My Dear Friend,

May I share what I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches in 2025? It is simple, Scriptural, and sure. Its motif came through a friend.

On New Year’s Eve, Ann Rogers, my ministry friend, committed Christ-servant, and anointed Bible teacher, said she felt God was saying, “2025 will be the year of the altar.” She asked if I had any interpretation. I didn’t. But I prayed. And I believe God answered.

Biblically, an altar is a place of reconciliation by blood sacrifice. Israel’s temple altar was bronze, symbolizing divine judgment. Lambs were slain near the altar, offered on it, and their blood poured out at its base. These actions prophesied God would bring eternal reconciliation to all who believed on Israel’s God by the blood of another Lamb yet to be offered on another altar. By this sacrificial worship, Jews justified God’s righteousness, acknowledged their sinfulness, humbly received God’s forgiveness, and entered into true worship. The other altar?

The cross! On Calvary, the Lamb of God, Jesus, bled, died, and offered Himself for one purpose: to reconcile us to God and one another. Only then could we become “true” worshipers offering pleasing sacrifices of praise and worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). We come to the Christian cross-altar by confessing we are sinners, repenting of our sins, and asking Jesus to save us. Thus, we justify God’s righteousness, acknowledge our sinfulness, and humbly receive the forgiveness and reconciliation He offers. Then we may live and worship in union with Him and one another.

Our practical path to God’s cross-altar is often through our local church’s or chapel’s altar. There, under God’s awe and the Spirit’s power, contrite in spirit and convicted of sin, humbled and ready to obey, we come ready to reconcile with God and others. Church altars are simply modern symbols of Jesus’ ancient cross. Coming physically to these altars represents coming spiritually to Jesus’ cross, fully ready for full reconciliation. No more stubbornness. No more prideful self-justification. No more unbelief. No more harboring ill will. Only brokenness. Only death to sin and self as we understand them. Only a burning desire to get right with the God who created us and sent His Son to recreate us. This is the true spirit of the altar. It is the place Israel’s lambs died, God’s Lamb died, and our proud sin dies - and we begin to truly live as God intended.

Jesus spoke of this altar in Matthew 5:23-24:

• “If you bring your gift to the altar …” If you come to God’s altar to offer a “gift” of worship.

• “And there remember that your brother has something against thee …” There, however, the Holy Spirit quietly but firmly convicts you of in some way wronging another.

• “Leave your gift there before the altar …” Immediately stop all attempts at offering praise and worship. If you proceed, your worship will be hypocritical and unacceptable.

• “Go your way; first be reconciled to your brother …” Make a beeline to contact the person(s) you have wronged and say or do whatever it takes to humbly right the wrong. Plainly confess your fault, ask forgiveness, and seek to resume fellowship. Even if refused, you have done your part by obeying Jesus and are thereby cleared to resume a close walk with God and offer worship acceptably.

• “Then come and offer your gift …” Now you may “offer” with a sincere heart the kind of worship the Father actively “seeks” and joyfully receives (John 4:23). And you are ready to walk and work in loving unity with Him and all who come to His altar.

Anytime anyone anywhere comes to the altar this way, they immediately encounter God. Grace is instantaneous. Deliverance is immediate. Our old life halts. New life or, if already a Christian, renewed life, begins without delay. New love for our fellow Christians, those we have wronged and those who have wronged us, springs up overnight. Reconnected with God, His supernatural river of life (Ezekiel 47:1-12) surges into us and out through acts of love, words of truth, and renewed faithfulness in service. His gifts flow. Miracles manifest. Conversions, healings, and deliverances follow. Individuals, marriages, and families are redeemed. Churches and cities are impacted and transformed. And the Presence - yes, sweetest of all, God’s Presence - is manifest, or sensed and felt, assuring all altar-goers that, indeed, they have found God’s true mercies and are now safe in His favor, under His covering wings, and ready to walk and work with Him, offer true worship daily, and thrive with others at the altar.

We must realize, however, that our “altar” need not be in a church or chapel. Spiritually, God’s altar exists whenever and wherever we finally decide to come to Him, broken in spirit, forsaking our pride, humbly seeking reconciliation His way. This “altar” may occur literally anywhere. While walking. On the phone. In the hospital. At school. In the office. While traveling. In a car or a bar! At court or in jail. Perhaps while reading this piece. Why come?

We come to the altar to learn to live at the altar, or live in the spirit of the altar every moment of every hour of every day. Then the altar is no longer an event, but a lifestyle. How do we live at the altar?

We discipline ourselves. We put God’s will “first,” before all other things: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). We diligently regulate our lives to walk in His ways daily. We seek Him “first” every morning. We read His Word meditatively and study it diligently. We thank God constantly, praise Him regularly, and worship Him devotedly. We gather regularly with Christians at church, Bible studies, prayer meetings, and private visits, to share sweet, strengthening fellowship, new Scriptural knowledge, recharging our spirits, and to labor in life-saving intercessions. We use our grace-gifts faithfully. We share the gospel with the lost and the Word with the saved and accept rejection, when it comes for Christ’s sake. We give our money, time, strength, and wisdom to others freely. These spiritual disciplines are vital components of life at the altar. And there’s one more.

We persist in the humbling, sanctifying practice of self-examination. Whenever the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, checks us in speech, points out wrong motives or attitudes, or teaches us to adopt new ways of God, we respond. Not slowly but quickly. No stubbornness. No delay. No prideful ignoring of His still, small voice. No slowness to apologize to those we offend and, if necessary, make restitution. By responding quickly, no separation develops between us and Jesus. So, the Spirit doesn’t need to stop us as we attempt worship at home or church and say, “Go your way! Be reconciled!” Why? We are close. We are locked in tightly with Jesus. We are living at the altar. And we will never walk away. It is our home now. Not the exception, but the norm. The result?

Nothing less than a touch of heaven on earth! Divine life and power flow, and joy we never thought possible. Daily we blissfully cooperate with other “altar Christians” and God’s master plan for His church thrives. We discharge our threefold Great Commission: to witness, preach, and make disciples. And every time we offer praise and worship, privately or publicly, the Father delights in our offerings and “inhabits,” or enthrones Himself upon, our praises (Psalm 22:3). We draw new strength from sensing His Presence. And we pursue our vocations or ministry callings with easy power and unabated zeal. Our acts become like the Book of Acts. This, and nothing less, is coming in this new year of our Lord. But it is not really new.

The righteous remnant has always lived at the altar and learned wisely to never abandon it. So, this New Year’s news is: The true body of Christ is coming to the altar to learn to live there! A prodigious parade of prodigals will soon begin a sustained, intimate walk with the Father . . . by way of the altar. Unprecedentedly deep spiritual unity will fill, not all Christian organizations but all true “altar assemblies.” Jesus’ high-priestly prayer (John 17:17-26) will be fulfilled. Paul’s heavenly visions of the church will become earthly realities: a Spirit-indwelt tabernacle church (Ephesians 2:19-22), a “perfect” (spiritually mature, Christlike) man church (Ephesians 4:11-13), a purified bride church (Ephesians 5:25-27), and an army of spiritually militant, divinely armored intercessors, standing strong and unmoved by Satan’s sharpest arrows and subtlest wiles, “praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” with unfailing success concerning every kingdom issue (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Won’t happen? Can’t happen? Too high and lofty a vision? Don’t let cynical reasoning based on current conditions cause you to disbelieve. Why?

It has happened before. During the 1906 Azusa Street awakening in Los Angeles, thousands of people from many races and nations met at an altar. Not in a grand cathedral, comfortable church sanctuary, or elegant hotel ballroom, but in an old dusty, rundown, wooden stable-turned-revival-center in an undesirable area of town. Christian History Magazine relates an eyewitness description of this odd-yet-genuine altar:

The meetings begin about ten o’clock in the morning and can hardly stop before ten or twelve at night, and sometimes two or three in the morning, because so many are seeking, and some are slain under the power of God. People are seeking three times a day at the altar and row after row of seats have to be emptied and [re]filled with seekers.^[1]

More recently, we have seen another, much smaller “altar awakening.” In February 2023, at an ordinary Wednesday chapel service in Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University, without any special speakers, music, or agenda, the Presence and awe of God suddenly fell. Conviction of sin permeated the atmosphere and students began coming forward to the altar. They confessed and wept over their sins. They prayed for God’s forgiveness. They went to those they had wronged and made things right. They received New Birth. Some were healed. Others were delivered from oppression. Some received fresh refillings with the Holy Spirit. This continued night and day nonstop for weeks. An estimated 15,000 came every day. And similar altar experiences spread to other college campuses across the nation and beyond. This Asbury experience was real. It has been documented. It’s on the record. Thousands of lives were radically changed. This cannot be denied and should be affirmed. With great hope! Why?

It was just a foretaste. Now comes the main event. 2025 is the year of the altar! What happened at Azusa on a large scale and Asbury on a smaller scale will now erupt across the globe. Every genuine revival, renewal, or awakening, every authentic move of the true Holy Spirit, has centered around the altar. And it will, it must, happen again. But this time, something will be different. Wonderfully unique. Awesomely unprecedented. Unthinkably large and grand.

This “altar” will mark the beginning of the movement that raises the bride of Christ. Millions of born-again Christians worldwide are today spiritually sleepwalking - saved but living far from the altar life. But this will soon change. Millions will suddenly experience conviction of sin, submit to Jesus’ reconciliation instructions, and come home to the altar of God and the God of the altar. And never again leave! Why am I so sure? Am I relying only on my friend’s discernment, or my own, to make such a bold claim?

Absolutely not! Jesus prophesied in the infallible Scripture (Matthew 25:6-7) this would happen in the world’s “midnight” hour just before He comes to receive His church.

• “At midnight, there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes…” This is no false alarm. Though He delayed His coming earlier, the Bridegroom’s arrival now is truly imminent.

• “Go ye out to meet him…” You must “go,” or respond with spiritual preparation, so you may “meet” Him when He appears to receive you.

• “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps” Shockingly, yet surely, Jesus prophesies “all” His bridesmaids, truly born-again ones, will respond to this divine call. This envisions a global awakening of colossal proportions continuing right up to Jesus’ appearing. I didn’t prophesy this. Jesus did!

This trimming of our heart-lamps is equivalent to coming to the altar to reconcile with God, and others, in order to rekindle our heart fires of devotion, worship, and service. Until He comes.

So, gird up your loins, my Christian friend. Get ready. We are about to have us a year. Or more accurately, Jesus is about to have 2025 - the year of the altar.

Coming, living at the altar,

Dr. Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES

 1.  Christian History Magazine (Issue 153), Global Outpouring: Revival Movements of the Modern Era. “More of the Power,” 22.