Before I completely committed my life to Christ, I saw Christianity as a type of spiritual “fire insurance;” that is, I did not want to go to hell. I have met many people who do not want to go to hell, but they are not willing to truly trust Jesus to be the Lord (master) [...]
I have a dream. This is a dream that I share with millions of God’s people in the nations of the world—that our God will visit His people in our generation, both young and old together, in a way that we will experience His power and presence in our families, our churches, our communities and [...]
During the second half of the nineteenth century many Welsh Christians felt the need for a spiritual awakening. They prayed privately and in churches, asking God for revival. God used a twenty-six-year-old Methodist, Rev. Humphrey Jones and another pastor, David Morgan, who worked together in ministry to influence this revival. Beginning at 5:00 A.M. every [...]
Francis Asbury was born in England, and at age 16 began to preach, speaking up to five times per week, walking several miles to get to each appointment. Meanwhile, help was needed desperately in America. So in 1771 when John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement challenged, “Who will go?” 26-year-old Asbury stepped forward. [...]
Next to the Bible, the book that has shaped my life more than any other is “Revival Lectures” by Charles Finney. He said that revival was not a miracle, but it is the result of the right use of the appropriate means: “It is impossible for us to say that there is not as direct [...]
The roots of virtually every social reform movement of the 1800s in America can be traced to Charles Finney’s revival meetings. Charles G. Finney was a former lawyer whose early ministry took place in western New York State. His preaching sometimes resulted in entire towns being converted. He attacked every vice known to society. Prayer [...]
In September 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier started a businessmen’s prayer meeting in Manhattan. By March of 1858, every church and public hall in downtown New York was filled with praying businessmen. A famous editor sent a reporter with a horse and buggy racing around to the prayer meetings to see how many men were praying. In [...]
In 1739, John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and about 60 others, many students from Oxford University, held a love feast in London. Prayer continued until three in the morning, and they reported, “The power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy.” They believed that God was about [...]
From start to finish, we must live our lives in God’s grace. Sometimes people say of someone who hurt them, “He really hurt my feelings.” If we allow our hurt feelings to control our lives, we are not living in the realm of God’s grace. Who says everyone should be nice to us? If we [...]
When we understand how grace works in our lives, we will find ourselves living with a new freedom in our daily relationship with Jesus. Every good thing in our lives is a result of the grace of God. You and I really do not deserve anything. If you have good health today, it is because [...]