Several Christian leaders at the upcoming "Heart Cry for Revival Conference" are asked and answer, "Why is revival needed among Christian leaders at this point in history?"
• John Avant: "We have become almost completely internalized. We have turned on each other and lost our way. Our churches often simply mirror our leaders. Beginning with me, we need a renewal of love, humility, holiness, and deep compassion for the lost."
• Nancy Leigh DeMoss: "As go the shepherds, so goes the flock. The church desperately needs leaders who are holy, Spirit-filled, prayerful, whole-hearted, anointed men of the Word and servants and lovers of Christ."
• Daniel Henderson: "Our Christian culture has become much like the Laodiceans of Revelation chapter three. We are lukewarm and, in our self-estimation, 'rich . . . wealthy and . . . in need of nothing.' We are blind to Christ's assessment that we are actually 'wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked' without a fresh experience of His presence. We are entrenched in self-sufficiency, evidenced by our reliance on human leadership, technology, methodology and programming -- coupled with our general disinterest in prayer. We need a holy outpouring of grace to repent, see our true condition and invite Christ into the midst of our corporate life as He is even now standing at the door and knocking, ready to revive His people with His holy presence."
• Erwin Lutzer: "We need a revival among Christian leaders because many of us must return to the basic truths and practices that made the church great: personal repentance, evangelism and a radical commitment to holiness, for ourselves and our congregations."
• James MacDonald: "For decades I have prayed for revival in the church in America in our lifetime. The western church has become an awful mess, but Jesus is not giving up on her and neither should we. The answer we desperately need is a fresh move of God. We need a renewed vision of God's exalted, infinite holiness. We need an overwhelming sense of our own pride and personal sinfulness. We need our eyes lifted from the bankruptcy of cultural reflection to the crucified, risen, glorified Christ. There must be a returning to the centrality of the unadorned Gospel and the power of God's Spirit to redeem, restore and rebuild broken lives. We need men and women on fire with passionate confidence in the power of God's Word proclaimed. In short, what we desperately need is a renewing work of God that will cut a swath of revival across our land like a tornado across a Kansas wheat field. Nothing else will do."
• Richard Owen Roberts: "God is unchanging: He still insists that things be done His way. Revival is greatly needed when leaders forget that doing things God's way in the power of His Spirit is the only acceptable way."
• Sammy Tippit: "We live at a time in history where we face incredible darkness. This is the moment to seek God for revival in our land and throughout the world. A visitation from heaven is desperately needed."
You can see the rest of their answers here. And click on the graphic for the conference web page.
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