TKTake that one step further—to our church life. Suppose a pastor sees that his first job is not to preach sermons to a passive congregation, but to lead a fellowship in the light and in the Word. Suppose that not preaching services, but fellowship meetings of the New Testament pattern become the center of his church life, where the point of interest is not one paid and polished preacher, but a community who are learning to hear God's voice for themselves down in the dust of daily life, and who are ready to share with others in humility those spots in their hearts and lives where He has dealt with them that week and where He has spoken the word of light from His Word. And suppose this starts with the preacher, and his wife! Then you have community revival.
revival lifespan
Re: revival lifespan
This excerpt from Grubb's article caught my eye (the whole article IS very good):
Re: revival lifespan
Backwoodsman,
Norman Grubb straightened me out on a few things and reminded me of others. Time will not now allow me to respond, but I will definitely be thinking about (and applying) these things. Thank you!
Joan
Norman Grubb straightened me out on a few things and reminded me of others. Time will not now allow me to respond, but I will definitely be thinking about (and applying) these things. Thank you!
Joan
Re: revival lifespan
Friends,
I am removing my posts on this subject because what I've posted so far is just plain silly. Until I can give this subject the time and attention it deserves, methinks it better to be silent. But do carry on (tranlated: Just....Go....on...without...me...)! I love reading what you have to say; it gives me lots to think about.
Thanks muchly!
Joan
I am removing my posts on this subject because what I've posted so far is just plain silly. Until I can give this subject the time and attention it deserves, methinks it better to be silent. But do carry on (tranlated: Just....Go....on...without...me...)! I love reading what you have to say; it gives me lots to think about.
Thanks muchly!
Joan
Last edited by Joan on Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
backwoodsman
- Posts: 536
- Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:32 am
- Location: Not quite at the ends of the earth, but you can see it from here.
Re: revival lifespan
A few weeks ago I said I hoped to add more to this thread. Here it is, somewhat later than I expected at the time.
_______
In recent times I've come to understand that true spiritual revival is very different from the way it's commonly understood among Christians today.
Some time ago I came across an autobiography in which I saw a spirituality and relationship with God, the likes of which I've seen only dim shadows of in my own life, or anywhere else in my lifetime. I found and read many other autobiographies and biographies looking for that quality, in order to learn what made these people tick spiritually and how to make it happen in me and those around me. In some I found it; and in others I saw good people who loved the Lord and gave their lives to God's service, but didn't have that certain quality I saw in some.
As it happened, many of these people were missionaries to China, and this reading led me to an account of a revival that swept over northeast China from about 1905-1915. I noticed the revival was strongest where the Christians were farthest from God -- sometimes even to the point of bitter feuds between missionaries and native leaders, or between the missionaries themselves. But I also noticed that it didn't touch some places and some people -- the very people, or their associates, in which I saw that certain deeper spirituality. They didn't get revival, because they didn't need it. They put a high priority on a continuous closeness and fellowship with God and with each other, and so lived in a constant state of ongoing revival, day by day. But they didn't see this as a goal, but simply as the normal condition of a Christian, and a necessary precondition for everything else.
Recently I read a little book, the premise of which can be summed up in one sentence: Revival is not something special, it's simply the state God intends to be normal for Christians. It's a good book, but it's incomplete. As I read it, I realized it misses something very important. It describes a revival in Africa that as of the last chapter had been ongoing for over 50 years, yet there was still a need for foreign missionaries. By then, the native church should've been on its 2nd or 3rd generation of spiritually mature native leaders, and should've long since no longer needed missionaries. But they never grew spiritually -- they were perpetually in the initial brokenness and repentance stage of revival, and never went on to maturity in the deeper things of God. No one recognized this -- not the natives, or the missionaries, or the foreign observers. They all misunderstood this condition as the goal, rather than simply the beginning of true revival.
I don't want half a revival -- I want the whole thing, and not just in myself, but in everyone who will accept it.
_______
In recent times I've come to understand that true spiritual revival is very different from the way it's commonly understood among Christians today.
Some time ago I came across an autobiography in which I saw a spirituality and relationship with God, the likes of which I've seen only dim shadows of in my own life, or anywhere else in my lifetime. I found and read many other autobiographies and biographies looking for that quality, in order to learn what made these people tick spiritually and how to make it happen in me and those around me. In some I found it; and in others I saw good people who loved the Lord and gave their lives to God's service, but didn't have that certain quality I saw in some.
As it happened, many of these people were missionaries to China, and this reading led me to an account of a revival that swept over northeast China from about 1905-1915. I noticed the revival was strongest where the Christians were farthest from God -- sometimes even to the point of bitter feuds between missionaries and native leaders, or between the missionaries themselves. But I also noticed that it didn't touch some places and some people -- the very people, or their associates, in which I saw that certain deeper spirituality. They didn't get revival, because they didn't need it. They put a high priority on a continuous closeness and fellowship with God and with each other, and so lived in a constant state of ongoing revival, day by day. But they didn't see this as a goal, but simply as the normal condition of a Christian, and a necessary precondition for everything else.
Recently I read a little book, the premise of which can be summed up in one sentence: Revival is not something special, it's simply the state God intends to be normal for Christians. It's a good book, but it's incomplete. As I read it, I realized it misses something very important. It describes a revival in Africa that as of the last chapter had been ongoing for over 50 years, yet there was still a need for foreign missionaries. By then, the native church should've been on its 2nd or 3rd generation of spiritually mature native leaders, and should've long since no longer needed missionaries. But they never grew spiritually -- they were perpetually in the initial brokenness and repentance stage of revival, and never went on to maturity in the deeper things of God. No one recognized this -- not the natives, or the missionaries, or the foreign observers. They all misunderstood this condition as the goal, rather than simply the beginning of true revival.
I don't want half a revival -- I want the whole thing, and not just in myself, but in everyone who will accept it.