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The Day Fire & Rain Fell
Shane Idleman

Shane Idleman (1972 - ). American pastor, author, and speaker born in Southern California. Raised in a Christian home, he drifted from faith in his youth, pursuing a career as a corporate executive in the fitness industry before a dramatic conversion in his late 20s. Leaving business in 1999, he began studying theology independently and entered full-time ministry. In 2009, he founded Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California, relocating it to Leona Valley in 2018, where he remains lead pastor. Idleman has authored 12 books, including Desperate for More of God (2011) and Help! I’m Addicted (2022), focusing on spiritual revival and overcoming sin. He launched the Westside Christian Radio Network (WCFRadio.org) in 2019 and hosts Regaining Lost Ground, a program addressing faith and culture. His ministry emphasizes biblical truth, repentance, and engagement with issues like abortion and religious liberty. Married to Morgan since 1997, they have four children. In 2020, he organized the Stadium Revival in California, drawing thousands, and his sermons reach millions online via platforms like YouTube and Rumble.
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Sermon Summary
Shane Idleman passionately delivers a message titled 'The Day Fire & Rain Fell,' emphasizing the transformative power of God's fire and rain in the lives of believers. He urges the congregation to prepare their hearts for revival, likening spiritual renewal to the necessity of plowing the soil during rain, and stresses the importance of humility and repentance in experiencing God's blessings. Idleman warns against complacency and the dangers of idolatry, drawing parallels from the story of Elijah and Ahab, and calls for a bold pursuit of God amidst societal chaos. He encourages believers to seek a genuine encounter with God, reminding them that true revival is not about comfort but about engaging in spiritual battles and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
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Sermon Transcription
This message has been burning in my heart for a while. The title is, The Day the Fire and Rain Fell. And I mean the good fire for a believer. A good fire consumes, it purifies. And what does rain do? It renews. It revives us. And we are in a very unique season. I want all of you listening, even maybe later, whether it's on the radio or wherever it's at, this is crucial. I need you to understand something. God's really been putting this on my heart. And this is from a Jewish farmer. Talking about even back in biblical days. When the rain has come, we must begin to plow. We may have to plow in hell and in snow and in the storm and in the tempest, but plow we must, for if we do not plow, we will not reap. See, when it's raining, when God's blessing, that's the time to plow the soil of our hearts and get the heart ready for the downpour. And there's a phrase that people use often that God doesn't pass me by. What does that mean? Obviously, God's everywhere. And as I've shared before, we have electricity everywhere in this building, but go hold a knife and stick in an outlet. You're going to experience the electricity. It's everywhere, but until you experience it. Oh! And the big criticism right now is, man, that's just emotionalism. Well, praise God for emotions. I'm not a robot on autopilot stuck in a religious service. We're in the church of the living God. There should be emotion that is grounded, of course, in truth. And this is happening all over the United States. Where it will go, I have no idea, but I know that we must plow the soil of our own heart. There's an urgency building up inside of me. Everything else can wait. There's an urgency that we sense. But I want to talk about this briefly. A spiritual downpour. A spiritual downpour is what we're asking. And they are conditional. I think I've got some bullet points up there. This is conditional. We forget that. That if you want the revival fire of God, you want the reign of God to just come and replenish and renew, there are conditions that have to be met. God says My name is holy. I dwell in a high and holy place with Him who is broken and contrite. I will revive the heart of the humble. Break up your fallow ground. Often when it comes to this indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, there's often a response by the person. Present your bodies as living sacrifices. Holy, what is your acceptable sacrifice to God? And as you present the sacrifice, God brings the fire. So the problem isn't on God's end. The problem is often on our end. Also, it's a good reminder that this is no utopia. And a lot of people say, you know, Shane, look where America's going, man. We're going to hell in a handbasket. You really think you're going to make a difference? Revival doesn't bring utopia. Revival brings the spiritual armor of God into the midst of chaos and confusion. So we're not going to have the America of the 1950s, folks. We're not praying for utopia right now. We're praying for engagement in spiritual battle. So in the midst of revival, there's also wickedness. And I told some people and some pastors, I'm glad I'm not in Asbury. That would be a hard atmosphere if we were trying to steward that. Can you imagine the type of demonic opposition? Can you imagine the type of do we allow this or don't? What should we do? I mean, just the onslaught where God is moving, so is the enemy. So revival's not utopia. Now everything's comfortable. Actually, He convicts the comfortable. And there's a season of travail and fighting evil. It's a spiritual upheaval. Many people are confused, and of course, it's just my opinion, but when Jesus said, the kingdom suffers violence and the violent take it by force. There's a lot of commentary on that, but I believe it's a spiritual upheaval. Jesus is here now. The demonic realm was no longer in charge. He cast out demons just with His Word. And now the kingdom suffers violence. And you can break down that Scripture and things, but there was a spiritual upheaval that was happening, and it still continues today. Here's the wonderful thing. Pursuing. Pursuing what I'm talking about. Pursuing revival prevents discouragement. You ever get discouraged? Pursue God. Pursue God. That will eliminate discouragement. But on the flip side, when you get discouraged, you don't want to pursue God. I don't like how that works, but that's how it works. So as you're pursuing God and seeking God, it brings joy and hope. And as I said earlier, success is not comfort. Experiencing the downpour of God's rain or the fire of the Spirit, it doesn't always equal success. Have you ever noticed as you're pressing in, sometimes all hell breaks loose? Wait a minute, wait a minute, this isn't working, Lord. Oh, I didn't say it was working yet. Faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. The substance of things hoped for. And so if we can have the right understanding of what this is, I'm not talking about weirdness. I'm not talking about craziness. I'm talking about people in love with Jesus Christ. It changes the way you do everything. Discouragement is cast away. Joy comes in. And so where we find ourselves is in the book of 1 Kings. The book of 1 Kings. King Ahab led Israel into idolatry. King Ahab. So leadership matters, folks. Leadership matters. Pray for our leaders because it matters. He led the nation of Israel into idolatry. So God sent Elisha, and He'll send His prophetic voices still today. He sent Elisha to tell Ahab that He would send a drought upon the land. The drought was a judgment of God. When I bring pestilence, when I bring famine, when I bring drought, if my people humble themselves and seek my face. So instead of embracing God's wake-up call, Ahab continued to engage in idolatry. Isn't that funny? Instead of a wake-up call, understanding, Lord, this is serious, and turning to Him. Sometimes we dig our feet in even more. In the same way, what's it going to take to wake us up? God often uses calamity to wake us up. I did a quick search, and I think there was something like 40 mass shootings since I've been gone. Four people or more. I'm like, no, that can't be right. And wouldn't you know it? You see it. I mean, look at the Grammys. Or don't actually. But you can dress as Satan. It's a satanic worship service. A satanic worship service that millions of people... Legislation where if I don't call a boy a boy, but a girl because that's his preferred pronoun, I could go to jail? Folks, what's it going to take to wake us up? If you just look at the news and look what's going on and look at where our children are going to be exposed to, you would say, Pastor Shane, Pastor Abram, open the church every day. There's a hunger. There's a desire for it. Is there a hunger? Is there a desire for more of God? And if you say I don't have it, all you have to do is repent and say, Lord, I need it. Give me the fire of the Spirit. I want that day that the fire and the rain fell to be today. After three years of devastating drought, Ahab blamed who? Calling him, you troubler of Israel. And I'm often called, you troubler of America. That loud guy better shut his mouth. You're causing all this problem. You're the church is the problem. Get rid of the truth so we can enjoy our sin. And here's the key, those speaking the truth are often called troublemakers. Now, this is an important key because modern day Pharisees will use this verse and say, yeah, see, I'm telling people this, I'm in their face. No, no, no. It has to come from a humble, gentle, broken spirit. The angry prophet has to be just as loving. Correct? And I will tell you, I've been transparent. That's the hardest balance I'm trying to find because I can tell people off really good in case you haven't noticed. But you have to be bold in this culture. But you also have to be broken and loving and accountable to people. It's not this renegade spirit of rebellion. David Wilkerson has an incredible clip, I believe it's called A Call to Anguish. Probably at Sermon Index. A Call to Anguish. And see what happens, that anguish for our children. I just see the Grammys, it just broke my heart that how can we lift up Satan but not God? And there's an anguish. God, Your Word is being mocked. Your spokesmen are being ridiculed. There's a drought. There's a famine in the land. Oh God, would You revive Your work? I'm just excited to see. How can people criticize thousands and thousands of young adults going and falling in love with Jesus? I'm baffled. And I'm sure I've got comments on Instagram right now, but they're not preaching. Could God be preaching? And this is coming from a preacher. If one thing I could change, that would be it. Like let's add some sermons in there. But when the Spirit of the living God takes over, the worship team needs to be silent. The pulpit needs to be silent. I will not exalt man, God says. No flesh will glory in My presence. He must decrease so that I can increase. Just get out of the way and let the Spirit of the living God take over. I will draw them to the altar. I will convict the hard-hearted. I will restore. I will restore. Renew. And again, I'm not putting down preaching. I love it. I wish there was a lot of it. But did you know, you can begin to worship the Word and have head knowledge instead of letting God do what He wants to do. And then the famous calling of Elisha that comes out. He called out and he said, how long will you waver? He called out to the people, how long will you waver? Does that call not go out today? Oh, if I could just get America's attention. I've told you this before, we would raise $10,000. I'd pay Joel Stein to go on his platform and say how long will you waver between two opinions, 10 million Americans? How long will you waver? If God be God, follow Him. You cannot serve both God and this world. How long will you falter between two gods? Not the real living God and the false God of this world. You can't walk on both sides of the fence, folks. You cannot love two masters. You love one and you'll reject the other. That call needs to go out. So the key, being solid and steadfast can open up heaven. Like Elisha, being solid and steadfast in these difficult times. Solid in the truth. Solid in the Word. Steadfast, persevering, seeking, pursuing God like never before. How long will you seek heaven on Sunday, but live like hell on Monday? How long will you say that Jesus is your Savior, but deny Him as your Lord? And that's what he meant by how long will you waver between two opinions? The God who answers by fire. And what Elisha did is he backed up his words with action. That's what we need to do. So many people are posting things, right? Oh yeah, the refiner's fire. Isn't this a wonderful verse? Let me post it on Instagram. That's good, but we've got to back up our faith with actions, our words with actions. So here's what Elisha did. Let the real God show Himself by answering by fire. So the scene is, he's addressing the children of God on Mount Carmel. He said, you're following Baal, the priests of Baal, 400 and 450 of the other, and there's 850 false prophets and Elisha by himself. He said, hey, let's see the God, the real God. Well, that God will answer by fire. And let me tell you, when God answers by fire, it's a consuming fire. It's an all-overwhelming fire that ignites your heart, and you don't want to go back to that dead, decaying religion you once had. And so the priests of Baal spent many hours calling on their false god to send fire. They would cut themselves. And it really broke my heart because I wondered how many people in this world spend their whole lifetime following or trying to call on a false god that will never hear. The false god. But nothing happened. Of course, nothing happened. They'd still be doing it today. And then it says something interesting. Elisha took over and prepared the altar. Elisha took over and prepared the altar. Listen, at some point, we have to take over and say enough with wokeism, enough with liberalism, enough with passive leaders. We need the Spirit of the living God. And I don't mean by force. This is how I do my battle on this altar. But there has to be an action that we take. An action plan to pray and fast and call down heaven. He even went a step further and He poured water around it and over it. Many times. Always count on Matthias to help me out there. It's always good. It's always good, too. So here's the altar. It doesn't look like this. But to me, just, I mean, an altar, a sacrifice is ready and fire coming down and consuming it. That'd be enough for me. Maybe there was a trick involved or something. So He took sparklets-type bottles and just what? Drenched it and then decided to do a trench around it. It was just a wet, messy, bloody sacrifice. Can you imagine what the people are thinking? I haven't thought, what about the faith of Elisha? Let the God who answers by fire, let Him be God? And that's what's happening today in our nation. Let the God who answers by fire, the Spirit's baptism of fire, let Him be God. All other gods have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Nothing is bringing a revival in the wokeness, the liberalism, the political correctness, the ungodly movements, all these things. A liberal, weak church is not doing anything. Nothing is happening. Let the real God answer by fire. And He says, I will answer by fire. It will be so clear, so unmistakable that you will know Me, that it is Me that we can't deny, but He is doing something in our nation today. And you watch if you want. Go on Facebook or YouTube. Watch the comments. You'll see the negative analogies and judgmental juries come out. Why? Because of conviction. Two things happen when you're convicted. You fall to your knees and repent, or you what? Stiff-necked people. Stiff-necked, always resisting the Holy Spirit. All the water is poured over this. It's an incredible picture. And there's a wonderful key I've talked about many times we prepare the sacrifice and God brings the fire. God brings His consuming presence to a place, to a group of people. And I don't know how exactly it works. I've read a lot about it. I've read biblical texts. I know exactly what it is. I know God's everywhere, but sometimes, sometimes you'll visit a group of people and His manifest presence. It's okay to say that. It's biblical. Manifest, God reveals Himself with His presence. It's biblical. Go ask the people in the upper room, the 120, how they felt when God visited them. Would you have felt comfortable in the upper room? Let's be honest. Would you have felt comfortable in the upper room? Because most would say these are crazy charismatics. I'm out of here. That's not revival. That's not God. They're acting a little interesting. Tongues of fire. John the Baptist said He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire. See, all of this is thoroughly biblical. Now, it gets a little uncomfortable when you call out the lukewarm church or the modern day Pharisee. They don't like that because now you're challenging their spirituality. The lukewarm person doesn't like to be challenged because they want, leave me alone. Leave me alone in my sin. True story. I verified it. I was in Bishop. They said, Shane, you've got to pray for this guy. He doesn't want to be here. He's trying to get out the back door. It's Saturday. He died on Wednesday. Overdose. Gone. Flatline. They brought him back. I'm praying. I look at him. You want to pray? He goes, I guess. I felt the demonic opposition. I felt he just wanted to get out of there. I want to slap him. You just died four days ago, clown. Wake up. Can you say that from the pulpits? Larry, is that okay? You just died four days ago. Hello? Overdose. Fentanyl. Wake up. I don't want that. Oh, pride is deadly. Pride is damning. Pride prevents a mighty downpouring of God in your spirit. The only thing stopping you from receiving a lot of God's power and presence is a five-letter little word. And you can almost picture the fire of God in a person doing this instead of this. And when I received that fire, I didn't become weird. I became bold for Jesus. Somebody I don't even want to talk about, really. I mean, if you ask me, I'm Christian, I guess. Whatever. Leave me alone. I've got an image to uphold. But when the fire comes, its byproduct is boldness. And now you might look a little weird on the altar. You're at the altar for an hour. What in the world do you do up there? It's not what I do. It's what God does in my heart. You can watch a three-hour Super Bowl, but you can't worship for three hours? What's the difference? Oh, I came here to step on toes. We need to step on toes. Remember what I often say. When you step on toes, you move your foot. Many pray to God to answer by fire. I'd have loved to have been there. Can you imagine? I mean, the Bible doesn't record exactly, but Elijah just got answered by fire. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. See, here's the thing. When God's fire falls, everything is consumed. Everything is consumed. When God's fire falls, it challenges, it changes, it transforms. And so that was my encouragement this morning. The fire of God's presence can become a reality in your life. Think about what I just said. The fire of His presence. And fire, of course, not literal. It's a metaphorical word that God uses. The psalmist would say that tears, fountains of water would come out of my eyes. Or they would use strong language. And so the fire of God, it's an all-consuming fire, and it becomes a reality in your life. So now that's what they say. Have you heard the phrase, I'm on fire for God? I want to go home tonight. I want to watch something that's edifying. I want to put on worship music. I want to read a good book. I want to get, now I get up in the morning, I look at the clock and I'm ready to get up. I want to start pursuing God because I'm on fire for God. I want to get into His Word. I want to pray. I want to, worship sounds great. And I'm on fire for God. Everything's going great. And then the kids get up. Last night was tough. My 3-year-old at 3 in the morning, Dad, Mom, I'm hungry. I said, I'm not feeding you. Open the door, but I'm not feeding you. And 4 o'clock, same thing. And I don't know what happened. I left. I came here. But there are things trying to extinguish that fire. You've got the fire. Oh, that would be a whole new sermon. Things that extinguish the fire. Pride and belittling and disunity and besetting sin, gossip, complaining, critical heart. God will not revive a divided church. If there's a lot of division going on and backstabbing and name-calling and gossiping, I pray He does, but often He doesn't because the Spirit of unity ushers in a mighty move of God's Spirit. So the fire of His presence can become a reality in your life. And you might say, how? And I just said it earlier, when Paul said, I beseech you. That word there is beg. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul begging? I beg you. I beg you, church, present your bodies as living sacrifices. Holy unto God. What is your reasonable service? And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. All of that goes together. I want to tell you a quick story. Many of you have heard me tell it many years ago, this is from Oswald Chambers. Do all of you know who that is? Have you ever read a devotional called My Utmost for His Highest? Did you know he was a solid Christian and very dead inside? He said, before I received a mighty downpour of God's fire, God used me during those years, but I had no real communion with Him. The Bible was dull, except for studying, of course. I was uninterested in the book itself. And I believe he was teaching at a seminary. If that doesn't alarm you a little bit. But a few years later, he wrote this, if the four previous years had been hell on earth, these five years have truly been heaven on earth. Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God. The fire of God came down and ignited His heart. And so here's the key in John 7. In John 7, we get an incredible glimpse into the solution to our problems and the cure for our chaos. And you've heard me talk about this many times, so it's no secret here. When Jesus cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Isn't that interesting? If anyone thirsts, well, physically, we know when we're thirsty and when we're not. But spiritually, it isn't necessarily, you know, man, I'm really thirsty. I need some water. It's realizing that you don't have the water you need. Lord, I'm thirsty for that. I don't have it, but I need it. Would You help me get it? Lord, I'm thirsty. And as a deer pants for the brook, oh, my soul pants for Thee. I can't wait to preach on that in Psalms. As a deer, it's looking, if I don't find that water brook, I'm not going to make it. And the deer is looking. He gets to that water brook. Everything, nothing else matters. A water brook is a nice little stream out here. And he just, that cold, fresh water, oh, as a deer does that, Lord, would You let my soul long after You? I don't feel it right now. I'm dead. I'm barren. But God, I don't want to leave here until I lay hold of God. And when you lay hold of God, folks, never, never let go. If anyone thirsts, he's really asking if you have a desire and you're spiritually dead, let him come to Me, Jesus said, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, you've got to have the right God. The only God. You can't just believe in, well, I think God's everywhere and I'm going to embrace this New Age movement and God is love. You might have a feeling, but you won't experience the rivers of living water. This living water that comes in and gushes into your heart, into your soul. It changes everything. Everything is changed. Can you imagine dead to the things of God, now alive to the things of God? Can you imagine how that would change things? Do you know, just 15 minutes from here, there was something called the St. Francis Dam. There's a road named after the area. San Fransquito? One of the worst accidents in American history. 100 years ago, that dam broke. That water made it to Ventura. 450 to 600 people. A lot of immigrants that weren't recorded. That water consumed and took out everything in its path. Ten-ton boulders. Everything was devoured. When that dam broke. What a picture. Those who hunger and thirst for God to break the dam in their own heart. God, break that dam and let the water flow into my heart. The water of the Holy Spirit. And I don't want to get too off on this because I don't want to be gentle. It's hard sometimes because you just want to say what you want to say, right? But as I get older, I've noticed the more you're in the Word, the older you are, you're not as open to revival. Why is it hitting a college of 21-year-olds or 22-year-olds? Don't know anything better but then to worship. But then a lot of, sometimes the older crowd, you know, they've got Bible knowledge, but their heart's not aflame. If they're not careful, they'll put out the flame in the younger generation. And we see that often. Richard Andrew who will be here Wednesday. I would encourage everyone to be here Wednesday no matter what is on your schedule. Rearrange it. Be here Wednesday at 6. He wrote some songs recently based on sermons he's heard here. He said there is a kingdom coming down. There is a remnant that won't bow down. They wait for revival to come. We will linger, we will wait, we will soar on wings like eagles. We will renew our strength. To those who hunger and all who thirst, you will be filled if you seek His kingdom first. There is a seeking. There is a pursuing. The day the fire fell, it can fall in your own life as well. If we truly want to hear from God, though, we need to approach this topic from a position of faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. He truly rewards those who diligently pursue Him. Something I was going to share at a later date, but it kind of popped into my heart now, is one thing while I was off that God really... I mean, I hope it's Him, right? Sometimes you don't know if it's me or yourself, or just a good idea, but not a God idea. Let me tell you about all my good ideas that were not God ideas, okay? So I've learned not to trust Shane Eidelman, but without the Spirit of God, of course. But just realizing, because I think many of us, this being a truth church, we love the truth, we preach the truth, a seeking church, a fasting church, at some point, God says, the soil's ready, now just have faith. And I was convicted a little bit of, okay, Shane, you settle down. You've done enough. I've seen your six fasts. We've seen how you pursue. Now have faith. Because I did forget about that. I mean, of course, we know about faith, but I forgot how important faith is even in regard to revival. Because then it's like I'm doing all this, I'm doing all this, but see, then that's not right because it's a sovereign act of God. You plow the soil, but then you have faith that God's going to deliver. Because then I'm trusting in my work. I did this. Come on. Instead of having faith that God will honor His Word. And God knows exactly what we need. I mean, I watch it like 24 hours a day. I would lose my mind. We had church for two weeks straight every night. I don't know if you remember that, but we had laundry piled up, dirty dishes. I was like, whoa, this is a lot. We've got to get... Man, Lord. And so I can see, but God knows exactly give us a measure of revival in our bondage. But I realize without faith, it's impossible to please God. Diligent faith means unwavering belief even when we don't feel like it or see the results. But did you know there is an immediate result with faith? You can. There's an internal witness. As soon as I exercise faith, I'm built up spiritually. So although I might not see it, although I might not hear it, although it might look like all hell is breaking loose, correct? Doesn't it? You say, Lord, we're in California, in Los Angeles County. Where in the world are you? The Grammys was one hour away. I don't want any of that dust flying this way. Lord, look what's going on. It looks like we're not gaining. We're losing. Where are the churches? Where's the voices crying out? And I heard God basically say the same thing as Elijah. I've got 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal or kissed His image. Don't give up. I don't need a majority. I just need a minority. I just need a remnant on their face before me. I just need a remnant calling out to God. Oh, I have 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal. I will raise up who I will raise up. I might even use the most unlikely person or the most unlikely location so that no flesh will glory in His presence. Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. Do not let what you see make you forget what God said. Anybody need to hear that for their kids today? Do not let what you see make you forget what God said. Then Elijah said to Ahab, this one took a while to go verse by verse, but bottom line, the fire fell. Obviously, the true God spoke. And the prophets of Baal, it was not a good ending for them. They were executed. And it's interesting, Elijah prepared the sacrifice. The fire fell. He called the people to no longer waver between two opinions. And then he told Ahab, go up and eat and drink, for there is a sound of an abundance of rain. Wait, it hasn't rained for what? Three and a half years? By the way, what is a sound? What are you talking about? There's a sound of an abundance of rain. Was that faith? There's not a cloud in the sky. He prepared the sacrifice. The fire came. Now I'm exercising faith. Now it's time for the rain. Now my faith is engaged. And so Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. Then he bowed down to the ground. He put his face between his knees and he said to his servant, okay, go look now. Go look towards the sea and tell me all the clouds that are coming in. So he went and he looked and he said, there is nothing. Nothing. Wait a minute. I told the king it's going to rain. I have faith it's going to rain. What do you mean there's nothing? You ever hear that? Did the devil ever taunt you or just me? See, it was pointless. It was fruitless. It will come to nothing. There's nothing happening right now. But I see it. I hear the abundance of rain. I hear the prodigal sons coming home. I see the marriages being restored. I see revival hitting our landscape. I see revival changing Sacramento and Washington. You can call me a holy roller. You can call me extreme. But just don't call me lukewarm and someone who doesn't passionately pursue Christ. There is nothing. There is nothing. Some of you, you know what? Some of you are Eeyores. I even wrote it down at four this morning and look, Google, the spell checked it. I'm looking over this and I don't know why Eeyore. You know who he is? Oh, Winnie the Pooh. Man, is that not true? Gloomy, depressed. Well, I mean, nothing. He was there to mock Winnie the Pooh. I don't know how this turned into my sermon. I've never put Winnie the Pooh in my sermon. But think about it. That's what's happening. Oh, I don't know. I don't know if that's God. We're going to hell in a handbasket. Haven't you read Revelation? Everything. Look what Biden's doing. Look at the gas prices. Look at Eeyore. I want to give you a guess, a real physical... If I had enough time, I would have ordered like 400 of those and passed them out today. Because folks, that's what's happening. Gloomy, pessimistic. Guess what? It happens to me too. So he went up and he looked. He said, there's nothing. And seven times, he said, go again. Seven times. There's something about seven. It's a number of completion. It's a number of perfection. Go around the city. Joshua. Seven times. And he said, wait a minute. There's a cloud about that big. And you know what? I thought, that's all I need. That's all I need, God. I don't need to see the abundance. I just need to see that hand because I can hear the sound of revival. I hear the chains falling. I see the demonic opposition being broken. I hear marriages being restored and prodigal sons coming home. I just need a little bit, God. Give me a little bit. Give me a measure of revival in our bondage. Lord, just show me something. I don't care if it's in Kentucky or Ohio or the state of California. God, show us something. We need to see that. I can see it on the horizon. And now I hear the abundance of rain. When the rain pours and the rain comes down, it is unmistakable. It is a sound. It's a thundering. I hear the abundance of rain. There's a faith that jumps up inside of you. Don't let the false name it and claim it. Prophets discourage you from embracing faith. That happened to me. You know, the name it, claim it, false prophets, all about faith, all about faith. If we're not careful, like I went through a season and said, yeah, I'm going to have nothing to do with faith. It's all work, work, work, work, work. But the Bible has a lot to say about faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. By faith, Noah built an ark. He was divinely warned in a dream. Noah, by faith, moved. Moved promptly to the building of an ark and the saving of his family. Abram moved by faith to a place that God said, I will show you. David said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies of the living God? I just need a rock and a slingshot. Joshua came back with Caleb and said, we are well able to take this land. I bet no one could take this land. I bet no one could stand up and name the 10 spies who were Eeyores. Can you imagine? I would love to see, can you imagine? No, no, no, we're well able to take this land. We're well able, guys, we can take it. Why? Because God said, if God be for you, who can be against you? When you go out in the power and presence of Christ and you call down the anointing of God and you say, give us the fire, give us the reign of revival, we will stand here. We will hold the line in the school districts. We will hold the line in political areas. We will hold the line by the truth of God's Word. We will wake up the woke and content for absolute truth in a postmodern culture. God says, now I can fight on their behalf. If God is with you, who can stop you? What devil can stop you when God is for you? He can try. Can he not? We should be optimistic and hopeful and filled with joy. A critical, negative attitude always leaves us parched. My faith is weak when I don't search God's Word and seek His face. So does the reign of revival need to fall on you? The reign replenishes, it renews, it restores. Some of you will be listening to this much later, but have you become cold and calloused and critical? You need the fire of God and the reign of His Spirit. And I want to be clear here, because some people go to motivational seminars and they think, man, that's just hype. This isn't hype, this is hope. This is hope. And you can get excited about hope. Why is church dead? A lot of churches are just dead. They're going through the motions. He revives the humble and He will revive the contrite ones. Isaiah 57.15 I'm going to close here. Henry Blackaby, have you heard of him? He said, utter brokenness in God's holy presence is a prerequisite to any mighty move of God in revival. Just chew on that for a minute. Utter brokenness in God's holy presence that must come before revival comes. Others need it, but not I. This is from Nancy DeMoss-Wilgemuth in her book on brokenness, long name, but good book. She gave a powerful example of the disease of pride from this lady named Gwen. She said, I was known as a leader at my church. I was at the church every time the doors opened. It was important to me to have everyone notice me and what I was doing. I was extremely self-righteous and thought that I was more spiritual than others. Others had needs, but not Gwen Stanford. Others needed revival, but not I. She went on to say, right in the middle of religion, I was so very far away from God. And then the closing Scripture from Isaiah, your iniquities. So I'm going to talk to two groups, of course. The one group is the believers, possibly that Greg was talking about, that you've drifted. You've become hard-hearted. You've become calloused. You've become cold. You've drifted from your first love. Your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. What's incredible is repentance brings the consuming fire and the refreshing reign of God's Spirit. Repentance brings that. And of course, it's a call to unbelievers as well. What does that word mean? Belief means I believe in God the true God. Unbelief means I do not. I reject that. And God's call is always to you as well. Turn to Me. Come to Me. Let Me fix your problem. Let Me be the cure for your chaos. Let Me strengthen you. Let Me save you from the wrath that is to come. And as we're talking about revelation in the future, we're going to mention that a lot. That's why I love that song, Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Look to the Lamb of God. Look to the Lamb of God. It's very simple. You just have to, no matter who you are, the believer or unbeliever, the believer would repent of apathy and barrenness and a calloused heart and pride, and the unbeliever would say, God, I need You. I repent of my unbelief. I repent of my sin. I repent of rejecting the Savior. I might have head knowledge. That's my concern for the American church. There's a lot of this. Oh, they can tell you all about Jesus, but they've never repented and cried out. Why? Because they're prideful. And you need to change that this morning if that's you. This time, I want you to have a view of that text up on the screen with a renewed zeal for God, a renewed passion for revival. Look to the Lamb for revival. Some of you, you need to be revived. You need to be rejuvenated, replenished.
The Day Fire & Rain Fell
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Shane Idleman (1972 - ). American pastor, author, and speaker born in Southern California. Raised in a Christian home, he drifted from faith in his youth, pursuing a career as a corporate executive in the fitness industry before a dramatic conversion in his late 20s. Leaving business in 1999, he began studying theology independently and entered full-time ministry. In 2009, he founded Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California, relocating it to Leona Valley in 2018, where he remains lead pastor. Idleman has authored 12 books, including Desperate for More of God (2011) and Help! I’m Addicted (2022), focusing on spiritual revival and overcoming sin. He launched the Westside Christian Radio Network (WCFRadio.org) in 2019 and hosts Regaining Lost Ground, a program addressing faith and culture. His ministry emphasizes biblical truth, repentance, and engagement with issues like abortion and religious liberty. Married to Morgan since 1997, they have four children. In 2020, he organized the Stadium Revival in California, drawing thousands, and his sermons reach millions online via platforms like YouTube and Rumble.