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What exactly does a genuine spiritual revival look like? The answer is not quite as black and white as we might expect. This week, John Bailey and Mark Renfroe discuss how to identify false revivals that are just hype versus true revivals that result in transformed lives.

Key Points from the Podcast

• Mark Renfroe and John Bailey discuss the powerful time of worship and preaching they experienced at the recent Fire in Our Bones conference in San Diego.

• Revival is not God moving in a previously unreached area, but God moving where his people have lost their fervency for the things of God.

• In true revival, when God meets with his people, we should see a greater awareness of his presence, a greater gravity of God’s holiness, a greater gravity of our sinfulness and greater worship.

• Revival begins as a work in the hearts of God’s people that manifests itself externally.

• Mark Renfroe and John Bailey discuss false revival, corrupted revival, and true biblical revival.

• The first New Testament revival was about repentance and empowerment for spreading the gospel.

• As believers, and especially as Christian leaders, we must discern whether a particular revival movement is in line with the Word of God.

• In genuine revival, Jesus Christ will be glorified and exalted. There will be more emphasis on the person of God than on signs and wonders.

• We read about some strange miracles in the Bible involving spit, mud, handkerchiefs, and aprons, but this doesn’t mean we should accept all strange manifestations as biblical, and we shouldn’t dismiss something as not from God just because it’s different. We need to discern whether signs and wonders are truly glorifying God.

• Mark Renfroe and John Bailey challenge believers and Christian leaders to show up to church on Sunday with just as much excitement and anticipation as if they were going to some place in the world where revival is supposedly breaking out.

Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast

Isaiah 6:5; Matthew 23:25–26; Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1–41; Mark 16:20; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 1:8; Acts 5:15; Acts 19:12; John 9:6; Galatians 3:3; Mark 8:32–35; Genesis 28:16–18; Joshua 4:5–7

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

• Sermons from the San Diego Fire in Our Bones Conference

• Psalms sermon series by Gary Wilkerson

About John Bailey

Pastor John Bailey serves as the Chief Operating Officer at World Challenge. John came to know Christ in jail after some difficult struggles as a young man, and God has done a powerful work of transformation since! Spending 13 years in Next Gen ministry, he excelled in discipleship and helping young leaders discover giftings to serve God. John was called next to serve as a missionary and pastor in Western Europe. John and his family then returned to plant the Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, the church is a thriving body of believers excelling in outreach and missions. John has now brought his giftings and vision to World Challenge, accelerating the spread of the gospel in America and around the World.

About Mark Renfroe

Mark married his college sweetheart, Amy, with whom he has four adult children—one girl and three boys. The Renfroes have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. They served in the Arab community of San Francisco for four years before becoming foreign missionaries in 1995. Mark was asked to serve as the Area Director for Assemblies of God World Missions in 2007. As part of his role, he led missionaries and interfaced with national church leaders in the 18 countries of the Arab World. In 2017, Mark created Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an initiative to mobilize, equip, and deploy indigenous African missionaries to reach Muslims on the continent. Mark has graduate degrees in Intercultural Studies and Executive Leadership. He currently serves as the Chief Missions Officer for World Challenge in Colorado Springs.