It's time to renew spirit of revival

To the editor: There are many ideas of what a revival is and here are a few.

"Revival is the inrush of divine life into a body threatening to become a corpse." (D.M. Panton)

"Revival is God bending down to the dying embers of a fire just about to go out and breathing into it until it bursts again into flame." (Christmas Evans)

"Revival is waking up to the fact that you are asleep." (David Thomas)

"Revivial is the church returning to Pentecost." (Dr. Martyne Lloyd-Jones)

Our Welsh theologians used to say the three great characteristics of classic revival are: 1. An intense, palpable and extraordinary sense of God's presence; 2. A deep desire to be rid of all sin; 3. A powerful impact on the wider community.

When the revival came to Wales in 1904, all three of these were evident.

Why do we need revival? The latest polls out show a drop in attendance. It seems the "falling away" is taking its toll. Why don't professing Christians go to church? Maybe it's because our church services are so boring, formal, cold and predictable.

We need revival in our land because of the on-going slaughter of the unborn. This touches the very heart of the creator. And this must stop.

Revival is needed when the Lord's Day (Sunday) is no more a holy day, a sacred day, a time to rest. Instead it has become a shopping day, eating out day, and surely a sports-crazed day. Is there anything holy anymore?

The God-fearing believers in the Jayland area need to wake up in all the churches (and the hundreds of believers that have quit going to church) and pray that God's Holy Spirit will come upon each home.

The political parties are not the answer. Our government is not the solution. It is the problem - along with sin and the abominations now being condoned in our nation.

One preacher was reminded of his mother, who had a habit of losing her keys. When this happened she would turn the house upside down until she found them. There would be intense searching until they were found. Everything else stopped in the house, and everyone was enlisted in the task. Nothing else mattered at that moment other than finding the keys. Likewise, we will not see revival until we cannot live without it.

Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14 where it says if we turn from our wicked ways "we will hear from heaven and God will forgive our sins and heal our land." If we turn back to God, He will restore our nation.

Churches need to stop what they're doing and pray for revival. Believers must rise up and stir up their fires of red-hot praying, working and soul-winning.

We have the answer. He's the man on the middle cross. He is the Son of the Living God. He is the word made flesh.

There will be no problem getting people in churches when the church repents. The unchurched and unbelievers don't want something dead. They watch us play our little religious games and tell us, "Call us when the fire falls!"

We need to ask ourselves this question: Am I a thermometer or a thermostat? A thermometer only indicates what the temperature is. It needs no motivation and its satisfied at whatever degree it records. A thermostat has the power to change the situation. It can change the temperature in your home. But it needs that little spark to ignite the furnace.

Isn't it time for somebody out there in each church or home to say, "I'm tired of being a thermometer. I'm tired of the status quo. I'm going to get on fire for God and change the temperature in our home and in my church. Today I will pray that God would ignite the Holy Spirit in me afresh and that I will mind God no matter if everybody else just sits there and does nothing about our nation's condition."

Start a revival movement in Jayland. Change from a thermometer to a thermostat. Get a map of Jay County and beseech Almighty God to have mercy on us. "Return to me, and I will return to you." - Malachi 3:7.

Phill Jellison,

Evangelist/pastor,

Gospel Lighthouse

Church, Portland[[In-content Ad]]