everything in your life that is not holy. You identify the high places in your life and tear them down at all cost.

Many times people groups and church congregations may get to #2 and maybe even #3. But like the kings of old, we fail to completely tear down the high places in our lives. What may have sparked a flame dies off quickly as there is no lasting substance to it. We get our emotional high and maybe our lives change for a time, but it doesn’t last because we. don’t. tear. down. the. high. places.

Why not? Why didn’t the past kings of Israel and Judah tear down the high places? Probably several reasons. But likely, they knew it would make many of the people disgruntled. They liked their pagan gods and rituals. It pacified the people groups that had moved in and married in.

In 2 Kings 17:41 it says that while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their idols.
Ouch.

As Believers, we might be born-again, but what are we also serving or allowing in our lives that is keeping us from holiness?

What do you tolerate because if you got rid of it, stopped doing it, stopped watching or listening to it, it might make you look like the weird holy roller to your friends, coworkers or family? Maybe you don’t get rid of it because you have justified it, or just want to outright continue _______.

Whatever the reason, next Sunday when your arms are lifted and you are crying out for revival, remember it can start with you. What are you willing to do for what you determine is a revival?

Normally, I like to end on an uplifting note, but I really feel we need to redefine and discern how we are using this word.

I hope it will initiate a look into how to discern what people are so quick to label as revivals.

Does this Nation and Church (Ecclesia really) need a change? Absolutely. But maybe we need to stop looking for a Revival when what we really need is a complete overhaul. More on that in the future. 😊

~enjoy the journey!

Fan the Flame

December 11, 2022

Feeling dry? Sometimes you have to stir yourself up.

Just like David had to tell his soul to “Bless YHVH,” (Ps 103:1-2) there are times when we need to fan the flame. Did you know the word for “stir up” or “fan” is anazōpyreō and is only used once. (I love those types of words).

The usage is similar to that which remains of a fire and that by which a fire is kindled anew or lighted up.

Bless the Lord, my soul,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and never forget any of his benefits
Psalm 103:1-2

In our house in upper New England, the main source of heat is a wood stove (from 1977 to be exact). If we are to stay warm, it is dependent on us. We have to keep the fire stoked, fed and kindled.
In the mornings, if no one got up for the last fire feeding (yes, it feels like we have a newborn all over again), the stove will have gone cold. But much of the time, if you turn over the ashes, there are some red coals hidden away in the bottom.

tranquil young woman drinking tea in front of fireplace

With some care at the first, you can baby those remaining embers until you get a small flame. And from that small flame, you can start to feed it small bits of kindling, blow on it, and in a little while, you will have a roaring fire. All from some bits of coal hidden away in those ashes.

man blowing on burning fire among friends in camp

As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold. We feel like our dreams or purpose have gone cold, we wonder how and why aren’t we using our gifts and we can wake up to what seems like a fire that’s died. And maybe the fire did. Maybe you didn’t take as much care to keep the fire fed and going. Maybe you haven’t had good teaching on spiritual gifts or that you even have one and feel like you should be doing something in that regard, but not sure how. But I promise you this Believer: you still have some embers in there waiting to become a flame again!

As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold

Maybe it’s in another area of life. Your marriage, your family life, your job or finances. What about your personal and spiritual development? There are so many areas we can apply this to, but let’s stick to spiritual gifts for now.

You say, “Yep, Amanda, that’s me. For whatever reason, I let the fire go out. Now what?’

Well I’m glad you asked. That is the question isn’t it? How do we fan that little ember back into a healthy flame?

To rekindle a fire, especially in an old wood stove, you need a few things. First off, you’re going to need a little patience. Dumping too much on it too soon will smother it, and that’s really frustrating when that happens. You’re going to need some kindling that will light easily. Some newspaper, small sticks or bark put on there in small pieces until you get a flame. Then larger pieces as that flame grows.

You need some air. If you blow too hard on the embers, they’re gonna go out. And then, again, you’re going to be starting from scratch. But with proper air flow, your small flames will catch and start to spread to the kindling until you can start adding your larger pieces of firewood or fuel bricks.

So what are some practical things you can do to rekindle that fire that you feel you’ve lost? 1: You want to recognize and acknowledge what has happened. Whether life got in the way, there was some hurt, or you just neglected your gift, repent! Tell the Father you are sorry for not using what He gave you and to open up doors of opportunity for you to be able to step out and use them.

Are you a teacher but not teaching? Find ways you can teach others about the truth that is in the Word. Don’t wait for your local church to put you somewhere, start a study, make some video’s.

Are you an exhorter? Find ways to encourage people and come alongside them when they need help.

Do you feel called into one of the 5 Ministry gifts? Are you doing everything you can to learn about the function?

Always be learning, what do you feel the Holy Spirit wants you to focus on? A book of the Bible? A person in scripture? Spiritual Warfare? The prophetic? Healing? Do the work! Read books, watch video’s, take some courses. In this day and age, information is at our fingertips or at least the capability to get it in front of you within a few days, so there is no excuse!

Nextly, put to practice what you’ve learned. If you aren’t using your gifts, that can lead to a lot of frustration and then turn into hope deferred making your heart (mind) sick. Many times, we can feel unsettled and unfulfilled in life if we aren’t using our spiritual gifts. Sometimes we can be the deferrer of our own hope. We wait for the Holy Spirit to grab us by the hand and to put us into situations so we can use our gifts. Maybe we are waiting on the leadership in our local church to recognize some gift in us and put us to use.

Your church leadership should be discipling and equipping you to go out and use your spiritual gifts in your day-to-day life. If they aren’t, find some people you can glean from. This may fall into a fanning your own flame area! YOU are responsible for YOU!

YOU are responsible for YOU!

Once your fire is roaring, you’ll close your doors all the way and adjust your air flow. Too much or too little air will put your fire back out or it will burn too fast. (I’m sure there are more efficient wood stoves now, one is on the list) But I digress…

Pace yourself. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t want to put too much on yourself (learning too many things at once and not taking the time to settle it in your mind before moving on to the next topic). You also don’t want to do so little that you barely keep that flame going. Set a pace and stay consistent.

Consistency is key!

~enjoy the journey!

The Secret Muses of a Disabled Vet’s Wife:

December 22, 2020December 22, 2020

“How are YOU?” It’s been 11 years and I honestly don’t know if in these last 11 years I have answered the question completely honestly.

“How are YOU?”

Being married for 19 years and having 3 kids, it’s easy to answer that question as an all-encompassing family question. “Hub’s is fine, he tweaked his back again yesterday, but his attitude about it all, as always, is stellar. He’s working on projects…. yep. He’s a genius. The kids? Oh, they’re great! Working hard, staying busy, the usual.” “Oh me? I’m good, staying busy,” I reply without a pause.

And I am. Life is good. God is good. I actually love “adulting.” I love my life and love living it. But as much as I’d like to fool myself, our life is not “normal.”

Life is good. God is good.

11 years ago, our lives changed. My active duty Army husband had a jump out of a plane that ended his promising military career and then ended his short-lived civilian 2^nd career. The soldier that jumped behind him got his feet tangled in my Jeremy’s risers. While he was able to get untangled, it sent my husband’s parachute into a pendulum swing and he not only hit with the normal downward force of a mass jump dump, but also hit the ground on the downward swing of the pendulum. He managed to land in a PLF (“parachute landing fall” designed to land the parachutist safely), but he hit hard. It knocked him out and the parachute drug him across the landing zone for a ways. Amazingly, he broke no bones. He does however have a massive amount of scar tissue from his body tensing to protect everything, a bent spine, degenerative arthritis in his hips and back and a TBI which spins him into vertigo at the most inopportune of times. His medical records read like a dissertation listing all of his injuries. It’s a lot.

When you live as a military spouse or family, you know how precious time with your loved one is. In the civilian world, spouses generally go on errands alone and enjoy “alone time.” In the military, it’s not uncommon for soldiers to go on errands with their spouses like grocery shopping and dr. appointments together. That time together is precious, because you know how quickly that can change and your soldier is deployed, or doing training, or at a school and you are single mom-ing or dad-ing it for the forseeable future.

We went from doing all sorts of things together, day trips exploring or hiking, grocery shopping, movies etc…to me having to go alone. It went from him getting the oil changed, airing up the tires, doing the “guy chores” to me doing it alone. He went from being able to roll around and play with the kids to having to watch everything he did. It’s hard to teach very young children that dad can’t hold them or play with them like he used to.

Looking back, I realized I never really mourned what would have been. A life where we don’t have to pick and choose our activities and outings together and space them out because of chronic pain. A life without central vertigo sneaking up on you when you have made plans. The different life our kids have lived because of pain and injury. Just looking at my husband, you wouldn’t know he is in pain unless you catch him on a really bad day. If he’s limping and not “faking” walking normal, he is hurting. His accident thankfully didn’t injure his cognitive abilities, he is the same Jeremy as he has always been. All his injuries are internal. Which is both a blessing and a curse. People that don’t really know him might accuse him of being anti-social or rude because he can’t jump in and help with things or may be quieter because he is in pain.

If he does come to the store with me (for a few items) I will unload and load everything on the belt and cart because just him bending down and coming up can throw his back out. We have to ignore awkward stares because you know they are thinking “why is he just standing there?”

On his “good” days. I.e. the days when his back is behaving and not out, he will exercise and try to get in better shape. It is challenging for him not to over-do because he knows just how quickly things can go bad. That bad may be tweaking his back just walking down the hallway, or brushing his teeth. Luckily, he has found just walking is his best mode of exercise. As long as he is going at a steady forward momentum on a smooth surface, he’s golden.

Throughout all of it, he keeps an amazing attitude. He is upbeat and positive and it encourages those that know him. He is an amazing husband and dad. He loves Jesus. He is supportive and doesn’t take for granted the things we do when he can’t.

As “normal” as I’d like to think we are, we are not. Accepting that has been something I’m not sure I have ever done or will do.

“How are YOU?” My friend Kristen asked over the phone this evening as I gave my normal spiel and dodged talking about me. She voiced what most people will not. “I know it must be difficult with him in pain all the time, I understand that must be a hard thing as a spouse to deal with.”
I manage to sputter out that yeah, it is a different life and yes it can be hard. I don’t know if I formed a coherent thought in reply. I’m not used to people thinking I might not be okay. Even when I’m not, somehow I must give off the vibe that I am completely fine. I don’t know what it is, I don’t try to hide it. And in my “now” life, I am fine. Like I mentioned above, I love adulting. I love my family, my life. But no, my life isn’t “normal” and that isn’t okay. I am not “fine” with it. It just is. You adjust fire and keep on keeping on.

If you are the spouse of a disabled Vet, I want you to know you are seen, and you are heard. This injury is NOT your identity. It can be a lonely life. Not necessarily lonely as in lack of family and friends around although that may be the case. Lonely in a sense of you are the primary doer of things. You do them faithfully and without complaint and you may be tired. No one quite understands this life and the sacrifice your spouse made. Heck, no one quite understands the sacrifice you’ve made.

and the truth is that
all veterans pay with
their lives.
some pay all at once,
while others pay
over a lifetime.
-JM Storm

It’s a funny life, this life. It never turns out quite like we planned. There are twists and turns that take you to places you’ve never imagined but if you didn’t go, you wouldn’t be who you are today without them.

So mourn what once was and what it was supposed to have been. Because it is a loss and like with any loss, there needs to be time to grieve that old life. We can be doing all the things but that doesn’t make our veterans injuries okay or normal, and THAT’S okay.

As you might have guessed…

December 8, 2020December 22, 2020

We are no longer traveling. Our time on the road seems like a whirlwind. It was a good almost year and a half out of our planned 2-5 years on the road. But God seemed to have other plans.

The spring of 2019 we started the trek back north as the weather got warmer. We went through Arkansas to visit Jeremy’s sister and family and from there made our way through Kentucky to visit where it all started for the Richard’s and then started making our way northeast.

I’ve always wanted to visit the northeast. When I was younger, I wanted to live in New England in a cute little cottage with a white picket or stone fence. Lined with tulips of course in the spring. When I was in Junior High and High School I even sent off for LL Bean, Land’s End and Newport News catalogs and would circle what clothes I’d wear as an adult and ooh and ahhh at the scenery the pictures were taken.

What I won’t tell you is that up until 9th grade, I thought New England was a state. I had always heard of it, and I guess assumed it was one of those little states up there in the northeast around Vermont and New Hampshire. I was so confident in this, that I argued with my high school geography teacher that New England was INDEED a state. After an animated discussion (and my lack of finding it on a map), my bubble was burst and my hopes and dreams of one day living in a cute little cottage in New England proper were dashed. Who knew?

(Everyone but me, that’s who.) Don’t laugh. My genius husband didn’t know pickles were cucumbers until recently. Yes, I’ll throw him under the bus.

Mad props to Mr. Rutledge my geography teacher though. He handled it stellarly.

Anyhoo, we had a good (albeit cold) time on our way up. Final destination: Maine. I had planned out major stays and booked them because it is rather difficult getting a spot as large as we’d need them and for a 50amp. The plan was to spend 3 months in Maine and get a monthly spot in different places. Well I was able to book 2 places for a month each, but could never find anything for the month of August.

So as we are getting closer to Maine, I think both Jeremy and I are feeling that our time RVing is coming to a close. And we’re not sure what to think about that. It wasn’t in the plan, it’s not that we wanted to stop and settle down, it was just a feeling of ending. We would pray about it and as we got closer to Maine, we started talking about staying. What if God was telling us to stay? Really? Maine? It’s so….far….from everything and everyone we love. We were really thinking we’d end up in Wyoming or Idaho or Montana…still far but not far enough to feel like you’re in a different part of the world. I mean, people might come visit us on one of those other places, but Maine? Did I mention it is FAR? Mainers have a saying about everyone NOT from Maine. They (we) are all considered “from away.” And from away is right. Because everywhere else is from far away.

As we crossed over into Bethel, Maine in our 41ft RV, it was like we were home. Not Bethel, just Maine. We further crossed the Sunday River and other places and landmarks marked our trip with the Holy Spirit saying “You’re Home! It’s here!” Again, when we prayed. And we brought back up the idea of planting a church. It’s one of those things that have always been on our hearts but it was never the right time and then there is the drama of running or starting up a church. In case you’re not aware, that comes with the headache of running a business (when you just want to teach and preach) and the drama of church drama. After being burned in a church in the past, did we really want to take that on?

Back in 2014, Jeremy and I went to a presbyetry service at Gateway Church in Dallas during the Jewish New Year. That is a story in itself, but long story short, that night during the words in season given, Jeremy was one of the ones called out of a service of a few thousand and given a word. Part of that word Ed Ivy gave Jeremy was, “Keep the Main thing, the main thing.”

That part seemed obvious. Of course we will keep God at the forefront as the Main Thing. That’s how we got there!

We’ve carried that word with us. Well the next morning as I am sitting drinking my coffee, Jeremy walks by me, stops, turns around and kind of looks at me. “Mandi, what if “Keep the Main thing the main thing is Keep the Main thing the MAINE thing? Is it that obvious? The revelation hit us like a ton of bricks and right there Jeremy prayed: God, we will start a church, just lead us to where.”

“Keep the Main thing the MAINE thing”

We realized why we could never book an August spot here, it was because that was the month we would move in to a house here in Southern Maine.

With Covid looming it’s ugly head around the corner, God was looking out for us settling down when we did. It has put a wrench in our church plans, but God knows the timing.

Currently, Jeremy has been busy writing a book and working on a podcast. I have been finishing up counseling courses for Christian pastoral counseling, writing a book, and will be starting counseling soon with my brother who will be moving up here to kick off this ministry with me. The kids have adjusted to a sticks and bricks home nicely and have settled in to the slower paced life here.

Life in coastal Southern Maine is slow, beautiful and we are excited for what God is going to do in Maine. The harvest is ripe.