[10-12-05, the 19th
Wednesday]
TT
XIX
MEEKNESS
Last evening we witnessed another
candle in the Revival that’s already underway. At a car dealership
in Salem, upwards if 300 men gathered
for “Men’s Night Out.”
The showroom at Hillcrest Chevrolet (courtesy of Rob Cerundolo) was packed,
as the North Shore Christian Men’s Choir, under the direction of
Gabriel Rossi, sang familiar tunes that we could join in, and
uplifting ones that we had not heard before. Then Welsh
historian Kevin Adams
delivered his modern version of what was called in the days of Eric
Liddell, “muscular Christianity.” In all, it was a splendid evening
– a small foretaste of what is coming.
This morning, however, perhaps to balance the euphoria of the
night before, I seemed to hear a cautionary word in my
heart:
n the coming revival things will
be done differently than they have been in the past. I am raising up
new leaders who will respect my Spirit in each other, who will not
go off on solo tangents, convinced they are right and refusing to
hear anyone who might suggest otherwise.
The Charismatic Renewal died
away, in part because none of the leaders would allow anyone to
speak corrective truth to them. How can I redress imbalance, correct
their courses, warn them of dangers ahead, if they will not hear me
through others? They could hear me for themselves, but they were
imperfect vessels, filters flawed with encrusted self. In the end,
they only heard what they wanted to hear, and so it was the
end.
A general can be a gifted
leader, but if he does not receive the counsel of other generals –
of my Spirit speaking through the hearts of other generals – then he
isolates himself and will be cut down like
Custer.
My new generals will be known by
their meekness. They will manifest holy boldness when I call them
to. They will lead with the example of their great courage. But when
they gather in counsel with me, they will suborn their wills to
mine, they will listen intently to what I would say through each,
and they will entrust the outcome of the meeting and their corporate
assignment into my
hands.
In so doing, they will give new
meaning to the phrase, “See these Christians, how they love one
another!”
