Archive for September 2010
The 1859 Ulster Revival : Before and After
In the first half of the 19th century Ulster was at a low ebb spiritually, so much so that The Irish Presbyterian magazine recorded in 1853, “Many seem to put on religion with their Sabbath clothes... The Bible lies unopened on their shelves… And what a mass of baptised heathenism surrounds our doors! ”
Prayerless
Yet there were many pulpits with godly preachers who carried a burden for the spiritual state of the land. Feeling burdened by the need around them, they tried to get their congregations interested in prayer, without much success.
One lamented over his people: “The congregation was in a most unsatisfactory state…year after year passed yet still no fruit, no outpouring of the Spirit. What alarmed me most was the indisposition, almost hostility of the people to meetings of prayer. They seemed mostly to think that they were well enough and that I was unnecessarily disturbing them.”
One of these faithful ministers said, “There was no power to bring home to the people the message of the gospel.”
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What kids think about love
What do you think about love?
"I'm in favour of love as long as it doesn't happen when 'Dinosaurs' is on television." —Jill, age 6
"Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I’ve been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me." —Dave, age 8
"I'm not rushing into being in love. I'm finding coping with primary 7 hard enough." —Regina, age 10
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Posted in Christian life, Humour, Practical living, Sermon Illustrations | 
Tags: children, humor, kids, love | 
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No unemployment for Christians
David Howden, a former Faith Mission Bible College Principal, used to say, “There is no unemployment in the King’s service.”
Towards the end of his life, his face radiant, he told a gathering, “Oh, if I had my life over again I’d still be a Pilgrim* in the Lord’s work!”
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What is Revival?
So, what is revival?
In revival, God moves in the district. Suddenly, the community becomes God-conscious. The Spirit of God grips men and women in such a way that even work is given up, as people give themselves to waiting upon God.
In the midst of the Lewis Awakening, the parish minister at Barvas wrote, "The Spirit of the Lord was resting wonderfully on the different townships of the region. His presence was in the homes of the people, on meadow and moorland, and even on the public roads."
This presence of God is the supreme characteristic of a God-sent revival. Of the hundreds who found Jesus Christ during this time fully seventy-five per cent were saved before they came near a meeting or heard a sermon by myself or any other ministers in the parish. The power of God, the Spirit of God, was moving in operation, and the fear of God gripped the souls of men—this is God-sent revival as distinct from special efforts in the field of evangelism.
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How do I know God has called me?
What we call the Great Commission of Christ to his church still stands. It has never been rescinded or altered. The Lord of the harvest still wants men and women to respond to his call and to go—to go next door, down the street, across town, up country, overseas—but to go somewhere and reach others with the gospel. There is, I am convinced, a definite call to mission work and other forms of ‘full-time’ Christian service, but the call has already been given in general terms and we need to ask God not whether but where.
But how? How does God call workers out? How do I know where he is calling me? Let me suggest some principles, some ways in which God guides and directs.
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Posted in Christian life, God's will | Tags: Bible College, call of God, guidance, John Brand, missionary | No Comments »
