A life worthy of revival

The biographer writes about Martin Lloyd Jones again:

'No man had ever produced a revival, and he was not foolish enough to think or hope for a moment that anything he did or said would produce such an effect, but he hoped to live in such a way that if, and when, a revival came through the grace of God from heaven, they would be worthy of it. That was the spirit in which he took up the ministry'

I remember blogging about revival all throughout last year, as we prayed and sought it. We're still going, in Goldsmiths Uni, we pray about it daily and cry out for it regularly. It's such a heavy desire, the need is so obvious but it's God's call and I'd rather it be His than mine.

Do we live our lives with a desire to make them worthy for a revival. We cannot petition God enough and we cannot earn a revival but will our hearts be ready to receive one if it comes. Revival will surprise our systems and break our expectations and only if we genuinely seek God rather than an image or an idol will be ready to receive the direct work of the Holy Spirit when it breaks out around us.

We cannot regard revival as a hobby

It is our life, opening up ourselves for God's renewal so it can spread from us to this world, begging for it and interceding for this broken world.

Regardless of the Multitude

I'm reading a biography of Martin Lloyd Jones at the moment. My book only covers the first forty years so I don't know what i do after that but I'm about half way through and MLJ has taken his first ministry job at Sandfields in Aberavon at 26. He left an incredibly promising medical career to deal with the real root of man's problems.

One of his seniors at the hospital wrote to him after they found out about his new role saying these words

'I admire very much a man who plans his own life and goes ahead with it regardless of the multitude who would like to arrange his life for him.'

I found this powerful and challenging. It would've not been a hard route for MLJ to stay in medicine justifying it by his training, skill and its charitable nature but he felt the call of God and went for it all guns blazing. How amazing would it be if we went for this, every day, just seeking God's voice and will - avidly pursuing it.

Always find it exciting reading biographies of the saints. Especially Welsh ones.

Been so long!

I've decided to start blogging again - I stopped deliberately before uni because I expected to be around a lot more non Christians and didn't think a blog about evangelism would be the sort of thing i'd want someone to stumble upon. Would just be a bit weird. But I figure now that no-one's really gonna accidentally land on it, i'm sure it wouldn't be that off putting and mainly because SO much has been happening lately at Goldsmiths that i want something that reminds me when the revival kicked off!

I've been so overwhelmed by how the Holy Spirit has moved at Goldsmiths over this last term. For me personally, it kicked off after a few sermons about stepping up in reading the word and praying as well as hanging out with some passionate guys from a CU in Westminster. After that Goldsmiths started having prayer every day at 9 in the centre of the uni and so because i was getting up anyway I'd get up at 7 to pray and read the word for an hour or so before.

Alongside this we were running an Alpha course from which people were getting saved and those people started getting involved and bringing such energy and vitality to the Goldsmiths Christian Union. We have like six people meeting every week day to pray in the middle of the uni - its a different six people every day and such a mix of situations and faith levels.

We're opening it up to the uni as well so people can just receive prayer. We've been giving out tea and toast at the SU and seeing loads of people from the uni blessed because of it and then as a bonus wanting to know more about the Christian Union - which leads on to conversations about this amazing Jesus we know!

We meet together two or three times a week for informal bible study and worship - sometimes we worship for hours and hours. The spirit of the Lord has just been blitzing people - people speaking in tongues for the first time, prophecying, gaining wisdom and growing daily. It is just staggering. I'm blown away every time i reflect on it. Salvation is coming to Goldsmiths and is already here. God is so good and the potential for next year is so incredible when the Lord is in control.

some melodious sonnet!

For once I've not been updating my blog because too much has been happening as a pose to too little but I've been loving this hymn lately

---

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

There's a few different versions, try the Sufjan Stevens version, its on Spotify (and on Uke).  

Busy weekend

Had a pretty exciting sunday! I became an uncle to my eldest brother's kid who is still known as Baby Addis! I won't get to see my nephew properly until September but i've seen some pretty cute photo's. It was also that same brother's birthday and I found out that labour is a great distraction from you forgetting to send a birthday card.

I also led worship in church on sunday which went surprisingly well. I was not particularly looking forward to it but I love a new challenge and although, quite contentedly, I felt I didn't do much musically (especially when my guitar string broke in the first song, lol) it was amazing to experience God showing up. In both meetings, the theme of revival came up. The topic felt like it had been untouched in our main meetings and it was awesome to have it prayed after. I even got to speak about the welsh revival which is always fun!

The first of the two things God put on me last friday (see previosu post) about people passionate about revival prophetically spreading that excitement has already started happening in abundance. Loads of people have come up to me to talk about when we're praying next and the elders in our church prayed out about revival in the sunday meetings. We also went to a joint meeting with some other churches and saw a passion for Sidcup far outweighing our own.

The snowball rolls on!

The snowball started rolling...

So we prayed on Friday night and it felt like I got caught by a snowball rolling. I've been challenged recently, as I think a number of people have, to pray for revival and for God to move and expand his kingdom in Sidcup. That evening we started petitioning God for this. We started showing him that our hearts, like His, are not satisfied with the way things are.

Two words God put to me (And I don't say that lightly):

People who are seeking God's heart for the poor, for the spiritually ignorant, the broken hearted and people captivated by addictions and sin need to step up in action and live and speak prophetically as a challenge to the rest of the church. Not cynically or critically but with contagious excitement and passion. I know there are a lot of people who think this way but yet it seems like we don't even have the faith to pray for it in church - this needs to happen more.

I also had an image of the church (the body of Christ) replacing the church building; standing just as tall and sweeping its arms out to Bird college, all the surrounding houses, Marlowe house and as it drew people in, it grows and reaches further. I don't care about church growth but I do care for The Church's growth and God's Kingdom.I think that's enough but we covered a whole board in prophecies, visions and bible verses. Was a pretty awesome night

Left hungry...

Had a family meeting at church last night and there was a real sense of openness to God. The meeting ran quite informally and we prayed over some illnesses and just sought God. At the end of it, there was a real desire especially amongst some of the younger guys just to keep going, to keep grabbing hold of God, wrestling till something happens.

I think that hunger for God is so important but we try and avoid it because we're so scared that nothing will happen. That we'll let ourselves become all worked up and motivated for something that's never going to happen. We should be in a state of mind which is in pain whenever we're not seeing revival, it's scary to have our heart softened in that way and the world encourages us to harden ourselves against disappointment...but we don't have a disappointing God.

We have a God who keeps His promises and His promises are pretty amazing. I really want to see revival wherever I go and kingdom growth. I don't know how to do it or create it (cos I can't) but I know at the heart of revival is people crying out to God and letting their hearts burn for God and for people. So that's where I'll start