How To Kill Revival in our Lives and in our Churches

Interesting post.

 

Before the firing starts, I just wanted to say...
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!!!

 

Interestingly, there are 10 things common to all revivals and one of them is that Christians chnage how they dress when revival hits and we seem to think it does not matter on this board and in the churches.

You only hit the tip of the iceberg, my friend. Good post!

 

Good post STJ.

It can go the other way too. Too many christians looking at the life they are living, not watching tv, the movies, the world. Dressing properly, carrying their Bible, handing out tracts, praying, witnessing, and in the end, saying see the way I believe. I'm above you. This happens, and revival cannot come.

We cannot have all these things and not have a meek and humble spirit.

What is a true revival? Hyped up feeling good after a good message? Go out, see someone/more than one saved and you're on top of the world? Baptize many, fellowship joyfully? I don't think there are very many that know what true revival is, so they look at their own church, say we have revival every Sunday, or every time we meet. What is the definition to revival?

 

In addition to the above list, refusal to comply with the provisions of 1 Chron 7:14 will prevent revival also.

 

One sure way NOT to kill a revival is to pray:

"Lord, bring a revival, and let it begin with ME!"

Blessings,
Sue

 

Surrender To Jesus,

Boy is God lucky to have you serving Him.

Anyone who disagrees with you concerning your man made rules is, obviously, killing revival. Well, if what you described is revival (which it certainly is not), then it needs to be killed.

Your posting if full of PRIDE!

 

Just how arrogant are you? You have no idea what kind of preaching I listen to. And then to say that I walk back into the world on Monday. Who are you to judge?

Let me turn the tables on you. You are welcome to continue to listen to false teachers who teach this KJV onlyism to the simple minded. Then when you leave Church on Sunday you can go back to your judgmental crowd of hypocrites and stand in judgment on others you do not even know.

deleted remarks which might be offensive

[ April 01, 2003, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: Terry_Herrington ]

 

Let me explain that I have decided, some weeks ago, not to call people names, no matter how angry their post makes me.

Tonight I have been accused by someone of living in the world. I have allowed this to cause me to get very angry and I resorted to name calling. Because of this, I have removed this portion of my previous post.

 

Surrender to Jesus,
I did not notice that you are only a kid. If I had, I would not have expected you to respond in an adult manner. Maybe when you have experienced a little more of life you will come to realize just how foolish your rhetoric is.

Until then, let me say to you the same thing I say to my elementary school students: God gave you two ears and only one mouth. Therefore you should listen twice as much as you talk.

 

One thing that does quench the spirit, I believe, is peoples actions leading up to and during the invitation.

Let me explain.

Some regular church members consider the time of invitation to be just the "thing" to do before they go home. Just before we sing the invitation hymn or chorus, the pastor normally explains what the invitation is by summarizing the plan of salvation, sharing how to join the church, get baptized, etc. It is at this time that every eye should be on the pastor and believers should be in earnest prayer for the lost. The reason many don't pay strict attention to the pastor is because (1) they are saved already, (2) they have been baptized, and (3) they are members in the church and feel that the pastor is talking to only lost people and non-members.

Some of the behaviors I notice during this time include: closing Bibles (including zipping up Bible covers), checking make-up (I've not seen one man do this yet so this is a "knock" on the ladies), getting their belongings together to leave, and looking up in the bulletin the hymn number of finding the words to the chorus on the back of the bulletin.

Here's the problem with these extra curricular activities during this time: Imagine that there is a nice young couple visiting church for the first time. This couple is unchurched and unsaved. They have been observing the service (since they can't truely worship themselves until they know God) and following along with whatever the people sitting in front of them do for the most part (they don't want to do the wrong thing). While the pastor is sharing the aforementioned information, this couple that has been moved by the Spirit gets sidetracked because they think they are supposed to be getting the songbook ready or whatever the "rest" of the church is doing.

Sometimes it is the little things we do or don't do that can be stumbling blocks.

Look around in your church this Sunday during this portion of the service and see what distractions a visitor might also see.

Wait, bad idea.

You should be concentrating on the pastor during this time.

May God save someone in each of our respective worship services this Sunday!

 

Good post, J.C.,
Sometimes we forget just how important this time can be for someone who is struggling with a decision. Thank you.

 

Just a couple of points that came to mind:

2. If a person leaves without salvation, it is because of his own wicked heart. Trying to put people under a guilt trip is Finneyism.

3. For the most part, the TV is trash. Um, it is just an object though. It does depend on how you use it.

5. Do you think people here are against evangelism?

6. It is not pride to not go forward. This is such a classic line for the altar call thread. The only altar I have is called Calvary. ***antagonistic remarks removed*** What is the Scriptural authority for such statements? Oh yeah, it was from Paul when he said he would not use manipulative methods. That rules out altar calls.

7. Are you aware that there are harlots in the strong Islamic societies. They don't exactly show skin you know. I hear they are becoming more progressive though. Some of the burkas have see-through head coverings for sex appeal.

Harlotry is not DEFINED by what you wear. There might be similarity, but definition is another thing. Btw, a woman could be completely modest and men still lust.
___

Just out of curiosity, did you by chance attend Hyles-Anderson?

Finally, bad theology will keep a true revival from ever starting. The Great Awakening happened under the preaching of men like Edwards. ***antagonistic remarks removed***

[ April 01, 2003, 03:00 PM: Message edited by: C.S. Murphy ]

 

Revival comes when people, as the psalmist says, "see themselves to be but men." We are weak, we are pathetic and as soon as Christian and non-Christian alike see this the sooner an awakening among the lost can occur and revival among Christians.

From personal experiance I can assure you that trying to force Christian behaviour on backsliders or the lost will only push them further away. Is the fact that someone is wearing trousers something that gives cause for them to be hounded out of the church? True, standards need to be fought for but not as an end in themselves. God probably doesn't care as much as some Christians do whether or not our sisters in Christ wear trousers, however, He does care that in attempting to glorify Him ladies dress modestly. The whole trouser thing is an example. The point is this. When we direct our entire lives to glorifying God then Christians will be revived and the lost awakened.

Hope this makes sense....

 

Surrender to Jesus,
Thank you for calling me terry boy. It had been a long time since anyone has called me boy. It does an old man good to be mistaken for a young man.

I will not respond to this issue about, as you said my, "NIV Bible." I, along with the people I worship with, are pleased with it and will continue to use it. It honors the Lord Jesus Christ and tells of His dying for a sinful world.

Let me also say that, believe it or not, I appreciate your zeal for Christ. It is good to see a young man dedicating his life in the service of our Savior. As long as you are faithful to Christ, I do not care which bible version you use. As Dr. Fred Afman, a former professor at Tennessee Temple University, once said, "I don't care which version you read; I care which version you live." God bless!

[ April 03, 2003, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: C.S. Murphy ]