A California pastor said he’s personally witnessing revival unfold inside his church as people increasingly cling closer to the Lord — and it apparently all started after the preacher opened up about his struggles during a recent sermon.
Shane Idleman of Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, told CBN News he believes a genuine spiritual awakening rooted in “sound doctrine” can help pave the way for the spiritual bursts of power seen in certain places in America today.
“You have to have sound doctrine,” Idleman said. “That’s your guide; that’s your foundation on which everything else is built. And I believe, when you honor that, God honors you in your pursuit of Him.”
Ultimately, he said revival is a “spiritual resuscitation” that comes when people pursue God more closely — and this is exactly what Idleman is seeing inside his own church.
Watch him explain:
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Idleman said. “Sometimes it’s persevering and it’s pressing in, and what’s happening at our church started 15 years ago with the heart for revival, heart for awakening.”
He continued, “It’s basically God reviving a freshness of the spirit. A joy returns and they want to have prayer meetings and they want worship for hours — and God has just revived, so you basically go from lukewarm to red hot.”
The current spiritual fervor at Westside Christian Fellowship seemed to kick off after Idleman gave a March 30 sermon during which he was candid about his own struggles and brokenness in ministry — an honesty that seemed to have a deep impact on congregants.
“After that Sunday, it felt like a season of revival,” Idleman said. “People at the altar, nobody wanted to leave as much in the prayer room. … And then I showed up … the following Sunday [April 6th] and the first service was great. It was electrified.”
Rather than preach during the second service, Idleman said he took a different approach. Sensing the spiritual intensity, he led the church as it broke out into praise and worship.
“That just ignited,” he said. “About 20 minutes later I said, ‘Hey, if you need prayer, I’m gonna be down the middle line.'”
Idleman told the congregation they would pray for people who wanted to have the “fullness of the Spirit” and droves of believers lined up; he and another pastor then prayed for them.
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“I thought maybe a dozen or two dozen, but we had lines on each side, back to back for about 30 minutes of just people wanting that,” he said. “You can’t whip up revival. You can’t have revival meetings. And that’s not revival. Revival is when there’s a sovereign act of God that blesses and reigns down upon a prepared people.”
Idleman contends the roots of revival in his church have been set for years, but that candid March 30 sermon seemed to open the door to spiritual fervor.
Watch the video for more and get additional information about Idleman and Westside Christian Fellowship here.
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