Just a Spark

"Kumbaya" is the cliché campfire song all of us know about but very few actual know at all. For some, this song can evoke sentimental memories, for others it's downright "corny." The second most popular youth group camp song of yesteryear begins with the phrase, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going..."

Throughout my life, I have built thousands of fires, in fireplaces, in campgrounds, and once in our basement and almost burned our house down. But I have never built a successful fire without an initial spark.

I am fine with the paper, the kindling, the small wood and the big logs, but my real interest is in the warmth and light that comes after the spark has done it's thing. I know a bit of the science of fires. at least enough to know that oxygen is important, the age and dryness of the wood really matters, and that fires need to start small before they become big. But ultimately the elements of the fire and the science of the fire although essential can never bring forth a bright blaze without a spark.

It's the same with revival. We can arrange our individual lives with all the elements of God yet not receive the spark that will ignite the tinder. We can organize our churches and ministries in recognition of all the social science elements that would prosper and bear fruit but without the spark it's all wood, hay and stubble. God wants to release revival in our individual lives and in our community experience but he cannot do it without a spark of fire.

This is why I try to spend a lot of time with people who are burning for the purposes of God. I attend conferences, I receive prayer ministry, I embrace prophetic words, I fellowship with fiery saints because I know that if I add their spark to the tinder of my personal prayer, devotion and study, I can keep burning in spite of the storms, wet blankets and suffocating influences of life.

My desire for each of you is that your fire would be a mighty blaze that would dispel the darkness and eliminate the coldness of a fallen world. You are the most essential link between a loving God and a transformed world.

This is why I also want to encourage each of you to join us this weekend for the Campus Awakening Conference with Erica Greves and the Bethel Worship Team. You are a bonfire waiting to be lit and this conference is the spark that will ignite your flame. Erica is a gifted leader and a powerful preacher. She is also extremely anointed to impart supernatural power to hungry hearts. See you there.