A Surprising Work of God

A Surprising Work of God (Part 1)

There are only a few things that go on my weekly prayer list. One of them is revival. I believe God has moved in the past to ignite great awakenings. I believe he can do it again. And I believe Christians would do well to preach and pray for a Christ-centered, God-glorifying, gospel-loving, Spirit-given revival in our own day.

Of course, this begs the question: what is true revival. I’ll come to a definition in a moment, and take tomorrow’s post to say more about the shape of biblical renewal and reformation, but let me start by dispelling a few false notions about revival. Read more

A Surprising Work of God (Part 2)

The year is roughly 640 B.C. Judah is in bad shape. After some good years with King Hezekiah, the nation has gone down hill in a big way with fifty-five years under the wicked Manasseh. The next two years under King Amon were hardly better: “And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them” (2 Kings 21:20-21).

The country looked bleak. God’s people were languishing. There wasn’t a lot to cheer about.

But God, by a sovereign, surprising work of his Spirit, brought reformation and breathed new life into his people. The God-given renewal in Judah, like all true revival, was marked by several distinguishing characteristics. Let me mention five. Read more