The kind folks at EP books sent me a review copy of Paul Cook’s Fire From Heaven: Times of Extraordinary Revival. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about revivals: some had to do with solid doctrine and true calls to faith and repentance. Others had to do with emotional frenzy and unbiblical mysticism. Cook’s Fire From Heaven isn’t really a book about the “ins” and “outs” or the “goods” and “bads” of revival. Instead, it is a look at a series of revivals which took place in Britain from 1791-1840 among the Calvinistic Methodists and Baptists. Before going on, I should point out how Cook defines revival:
“The characteristics of revival are no different from the characteristics of any normal working of the Holy Spirit except in terms of intensity and extent” (p. 117).
Cook begins in chapter one by discussing the period before 1791-1840 to give a historical background of his topic. He later writes about some of the theological beliefs (prayer, God’s sovereignty, calling, etc.) of the preachers of this revival period. Of course he also talks about those leading preachers of the day, such as William Bramwell, Hugh Bourne, Oliver Heywood, and others, along with the areas of Britain that benefited from their preaching. If you’re interested in this topic, I do recommend this book.
This book got me thinking in quite a few ways. One of them is the necessity of churchly prayer. I was convicted once again that prayer is more effective than programs, bands, committees, clubs, and societies when it comes to the spiritual health of a church. I’ll end with this great quote from page 70.
“In our desperate situation today we need to cast ourselves upon God. We are not as desperate as we ought to be. Depressed, perhaps; but that is because we have been too self-assured, overconfident in ourselves and our schemes. We do not cast ourselves upon God like our forefathers. Despite our professions, our Reformed theology is too much in our heads and too little in our hearts. The truth of the matter is that we are not Reformed enough. Despite their doctrine, the mentality of the old Methodists was much more Reformed than ours. They depended upon God more than we do, they looked to him more often, they prayed more diligently. In the sort of situation that faces us today, they had but one answer: call upon God. And this they did again and again.”
Makes me think of 1 Thessalonians 5.17.
shane lems
