He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” ~ Eze 37:3
God is moving in Silicon Valley. He is moving in the house churches, He is moving in the denominations. He is moving is charismatic circles, He is moving among the Bible believers. He is moving among the young, the old, the rich and poor. Jesus loves His Bride, everywhere she is, and is calling her to deeper, more intimate walk with Himself!
I wanted to start with my punchline, in case you didn’t make it through the bits of narration. I know that not all people will respond to His call to move deeper, but He is giving the call everywhere, to all His churches. He doesn’t limit his efforts, and the Holy Spirit doesn’t only reside in the new places where His Bride gathers, but in all places the church meets.
Christ loves His Bride, everywhere she gathers!
The above Ezekiel 37 verse was brought to mind as I was driving away from a very frustrating lunch conversation I had with an ex-pastor of a traditional church who had moved into serving in a new stream of God’s kingdom. We had been talking about the hope for revival, the stirring up of passion for God, the zealous pursuit of His Kingdom and where we could both increase our efforts in His revival for this area.
We were in total agreement, until I mentioned my hope for renewal in the older traditional churches of Silicon Valley (large & small, charismatic or Bible focused, English or not). See, I have a faith that the Lord is stirring up His bride in all places she resides, including the denominational churches, but this pastor friend only believed in the ‘new wineskins‘; the prayer fellowships, the house churches and the spontaneous discipleship groups. In his mind the ‘old wineskins‘ of structured buildings, children or youth programs and other outreaches, will not be used by the Holy Spirit in the next move of revival in Silicon Valley.
Does God only move in new wineskins, to the detriment of the old? I don’t think so.
He even went so far as to say that any strong follower of Christ should leave those churches and ‘join the new movements of the Spirit’. I was literally at a loss of words due to the passion he was stating his points. We wrapped up lunch cordially, but I was disturbed in my spirit and immediate sought the Lord on my way home from lunch.
Gladly the Lord immediately brought to mind Eze 37, where God showed Ezekiel dry bones, and then God asked him prophesy flesh and life into the bones. I felt the conclusion God was driving at was:
God didn’t show the dry bones to Ezekiel, and then move him to a new valley and create new people from dust.
No, God told Ezekiel to prophesy flesh and life into the old bones, and God is still doing that in His churches today.
I am not saying that God isn’t moving in new, creative way to enlarge His Kingdom here, He is! But God isn’t only using new moves, but also reviving old groups, establishing increased vigor among older denominations, and showing Himself in new ways to pastors, teachers and prayer leaders who still call a traditional church their home. He can, and He will!
If Jesus can restore Peter to his full call after his denials, and if Jesus can pen revival letters in Revelation CH 3, 4 to churches in various states of decay or vibrancy, then He can surely speak over all the churches in Silicon Valley and call us to move more deeply, and walk more freely with Him.
