by Michael Holcomb
In 2015, my wife and I (along with our daughter and son-in-law) moved to Portland from Pennsylvania, and I brought with me a word from the Lord: “I am going to make Portland an epicenter of Christianity.” I soon discovered that I was not the only one given that promise. Whether they are Portland natives or inspired transplants, many, many others I have met in the metro area have had a similar God-given vision. But what is being done about that calling? And who is purposefully, continuously working for that plan? More essentially, do we even have a full understanding of what God means by Portland being an epicenter as well as a city-wide revival?
A couple of years after relocating to this beautiful city I now call home, something happened to me that, at least for me, answered those questions.
It was July of 2017, and having nearly completed a 200-mile prayer walk, I was intensely seeking the Lord one morning in our Northeast Sumner Street rental when I suddenly started to sob loudly and uncontrollably—and I’m not a weepy guy! Being alone in the house, I felt no inhibitions to control what was overwhelming me, and the gut-wrenching weeping seemed to last an eternity. Eventually, however, it turned to a softer yet still profuse crying; and for the next three days, I could not stop the waves of tears that ebbed and flowed. Even at mealtimes and when talking to people, I found myself having to pause and bury my face in a fist full of tissues.
I had no idea why this was happening! Was this a deliverance of some kind? Was this a burden for the lost or for someone in particular? I could not explain it to myself nor anyone else. My wife Kim recognized that something special was happening to me and was very understanding; yet so erratic was my weeping, I eventually felt the need to assure her as well as those around me that I was not having a nervous breakdown. This was a divine, supernatural dealing.
On the third day, I was again alone in our townhouse, stretched out and face down on the wooden living room floor (and leaving a significant puddle of tears), when suddenly I heard the Lord say loudly and clearly, “Forget revival!”
Immediately, the weeping stopped. I stood up stunned and confused. Revival had been my whole prayer theme for the months I spent covering the Portland streets, and it was my whole understanding of the epicenter promise. So, I was utterly unprepared to hear anything like I did.
“But Lord,” I said, “I thought revival was what you wanted?”
“Yes,” came the frank reply, “but not your kind!”
Immediately, the Spirit of God came on me and began to download a series of instructions and revelations, “shifts” He called them, which revealed His ideas of an awakening and a spiritual renewal.
“My people are undermining the very revival they are praying for,” He said, “and they don’t even know it!”—that’s a subject for another time—but it was at this point He began talking about something I’d never heard of, never thought of before: “sustainable revival”.
God has greater plans for Portland than you and I have ever conceived. He has greater ways of bringing awakening and revival than all our expectations put together. And He has greater designs for our congregations and ministries than what we define as success—and that’s what Sustainable Revival is all about. Doing things God’s way, according to His original design in Jesus.
Never forget that Jesus Christ loves people more than anyone of us could ever do, and it is He who continues working and calling for His church to be built. So, the question He has given me to ask you is are you willing to go farther in Him than you have so far? Are you ready to receive more divine empowerment than what your tradition or experience or preconceived ideas have given you? Are you bold enough to embrace the vision of Portland becoming what God has ordained it to be: an epicenter of Christianity?
The ”shifts” God spoke to me—and I realize I am taking a risk here of my motives being misunderstood—are all about returning to the biblical pattern which we have unconsciously neglected and (to our loss and harm) walked away from; simple, intentional practices that are essential to the power and spiritual momentum desperately needed in order for our Rose City churches to make considerable impact. Yes, we must do things differently! But not just for our sakes. I believe God wants the Church of Portland to set a new (or rather renewed) standard that will rock the Northwest and beyond. And the first of those shifts must be unity.
No, I’m not talking about the kind of unity you and I have known or envisioned in the past. I’m talking about an organic yet premeditated, familial yet divine unity within our churches. I’m talking about what I call Inner-church Unity, a biblical emphasis God is calling us to restore—right now!
It’s time for Portland to go beyond idealistic and superficial oneness and build with Jesus the kind of unity that so contradicts and defeats the prevalent social cult of individualism. It’s time for us to clean our houses of every ounce of me-ism that has crept into our sermons, songs, and doctrines; and to follow Jesus to our cross of together living for God and together living for each other. This is when our prayers will have power. This is how Portland will be turned right side up. And it is certain that when we have unity within our churches, unity between our churches will have unprecedented meaning, influence, and heavenly blessing.
Join me in both prayer and pursuit of the revival call God has on Portland. The kind of revival that goes beyond special meetings or city-wide events and that lives among the love-relationship of local church members. The kind that speaks of the full salvation work of Jesus. The kind that is generational, expanding, and sustainable.
