Shillong Revival

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place

Eyewitness: Sheila Cherian - Part 2

Text Box: Where & When did this season of the Shillong Revival begin? In the last week of April 2006, the Presbyterian Church in Shillong decided to commemorate the centenary of the marvelous Khasi Jaintia Hills revival of 1906 & celebratory meetings were arranged in this regard. The location decided on for this event (week long –18th to 23rd April, 2006) was the rural parish of “Mairang” – where the Khasi revival of 1906 had begun. This event seems to have marked the beginning of this present sovereign move of the Holy Spirit in & around Shillong. By way of supernatural signs & wonders, a fresh fervor was evident at the centenary celebration event itself, though not very much more in terms of supernatural signs & wonders, but the current season of spiritual revival has definitely accelerated from then on. Beginning first in the rural churches of Shillong (the Presbyterian denomination primarily), this season of revival has spilled over into urban Presbyterian parishes & then on into schools & colleges in & around Shillong. Beginning with the month of August 2006, there has come a conspicuous & significant shift in pattern. No longer is the revival limited to Presbyterian Church turf – but it spills over powerfully into educational institutions irrespective of the institution’s philosophical/ religious ideology. (You could read more about this in secular media reports – links are indicated in the “News Clippings” section of the website. Common Experiences & Descriptions of Heaven from those who have been there: What I mean is that, youngsters coming from diverse varieties of faith backgrounds have been enjoying heightened spiritual encounters with Jesus leaving them with: the great peace of being reconciled to their Maker, exceeding joy & feelings of deep happiness & pleasure of an elevated/spiritual kind. This is accompanied by a sure & confident hope of a glorious future with Jesus after this lifetime. Several hundreds testify to being transported to heaven with Jesus & there are many, many descriptions (all amazing in their similarity of content) of heaven’s beautiful, beautiful gardens filled with varieties of fruit trees & myriad birds & animals & angels of course, in plenty!!! A few say about connecting with young siblings who have gone on before them (or died, in common parlance!), recognizing them immediately as they meet them. One child said he even recognized instantly 2 siblings who had died before this particular child was born into the family! “How did he know it was them? I queried” “Oh of course! You just know”, was his answer! What is the effect of such dramatic encounters with the Real World Eternal? Amazingly, “FREEDOM TO CHOOSE” continues to be the byline: The immediate effect of such dramatic encounters commonly is a deep sense of sin & terrible unworthiness before the now inescapable awareness of an INCREDIBLY LOVING, YET AWESOMELY HOLY & MIGHTY GOD. No longer are there convenient smoke screens that ones indecision can hide behind. The truth stares all, right in the face – waiting only for the individual’s choice that each will now have to make in the light of this powerful, undeniable evidence of God. Of course if like an ostrich with its head in the sand, we choose not to know or not to see or not to act on the vivid evidence now staring in the face – we needn’t. For that too – to not see & to not act - is an equally valid choice. God ALWAYS respects our individuality. Remember - It was His idea in the first place to decide that the essence of being human would be in giving us the Freedom of Choice. The Lord doesn’t seem to have changed His mind since!!! “FREEDOM TO CHOOSE” the Bible repeatedly reiterates - remains with the individual. It has been so ever since the Garden of Eden & will remain so until the end of time as we know it on this earth! So in the final analysis it is very simple really – each of our lives after all is only the sum total of all our life choices. So it is absolutely critical that we make choices that are both wise & honest & genuine; & conforming to whatever measure of light & truth that God in His immense mercy has already revealed to each of us. But while we each will be held accountable only to the measure of light God already shown us about Himself; to seek God’s Truth & Light is our individual prerogative & responsibility. That ball is most definitely in our court. Seek & you shall find, is the promise of Scripture. Conversely, wouldn’t it be that if you don’t seek, then don’t be surprised when you do not find? If it is not important enough for you to invest your time seeking, then why would you expect the Lord to waste His eternal priceless truths on you? Wouldn’t the Lord in His wisdom invest His truth where there is likely ROI or Return on Investment? Again, isn’t that the principle that we apply all the time when we need to update our learning on anything we think is important, be it any area of learning? Wouldn’t we need to make the effort to access learning from a place of learning – be it a school or college or some other institution or resource of higher learning that offers to teach us what we seek or want to learn? Wouldn’t we all agree that it is normal to expect that ball to be in our court? This very same principle applies in the realm of spiritual things as well. In fact, the understanding of many is that the physical realm mimics much of what is going on in the spiritual realm. So this is merely another case in point. No longer Business as Usual. “Stands & Courts” differentiation: The shocking & scandalous personal awareness post such an encounter with Jesus, goes something like this – How can it POSSIBLY, EVER, be true that the Lord God of all heaven & earth loves me DESPITE ALL my inadequacies & shameful secrets & personal messes that are always staring me in the face??? The Bible recognizes this as the sin which ensnares each of us ever so easily. The Bible also confirms that “ALL” have come short of the Glory of God. In other words, not one of us can meet God’s standards for holiness & earn our own salvation, left to ourselves; however righteous or good we are. In the very best of our intentions & actions, we miss the mark of purity. And in the saintliest of lives, the individual is deeply aware of his/her own moral shortcomings. Which is the reason why Jesus had to come to earth as the only acceptable sacrifice that would satisfy a holy God’s standards of both Justice & Mercy. In accepting the completed work of Jesus on the Cross, we have our only hope of salvation & the surety of spending eternity with Him in heaven. I have witnessed young children (as young as 7 & 8 yrs old) weeping bitter, copious tears of repentance for lies they have told! There is no escaping the consciousness of sin in the presence of a Holy God. Exponentially what would be my degree or level of sinfulness in comparison, I idly wonder? And if so, what extent of appropriate sorrow should I be experiencing that I cannot, for the life of me manufacture for myself at this time? It is like an analogy I sometimes use to explain why we cannot enter into the presence of the Holy God in our sinful selves – when paper comes into the presence of fire; it is the nature of paper to burn up in fire’s presence. Fire doesn’t really have to go out of its way to consume paper. And so it is with us. In the presence of an Absolutely Holy God, our impure selves will be consumed; we will not be able to encounter God in His Holiness & come out unscathed. I have heard adults confess of having taken money that did not belong to them. Of common confessions of addictions, unforgiveness …And so on & so forth …. Very common sins all of us are more than aware of in our own lives, so I don’t need to list them here. I have heard of more stories than I could keep count of - stories of deep personal remorse, bitter tears, confession & repentance AND importantly a decisive turning away from habitual pathways to sin. Like I just said, the deep remorse & sorrow is almost always followed by a purely voluntary decision to live in a manner that would honor God. No wonder the Bible comments that it is God’s Kindness that leads to Repentance! Having personally experienced God’s enormous mercy & grace & favor toward them, while keenly aware of their inability to earn it by any stretch - a clarion call seems to sound for the concerned individual! All these hi-flown theological handles/terms (God’s Mercy, Grace & Unmerited Favor) suddenly dance with life for me, as I search for words to express what I & others around are experiencing so powerfully! It can no longer be business as usual!!! Interestingly, don’t all Experiential Corporate Trainers repeatedly reiterate the requirement for powerful experiential learning to always result in pertinent & appropriate action in response? Otherwise no learning has taken place, they rightly affirm! I have repeatedly heard of my son Akshay (a gifted Trainer by profession) in his training sessions making a clear distinction between those bystanders in the “Stands” & the players in the “Courts” who actually action what they have learnt. Till the “actioning” has happened, no learning has taken place! That is the same truth that we see happening in the revival. A personal encounter with God’s Grace sounds a clarion call for repentance & an about turn of previously held contrary life styles & priorities that are now incompatible in the light of powerful truths freshly learnt, first hand! Incidentally, I wonder where the corporate gurus learnt this scriptural principle from! They sure are smart! Smarter than many of us Bible believing Christians, who go Sunday after Sunday and fill our ears and minds with powerful Biblical truths heard in the messages/sermons that we never action. All this amounts to is “Stands”. No “Courts” action. Is it a wonder then that we never improve our game of living and continue to live lives without radical Christian flavor? So the intention underlying the decision for a change in lifestyle or priorities comes from having encountered & experienced for themselves, Reality in a fuller revelation! How can things EVER be the same again??? For many, many experiencing revival at Shillong currently, the words of the song says it all – “I’ll never be the same again. I’ll never return; I’ve closed that door. I’ll walk the path, I’ll run the race. And I will never be the same again”! The grid through which one has viewed & interpreted life so far has just shifted so radically!!! One’s whole world view has changed! It is like you’ve finally had a sneak preview into the puzzle of what Life is all about! Along with this radical shift in world view, comes an enormous sense of gratitude & wanting to honor this God who loves them & has loved them way before they were even aware of it. And this deep sense of gratitude urgently needs to find ways of expression. So you find touched individuals wanting rightaways to begin getting things & habits out of the way for God, which the person recognizes to be unholy / will not bear the light of day. Simultaneously the ill – feeling/ petty & mean attitudes of others toward them, as well as the negative grudges & petty interpretations we ourselves have been nurturing toward others – all seem trivial in the light of how a perfect God has reconciled us to Himself, despite all the moral mess/ junk in our life that each of us are well aware of. Extending Forgiveness to others who you have wronged you, in the light of God’s forgiveness to you, now becomes easier than it has ever been, in the light of this truth! Should it then be surprising that FORGIVENESS & RECONCILIATION should follow suit so closely? That a hallmark of this revival seems to be broken & dysfunctional families reconciling & coming back together? Personal Transformations leading to Social Transformation: As I just said, a wonderful pattern in this Shillong revival is that of numerous hitherto broken & dysfunctional homes seeing an end to conflict, as also numerous alcoholics across the region chucking their bondages!! As even secular news media has reported – A significant pattern of this revival in Shillong is that of Broken & Dysfunctional homes seeing an end to conflict & the beginning of genuine relationship! How AWESOME is that!!!!!!!! The Hindi news channel – “Aaj Tak” reported on this – Saturday before last, so I was informed by friends who happened to watch the program. (You could check with the channel for more info on this report). Also you could find many more other news reports in the “Clippings” page. Also, numerous alcoholics across the region are chucking their bottles & being unshackled from personal bondage to addictions! Can you imagine the celebrations that would engulf homes after such a happening as this? As Dr. Francis Schaeffer’s book title asks – in the light of fresh (though not new, by any stretch – Biblical Scripture has always taught these truths from the very beginning), revelation on the age old questions of Man’s Origin; Purpose; Salvation & Eternal Destiny - “How should we then live? – becomes the question of a lifetime, screaming for an answer!!! This radical shift in lifestyle & priorities is like a spontaneous response in DEEPLY felt grateful response (that yearns to be expressed) by someone so stunned by personally experiencing God’s Amazing & Unexpected & totally Unmerited Grace & Favor toward them. They for sure know (& I most definitely do too!!!) how undeserving of God’s unconditional love & acceptance they are. How can this ever be??? It is too good to be true! Yet you can’t deny the fact that it is true! You have now personally experienced this outstanding phenomenon of God’s love personally extended to you!!!! How can this possibly be? You are stunned & humbled deeply by the enormity of what has happened! (I find myself struggling constantly to find words to describe what I see & continue to experience! Small wonder then that the Lord saw it fit to give us the language of the Spirit in addition to earthly languages, when we run out of meaningful ways of expression or communication!) First person encounter interviews, as well as candid camera recordings on Video I have videoed as much as the Lord led me to in (both in first person encounter interviews, as well as candid camera recording live). My husband has worked on giving friends who have requested it, access to these resources. Initially we had thought of sharing edited CDs with those interested – but there have been so many requests – that we’ve decided to give access to it through putting edited versions upon this website. Let me clarify at the outset itself that we are very, very clear that this is an initiative under the prompting of the Holy Spirit & dedicated to Him. So there is no sense of any proprietorial ownership. I began my involvement with a very, very clear sense of being commissioned for this. And right through the preparations for, as well as during my trip to Shillong itself and post my return to Bangalore, the sense of this entire initiative being a Holy Spirit prompted one, is a sense I cannot shake off. I have just happened to be on it - & do I feel deeply humbled by this knowledge.

· Where & When did this season of the Shillong Revival begin?

· Common Descriptions & Experiences of Heaven

· What is the effect of such dramatic encounters with the Real World Eternal?

· No longer Business as Usual. “Stands & Courts” differentiation

· Personal Transformations leading to Social Transformation

· First person encounter interviews

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