Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
It has become fashionable in some Christian circles to question the legitimacy of revival. I agree with questioning the legitimacy of what man has sometimes called revival, but we must never think we have out-grown the need for a genuine move of God. To decide that this generation does not have the need for a supernatural encounter with God means the death of tomorrow’s church.
Revival has always been an inherent part of the kingdom of God. 
The Bible, for the most part, is a book of revival. In the beginning, the Garden of Eden was the only place on earth where God ruled and reigned, it was the place of His Kingdom on earth. The rest of the earth was controlled by Satan and the fallen angels (Luke 10:18).
God gave it to man to grow the kingdom, expand His influence and rule and to subdue everything to God. That was God’s original commission. The rest of the Bible is the story of how that commission is revived and restored to us.
I use the word revival as a term used to describe particular times of God’s manifest Presence (Acts 3:19). When you think about it like that, we could easily envy the people of Old Testament times. Angels walked with them and shared a meal beneath a tree (Gen.18). God had audible conversations with people (Ex. 3).
These early visitations of God were not a revival in the New Testament sense, although they tell us a great deal about the character of God and what can happen when He shows up in powerful ways.
I think Old Testament visitations are the invitations, which reveal that God desires to encounter His people. They are an encouragement to be careful about superficial and rigid views about the way God comes and His working.
In the New Testament, God dwelt with us for thirty-three years. Along with other things, He was showing us how to fulfill the original commission.
After the ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit came down to clothe His people with power. It was a new era of both God dwelling in, on and with His people. The Book of Acts is full of accounts of frequent blessings from heaven that had far-reaching, global effect.
Church history is also full of accounts of God releasing the blessing of reviving or awakening of spiritual life upon earth. The twentieth century began with a mighty Pentecostal revival of remarkable miracles and the power of the Holy Spirit that spread across the world in that century.
Beginning in the last decade of the twentieth century, the 1990s, and continuing through the first decade of the twenty-first century, the 2000s, there were spiritual outpourings and renewals that touched much of the world. The power and love of God impacted and transformed many lives.
I believe revival is ultimately about transformation and this may be the reason doubts about revival have gained traction. Some critics of revival discount the touch of God on people’s lives. They say it is emotionalism or even demonic in nature. In some cases, it may be, but that does not discount the workings of God.
In Luke 17:11-19 is the account of ten lepers being cleansed. Only one came and fell on his face before Christ and got up whole. Does that mean that the other nine didn’t actually receive a genuine touch from God?
Do we discount Jesus because of Judas? Do we discount Paul because of Demas (Col. 4:14 & 2 Tim. 4:10)? Should the genuineness of revival be questioned because people’s bad response?
God always takes the first step. He moves in power and gives grace and strength, that will enable us to live out the purpose of the encounter and be transformed. Our part is to humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to change us from glory to glory.
Many Blessings, BW