Books: When Christ Sends Revival

For those like me who have little understanding, and even littler experience with revival, I recommend Steve Fernandez' monograph called When Christ Sends Revival. Steve is the President of The Cornerstone Seminary in Vallejo, CA.

The premise is that true revival will not be the result of new and modern techniques or high-tech tools, but is a result of God's choice to pour out the power of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of building His church. Revival is defined as a God-ordained expansion or explosion in true and life-changing conversions. It is not different from conversion in essence, but in scope. Historically, it has come unexpetedly and especially in the ministries of men who have preached the centrality and all-sufficiency of Christ.

Prof. Fernandez righly accuses today's church: "Today it seems we rely on academic degrees, dynamic personalities, skilled communicators, and technologically advanced presentationss. It seems we have outgrown God. We are too strong, accomplished, educated and high-tech to be desperate enough to need God. We can grow the chruch ourselves."

I was encouraged to read that the Word, and our own history, prove the today's best practices to be bankrupt and that it's not merely my rigid impracticality. I was doubly encouraged that Pastor Chris Bauer preached today that Santa Rosa Bible Church would continue to preach Christ above all. May we, and all churches, not settle for words but have a burden for embodying His Grace, for His sake and for the world around us, which we were once a part of, and which He loves.