by Stephen E. Strang
My longtime friend Ché Ahn, senior pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California, and apostle of Harvest International Ministry, a global network of over twenty-five thousand affiliated churches and ministries, since the 1980s has been praying for and preaching about the need for revival to come afresh to America. Little did he know that part of his assignment would be political.
Ahn was never politically active until the State of California and the City of Pasadena came down hard on him for not remaining closed for months on end in 2020. Ahn and the church rose to an even greater national prominence when his church filed a lawsuit against California governor Gavin Newsom, whose extensive mandates even tried to limit and shut down home Bible studies and prayer meetings, all under the guise of public health.1 Ahn’s case spent months bouncing from court to court.
The case would create a breakthrough not only for his church but for every church in California
During that time, the State of California threatened him, his staff, and church members with a year’s jail sentence for his refusal to stop holding services, as well as a $1,000 fine for each violation of the governor’s order. If upheld, the amount would have been massive. Threats of imprisonment came, Ahn said, and the fines reached into the millions of dollars. While his friends and family were concerned for his safety and well-being, the longtime pastor and apostolic figure remained unmoved. He knew the case would create a breakthrough not only for his church but for every church in California. After months of legal battles, the Supreme Court decided to hear Ahn’s case and ruled in his favor six to three.
As we reported on Charisma News, the major political victory has only fueled Ahn’s hunger for the great revival he and many others see on the horizon. He has been traveling the country, calling Christians, and especially Christian leaders, to seek revival and repent while also standing firm to resist unjust, slavish governmental policies, such as the ones his court case helped strike down.
Following the results of the 2020 presidential election, Ahn said God drew him to a place where he was even more desperate to hear His voice for this moment in history. He cried out to God and felt a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit come upon him as well as an anointing to step into the ongoing struggle for the soul of our nation.
Strategy for Revival and Reformation
Now is the time for revival and societal transformation, said Ahn, who has been sharing a strategy for revival and reformation with pastors across the nation. What was the strategy?
1. Establish a house of prayer in every church to contend for revival in California and the United States. Pray specifically for the government and governmental leaders. Prayer moves the hand of God, and it is our privilege and responsibility to come before the throne of grace to implore God’s mercies over our communities, he said.
2. Equip and encourage fivefold leaders to return to and maintain their first love for Jesus. Every local church pastor must resist the temptation to let their love grow cold because of the lawlessness now being unleashed in our country. Now more than ever, pastors and leaders must press in to God and rekindle their first love for Jesus and the gospel.
3. Activate local churches in personal evangelism, and partner with Ephesians 4:11 evangelists in public revival meetings. California churches are partnering with ministers such as Mario Murillo, Sean Feucht, and Jay Koopman to gather the lost and share the gospel en masse. Ahn said it’s time to once again “cast our nets” to reach a harvest as never before.
4. Plant as many ekklesias—small groups in the marketplace, homes, or churches—as possible. Ahn has a vision for small groups forming across the nation where believers work together to stay focused on the gospel and on letting God use them for the purposes of revival and reformation in every sphere of influence.
5. Activate every believer to be involved in the government mountain by exercising their privilege to vote biblically and also to run for local, state, or national office. From city councils to school boards, there are vacancies that should be filled with godly, Bible-believing people with hearts to serve God and serve their communities. Changing and impacting our government must be practical, and if every local church has at least one person elected to office, we would immediately see a massive impact on the societal and political climate in America.
From city councils to school boards, there are vacancies that should be filled with godly, Bible-believing people with hearts to serve God and serve their communities
God only knows what will happen next. But all signs point to the fact that the rumblings of revival are beginning. Every church, pastor, and believer will have to decide how to participate in God’s purposes in the earth at this time. Let us pray that God will indeed send a fresh revival to our land and that it does nothing but grow in intensity and spiritual fervor that we might see a mighty awakening in our day. CRA
1“Official Statement Regarding the Lawsuit Against Gov. Newsom,” Harvest Rock Church, accessed May 19, 2021, https://harvestrock.church/official-statement-regarding-the-lawsuit-against-govnewsom/.
From Chapter 10 “Hurricanes of Revival.” For more information about God and Cancel Culture, check out stevestrangbooks.com