How Christians Should Respond to Muslim Outrage at the Pope's Regensburg Message About Violence and Reason

Good afternoon. I though John Piper words concerning the recent aftermath that occurred from Pope Benedict XVI words.

September 20, 2006
By John Piper
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"Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim." Those were the words of Sheikh Abubakar Hassan Malin to a gathering of Muslims in Mogadishu on Friday, September 15, 2006. On Saturday, Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five Christian churches in the West Bank and Gaza. On Sunday, September 17, in London, outside Westminster Cathedral, Anjem Choudary addressed a demonstration and said that those who insulted Islam "should be subject to capital punishment."

These were among the reactions to a speech given by Pope Benedict XVI at Regensburg University, in Germany on Tuesday, September 12. Perhaps connected to the speech was the murder on Sunday in Mogadishu of sixty-six-year-old Leonella Sgorbati, an Italian Catholic nun serving as a nurse in a children's hospital.

In the speech, the pope was addressing the foundation of the secular university. The subject was faith and reason. He was arguing that the foundation of the university, and the spread of truth and faith, lay in the rationality of God. He asked, "Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?" He answers, "I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek, in the best sense of the word, and the biblical understanding of faith in God."

In other words, the pope is arguing that the university, and all people, have an obligation to act in accordance with reason, because reason is rooted in God. At this point, he brought in a discussion of the difference between Islam and Christianity on the relationship between God and reason. Christianity, he argues, sees reason as rooted in God. But, citing a noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, he says that "Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that [in Islam] God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practice idolatry."

This, he implies, disconnects God and reason and opens Islam to a use of violence in spreading their faith that is not governed by reason. He cites Sura 2, 256 from the Qur'an, where Mohammed says that there is no compulsion in religion. Then he draws attention to the later developments in the Qur'an by quoting the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus in 1391 in Ankara (today"s capital of Turkey). The emperor apparently said that Mohammed taught that one could "spread by the sword the faith he preached." Then the pope said,

"The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death. The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature."

These references to the role of reason in Islam, and the apparent endorsement of violence (in parts of the Qur'an) as a way of spreading Islamic faith, have outraged Muslims and sparked violence and calls for violence. Subsequently, the pope said, "I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought."

How should Christians respond to this situation? I will suggest ten responses that flow from the Bible.

1. Admit that the Christian church has often been too entangled with civil governments, with the result that violence has been endorsed by the church as a way of accomplishing religious, and not just civil, goals. The Crusades, for example, stand as a monument to collective Christian blindness to the teaching of Jesus. We should make every effort today to avoid political alignments between the Christian church and any civil government or political party. (See my article, Tolerance, Truth-Telling, Violence, and Law.)

2. Make clear that the use of God-sanctioned violence between Israel and the nations in the Old Testament is no longer God's will for his people. The coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as a suffering servant, rather than a warlord, and his gathering of a people from all nations rather than only one, are two of the many reasons why the Christian church today should not and almost universally does not endorse or use violence to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. Admit that there are many Muslims today who do not approve of violence in the spread of Islam. Admittedly, to many of us in the West, their number seems small and their voice seems muted by the reputation of the more violent strains of Islam. We do not know how large that segment of Islam is.

4. Point out how Islam, in its most sacred writings and authoritative teachings, belittles Jesus Christ, not just occasionally in the news, but constantly by its dominant claims. Islam denies that Jesus Christ was and is God, a central truth of the New Testament and the Christian church (John 1:1-3; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8). Dominant streams of Islam deny that Jesus died on the cross and therefore deny that the claim that his death atones for sin and propitiates the wrath of God is true (1 Corinthians 15:1-3; Romans 3:21-26; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). Therefore, defenders of Islam daily defame Jesus Christ and insult the glory of his gospel.

5. Point out that, in response to this constant defamation of Jesus Christ, there are no public threats or demands for apologies. This is not because we do not love Jesus above all things, or because we have no zeal for the glory of his name. It is because he told us to expect this (Matthew 10:25; John 15:20) and then modeled for us how to react: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).

6. Do good to those who hate you and, of course, those of other faiths who don't hate you (Luke 6:27). This is not because Christians do not believe in vengeance. We simply believe that it is not ours to give. And this age is not the time to give it. This is an age of mercy and patience and forgiveness toward those who malign the King of the universe. He will have his Day of Wrath. But we are too sinful to be entrusted with that righteous judgment. Rather, we should obey the words of the New Testament: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head'" (Romans 12:19-20).

7. Seek to win others to saving faith in Jesus by persuading with words, not imposing with force. This was the way the gospel spread among many religions in the early centuries of the Christian church. The earliest teachers said, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others" (2 Corinthians 5:11). When the New Testament speaks of the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) or "the weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4), it clearly means the word of God and power of spiritual persuasion.

8. Always be ready to die, but never to kill, for the sake of commending Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for sinners and rose again as the Lord of the universe. Jesus promises to triumph through our accepting suffering, not our causing suffering. He died to save all who will believe from every nation and religion. He calls us to follow him on this Calvary Road. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). This is not the death of a suicide-murderer. This is the death of one who loves his enemies and, as he dies, prays, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), and, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60).

9. Pray for the salvation of all those who belittle Jesus Christ. Pray that they would put their faith in Jesus Christ who died for our sins so that if anyone from any nation or any religion would embrace him as Lord and Savior and Treasure of their lives, they would be saved from the guilt of sin and the wrath of God. They would have eternal life and joy. This is the way the great apostle Paul prayed: "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved" (Romans 10:1).

10. No matter the cost, continue to exalt and commend Jesus Christ as the great and only Savior that he is. Say with the apostle Paul, "It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." The day will come when every knee will bow to Jesus as Lord and as God (Philippians 2:10-11). Until that day comes, affirm with Paul: "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God"(Acts 20:24).

Longing for the Savior to be exalted,

Pastor John

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Praying in the Spirit

We can be thankful to the Lord that the Holy Spirit dwells in each true follower of Jesus. And with the Spirit at hand, we can pray in the power of the Spirit even when our bodies are tired.

John Bunyan defines praying in the Holy Spirit as "prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God promised, or according to the Word of God, for the good of the church, with submission to the will of God" (quoted in R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, p. 97).

As millions of believers pray in the Spirit, the church can be revived.

Bryan

The Most Influential Person in History

Good Morning. I saw this today on Carl Brettle's blog site: http://carlbrettle.typepad.com/memoirs_of_a_skinny_welsh/2006/09/the_most_influe.html

The Greatest Man in History

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us!

JESUS.....

If we follow his example, we can do anything, anywhere at anytime, working amongst the most influential people the world knows today....

The sky is the limit.

Amen?

Have a great day. Bryan

Do Our Private Prayer Times Make Any Difference in the Local Church?

Do it matter if we pray with others and not privately? Granted it is a very good thing to gather with other Christians in order to pray. We should all be committed to this according to Acts 2.42. It is also vital that we pray privately. Jesus did make that clear in Matthew 6.6 when he instructed his followers to go into their rooms and shut the door in order to pray.

Charles Spurgeon said that private praying is the strength of the church: "Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church"

Aquarium Christians

Good morning. Today I came across a good article on www.relevantmagazine.com. It was written by Paul Wright, and it is a good perspective on being salt and light in the world. The 5 year anniversary of 9/11 reminds us to take our walk with Jesus seriously and to make the best use of the time. Have a wonderful day. Bryan

"I have been traveling around the country now for a couple years, and I am disturbed about much of the Church’s overall idea of outreach. Why do we have so many outreaches inside a church? That’s like fishing in our own aquarium hoping that other fish come over to swim because we put a flyer on their car windshield when they were shopping that tells them how nice our water is.

Why don’t we go where the fish are? It’s frustrating when I see or hear about churches that are quicker to point a finger at someone who actually goes outside of the so-called Christian environment to share God’s love than they are to offer a helping hand. Isn’t that how the Pharisees treated Jesus when he hung out with street kids, prostitutes and drunks?

Instead of putting such a high emphasis on the big event, we should focus more on the essentials of Christian living. Like loving God and others as ourselves. Instead of only being excited about the four toys being inflated in the parking lot and the dunk tank the wacky youth pastor will sit on, we should be stoked about living out Jesus’ greatest commandments in everyday life.

I think many are hesitant to reach out because it’s uncomfortable. It’s like being in the ocean and realizing how small and out of control we really are. It’s challenging to be vulnerable. One of my favorite verses is in Galatians 5:6. It says, “For in Christ Jesus … the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (TNIV). So the “big” event your church is planning and pouring money into means jack if its not faith working through love.

We are called to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and love others as ourselves. Do you notice that it states we first must love God before loving others and ourselves? This is because we can’t really love ourselves and others until we first love God. Loving God is really just getting to know Him and discovering that He is love. For in loving God we receive His love to love ourselves and others. It’s hard to love others until we love ourselves, because the way we treat others is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves.

I’m not bagging on all outreaches at all. I think that they are good when aligned with God’s purposes. But let’s be smarter in how we plan them. Here is an example of an outreach that made a positive impact on its community this month:

I recently preformed at this summer bash up in Marysville, Washington. It’s only about a half hour north of Seattle. It was a beautiful summer day in the Pacific Northwest—one of the best places to be in the summer. The church had done this event for a couple years now, and each year it has grown exponentially.

This year all the churches in the area got together to reach the community. They had a salon give haircuts to kids and Wal-Mart donated some school supplies to families whose children were going back to school. It was at a park, and they had tons of free food, a drug rehab booth, music, dancing and more. The mayor, police chief and some athletes were there. They even had a guy who showed up with reptiles and displayed them from the stage. It was entertaining.

During the day they had teams of people going through the park engaging with people and asking them how they were doing and if they could pray with them. More than 10,000 people showed up throughout the day, and the community was impacted by God’s love through people willing to dream big and not care who received the credit.

Outreach should come from knowing God and wanting to share His love with others no matter where we are. Outreach can happen on the beach, street, at the store, school, work, online, bar, barber shop, next door, bank, on a plane…whenever and wherever. It’s more of a lifestyle than an event. So let’s get out of our comfortable heated aquariums and paddle out into the ocean. I know it’s scary, but God is with you."

We Can Learn to Pray

William Law reminds us that prayer is something that will improve with use and time...

"They, therefore, who are hasty in their devotions and think a little will do, are strangers both to the nature of devotion and the nature of man; they do not know that they are to learn to pray, and that prayer is to be learnt as they learn other things, by frequency, constancy, and perseverance."

Thus, the lesson is to simply keep at it--until revival comes! And even still, we continue to pray.

Bryan

On the Death of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter

Good morning. I appreciated the thoughts on the recent death of Steve Irwin (http://www.kairosjournal.org/Document.aspx?QuadrantID=4&CategoryID=11&TopicID=44&DocumentID=7627&L=1)

"The death of the conservationist Steve Irwin is widely reported in the world media.1 Irwin was a larger than life and controversial character who for many years championed the cause of crocodiles in Australia. Along with his wife Terri he founded “Australia Zoo” in Queensland,2 and such was their devotion to the cause of endangered species that they even went in search of crocodiles on their honeymoon.

One aspect of Irwin’s life stands out. He was unashamedly enthusiastic about the wonders of the natural world. Children adored him because he showed them what it might mean to love animals whether great or small. The sight of Irwin wrestling a mammoth crocodile or running in the desert to catch a scorpion was almost guaranteed to implant in children a playful delight in living beings. Tragically there is no indication that Irwin was a Christian, indeed, he and his wife welcomed their children into the world with Buddhist ceremonies. Yet his life is one long rebuke to Christians who take little delight in their Father’s world. If a man could love the creation this much and not know the Creator—how much more should those who love God take delight in the work of His hands?"

Footnotes :

1 Paul Tait, “Crocodile Hunter Killed by Stingray,” The Washington Times, September 5, 2006, http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060905-120419-8737r.htm (accessed September 5, 2006).

2 The Crocodile Hunter Website, www.crocodilehunter.com

What Causes Atheism?

Brennan Manning writes that Christians who do not walk the talk can is a primary reason why there are atheists among us...

"The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable" (Free at Last: The Movie)

Simply put, we are to live the life. Jesus made that clear in Matthew 5.16: In the same way, let you light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (ESV)

If Manning is correct in his assessment, then not only do we need to live as Jesus intended; but we also need to pray that we will shine the light of Jesus and that the Holy Spirit will transform hearts as we do shine. Does that make sense?

Have a great day

Bryan

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

Jim Cymbala's book, "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" is a good reminder why we must continue to pray until revival comes. In the book, he wrote how persistent prayer brought back his daughter Chrissy from a wayward life. He writes:

"Through all this, (my wife) Carol and I learned as never before that persistent calling upon the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times, there is simply no other way" (p. 66).

There really is no other way for the Kingdom of God to advance around us unless we consistently cry out to the Lord.

Have a great day

Bryan

Revival Prayer Meetings

Good Morning. I grabbed the following from the www.bible.org website. History reminds us that if revival is going to come, then it will be proceeded by fervent and consistent prayer. Have a great day.

Iain Murray in Revival and Revivalism, p 79 quotes Jesse Lee, He described the year 1787:

"There was a remarkable revival of religion in the town of Petersburgh, and many of the inhabitants were savingly converted; and the Christians greatly revived. That town never witnessed before or since such wonderful displays of the presence and love of God in salvation of immortal souls. Prayer meetings were frequently held both in the town and in the country, and souls were frequently converted at those meetings, even when there was no preacher present; for the prayers and exhortations of the members were greatly owned of the Lord.

The most remarkable work of all was in Sussex and Brunswick circuits, where the meetings would frequently continue five or six hours together, and sometimes all night.

At one quarterly meeting held at Mabry's Chapel in Brunswick circuit, on the ;25th and 26th of July, the power of God was among the people in an extraordinary manner: some hundreds were awakened; and it was supposed that above one hundred souls were converted at that meeting, which continued for two days, i.e., on Thursday and Friday. Some thousands of people attended meeting at that place on that occasion.

The next quarterly meeting was held at Jones's Chapel, in Sussex county, on Saturday and Sunday, the 27th and 28th of July. This meeting was favored with more of the divine presence than any other that had been know before . . .

The great revival of religion in 1776, which spread extensively through the south part of Virginia, exceeded any thing of the kind that had ever been known before in that part of the country. But the revival this year far exceeded it.

It was thought that in the course of that summer there were so many as sixteen hundred souls converted in Sussex circuit; in Brunswick circuit about eighteen hundred; and in Amelia circuit about eight hundred. In these three circuits we had the greatest revival of religion; but in many other circuits there was a gracious work, and hundreds were brought to God in the course of that year.

. . . the work was not confined to meetings for preaching; at prayer meetings the work prospered and many souls were born again . . . It was common to hear of souls being brought to God while at work in their houses or in their fields. It was often the case that the people in their corn-fields, white people, or black, and sometimes both together, would begin to sing, and being affected would begin to pray, and others would join with them, and they would continue their cries till some of them would find peace to their souls."
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Praying Like Elijah!

James 5.17-18 points out that "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

The Old Testament prophet Elijah was just am ordinary person and yet when he prayed, there were divine results (i.e., raising up of the widow's dead son, the taking on of the false prophets of Baal). Elijah prayed that there would be no rain, and there was no rain. Then he prayed for rain, and there was rain.

The point is simple: as ordinary people, who are righteous (verse 16) in the eyes of God (because of our salvation in Jesus), we are given the right to have a powerful ministry of prayer.

Do you have examples of ordinary people who prayed and the results were clearly from heaven? Please share them with me. E-mail me at bryan@harveyoaksbaptist.org.

Have a good day and keep praying

Bryan

Do We Depend on the Holy Spirit?

Jim Cymbala, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle writes in his book, Fresh Power, that we depend more on our own devices and strength rather than the power of God...

“Too much of our religious life is made up of programs and human ideas, talents and strategies. While they have value, they pitifully fail to meet the need of the hour. What is messing today is something from heaven itself, something from God the Holy Spirit that fills and floods our lives”

Daily we can pray, "Come Holy Spirit Come!"
Bryan

Whatever Happened to Repentance

Good Morning. I thought this was a helpful article for Kairos Journal on the subject of repentance

(http://www.kairosjournal.org/Document.aspx QuadrantID=4&CategoryID=9&TopicID=40&DocumentID=5878&L=1)

I highlighted the last paragragh. Have a great day. Bryan

We’ve come to think our faith is about comfort. It’s not.

Forget what the Billboard charts say—to judge from church ads in the Yellow Pages, America’s favorite song is “I’m Mr. Lonely.” Churches are quick to spot that need and promise eagerly that they will be friendly, or be family, or just care. Apparently this is the Church’s principal product. When people need tires, they look up a tire store; when they start having those bad-sad-mad feelings, they shop for a church.

Here, for once, denominational and political divisions vanish. Churches across the spectrum compete to display their capacity for caring, though each has its own way of making the pitch. The Tabernacle, a “spirit-filled, multi-cultured church,” pleads, “Come let us love you,” while the Bible Way Temple is more formal, if not downright odd: “A church where no stranger need feel strangely.” (The only response that comes to mind is “Thank thee.”) One church sign in South Carolina announced, “Where Jesus is Lord and everybody is special,” which made it sound like second prize. And one Methodist congregation tries to get it all in: “A Christ-centered church where you can make new friends and form lasting relationships with people who care about you.”

But when Jesus preached, He did not spend a lot of time on “caring.” The first time we see Him, in the first Gospel, the first instruction He gives is “Repent” (Mark 1:15). From then on, it’s His most consistent message. Yes, He spoke words of comfort like “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). But much more frequently He challenged His hearers, urging them to turn to God in humility and admit their sins. Even when told of a tragedy that caused many deaths, He repeated this difficult theme: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).

We love the caring sayings of Jesus. We repeat them often, paste them onto felt banners, and print them on refrigerator magnets. We mostly ignore those on repentance.

We live in a time when it’s hard to talk about Christian faith at all, much less awkward topics like repentance. (No era finds repentance easy, but many have found it easier to talk about.) Paradoxically, we live in a very easy time. We are the wealthiest, healthiest, most comfortable generation in history. With less to struggle for, we become increasingly oriented toward pleasure. This all-too-natural inclination is what most unites us. America is a place of wild diversity, but we all meet at the shopping mall.

We’re confirmed in this quest for comfort by a ceaseless stream of advertising messages. These tell us who we are: special, precious people with no faults, who deserve to feel better than we do. Ads tell us, “Your wife (boss, teenager, classmate) doesn’t understand you, but we do. Here, buy this, and you’ll feel better.” Advertising invites us to be big babies—an invitation that fallen human nature has always found hard to resist.

Try telling a person who’s been discipled by advertising that he’s a sinner. A hundred years ago, a preacher would have seen heads nod in recognition at that familiar concept. But today’s consumer is likely to be shocked and baffled. How could he be a sinner? All he knows is that he’s unhappy because he does not have his fair share of stuff, and he isn’t appreciated enough by those around him. Original sin? He will readily agree that everyone else keeps letting him down. That he’s estranged from the one, holy God and needs to be reconciled? He’s likely to respond, “So who’s this God who thinks He’s better than us?” Bring up Judgment Day, and you’ll get to see someone genuinely appalled; the very idea just sounds so “judgmental.”

In trying to reach this seeker, the Church has been given a severely reduced pack of options. Since people are aware only of seeking comfort, it looks like that’s what we have to headline in any message we send. Neither this need, nor our response, is untrue. A profound sense of unease and dislocation is indeed part of the human condition, because sin has estranged us from God. And the Church has the only authentic solution to this problem, because we bear the Good News of reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

The problem comes when we never get around to talking about the hard part of the Good News. The problem can even be that we start forgetting it ourselves, and start believing that consolation is the main reason Jesus came. But what’s wrong with us required much more than a hug; it required the Cross. It doesn’t seem this way; we too, have been catechized by the world and reflexively think of ourselves as needy, wronged children. We’d rather feel as if we’re victims of a cruel world than admit we are contributors to the world’s cruelty, lost sinners who perversely love our lostness, clinging to our treasured sins like a drowning man to an anvil.

How bizarre such language seems today. We look around our neighborhood and our congregation and everyone seems so “nice.” We know what really wicked people are like—we see them in the papers every day—and we’re not like that. God must find us, in comparison, quite endearing. And of course He knows the hurts we bear deep inside, and anyone who’s been hurt can’t be bad (I call this the “victims are sinless” fallacy). With these and a thousand other sweet murmurs, we shield ourselves from our real condition and remain Christian babies all our lives: pampered, ineffective, whiney, and numb.

Jesus didn’t come just to save us from the penalty for our sins; He came to save us from our sins—now, today, if we will only respond to the challenge and let Him. A nation of grownup Christians, courageous, confident, humble, and holy, would be more compelling than any smiley-face ad campaign. The Lord does not love us for our good parts and pass over the rest. He died for the bad parts and will not rest until they are put right. We must stop thinking of God as infinitely indulgent. We must begin to grapple with the scary and exhilarating truth that He is infinitely holy, and that He wants the same for us.
Footnotes :

1 This article was originally published as a Kairos Insight. It was written by Frederica Mathewes-Green. She is an author, columnist, and commentator, who serves on a range of advisory and editorial boards. She can also be heard on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”

Stay Close to Jesus

P.T. Forsyth wrote: "Keep close to the New Testament Christ and then ask ask for anything you desire in that contact. Ask for everything you can ask in Christ's name, i.e., everything desirable by a man who is in Christ's kingdom of God, by a man who lives for it at heart, everything in tune with the purpose and work of the kingdom in Christ" (quoted in Ben Patterson, Deepening Your Conversation with God, pgs. 148-149).

Good advice!

Bryan

What is a Disciple?

Harvey Oaks Baptist Church is in the beginning stages of a new discipleship process. It will be based from CORE Discipleship Groups (www.coregroups.org). The training manual has an good definition of a Christian disciple...

"A disciple is a born-again believer who has decided that following Christ takes priority over everything else in life. Jesus didn't say being a disciple would be easy. He told his followers that they would have to deny themselves and take up their own crosses to follow him. He emphasized the fact that He would have to be first in their lives when he said, 'If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple' (Luke 14.26). Jesus is speaking to you and me. Being a disciple and making disciples is a direct command from our Lord Jesus and the responsibility of every born-again believer" (p. 8).

Our churches needs armies of disciples who are passionate for Jesus.

Let us keep praying for revival

Bryan

Why Pray?

Pastor Mark Dever, in his book, "The Deliberate Church" reminds us why fervent, earth-changing prayers are needed in the church...

"Praying shows our dependence on God. It honors him as the source of all blessing, and it reminds us that converting individuals and growing churches are His words, not ours (1 Corinthians 2.14-16; 3.6-7)" (p. 35).

Brothers and sisters, let wear out our knees in prayer!

Bryan

The Fulton Street Revival

Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that prayer is a foundation for revival. Thus, it is good to throw a few logs into a prayer fire by looking to past examples. Below is from Glimpses bulletin (http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps168.shtml)

"Another kind of prayer meeting made a difference half a century later in New York City. It was not a good time for churches in downtown Manhattan, and the North Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street resorted to creative measures, hiring a businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier as a sort of outreach minister. He knocked on doors in the neighborhood and distributed pamphlets and Bibles, but response generally was dismal.

"One day as I was walking along the streets," Lanphier wrote in his journal, "the idea was suggested to my mind that an hour of prayer, from twelve to one o'clock, would be beneficial to businessmen." The idea blossomed: a weekly prayer time, open to anyone, bankers to broom-pushers. Come when you can, leave when you must. Handbills advertised the first meeting--at noon on September 23, 1857.

Lanphier waited for the first attenders. No one showed up for the first ten minutes, twenty, thirty. Then one man straggled in, then another. The hour ended with six men present, praying. The following week there were twenty, the next week forty. Soon a hundred. Some of them wanted to meet every day. Rooms were packed. The church had to ask another church to handle the overflow. When churches ran out of room, the prayer meetings moved to theaters. By March, 1858, the New York Times could report that Burton's Theater on Chambers Street was packed as famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher led a crowd of 3,000 in prayer. Some estimated that up to a million people became Christians in the 1857-58 revival.

What caused such immense interest in prayer? A stock market crash might have had something to do with it. Business leaders enslaved by money were suddenly seeking a more reliable master. When he started his humble prayer time, Jeremiah Lanphier had no way of knowing about the impending financial collapse. He just knew people needed to pray."

Let Us Keep on Praying

Imagine a church full of Christians devoted to prayer. No doubt, it is wishful thinking to believe that every follower of Jesus in the church would be a prayer warrior, but why not dream big for the kingdom. It also does not mean that the Wednesday night prayer time is packed (though that would be nice). But it does it mean that in every gathering there is time set apart for prayer. It also means that individual prayer would like breathing. Prayer would would be so natural that we do not even realize we are doing it.

Am I dreaming? Imagine the blessings God would lavish on the church!

I Am Back!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have contributed to my blog. I was basically out of town for a month. I was in St. Paul, MN (Annual Meeting of the Baptist General Conference), Sweden, Russia, Finland and Norway (vacation). I am still a little tired, and if I don't get on a plane anytime soon, that will be just fine!

Back to the subject of prayer and revival. Here is a pretty good quote on constant praying...

"He prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying." ... Francois de Sales (1567-1622)

Many of God's Blessing as we seek His face in prayer!

Bryan

Dee Duke

Today in the Bethel Theological Seminary chapel in St. Paul, MN I spent much of the day listening to Pastor Dee Duke (Dee is a man!). He is the pastor of Jefferson Baptist Church in Jefferson, Oregon. He stated that he was excited about the Oregon State Beavers who just won the College World Series in Omaha. I was fortunate to watch the team beat Georgia last week.

As stated in my blog yesterday, God's power and glory was manifested after Pastor Duke led Jefferson Baptist Church to become a house of prayer. The motto of the church: "Much prayer, much blessing; little prayer, little blessing; no prayer, no blessing" is a good reminder for all of us to pray much.

Have a good day

Bryan

Prayer Champions at BGC Annual Meeting at Bethel University on June 27

Below are the words of Dana Olson. His blog site is also devoted to the subject of prayer. It is www.prayerfirst.blogspot.com

On June 27th our Prayer First ministry is sponsoring a day for Prayer Champions. If you are currently trying to mobilize prayer in your church, or simply have a heart for prayer in your church, you are welcome to this event. You will receive a free copy of Dee Duke's book, Prayer Quest, and Dee will share his remarkable story and insights in two sessions. Please join us from 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Seminary Chapel of Bethel University. Cost for on-site registration is only $35, and that includes the free book! Here is an article I wrote briefly sharing Dee's story. It appeared this spring in the magazine, BGC World:

“What do you mean you’re leaving?”

By Dana Olson

When Dee Duke’s father took military retirement, he purchased a dairy farm in Washington. Dee’s high school graduation dream was to be the world’s greatest dairy farmer. Prior to settling down with his dad, he decided to enter Bible college.

There, the young Duke and his wife helped a pastor start a church in the small town of Jefferson, Ore. When he finished school, Duke, his wife and kids returned to the farm. It was his great love. He also became very active in his local church — so much so that the pastor wanted to make him his assistant. This sounded terrific to Duke, dairy farming and ministry together. But at the church business meeting the proposal was defeated.

Deeply disappointed, Duke poured himself into the farm. It seemed his future lay there. Then one day the telephone rang. It was Jefferson, Ore., calling. “We don’t know if you’ve heard, but things have not gone well here. The pastor left and we’re down to just a few people. We are planning to close the church, but we thought that before we did, we would call you. If you and your wife will come back to Jefferson, we’ll keep the church open and try to make a go of it.”
Whew. A tough decision. Duke loved that farm, and plans were in place for him to take it over. But there was a pull to use his ministry training. His father advised, “Perhaps if you don’t give this a try, you’ll always regret it.” So Duke and his family packed up and moved to Jefferson.

The ministry flourished. Jefferson Baptist Church grew to 50, then 75, 100 and more. The people responded, and God blessed the work.

Then there were setbacks. The church fell into a pattern of ups and downs, growing toward 200 attendees, then falling back to 100. The church remained viable, but the peaks and valleys were starting to take a toll. The breakthrough of that 200 barrier never seemed to come. Duke finally thought he had done all he could. He prepared a resignation letter.

Before he could submit it at the next board meeting, another letter arrived. It came from Joe Aldrich, then president of Multnomah School of the Bible, inviting Duke to join other pastors from the region at the first-ever “pastors prayer summit.”

No agenda, except four days of worship and prayer. No special speakers. No planning or strategy meetings. Just prayer. This seemed impossible to Duke. How could anyone pray for four days?

But the summit would be held at a camp on the gorgeous Oregon coast, and Duke thought how nice it would be to hike the coast before resigning. He would attend some of the prayer sessions and walk the coast when bored.

It never got boring. God touched that first summit with revival. Many pastors changed dramatically — Duke was one of them. He didn’t skip a session.

Before leaving the camp, he made a list of seven prayer goals for himself and his church:

Spend one uninterrupted hour per day praying by himself.
Spend one hour per day praying with at least one other person.
Pray for everyone in the church by name weekly.
Pray at least once per month with other pastors.
Preach on prayer for three months.
Plan four major church prayer events each year (always precede a major evangelistic thrust).
Identify their “farm” (20 miles in every direction from the church). Claim it and target prayer for it.

Duke returned to JBC and shared these seven items. The congregation began the journey to become a praying church. As they did, God confronted them about their lack of love. Known today as a praying church, they are also known as the loving church, because they have constantly searched for practical ways to show love to the community.

In a town of 2200 people, JBC has an attendance of well over 1000 people and has planted two daughter churches nearby, with a third starting in September. They have extensive missions work overseas. Many prayer ministries have developed, including targeted prayer teams, an official “church intercessors” group (commit to 100 hours of prayer for the year: 50 at home and 50 at church) and more than 40 prayer meetings per week.

Their motto: “Much prayer, much blessing; little prayer, little blessing; no prayer, no blessing.”

DANA OLSON IS DIRECTOR OF BGC PRAYER FIRST MINISTRIES

Are We Spiritually Bankrupt?

In the book, "The School of Charity" (1934), Evelyn Underhill made the observation that we are spiritually bankrupt when we do not love as we are called to love. "If we do not at least try to manifest something of Creative Charity in our dealings with life, whether by action, thought, or prayer, and do it at our own cost--if we roll up the talent of love in the nice white napkin of piety and put it safely out of the way, sorry that the world is so hungry and thirsty, so sick and so fettered, and leave it at that: then, even that little talent may be taken from us. We may discover at the crucial moment that we are spiritually bankrupt."

1904 Revival in Wales

Good Morning. Much has been written about the 1904 revival in Wales. Below is yet another reminder that in the same way that revival visited that country, America is in need of a fresh fire from heaven.

Revival in Wales, 1904

he second Sunday of February 1904, Florrie Evans rose to speak in a youth meeting at Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist Church in New Quay, Wales: I am unable to say very much today but I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart he died for me.1 Her words were few, but they were quite enough to spark a nationwide revival, with 85,000 new professions of faith in Christ.

Distressed at the low spiritual state of churches in the area, her pastor, Joseph Jenkins, had scheduled meetings to address the problem. Florrie attended and became convicted of sin. When she sought Jenkins counsel, he asked if Jesus were Lord of her life. She delivered her answer at that February youth gathering, and the Word and Spirit spread from that place mightily.

The groundwork laid in previous centuries was considerable. Elizabeth I saw the Bible translated into Welsh in the 16th century.2 In the 17th century, Rees Pritchard put Puritan teaching to rhyme as a memory aid for laymen.3 In the early 18th century, Griffith Jones founded literacy schools, with the Welsh Bible as the text.4 Mid-century, the preaching of Hywel Harris and Daniel Rowland complemented the work of Wesley and Whitefield in England.5 Meanwhile, William Williams, the Welsh Charles Wesley, penned such hymns as Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.6 With the 19th century came Non-Conformist chapels and preachers, including the Baptist Christmas Evans.7 In 1859, the New York Prayer Revival jumped the Atlantic, adding perhaps 100,000 souls to Welsh churches. But by 1900, liberalism and worldliness had sapped the strength of Welsh Christianity.8

The first Keswick-in-Wales Convention, held in the summer of 1903, stirred the hearts of many young ministers, causing them to yearn for more spiritual power. This was their prayer, and, in 1904, this was God's gift to them.9 The fire was lit in February, and the subsequent blessings were manifold and widespread. Here are some of the more noteworthy features of the revival:

1. The Prayer. Seth Joshua prayed, Bend us, Oh Lord,and that became the revival cry.10
2. The Preacher. At Seth Joshua's and the Holy Spirit's prompting, Evan Roberts prayed Bend me, Oh Lord, and God empowered him to be the revivals lead preacher.11
3. The Library. Besides the Bible, Evan Roberts credited three books with greatest impact on his ministry: Thomas Charles Christian Instructor: A Summary of Christian Teaching, The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Hymnbook, and John Bunyan's The Pilgrims Progress.12
4. The Healing. When doctors told Roberts brother Dan that his eyesight was deteriorating, Evan said the Lord needed him, and his eyes would be healed. They were immediately.13
5. The Way. Roberts urged hearers to: (1) Confess sin to God as the Spirit reveals it; (2) Remove doubtful things from one's life; (3) Surrender to the Spirit totally; (4) Confess Christ publicly.14
6. The Revival Love Song.Annie Davies rendition of Here Is Love Vast as the Ocean.15
7. The Political Impact. Welsh MP and later British Prime Minister Lloyd George cancelled political meetings to avoid conflicts with the revival.16
8. The Social Impact. The crime rate dropped, old debts were repaid, ale houses stood empty, and work improved in the mines.17
9. The Unity. Denominational rivalry largely disappeared during the revival.18
10. The Attacks. No work of God would be complete without its detractors. Rev. Peter Price, a Congregational Minister in Dowlais, took to the newspapers to denounce Evan Roberts.19

The revival was a glorious time, but spiritual vitality is not inherited. Today, Wales languishes in spiritual disarray. But God has returned in power to that region repeatedly in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Now, in the 21st century, it is time once again for urgent utterance of the prayer, Bend us, Oh Lord. It appears that great things happen when the people thus petition God.

Footnotes :

1 Kevin Adams and Emyr Jones, A Pictorial History of Revival: The Outbreak of the 1904 Welsh Awakening (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004), 40-43.
2 Ibid., 20.
3 Ibid., 22.
4 Ibid., 23.
5 Ibid., 24.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 25.
8 Ibid., 30-31.
9 Ibid., 36.
10 Ibid., 65.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid., 52.
13 Ibid., 75.

A.W. Tozer on the Church Impacting Society

In the book, "God Tells the Man Who Cares", A.W. Tozer wrote that the church will actually transform the surrounding community as she prays and seeks to be uncontaminated by the world...

"By consecration, detachment, obedience and unceasing prayer we must escape the clutches of the world. Pure Christianity, instead of being shaped by its environment, actually stands in sharp opposition to it, and where the power of God has been present over a sustained period the church has sometimes reversed the direction of things and exercised a purifying effect upon society" (p. 45).

Historically, revival begins with God's people in the church, and then it moves out into the community. Revival is not needed if the church is actually being the church that God intended. Holiness and "unceasing prayer" will get us closer to what the Lord desires.

For Jesus Alone!

Bryan

Prayer or Committees?

In the early 1900s, Samuel Chadwick said, "The church that multiplies committees and neglects prayer may be fussy, noisy, enterprising, but it labors in vain and spends its strength for naught. It is possible to excel in mechanics and fail in dynamics. There is an abundance of machinery; what is wanting is power" (quoted in Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala, p. 142).

It is not any different in the 21st century. A church that emphasis committees, programs, marketing, technology, meeting the budget or anything over fervent prayer will be wanting in power.

Rebuilding the Church Altar

Good morning. Vance Havner passed away 10 years ago, but his word to the church is still very much alive. This article is from Kairos Journal Weekly...

Spiritual Drought—Vance Havner (1901 – 1986)

Vance Havner grew up in the hills of North Carolina in the early twentieth century. Licensed to preach at the age of twelve and ordained at fifteen, this “backwoods” Baptist preacher spent his life calling people to true repentance. Boldly proclaiming the Word of God for seventy-three years, Havner came to be loved and known for his exacting style and ingenious wordplay. In the passage below, he draws pointed parallels between the people of God during Elijah’s times—the Mt. Carmel confrontation (1 Kings 18:30-39)—and the Church of his times. As Havner observes, fire from heaven falls on faithful prophets not on slick public-relations professionals.

The conditions today are just about much the same as they were in the times of Elijah. We’re living in a spiritual drought. There’s a famine of the hearing the Word of the Lord. Ahab and Jezebel sit in high places. Idolatry abounds. And yet God has His faithful remnant. We need an Elijah who can face Ahab and call convocation on Carmel, a confrontation with Baal, and a showdown with forces of evil.

We’re a little short on prophets. We need to rebuild the broken altar and put the sacrifice of a dedicated life thereupon. But before we can expect any fire from heaven, we must drench the altar. I’ve heard plenty of preaching about rebuilding the altar. I’ve heard sermons about presenting our body as living sacrifice. But the hardest lesson for anybody in Christian service to learn is that we cannot help God out in the slightest by warming up the altar in the energy of the flesh.

We try to start a fire of our own and think that’ll help out God’s fire. It won’t do it. We’re ashamed to be laughed at by the world. We don’t dare face the Midianites with Gideon’s band, so we mob-o-lize. We don’t mobilize, we mob-o-lize a multitude who know little and care less about spiritual warfare, who never have understood that the Bible is the Lord’s and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We’re afraid to face old Goliath today with sling and stone. We want to wear the latest equipment, and Saul’s armory is working overtime. We must be up-to-date and borrow all the technique of the world to do the work of God. But you can’t organize revivals as you do secular things, as the world puts on its drives and campaigns.

You can’t run a church as you would a business corporation. You can’t work up mere human enthusiasm to put over the work of the Lord. We all give lip service, of course, to the Holy Spirit: “Not by might nor power, but by my Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). We sing, “Kindle a flame of sacred love in these cold hearts of ours” (Isaac Watts, “Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,” 1707). But actually we’re so wired up to our own devices that if the fire doesn’t fall from heaven, we can turn on a switch and produce some false fire of our own. And if there’s no sound of a mighty rushing wind, we’ve got the bellows all set to blow hot air instead.

But God answers by fire, not by feelings, not by fame, not by finances. You can blow up quite a blaze today on Carmel. We can do it, yes. But people are not crying out today, “The LORD, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39).1


Footnotes :

1 Vance Hanver, When God Breaks Through: Sermons on Revival, edited and complied by Dennis J. Hester (Grand Rapids, MI; Kregel Publications, 2003), 54-55.

Moved to Prayer Through "Non Sequitur"

Yesterday I was on my exercise bike and opened up the daily comics. The "Non Sequitur" comic reminded me that people without Jesus will burn in eternity for ever and ever. Brothers and sisters, we need to pray more urgently for those who are not followers of Jesus. At the same time, we need to build relationships with them so they can see a genuine Christian.

Bryan

Severe Weather is Coming to Omaha

It appears that severe weather is coming to Omaha, Nebraska this evening and tonight. There will be thunderstorms and perhaps large hail. Right now the wind is howling (6:25 pm). We need the rain, but hopefully there will be no damage from hail and wind.

In Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, the early followers experienced the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came as a violent wind. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church, but there is a need for a fresh wind of the Spirit to blow through American churches.

Do We Know How to Cry Out to God?

George Barna points out that few American Christians really cried out to God in brokenness...

"Very few American Christians have experienced a sense a brokenness that compelled them to beg God for His mercy and acceptance through the love of Christ. We have a nation of 'Christians' who took the best offer, but relatively few who were so humiliated and hopeless before a holy God that they cried out for undeserved compassion. That helps to explain why in practical terms it's hard to tell the difference between those who have beliefs that characterize them as born again and those who don't" (quoted in David Bryant, Christ is All! A Joyful Manifesto on the Supremacy of God's Son, pg. 244)

If revival is going to come to America, then more of us who claim to follow Jesus must rediscover or discover that sense of broken and desperate prayer to the Lord.

The Prayer Wisdom of Satchel Paige

I have no idea if famous baseball player, Satchel Paige was a follower of Jesus, but I did come across a pretty good quote of his about prayer...

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines"
~Satchel Paige, 1974

Our prayers (and our cries for revival) are to be daily and consistent despite if life is good or bad.

How Do We Pray?

Below is today's devotional from the "Seeking Him" website (http://www.seekinghim.com/radio/today.php). It is a challenge to how we pray. Do we pray safe prayers or do we go to the edge of faith and pray that God will shake us up as people and as churches?

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Does it seem safer to ask God to look down on us or to come down to us?

In Isaiah 63 the prophet asks God to look down from heaven. He asks God to look at the people's sin.

Then, in the next chapter, he changes his request: Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down. Isaiah is asking God to become more directly involved, to stir things up, to change the hearts of people.

It's easy to ask God to look down: Lord, please watch over us. Please keep us safe. Keep us in Your care. It's more challenging to ask God to come down: Lord, please convict us of sin. Please interrupt our routine and show us Your plans, help us to embrace suffering so we can be more like You.

Lord, rend the heavens, and come down.
With Seeking Him, I'm Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Day of Fasting

Below is an e-mail I sent out this morning to God's people at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church...

Good Morning:

Today is the second Tuesday of the month. Thus, it is the day we fast. Some will fast from food for the entire day. Others will fast during the daylight hours. Others will skip a meal or two. Others will fast from television or another activity. We fast in order to seek the Lord. We do so for spiritual breakthroughs in Harvey Oaks Baptist Church and in our lives.

Revival may even result! Elmer Towns writes in his book: Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough the following…

“Each of the sixteenth-century reformers also practiced fasting, as did the leaders of the evangelical revivals in the centuries to follow. Jonathan Edwards fasted for 22 hours prior to preaching his famous sermon, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ During the Layman’s Prayer Revival in America in 1859, Christians fasted during their lunch hours and attended prayer meetings in churches near their places of employment. This revival broke out in large industrial cities of the northeastern United States.

Prayer was often accompanied by fasting as people sought the Lord for spiritual blessing during worldwide awakening in 1906. Billy Graham reports fasting and praying during his voyage to England to conduct his first British crusades in the early 50’s. The response in his meetings as that time has been described as one of the greatest revivals of our time. Many revival movements have advocated a return to the early Christian practice of fasting two days each week” (pg. 27).

Let us fast and pray that revival will come to Harvey Oaks Baptist Church.

Pray also for Neil Hughes, Heartland Baptist Director of Church Health. He will be preaching this Sunday at Harvey Oaks (“Fire & Reign: Emboldened by His Courage).

Reminder: There will be a time of fervent prayer for revival this Saturday in the church board room at 8:00 pm. This will be a time for us to really cut loose and pray for the fire of the Holy Spirit to come and for the reign of Jesus over us.

Let us stay ablaze for Jesus!

Pastor Bryan

I am standing on the 18th hole at St. Andrews 

How Important is Fasting?

We are currently going through “Fire & Reign” at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church. Many of us are daily going through the 10-week daily devotional book. It is our prayer and goal that the “fire” of the Holy Spirit will come on us so that Jesus will “reign” in all that we do and say as God’s people.

A crucial element during “Fire & Reign” is the day of fasting on the first Tuesday of each month. For some, fasting for the day or part of the day was a brand new experience. Some could not fast from food because of health concerns. So they fasted from TV or spent more time in prayer.

Our second day of fasting will be May 2nd. It will be another opportunity to seek and long for more of God in our lives. I was at a pastor’s one-day retreat last week. One of the speakers was John Wesley Adams, an expert on the subject of revival. He said that American Christians are weak in the area of fasting. We simply do not possess the desire or discipline to fast. Researcher George Barna confirms that followers of Jesus in our country refuse to make the tough choices needed to become more like Jesus. In his latest report, he made the following observations…

“Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves that they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short. We want to be ‘spiritual’ and we want to have God’s favor, but we’re not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we’ve worked so hard to produce" (www.barna.org).

Barna’s last statement is a tough one. Yet, if he is right, then we in the church are more concerned about maintaining our own image rather than allowing the power of the Holy Spirit transform us into the image of Jesus. If God is going to change our “character and lifestyle”, then biblical and God-honoring fasting will play a part.

That takes us back to our day of fasting on the first Tuesday of each month. Why should we participate? Besides the fact that Jesus assumed we would fast (see Matthew 6.16), fasting is a discipline that will help place God in his rightful place in our lives, in the church and in the world. John Piper, in his book A Hunger for God, writes…

“The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our affections and in all our life-choices. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world” (pp. 78, 79).

Longing for the Supremacy of God

Bryan

Praying for Revival

In 1949, a group of desperate people in the small village of Arnol (Scotland) gathered at a farm house to pray for revival. Revival was already sweeping through the area, but not in Arnol where religious indifference ruled. During this period of prayer, just after midnight, a man rose to his feet and prayed:

"Lord, you made a promise, are you going to fulfill you .. You have said that you 'will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon dry ground' (Isaiah 44.3, KJV)... And I tell thee now that I am thirsty. Oh, I am thirsty for a manifestation of your presence and power. And Lord, before I sit down, I want to tell you that your honor is at stake!"

As this man prayed, the room they were in literally shook just like in Acts 4. Then revival came to the village. People could not sleep. Some went outside and walked the street under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Others knelt before their beds and wept over their sins. Within 48 hours, every young person between the ages of 12 and 20 turned to Jesus. Revival came to Arnol.

Let us all pray as God's reputation was at stake

Happy Easter!

He is RISEN!
He is Risen Indeed!

Good Friday

This is Holy Week for Christians around the world. Today is Good Friday. It is the day that died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Imagine the violations that we have committed against a holy God was paid for by Jesus on the cross.

Last night at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church, we had a Maundy Thursday service, and we participated in the Lord's Supper. It is appropriate to do so during Holy Week because we need to be reminded of why Jesus died on the cross

Before we celebrate the Risen Jesus on Resurrection Sunday, may we soberly reflect on our failings and sins--the very acts and thoughts and words that Jesus died for.

What Do We Need to Confess to God?

Often when we "confess" to God, we confess wrong words, attitudes and actions to him. However, it is also good to confess those things we should have said and thought and done.

The Book of Common Prayer is helpful in this regard. In our prayers, we need to admit to the Lord:"We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done."

Are We On Fire For Jesus?

In John Bunyan’s classic book, Pilgrim’s Progress, Interpreter shows Christians a small fire burning against a wall. And there is a man who continuously pours water on the flame, yet the fire only burn hotter and hotter. Interpreter explains to Christian that the man pouring water on the fire is the devil, and goes on to explain the reason why the fire doesn’t go out and actually gets bigger. Behind the wall is another man secretly pouring oil on the same fire. Interpreter then says to Christian that the man behind the wall is Jesus and “with the oil of His grace, He continually maintains the work already begun in the heart of His people.”

Martin Lloyd-Jones Take on Revival

Good Morning. Below is Martin Lloyd Jone's take on revival....

What is Revival? by Martin Lloyd-Jones

We can define it as a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church. Revival means awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it to the surface again. It happens primarily in the Church of God, and amongst believing people, and it is only secondly something that affects those that are outside also. Now this is a most important point, because this definition helps us to differentiate, once and for all, between a revival and an evangelistic campaign.

An evangelistic campaign is the Church deciding to do something with respect to those who are outside. A revival is not the Church deciding to do something and doing it. It is something that is done to the Church, something that happens to the Church.

So then, what is it that happens? The best way of answering that question is to say that it is in a sense a repetition of the day of Pentecost. It is something happening to the Church, that inevitably and almost instinctively makes one look back and think again of what happened on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.

The essence of a revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down upon a number of people together, upon a whole church, upon a number of churches, districts, or perhaps a whole country. That is what is meant by revival. It is, if you like, a visitation of the Holy Spirit, or another term that has often been used is this--an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

What the people are conscious of is that it is as if something has suddenly come down upon them. The Spirit of God has descended into their midst, God has come down and is amongst them. A baptism, an outpouring, a visitation. And the effect of that is that they immediately become aware of His presence and of His power in a manner that they have never known before.

I am talking about Christian people, about church members gathered together as they have done so many times before. Suddenly they are aware of His presence, they are aware of the majesty and the awe of God. The Holy Spirit literally seems to be presiding over the meeting and taking charge of it, and manifesting His power and guiding them, and leading them, and directing them. That is the essence of revival.

And what does that mean? Well, there are general characteristics which you will find in every revival that you can ever read about. The immediate effect is that the people present begin to have an awareness of spiritual things such as they have never had before.

They have heard all these things before, they may have heard them a thousand times, but what they testify is this: 'You know, the whole thing suddenly became clear to me. I was suddenly illuminated, things that I was so familiar with stood out in letters of gold, as it were. I understood. I saw it all in a way that I had never done in the whole of my life.' The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind and the understanding. They begin not only to see these things clearly but to feel their power.

What are these things of which they become so aware? First and foremost, the glory and the holiness of God. Have you ever noticed, as you read your Bibles, the effect on these people as they suddenly realized the presence of God? Like Job, they put their hands on their mouths or like Isaiah they say, 'Woe is unto me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.' They have just had a realization of the holi-ness and of the majesty and the glory of God. That always happens in a revival.

There can be a lot of laughing and lightness, and obvious organization in evangelistic campaigns. Not so in a revival, but rather awe, reverence, holy fear, the consciousness of God in His majesty, His glory, His holiness, His utter purity.

And that, as we have seen, leads inevitably to a deep and terrible sense of sin, and an aweful feeling of guilt. It leads men and women to feel that they are vile and unclean and utterly unworthy and, above all, it leads them to realize their utter helplessness face to face with such a God.

Or, like the publican depicted by our Lord in the parable, they are so conscious of all this that they cannot show their faces. They are far back near the door somewhere, beating their breasts and saying, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

The holiness of God, their own utter sinfulness and wretchedness, their own unworthiness; they realize they have never done anything good at all. Before, they thought they had done a great deal, now they see that it is nothing--useless. Like Paul they begin to talk about it as dung and filthy rags. In their utter helplessness and hopelessness, they prostrate themselves and cast themselves upon the love and mercy and compassion of God.

This is the convicting work of the Spirit who takes charge of the situation. People may be held in that state for some time--not only for hours but sometimes for days and weeks, and months. They may become almost desperate.

Then they are given a clear view of the love of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and especially of His death upon the cross. At last they see it. Oh, they had always believed it theoretically, but it had never truly become real for them. They had honestly believed it, yes, but they had never felt its power, they had never known what it was to be melted by it, to be broken by it. They had never known what it was to weep with a sense of unworthiness and then of love and joy as they realized that 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

Suddenly it all becomes real to them, and they are given to know that the Son of God has loved them and has given Himself for them. It becomes an individual and a personal matter: 'He died for me, even my sins are forgiven,' and peace comes into their hearts; joy enters into them and they are lost in love and in a sense of praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

This now becomes the one thing that absorbs them. If they meet anyone they talk about it at once; everybody is talking about it, it is the main topic of conversation, it is the thing that absorbs all their interest. They desire to be together now and to talk about these things and so they get together, and they hold meetings. They meet every night to talk about these things and to praise God and to sing hymns to His glory.

Then they begin to pray, and there they are, hour after hour, night after night, longing to finish work so they might get together with other people who have experienced this movement of the Spirit of God. And that, of course, in turn leads them to have a great concern about others who are outside and who do not know these things.

I am giving you a synopsis of what you read in the books. They begin to get a concern for the members of their own family--husband, wife, father, mother, children, brother, sister--who do not know that they are outside. They tell them about it; they feel they must. There is a constraint that is driving them. They talk about it to people, to friends and to everybody, and they begin to pray for them. Prayer is always a great feature of every revival, great prayer meetings, intercession hour after hour. They pray for these people by name and they plead, and they will not let God go, as it were. They are intent on this with a strange urgency.

And then, after a while, hearing of all this and seeing the change in those whom they have known for so long, these others who are outside begin to join the meetings and to say, 'What is this?' So they come in, and they go through the same experience. And so it happens and thousands upon thousands are converted. Indeed, the whole neighborhood seems to be full of the Holy Spirit. He seems to be everywhere.

People are not only converted in meetings, some are converted as they are walking to the meetings, before they have even got there. Some are converted at their work, in a coal-mine, on top of a mountain. Some are awakened in the middle of the night. They went to bed feeling as usual, but they are awakened with an aweful sense of sin, and they have to get up and pray and plead with God to have mercy. Nobody has spoken to them at that moment--it is the Spirit of God that is acting. He is dominating the whole area. He is filling the lives of all the people.

That is what happens in revival and thus you get this curious, strange mixture, as it were, of great conviction of sin and great joy, a great sense of the terror of the Lord, and great thanksgiving and praise.

Always in a revival there is what somebody once called a divine disorder. Some are groaning and agonizing under conviction, others praising God for the great salvation. And all this leads to crowded and prolonged meetings. Time seems to be forgotten. People seem to have entered into eternity.

A meeting may start at six thirty in the evening, and it may not end until daybreak the next morning with nobody aware of the passing of the hours. They did not have to provide coffee once or twice halfway through. When the Holy Ghost organizes things, time, the body, and the needs of the flesh are all forgotten.

A revival, then, really means days of heaven upon earth. Let me give you one of the greatest descriptions ever written of what is true of a town when there is such a revival or a visitation of the Spirit of God. It was written by the great and saintly Jonathan Edwards about the little town of Northampton in Massachusetts in 1735.

This work soon made a glorious alteration in the town. So that in the spring and summer following, the town seemed to be full of the presence of God. It never was so full of love nor so full of joy and yet so full of distress as it was then.

There were remarkable tokens of God’s presence in almost every house. It was a time of joy in families on account of salvation being brought to them. Parents rejoicing over their children as newborn, husbands over their wives and wives over their husbands.

The doings of God were then seen in His sanctuary. God’s day was a delight and the congregation was alive in God’s service. Everyone earnestly intent on the public worship. Every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth. The assembly in general were from time to time in tears while the Word was preached. Some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors.

This is God visiting His people. Days of heaven on earth, the presidency of the Holy Spirit in the Church, life abundant given to God’s people without measure.

A revival is a miracle. It is the hand of the Lord, and it is mighty. It can only be explained as the direct action and intervention of God. Men can produce evangelistic campaigns, but they cannot and never have produced a revival. A revival, by definition, is the mighty act of God and it is a sovereign act of God. It is as independent as that. Man can do nothing. God, and God alone, does it.

But not only can men not produce a revival, they cannot even explain it, and that again is most important. If you can explain what is happening in a church, apart from this sovereign act of God, it is not revival.

A revival is something which, when it happens, leads people to say, as the townspeople said in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, 'What is this? What is it?' It is something that comes like a tornado. It is almost like an overflowing tide; it is like a flood. Miraculous things happen, things that are beyond the explanation and the wit of men.

Finally, look at it as it is described in Acts 2. Here are the apostles meeting together for prayer in the upper room. They had been doing it for ten days. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. That is it. Not always the sound, but always the consciousness of the mighty wind of God. The Spirit of God descends upon preacher, prayers, praying people, those meeting in conference.

Do we know anything about that, my friends? Do we believe in God coming in and doing things that we not only cannot do, but cannot even understand, nor control, nor explain. Yea, I ask you, do you long to know such things? To see such things happening again today? Are you praying for such a visitation? For, believe me, when God hears our prayers and does this thing again, it will be such a phenomenon that not only will the Church be astounded and amazed, but even those who are outside will be compelled to listen and to pay attention, in a way that they are not doing at the present time, and in a way that men left to themselves can never persuade them to do.

This is what God can do. This is what God has done. Let us together decide to beseech Him, to plead with Him to do this again. Not that we may have the experience or the excitement, but that His mighty hand may be known and His great name may be glorified and magnified among the people.

Do We Know What Revival Is?

Brian Edwards, in his book, Revival! A People Saturated with God writes that there are two or three generations that know nothing about revival. Edwards goes on and says that fewer the people there are to know and talk about revival, the less likely it may occur.

However, he writes, we must not forget that true revival is always the work of a sovereign God.

Let us work hard in prayer that fire from heaven will come to our churches.

Every Moment Counts

I am reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This evening I read the following: "Every moment and every situation challenges us to action and to obedience" (pg. 78).

It does not matter what we are doing. What matters is that moment is lived for the glory of God.

I am back in Omaha

Good Morning:

I am back in Omaha after spending two weeks at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA. It was my final residency for my Doctor on Ministry of Degree. All that is left now is the completion of my thesis-project.

Bryan

Prayer for Revival in Boston

Last Sunday, I attended church at Tremont Baptist Church. There has been worship services in this renovated theatre since the 1840's. People like S.D. Gordon, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham have preached in the church. Charles Dickens and Abraham Lincoln have both addressed the church.

After the service this past Sunday, a lady there told me that every Wednesday at noon, people gather to pray for revival. Three people began this prayer time, and the number has increased to around 80. These are people from the area who long to see God pour out his Spirit.

80 people are praying every Wednesday that God will send revival to the Boston churches. This is an awesome first step to experience revival. Let's pray for Tremont Baptist Church; and let's pray that other prayer gatherings will be formed throughout our nation.

Have a great day,

Bryan

The Cost of Discipleship

Good Morning. Here is another quote from the past to remind us that following Jesus requires our entire being. It is the well-known quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer taken from his book "The Cost of Discipleship"...

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die!"

Have a wonderful day. Let us love Jesus with all that we have.

A Great Quote About Reaching People

Daily, I receive, through e-mail, a Christian quote. Below, is today's quote. As you read it, notice how the emphasis is placed on the Christians within the local church...

"The tremendous power of mass-suggestion, which we call the
world, can only be confronted, and its victims cured, if they
are received into a body which is filled with a vivid,
vigorous, and conscious community life of the Spirit.
Individuals are powerless to cope with a power so subtle and
all-pervasive as this mass-suggestion is. If we are to save
and rescue sinners, there must grow up in our Church a Spirit
of Love and Brotherhood, a Christian community-life,
transcending class and national distinctions, as pungent, as
powerful, as impossible to escape as the Spirit of the world.
No Apostolic Succession, no Ecclesiastical correctness, no
rigidity of orthodox doctrine, can be themselves and in
themselves give us this; it comes, and can only come, from a
clearer vision of the Christ, a more complete surrender to His
call and to the bearing of His Cross."

... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Wicket Gate
[1923]

I Am In Boston

I am in Boston, MA until March 17. This is my third two-week residency for my Doctor of Ministry degree. I am working on the track, "The Preacher & the Message" under the direction of Dr. Haddon Robinson.

Today in class, Dr. Robinson said: “It is amazing how much you can learn from the Bible if you just read it!”

That is pretty good advice. Becoming saturated with God's word will prepare us for the coming revival.

Have a good evening

Bryan

In the late 1990's Billy Graham spoke to 10,000 itinerate evangelists in Amsterdam. In his final address to them to called for them to possess a holy determination to reach the world for Jesus...

"Let us light a fire of renewed faith to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the ends of the earth. Using every resource at our command and with every ounce of our strength. Let us light a fire in this generation that, by God's grace, will never be put out. Let us light a fire that will guide men and women into tomorrow and eternity. Let the Light of the world shine through the whole earth until he comes again."

Our neighborhood, our family, our friends, our enemies, our city, our nation and the world needs Jesus. Let us pray hard that we will both be a fire and lighters of fires for Jesus.

For His Glory!

Bryan

Does it Matter If We Pray Together?

Jim Cymbala, the pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle once said that you can gauge how much the people in the church love Jesus by measuring their commitment to the weekly prayer gatherings. Does it really come down to that? If the prayer gatherings are times when God's people praise him and cry out to him for renewal and transformed lives, then yes, these weekly prayer gatherings do tell us how much we love Jesus.

But it is more than that. Historically, corporate prayer preceded revivals. There is a renewed interest in prayer before revival and it is sustained during revival. Thus, if revival is to come to our churches and communities and cities and nations--then it would be worth our while to put Acts 2.42 into practice and devote ourselves to prayer. It will take courage and determination to do so, but we must do so for revival from heaven to visit us.

Have a great day

Bryan

Do We Lock Our Gaze On God?

Louie Giglio, in his book, "The Air I Breathe [worship as a way of life]" writes on page 101 that it is vital that during worship services we focus our gaze upon God and God alone. The primary reason we are in the church sanctuary on each Sunday morning is to worship Him!

Giglio does admit that our minds do wander on Sunday (Mine does--and I am the pastor!). Nevertheless, we are to work hard to fix our gaze on God the Most High. Scripture meditation and prayer a few minutes prior to the beginning of the service are essential to prepare our hearts and minds.

Praying for Revival

Bryan

Will Revival Come Without Prayer?

Good Morning. The beautiful recent weather in Omaha is over. Freezing drizzle, snow and colder temperatures are on the way. Oh well! God is always good.

Here is a question: "Will revival come without prayer?" The answer is NO

Many years ago, Arthur Pierson, the editor of The Missionary Review, made the following claim: "From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun in a union of prayer, though only among two or three; no outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined" (quoted in Brian Edwards, Revival! pg. 84).

Thus, we must continue to cry out for revival day and night!

Bryan

Happy Valentine's Day

On this Valentine's Day, we who have the honor of being a husband can be reminded on the apostle Paul's word to husbands in Ephesians 5.25: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Jesus set the example for us by sacrificing his life for the church. We truly and joyfully live because of his supreme love for us. Thus, we love our wives in a similar fashion--it is about loving and nurturing her as Christ does the church.

What plans do you have for your wife today: a rose? a card? a date? candles and romance? Today is the day for such things. But what about doing the dishes or cleaning a room and fixing something for her.

And as Jesus intercedes for us, we can pray daily for her.

Have a great day

Bryan

Do Our Souls Converse With God?

It is easy for prayer to become routine and lifeless. I certainly have found myself in prayer ruts before. How do we break out of this? I like how the theologian Charles Hodge defines prayer: "prayer is the converse of our souls with God".

According to the dictionary, "converse" means "informal talk." Thus, prayer is our informal conversation with the Lord throughout the day. This is one of the keys to the command in 1 Thessalonians 5.17: pray continually! From the time we wake up to the time we go to bed, we can carry on a conversation with the Lord.

Praying for revival

Bryan

The Steelers Win!

I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since the early 1970's, so it was fun to watch them win their first Super Bowl since 1980. It was a pretty sloppy game as far as penalties were concerned, but a win is a win.

Though it is the "Super Bowl", it is just a game. Yes, I got excited during the game, and I got out of my chair at times (and I ate too much food). Still, it was only a game.

Compared to what truly matters, yesterday's game is nothing. Living for Jesus and his glory is the reason we exist. He is the main thing in all of life.

May His Name be forever praised!

Bryan

Can Slander in the Church Hinder Revival?

Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle charges all the new members of the church to deal with the sin of slander. It doesn't matter if they hear slander or are involved with it themselves. They are to put a stop to it.

Why? Because slander can render a church ineffective.

He says this of slander in the church: "I know what most easily destroys churches. It is not crack cocaine, government oppression, or even lack of funds. Rather it is gossip and slander that grieves the Holy Spirit."

Ephesians 4.29 commands us: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

When slander is on its way out of the church and encouraging words are the increasing norm, then the church will more and more reflect the image and heart of the Lord Jesus

Bryan

Steve Hawthrone on Correct Praying

What is our prayer life like? Mine certainly has room for much, much improvement. In the 2006 edition of Seek God for the City, Steve Hawthrone, Director of WayMakers writes...

"In drastic days, pray great things. Our tendency is to pray just enough to get by; to restore the status quo of our personal circumstances. But when dramatic and perilous times fall upon us, this is the very time to pray beyond ourselves. This the time to lift our vision toward marvelous chnages God is bringing as He brings glory to His Son" (page 1).

Now is the time to pray for great things. Are you praying for your city? I am lifting up the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

For Jesus Alone!

Bryan

Love Jesus Supremely

Good Morning:

I grabbed this off another blog site: http://www.268blog.blogspot.com/

And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

So, today...
Love Jesus supremely.
Engage culture with excellence.
Stay connected to the community of faith.

This is great encouragement for us as we live for the glory and praise of Jesus.

Bryan

Does Our Love for God Have Competition?

It is easy to say that we love God. We can even quote the scripture that commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. But do we? I know that I do not always love the Lord as I was created for. Augustine prayed this words:

He loves Thee too little
Who loves anything together with Thee,
Which he loves not for Thy sake.

All that we have are gifts from God; and all that we do is for his glory. May we delight in the Lord alone, and may everything else be means for further joy and delight in him.

Have a good day

Bryan

The Importance of Scripture During Times of Revival

True, heaven-sent revival will never be short of God's Word. Fervent prayer is vital, but so is the diligent study, meditation and preaching of God's Word. Brian Edwards writes: "All who have been used by God in spiritual revival were diligent in the study of Scripture and the application of the Scripture to their own lives. God uses men and women who submit to his authority. He does not begin revival with those who have no interest in his Word" (Revival! pg. 64).

May our Bibles become worn out and our hearts filled with God's Word

Bryan

The Powerful Prayers of Righteous People

This Sunday, I will preach on the second half of James 5.16: The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The Greek word for power points to a power waiting to be released. All of us who follow Jesus have the potential to change the environment around us and the world through prayer.

Of course, it is vital that we are righteous. Our Christ-like behavior is linked to unleashing powerful and effective prayers.

Have a great day.

Bryan

Are We Serious About Revival in 2006?

Happy New Year to you all.

Brian Edwards writes in his book Revival! A People Saturated with God that "together with our prayerlessness, it is probably the unholiness of the lives of Christian leaders today that convinces God we are not really serious about revival" (pg. 62).

What will my life tell God this year?

Bryan

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone as you celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bryan

Holiness and Revival

Brian Edwards, in his book Revival! A People Saturated With God that holiness of life will always precede revival. He writes: "God looks for men (I would add women, teenagers and children) who will be willing to surrender anything and everything as long as their life can be kept clean. This is an essential part of personal revival" (pg. 59).

If revival is going to happen in our country, then let us pursue holiness and a passion for God's glory.

Cold Temperatures Do Not Matter!

Right now at 1:04 PM in Omaha, the temperature is 5 degrees. Yes, we are in single digits! Here is the forecast for the next few days. It will warm up later this week. 38 degrees is far better than 5!

Even though the outside temperature can be very cold, our heart can be hot with spiritual fervor. Romans 12.11 commands us to be "never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord".

Let us work daily at being spiritually hot for Jesus!

For Jesus Alone!

Bryan

The Prayers of George Whitefield

How shall we pray and prepare ourselves for the coming revival? George Whitefield helps us in this regard. On his way to Georgia in 1737 he prayed: "God, give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst!" (Brian Edwards, Revival! pg. 57).

Wow, may all those attributes be true in me.

Bryan

Personal Revivals

Good Morning.

God will send revival to individuals before he sends revival to churches and communities. According to Brian Edwards: "There has always been personal revival before public revival in those whom God uses. This personal revival may take many forms, but it always has the same effect: to convince of the greatness and glory of God" (Revival!, pg. 54).

Howel Harris was used by God during the awakening across Wales. On June 18, 1735, he met with God: "I felt suddenly my heart melting within in me like wax before the fire with love to God my Saviour; and also felt not only love, peace, etc. but longing to be dissolved, and to be with Christ; then was a cry in my inmost soul, which I was totally unacquainted with before, Abba Father! Abba Father! I could not help calling God my Father..." (pg. 54)

Before revival comes to America, it will first occur in the lives of people praying and longing for it.

Another Quote From Brian Edwards

Check out this quote from Brian Edwards book, Revival!

"Men whom God uses in revival have always been men who maintained a close walk with God and longed for a holy life. It was Robert Murray M'Cheyne who, so greatly used by God in Dundee in 1839, had prayed from his heart, 'Lord make me as holy as a saved sinner can be.' The evidence of the sincerity in this prayer is seen in the fact that people would be moved to tears just by seeing him in the pulpit or walking down the corridor of the church."

It is just like the song that goes "Holiness, holiness is what I long for; holiness is what I need!"

It is what we all need.

Happy Thanksgiving

Bryan

A Burning Passion for the God's Glory!

According to Brian Edwards book Revival!, before true revivals sent from heaven, there will be people anticipating for God to move in powerful ways. Edwards writes that such people "have met with God in a powerfully personal way and have a burning passion for the glory of God and a life of holiness" (pg. 48).

Am I such a person? I want to be.

Bryan

Getting Ready For Revival

Good Morning. It is cold in Omaha. Winter weather arrived yesterday.

In Brian Edwards book: "Revival!", he writes the first step towards revival is to consecrate ourselves to the Lord (2 Chronicles 29.5). He went on...

"If we start here, we have hope for revival. But we must start now. Whole books can be written analysing what is wrong with the church today, but there is hardly a need for this. We must simply admit that we are not eternity-minded people. We live like the world we are supposed to be saving: for the things of time rather than for the things of eternity. Our priorities are world-related rather than heaven directed; our treasure is on earth. Revival always begins by putting eternity back into the minds of the Christians, and only when the church takes eternity seriously can we expect the world to do so" (pgs. 44-45).

If this is true, then what are we waiting for? Let us draw near to God so he will draw near to us (James 4.8).

For Christ Alone!

Bryan

The Church Before Revival

Good Morning.

It is raining and snowing in Omaha this morning. We need the moisture. The American church also needs a fresh rain from heaven as well. Brian Edwards in his book, Revival! A People Saturated With God describes what occurs before, during and after revival. For example, what is the condition of the church before a revival? According to Edwards:

"Outwardly there may be many good things in churches today, but beneath it all is the rottenness of worldliness, carelessness, a lack of deep commitment and a triviality about holy things. Our churches are divided and quarrelsome; our leaders are proud of their reputations and hard-working to build their own empires. Generally speaking, Christians think and behave like the world and are afraid to act differently... Of course, some churches are growing and some sinners are being converted, but by and large we have become expert at simply shuffling the pack as dissatisfied or grumbling Christians move from church to church" (pg. 37).

Ouch! Are we ripe for revival? It appears so. Let us seek God's face.

For Jesus Alone! Have a wonderful day.

Bryan

Brian Edwards Wonderful Book on Revival

One of my favorite books on the subject of revival is by Pastor Brian H. Edwards. It is called: Revival! A People Saturated With God. The title itself is a great definition of revival. His title is based on Duncan Campbell's understanding of revival: "a community saturated with God" (pg. 26).

I have read this book more than once and I have marked it all up because it is both a history of revival and an encouragement to pray daily for God to revive the modern church. Edwards writes... "In revival things happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Meetings are lengthened, crowds gather, and sermons have to be preached, not because it is all arranged in advance, but because God is at work. People will arrive without warning for a meeting, moved by an unseen hand"(pg. 29). I will refer more to this book in later blogs.

For Jesus Alone!

Bryan

God's Mission in the World

Good Morning. I am back. Things have been busy with church and school. Again this blog is dedicated to the subject of praying for spiritual revival. When God sends a revival, it will begin with his people in the church. We will repent and turn back to God; and by his grace, we will be empowered to be the people he desires.

As God's Spirit is working on the church, people outside the church will be drawn to love and glory of Jesus. In other words, there will be conversions. The words of Acts 1.8 will be fulfilled. Jonathan Edwards reminds us that God's mission in the world is the salvation of souls...

"The work of God in converting souls out of the hands of
Satan, was begun soon after the fall of man, has been carried
on in the world ever since to this day, and will be to the end
of the world. God has always, ever since erecting of the
church of the redeemed after the fall, had such a church in
the world. Though oftentimes it has been reduced to a very
narrow compass and to low circumstances; yet it has never
wholly failed."