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Why I Believed I Could NEVER Be Part Of Revivals & WHAT CHANGED MY MIND

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While at Roberts Wesleyan College, majoring in Religion Philosophy and minoring in Psychology, I did a paper for my psychology course which I titled “The Psychology of Revivals.” I truly desired to be part of a revival.


Revivals are Christological in focus and emotionally fervent

My concluding statement in that paper was that “revivals are Christological in focus and emotionally fervent.” To put that in plain English, revivalist preaching focuses on the life of Jesus, and revivals involve a great amount of emotional intensity.

That saddened me for several reasons. I was taught dispensationalism, the belief that the lifestyle of Jesus was not available to me during this time period. That meant I could not hear God's voice, see visions, or move in the power of the Holy Spirit. This belief pushed me toward preaching from Paul's epistles since doctrine now became central, displacing an intimate love relationship with Jesus. Another reason I rejected revivals was because there was no way I was going to lower myself to be governed by my emotions. You see, at that point in my life I strongly believed that emotions were soulish, unreliable and untrustworthy. They had no place in a mature Christians lifestyle. Theology and the mind ruled.

So I made a terrible decision 

It’s too bad that I will never be able to be part of revival." 

However, today God has completely changed my mind about this. I have rejected dispensationalism and I believe that I can live the lifestyle of Jesus. I believe Jesus’ death on the cross provided at least 12 divine life-transforming exchanges. My preaching centers on us replicating the lifestyle of Jesus. Jesus lives within us through the Holy Spirit. His love, grace and power flow out through the heart of every Christian and this transforms every aspect of our lives.

I now live focused on Jesus, seeing Jesus at my right hand (Acts 2:25; Ps. 16:8), and turning to Him for His input about everything I do. I no longer need to ask, “What WOULD Jesus do?” I now ask, “Jesus, what ARE You doing?” He isn’t dead or un-communicative. He is alive, Immanuel, God with us. As His sheep, we hear His voice (Jn. 10:27). We get to live and walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).


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Concerning emotions: Are they really all that bad?

Spurgeon discusses the fact that the compassion Jesus felt was so strong the Gospel writers needed to create a new word to describe it. They turned the word "compassion" from a noun to a verb. Jesus, moved by compassion, healed (Matt. 14:14). Compassion was the carrier wave upon which healing power rode.

God sent Ezekiel “embittered in the rage of his spirit" (Ezek. 3:14). Here we find an example of an emotion that is in his spirit, not his soul. It was put there by God and it was a driving force of his ministry! Wow!

Roaring sure involves emotional intensity. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah roars at the enemy (Hos. 11:10). This emotional intensity, once again, is a carrier wave for the power of the Holy Spirit to destroy the works of the enemy.

Proper use of mind, will and emotions

It is interesting that even though I believed mind, will and emotions were soulish and to be set aside by a spiritual Christian, all I actually set aside was emotions (except anger, which I clung on to). I still used my mind to build a theology concerning the Lord, and I still set my will to come against sin in my life. So it was really only most emotions that I rejected. However, that way of using my mind and the will was also incorrect.

  1. Now I present my mind to the Lord, asking for Him to illumine my thoughts as He did the disciples on the Emmaus road, and the result is that I experience my heart burning within as He opens Scriptures to me (Lk. 24:32).
  2. Concerning my will: Now, rather than setting my will to attack sin, I set my will to come to Jesus and ask Him to circumcise my heart of sinful desires, and give me a new heart. I set my will to ask the Holy Spirit to anoint me with the power of Almighty God. He does.
  3. Concerning emotions, I gaze upon the pictures God gives me, and His resulting emotions flow. This is because emotions are by-products of the pictures I gaze upon. So I can always have the Kingdom emotions of love, joy and peace (Rom. 14:17) by simply deciding to ONLY gaze upon the pictures of what Jesus is doing!

Does honoring emotions cause marriages to become unstable, or might emotions strengthen a marriage?

People might ask, "Well, what happens when the emotion of romance wears off in your marriage? If you are allowing emotions to influence you, aren't you setting yourself up for a divorce?" Not really, because I have already asked God for His vision concerning my wife and our marriage. His response was to honor Patti the way He made her and to love and cherish her and help her fulfill her destiny. She is perfectly designed by God to complement me and help me fulfill God’s destiny for my life, even as I help her fulfill God’s destiny for her life. Since emotions are by-products of pictures, and I am gazing upon godly pictures concerning the gift that my marriage is, love and romance continue strong. Even lost love can be restored by remembering your first love, and going back to do the things you once did (Rev. 2:4,5). Gazing upon God’s picture of the gift that your spouse is will restore love, honor and appreciation for the fact God puts opposites together so we can become whole. A woman wants and needs to feel emotional warmth from her husband, so honoring emotions will strengthen your marriage.

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4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 305 Pages | Retail: $16.99

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond?


Price: $14.95

Dialogue with God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 296 Pages

This top seller for 30 years from Bridge Logos provides a narrative, right-brain presentation of the principles of how to hear God's voice. Especially enjoyable for personal use, it makes a great gift for introducing a loved one to the voice of God. This book teaches the four keys to hearing God's voice in readable style, and also devotes two entire chapters to moving samples of people's journaling (i.e. their two-way dialogue with God).

Price: $17.95
Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

9 Books | 10 CDs | 10 DVDs | Save Over 20%

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond? When things don't seem to be going your way and your prayers aren't answered the way you had hoped, wouldn't it be great to hear Him tell you where He is in the midst of it, and what He is working out in your life? Are you ever just a little bit jealous of others who say with such confidence, "The Lord said...."?

Price: $175.00

How to Hear God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 317 Pages

We recommend that you order the newest revision of this book titled 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice. It includes 95% of the content of How to Hear God's Voice but is reorganized so it fits perfectly with the 10 DVDs on this subject by Mark Virkler. In addition, it gets you started using the four keys earlier in the book and gives you more journaling samples and exercises. Since we have removed the large margins, it is a smaller and less expensive book.

Price: $24.95

Prayers That Heal the Heart - Revised & Expanded 20th Anniversary Edition

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 320 Pages

Prayer counseling that breaks every yoke! Everything you need to experience deep healing of your soul and spirit.

Did you know that you don’t need to be continually plagued by negative thoughts, feelings, pictures or memories?

It is not part of the "human condition" to feel the constant nagging of doubt, insecurity, or anger. No matter what sin you are trying to overcome, what lie you think you’ll always believe, or what traumas your heart has suffered in the past, you will receive total freedom and restoration by praying these prayers in faith. 

Price: $19.95

Twelve Weeks to Spiritual Mastery - Group Coaching

A group coaching experience with Mark Virkler

Because I could not find a Spirit-anointed teacher/coach, I spent ten extremely frustrating years seeking to hear God’s voice!!! Suggestions offered did not help me, things like: “You just know that you know. It is a still small voice. He speaks from your heart.” No one could give me the answer I needed which was: Hearing God’s voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, recognizing His voice as spontaneous, flowing thoughts and writing down His flow as it is coming. Test what you have written after the flow is done, NOT while it is occurring.

Price: $1,200.00

Counseled by God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 146 Pages

Have you ever been defeated by negative emotions such as anger, fear, guilt, inferiority, condemnation or depression? Have you tried to fight them off unsuccessfully? Is there an answer that is deeper than simply trying to mentally reason yourself out of these emotions? Is there a way that Jesus can speak a word of life into the depths of your emotional despair and bring healing on a deep level? Is there a form of Christian counseling that begins and ends with the movement of Christ within your heart, rather than simply with the words of man?

Price: $10.95
Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook Cover

Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 92 Pages

A newer book has been released that accompanies this workbook: Click here for Hearing God Through Your Dreams by Charity Kayembe and Mark Virkler (featured on Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural", with almost a million views just on YouTube).


Do you often wake up feeling there was a significant message in your dream, but you’re just not sure what it is? Like Daniel and Joseph, do you long to be able to help others understand their own dreams and win them to Christ as you explain His night messages to them? Wouldn't it be nice if you could receive mid-course corrections from the Lord while you sleep? Do you wish you could be receiving divine inspiration, creative solutions to problems, and direction from the Lord during that third of your life that you’re “just” sleeping?

Price: $11.95

Hearing God Through Your Dreams

by Mark Virkler and Charity Virkler Kayembe | 292 Pages

Learn How to Hear God’s Voice, Even When You Are Sleeping

It is always fun to be on the winning team. Well look what God has done with Charity's new dreams teaching. It has taken off like a rocket with a live TV interview on Cornerstone Network and her Sid Roth interview which has almost a million views on YouTube!

Price: $16.99

Everyday Angels

by Charity Virkler Kayembe and Joe Brock 289 Pages

You can partner with Heaven’s angelic hosts!

Do you have guardian angels? Does God want you to know them? Find out what Scripture reveals and how YOU can interact with the company of Heaven!

The supernatural realm permeates our natural world! Therefore, experiencing angels should be an everyday occurrence–we simply need to open our spiritual eyes to their reality and role in our lives.

Price: $16.99

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