Come Down, Lord!

I discovered this book last March.  After reading it I posted the following on our church blog: "It wasn't a hard read.  It was actually a very simple straightforward read.  It was also very difficult to put down!  But it was hard in another way:  it was painful.  It was convicting on a level few other books are. Its odd (isn't it) that this book is out of print.   I can't think of a book more urgently needed at this time!   Is it because we no longer see our own need?  Is it because it is too painful?  I don't know the reason, but it is a situation that needs to be somehow rectified.  If you are going to read a book on revival I would beg you to begin here.  But that raises a problem.  There are few copies available anymore; which means you may need to write Richard Owen Roberts.  Don't hesitate to do so.  This books needs to be reprinted.  If you read this book here's what you will gain: ...

I admit I have chosen an odd title for a blog entry on a site dedicated to revival and authored by a reformed presbyterian minister.   Part of me would like to say that nothing is wrong with reformed presbyterianism.   But something is very much wrong.  I don't mean to say that there is something very wrong with the thing itself, but something very wrong with reformed presbyterianism as it is in our day.   A little background...  My roots are Baptist.  I spent a few years on the mission field as a child, and in my early adulthood I spent some years in charismatic churches (pentecostal and non-denominational).  In the reformed world there is a love for doctrines and distinctions.  We are truth men.  Many of us are confessional.  We ought to be!  We read old books and circulate them.  We love good publishing companies like Banner of Truth .  But there is something almost too civilized about us.  I re...

In a book titled The Turn of the Tide , Vernon Higham wrote that once we have faced the potential of revival nothing else will do.   He added, "His touch alone will suffice.  We have no option in the matter.  Only revival will meet our need... We try to bring little buckets of blessing... but what is this in a drought?  We need a drenching. We need showers of rainfall from heaven and the only one who can provide them is God."  Are you burdened for revival?  Each week a growing number of men- laypeople and pastors - from a variety of denominations gather together to pray for revival.   We would like to invite you to come.  We meet on Friday nights at Faith Presbyterian Church at 8 pm and pray into the night.   We believe God is burdening others across our nation to seek Him for revival.  If you are one of those men we want you to come and pray with us.  If you are coming from a distance please let us know so that we can pr...

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings in the name of King Jesus.  I am writing to you (as I have written to my own Session) because I believe that we - the Church in North America - have let the Lord down.  Like Peter we have made big promises, but in a moment of trial we have in this way denied Him.  We have compromised and we have sinned.  I don't say that lightly.   Many better men than me hold an entirely different position. Still, I believe our decision to submit to the government is wrong.  I believe it’s seriously wrong.  I believe one day we will look back on this with sorrow at how easily we gave in to the pressures of government and society.   I know it’s well intended but still wrong.   As you know churches almost everywhere (including our own) have closed.  Gathering together for worship has been replaced almost everywhere by live-streaming, so that there is no more ‘meaningful’ gathering of believers for the preachin...

I would have liked my first post to have been about the subject of revival itself.  The trouble is we cannot have revival without repentance.  We are living in a time of compromise and spiritual declension.  Before the pandemic many pastors were comparing the Church of North America to the lukewarm Laodicean church.   Instead of responding with humility, sorrow and repentance, the Church has remained proud and unmoved.  But what is particularly troubling is how the Church has recently responded to God's hand of judgment.  This pandemic is should be serving as a wake up call to God's people.  Instead we have retreated.   Instead of ashes, sackloth, and days of joint fasting and prayer we have closed our churches.  We say they aren't closed because we are livestreaming, but our doors are actually locked, people aren't gathering anymore for worship and the communion of saints now only exists virtually.   The following is a ...