Worship

“Jubilee” by Maverick City Music, featuring Naomi Raine and Bryan and Katie Torwalt

Scripture

“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.” -Leviticus 25:8-12 (ESV)

Historical Reflections on Revival

Congratulations to the women who just completed 40 days through “Revivalist Arise.” I am celebrating your intentionality, fasting, and pressing into God’s heart for this moment right now. We will be celebrating over Zoom this Friday at 10 a.m. CST. Join us online.

Last weekend, Mike, Lizzy, and I went and saw the documentary, “The Jesus Music.” It recounted the very beginnings of contemporary Christian music beginning essentially with the Jesus movement in the late ’60s early ’70s. A whole generation of Jesus-loving hippies formed the Jesus movement! An entire genre of music was birthed, but also an evangelism movement began during this time beginning with Explo ’72.

As I sat with the Lord on Monday, He had me do a little calculating. It will be 50 years since Explo ’72 took place in Dallas. To catch you all up to speed, here’s a description of Explo ’72 from Wikipedia:

“Explo ’72 was an evangelistic conference sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, planned and directed by Paul Eshleman. Explo ’72 has been called the most visible event of the 1970s Jesus movement, and came to be associated with the same, even though its primary attendees were not directly involved in that movement. It was held in various locations in Dallas, Texas from June 12 to June 17, 1972, with a nightly gathering in the Cotton Bowl. Its goal was to gather 100,000 high school and college students together to train them in personal evangelism, with a vision toward world evangelism, and to encourage attendees to seek some form of Christian service career.”

The Jesus movement was coming out of a tumultuous time of the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the emerging civil rights movement. There was a cultural friction taking place and a sexual revolution sweeping through our nation. Psychedelic drug use was on the rise, and the emerging hippie counterculture was growing. Despite all of this, revival was coming, and people were being swept up in the love of Christ. Many were being baptized in the Pacific Ocean, and Calvary Chapel was welcoming this new breed of believers with grace and open arms. Sounds like a perfect parallel for us right now, don’t you agree?

Understanding Biblical Jubilee

Every 49 years, according to the Jewish calendar, is to be a year of jubilee. It’s a time of rest and reset and a time of celebration. According to Got Questions:

“The Year of the Jubilee involved a year of release from indebtedness (Leviticus 25:23-38) and all types of bondage (vv. 39-55). All prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners. In addition, all labor was to cease for one year, and those bound by labor contracts were released from them. One of the benefits of the Jubilee was that both the land and the people were able to rest.”

Principles from Scripture for Today

As of this month (October 2021), following Yom Kippur, according to the Jewish year of 5782, we just entered a year of jubilee. If we parallel this to the 50-year anniversary of Explo ’72, my heart cries, “Lord, do it again!” What if 100,000 people sought to be trained in evangelism and gave their lives (the rest of their days) to seeing the gospel spread throughout our nation and the nations? America needs missionaries once again to go out into all the world and take the gospel. We used to be the No. 1 sending nation of missionaries. Now, other countries are beginning to outpace us.

In Jessi Green’s book, “Wildfires,” she writes, “God is calling the missionaries to America for such a time as this. Has God recently been giving you new vision and showing you His plans for cities in America? He may be calling you to be a missionary there! … If God is highlighting a city to you, press in and obey! There is favor for you there!”

So how does all this fit together for our jubilee year? What does rest and revival and harvest all have to do with 2021-2022? It has everything to do with what God is doing and what He is calling us to be a part of! We don’t have to strive and strain for it. We need to pray it in, stand in, be ready to move and raise our hands with an exuberant “Yes” to whatever He calls us to!

In such a season of tumult, we are in an era where we are going to see the Holy Spirit like never before. We are not waiting for a new thing; we are in it! And our hearts can be at rest because He has prepared this time for us who are wide awake and ready! He’s assigning territories and cities to us. He is calling many of you to not step off the boat but to dive out into deeper waters. Your age is not a hindrance nor a prerequisite in this new era. Remember the Scripture in Joel and Acts? He’s going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh! How could we possibly be at rest with everything that is happening politically in our nation? It’s because we are in a harvest season, and it’s also a time when debts are to be cancelled according to the year of jubilee. Jesus did that for us on the cross, so our spiritual reality can parallel our physical reality, in Jesus’ name! Pray into that if you are needing specific debts to be cancelled and paid in full! Ask the Lord to do that for you in this jubilee year. It is also a year of release and liberty.

Looking Forward in Faith

According to the passage in Leviticus, jubilee was a year when slaves and prisoners would be set free, debts would be forgiven, and the mercy of God would be made manifest to His people. We are not only in a new era but now a jubilee year. So let’s lift our eyes to believe that it’s time to get ready! God is roaring over His people! He is doing a new thing; it is here! He is calling many to awaken and many to step into a new level of ministry and obedience. There are things He has prepared for you before the foundations of the world, and the time is now to raise your hand and give God your yes! He is opening new doors and new opportunities, but it will require your faith—you may have not walked this way before.

Just like Explo ’72 when 100,000 people were trained to share the gospel and called into full-time career ministry, I am asking the Lord for just 70 women who will essentially do the same thing across our nation. God has reset us for His Kingdom purposes. Let us run with eyes fixed on Him to the 3.2 billion who have yet to hear His name. And let’s gather as many as we can, raise them up, train them, and take them with us!

For those of you needing rest, receive it!

For those of you needing debts cancelled, bring this boldly before the Lord!

For those of you sensing a new calling stirring up in you, step into it!

For those of you needing freedom, this is your year!

For those of you needing to see the justice and mercy of the Lord, it’s coming!

For those of you with your eyes on the field, get ready, because it’s harvest time!

Live in full expectation of what God is going to do this year; it’s jubilee!

A Few Key Notes

• Let’s celebrate the end of our study of “Revivalist Arise” this Friday at 10 a.m. CST. Join the Zoom call as we close out our 40-day devotional study together!
• Join us October 22-23 in Midland, Texas, as we share the hope of the gospel for Harvest Day. Registration is now open. Email me at [email protected] for questions.
• We have a $50,000 match in place through December 31 to expand the Arise movement into 70 cities in 2022. You can give at www.eastwest.org/arisematch.
• Join us for these upcoming Arise events. Email me at [email protected] for details.
  • Christina McCracken and I will lead a six-week study of the book “Revival 101” beginning today. Join us Wednesdays from noon-1:15 p.m. at  The Hope Center in the East-West Board room. Cost: $25. Register here!
  • Mary Ethel Eckard will lead a session about writing your first book. Join us for this lunch session at The Hope Center in the East-West Board room on October 19 from noon-1:30 p.m. Cost: $25. Register today!
  • Kathy Gray will lead another three-part dream class for Arise women. Come to The Hope Center in the East-West Board room at 7 p.m. on November 3, 10, and 17. Cost: $30. Register today!
• We are now recruiting for an Arise short-term mission team to South America from March 19-26, 2022. Apply online to join the team.