Superficial Revival

1790-1875

I recently came across a small, scarce collection of letters written by Charles Finney toward the end of his life. They are exhortations concerning his perspective of the growing superficiality of church life and revival meetings around the year 1870. As I read, I could not help but mourn over the state of the church as we now experience it 130 years later. It takes little imagination to figure what his response would be to the rock bands, comedy routines, T-shirt sales and empty conversions that typify “revival meetings” of our day.

It is my prayer that this timeless reprimand will spur us in returning not only to the revival fire of the 1830’s, but further still, until the Book of Acts becomes our reality in this day. Below is an excerpt from this collection. --Dean Taylor

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John Wesley on Family Religion

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15b

What will the consequence be, if we do not adopt this resolution? —if family religion be neglected? —if care be not taken of the rising generation? Will not the present revival of religion in a short time die away? Will it not be as the historian speaks of the Roman state in its infancy, res unius aetatis:

“an event that has its beginning and end within the space of one generation”? Will it not be a confirmation of that melancholy remark of Luther’s that “a revival of religion never lasts longer than one generation”? By a generation (as he explains himself), he means thirty years. But, blessed be God, this remark does not hold with regard to the present instance, seeing this revival, from its rise in the year 1729, has already lasted above fifty years.

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Face the Battle Singing!

Jehoshaphat was in sore distress. What to do!? The Ammonites, the Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir had ganged together against the children of Israel. 2 Chronicles 20:3 reads: “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord …” They took this confrontation seriously. Jehoshaphat went into the house of the Lord, before the new court, to plead with God for His help. Had not God said that if evil should come upon them and they came into the sanctuary and called on Him for help that He would help them?

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