"Although revivals ultimately end in the conversion of people opposed to Christianity, they always begin inside the Church. When William Booth boldly declared 'send the fire' in his stirring hymn, he cried to God 'Look down and see this waiting host, give us the promised Holy Ghost, we need another Pentecost!' As we seek another Pentecost we might be encouraged to recall that the first one happened in a meeting attended by a group of fearful, sinful, doubting men and women prone to denial, failure and fear. The weaknesses swept aside by Pentecost were personal to each individual disciple. Pentecost didn't demolish the temple, or wipe out the Pharisees or edit the law – it dealt with the individual. Revival will always be the revival of the individual – the more individuals that are revived, the fiercer the flames of revival will burn.
It is no wonder then, that in spite of their many inquiries, the collective denominations that make up the Christian church have been unable to write a strategy for recovery, for the problem lies not in the fabric or the methodology of the church but in the heart of individual believers. Indeed, God can only revive congregations one soul at a time and he does that through holiness.
When Christ speaks about the Church, he uses the metaphor of a body. It is the nature of cells, whether they be healthy or cancerous, to reproduce. Decline will either continue or be reversed according to the health of individual cells. There is nothing wrong with the head or the heart of the church, it is the unhealthy cells that make up the body, through which the head and heart try to operate, that bring about failure."
Grace and peace, A
2 comments:
A beautiful quote. Where is it from?
It's from an up an coming book that I am currently writing :-)
Grace and peace, A
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