Can God stir revival by his Holy Spirit, even in our culture today? Do we really believe he can? In a day of diminished expectations, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Accounts That Stretch and Stir recounts global examples of prior revivals, beginning with the Reformation and the Great Awakenings. It continues with the Welsh and Azusa Street revivals and those that occurred simultaneously in Asia, followed by the East Africa Revival of the 1930s. More recent revivals in North America that instigated parachurch or evangelistic ministries like those of Billy Graham and the revivals in China, particularly in Henan Province over the last forty years, give further evidence of church renewal. These stories enlarge our hearts, expand our minds, and empower our witness to the power of God at work in human history. Christians with a deep evangelistic commitment who realize that there is more to church growth than field-tested techniques will expand their vision by remembering God’s vision, as it has been revealed throughout history. Hansen and Woodbridge mine these stories of renewal to suggest how to get ready for revival today.

Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. "Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church

This book explores the history of Christian revivals, their impact on society, and the conditions that give rise to them. With a focus on American religious history, The Why When and How of Revivals is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of Christian faith in the United States. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A passionate plea to make the Bible occupy the central place of a Christians life. It not only explores the current malady of not taking the Bible seriously, but it goes deeper to uncover its reasons. Table of Contents Introduction 1. A Revival of Learning the Word: Confronting Distractions, Priorities, and the Pretext of Being Too Busy 2. A Revival of Valuing the Word: Confronting Haziness, Self-Sufficiency, and the Perception That the Bible Isnt Enough 3. A Revival of Understanding the Word: Confronting Superficiality, Superiority, and the Assumption That It Should Come Easily 4. A Revival of Applying the Word: Confronting Special Interests, Therapeutism, and a Lack of Dependence on the Spirit 5. A Revival of Obeying the Word: Confronting Sentimentality, Avoidance, and the Opinion That I Have the Right to Decide 6. A Revival of Speaking the Word: Confronting Fear, Excuses, and the Idea That Its the Responsibility of the Clergy Appendix A: The Easiest Way to Memorize the Bible Appendix B: A Method for Attaining Bible Fluency

Murray analyses a crucial period in American religious history,with particular attention to the major theme of the nature ofreligious revival. He rejects the common identification of revival & revivalism, showing that the latter differed from the former both in its origins & in its implications. Whereas in the earlier period, revival was understood as supernatural & heaven-sent, in the later period the ethos was much more man-centred & the methods employed much closer to the manipulative. The change in perspective can be summed up by saying that revival was first viewed as OEsent down, but later seen as OEworked up. A pivotal figure in the change & a major promoter of the new methods, was Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875). Murray traces developments from the time of Samuel Davies (1763-61), through the age of the Second Great Awakening, to the New York Awakening of 1857-8. In addition to Davies & Finney, major leaders whose names recur in these pages include Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) of Princeton Theological Seminary, Edward D. Griffin (1770-1837) & Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844).Arnold DallimoreAn outstanding biography, scholarly, yet popularly written, of theleading preacher of the eighteenth-century evangelical revival.Whitefield (1714-70) is acknowledged to have made a greaterimpact on evangelical Christianity on both sides of the Atlanticthan any other preacher of the eighteenth century. The firstvolume traces the early career of Whitefield to the end of 1740, atwhich point the twenty-six-year-old was already the most brilliantand popular preacher of the time, and had already, at age 24,commanded the largest congregations yet seen in America. Thesecond volume traces the doctrinal conflict with John and CharlesWesley, Whitefield?s visits to Scotland and Wales, as well as theAmerican colonies, and the emergence of a Calvinistic branch ofMethodism. Also provided are details of Whitefield?s marriage,friendships, ceaseless labours and early death aged 55. The two-volume set casts new light on Whitefield?s early life in Gloucester,religious conditions in England at the commencement of hispreaching ministry, his influence on the Great Awakening of 1739-40 in America, his relationships with the Wesleys, hisphilanthropic endeavours and his impact on all classes of Englishsociety including the aristocracy.

The experimental or experiential aspect of the Christian life has been seriously neglected during the present century. Certain factors and tendencies have led to this unfortunate condition. Chief among these has been a superficial evangelism which has neglected real conviction of sin and repentance and encouraged an easy believism. Secondly, there has been a theory of sanctification, more psychological than spiritual and scriptural, which has discouraged self-examination and taught that we have only to 'leave it to the Lord.' Thirdly, and more recently, has been an unbalanced emphasis on intellectual understanding of Truth, the social application of Truth, and the manifestation of particular spiritual gifts. All this has greatly impoverished the spiritual life of both the individual Christian and the churches, and led to coldness, barrenness, and loss of power. The greatest need of the hour is a return to the emphases of the Evangelical Awakening. It is in the belief that this classic of the spiritual life and warfare can greatly stimulate and hasten that return that I encouraged my wife to translate it, and am now happy to commend it, and to advise all Christians to read it. I would particularly urge ministers and pastors to read it, not only because it will prove to be an invaluable help in what is now called counselling of individuals, but also because I would press upon them the importance of introducing such meetings into the life of their churches. Much untold blessing would follow. -From the introduction by Dr. D.M. Lloyd-Jones. Rev. William Williams, was a preacher and leader in the 18th century in Wales. A great hymn-writer and poet, he became the recognized leader and authority in organizing and conducting the experience meetings of the Methodist or Evangelical Awakening.