Blog Articles
Prayer First, Then Revival
In the 1920s God blessed the Lisu people of western China with an awakening movement bringing hundreds of families to Christ. Churches sprang up in the path of the awakening. The instrument God used was James O. Fraser, and the vital intercessors were Frazer's mother...
It’s Not “Who’s Right?” But “What’s Right?”
Several years ago I was speaking with a dear friend, an airline pilot who is truly a brilliant man and manifestly loves the Lord. As we were discussing a particular topic, we found ourselves on two different sides of an issue. As men do, we bantered the issue back and...
Announcing Evangelist Will Geiseman
An evangelist is one whom God has called and gifted to specialize in the “evangel”—the Gospel! The Gospel includes justification by grace through faith in Christ alone and sanctification by grace through faith in the same Jesus. The former is the Gospel to sinners and...
Sinless Perfection Versus Sinless Provision
Is sinless perfection possible this side of heaven? I wish it was! I wish I could believe it. If it is, sadly my experience does not match. However, the Scripture says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But...
2017 National Symphony of Prayer for Revival
A “symphony of prayer” involves God’s people coming together to “agree” (lit. symphonize) regarding that for which they “ask” (Matt. 18:18-20). This symphony of prayer is specifically to pray for revival and another great awakening. To prepare our hearts there will...
2017 CLC Report
We thank the Lord for what He has done at the 2017 Christ Life Conference! Watch "2017 CLC Report" below. More details coming soon! Hello, I’m John Van Gelderen. I am an evangelist and the president of Revival Focus Ministries, an...
The Rain of the Spirit
One of the great imageries of the outpouring of the Spirit of God in revival is rain—a deluge of rain. The Psalmist says, “He shall come down like rain … as showers that water the earth” (Psalm 72:6). God Himself says dramatically, “Drop down, ye heavens, from above,...
Why the Christ Life Conference?
Many valuable conferences offer a variety of help. When so many good conferences vie for attention, why the Christ Life Conference? The primary answer is the focus is always on experiencing Jesus! While sub-themes provide specific application each year, the main theme...
Leading versus Lording: An Examination of the Extent of “Pastoral Authority”
Often I hear people refer to “pastoral authority”? Is this a legitimate terminology? Is it a correct concept? Is it right to connect the word authority with the word pastoral? It depends on how you define it—like the world, no; like the New Testament, yes. “Feed the...
Christ Life Conference Overview
The 2017 Christ life Conference is a spiritual clinic where we allow the Word and the Spirit to diagnose our need and point us to the cure in Jesus. This year we are considering the vital connection between personal revival and the greater movements of the Spirit. To...
2 Chronicles 7:14: God’s “If…Then” Offer
Several years ago my son wanted to earn some money when we came home for the holidays. A giant walnut tree dominates our backyard. So, being a city boy who doesn’t know country living, I offered my son 25 cents for every walnut he picked up—thinking there were no more...
Three Reasons Evangelists Still Exist
Some challenge the existence of the evangelist, and therefore, the legitimacy of their ministry today. But this minimization seems to be more from prejudice or misinformation than anything substantive. Let’s consider three reasons the gift of the evangelist still...
Why Churches Still Need Evangelists
Why do churches still need evangelists? This question is akin to asking, “Why do people with physical issues still need specialists?” Of course, the answer is—they specialize! When you need eye care, you don’t go to a general practitioner; you go to an eye doctor. If...
Law and Grace
In my own revival journey, I began to use the terminology of grace and the Spirit-filled life, but my focus was still on “It’s gotta look like this….” This is ultimately a law-focus. Further in my journey the Lord opened my eyes not only to Jesus as the source of life...
Honoring the Holy Spirit as God
Several years ago in a question and answer time on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a leading deacon of a church said tongue-in-cheek, yet with a real degree of honesty, “I thought the Fundamentalists had the Father and the Son, but the Charismatics had the Holy...
Greatest Strength and Weakness of Independent Baptist Churches
Last week on the Revival Focus Facebook and Twitter accounts, we asked what people considered to be the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of Independent Baptist churches. Regarding the greatest strength, for the most part the responses indicated a high view...
The Overcoming Positive of the Spirit
Sometimes we get things backwards in our minds. This can apply to scriptural emphasis. When this occurs it hinders our spiritual progress. For example the Scripture says, “The works of the flesh are manifest…But the fruit of the Spirit is…” (Gal. 5:19-23). The list of...
Eight Marks of True Holiness
Holiness is accessing the person of holiness—Christ in you—to live His holy life through you. This occurs as you walk in the Spirit, taking the provision of Christ's life to obey His will. When you do, “the fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). Amazing! The...
Seven Marks of Counterfeit Holiness
In a recent post we addressed the error of counterfeit holiness (see The Error of Counterfeit Holiness). The major error is in focusing primarily on applications of holiness instead of the person of holiness—the Holy One. Although there are many, following are seven...
National Day of Prayer: 8 Ways to Pray
The liberal agenda has been taking its toll on America for decades. Now in the wake of the recent election, the liberal left has been exposing the venom of hate and violence that is underneath the veneer of their so-called toleration. Through all this exposure, the...
The Error of Counterfeit Holiness
The Scripture upholds true godliness and holiness with statements like “Godliness is profitable unto all things” (I Tim. 4:8), and warns against the counterfeit, with statements like “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2...
Divine Life
Is your life animated by divine life, or is it merely human? Galatians 5:19 speaks of the “works of the flesh,” but in contrast verse 22 speaks of “the fruit of the Spirit.” The inspired text does not say the “works” of the Spirit, but rather the “fruit” of the...
Christ Life Conference Invitation
Little fires ignite big fires. This is true in the physical realm and the spiritual realm. Large revival fires get printed in books, but every large revival fire was preceded by a smaller revival fire, or fires. Personal revival often spreads to others. Then,...
The Fruit, Not Fruits, of the Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit is a “singular plurality” or we might say a “collective singular.” These descriptions are apparent...
Three Responses to the Manifest Presence of God
When God manifests His presence, everyone in the vicinity becomes aware of His presence. This God-consciousness produces several responses. Here are three major responses seen in Scripture and history. 1. Sin is confessed. When you become intensely aware of the...
The Fruit of the Spirit: Remembering Wayne Van Gelderen Sr.
In the last article (see Igniting Revival Passion) I mentioned my father, Wayne Van Gelderen Sr. passed away twenty years ago March 9. Many kind comments were made both on the blog and Facebook. Some of the comments described the fruit of the Spirit manifested in my...
Igniting Revival Passion: Remembering Wayne Van Gelderen Sr.
"The aura of God’s reviving presence stayed with my father. He never forgot the power and preciousness of those days." This month I have been remembering my father who passed away twenty years ago on March 9, 1997. God used him when I was younger to ignite a desire...
The Chief Evidence of the Manifest Presence of God
Nearly every account of great revival includes comments about the manifest presence of God. The biblical terminology is the outpouring of the Spirit (Ezek. 39:29; Acts 2:17). What is the chief evidence that God has manifested His presence? Namely one:...
The Value of Q&A Venues
Have you ever caught a glimpse of a truth that seemed to have potential bless you, but there was a question mark about a detail? And this nagging question seemed to hinder you from being impacted in a greater way? Getting the answer to that question is like a key that...
New Revival Blog!
God's reviving presence is still the answer! This is true for the longing heart—the heart that knows there is more to the Christian life than what it is presently experiencing. This is also true for the longing church—the church that knows that without the manifest...
