See What God is Doing and Join In

I recently attended a local pastors meeting to share a burden on my heart. I wanted the leaders to be inspired by God’s current work in our nation/world and get involved.

I specifically encouraged them to promote the Baptism Revival in our area. A “Summer of Baptisms” is exploding throughout the USA in answer to prayer. So far, the largest expression (possibly in history) took place a month ago in Southern California when 14,000 people gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized in the ocean.

The water’s too cold in the Northwest for that, but I told the pastors that lakes, pools, and hot tubs would work fine.

I wanted them to experience the current move of God’s Spirit.

See What God is Doing and Join In

“Seeing what God is doing and joining in” is not copycat stuff. It’s entering into God’s redemptive actions in history through prayer and action to “catch the wave” He is currently leading.

In Jesus’ messages to the seven churches in Revelation, he ends his personal instructions with these important words:

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (e.g. Revelation 2:7).

That’s exactly what “seeing what God is doing and joining in” entails. It’s discerning what God is up to and saying “Yes, Lord, I want to be involved and bring as many people with me as possible.”

Who wouldn’t want to be involved in what GOD is doing?

Only those not listening or who don’t care.

This principle of “seeing/listening and joining in” stands out in every decade of my life. I joined Youth With A Mission after hearing Loren Cunningham speak on the Munich Olympics Outreach in 1972 and invite young people to join YWAM.

I signed up on the spot because I saw what God was doing and wanted to be a part.

A fifty year missions call followed.

My latest book One Small Life: Revival Adventures from My Fifty Year Journal contains a “Life Calendar” that lists important moments, events, and personal lessons. In my morning quiet time, I usually look at the “Calendar” to remind myself what took place years ago so I can thank God and intercede for people who were involved.

This morning I asked my wife, “What took place today, June 12, in 1979?” (She usually gets these “Calendar” questions right because we experienced most together.) She wasn’t quite sure so I read the entry: “God spoke to us on the Renewal Team to serve the Washington for Jesus event.”

We both smiled and remembered. We had heard John Gimenez speak while we were doing revival crusade work in New England. He shared the vision for a national day of prayer and repentance on April 29, 1980. On June 12, 1979, our twelve-member Renewal Team prayed and asked God if we should serve the event.

He said “Yes.” 

We saw what God was doing and joined in. That choice directed our lives and ministry for the next eight years (and beyond).

Joining what God is doing can change your life.

Six months later, it was Bill Bright’s turn. Dr. Bright, the founder of Cru (Campus Crusade) was asked to help lead WFJ and bring the evangelical arm of the Church into the movement. In his hotel room, he knelt by his bed and argued with God: “I can’t do this Lord. I don’t agree with all they believe. I can’t afford to get involved. I’ll lose donors and reputation.”

God spoke to Dr. Bright: “Bill, I’m behind this event. You can’t afford not to be involved.”

Getting up off his knees, he made the phone call, and later helped lead the largest prayer meeting (at the time) in American history–the forerunner of the Reagan Revolution and “Morning in America.”

Sometimes it’s vital to see what God is doing and join in.

God is also at work in 2024 in awakening His Church in various parts of Europe. Here’s a CBN News report:

News of revival from countries outside of the United States continues to travel around the world. This time, a massive gospel event in London last month saw more than 70,000 moved by the Spirit of God with many people giving their lives to Jesus Christ, experiencing healing and seeing deliverance.

Evangelist Daniel Chand, pastor of Pragma Church and founder of Walking Like Jesus Ministries (WLJM), says thousands worshipped Jesus and heard an encouraging message in Trafalgar Square on May 4th.

“We witnessed not only history but prophecy being (fulfilled),” he wrote. “Thousands in Trafalgar Square heard the Gospel. 70 years after Billy Graham stood in the same spot, myself along with other evangelists and pastors shared testimonies, prayed for the sick, and of course declared the greatest love story – The Gospel.”

According to Walking Like Jesus Ministries, there were several testimonies of healing including healing from back pain, arthritis, nerve pain, and macro degenerative disease.

One woman pushed through a crowd on stage to testify about the miraculous healing she received when a lump in her body completely disappeared.

“I’ve had a lump disappear,” she declared as the crowd cheered and shouted for joy.

“God’s not finished with the United Kingdom,” WLJM said on Instagram. “We saw the Lord move powerfully in our nation’s capital. God is hearing from heaven and healing our land. He’s shaking everything that needs to be shaken and he’s pouring out his Spirit.

Chand stood in the square boldly “proclaiming, pleading and preaching the blood of Jesus over the nation.”

The Good News of the Gospel has been preached in public spaces across Europe in the last several weeks.

Praise filled the streets of Paris at the end of May as more than 25,000 people participated in the “March For Jesus in France.”

And in the Netherlands, there was a stunningly huge gathering for Christ at the 54th annual Opwekking Pentecost Conference. More than 63,000 people unashamedly glorified God, and an additional 700,000 reportedly participated online on Pentecost Sunday.

“Revival means following Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our desire: The Netherlands full of Jesus,” the organization wrote on Instagram.

International evangelist Jean-Luc Trachsel, founder of Jean-Luc Trachsel Ministries and recent speaker at “March For Jesus in France,” says that despite reports that Christianity is dying in Europe, a “massive move of the Holy Spirit” is taking place.

“Revival has truly started in Europe in many places with hungry and thirsty people ready to arise boldly to preach [about]Jesus,” he recently wrote on Facebook. “It’s small, but it’s already historic and glorious…”

Baptisms in America. Hundreds of thousands gathering for Jesus in Europe. Maybe that’s why the recent European Parliament saw a major defeat for secular humanists at the polls and a swing back toward a more biblical view of life and government. Newt Gingrich is calling it The European Earthquake.

One more personal example speaks to me.

In 1989, Kitsap County, WA pastors invited Joe Aldrich to share the vision of “Pastor Prayer Summits” in Kitsap because we wanted to “see what God was doing and join in.” That led to an incredible renewal among Kitsap pastors in 1990, and twenty years of regional prayer and unity among spiritual leaders.

I shared this story at last week’s pastors gathering along with the Baptism Revival vision.  Sadly, they didn’t seem  too interested–being busy with with their individual churches & programs. 

I hope they have a change of heart, see what’s God’s doing, and join it. 

What do you see God doing? How can you be a part?