REVIVAL, REFORMATION, RESTORATION -- PART 1

Before I started teaching on University, people always used to ask me which ministry I represent. My answer was of course always the same, I represent YHVH and not a ministry but I must admit that it did somehow scare people away. People want to see authority, a controlling body, something visible you belong to. Then YHVH directed me to cross paths with Elisheva from Jerusalem Tours and we started a ministry called Shalom Eden. I know it was YHVH that directed me because there were no chance at all that I would have found it on my own. I just sat down one day and said [Adonai, I do not know where to, please help.] I browsed the internet and started to type religious word and then search. Then I saw a question from her asking why the use of wedding rings and I answered. Then to sort out the problem of belonging, I boldly joined the Ministry of Shalom Eden and just added United Kingdom on the end. Lucky for me, Elisheva is a real YHVH’s woman and did not complain. Then another problem arose, people now knew I represent Shalom Eden and started asking questions like what the Ministerial Statement is but now I was clever enough and immediately answered [Revival, Reform and Restore]. Yet again, because I belief YHVH had placed me with S.E, I was bold enough to adopt the Statement and make it one for S.E United Kingdom, but it did not end there! Now regularly, I get asked what does Revival, Reform and Restore stand for. What does it represent? Sometimes it is hard for me to understand why people will keep themselves busy with questions like these but then every time YHVH reminds me that it was the same with Israel. People believe more when they see. Israel was the same and YHVH gave them a king on their request, king Saul. To answer this question of Revival, Reform and Restore; I not only want to share it with inquisitive people around me but also with the whole world for this is what YHVH gave me to be proud of and as you will also see is my love for history.

Revival

Revive or revival is a religious awakening that sweeps through a congregation or even an entire nation. A revival is characterized by fervour in worship, an awareness of personal sin, an eagerness to seek forgiveness from YHVH and from other people and an eagerness to share one’s experience with others. The Great Awakening was an important revival in American history. The term is also used, particularly in Baptist churches, for any special evangelistic meeting. It is an emphasis on preaching that produces a personal response to YHVH. Revival came to the American frontier with the preaching of James McGready, a bold and uncompromising Presbyterian who moved to Kentucky in 1789. By all accounts, McGready was one of YHVH’s gifted orators in the tradition of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Jonathan Edwards. When he spoke, he painted word pictures of heaven so beautiful that his rough and often lawless congregation longed to be there. His portrayal of the horrors of hell was so vivid that they trembled in fear. Convicted sinners would fall on the floor weeping and pleading: [What shall I do to be saved?] After a successful revival at Red River in 1800, McGready sent word ahead that he would preach at the Gasper River church in July. The news spread along the frontier. Families and individuals came from as much as a hundred miles away; by foot, by wagon, by whatever means available. They brought with them tents and food so that they could camp out for the length of the service. This first [camp meeting] lasted for several days. The best known of the early frontier camp meetings occurred at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in August 1801, with as many as twenty thousand people attending. In descriptions of the meeting by friends and foes alike, there is mention [perhaps exaggerated] of strange signs manifesting themselves. Participants were said to have leaped with joy when saved. There were reports of jerking, barking, dancing and rolling on the ground. The Presbyterian General Assembly of 1805 was alarmed by such reports and tried to dampen the revival, attributing the excesses to the influence of the Methodist doctrine of grace. The result was a split, as the pro-revivalist Cumberland Presbyterians left the Kentucky Synod. The Second Great Awakening began with the Presbyterians, but it was carried over the mountains by the Baptists and Methodists.

In a sense, Charles G. Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham and countless other evangelists and revivalists are heirs of James McGready and the Second Great Awakening. The ongoing appeal of revivalism comes in part from the Armenian doctrine that YHVH has an offer of salvation available to all mankind at all times and the individual can come to Moshiach if only he or she will choose to accept that offer. In the history of revivalism, no figure is more important than Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875). Charles G. Finney was converted in 1821 as a result of his personal study of the Bible. Believing that his conversion included [a retainer from Adonai to plead His cause,] Finney abandoned the practice of Law to begin preaching in 1824 and he pastored Second Presbyterian Church in New York City, before setting out to preach revivals in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New England. With Finney, the revivals moved from outdoor camp meetings to large, urban, indoor auditoriums. Many of the standard features of modern revivalism were first introduced by Finney, including protracted meetings, the altar call, special music, the anxious bench, using you when referring to sinners, holding prayer meetings at unreasonable hours and allowing women to pray and speak. Critics then and now have accused Finney of manipulating his listeners, a charge Finney seems to add credit to in his book, Lectures on Revivalism [1835]. There, he clearly states his belief that [a revival is not a miracle or dependent on a miracle in any sense. It is a purely philosophical {i.e., scientific} result of the right use of the constituted means.] [Finneyism] has become a derogatory term applied to many modern revivalists and televangelists to distinguish their manipulative tactics and results from those true revivals that are a work of YHVH. Revivals became a staple of American religious life through the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. An interdenominational prayer meeting in New York City on 23rd September 1857, grew from six people to ten thousand people in prayer meetings scattered throughout the city. During the Civil War, revival broke out among the Confederate soldiers in 1863 and 1864. Perhaps as many as one hundred thousand were converted. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century the leading revivalist was D. L. Moody. Moody’s introduction to mass evangelism came while visiting London England, when he was asked to be a substitute preacher. The impressive response to his closing invitation got him invited back to Britain in 1873 for a two-year evangelistic campaign. Meanwhile, Moody teamed up with Ira D. Sankey. Sankey was a musician and Civil War veteran, who sang in a rich baritone voice while accompanying himself on a small reed organ. Together, they presented the gospel in word and song to an estimated three million listeners across Britain during the two-year crusade. The evangelistic team of Moody and Sankey remained together for more than a quarter century, leading countless souls to salvation through faith in Yeshua Moshiach. D. L. Moody set a standard and style that influenced many evangelists who followed after him, such as Billy Graham. With Moody, the evangelistic crusade not only moved indoors, it also left behind the roughness and spontaneity of the camp meeting. His crusades were carefully planned in advance. Every detail; from promotion to follow up; was taken care of before Moody and Sankey arrived in town. Moody himself appeared neatly dressed, like a businessman. He spoke in a calm and plain voice. His goal was to see sinners saved and his message was always a simple one [the same one preached by the early church]: the promise of salvation and eternal life by grace through faith in Yeshua Moshiach. There were no theological arguments or sermons on the fine points of believer’s doctrine. Rather, Moody presented the gospel in a clear and simple language that his hearers could understand. The spontaneous outbursts that characterized the old-fashioned camp meetings were discouraged. Moody did not hesitate to halt his sermon long enough to ask ushers to escort overly enthusiastic individuals from the auditorium. Revivalism continued in the twentieth century with energetic preachers such as Billy Sunday wooing and wowing the crowds. But it was Billy Graham who set the standard in the last half of that century, preaching to millions, perhaps billions, through the mass media. BUT, although the idea of [Revival] was pure and concentrated on the Gospel and Yeshua Moshiach, it lack one crucial ingredient throughout the Western World history – the teaching and following of the Torah and celebrating only Biblical feast days.

15“And I shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16“And it shall be, when you have increased, and shall bear fruit in the land in those days,” declares יהוה, “that they no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of יהוה.’ Neither would it come to heart, nor would they remember it, nor would they visit it, nor would it be made again.

17“At that time Yerushalayim shall be called the throne of יהוה, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of יהוה, to Yerushalayim, and no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

18“In those days the house of Yehuḏah shall go to the house of Yisra’ĕl, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

Jer. 3

When God hides His face, we are at the mercy of the elements and spirits of the world. God often uses nature as a blacksmith and forge to refine and shape us. Judgment is painful, but don't fear it. Fear God instead.
Isaiah 54

I accidentally installed a motion-detector flood light above our kitchen sink. Like an idiot I troubleshot the socket. The light has settings for brightness on it, so I fiddled with that, too. Then I realized the light was motion-detecting.



Then I consciously decided to let the family figure it out one by one.

Shalom dear fellow Shofar Blowers and Listeners!

? Here is your Meeting Link:
https://dateful.com/eventlink/2753910087

Feel free to invite others using this link:
https://tube.thetorahnetwork.com/v/KmZMaD

?Please let us know if you would like to lead worship in one of the next meetings, or know someone that would.

We are Looking forward to sounding the Shofar with you in Jerusalem!
Shalom,
Camp Ephraim

Shalom dear fellow Shofar Blowers and Listeners!

? Here is your Meeting Link:
https://dateful.com/eventlink/2753910087

Feel free to invite others using this link:
https://tube.thetorahnetwork.com/v/KmZMaD

?Please let us know if you would like to lead worship in one of the next meetings, or know someone that would.

We are Looking forward to sounding the Shofar with you in Jerusalem!
Shalom,
Camp Ephraim

Shalom dear fellow Shofar Blowers and Listeners!

? Here is your Meeting Link:
https://dateful.com/eventlink/2753910087

Feel free to invite others using this link:
https://tube.thetorahnetwork.com/v/KmZMaD

?Please let us know if you would like to lead worship in one of the next meetings, or know someone that would.

We are Looking forward to sounding the Shofar with you in Jerusalem!
Shalom,
Camp Ephraim

New windows and doors and an overhaul paint job. The weather turned to cold rain today. I can't remember being happy to have my house rained on before. Our contractors did a fabulous job sealing up this house!