BIG STEPS FOR A BIG VISION

Jesus gives big vision to small men and pulls it off through them. Always has, always will.

Matthew 28:18-20 says it all:

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I never get tired of seeing that vision because it’s a big and good and wonderful vision of people transformation that the God of Creation and Re-Creation has been doing and IS doing as we speak.

Just this week FORGE pastors were a part of a baptism of a new convert to Jesus and it was wonderful to be involved in what God has been doing in saving men! We are small men being used by a big God. Glorious!

Step by step. Person by person God is redeeming the lost. Incremental steps forward in Kingdom building. The Good Shepherd leaves the 99 and goes after the lost sheep. Normally. Each person is worth it!

But Sometimes…sometimes…big steps in Kingdom advance happen and they surprise everyone. They’re called revivals. Let me tell you about one.

Jeremiah Lanphier was a man we don’t know a ton about, but he was born in 1809 and as a young man headed to New York City to build a career in business. When he hit 33, he was converted to faith in Christ at a church in Lower Manhattan and continued on in business…the same on the outside…

…but he was different on the inside!

After 20 years in business he decided it was time to focus full time on ministry and somehow got a job with the North Dutch Church at the corner of William and Fulton Streets in NYC. Ok, what’s a local missionary do?

Apparently the church didn’t give him much guidance, but Jeremiah decided to evangelize the lower classes of people. He wasn’t a flash success. But he got another idea:

Start a businessman’s lunch- one hour prayer session for revival in NYC. Kick off date: September 23, 1857. Publicity done.

For the first 30 minutes he sat alone in the third-floor classroom. Eventually six, count them, six men showed up to pray. Next week there were 20. By early October more than 30 men were praying during their lunch break.

Bigger room needed.

Jeremiah did more publicity.

By November, The New York Observer ran an article on this men’s event:

Starts at 12:00 sharp.
Ends at 1:00 sharp.
The room is full and crowded.
Has moved from once a week to daily.
Businessmen come and go as they need to.
Not one woman in the meeting
A hymn kicks it off. 200 male voices. Majestic!
A man could pray at the podium or exhort the crowd for 5 minutes max. Then he would be interrupted.
No weird stuff going on.
Not one woman in the meeting.

Did I tell you, no woman in the meeting? Men. Business men. History tells us that what Jeremiah Lanphier started was a year later over 10,000 strong and growing. Eventually it became a national event, what some call The Third Great Awakening.

A revival that started through men. Yup, I Timothy 2:1-8 on sterroids.
It spread to Boston, Philadelphia, the Midwest, college campuses, overseas.

Revival.

The United States had about 30 million people during this time. In the years 1857-1859 churches added some 475,000 members. People became serious about Jesus Christ, Bible reading, true confession of sin, concern for the souls of lost and dying people and a culture out of control.

Sometimes…sometimes, God pours out His Spirit in surprising ways to take His big Kingdom vision ahead big steps.

We don’t tell God what to do. But we can pray for His Spirit to give us the Greater Orlando area. What would it be like if all of us men pray for revival? What if you start a group and pray with some men for an hour a week, or 30 minutes a week, simply for revival.

A modern-day businessman’s revival.

Have you noticed that I’m sort of deliberately not trying to overly motivate you? If the Spirit inspires you pray and get other men to pray! If we do, it’s proof that anything God does through our prayers is truly of God and not something we’re trying to manufacture. We’re not advocating a program here. We’re simply seeking our glorious God to bring His grace to people all around us who desperately need Him.

I’m praying for our great God to move His big Kingdom vision ahead big steps in our time.

Join me?

Jesus gives big vision to small men and pulls it off through them. Always has, always will. Nothing will be better!

You take it to heart,

Pete Alwinson

Read more by one of my seminary professors, John Woodbridge: A God-Sized Vision, Revival Stories That Stretch and Stir , Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge. Zondervan, 2010.