Good Morning
I will be putting less time into this blog because I have developed a blog on the impact that Dietrich Bonhoeffer can have on twenty-first century preachers and pastors. It is a blog that will hopefully help me complete my thesis-project for my Doctor of Ministry Degree through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Please visit the blog at...
http://bonhoefferblog.wordpress.com/
Bryan
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Impact of Revival
When revival hits America, the impact will be profound. Marc Dupont said it well..
"Revival in its fullness will see neighborhoods, schools, work places and cultures changed and healed."
Praying for Revival!
Bryan
"Revival in its fullness will see neighborhoods, schools, work places and cultures changed and healed."
Praying for Revival!
Bryan
Friday, February 15, 2008
Are You Praying for Revival?
It is a simple question.
ARE YOU PRAYING FOR REVIVAL?
TAKE INVENTORY
We have said the only hope for America and the world is revival. Our churches have so little life. Why is there no real conviction of sin? What are we doing about it?
.Revival will not come by wishing, sighing, or whining?
.Are you willing to respond in prayer? Are you willing to personally seek God for revival? It is time to pray!
."Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)
.If you mean to break up the fallow ground of your heart, you must begin by looking closely at your own life. Examine and note the state of your walk with God. Don't play games.
.Do not be in a hurry. Begin to take inventory. Write down on a sheet of paper those sins that so easily beset you from running the race.
.Then seek God in prayer and believe for a cleansing. Let the Holy Spirit begin to do a work in your heart. Remember, God's voice is a "still small voice," and is not the nagging, scolding, badgering, and accusations which one receives from the devil.
rest of article...
ARE YOU PRAYING FOR REVIVAL?
TAKE INVENTORY
We have said the only hope for America and the world is revival. Our churches have so little life. Why is there no real conviction of sin? What are we doing about it?
.Revival will not come by wishing, sighing, or whining?
.Are you willing to respond in prayer? Are you willing to personally seek God for revival? It is time to pray!
."Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)
.If you mean to break up the fallow ground of your heart, you must begin by looking closely at your own life. Examine and note the state of your walk with God. Don't play games.
.Do not be in a hurry. Begin to take inventory. Write down on a sheet of paper those sins that so easily beset you from running the race.
.Then seek God in prayer and believe for a cleansing. Let the Holy Spirit begin to do a work in your heart. Remember, God's voice is a "still small voice," and is not the nagging, scolding, badgering, and accusations which one receives from the devil.
rest of article...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Do We See the Impossible When We Pray?
For revival to come, we must dream big and then pray big prayers. Dick Eastwood put it this way:
"Only those who see the invisible can attempt the impossible."
Praying for that "impossible" revival to come!
Bryan
"Only those who see the invisible can attempt the impossible."
Praying for that "impossible" revival to come!
Bryan
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Revival is the Last Hope of the Church
Reflecting on the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, has said publicly, and has written in his books, that "the last hope of the church in our day is revival"
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Church Must Get Back to Normal!
Perhaps the best quote of revival is by Vance Havner
He said, "Revival is the saints getting back to normal."
Brothers and Sisters in Jesus, we need to get back to normal. Perhaps, we have never been there!
Bryan
He said, "Revival is the saints getting back to normal."
Brothers and Sisters in Jesus, we need to get back to normal. Perhaps, we have never been there!
Bryan
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Revival: What is it and Who Needs it?
Derek Gentle has written a wonderful article on the revival. Revival: What it is and Who Needs it
Revival is certainly a word in the Baptist vocabulary. In Baptist life, it is usually used to describe a series of worship services in which a visiting preacher, and sometimes a visiting choir director, come to a church to lead special worship services. These services have a special emphasis placed on leading people, who do not yet have a relationship with Him, to Christ. The church members often help out by doing such things as singing in the "revival choir," bringing their friends to "pack a pew night," or serving pizza to teenagers before the service on "youth night." Sometimes the services are preceded by "cottage prayer meetings," where the members go to a member's home to pray together for the services. This is pretty much what the word meant as as we heard it growing up. Because of this tradition, there remains a "terminological inexactitude" (to borrow a phrase from Churchill) among many Baptists concerning the meaning of the term, revival.
Evangelism is not that to which the word revival refers. Revival is what God sends, not to the lost, but to His own people, the church. The dead can not be revived; they require resurrection. In revival, God does a fresh work in those who have life, yet who have grown weak through sin or neglect. It is true that evangelism will inevitably flow out of revival. Evangelism is important! But in terms of methodology, more and more, we are having to learn how to do that work outside the walls of the church. Unbelievers are not going to come and hear as often as they did in earlier generations. We are having to learn to share the faith in natural ways with those with whom we have relationships.
Here are some better definitions of revival; these will be found to be more consistent with biblical teaching:
"Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing." - Robert Coleman
"Revival is a return to spiritual health after a period of decline into sin and broken fellowship with God... Revival is for God's people when they need to be forgiven and restored to life, spiritual health, and vitality" -Blackaby & King (Fresh Encounter, Lifeway, 1993)
"Revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results." - Richard Owen Roberts
Look in the Bible. Notice how many times it says, "me" or "us" when speaking of revival. Here are some examples:
Psalm 119:156: "Great are Thy mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Thine ordinances"
Psalm 119:37: "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways."
Psalm 119:88: "Revive me according to Thy lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Thy mouth"
Psalm 85:6: "Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again, That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"
Habbakuk 3:2: "Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy"
Like the old song says, "It's me, it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer."
When is revival needed among God's people? When they have their left first love. God's people need to be revived when they find themselves going through the motions, having "a form of godliness but denying its power" (2nd Timothy 3:5). God's people need revival when they are wallowing in sin, perhaps regretting their sins, but unwilling to thoroughly repent of them. God's people need revival when they are neglecting their relationship with Christ. Revival is needed when we are low on zeal and have grown lukewarm.
J. I. Packer lists five Marks of Revival:
(1) Awareness of God's Presence
(2) Responsiveness to God's Word
(3) Sensitiveness to sin
(4) Liveliness in Community - A revived church is full of life, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit
(5) Faithfulness in testimony - an evangelistic and ethical overspill into the world.
We can all agree with Spurgeon as he described the kind of revival he wanted to see:
"We need a work of the Holy Spirit of a supernatural kind, putting power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so that they turn to God and live. We would not be drunk with the wine of carnal excitement, but we would be filled with the Spirit. We would behold the fire descending from heaven in answer to the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men. Can we not entreat the Lord our God to make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the people in this day of declension and vanity?"
Is there a "formula for revival"? Sometimes, you hear 2nd Chronicles 7:14 used as a recipe for revival:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
But that's the whole deal, isn't it? Getting God's people to humble themselves, to pray, to seek God's face, and repent? It would seem that if all that is happening, you have revival! The condition being met in this passage leads to forgiveness and restoration; at least that's what it says after the word, "then".
So, should we pray for revival? Of course! That's what we see the Psalmist doing in the verses above. But can we reduce the work of a sovereign God to a man-dependent formula? No. Revival is the work of God. We pray for it because we are dependent upon Him to send it.
Revival is certainly a word in the Baptist vocabulary. In Baptist life, it is usually used to describe a series of worship services in which a visiting preacher, and sometimes a visiting choir director, come to a church to lead special worship services. These services have a special emphasis placed on leading people, who do not yet have a relationship with Him, to Christ. The church members often help out by doing such things as singing in the "revival choir," bringing their friends to "pack a pew night," or serving pizza to teenagers before the service on "youth night." Sometimes the services are preceded by "cottage prayer meetings," where the members go to a member's home to pray together for the services. This is pretty much what the word meant as as we heard it growing up. Because of this tradition, there remains a "terminological inexactitude" (to borrow a phrase from Churchill) among many Baptists concerning the meaning of the term, revival.
Evangelism is not that to which the word revival refers. Revival is what God sends, not to the lost, but to His own people, the church. The dead can not be revived; they require resurrection. In revival, God does a fresh work in those who have life, yet who have grown weak through sin or neglect. It is true that evangelism will inevitably flow out of revival. Evangelism is important! But in terms of methodology, more and more, we are having to learn how to do that work outside the walls of the church. Unbelievers are not going to come and hear as often as they did in earlier generations. We are having to learn to share the faith in natural ways with those with whom we have relationships.
Here are some better definitions of revival; these will be found to be more consistent with biblical teaching:
"Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing." - Robert Coleman
"Revival is a return to spiritual health after a period of decline into sin and broken fellowship with God... Revival is for God's people when they need to be forgiven and restored to life, spiritual health, and vitality" -Blackaby & King (Fresh Encounter, Lifeway, 1993)
"Revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results." - Richard Owen Roberts
Look in the Bible. Notice how many times it says, "me" or "us" when speaking of revival. Here are some examples:
Psalm 119:156: "Great are Thy mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Thine ordinances"
Psalm 119:37: "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways."
Psalm 119:88: "Revive me according to Thy lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Thy mouth"
Psalm 85:6: "Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again, That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"
Habbakuk 3:2: "Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy"
Like the old song says, "It's me, it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer."
When is revival needed among God's people? When they have their left first love. God's people need to be revived when they find themselves going through the motions, having "a form of godliness but denying its power" (2nd Timothy 3:5). God's people need revival when they are wallowing in sin, perhaps regretting their sins, but unwilling to thoroughly repent of them. God's people need revival when they are neglecting their relationship with Christ. Revival is needed when we are low on zeal and have grown lukewarm.
J. I. Packer lists five Marks of Revival:
(1) Awareness of God's Presence
(2) Responsiveness to God's Word
(3) Sensitiveness to sin
(4) Liveliness in Community - A revived church is full of life, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit
(5) Faithfulness in testimony - an evangelistic and ethical overspill into the world.
We can all agree with Spurgeon as he described the kind of revival he wanted to see:
"We need a work of the Holy Spirit of a supernatural kind, putting power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so that they turn to God and live. We would not be drunk with the wine of carnal excitement, but we would be filled with the Spirit. We would behold the fire descending from heaven in answer to the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men. Can we not entreat the Lord our God to make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the people in this day of declension and vanity?"
Is there a "formula for revival"? Sometimes, you hear 2nd Chronicles 7:14 used as a recipe for revival:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
But that's the whole deal, isn't it? Getting God's people to humble themselves, to pray, to seek God's face, and repent? It would seem that if all that is happening, you have revival! The condition being met in this passage leads to forgiveness and restoration; at least that's what it says after the word, "then".
So, should we pray for revival? Of course! That's what we see the Psalmist doing in the verses above. But can we reduce the work of a sovereign God to a man-dependent formula? No. Revival is the work of God. We pray for it because we are dependent upon Him to send it.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Limiting God in our Prayers
Will God send revival? Millions of people are praying that he will. Maybe it is our prayers that are the problem. Andrew Murray (1828-1917)offers the following wisdom...
"Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do."
"Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do."
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Prayer is a Scourge for Satan
John Bunyan said that prayer is beneficial for many reasons...
"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan"
Praying for Revival
Bryan
"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan"
Praying for Revival
Bryan
Monday, February 04, 2008
Do we labour in prayer?
D.M. M'Intyre wrote a classic little book on prayer called "The Hidden Life of Prayer"
In it he wrote: "Do we know what it is to 'labour,' to 'wrestle.' to 'agonize' in prayer?"
Good question!
Praying for revival
Bryan
In it he wrote: "Do we know what it is to 'labour,' to 'wrestle.' to 'agonize' in prayer?"
Good question!
Praying for revival
Bryan
Friday, February 01, 2008
Focus and Prayer
Let's kick off the month with a prayer quote by Oswald Chambers...
"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties."
Short and to the point.
Bryan
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