Revival: some personal thoughts and resources

The sermon Pastor Ruth Carver shared this past weekend at Eastbrook Church, “Revival in the Ruins,” has left me reflecting on the topic of revival quite a bit. One reason it is on my mind so much is that this longing for and experience of revival has touched my life in some important ways. I sometimes find it hard to talk about these things, but I’ll do my best to open up a few experiences.

At the age of sixteen, I had a dramatic turnaround in my life that brought me close to the Lord. Although I grew up in church, it was meaningless to me at that time and, in fact, my life was headed in an altogether different direction. I encountered the Lord through deep awareness of my own sinfulness and concurrent deep awareness of the profound love of God revealed in Jesus Christ for me personally. My dramatic turnaround was part of a larger in-breaking of the Holy Spirit at a church summer camp that touched the lives of young people and older adults alike. This was accompanied by some very intense experiences of the Holy Spirit’s power that are hard to convey with words but included healing and visions. Was this a revival in the classic sense? I do not know whether it matches that definition since it was, in a sense, small-scale. However, the experiences of that week changed my life forever.

Afterwards, my heart was very hungry for the Lord. I studied the Bible intensely that summer, reading and searching Scripture to know God and His ways more intently. I also sought after reading and other resources that would help me grow in my faith. I would read just about anything people would recommend, whether it was a biography of the Apostle Paul, a work about the Holy Spirit, or Bible studies to join in with. I met with some other high school students on a semi-regular basis to worship God together through music, prayer, and Scripture reading. Along the way, I was introduced to some writings by Charles Finney, an American revivalist who is often disparaged for his approach to revival. In fact, in the article I referenced a couple days ago (see: “Five Factors for Revival from Tim Keller”), Tim Keller does just that, writing:

Finney insisted that any group could have a revival any time or place, as long as they applied the right methods in the right way. Finney’s distortions, I think, led to much of the weakness in modern evangelicalism today, as has been well argued by Michael Horton over the years. Especially under Finney’s influence, revivalism undermined the more traditional way of doing Christian formation.

Tim Keller, “Revival: Ways and Means”

I agree with Keller’s assessment of Finney, and yet, some of Finney’s writing in Lectures on Revival had a profound influence on my life during those first years of my active faith. In particular, reading through Lecture III: “How to Promote Revival,” specifically Finney’s slow walk-through various sins of omission and commission brought me into an extended season of repentance. I labored in confession for several days, journaling out as much specific sin as I could think of (there was plenty to name!), and seeking the mercy and grace of the Lord in prayer. This work was simultaneously painful and healing for me. Was that a revival? While it was not communal in nature, this work of repentance and prayer brought a deep cleansing and redirection of my life for which I am grateful, even if I have disagreements with Finney’s overall philosophy of ministry and thoughts on revival.

Several years later, while a student at Wheaton College, an awakening of sorts broke out in March 1995. At a worship gathering called World Christian Fellowship (WCF), students from another college who had experienced a powerful work of God shared. At their school, a movement of public confession and prayer broke out where students turned from their sin, got real with God, and begin new journeys with Him. While I was not there that first night, I know that after these students shared, the floor was opened for anyone there who might want to respond in some way. That night carried on for hours, leading to four consecutive nights of confessing sin and prayer for freedom in students’ lives. I participated in those nights. It was powerful. Students would not only confess sin, but bring up physical things connected to their sin, laying them on the stage to be disposed of afterwards. A final night of worship was planned, and many responded that night to dedicate their lives to the Lord, with some dedicating themselves to full-time ministry or service. Already attending Wheaton because of a sense of calling toward vocational ministry, I went forward to dedicate my life to full-time ministry that night and my wife, Kelly, did as well (although we did not know each other at that time). You can read an account of these events from Stephen Kellough, the Chaplain at Wheaton College during that time, here or with other voices in book form here. Was it a revival in the classic sense? I think so, while others prefer the term awakening. Was everyone changed? No, I knew people who were intensely critical of the entire experience, and I understand some of their concerns. But for me, that experience was life-changing and has led to personal, ongoing revival.

I remember that Wheaton College’s President at the time, Duane Litfin, encouraged the student body afterwards that revival was only necessary because our hearts grew accustomed to sin and far from God. He encouraged us to “keep short accounts with God,” daily confessing sin and drawing near to the Lord. It was a good reminder and continues to be helpful for me to this day. Although I don’t remember whether it was during that time or not, a resource I came across that is helpful toward this end is Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s “The Heart God Revives.” I strongly commend it as an aid to keeping short accounts with God and letting God begin to revive our hearts.