Pentecost Sunday and the Renaissance That Starts From Within
Last Friday afternoon, I got a phone call that stopped my world.
My husband Gregory was driving to a men's conference in Tennessee when he stopped for gas in a small town called Brownsville. As he came out of the station and got into his rental car, three men in a vehicle pulled up behind him. Two jumped out with masks and guns, pointed them at his face, and demanded his keys.
Gregory was carjacked at gunpoint in broad daylight.
In that rental car was everything—his wallet, phone, medication, iPad, clothes for the trip. Everything except his life.
As I sat on the other end of the phone listening to my husband's shaky voice (and if you know Gregory, a shaky voice means something is seriously wrong), my mind went to a dark place. I could have been widowed that day.
But here's where the story gets interesting: the enemies' plan failed spectacularly. They wrecked the vehicle just a few miles down the road. The whole incident was caught on camera—both the carjacking and the crash. And when Gregory finally got to the impound lot, nothing was missing. Not his wallet, not his phone, nothing.
As my friend reflected on what happened, he asked, "What's significant about Brownsville?" I remembered: Brownsville was the site of the last great revival in America. And I felt Holy Spirit whisper, "That revival got hijacked too—stolen by greed, immorality, and false kingdom structures. But just like what happened to Gregory, the vehicle may have been destroyed, but the life and what was valuable on the inside got delivered."
That's when I realized: it's time for a different kind of revival. One that can't be hijacked.
The Problem with External Revival
Most revivals in history have followed a predictable pattern. They start with genuine spiritual hunger and authentic encounters with God. People's lives are transformed. Communities are impacted. Hope is renewed.
But then something happens. The focus shifts from internal transformation to external manifestations. From character change to crowd size. From humble service to platform building.
Pride creeps in. Money becomes a factor. People start jockeying for position, wanting to be the "grand puba" of the movement. The revival gets institutionalized, commercialized, and eventually hijacked by the very worldly power structures it was supposed to transform.
Sound familiar? It's happened over and over throughout church history. The Brownsville Revival was just the latest example.
But what if God wants to do something different this time? What if He's tired of revivals that can be stolen, corrupted, or shut down by human pride and ambition?
What if this time, the revival starts from the inside out?
Pentecost Sunday: The Original Model
Today is Pentecost Sunday—the day we remember when Holy Spirit fell on the early believers and launched the church. But here's what's fascinating about that first Pentecost: those believers already had everything they needed to be saved.
They believed in Jesus. They had witnessed His resurrection. Jesus had already breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22, NIV). They were born again, filled with the Spirit, and had received their marching orders.
But Jesus told them to wait. "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised... in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:4-8, NIV).
There was something more. Something that would empower them not just to believe, but to carry and sustain God's glory in a world that would try to kill it.
That power came from within. It wasn't dependent on external circumstances, popular support, or institutional structures. It was internal transformation that couldn't be hijacked, stolen, or shut down by outside forces.
Why This Revival Must Start from Within
Here's what I believe: God wants to empower a movement of people who can carry and sustain His glory without it being corrupted. But for that to happen, we have to get some of the crap out of our personalities, our thinking, and our homes.
I hope you don't mind a preacher using the word "crap," but that's what it is. We have unhealed wounds, unprocessed trauma, and ungodly mindsets that give the enemy access to our minds, our lives, and our power.
And if we pretend everything's fine when it's not, if there's crap still floating under the surface, guess what happens when the glory starts to fall? The crap comes to the surface. The wounds fester and cause infection. The revival gets hijacked by the very issues we refused to deal with.
We've seen this pattern repeatedly:
Leaders who never dealt with their childhood trauma become narcissistic and manipulative
Ministries built on unhealed insecurities become about empire-building rather than Kingdom advancement
Revival movements get derailed by sexual immorality, financial corruption, and power struggles
The very people God wanted to use become the biggest obstacles to what He wants to do
The Call to Get Real
So here's what I believe Holy Spirit is saying: It's time to stop pretending that everything's okay when it's not. It's time to get real about our wounds, our weaknesses, and our areas of brokenness.
This isn't about condemnation—it's about preparation. We are the containers on earth that house God's glory. We are the temples. The Kingdom is within us. When we reach out and heal somebody, the Kingdom has come upon them. We are the administration—God partnering with us.
But if we have gaping wounds that are unhealed, if the enemy still has access to our minds and our power through unprocessed trauma and ungodly mindsets, we can't sustain the level of glory God wants to release.
It's like trying to fill a bucket with holes in it. No matter how much you pour in, it all leaks out.
What Internal Revival Looks Like
An internal revival doesn't depend on external circumstances. It doesn't require perfect leaders, perfect churches, or perfect political situations. It starts with individuals who are willing to do the hard work of getting whole.
This means:
Dealing with childhood trauma instead of spiritually bypassing it. Stop saying, "That was a long time ago" or "I've forgiven and moved on." If those experiences are still affecting your relationships, your decision-making, or your ability to trust God, they need to be healed.
Addressing mental health issues instead of just praying about them. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other conditions aren't signs of weak faith—they're signs of living in a broken world. Get help. Take medication if needed. Go to therapy. Partner with God in your healing.
Cleaning up your relationships instead of avoiding conflict. Stop tolerating disrespect, manipulation, or abuse in your home. Stop pretending dysfunctional family dynamics are normal. If you can't fix your own house, how can you transform the world?
Breaking generational patterns instead of repeating them. Whatever dysfunction you inherited—addiction, poverty mindset, relationship patterns, communication styles—you have the power to break those cycles. But it requires intentional work.
Confronting the lies you believe about yourself. Most of us carry messages from childhood about our worth, our capabilities, our lovability. Many of these messages are lies from the enemy designed to keep us small and ineffective. It's time to replace those lies with God's truth.
The Renaissance Factor
A revival is when people get excited about God for a season. A renaissance is when revival transforms culture permanently.
The Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries didn't just affect church services—it revolutionized art, science, technology, education, government, and every aspect of society. It changed everything because it changed how people thought about themselves, their world, and their possibilities.
That's what God wants to do now. Not just another revival that gets people excited for a few years and then fizzles out. A renaissance that transforms individuals from the inside out, which then transforms families, which then transforms communities, which then transforms culture.
But it has to start with people who are whole. People who have done the internal work. People who can carry glory without being corrupted by it.
The Courage Required
Let me be honest: this internal work isn't easy. It's easier to bypass around painful issues than to face them head-on. It takes courage to:
Acknowledge that you need help
Admit that your family of origin wasn't healthy
Recognize that some of your coping mechanisms are actually destructive
Face emotions you've been avoiding for years
Set boundaries with people you love
Change patterns that feel familiar even though they're harmful
But it's only the truth that sets us free. Not the hidden things. Not the avoided things. Not the spiritualized things. The truth.
And Holy Spirit wants to partner with you in this process. He's not asking you to do it alone. He's asking you to do it with Him, using whatever resources He provides—counselors, support groups, healing ministries, wise friends, medical professionals, or whatever combination of help you need.
Starting Your Internal Renaissance
So where do you begin? Here are some practical steps:
Ask Holy Spirit to show you what needs attention. Pray something like, "Lord, show me where I'm stuck. Show me what's in me that's causing my behavior, my fear, my inability to trust You fully. Where are the fractures? Where are the blockages?"
Be willing to feel uncomfortable emotions. Stop numbing, avoiding, or spiritually bypassing difficult feelings. Let them surface. Process them with safe people. Learn from them.
Seek qualified help. Find a counselor, support group, or healing ministry that can help you work through specific issues. Don't try to figure everything out on your own.
Create space for the process. Healing takes time. Don't expect microwave results. Be patient with yourself as you do this work.
Find community. Don't try to get whole in isolation. Surround yourself with people who are also committed to growth and healing.
Expect opposition. The enemy doesn't want you whole. Expect spiritual warfare. Expect setbacks. Keep going anyway.
The Promise
Here's what I can promise you: this internal work is worth it. When you address the root issues instead of just managing symptoms, when you let Holy Spirit heal the deep places instead of just putting spiritual band-aids on surface wounds, something profound happens.
You become a person who can carry God's presence without being corrupted by it. You become someone who can handle blessing without becoming prideful, authority without becoming controlling, influence without becoming manipulative.
You become a container that can hold and sustain revival.
And when enough people do this work—when enough believers choose internal transformation over external performance—we'll see the kind of renaissance that can't be hijacked, stolen, or shut down.
Because it's not dependent on leaders, institutions, or circumstances. It's built on the solid foundation of whole people who reflect the nature of God and naturally release His transforming power wherever they go.
The hijacked revivals of the past couldn't sustain themselves because they were built on broken people trying to carry something they weren't equipped to handle. But this renaissance will be different.
It starts with you. It starts with me. It starts from within.
Are you ready to do the work?
Blessings,
Susan 😊