The Church of Yippie Yahoo!

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“Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere.” (Matthew 24:24, The Message).

There is much talk these days about mighty revivals that are happening here and there, now and then -- yet nothing seems to be changing really. In an objective analysis, these heated moments are limited in scope, short-lived in notoriety, and superficial in influence. It's the difference between a geyser and a river. Geysers are fun and spectacular; but rivers sustain life.

These outpourings come suddenly, and fade quietly away after enough people have handled the wares. The roll call continues to grow -- Kansas City, Toronto, Pensacola, Brownsville, and Lakeland. What city will the circus visit next? Where next will the Church of Yippee Yahoo be holding a meeting?

Is this revival? Really?

It looks more like a super-sale where scores line up and wait for the doors to open, and then rush the table to get the deal of a life-time, and then make sure that everybody else knows every detail of how they managed to do so. After a short sensational burst, the sales begins to wane.

Latecomers find the sales tables in a mess, with remnants scattered here and there; odd items of unmatched clothes, and few ties that won't go with any suit. Soon the whole affair is discarded, as the shoppers scour the ads for the next Big Sale.

Is this the best we can do? Here and there; now and then? What we need is a true and lasting move of God’s Spirit across the land, unsensational and without fanfare; one that turns men’s hearts in repentance and faith, and unleashes a work of grace that repairs the breaches and heals the broken.

And when that happens we really will say, “Yippee Yahoo!”
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