Susan A. Massey, Revivalist
Equipping American Christians on the Front Line of Revival
About
Susan A. Massey, Revivalist
Susan is a saved by grace servant of Jesus with a heart of love for his church. With master's degrees in library science and divinity, she has been a leader in professional organizations and churches. She was the Library Director at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. Susan served as lay coordinator of Frontline Ministries at a rapidly growing mid-sized church, overseeing the visitor's desk, greeters, hospitality room, parking lot attendants, bus ministry, visitor follow-up, and evangelistic outreach. Working with front-line church volunteers gave her a deep appreciation of the variety of giftings and callings involved in meeting the needs of seekers and believers in a revival setting. She now devotes her writing and speaking skills to delivering a biblical perspective on American church revival.
Statement of Faith
1. God created man in his image to have eternal fellowship with him. The ultimate plan of God for fallen mankind is to set people free from sin to live holy lives in restored relationship with him. God created the earth and everything in it, including people, for his own pleasure. He wants his creation to thrive and experience his love. Humans bring glory to God through worship, praise, obedience, service, and enjoying God’s presence.
(Genesis 1:27, Micah 6:8, Romans 12:1, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Peter 1:14-16, Revelation 4:11)
2. God is spirit: good, perfect, just, and holy, and worthy of all praise, honor, respect, and glory. God created mankind in his image with free will to choose to follow him, but humans fall short of God’s perfection through sin, which is failure to believe in God, trust him, and obey his commands. All people have inherited a natural tendency to sin from Adam and Eve, the first humans created by God. (John 4:24, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:18-19, 1 John 1:5-7)
3. People are drawn into sin by their own desires, passions, and self-will. People can also be trapped into sin by deception, trauma, intimidation, and manipulation. The consequence of sin is spiritual death. Sin separates people from a holy God, resulting in guilt, condemnation, shame, and ultimately eternal separation from God in hell. (Jeremiah 5:26, Romans 2:1-8, Romans 6:23, James 1:14-16, 1 John 2:15-17)
4. God made a way to restore people to relationship with him. God the Father sent his only begotten Son Jesus to earth to live a sinless life, die for mankind’s sins on a cross, and then overcome death through his resurrection. Jesus was God in flesh, born of a virgin and the Holy Spirit, who did not deserve death but gave his life as a substitutionary sacrifice for mankind’s sin. Anyone who believes in Jesus is spiritually born again and has eternal life. (John 3:16-18, Romans 3:24-26, 5:1-2, 5:8, 8:28-30, Hebrews 1:1-3, 1 Peter 2:24-25)
5. Although Jesus died for all mankind, the freedom from sin accomplished by his sacrifice on the cross is only applied to those people who individually believe in him. People who believe in Jesus world-wide comprise his church. The Holy Spirit indwells believers and empowers them to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Mankind’s inner battle for submission to God’s will is a spiritual struggle between good and evil that is won by faith, not self-effort. (John 6:28-29, Romans 8:1-4, 10:8-13, Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Peter 1:3-4, 1 John 2:1-3)
6. The Holy Spirit enables believers to love Jesus and obey his commands. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:29-31, Luke 10:27, John 13:33-35, John 14:13-17, 1 John 5:1-5, 2 Peter 1:3-4)
7. Ongoing freedom from sin involves confession, repentance, and forgiveness. Confession means agreeing with God that his ways as revealed in the Bible are right and our failures to obey his commands are sin. Repentance means having a desire and willingness to forsake our sin and asking God to help us do so. Forgiveness means trusting God by faith to cleanse us from sin, renew our spiritual life, and restore our intimacy with him that was broken by sin. (Matthew 4:17, Acts 3:18-20, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Peter 3:9, I John 1:8-10, Revelation 3:19)
8. The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God. The Bible is the primary indispensable communication of God to mankind about himself and his expectations of believers. Although much of the Bible must be interpreted in its historical and grammatical context, many scriptural principles and concepts that confound the modern mind and conflict with today’s culture must still be accepted as eternal truth for believers to be in agreement with God’s will. God does not change his mind because humans increase in knowledge or alter their perceptions. (Proverbs 1:23, Isaiah 55:8-9, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, 2 Peter 1:19-21)
9. People are transformed when they hear the Word of God delivered. The truth exposes sin and sets people free, reforms the mind and heart, and guides actions through obedience. This is why preaching sound doctrine with integrity is an important function in the church to promote spiritual development among believers. (Proverbs 29:18, Romans 10:14, Romans 12:2, I Corinthians 2:1-5, 2 Peter 3:17-18)
10. The fruits, gifts, offices and manifestations of the Holy Spirit described in the Bible are still freely available to believers and active in the church today. God still performs miracles of healing and deliverance because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God still protects, provides, and bestows spiritual gifts on his children because he is eternally good. (John 14:13, Act 2:38-39, Philippians 4:19, 1 Peter 4:10-11)
11. Human minds, emotions and physical bodies are a battleground between the presence of the Holy Spirit and forces of evil. Much of the healing ministry of Jesus while on earth involved casting out demons. Angels are real and Satan is still the enemy of God today. This is a spiritual truth that cannot be dismissed if the church is to experience the power of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 2 Cor. 10: 4-6, Ephesians 6:10-11, I Peter 5:6-11)
12. The primary foundations of revival in the church are prayer, repentance, surrender, and obedience. Revival is ignited through the delivery of God’s truth as revealed in the Bible. Revival brings believers into alignment with the Word of God so his will can be accomplished through them in the world he created. (2 Chronicles 7:14, Nehemiah 8:1-12, Revelation 2:5)