By Dale Sutherland, Op-ed contributor Monday, November 10, 2025Unsplash/Ismael Paramo
With Bible sales increasing and church pews filling up, many are asking whether a revival is happening in America. The short answer: yes and no. On one hand, the Gospel never stops — the power of the good news and the work of the Holy Spirit are active all over the world (Romans 1:16). On the other hand, when people talk about “revival” today, they often mean a big event where crowds respond all at once. That’s not really how Scripture describes revival.
In the Bible, revival usually starts inside individuals. The psalmist prayed, “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6). Revival begins when the Spirit of God awakens the heart of a person who realizes their need for Him. Then it spreads — family to family, church to church, and community to community.
I spent most of my adult life as an undercover officer in Washington, D.C., and I often saw doctors and medics desperately try to revive someone after a shooting or a stabbing. I saw firsthand what it looks like to battle for life when it’s slipping away.
After retiring from law enforcement, I became a pastor and began witnessing restoration of a different kind, spiritual revival. That same heartbeat led my daughter and me to launch Boost Others to help people in crisis through small, practical acts of care. Working alongside social workers, we fill gaps covering groceries, rent, or a child’s bed — and often, when people are open, we share the hope that brings lasting renewal.
In those moments, I see what true revival looks like: broken lives coming alive again, not just physically or emotionally, but spiritually. People begin to believe once more that God still notices them, still loves them, and still revives the brokenhearted.
The term “revival” isn’t used in Scripture for large public meetings. Instead, it’s expressed in personal prayers: “Revive me according to Your word” (Psalm 119:25). When Ezra read God’s Word to the people in Nehemiah 8, they repented, wept, and turned back to the Lord. That’s revival, people responding to truth and being transformed from the inside out.
So, revival doesn’t begin in a stadium; it begins in a soul. It happens when God’s Spirit breathes new life into someone who’s grown cold or distant.
It is evident that the gospel is spreading and that there’s a burning hunger for truth again. U.S. Bible sales grew from about 9.7 million copies in 2019 to more than 14 million in 2023. Early data from 2025 shows sales up another 11 %. That tells me people are searching for hope.
While I’m encouraged by this growth, I’m also concerned by the churches today that do not preach the biblical Gospel — repentance from sin and faith in Christ alone. Revival can’t come where truth is neglected. Real transformation only happens when the Word of God is preached and hearts are pierced (Hebrews 4:12; Acts 2:37–38).
Maybe you’re walking with Christ but feel spiritually dry. Maybe you’ve drifted, or maybe you’ve never known Him at all. Revival begins the same way for all of us:
- Acknowledge your sin — “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us” (1 John 1:9).
- Repent — Turn from sin and turn toward God (Acts 3:19).
- Trust Christ alone — “For by grace you have been saved through faith … not of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- Let the Spirit renew you — “He saved us … by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
Our God is not reluctant to revive; He is ready to forgive (Psalm 86:5). Imagine a prison where the warden is eager to pardon every inmate who asks — that’s what our God is like. He’s ready to pardon, ready to restore, ready to revive.
My prayer is that God will work through His Word and through His people to revive lives physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Whether you’ve walked with Him for decades or you’re just now realizing your need for Him, the path is the same: repent, believe, and seek Him with your whole heart.
As the Psalmist prayed, “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?”
Dale Sutherland is a 29-year veteran undercover DC detective turned pastor. He founded the nonprofit Boost Others to help schools, hospitals and homeless shelters solve urgent problems that couldn’t be fixed quickly by government agencies or existing nonprofits.
