BLJ: The trend toward short "revival"meetings and the advent of conferences in lieu of revivals has brought sad results. The focus is away from the church member that needs to search his or her heart and get on fire for God, and instead on making sure everyone has a good time. I remember in the early 1980s attending a conference in Williamsburg. During the worship service on each side of the platform, there were two people dressed up. One like Daffy Duck and the other like Bugs Bunny. They were dancing around and "praising the Lord." My mentor, Rev. Herbert Norton was in attendance. In the middle of the charade, he stood up (all 5 ft 1 in), and loudly proclaimed, "What good is all this? What will this mean if Christ returns today?" He and his holiness followers were escorted from the conference that day. I was not one of them as it would take a few more years for me to see the light of holiness. However, I did remark, I think the Holy Spirit left the building when they did.
TIME'S TRAGIC TREND
In recent years, the trend is toward short revival meetings, many of which go from Wednesday night or Friday night through Sunday night. These short meetings differ greatly from the "siege-type" of revivals which were frequently practiced by the holiness people a few years back. The results from these short revival meetings are usually much less far reaching also. Neither the carnal leaders, nor their equally carnal followers are allowed time enough to get under deep enough conviction to adequately search their own hearts, or to get sick enough with Holy Ghost Conviction, to die out completely. Only a few individuals can see the awful depths of the corruption of their own carnal hearts clearly enough in a short revival meeting to become willing to face their own crucifixion.
TIME'S TRAGIC TREND
In recent years, the trend is toward short revival meetings, many of which go from Wednesday night or Friday night through Sunday night. These short meetings differ greatly from the "siege-type" of revivals which were frequently practiced by the holiness people a few years back. The results from these short revival meetings are usually much less far reaching also. Neither the carnal leaders, nor their equally carnal followers are allowed time enough to get under deep enough conviction to adequately search their own hearts, or to get sick enough with Holy Ghost Conviction, to die out completely. Only a few individuals can see the awful depths of the corruption of their own carnal hearts clearly enough in a short revival meeting to become willing to face their own crucifixion.
One of the great weaknesses of modern revivals is due to the fact that too many pastors and people alike would prefer to sit back and enjoy the services, and pray for sinners, rather than to search their own hearts, confess their own backslidings, make their own restitutions, dig out their own carnality and become sanctified "Holy" and "wholly."
BLJ: Revivals are first to get the believer restored from backsliding and sanctified wholly, and only then to reach the lost. The modern church sometimes only focuses on getting new people into the church.
When it is considered more important to get new members into the church than it is to get the old ones sanctified, both the ministers and lay members are getting the whole revival pattern in reverse order. Christ wants all born again converts to first...tarry until they are endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49), before they go out to be witnesses to the world (Acts 1:4, 8).
When the modern, short, so-called revivals are designed to "happify" rather than convict, entertain rather than expose sin and carnality -- then the pastor and people alike will veer off into the ditch and either become worldly on the one hand or legalistic on the other.
THE PERILOUS PROBLEM OF THE PAMPERED PEOPLE
When the time comes in any holiness church where the PEOPLE will not go along with an extended, siege-type, "death-route" revival because of the length of time required as well as the added expense or because they fear getting "snowed under" and "dug out" -- that church eventually will be filled with uncrucified and unsanctified people. When this tragedy occurs, then the human and carnal handling of the affairs of the church will result. Satan is thus made happy, and God is grieved, while the malignant disease of depravity in the hearts of pastor and people remains unremedied. When the "death-route type" of revival meetings are abandoned, the church becomes like a hollow tree -- decaying at the heart, with only a thin exterior remaining, until a carnal storm hits and it goes down.
BLJ: When I was pastoring, we had a 10 day revival. The evangelist left but the members said, can we keep coming every night? I continued the revival for an additional 3 weeks. After 30 plus days of meeting every night, and seeing people genuinely saved and sanctified and healed, we returned to our normal routine of meeting 3 days a week. I will never forget that set of meetings.
THE EVANGELIST'S EASYGOING EFFECT
When the EVANGELIST shies away from the "death-route type" of revivals because of fear of their length or his lower average pay or of upsetting people, his meetings will fail to dig carnality out of its pastors or people, and very soon will grieve the Holy Ghost out of his evangelistic ministry. As he leaves church after church, they may be fooled into thinking they had a revival, when all they really had was a few sermons which carnal people enjoy. When an evangelist loses the Holy Ghost and the human takes over, he then must resort to emotionalism and psychological gimmicks instead of holy unction and utter dependence on genuine Holy Ghost conviction. In his desperation to get seekers and make a showing, he learns that the evangelist that has the most seekers at the altar, and creates the most excitement, will naturally get the most calls. As a result, "seekers" become more important than "finders." Oh, the subtle temptations toward a professional ministry!
BLJ: Many evangelists either don't know the truth, or are afraid to teach the truth. Revival meetings have become a shadow of what they were. No conviction; no restitution; no repentance; and no dying out to self. God revive us again!
BLJ: Revivals are first to get the believer restored from backsliding and sanctified wholly, and only then to reach the lost. The modern church sometimes only focuses on getting new people into the church.
When it is considered more important to get new members into the church than it is to get the old ones sanctified, both the ministers and lay members are getting the whole revival pattern in reverse order. Christ wants all born again converts to first...tarry until they are endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49), before they go out to be witnesses to the world (Acts 1:4, 8).
When the modern, short, so-called revivals are designed to "happify" rather than convict, entertain rather than expose sin and carnality -- then the pastor and people alike will veer off into the ditch and either become worldly on the one hand or legalistic on the other.
THE PERILOUS PROBLEM OF THE PAMPERED PEOPLE
When the time comes in any holiness church where the PEOPLE will not go along with an extended, siege-type, "death-route" revival because of the length of time required as well as the added expense or because they fear getting "snowed under" and "dug out" -- that church eventually will be filled with uncrucified and unsanctified people. When this tragedy occurs, then the human and carnal handling of the affairs of the church will result. Satan is thus made happy, and God is grieved, while the malignant disease of depravity in the hearts of pastor and people remains unremedied. When the "death-route type" of revival meetings are abandoned, the church becomes like a hollow tree -- decaying at the heart, with only a thin exterior remaining, until a carnal storm hits and it goes down.
BLJ: When I was pastoring, we had a 10 day revival. The evangelist left but the members said, can we keep coming every night? I continued the revival for an additional 3 weeks. After 30 plus days of meeting every night, and seeing people genuinely saved and sanctified and healed, we returned to our normal routine of meeting 3 days a week. I will never forget that set of meetings.
THE EVANGELIST'S EASYGOING EFFECT
When the EVANGELIST shies away from the "death-route type" of revivals because of fear of their length or his lower average pay or of upsetting people, his meetings will fail to dig carnality out of its pastors or people, and very soon will grieve the Holy Ghost out of his evangelistic ministry. As he leaves church after church, they may be fooled into thinking they had a revival, when all they really had was a few sermons which carnal people enjoy. When an evangelist loses the Holy Ghost and the human takes over, he then must resort to emotionalism and psychological gimmicks instead of holy unction and utter dependence on genuine Holy Ghost conviction. In his desperation to get seekers and make a showing, he learns that the evangelist that has the most seekers at the altar, and creates the most excitement, will naturally get the most calls. As a result, "seekers" become more important than "finders." Oh, the subtle temptations toward a professional ministry!
BLJ: Many evangelists either don't know the truth, or are afraid to teach the truth. Revival meetings have become a shadow of what they were. No conviction; no restitution; no repentance; and no dying out to self. God revive us again!
No comments:
Post a Comment