Church Revival

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thoughts' are about revival. It is what the church needs, what we as individuals need, and what we all need to be in earnest prayer for, not allowing our busyness, as R. A. Torrey points out in the first 'thought,' to keep us from investing the time in prayer needed to call down such power.

     I send these collected thoughts to spur you to set aside such time, for the one thing the church needs more than anything else is not new programs, more ministries, or a revised vision statement. What she needs (what we all need) is the power and presence of the Spirit in renewing or reviving us as His people. May these thoughts spur you to pray in that way.

     "How little time the average Christian spends in prayer! We are too busy to pray, and so we too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; there are many services, but few conversions. The power of God is lacking in our lives and in our work. We have not because we ask not.   R. A. Torrey

Here are some brief descriptions of revival from various Christian leaders:

“Revival is God breaking in and upon and over His church like ocean waves upon the shoreline rocks.” (Jonathan Edwards)

“Revival is the Church falling in love with Jesus all over again.” (Vance Havner)

“Revival is a community saturated with God.” (Duncan Campbell)

“A revival means days of heaven upon earth.” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

“Revival is ultimately Christ Himself, seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through His Body on earth.” (Stephen Olford)

“Revival is that strange and sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring, re-animating, and releasing them into the fullness of His blessings.” (Robert Coleman)

“A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the spirit of worldliness and selfishness, and making God and His love triumph in the heart and life.” (Andrew Murray)

“Revival is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is God’s method to counteract spiritual decline and to create spiritual momentum in order that His redemptive purposes might be accomplished on earth” (Arthur Wallis)

“Revival comes to the church when we are thoroughly possessed by the hope held out in the gospel—and that hope is Christ Himself.” (David Bryant)

“Revival is an extraordinary work of the Spirit that invades the church to re-energize us with God’s eternal purposes in Christ Jesus.” (David Bryant)

     No matter how one says it, or who says it, we could use prayer for it -- be it praying that the church would fall in love with Jesus all over again, or that we would be saturated with God, or experience days of heaven on earth, or have Christ Himself seen, felt, heard, living, active and moving in His Body on earth to re-energize us with a sense of God's eternal purposes in Jesus. No matter how we say it, may God touch us to spend time praying for it.  In Him, Pastor Jeff