Thursday, March 29, 2012

Wishing for a Revival

I have just finished a book by J. Edwin Orr, titled The Flaming Tongue: The Impact of Early 20th Century Revivals.  It was very dry reading for the most part but I found it to be interesting due to the worldwide impact of what is referred to as the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905. Although the impact did not actually begin with the Welsh Revival, it was rather due to spontaneous prayer meetings arising all over the world.  The Welsh Revival is probably known as it's greatest catalyst however. It was a time of great awakening, of confessions, of repentance, of coming together with others to manifest changes in their lives.

Here is a quote from page 193:  "The story of the Welsh Revival is astounding.  Begun with prayer meetings of less than a score of intercessors, when it burst its bounds the churches of Wales were crowded for more than two years. [emphasis mine] A hundred thousand outsiders were converted and added to the churches, the vast majority remaining true to the end.  Drunkenness was immediately cut in half, and many taverns went bankrupt.  Crime was so diminished that judges were presented with white gloves signifying that there were no cases of murder, assault, rape or robbery or the like to consider.  The police became "unemployed" in many districts.  Stoppages occurred in coal-mines, not due to unpleasantness between management and workers, but because so many foul-mouthed miners became converted and stopped using foul language that the horses which hauled the coal trucks in the mines could no longer understand what was being said to them, and transportation ground to a halt."

Reading this book, I was just astonished that this was taking place a little over 100 years ago.  What has happened in this past century that has negated these awakenings for the most part?   Is it the brutal wars?  The advances of modern technology?  The ability to travel from one end of the world in a day or two as opposed to weeks or months?  Communication is almost instantaneous now with computers and cell phones and satellites.  It seems to me that they are perfect tools to generate revival, yet that is not happening.  I'm not a missionary, nor a theologian. I have no answers.  Only questions.  I exist with wishes, with desires, with longing to have experiences like the people from 100 years ago did.  I would love for my Facebook news feed to be free of hate and criticism but I am the first to point my finger at myself for spreading such myself.  My heart longs to be more Christ-like and I know that the Lord is working on my heart even now.  My anger rises with each hurtful and  hateful post on Facebook I see from others and it is very hard to keep my mouth shut and not create further issues.  I just want to know Christ and not be political in nature or divisive among people I associate with and even with people I don't know.  I could stop using Facebook, but I cherish the friends I have on it and would not want to lose contact with them. 

My whole point in this post is just to bring to you a small awareness of  something that happened a century ago that made a difference in many many lives across the world.  I wish what happened then could happen now, a revival of the Lord's people that could impact the world for good. May God bless you with awakening in your heart and soul.

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