Preparing Your Heart For Revival
About this episode
Pastor Chris Fletcher of Mana Church joins Philip Cameron for a timely and Spirit-filled conversation about the signs of genuine revival stirring across America. Chris, who leads the flagship campus of Mana Church on Cliffdale Road in Fayetteville, North Carolina — a church-planting movement strategically planted near U.S. military installations around the world — brings a pastor's heart and a prophet's urgency to the question every believer is asking: are we ready? Drawing on the imagery of Old Testament worship, Chris explains that the first step toward revival is personal purity and consecration: "Your ability to stand long in the presence of God is in direct proportion to the cleanliness of your hands." He points to the Asbury Theological Seminary outpouring, the "He Gets Us" Super Bowl campaigns, and moves of God at Samford University and Lee College as evidence that the Holy Spirit is already moving — and warns that a critical spirit is the fastest way to miss it. Referencing the story of Michal despising David's worship of the Ark of the Covenant, Chris makes a compelling case that positioning ourselves for revival matters more than policing it. Whether you're a pastor, a church leader, or a hungry believer, this episode is a call to cleanse, consecrate, and stay open. Learn more about Mana Church at mana.church.
Part of our Preparation collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“I think in order to prepare, your ability to stand long in the presence of God is in direct proportion to the cleanliness of your hands. I'm not preaching a holier-than-thou gospel. I'm preaching — I think what holiness is actually defined as is separated, consecrated, set apart. We're not really better than the world, we're different from the world. We're not above the world, we're set apart from the world.”
“If we become so careful and so tidy and try to make everything all neat with all the ducks in a row, what we do is we nitpick ourselves out of the blessing.”
“On a dreary day, within the sound of guns and bombs, the most astonishing thing took place. The rescued became the rescuers. Hundreds waited in the rain, shuffling along in a line that ended up in love — smiles, bread, fish, and the words of care from the heart of the redeemed.”
What's Discussed
Pastor Chris Fletcher, lead pastor of Mana Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina — a church-planting movement with 28 campuses near U.S. military installations worldwide — discusses the conditions necessary to receive genuine revival. He points to the Asbury Theological Seminary outpouring, moves of God at Samford University and Lee College, and the 'He Gets Us' Super Bowl campaigns as evidence of a broader awakening. Chris argues that personal purity and consecration are prerequisites for revival, warns against a critical spirit using the biblical account of Michal and David, and encourages pastors to mentor young believers rather than judge them. He closes with a prayer for national spiritual awakening.
- Mana Church's Military Base Mission
- Signs of Revival Across America
- Purity and Consecration Before Revival
- Cultural Upheaval and the Church's Response
- Michal and David: The Danger of Criticism
- Mentoring Young Believers in Revival
- Prayer for National Spiritual Awakening
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hello, my friends. My name is Philip Cameron, and this is Daily Faith. And I'm so glad you are with us today. We have got a great guest — Chris Fletcher is with us. He pastors an amazing church in North Carolina and has campuses all over the place. We're gonna talk about that today.
Philip:Someone just asked on social media, is Putin putting troops into Moldova? And you have just hit a raw nerve, because that's what we've been dealing with for the last 24 hours. The government of Moldova — for those who don't know, we have a ministry in Moldova and Ukraine. We rescue kids from orphanages that are at the point of being put on the streets. We have a fabulous place called Vatra Village. We take them to this incredible village of six houses beside the largest lake in the country, and there they find Jesus, they find purpose in their life, and we tell them if you were born, God has a plan. That's the village right there.
Philip:So what happens is these kids turn from orphans — sons and daughters — to become missionaries. This whole year we have been literally flat out helping refugees coming from Ukraine. We've been taking mission trips into Ukraine on a regular basis. In fact, my son Andrew just came back last week from Ukraine and was able to go and share the gospel with hundreds and hundreds of people that have lost everything.
Philip:Yesterday the government of Moldova announced — and this is a real prayer call to you today — the government of Moldova announced yesterday that they have uncovered a plan by Putin to take Russian Stormtroopers, or whatever, by flight, by air, into the capital of Moldova, and from there stage a new front against Ukraine from Moldova, which means he will have to occupy the country of Moldova, which means our kids are at risk — imminent risk from Russian troops. And you know what they've been doing when they overtake a place: they have been mass rapes and murders. So we have been spending the last number of hours checking into how we can move and evacuate all of our young folk from Vatra Village into Romania, which is covered by NATO. So that's been keeping us up and active for the last few hours.
Philip:So pray about that. Our young folk this year have been absolutely unbelievable — our whole team over there, the house parents directing these young folk to become missionaries. And they just sent me recently a video of them in Ukraine, in a town called Kherson, which had just been liberated. They got in just after it had been liberated. Watch this video that they sent me of what they did.
A year ago their world was a happy place. They had jobs, their kids were in school, the corner shop sold bread and cheese and everything else. Their world was just like yours, until through the mist and snow monsters came. The tracks rattled on the ice-packed fields. The guns pointed towards the world they lived in. It took less than a second to obliterate everything that they had spent their lives building. There are no accurate numbers as to how many have died. The end is nowhere in sight.
We have been in Ukraine for years. From the first explosion we were involved. We took this assault personally. The boyfriend's hands could not stand on the sidelines and do nothing. Our amazing group of young men and women did the unimaginable. Once war — once friends themselves — they have felt personally the hand of grace and redemption. To go to this devastated world seems to them as normal as having a meal or going to church.
They drove for hours, unable to stop and stretch their legs, as inches on each side of the vehicles were live mines. Every few miles they were stopped at checkpoints by nervous soldiers. They were running along the line between the Russians and Ukrainians. Our team finally reached Kherson, a recently liberated city still held in the grip of desperation. They had brought food and burning stoves that will save lives in the bitter, deadly cold that is to come. They brought blankets that to many is the only barrier between survival and death.
On a dreary day, within the sound of guns and bombs, the most astonishing thing took place. The rescued became the rescuers. Hundreds waited in the rain, shuffling along in a line that ended up in love — smiles, bread, fish, and the words of care from the heart of the redeemed. As they traveled they came across bombed-out villages, scarred by the strife of bullets, destroyed by the landslides of death. Their water, electricity, and everything else was gone. But the wooden stove had become the guardian against the deadly cold.
We know it is impossible for most to even imagine this world. But by giving and praying together for this unfolding tragedy, we can join our hearts and hands to bring the hope that was sent to Earth by the living God. If it were us, we would wait in line hoping that someone, somewhere, was thinking of us. We must go back. Will you send us? Every gift you give allows us to be his hands.
Philip:We have gone back since that video was taken. My son was there last week and he came back and says you have never seen anything like it — beautiful cities, I mean beautiful historic cities, fabulous places. I've been to Odessa when there was no war, and it's the most beautiful city. It's called the Pearl of the Black Sea, and it is being pummeled and flattened and ground to dust by shells from Putin. And we just need you to pray for us as we continue. We've extended ourselves way farther than the size of this ministry. We have given and reached way beyond what we are normally able to do, because we're believing God. He's told us to be his hands and feet.
Philip:And you can't tell a woman whose husband has been killed in a war, or is fighting in a war, in a home with no water and no electricity and no fuel, and she's got kids and there's nothing else — you can't say, "Farewell, Jesus loves you." The only understanding she has of God's love is if we give it to her and show her. This ministry has given out 15,000 coats in the last few weeks, and we're going to continue doing so as you help us. Right now in our warehouse, about 20 feet from where I'm sitting, they're preparing two more containers, and each one of these needs someone to say, "We'll help you get there."
Philip:Please pray with us. You can contact us right now with any gift, any amount. You can help us. One of those stoves that you saw being given out is a hundred and fifty dollars. You can give to the Orphan's Hands. The Orphan's Hands, PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. And by helping us be God's hand extended — let me tell you something — the Bible says when you give to the poor you lend to the Lord. That's what the Bible says. And what you're doing — someone has lost everything, someone has lost a husband and a dad, someone has lost everything they have except the walls of a blanket that you've given.
Philip:The blankets we're giving out just now — to many of them are the only walls they have left. They don't have a house, and a mom can wrap this heavy blanket that we have around them to keep them safe. So we need you to help us be a part of a miracle and let God speak to your heart today. Thank you so much.
Philip:I'm so excited to have my guest with us today. One of the reasons why is this: he's the only pastor — and I've been traveling in America for 53 years, I've spoken in thousands of churches over my lifetime — he is the first and only pastor that really knows what the word football means. Every other pastor I know seems to support Alabama, which in itself is a terrible thing, because if God loves Auburn — anyway, let's leave that alone. But this pastor, Chris Fletcher, is a football fan, a real football fan. And whenever we talk, the first thing we talk about of course is Jesus, but we sure like to talk about football as well.
Mana Church's Military Base Mission
Philip:Chris, I am absolutely delighted to have you with us, and from Mana Church — tell us first of all, how many campuses you have and what you're doing through Mana Church.
Chris Fletcher:Yeah, so thank you for having me. It's good to be back here. Mana Church is a church-planting church, planting churches amongst military bases. So we started planting churches next to every US military installation in the world back in 2014. My dad was our senior pastor at the time — he's still my pastor, still the pastor of the movement. He's really the father of the movement and the chief catalyst of church planting, as it continues. But I pastor here in Fayetteville in the Fort Bragg region. There are six — we call them sites, campuses — that are associated with that, some other microsites, but all total there are 28 of those. So I pastor one, there are 27 others around the nation and world. So you guys are focusing on the men and women of our armed services to be there for them.
Philip:What a ministry. What a ministry. And God is speaking to you, and we were talking just before coming on the air about this revival that everyone seems to be talking about. And you have counseled the church not to be critical before you know what God is doing.
Signs of Revival Across America
Chris Fletcher:Yeah, that's right. I'm a pastor's kid and I've only grown up in the church, and I love the church. I love Mana Church — I think it's the greatest church on the planet because the people of Mana are just the greatest. But I love the church in all our forms. And I was just sitting on Monday in my living room thinking about, you know, what we've been crying out to God for. We, the church, have been crying out to God for revival, for awakening. And I don't think it takes a prophet to say that we stand on the edge of a cultural moment. Matter of fact, the great Os Guinness would say we are standing right on the edge of a cultural moment right now, where we have a choice to make as individuals.
Chris Fletcher:So we've been crying out to God, and I've seen some amazing things happen this year — a Super Bowl commercial, two Super Bowl commercials, that basically say Jesus. Maybe we don't understand everything about Jesus. Those are some pals of mine. I've had the great opportunity to be a part of the He Gets Us movement from the beginning. And then we see the Lord pouring out his spirit powerfully at Asbury Theological Seminary. And so I just took a minute and sent an email to our staff and said, you know, I think we need to be careful not to find ourselves in the camp of those who judge too quickly. The church in all our forms is the bride of Christ. So I think it's our job to position ourselves for revival. I think it's our job to prepare ourselves for revival and not waste time either criticizing or getting jealous of what God's done in other parts of the world. I think it's time to ask him for some — he's here, he's pouring it out. Let's get some.
Philip:Absolutely. And you're talking just now — you talked about there are different steps that you think are important for us to be taking, and the first one is cleansing. Explain that to us. That was powerful.
Chris Fletcher:Yeah, I think I study the scripture, and I'm a music guy, so I'm an artist. I've always been taken with the artistry of the Tabernacle — how the Lord ordered the worship of him in the old covenant. And something that is really apparent to me is that in order to be in right standing with God, to offer sacrifices for righteousness, you first had to be pure. The first step to worship was purity and cleanliness. And I think that sometimes we rush past that. I think that what we need to be doing as believers and individuals is preparing — preparing the ground for the Lord to pour his spirit out. The great prophet Jim Laffoon prophesied at the end of last year that the body of Christ needs to prepare itself to receive the drops of the Holy Spirit that are going to fall on our nation.
Purity and Consecration Before Revival
Chris Fletcher:I think in order to prepare, your ability to stand long in the presence of God is in direct proportion to the cleanliness of your hands. I'm not preaching a holier-than-thou gospel. I'm preaching — I think what holiness is actually defined as is separated, consecrated, set apart. We're not really better than the world, we're different from the world. We're not above the world, we're set apart from the world. We're meant to — forgive me, don't get upset — we're meant to be a little bit weird. If we live this thing out the way it's meant to be lived out, we're gonna be resisted, we're gonna be tough, and we're gonna be a little bit weird.
Philip:That is true. Bring on the weirdness, I say. Well, I just sense that we have all been praying for years and years. We've gone through this cultural upheaval and earthquake that's taking place. I mean, if I told you five years ago that they would be looking you seriously in the face and saying, "Oh yes, men can have babies" — I mean, they've twisted and turned the whole world upside down. And that is a vacuum that has happened in a vacuum of lack of presence of God and the church, because the church just sat back and said, "Well, you know, hey, we just want you to love us and we'll do whatever you tell us to do."
Philip:But suddenly God uses a bunch of kids. I was watching yesterday on Fox News and Laura Ingraham had a young girl from another campus on there, and this young girl went on and talked about what's been happening. And this young girl cut right to the chase. She says it's all about Christ and what Christ has done in our lives. And here's this young kid, fearlessly on nationwide television, announcing what revival is — and it's finding what Christ has done on the cross. And I'm thinking, wow, where have all these kids been? Where have all these thousands of kids been? Asbury — the town has been completely closed down because it's overrun with people. Suddenly there's a focus and a lens where we can say, well, maybe this is God's moment. And criticism will kill it every time.
Cultural Upheaval and the Church's Response
Chris Fletcher:I wonder — I am not suggesting that in our pursuit of a move of God that we ignore biblical literacy, that we ignore theology, that we just say anything goes. But I wonder if we're not too often interested in people arriving at the doors of revival already mature. Maturation is a process. Thank God I'm not the man I was 10 years ago. I'm still in the process of maturing. So the notion that — I think we're too quick to sit in a corner and judge all sorts of things, as if, "Well, that's a little biblically off, that's a little bit biblically off." I could pull up archives of things that I've said 20 years ago that were wildly biblically inaccurate. I just said them in the moment.
Chris Fletcher:And it's like we see in the New Testament when Aquila and Priscilla grab hold of — I forget the guy's name, it eludes me — but they grabbed him and taught him the better way. He was preaching and he was — it's slipping out of my mind. If my brother were here — my brother is one of the greatest Bible nerds I know — he would chastise me and fix it. But I think we as the church need to be prepared to be the people on whom the Lord's gonna pour his spirit out, and at the same time be brave enough to grab young men and women and say, "I will help show you the way" — not resistant, not critical.
Chris Fletcher:My dad — like you had a great father — my dad would say to me, "Don't be afraid of making mistakes." He says, "I can fix them. If you speak something that's not right, I can go up and I can fix it and repoint the thing." He says, "But don't stop risking. Don't stop getting out there and risking God using you." Because what happens is, if we become so careful and so tidy and try to make everything all neat with all the ducks in a row, what we do is we nitpick ourselves out of the blessing.
Chris Fletcher:When Jesus showed up and started healing people and raising dead people, I don't think that was conventional church. I don't think that was what they were used to — going outside of the walls to talk to people, calling someone down out of a tree, "Throw your net on the other side." I mean, dear Lord. He was completely unconventional, and that's what made him who he was in people's minds. And I just think — and I say to all the pastors watching today and all the folks watching — don't criticize what God is doing. Open your heart up and say, "Lord, we are available for it here." It doesn't have to be the same as what's taking place in Asbury or other places. You can have your own revival with your own characteristics in your own ministry, without having to try to import it from somewhere else.
Philip:Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah, I wish we were all as hungry for personal revival and renewal that expressed itself in a wide sweeping change across the nation as we were in getting up on our blogs and our Instagram — it's the leader, I don't know, whatever this social media thing is the kids are doing these days — and building our camps and criticizing other people. I always say it this way: I think it's beneath us. I think it's beneath what the Bible says about us. I think we're known in heaven and feared in hell. I think we're God's — all of us — God's favorite kid. I believe that he has more in store for us than we could possibly imagine, and I think that criticism and being nasty is beneath us.
Michal and David: The Danger of Criticism
Philip:When David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, he took a step in sacrifice. And he danced before the Ark of the Lord. And the Bible says that Michal, his wife — Michal had been given to David when he killed Goliath, that was the prize he got — and so Michal despised David. She was royalty, he was a shepherd boy, she'd been born in a palace. So here's this guy dancing in his underclothes, his T-shirt, dancing before the Ark of the Lord, and it totally disgusted Michal, and she criticized him. And David said to her — she says, "Listen, if you think I'm bad today, come back tomorrow, I'm going to get more undignified than that." That's what he said to her. But the Bible says that Michal was barren from that day forward, because I believe that David lost all interest in her because of the critical spirit she had. She didn't know what the Ark meant. She had no idea what the change — what the Ark of the Covenant, the anointing of God, meant to Israel.
Philip:And I don't want to be sitting beside the road criticizing what God is doing. If he's bringing the ark back through a bunch of young folk in Asbury, bring it back through. I don't care. Let it happen. I'm just available.
Chris Fletcher:Yeah, we can help people see the way, we can help people see the better way. Absolutely. And this is a crazy statement — we can fix people's theology. The Bible does a fantastic job of fixing people's theology. The Bible does a great job of pressing on the areas. I mean, believe it or not, I'm not perfect yet. I'm justified, but I'm not yet fully sanctified. So we're getting there, step by step, from glory to glory. He's changing us.
Philip:And that is so true. I just feel that God's up to something, and I don't want us to be sitting like a bunch of judges on the sidelines watching these young folk in the river of the spirit of God moving. And what fills me actually is the fact that this has come through traditional, non-Pentecostal denominations. This isn't, you know, a bunch of crazy Pentecostals — "Well, yeah, that's what they do." But suddenly Samford in Alabama — that's a Baptist college — they're having a move of God. Lee College in Tennessee, which is a Church of God college — God's pouring out the spirit on these young folks because they're hungry.
Philip:And if you're watching us today, Pastor, listen to me — your young folk are the key. Your young folk. In fact, our church tomorrow here in Tennessee, we're having a live feed from Asbury, and the church is coming together just to worship with the folks at Asbury, just to be a part of it, just to let our church know. And I'm the pastor of the church, but I'm excited by the fact that that has been made available to people — to just expose yourself and say, "Lord, I'm in your presence, have your way in me." And that's the most important thing.
Mentoring Young Believers in Revival
Philip:We've got two minutes left. Could you pray for us today, Chris, and ask God to quicken our hearts and sensitize us to the moving of the Holy Spirit? Pray for us, would you please?
Prayer for National Spiritual Awakening
Chris Fletcher:Absolutely. Father, we thank you so much for your attention. We don't take for granted that you pay attention to us. You're God. Solomon says that you're God in heaven, we're here on earth. So we should approach your throne recognizing that this is a choice you made — to allow us into your presence and to save us and to set us on the solid foundation of what it is that you've done. This is all you, and we're grateful for your attention and your care. And I pray that you would touch each and every one of our hearts. I pray that you would place inside of us an even deeper yearning for your presence. You're the one that provides the hunger and the satisfaction. You're both — you're both the substitutionary — I'm all over my words — Jesus, we love you. We thank you. We want more of you. We're desperate for your presence.
Chris Fletcher:Holy Spirit, you're the superstar. We can't do this without you. We acknowledge you as God. We cannot possibly walk into the fullness of what we're called to walk in without you. So we ask you to come and to move. We ask for you to move mightily in our nation and our churches and our hearts and our homes and our children. We ask you to come and pour out your presence. We love you. We worship you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Philip:Thank you, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. I don't deserve criticism for that area of rawness — no prep. Let me tell you something, God takes it. He's got ways of putting all the bits in places. And the best prayer I've prayed in my life is, "Lord Jesus, I need you." All the fancy words don't count. I just need you, Lord Jesus. I need you, Lord Jesus.
Philip:Anyone in Fayetteville — and there are other campuses, take a look for them — Mana Church is on Cliffdale Road in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and you can get in contact with them at www.mana.church. Mana.church. And I invite you to get in contact, go find these folks, because anyone that has a purpose and a vision to put a ministry at all of these different bases around the world is a ministry that is already moving in revival. And I commend you for that. I just think it's amazing what you're doing, Chris, and I'm glad to know you. And I like the fact that you know what the word football really means.
Chris Fletcher:A sport you play with your feet, not your hands. Is that not a shock?
Philip:Wow. What can I tell you? Thank you for being with us today. All of you watching, please pray for us as we continue our outreach in Moldova and Ukraine. We need you to cover us in prayer. Great things are happening there right now, and we need to be covered by the blood of Jesus. We'll see you again tomorrow. Bye-bye.
For over 25 years the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They champion the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons, and in the process orphans become daughters and sons. They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus.
God helped the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness. Now no longer orphans, they want to return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. The Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking. Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in the Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and Ukraine.
If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-Daily-Faith. You can also give by going online to www.dailyfaith.tv, or by writing to Post Office Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
Why does Chris Fletcher think Christians should hold off on criticizing the Asbury revival?
Fletcher says the church has been crying out for revival and awakening, and now that God appears to be pouring out his Spirit, spending energy criticizing or getting jealous of what's happening elsewhere is a waste. He believes it's the church's job to position and prepare itself for revival instead — and that criticism can kill a move of God before it takes root.
What does Chris Fletcher mean when he says 'cleansing' is the first step toward revival?
Drawing on the order of worship in the Old Testament Tabernacle, Fletcher points out that purity and cleanliness came before any sacrifice or offering. He argues that a believer's ability to stand long in God's presence is directly tied to the 'cleanliness of their hands' — meaning personal holiness, which he defines not as being better than the world, but as being set apart and consecrated from it.
What is Mana Church and what makes it unique?
Mana Church is a church-planting movement that specifically plants churches alongside US military installations around the world. The effort began in 2014 under Fletcher's father, who remains the senior pastor and chief catalyst of the movement. Fletcher himself pastors the Fayetteville, NC campus near Fort Bragg, and there are 28 total sites across the nation and world.
How does Chris Fletcher respond to concerns that young people in revival settings might say theologically inaccurate things?
Fletcher acknowledges the concern but pushes back on the impulse to demand theological maturity before welcoming people into a move of God. He notes that maturation is a process — he says he could pull up things he said 20 years ago that were 'wildly biblically inaccurate' — and that the church's role is to come alongside young people and 'show them the better way,' just as Aquila and Priscilla did in the New Testament, rather than shutting them down.
What did Chris Fletcher's dad teach him about taking risks in ministry?
Fletcher's father told him not to be afraid of making mistakes, saying, 'I can fix them.' His dad's point was that if you become so careful and tidy that everything has to be perfectly in order, you end up 'nitpicking yourself out of the blessing.' The bigger danger, in his father's view, was stopping the risk of stepping out and letting God use you.
Topics
chris fletchermana churchasbury revivalholy spiritrevival preparationchurch plantingconsecration