Blog Articles
A Complete God
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The inspired precision of Genesis 1:27 reveals the image of God has attributes both male and female. In familiar terms, God possesses both fatherly and motherly...
Too Deep? …or Perpetual Milk-Drinkers?
Occasionally, I hear someone say, “I like preaching that is easy to understand, and, I’m sorry, but that was a little deep for me.” Is this legitimate criticism? Well, perhaps. If a speaker is inclined to use complicated, unfamiliar terms or is so tedious that things...
Revival Access: Personal and Corporate
Revival is life again! A restoration to life; to spiritual life. Broadly speaking, it is a restoration to the life of God. On an individual level, revival is the filling of the Spirit, the action of the Spirit filling you with the life of Jesus Christ and restoring...
New Book: Experiencing Jesus
Is experiencing Jesus the supreme reality of your present experience, or is it otherwise—perhaps, quite otherwise? Bad habits…have any? And are they getting worse rather than better? As for besetting sins—have you overcome them, or does sin maintain its...
Fresh Joy
What a prospect for a new year—fresh joy! Isaiah 29:19 declares, “The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.” The idea is that the humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. With the prospect of a fresh year, I want that fresh joy! I’m assuming you...
No Impossible “Rhema”
Many are quite familiar with the verse, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Certainly, this is a wonderful promise! But understanding the context and specific nature of this promise makes it even more blessed. The context is part of the Christmas...
Spirits versus Spirit
The authority of Scripture commands, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess [dissipation]; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Many today in the Christian realm seem to be re-thinking the matter of drinking alcoholic beverages. Re-thinking is not...
Let Go and Let God
“Let go and let God.” Is this language to be embraced or shunned? Saints of God from the past gladly used this phrase. Today, some disdain it. It seems there is great misunderstanding. That some may use this terminology carelessly or inaccurately is possible, although...
Bless the Lord!
The psalmist said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1). “I will bless the Lord.” Usually we think in terms of the Lord blessing us—and God knows how much we need it. But the inference here speaks of us...
Second Blessing or Second Rest
Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Most agree this is a beautiful invitation to salvation. This is the “first rest.” But then Jesus continues, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am...
Lifting Up Holy Hands
In my journey with the Lord there have many times, whether individually or in a corporate gathering, where I have been stirred to raise my hands to God in either prayer or praise. In earlier years if I was in a corporate setting, I either did this during prayer—so no...
The Necessity of Hunger
God satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness (Psalm 107:9). My father used to say that hunger is a major key to growing spiritually. When we think of the physical analogy, this really makes sense. Hungry people eat, and nourished people...
4 Steps to Using Gospel Tracts Effectively
“But a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds … fell into good ground” (Matt. 13:3-8). Throughout my years in evangelism crisscrossing the country, from time to time I meet people who were saved through a gospel tract. God uses gospel tracts to the...
Prayer First, Then Revival
In the 1920s God blessed the Lisu people of western China with an awakening movement bringing hundreds of families to Christ. Churches sprang up in the path of the awakening. The instrument God used was James O. Fraser, and the vital intercessors were Frazer's mother...
It’s Not “Who’s Right?” But “What’s Right?”
Several years ago I was speaking with a dear friend, an airline pilot who is truly a brilliant man and manifestly loves the Lord. As we were discussing a particular topic, we found ourselves on two different sides of an issue. As men do, we bantered the issue back and...
Announcing Evangelist Will Geiseman
An evangelist is one whom God has called and gifted to specialize in the “evangel”—the Gospel! The Gospel includes justification by grace through faith in Christ alone and sanctification by grace through faith in the same Jesus. The former is the Gospel to sinners and...
Sinless Perfection Versus Sinless Provision
Is sinless perfection possible this side of heaven? I wish it was! I wish I could believe it. If it is, sadly my experience does not match. However, the Scripture says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But...
2017 National Symphony of Prayer for Revival
A “symphony of prayer” involves God’s people coming together to “agree” (lit. symphonize) regarding that for which they “ask” (Matt. 18:18-20). This symphony of prayer is specifically to pray for revival and another great awakening. To prepare our hearts there will...
2017 CLC Report
We thank the Lord for what He has done at the 2017 Christ Life Conference! Watch "2017 CLC Report" below. More details coming soon! Hello, I’m John Van Gelderen. I am an evangelist and the president of Revival Focus Ministries, an...
The Rain of the Spirit
One of the great imageries of the outpouring of the Spirit of God in revival is rain—a deluge of rain. The Psalmist says, “He shall come down like rain … as showers that water the earth” (Psalm 72:6). God Himself says dramatically, “Drop down, ye heavens, from above,...
Why the Christ Life Conference?
Many valuable conferences offer a variety of help. When so many good conferences vie for attention, why the Christ Life Conference? The primary answer is the focus is always on experiencing Jesus! While sub-themes provide specific application each year, the main theme...
Leading versus Lording: An Examination of the Extent of “Pastoral Authority”
Often I hear people refer to “pastoral authority”? Is this a legitimate terminology? Is it a correct concept? Is it right to connect the word authority with the word pastoral? It depends on how you define it—like the world, no; like the New Testament, yes. “Feed the...
Christ Life Conference Overview
The 2017 Christ life Conference is a spiritual clinic where we allow the Word and the Spirit to diagnose our need and point us to the cure in Jesus. This year we are considering the vital connection between personal revival and the greater movements of the Spirit. To...
2 Chronicles 7:14: God’s “If…Then” Offer
Several years ago my son wanted to earn some money when we came home for the holidays. A giant walnut tree dominates our backyard. So, being a city boy who doesn’t know country living, I offered my son 25 cents for every walnut he picked up—thinking there were no more...
Three Reasons Evangelists Still Exist
Some challenge the existence of the evangelist, and therefore, the legitimacy of their ministry today. But this minimization seems to be more from prejudice or misinformation than anything substantive. Let’s consider three reasons the gift of the evangelist still...
Why Churches Still Need Evangelists
Why do churches still need evangelists? This question is akin to asking, “Why do people with physical issues still need specialists?” Of course, the answer is—they specialize! When you need eye care, you don’t go to a general practitioner; you go to an eye doctor. If...
Law and Grace
In my own revival journey, I began to use the terminology of grace and the Spirit-filled life, but my focus was still on “It’s gotta look like this….” This is ultimately a law-focus. Further in my journey the Lord opened my eyes not only to Jesus as the source of life...
Honoring the Holy Spirit as God
Several years ago in a question and answer time on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a leading deacon of a church said tongue-in-cheek, yet with a real degree of honesty, “I thought the Fundamentalists had the Father and the Son, but the Charismatics had the Holy...
Greatest Strength and Weakness of Independent Baptist Churches
Last week on the Revival Focus Facebook and Twitter accounts, we asked what people considered to be the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of Independent Baptist churches. Regarding the greatest strength, for the most part the responses indicated a high view...
The Overcoming Positive of the Spirit
Sometimes we get things backwards in our minds. This can apply to scriptural emphasis. When this occurs it hinders our spiritual progress. For example the Scripture says, “The works of the flesh are manifest…But the fruit of the Spirit is…” (Gal. 5:19-23). The list of...
