Tag Archives: Revival

Satur-deja Vu

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I mentioned that this was coming up when I wrote about announcing the call to preach 30 years ago then promptly forgot about it again. Thank you WordPress. Since March 4, 2008, there have been 1887 posts (this one will make 1888), 765,014 views and 2,540 comments. I have 750 subscribers although some of those are probably WordPress accounts that are no longer maintained or email addresses that are now defunct. If you have been any part of this journey – and you are reading this right now, presumably of your own free will – I hope you have learned something, enjoyed something or at least smiled as you shook your head. I have never started a podcast or relaunched The Master’s Table as a YouTube channel; it warms my heart to know that some people still read. So without further ado let me write something for you. You may or may not have caught these items this week:

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Asbury Revival

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The Asbury Revival has been trending on social media and religious newspapers for a couple of weeks. I mentioned it Saturday only to say that I had no comment but maybe later. That story has been well covered, it has the nation’s collective attention, every armchair theologian has weighed in. The response to the Asbury Revival has become its own story. Everyone with internet seems to either be a critic or a supporter of what is being done and how. Jimmy Humphrey wrote a post and made that the subject of his weekly podcast and I finally did reply to his comment. Without looking back that went something like this:

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The Read and Share File

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Here’s what I’ve been reading:

What if revival broke out in your town… at the church down the street?  What if you were out of town for a few months on a mission trip, and revival started under the guest preacher?   9Marks suggests that we Pray for Revival – at the other guy’s church.  

At Believing God Today: To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part I
To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part II

NEWS – Abortion, birth control and gay marriage ranked lowest on issues of importance to registered voters, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. What issues ranked highest?  The economy, jobs and the deficit, in that order.  No surprise there; if you want to hurt Americans, hit them in the pocket book.  More of this story at Christian Post.

The Desiring God blog shares 15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton.  Perhaps you recognize John Newton as the writer of Amazing Grace.  Did he really offer tips on blogging, 400 years ago?  In a manner of speaking.

Here is the Al Mohler post that everyone is talking about.  Paul Wilkinson (Thinking Out Loud) explains Why Al Mohler Should Retire; Jeff Dunn (Internet Monk) writes on Al Mohler’s Problem with Grace.  Suddenly all my problems seem smaller.

This just in: Tall Skinny Kiwi does not live in a commune.

OneCry, A Nationwide Call for Spiritual Awakening

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A blogging friend asked me to promote OneCry, and I gave them 2 sentences in the Read & Share posting yesterday.  I feel I can do better than that.

I grew up in a series of small, fundamentalist churches.  We read the King James Bible and abstained from “mixed bathing.”  The men wore pants, the women wore dresses, and no one wore shorts.  And twice a year we ran revival.  I could empathize with Michael Spencer when he described a very similar experience growing up, and got what he meant by evangelicalism and revivalism.  The need for revival is great, but I get a little uneasy when people talk about having one.

The  difference between Revival and Revivalism

There is a certain revival culture that exists among evangelicals, particularly among fundamentalists.  I have come to believe that you cannot “schedule” revival twice a year just because you book an evangelist for a week and meet every night at 7 p.m.  If an evangelist is preaching every night, and you hope to see lots of people walk the aisle and get saved, then that’s not really a revival anyway.  Revival would involve Christians already in the church being spiritually awakened, or recommitting to being about our father’s business.  There was certainly an evangelistic thrust in all of my childhood revival meeting experiences, but every church member was expected to be there every night also.  Maybe that covers all the bases.  If you want to schedule an evangelist to preach for a week at your church, by all means please do so.  But call what it is. Continue reading →

The Read and Share File

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It’s been a busy week, even by my standards.  I haven’t been able to read much, but here’s a few tidbits you might enjoy:

While I’m not really interested in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) this article could help anyone blog better; sound advice even if your blog isn’t designed to drive business.

Believers United for Revival invite you to join One Cry.  Declaring a spiritual emergency 2,699 believers have joined the movement to pray for nationwide revival.  —-> UPDATE 

What if we treated our Bibles more like our cell phones?  This has been around for a while, but thank you Paul Wilkinson for the reminder.

Book Review: Revival and Revialism

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Michael Spencer was the first person I heard use the word revivalism.  Any type of -ism refers to the belief in or practice of a particular thing.  Some churches live in a revival subculture, where revival meetings, revival services and revival preachers are a regular part of ministry.  I believe Iain Murray has written a book after Spencer’s own heart.

I just read an excellent review of Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750-1858 at the 9Marks blog.  Bobby Jamieson has spent some time with the text; the review is practically a study guide to the actual volume.  Read the full review here.

*The review lists $33 as the price, which is retail.  Amazon has it for $24.09, if you’re interested.