5 Shocking Ways Revival Is Sparked (And Why Most Churches Miss It)
The Bible tells us in James 1:14, that when sin finishes its work, it will bring forth death 100 percent of the time.
Unless the process of sin and death is thwarted by God—turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers—the earth and its people will continue to fall into a death spiral. This God-breathed, multigenerational movement will initiate what could only be called another Great Awakening! I believe through the wineskin of the emerging generation we are going to see people come to Christ in numbers never experienced in the history of the Church.
I find something very interesting about the first message ever preached by the Church, which the apostle Peter delivered on the day of Pentecost. In his message, Peter speaks of the prophet Joel’s Old Testament prophecy that pointed to God’s last days’ promise of a multigenerational outpouring of the Holy Spirit. How incredible that the first message ever proclaimed spoke not only to those present but also to us today! Peter ended his message with this declaration, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32 NIV).The salvation of the lost will be the fruit of both Joel and Malachi’s prophecies’ fulfilled and will stop people from being destroyed and lost for eternity.
When Generations Flow Together, the Fire Falls
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. …And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Acts 2:14-21 NIV).
Remember, every generation needs its own wineskin to effectively distribute the gospel. Let me state again, the way the Church ministered in the first century didn’t work in the fifth, the nineteenth, or the twentieth century. And now, in the twenty-first century, we need a new wineskin to address the unique challenges and opportunities of our time.
When the richness of aged wine of Abrahams is poured into the new wineskins of Isaacs, it will accelerate the work of the Kingdom in ways more glorious than words can tell. This partnership between old and new creates something extraordinary. When Abrahams pour their aged wine into Isaacs’ new wineskin, God advances His work in ways that neither generation could achieve alone. The fire of God will move through these generations, transforming the world.
Generational Partnerships That Sparked Revival
Although the primary focus of this book isn’t on ministers or within the church walls, let’s consider a few of the historic revivals where seasoned leaders mentored young ministers, combining the wisdom of the old wine with the zeal of the new.
During The First Great Awakening (1730s–1750s), Jonathan Edwards, a theological giant, provided deep doctrinal foundations and pastoral wisdom, while George Whitefield, a fiery young preacher, brought passionate, open-air evangelism. Their partnership fueled a widespread revival across the American colonies and England, awakening thousands to deep, personal faith.
The Second Great Awakening (1790s–1840s) was born when Timothy Dwight, grandson of Jonathan Edwards and president of Yale University, stirred revival among Yale students and shaped the theological climate of the time. Young evangelist Charles Finney, influenced by this awakening, developed bold revival methods that led to mass conversions across the United States, emphasizing personal salvation and social reform.
The Welsh Revival (1904–1905) rose as Evan Roberts, though young himself, mentored others. Though in his twenties, Roberts carried deep spiritual maturity and mentored younger preachers including Seth Joshua, who ignited revival meetings. Their emphasis on prayer, repentance, and Spirit-led worship led to more than 100,000 conversions in Wales, influencing global revival movements.
Then we have The Azusa Street Revival (1906–1915). William J. Seymour, a humble but powerful preacher, mentored a new wave of evangelists, including Aimee Semple McPherson, who later led healing revivals and founded the Foursquare Church. This movement birthed modern Pentecostalism, emphasizing Spirit baptism, miracles, and interracial unity.
The Jesus Movement (1960s–1970s) came forward as Chuck Smith, a grounded Bible teacher, mentored radical young evangelists including Lonnie Frisbee, whose charismatic preaching brought thousands of hippies to Christ. This movement emphasized personal transformation, such as Greg Laurie’s story through worship, and a return to simple, New Testament-style Christianity.
Although these examples point to God movements led by ministers, the principles apply to all of us, regardless of our vocation. There are no distinctions between sacred and non-sacred vocations in Christ’s body. In fact, the greatest need for pastors and ministers in this movement will be to lead with the intent of getting it into the hands of God’s people and to thrive beyond the church walls.
This movement will not be centered on pastors, pulpits, or select ministers, but rather on the entire body of Christ—each doing their part in their specific sphere of influence. It will be a multigenerational movement of sheep giving birth to sheep and sheep discipling sheep. Shepherds are not designed to reproduce sheep. It’s everyday believers—not just pastors or leaders—who are called to lead others to Christ and help them grow in faith, because in nature, it’s sheep who reproduce sheep, not shepherds.
His Direction Changed Everything!
When God spoke to my heart and said, “If you humble yourself and obey Me, I will permit you to take your wine and pour it into their wineskin,” that…changed…everything!
Suddenly, I no longer saw my role as someone who needed to control or shape the new wineskin but as someone called to prepare and invest in the next generation—to trust God in them, just as others had trusted God in me!
This shift impacted every part of my ministry. I began to see the younger generation with fresh eyes, recognizing their unique calling and the ways God was moving through them. I also saw my own deficits and the limitations of the wineskin my generation had built more clearly—not because it was flawed, but because it wasn’t designed to reach the broken places this new wineskin would touch.
God showed me that this wasn’t about my preferences or opinions; it was about trusting Him and His workings in the emerging, Isaac generation. He was about to build a new wineskin for a new generation, and he was graciously permitting me to serve those who would build it.
A Wineskin Revealing a Relational Move of the Holy Spirit
In late summer of 2020, my wife, Michelle, and I took a two-month sabbatical—something we should have done years earlier. (Don’t wait 27 years to do this if you serve in a senior leadership role.) During this time I realized the wineskin of my generation was stretched to its limits and could not be the distributor of the new wine to come. The Holy Spirit made clear to me that the “attractional wineskin” of conducting church services, built by my generation, was coming to an end and that His breath upon it was diminishing.
God formed the “attractional wineskin” to reach those in my generation. On one extreme, it reached people who thought church was irrelevant and dead. On the other extreme, it reached people who were put off by church services that mixed the work of the Holy Spirit with a strong dash of “crazy.” This “attractional wineskin,” far from perfect, soon developed around the world. God formed it, and people from every nation began to conduct services in a manner consistent with one another.
Much of the “attractional wineskin” centered on creating an environment in our church services that welcomed unbelievers. When we planned and conducted our weekend services, we prayed for and thought through the service in anticipation of their needs. We intentionally removed barriers that would hinder them from hearing and receiving the gospel. Much of it focused on the actual church ser-vice, platform, or the pastor. In the more than 30-year history of our church, we have seen well over 24,000 people make Christ the Lord of their lives.
It was clear to me that the new wineskin God was about to form would not revolve around pastors, pulpits, or platforms, but would flourish in the everyday lives of believers. It would be a genuine out-pouring of the Holy Spirit and His gifts, in the everyday, relational lives of His people.
Imagine a scenario where a coworker opens up about a struggle, and you pray for them, in a normal tone of voice and without drama. In that moment, the gifts of the Spirit—healing, wisdom, prophecy—are released. Hearts are opened, lives are changed, the power of God is revealed, and the gospel is shared in a way that feels natural and authentic. This move of God is about people authentically carrying the presence of God into their daily lives.
This is not to suggest that church services won’t play a pivotal part in what God is doing. It is just going to be different from the previous generation. God showed me that this relational wineskin would address broken places my generation didn’t reach, and it would move behind the currently impenetrable walls of our culture. It would be a wineskin that would take the gospel into the LGBTQ, academic, and governmental realms.
Every human being is the object of God’s love and the reason Jesus gave His life. The emerging wineskin will penetrate these broken walls. Where my generation often created an “us and them” narrative, the emerging generation’s story will not. What became, in many cases, political opponents to my generation, will be the mission field of the emerging generation. Oh, how I long to see those trapped in darkness come to Christ and be set free.
This wineskin will not compromise or abandon biblical truth. It will create a God-breathed way to connect with people who feel unreachable. So, this expression of the power of the Holy Spirit will be relational. It will flourish within the church but will find its greatest expression and fruitfulness mainly outside the church, centered on the people of the church, not leadership within the church.
