Yep, that’s what I’m doing just about every time I preach at World Revival Church of Kansas City or in other churches that Kathy and I visit. We’ve got people in our churches that are sick - not just physically sick, but spiritually sick and let’s face it - relationally sick too. I think it’s time somebody yelled “enough!”
 
Religion is not producing healthy homes and strong Christians. We all know the stats and the dysfunction of the Christians in our country. But the wickedness of religion - and why I’m throwing this wrench - is that religion only treats the symptoms and never goes after the sickness itself.
 
How many programs and support groups can we have - and still be sick? I’m not against support groups, but I would think once you’re feeling better - you ought to graduate and move on!
 
But that’s the problem - these things only treat the symptoms and the real cause of our divorces and addictions are never dealt with. If you’re not encountering the transforming power of God, you’re going to be stuck in that support group forever and never really get well.
 
Jesus went after the sickness. He hammered the Pharisees who looked so great on the outside when all the while their religion was producing sick, demonized people. The Pharisees valued their position - the best seats in the house. Today, many churches, pastors and religious leaders still have their values set somewhere other than where they should be - on Jesus.
 
Jesus is the treasure… and if we get that right, the healing starts to happen… the symptoms fade away… People are transformed as they encounter God.
 
We’ve lost the power that transforms. Religion is in a mess and I’m bold enough to throw a wrench in the spokes and stop this thing. Let’s get healthy by getting our value back on God’s presence. Trust me - the glory of God is big enough to change you.
 
Yours for revival,
 
Steve Gray
 

So… what kind of preaching are you listening to (or better yet, what are YOU preaching?) I talked this weekend at World Revival Church about being the salt we’re supposed to be in the earth. I hit on some hard stuff, but I really feel that we’ve lost the value of salt in the body of Christ - and we need to remind ourselves of what we’re supposed to be in the earth.
 
Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. You are the salt that preserves and heals. You are the salt that is a requirement of the sacrifice on God’s altar! Salt in Jesus day was absolutely necessary for life!
 
Lose our saltiness, and we lose our God-given function in the earth. Our lives no longer preserve or offer healing to the people around us. We become good for nothing.
 
We’ve gone from salt -- to cotton candy… and in the end we’ll pay for it!
 
Raise a kid on candy and his teeth are going to rot. Raise a Christian on cotton candy preaching and eventually their life is going to fall apart.
 
Preaching salt isn’t the “popular gospel” that will bring the masses to your pews, but it IS lifesaving. Preaching what God really wants you to say makes things better, but I’ll guarantee you it takes a lot more courage! It’s easier to pull out a bag of candy and start throwing…
 
The early believers salted the earth and we can do the same. Just think what the world be like if all the Christians were salt and functioned properly in this earth! The world would be a better place if we could just break our candy habit!
 
Stop feeding your church cotton candy on Sunday mornings. And if you’re not the pastor - stop eating the candy and start asking for the salt shaker instead.
 
Yours for revival,
 
Steve Gray
 

Have you ever thought about the strange mindset that plagues Christianity when it comes to our kids? Somehow we have become the religion that “waits and sees” what our children will choose when it comes to religion. We don’t want to force our Christianity on anyone - including our own kids!
 
Now think about it. If a Jewish couple has a child, everyone assumes that child will be Jewish, right?
 
If a Hindu has a child, what will that child be? Hindu! If a Buddhist has a child, what will that child be? Buddhist! And if a Muslim has a child… well, you know the general answer. These are not trick questions!
 
I know there are exceptions, but by and large, whatever the parents are, that is what the child is expected to be, with no discussion! And not just the child, but the whole household! Dad, mom, grandpa, cousins…
 
Somehow we as Christians have lost the power of the household. I think it boils down to the fact that we’ve become so compromised in living out our faith that kids have no respect for their father or for their church pastors and leaders.
 
Even though the Christian message is believable, our leadership has become unbelievable. We have become the unbelievable people of God!
 
We’ve got to understand that Christianity - or any other religion for that matter - is transmitted from people to people. If we’re not experiencing God as God intended, there is no way we’re going to pass anything of value on to our children.
 
Maybe that’s why we’re the “wait and see” bunch. Maybe in the back of our minds we’re still wondering if there’s anything better. Maybe we’re scared to pass our dead, dry religion on to our kids!
 
 I say it’s time we experienced God as he really is - and regain our faith in what he can do. Maybe then we’ll regain the power of a household of faith - Christian faith - and start seeing whole households live for God.
 
Yours for revival,
 
Steve Gray

We get a lot of comments from visitors about how loving World Revival Church is. From the time they drive onto the property and meet our car parkers, then the greeters and on to the rest of the congregation… people feel loved when they visit us in Kansas City.
 
It’s not like we’re telling our people to “be happy” or “smile.” They’re just doing it.
 
Here’s the reason why: the love we have for others didn’t come by me saying “reach out.” It came by me saying “reach up!” Reach up and love God!
 
You see, the discipline of loving God with all my heart, if I do it right - changes me. It creates me into a person of love who can genuinely care about the people in my life.
 
The religious system has it backwards. They’re telling everyone to love others and forget to tell them to love God first.
 
I’ve found that if you get it in the right order (love God first!), that you actually gain a greater capacity to love others. Start upward and then you’ll be able to love outward to those around you. I think that’s been the key to why so many people feel welcomed and cared for here at WRC.
 
So many people arrive in Kansas City beat up by the religious system (pastors and regular folks as well), that any bit of extra kindness goes a long way with them. The love we show them is like a healing balm and probably plays a big part in their ability to receive from God during our services.
 
So pastors, if you’re trying to grow in the love department in your church, just change the order of what you’re telling your people. Let’s all reach up and love God… and then we’ll become what we need to be to the people around us.
 
Yours for revival,
 
Steve Gray
 

Am I old-fashioned? I didn’t think so, but last week my daughter Bobbie had to give me a little speech on today’s technology and the impact of it on the revival at World Revival Church!
 
I’m the kind of person that likes to look people in the eye, shake their hand and listen to their awesome stories of revival face to face. I want everybody in the whole world to come to Kansas City! That’s the way it was when revival hit our church in Smithton in 1996… and I guess that’s what I was looking for now with the Kansas City revival.
 
Bobbie knows my heart, so she says to me, “Dad, I don’t think you’re comprehending the multitudes that are being reached through media. Don’t pay too much attention to the numbers of people who actually arrive here in Kansas City!”
 
Well, slowly, I’m beginning to understand the reach we’ve gained through the internet and TV  - especially Daystar’s satellites beaming our services to over 200 nations! (I never in my life thought my preaching would be heard or accepted by so many.)
 
It’s a new day with new technology (as my daughter reminds me). People all over the world are living through the internet. It’s where they socialize and now - it’s even where they are receiving God things.
 
If you’ve been in the services here at World Revival Church, then you know the value of coming here. It’s sometimes a tough thing to convince the ones watching on TV or streaming.
 
It’s hard to comprehend the numbers of people you’re never going to see, never going to shake hands with in this revival, but they’re out there and they’re receiving powerful touches through the TV and computer screen!
 
Okay - well, I don’t like it this way, but I’ll accept it... and keep hoping somehow, someway, they’ll all still find a way to get to Kansas City.
 
Yours for revival,
Steve Gray

I am not a politically correct preacher. Did you figure that out yet?  That doesn’t mean I don’t have the proper graces and tact when it’s needed, but I will not compromise the message of my King to gloss over the “differences” between one religion and another... or between what the bible says and what it doesn’t.
 
You’ve got to get used to listening to me because I’m not trying to get something out of you or pacify you. I’m trying to speak the truth - and help you recognize when others haven’t been.
 
The people of God, in my opinion, don’t really want a politically correct sermon anymore. I think we’re all tired of the seeker-sensitive, don’t-offend-anyone type of message. We want the truth.
 
Jesus is not the way, the politically correct, and the….
 
Nope, my bible still says he is the way, the TRUTH, and the life. The only way to the Father.
 
Which is probably why the church today is in such trouble. We’ve been trying to squeeze life out of a life-less machine and it’s just not working.
 
How many churches are missing revival -- that close to the power of God -- and missing it because they’re afraid to preach the truth? Or they’re afraid to listen to it…
 
I’m really proud of all the pastors and leaders who come to the Kansas City revival, let go of all their preconceived notions and allow God to really speak to their hearts. These are the ones that drop their guard, lose their political correctedness (is that a word?) and stop telling God what to do.
 
They’re the ones that receive the healing and renewal they need to take revival home to their churches.
 
I vote for the truth and I hope you do too. Fruit will come when we truthfully present the gospel to the world.
 
Yours for revival - Steve Gray
 

To many in our nation, revival has become an overused - and empty word. Let’s face it - some of the “revivals” we’ve seen lately have left people disappointed and disillusioned.
 
I want to restore the good name of revival… by letting people know that the Kansas City revival here at World Revival Church is passing the test by producing good fruit time after time. We see it every weekend, with a line-up of testimonies that have happened right before our very eyes.
 
Sometimes even Kathy and I are amazed at the deep workings of God happening among us. But - it’s a sign of true revival. Most of the testimonies we hear are from churched people. Sometimes it’s a crisis that brings them to Kansas City… sometimes it’s the emptiness in their hearts that draws them here.
 
This is the church for people who want to make a change and have nowhere else to turn for help. They’re desperate for something more in their spiritual life or they’ve been honest enough before God to recognize things in their lives that need transformation.
 
World Revival Church has become a crisis center, like an emergency room. We get fast help to people who roll into our lives needing emergency care. It’s the pastor who’s ready to quit - or the pastor’s wife who’s been wounded almost one too many times! The teenager plagued with suicidal thoughts or the middle-aged guy who’s still trapped in his addictions… we’re seeing everyone get hope and help in revival.
 
And beyond that, once these people get the help they need, they’re seeing the opportunity to be a helper themselves. They become part of the “revival system” where you’re starting to help other people experience God in powerful ways. It’s the way revival spreads and it’s the way we’ll eventually see global revival!
 
The world is waiting for new leaders that have been to the throne room of God… and can take others there as well. Revival produces those kind of people. I hope you’re one of them!
 
Yours for revival -Steve
 
 

I got on a roll with this last weekend, and I’ve got to tell you… your kids can handle more than Bob the Tomato!
 
Now I’m not prejudiced against tomatoes, but I’m beginning to feel that parents and churches are putting too much responsibility on those cute talking vegetables to teach our kids about God… instead of letting the Holy Spirit do the talking!
 
I first experienced God at six years old. I was in a Nazarene church and actually, it wasn’t during the singing or the preaching or anything. It was in a moment after the service that I went down to the altar all by myself and heard God speak to me.
 
The pastor was concerned. He saw me experiencing something that was touching me deep in my spirit. “I’ve been called to preach!” I told him, with tears streaming down my face. It was a moment in my life that I’ve never forgotten.
 
I never said those words again until I was 23 years old.
 
I guess that’s why it’s so important to me that we keep kids in the service as much as possible instead of always sending them off for their “own” time of ministry. We offer a children’s ministry at World Revival Church and it’s a powerful time for our kids. But as much as possible, they’re experiencing God with their families, with the whole congregation.
 
There’s just something right about it… and we’ve got some powerfully anointed kids in our midst who are experiencing God in mighty ways. Their destiny is being shaped in our services.
 
Don’t worry… I don’t mind Bob or even Larry every once in a while… but let’s make sure this next generation is getting the depth of who God is. Don’t cut our kids short - they really can handle more than you think.
 
Yours for revival - Steve