Revival

God is so awesome and this week has been such an answer to prayer eagerly anticipating expecting nothing but anticipating God's moving. The only thing I will add to the word's spoken by my brother in Christ is this: that it has been incredibly encouraging to see the various worship leaders from all over campus from every denomination group organization and people who do it only for their prayer lives playing together in harmony and making a beautiful sound to the Lord. Of all the things I am learning this week, we are not alone...and I mean we are not alone! Not even close...

Here are Colin's words...

A revival has begun at Cal Poly. A group of guys in Campus Crusade for Christ organized a week of prayer from 7am to 9pm every day this week. Day 1 is done and there were anywhere from 5 to 30 people meeting in the University Union square throughout the day to worship God and pray together for revival, unity in the body of Christ, and repentance, and for our campus to be saved.
There is a beauty in it all. We have been praying for this all year in my dorm room each week, and it is finally here. God's Holy Spirit is in this place and people are turning to Christ. I love the unity of it all. There are Christians from all different clubs and some not even in clubs. The differences in denomination and race and gender and all of those other outward things are being broken down, just as I have been praying for a while now. It's amazing that although I am probably not the only one to have been praying for some of these things to happen, God hears and honors my prayers. Of course, all in His timing, but He is faithful to respond and honor our requests when we just take the time and diligence to lay them before Him.
I cannot explain how the Holy Spirit is moving here, but He is, and its incredible to hear and participate in all the prayer rising up as a sweet offering to our God. I paused for a moment as we gathered in a circle of about 50 people or so and just listened to the sweet sound of everyone crying out to God, and asking Him, petitioning Him, devoting themselves to Him, repenting and turning to Him.
God has sent his spirit to dwell in us, and among us, and He is guiding this movement. I cannot expect anything, but I await what God is going to do with the rest of this week. It doesn't matter whether or not there is some dramatic thing where thousands of people fall down on their faces and accept Christ. God is moving in a big way. I cannot anticipate what God wants to do, but I offer myself up, and sacrifice this week for the purpose of prayer and being open and available to what God would have me do, have all of us do.
I have so much faith in what God is able to do. I don't doubt anything. The important thing is to just trust God and listen to Him and to facilitate a move of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We cannot do the moving, but we can ask God to move and we need to obey God when He moves us to do something. I pray above all else that the hearts of all the believers on campus would be open to what you want, God. Open our hearts that we may be silent before you and hear what you have to say to us indivudual and corporately. We are the body of Christ and yes we do make mistakes. We are the same sinners as everyone else is, but the difference is that we have freedom from Christ by the Cross to live free from sin and come close to God to know Him intimately.
This is God. He sent Jesus Christ to die for us. That is love - to sacrifice when we were still sinners that we may have the opportunity to enter into God's presence without condemnation or shame. Our God is an awesome God. I heard probably a hundred descriptions of God when we prayed as a bidy tonight. The healer, the first and last, the faithful one, the savior, our father, friend, lover, holy, mighty, good. These are but a few expressions of who God is. Not only is He just, but He is compassionate. He desires what is best for us and knows what is best for us, even died so that He could give us the life that we don't deserve, but that He wants us to live. Not only for God's sake, but for ours. Not to escape hell, but to experience real life in the way that He intended it from the beginning.
God is good. He made us to experience good and created us for good. We are fallen, but He provided a way for us to enter into that original state of being where we can live closely with God, who is good. This is why we worship. Because we don't deserve that grace. Grace is a decision by God to act despite our disobedience. We respond with gratitude. Yet there are so many people in this world that have heard about Christ but reject Him. Like a beggar slapping a man in the face for offering him bread. So are these generations who reject the love so freely and sacrificially offered. We need God, yet we act as if we didn't. Part of this week of prayer is for the purpose of interceding for the lost who need God just as much as we do.
I am excited to see how God is going to move on this campus. It isn't about numbers or quoting how many people were saved. Its about the renewing of our minds that results by choosing to sacrifice this week to God. There is much fruit and for those that choose to sacrifice, God has blessing upon blessing that He is itching to pour out if we just stop our busy lives, stop worrying about all these insignificant things, all these worldly things.
A good point was prayed out today during prayer. We want to go hang out or eat or work out, or go play games or be entertained. We live day after day doing all these things. Are they evil? no, not at all. But are we willing to sacrifice them for one day, one week? We all have schoolwork to do, responsibilities, even other kingdom work. Those are not to be neglected, but are we seeking first the kingdom of heaven? Even the works for the kingdom can become mundane and meaningless if we are doing those things with the wrong heart or the wrong motives. By setting this week aside, we are stating to eachother, and more importantly to God that we place value on God's will over our own. We pray that the world will be changed. We pray that the lost come to know God, we pray that we draw closer to God. But when it comes to taking a step of faith to sacrifice in order to mak eany one of those things happen, we back down and chicken out. It is not in our power to change the world, or change hearts. But God, you desire to use us to do those things, to witness those things. And when you do them, you desire and deserve the credit for doing them, which is worship.
I pray that the Christians on this campus will come to the UU to pray this week throughout the day and in the moring and evening times to worship and show that their faith is real, that they are wiling to act, willing to step out in faith, willing to make the sacrifice. God the sacrifice is simple- one of an open heart, of an available and undistracted mind. Willingness to obey, and a willigness to worship despite our emotions or feelings or other things going on. God, you are worthy to be worshipped without ceasing. Will those who call themselves Christians rise up and dare to offer up to God the praise that He deserves? Or do we limit that to the songs we sing, in the four walls of the church one day a week? God is worthy of infinitely more than all the worship we could offer. So why do we hesitate to sacrifice one week to Him? We sing, "You are worthy of all glory and honor and praise!", but are our lives too important? Are our activities, relationships, desires and emotions and idols worth our time? Only God is worthy. Let us sacrifice even just for a time that we will be changed, that God will shape us to be the people He wants us to be. Let Him lead us as the body of Christ in UNITY. We are an individualistic society. We need each other. We can't change the wolrd individually. Revival starts when people get together and establish community by loving on one another, worshipping together. Not just singing together. Really knowing and supporting and depending on one another, building one another up in the process.
I pray for the community of believers this week. God move in this place.