Avoiding the "ditch" on the topic of Revival

(This is a rather lengthy introduction, if you haven't the time, scroll down to the links I offer)

I grew up attending churches of a certain denomination, so I've been to countless 'revivals'. As a matter of fact, up until the last few decades it was a standard part of the annual 'church calendar' to coordinate a 'fall' revival and a 'spring' revival. Back in the 60's and 70's these revivals were scheduled to last a full week--Sunday through Sunday--with a church service and/or activity every evening during the week.

Having grown up in that culture I was surprised to learn--after the Lord saved me in my early 20's--that 'revival' isn't about daily meetings, altar calls, knocking on doors, pot-luck suppers, fruitless professions, emotionally charged confessions, or great choir/musical presentations (all of which I gladly participated in).

Personally, I believe that the church as a whole misuses and misunderstands the term 'revival' just about as much as they misuse and misunderstand the term 'miracle'. In the late 70's and early 80's I was lead to believe that the "Jesus Freak" movement and the subsequent second-blessing/charismatic/third wave movement was in fact a modern-day 'revival'.

I think it's safe to say that once you've seen/experienced something aberrant within Christiandom, you are not likely to continue on in your Christian walk passively or unquestioningly. I do realize that there are two 'ditches' in which you can find yourself as you walk along--one is the ditch of apathy, and the other is the ditch of cynicism (where I believe our emergent friends are gathering).

As I began to question and examine the Biblical view of 'revival' in light of our modern-day 'revivals' I soon found that many others had questioned and/or defended 'revivals' of their day. So, it's no surprise that in the mid to late 80's I ended up encountering the writings of Jonathan Edwards.!

So, all that to say this! I've been working my way through Edwards' "Religious Affections" (both the original and an abridged version!) and have also been taking the opportunity to consider the thoughts of others on Edwards' and his contributions to the topic of 'revival'. I do this because I most certainly don't want to inadvertently find myself in either ditch--apathy or cynicism. I try to approach all church and Christian living issues/matters in the same matter--which as you might imagine makes for some pretty lofty reading goals!

Here's what I recently added to my looooooooong list of reading on the topic (posted at the Ligonier blog):

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 1)

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 2) ~ The Relevance of Edward's Distinguishing Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 3) ~ Negative Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 4) ~ Positive Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 5) ~ Applications

Practicing Theology - You are what you read

I'm taking a short break from "Theology 101" this week because I'm still mulling over the "Reformed charismatic" topic and hope to post more on the topic this week.

Kim over at "Upward Call" made THIS POST TODAY that got me to thinking, how do you choose what you read? How do you respond when you find yourself reading something that doesn't "square" with your Xian worldview?

I do a lot of reading--I enjoy it and I NEED it. Most of my reading outside of the Bible is related to theology, Xian living, or Xian history. Some of my reading is related to home schooling, and very little is fiction (although I do enjoy some historic novels). So, you see if I choose unwisely some very MAJOR areas of my life will be impacted!

I choose what to read based on what is available from sources I trust, and I examine those sources on a regular basis. I also "listen" to what others (whom I respect and trust) are saying. Sad to say, if a certain book is being promoted, talked about, pushed, and marketed in and by the popular "Christian" community I tend to be suspicious of the book. So, as you can imagine when the "latest" by Lucado, Dobson, Swindoll, Warren, Driscoll, etc. come out I'm not joining the lines to buy it--much less read it.

There was a time when I would buy and/or read ANYTHING that came out of a Xian bookstore. Then I began to "narrow" my selections to books only written by professors/ graduates from certain seminaries, authors with particular denominational affiliations, and certain mainstream "christian" publishers. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until I had to refine my criteria even further!

Kim's post today is an excellent example of what you can find if you don't put much effort into determining what you read, or if you've become lax and will read about anything that some acquaintance suggests, or anything that the local Xian bookstore is pushing/marketing. Please, redouble your efforts and guard your mind and heart!