by Dan Jones
On Monday at lunch time, Kinship Christian Radio Announcer Steve Ware played a new song by Third Day called, “Revival,” which I very much enjoyed. (If you haven’t heard it, keep listening, it will be played again.)
And last week, I wrote about revival going on in Cuba, which I shared with a dear pastor friend and she told me there’s a revival going on right now in New York City.
New York City? Can anything good come out of New York City?
But, my pastor friend is an imminently reliable source, so I diligently did my research and sure enough, the Holy Spirit is indeed moving in power in the Big Apple.
I found a July 9, 2015 article from the New York Times that reported on the growth of a church in the city called Aliento de Vida (Breath of Life) founded by a pastor and his wife from the Dominican Republic 14 years ago. It grew from humble beginnings of ten members to a congregation of over 2,000 people from 30 different countries –and it is now growing to the point where Aliento de Vida has planted churches on Staten Island, in Florida, in the Dominican Republic and in Colombia. It even has its own television network.
Aliento de Vida’s membership is largely immigrants, and the church does many things to minister to their needs including legal aid and ESL classes. The worship style is the “more intimate style of the Latin American church,” but the main purpose and focus is exactly what a church is called to do, and that is saving souls.
The Times article quotes an expert who estimates the growth of evangelical Christianity in New York City at 22% between 2000 and 2015.
Next, I found a Nov. 22, 2016 article from Charisma News with the headline “Transforming Revival: NYC Could Be Christian Majority City by 2026.”
Whoa. That’s quite a claim.
Charisma News says that, in 1989, less than 1% of New Yorkers attended church, but that figure is now 5%. Most of that growth has come in the last five years –and the fastest growing segment of the church-going segment is millennials. Many of the new and rapidly-growing churches don’t even have their own buildings as they rent out secular locations for Sunday services.
But the most interesting article I found was from Feb. 26 of this year in Relevant online magazine, which reports that “Christianity is exploding at unprecedented rates—as in, 300 percent growth in 20 years.”
What’s more, the churches that are springing up don’t look like typical churches with “freshly-painted white steeples.” Relevant says, “Many of the city’s most prominent and influential churches don’t even have a permanent location—much less a sign tacked on the front.” Churches rent music halls, elementary schools, and other secular locations. At the legendary Irving Plaza, Hillsong NYC draws people to stand in line hoping they can get a seat for worship.
There’s more, or course, in thousands of articles spread across the vast landscape of the internet, but the common thread is that people are people and we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that can only be filled with the love of Jesus Christ.
So know this, fellow disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ: It’s not too late for this country to change, awaken, repent, and revive. It’s never too late, because it’s not over until God says it’s over.
And, as Steve Ware said right after he played my new favorite song, “Revival begins with you.”
Today’s Praise
Anybody here looking for revival
In our own hearts and across the land
Anybody looking for a revival
Lift up your voice and say Amen
Lift up your voice and say Amen
Say Amen!
Holy Ghost revival’s what we’re talking about
Say Amen!
God is gonna move and there ain’t no doubt
God is gonna move and there ain’t no doubt
Come with me
Come on with me, yeah!
(Partial lyrics, “Revival” by Third Day)