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'I Saw the Wave and It's Full of Faces': A Last-Days Vision of a 'Tsunami' Revival
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Many Christian leaders are predicting the greatest harvest of souls in history is upon us, or will soon be. Several thousand people gathered in Toronto this past week to ask God how can they best prepare to take part in this great revival. And they heard how every believer can help bring it about.
The location was the church where the revival known as the Toronto Blessing started in 1994.
Some say this next revival will be like a huge wave that washes over the whole world. Among them is John Arnott, who headed up the church where the Toronto Blessing began. Arnott, who helps lead Partners in Harvest, saw a vision of a wave so big he called it a tsunami in the book Preparing for the Glory.
"All these little boats on top of it," Arnott said of the wave in the vision he received. "And then this wave crested and came crashing to shore and it was just a sudden, wonderful outpouring of God that was just sweeping."
A Revival Wave Full of Faces
Heidi Baker has helped start thousands of churches and fellowships in Mozambique and around the world. The Iris Global leader told CBN News she, too, has had a vision of such a wave, and she said it's a hlory wave.
"I saw the wave and it's full of faces. And I thought, 'Lord, what is that? Are those the ones coming home or the ones going out?' And I saw they were the faces of these radical lovers of God, every tribe, tongue and nation, who are going to go to the ends of the earth, carrying the glory," she stated.
Some may feel that such a revival is impossible in this dark, immoral age. But theology professor Michael Brown, host of the broadcast "Line of Fire," told CBN News he's studied several times in American history where the most learned men thought Christianity was dying out in the land.
There've Been Dark Times Before
"Everyone counted the church out, counted God out, and then awakening came," Brown stated. "So I truly believe, as much as my mind says it's impossible, I truly believe that the greatest awakening for America and certainly outpouring for the world is yet ahead."
Brown has often encountered controversy for insisting on biblical truth no matter how politically incorrect it may be, such as about gay marriage. But he insists Christians can stand for such truth and still win over the worldly, even the ones who may despise that truth.
"We need a fresh baptism of love for a sinful world and a fresh baptism of the image of Jesus in us so that we can really be like Him to this world. If we really care, the right words will follow. But we also have to recognize that the darkness always hates the light," Brown argued. "We have to quit trying to please people and be accepted. We must speak the truth in love. It's not either/or. It's both/and."
Jesus at the Center
Revivals are known for burning brightly but then always burning out. But there are those saying if the next one will put Jesus Christ right at the center, it never has to die.
So that's a part of preparing for revival.
"We can up our prayer lives; we can re-prioritize how we spend our day, how we spend our money. He needs to be number one," Arnott said of God.
Baker said of Jesus Christ, "He's our Lord, our Savior, our king, our bridegroom king. We want to lift Him up and lift Him up. 'As He be lifted up, all men will be drawn to Him.' "
Jeri Hill is the president of Steve Hill Ministries and widow of Steve Hill, the evangelist at the center of the 1995 Brownsville Revival.
'Get a Picture of God'
"At one point he was going to be put on Time Magazine," Hill said of her deceased husband. "And he said, 'You know what? I think you need to put God —get a picture of God—because it's really all about Him. I am only a vessel that He fixed."
She pointed out that her husband preached the truth that a revival couldn't super-saturate the whole world till every believer becomes an evangelist to those around them.
"And when Steve and I would go out, we'd talk to people in the supermarket, in an antique store, in a restaurant. You take it out," Hill insisted.
Arnott spoke of other ways to prepare for revival, saying, "You keep your heart right, keep short accounts with people that have offended you or hurt you, and you just get rooted and grounded in the love of God and get ready for more."
Baker recommended, "Have little gatherings at your company. Have little gatherings at your school. Just come together and love Jesus. And then shine. Don't be afraid to share your testimony." 