the danger of dry eyes

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.

Hebrews 5:7

I am writing this email from an airport in Scotland. 

I am traveling home from The Hebrides Revival Conference in Stornoway, Scotland.

God came down in power.

It’s hard to put into words the sense of reverence and awe we experienced there. To be honest, we didn’t know how to handle or sustain the potency of the presence of God we encountered on Saturday and Sunday night. We touched something, but couldn’t hold it.

It was a glorious overwhelming.

I can understand how Blaise Pascal famously wrote in his own testimony…

"Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy."

One of the highlights of my time was being prayed over by one of the men from the 1949-52 revival in his native Gaelic tongue. His heart has been basking in the wonder of Jesus' presence for over 70 years, and as he prayed, tears flowed down my cheeks.

When he finished praying, he looked up and said to me, 

"Ah, the tears; I know God is at work when the tears come."

We need more tears on the cheeks of this generation.
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Jesus wept on three occasions.

He wept at the death of Lazarus, a friend that He loved.
He wept over Jerusalem, the city that rejected Him.
He wept in the garden, tears mingled with blood at the cost of the cross (Heb 5:7).

A man who weeps for the world is a gift to the world. 

If God is at work when the tears come, I am asking for more tears.

Christine Valters Paintner notes, 

"In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the sacrament of confession is sometimes called the "Mystery of the Second Baptism." The ones who truly confess are baptized again in their own tears, symbolizing the in-breaking of truth and freedom."

We need to be baptized again; baptized in our own tears.

Tears of repentance.
Tears of joy.
Tears of heartache.
Tears of love.

We know about the baptism in water, a declaration of our salvation.
We know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our source for power.
But so few know about the baptism of tears.

I am praying God breaks your heart this week.

I am praying that He opens your heart to His heart.

I am asking that you weep for the spiritual death all around you and the rejection of the gospel by this generation. I’m asking that you would be willing to weep at what it will cost you as a disciple to do something about it.

Isaac of Nineveh, one of the desert fathers, wrote,

He who is aware of his sins is greater than one who can raise the dead.

Whoever can weep over himself for one hour is greater than the one who is able to teach the whole world; whoever recognizes the depth of his own frailty is greater than the one who sees visions of angels. 

Our generation doesn’t need men with more content. It needs men with more tears.

May God have mercy on our dry eyes, and may rivers of tears flow again.

Hope to see you at the altar.

Cheers.

Jon.