Come Down, Lord!

Updated October 28, 2020 Here I want to recommend books on the theme of revival.   By that I do not mean biographies of men used in revival like Whitefield, Wesley or Elias. Rather, I mean books written either about the subject itself or books that give accounts of revival. Years ago I was introduced to Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill.   That book (in 2003) changed my life.  In fact it had more of an impact on me than any book since.  From that point I have had a growing interest in the subject of revival and also a growing burden to see the Lord revive the Church in this country.    In 2004 I discovered Sermon Index .  That year I heard three sermons/talks that dramatically impacted me.  The first was titled Ten Shekels and a Shirt .  Though it isn't a sermon on revival, the subject of revival came up.   It was a sermon that changed my perspective on God, missions, salvation and revival.   The second was a gripp...

A number of men have expressed concerns about my previous post , the follow up on our compromise in the face of Covid-19 .  After giving it consideration I have decided to offer some clarifications A. First, I freely admit that there are godly men on the other side of this issue who have arrived at their conclusions through thoughtful study of Scripture.  I believe they are wrong, but I don’t doubt their sincerity.  Nor do I believe that everyone on the other side is reasoning pragmatically.  There is no doubt in my mind that many men who heartily disagree with me are further along in their walk with the Lord.  For that reason I have found myself often hesitating to write or say anything at all.  I know what I am; and I remain painfully aware of the fact that there are numbers of men with whom I strongly differ who are more godly than I.   But I have not written for myself.  I have written (and I still write) for Christ and for truth. ...

I have received lots of private correspondence about Romans 13, so here is a brief answer to some of those concerns. Gavin Beers has said that public worship "is the holy convocation of saints with the peculiar promise of His presence and blessing." He then added that that holy convocation "is issued by a divine call through the Church not the State." So w hat ought to be the State's attitude toward the Church?  They are in the words of Beers to "promote and encourage the fulfillment of that call."    They are as Samuel Slater ( Puritan Sermons, vol. 4 ) explained, to "contribute what in them is to the promoting of the true religion, the power of godliness, and a scriptural reformation, together with a hearty and vigorous suppression of profaneness!"  Note carefully the words of the WCF: "The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of he...

Leonard Ravenhill offered this definition of revival in America is Too Young to Die .  There are other good definitions out there, but this one has a prophetic ring to it.   "Revival is the act of the Spirit upon believers who have lost their first love. Revival is the restoration of true doctrine.  Revival is the rekindling of the power of prayer in individuals and in groups. Revival is seeing that God must be vindicated either by His mercy in pardoning - or by judgment! Revival is the ascendancy of the spiritual over the material . Revival is the Spirit's passion within the believer to know and to obey the total will of God. Revival is the willingness to forsake all - that God might be all-in-all to the individual and to the Church. Revival is the "no-time-limit" operation of God on the saints, resulting in a moving of God among the sinners. Revival is the redeemed, sobbing with broken hearts over a nation of broken lives from breaking the comman...

A friend asked me the other day, "do you regret it?"  He had heard that my open letter to the Church had stirred up controversy and that I might be in trouble.  My answer was immediate.  No , I didn't regret it.  I believed (and still believe) it needed to be said.   In fact, as time has passed and I have prayed over the matter my feelings and my resolve have grown stronger not weaker.   God has tried us to see what is in us, and we have been found out.  We aren't the lion hearts we thought we were.  We are strong on theology and confessions and ecclesiastical procedure, but we aren't so strong in the day of adversity (Proverbs 24:10). But my friend's question raises an interesting question.   First, why would I  regret what I had written?   My friend was assuming that the events that had transpired since the letter was first written had somehow changed my mind.  He was wondering if maybe the trial had...