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THE WORLD’S GREATEST REVIVALS
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THE WORLD’S GREATEST REVIVALS How Man’s Desperation Begins Waves of Revival…Including Yours FRED AND SHARON WRIGHT
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© Copyright 2007 — Fred and Sharon Wright All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights Reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. All emphasis within Scripture is the author’s own. Please note that Destiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers’ styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules. DESTINY IMAGE® PUBLISHERS, INC. P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310 “Speaking to the Purposes of God for this Generation and for the Generations to Come.” This book and all other Destiny Image, Revival Press, Mercy Place, Fresh Bread, Destiny Image Fiction, and Treasure House books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide. For a U.S. bookstore nearest you, call 1-800-722-6774. For more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040. Or reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com. ISBN 10: 0-7684-2591-3 ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2591-8 For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07
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DEDICATION Although she is my co-author in this extensive project, I dedicate this book to Sharon, my precious wife and life’s partner of 42 years. Time and time again, she drew me back to the writing table with the excitement that she was experiencing as she stumbled onto one more key piece that shed important light onto the divine puzzle we were uncovering. As someone who previously read only fiction, Sharon became a church history addict as she discovered the interplay of God and man’s dance together in revival history. Her joy was contagious and kept us both going when it would have been easier to quit. Her tireless work at the computer, spent both in writing and rewriting this book, made this project possible.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To the people who have helped God be formed in us: We are so grateful to Major Ian Thomas, the founder of Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers, one of our English mentors and one of the spiritual fathers that God has graced us with. He modeled so well what he called the “saving life of Christ.” Through him, our salvation in Jesus Christ became more adventurous, and we learned that Jesus in us is indeed our hope of glory, as Colossians 1:27 says. We are also grateful to another Brit, Roger Forster, leader of Ichthys Movement and one of the founders of Spring Harvest in the United Kingdom. He gently nudged us into hunger for the Holy Spirit and implanted into our minds and hearts a reverence for the strategic moves of God in humankind’s history. We are also grateful to John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Movement, who was God’s agent to lead us into the experiential reality of the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit. His message of
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signs and wonders gave us hope, as pastors of a small congregation, to believe that some of our critically ill people could be healed. We are also very grateful to the band of “merry men” that it has been our joy to be with on this pilgrimage into the Father heart of God. Many thanks go to John and Carol Arnott, Jack Winter, James Jordan, Jack Frost, Ed Piorek, Ian and Janice Ross, all the faithful saints in our church in Toronto, and to our fellow Partners in Harvest pastors and leaders who have remained profoundly hungry for the Father’s loving embrace. Their hunger continues to compel us to find the daily experience of the love of the Father for ourselves. To all those who made this book happen: Books do not just happen! We have been given much lovely support in such practical ways by the following friends and coworkers: We thank you Jim Croft, a Partners in Harvest pastor, for your good advice and for the sections on which you acted as ghost writer for us. We also want to thank Mark Beeson, a good friend from our Vineyard days, for the time he took to read and help edit The World’s Greatest Revivals. Another Partners’ pastor, Brenda Hazel, and our Administrative Assistant, Rhonda Puddle, were so helpful in reading the material and making sense of our sometimes incoherent rantings. Thanks to both of you for the time and effort that you spent on us and on our book. We say a big thank you to Greg Fortier, our Administrative Assistant at the time that we began gathering materials for this
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book in 2003. He spent many hours keeping our historic charts and wave illustrations current as we waded through centuries of history. Finally, thank you, Nathan Wright, our precious son, for sharing your creative genius and for all the extra hours you put into the cloud and the tsunami wave illustrations.
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ENDORSEMENTS Our dear friend Fred captures the heartbeat of true revival by skillfully weaving through 2000 years of church history. The Toronto Outpouring dramatically impacted the landscape of revival around the world. This book is an excellent teaching resource for students of revival who want to glean from the experiences of our anointed forefathers in the faith. Read, grow, and enjoy! —Dr. Heidi Baker Founding Director, Iris Ministries
I have always been a bit of a history buff: British history, Canadian and North American history, World history; but I enjoy Church history in particular. Fred and Sharon captured my interest right away in writing a book about revival history. The World’s Greatest Revivals documents and highlights revival history from the time of the Reformation onward to the present.
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It has been my privilege, along with our amazing team, to not only be a student of revival (which I surely am), but also to have the honor of giving leadership to this amazing grace and lovebased wave of God. Hundreds of thousands have been changed forever by the touch of God, to be sure, but the new focus of the Spirit, which took revival deep into the heart’s secret places, has brought new levels of healing and freedom and has restored the hearts of the children to the fathers and to the Father again (see Mal. 4:6). This book will encourage you to seek for more of Him, to discover that safe place in Father’s love where you can rest in Him and enjoy Him. You will discover that, as you love Him and realize that He loves you, you can love yourself in a whole new way, which in turn enables you to love others (the great commandment). You will want to read and reread this book. It will be honey to your lips and water and milk to your thirsty soul. —John Arnott Founding Pastor, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
When transitional seasons occur, they can create confusion, conflict, confrontation, and chagrin in many aspects of our relationships. Thus, we need books like The World’s Greatest Revivals that will help bring biblical revelation and historical understanding. Fred and Sharon Wright’s passion for Church history and their four decades of faithfulness, integrity, and experience in present moves of God will help you prepare your heart to ride this tsunami wave of God the Father’s person and love. The agape reformation is just beginning, and they are inviting us to enjoy it in its fullness. They clearly put this new reformation in a
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context equal to the other primary revivals that have transformed the Church and profoundly affected society. —Jack Frost Founder, Shiloh Place Ministries Author, Experiencing Father’s Embrace and Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship
I am pleased to recommend Fred Wright as an author. I have been present for the live presentation of the material that this book contains, and I have found it to be engaging, informative, and enriching. Fred is a careful researcher and historian. His insights into the history of revival carry significant weight. This will be a unique and useful contribution to revival literature and should be helpful to the average person interested in the nature and dynamics of revival. Most especially, I think it will put the Toronto Blessing in its proper historical perspective. —R. Loren Sandford Pastor, New Song Fellowship, Thornton, Colorado Author, Purifying the Prophetic
I shall look forward to adding this one to my revival library. Fred Wright has given us an admirable work. Though he will likely be criticized for linking past revivals to the Toronto Blessing and several others in recent years, I believe he will be proven quite correct in doing so. It seems that revivals, like artists, are most appreciated when they are dead and gone. Thank you, Fred, for this gripping coverage of the past and this thrilling assessment of the present and future. Thanks also for
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honoring my dear friends, John and Carol Arnott, who have taught us that whatever we receive from the Lord is worth giving away. And the giving goes on! —Jack Taylor Dimensions Ministries Melbourne, Florida
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CONTENTS Foreword by Bill Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter 1:
From Gory to Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 2:
What is Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 3:
Revival Through Two Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 4:
The “Why” of Revival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 5:
Who “Does” Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 6:
The Church Loses Its Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 7:
First Tsunami Wave: Martyrs and Their Message . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 8:
The Reformation Eclipsed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Chapter 9:
From Luther to Wesley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter 10:
Second Tsunami Wave: Ministers and Their Mission . . . . . . 125
Chapter 11:
Transition and Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
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Chapter 12:
Rough Waters Between the Tsunami Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Chapter 13:
Third Tsunami Wave: Explosion of the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter 14:
The Faithful, Filled and Empowered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Chapter 15:
Satan’s Attempts to Sideline the Holy Spirit. . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Chapter 16:
Fourth Tsunami Wave: Apostles of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Chapter 17:
First Fruits of the Father Wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Conclusion:
Living in the Invasions of God’s Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Afterword:
Possible Signs of Another Tsunami on the Way? . . . . . . . . . 259 Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
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FOREWORD
O
of the great privileges in my life is to speak at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF). I am always amazed at their ability to steward the greatest move of God of our lifetime. The grace and wisdom they carry is very inspiring. NE
During almost every visit to that church, I receive a call from the author of this book, Fred Wright. We generally come together over a meal, but meet to discuss what we see God doing in the world, comparing the happenings of our unique but similar churches. Our conversations center on what God has been doing, what He is saying, and what we anticipate for the next season. I have left every meeting very encouraged by Fred’s input into my life. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the Wrights have tremendous insights on revival that wonderfully illustrate their passion for God and His people. It is pure and impressive. And it is a part of the reason that God has entrusted the TACF team with the measure of influence He has, for they all seem to carry this grace.
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During one of those visits, Fred spoke of a book that he and Sharon had been working on called The World’s Greatest Revivals. As he described the purpose for the book, I got excited. He was speaking to the very reason for my existence—revival that transforms. With his grasp of history and his understanding of what is happening around the world today, he is uniquely positioned to write such a book. Every historian examines the past through their own experiences, values, and biases. The result is sometimes tragic, as historians become revisionists, changing actual events to support their message. But, The World’s Greatest Revivals is different. It is an unadulterated examination of revival by someone who is actually living in revival. As such, it is not overloaded with theories that support a well-meaning author’s view of how to get revival. In actuality, it is a glimpse of the past through the eyes of present day experience—the eyes of wisdom. Fred and Sharon are amazingly well read. They have used that strength to provide the reader with a rich witness of voices from the past, all clarifying what God actually accomplished in their lifetimes and also prophesying about the coming days. This combination makes The World’s Greatest Revivals inspirational, instructional, and prophetic. And that is a rare combination. I highly recommend this book, as it will fuel that inward passion for a greater demonstration of God’s purposes on the earth. —Bill Johnson Pastor, Bethel Church, Redding, California Author — When Heaven Invades Earth, The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, Dreaming with God, and Strengthen Yourself in the Lord
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PREFACE
W
a profound sense of awe, we are sitting down to share with you in this book God’s story from perhaps an unusual perspective. Some people categorize much of what we will be sharing as history, the study of past events. Someone not too many decades past spelled history in a new way, thereby bringing a whole new definition and perception of that word: His Story. They connected the whole series of past events that have taken place down here on earth with God, the Creator of Heaven and earth. They made Him the central figure, the one who works together with men and women, birthing events to plant His person and truth here on earth. ITH
We want this book to be His Story as well, and we expect that, as we look together at a series of trends in the chronological record of Church and world history, we will celebrate our God in an even deeper way. As we write this book, we are mindful of Mark 4:23-25:
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“If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (NKJV). God has given His followers the powerful ability to be connected with His eternal realm. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus (see Eph. 2:6). Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18 that the eyes of our heart will be opened to understand the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. We live in an overwhelming world, where our five senses are on call nearly 24 hours a day to keep abreast of all that is going on around us, just so that we can survive. The physical world is flooded with fear due to wars and rumours of wars and the ever present threat of terrorism. It is also being hit by many significant natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, massive mudslides, and hurricanes. More than ever, we need to sense with our spiritual eyes and ears what God is doing and where He is in each situation. God is willing to share eternal realities with His people who use their spiritual eyes and ears to see and to hear, perceiving beyond what the natural man can sense. For all who are desperate (they want more than they currently have of God), God is ready to give spiritual insight behind physical circumstances and beyond what physical eyes and ears see and hear. We will be sharing the story of God and mankind, focusing particularly on the last 600 years so that you can see the stage on
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Preface —
which God is writing history, using desperate people, those that desire more for their world situation in order to confront the issues of evil that they face. This is really the story of God and men and women working together to bring abundant life and freedom back to planet earth. As the Body of Jesus Christ, we have much to celebrate! God commanded His chosen people in the Old Testament, Israel, not only to tell and to keep retelling their story, but also to celebrate through extended feasts the times when God supernaturally and powerfully intervened in their history. It is our belief that the telling and retelling and celebrating and re-celebrating of these times of God’s intervention in their history are key reasons why the nation of Israel is still in existence today. The Jews, and the nation of Israel, have gone through many devastating things in their long history. That they exist today as a nation is clearly one of the great miracles in the long story of mankind. This book, however, is not intended just to be a book on Church history, nor is it intended only to be a book on the history of revivals. Our intention is to solidify in all of our minds and hearts the great seasons of God’s intervention in the last six centuries, in order to keep His Church on track and get His Bride ready for the marriage feast of the Lamb. As the feasts of Israel functioned as a reminder to the Jewish nation of His love and care for them, this book is intended to remind us what God has done with and through men and women who have sought for and invited Him and His Kingdom rule back into our world during very needy, desperate times. In this book, we call these seasons of great interventions, God’s tsunami wave revivals, of which there are four. As you look at
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these interventions of God, we hope that you will come to understand and to appreciate what He has done from a new perspective. Our desire is also that you will be able to celebrate joyfully in a new way God’s partnering with desperate, searching people to bring freedom to the Church, the planet, and its peoples. Hegel (1770-1831) declared that “what experience and history teach us is this: that people and governments never learn anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.”1 Although we could perhaps agree with Hegel on this as we read the different decisions that people and governments have made over the years, I believe that if we apply ourselves to the study of history, we have a wonderful opportunity to learn a tremendous amount from it, particularly Church history and revival history. Why? Because the history of what God has done with mankind and through each one of us is central to the wonderful life that He wants to pour out on us as His children.
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Chapter 1
FROM GLORY
TO
GLORY
I
was thoroughly captivated as I watched our guest speaker, Joseph Garlington, acting out the verse found in Second Corinthians 3:18: “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (NKJV). Joseph is a well-known pastor and Church leader whose rich baritone voice has thrilled thousands throughout the U.S. at Promise Keepers conventions. Joseph is also an intriguing preacher who often becomes quite animated in order to punctuate strategic points in his sermons. On this occasion, his antics were to illustrate that as God takes us from glory to glory, things in between can get “gory.” Joseph started in a dignified, upright posture illustrating the state of glory. He then shuffled a few steps left and shifted into a stooped position and said, “gory.” He repeated this shuffle several
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times, moving further to the left in each episode. Each time that he stilled his motions and said, “gory,” he did so with broader grimaces. Suddenly, he jerked upright, stretched his arms heavenward, and victoriously boomed, “Glory.” His body language was illustrating the phenomenon that we are all quite familiar with! Our pilgrimages from glory to glory or strength to strength have spaces, indicated by this little preposition to, which are strewn with periods of difficulty. I personally would rather avoid stress and pressure, but after 46 years of walking with the Lord, I know that these tough seasons are actually stages in which I make progress, as they turn into launching pads that compel me to dig deeper into Him. The spiritual results and rewards are worth every minute of the pressure I endure getting there.
BEST
OF
TIMES AND WORST
OF
TIMES
Joseph’s presentation came at a pivotal juncture for me. On one hand, it was the most exhilarating period of my life. Literally millions were flocking to our home church from every point on the globe. Laymen and clergy alike came to Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) to investigate and experience the move of the Spirit that has become known as the Toronto Blessing, or as we prefer to call it, the Father’s Blessing. Those who came as wounded, spiritually dry, and soulishly bankrupt people returned home as invigorated and transformed people. They were experiencing the healing flow of God the Father’s love that is the hallmark of this move of God. We soon discovered that encounters with the loving heart of God did not abate when visitors left the site of this powerful visitation of
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From Glory to Glory —
God’s presence. On a worldwide scale, churches that were formerly in the pits of business-as-usual began to flourish as hotbeds of revival. Considerable numbers of the thousands of pastors and ministry leaders that had been affected by the outpouring began to bombard us with an unanticipated request. Recognizing that what was happening was more than a short-term visitation from Heaven, they sought to identify with it and with us. Two years into the revival, in 1996, our church’s senior pastor, John Arnott, several other local pastors, and I began to formulate a fellowship of churches and ministries called Partners in Harvest. This catapulted Sharon and me into a globe-trotting ministry. The spiritual dynamics of all that God was doing here in Toronto and elsewhere filled our hearts and lives for about three and a half years. Then it hit me. By the year 2000, I became aware that I was spiraling into a season of “gory” that is difficult to describe. The weight of the mental and spiritual stress that I felt dampened my sense of peace and joy. Although outwardly I succeeded in keeping up a joyful front, Sharon saw through my despair and was often the brunt of my grumblings. In my role of overseeing this network of churches, I felt like a bus driver. A very frustrated bus driver! The bus was Partners in Harvest, and those on board were the spiritual leaders who were looking to me for direction. Our bus was new, with a powerful motor and passengers that abounded with enthusiasm. The thing that gnawed at my soul was that I knew that the bus had a destination that the Lord had yet to disclose. I understood the ways of God enough to believe that He had something for us beyond parking there and enjoying the early stages of revival. In addition, I knew that though the ministers who related to us were enjoying
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themselves, they were also expecting our bus to take them somewhere. The problem was, I didn’t have a clue where that might be. I went to John Arnott and shared my exasperations. I confided that I was beginning to question the wisdom of starting a new fellowship of churches. John was encouraging, but he nonetheless threw the ball back into my lap. He explained that he had every confidence that the Lord would give me direction, as I was the bus’s designated driver. He challenged me to take time to seek the Lord for instructions on where Partners in Harvest was going and to communicate my findings with him at a later date.
SANCTIFIED MORNINGS With this encouragement, I set aside the first part of each day of July 2000 for prayer, reading the word, and research. My oversight responsibilities occupied my time for the balance of those days. I delved into every Church history book that I could get my hands on that featured accounts of previous moves of God and revivals. I traced incidents of revival throughout the Old and New Testaments. Altogether, I found that there have been about 40 distinctive revival moves of the Spirit. Some occurred in the Old Testament and left imprints on Israel and the surrounding nations. Others happened in the Church’s first centuries, helping to shape the doctrines and practices within the early Christian community. The ones that caught my eye, as the Lord graciously began to bring light into my darkness, were the ones that could be classified as major revivals. These had a profound and long-lasting effect on God’s people as well as a significant impact on the world around them, bringing about essential moral changes to society. These are
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From Glory to Glory —
the tsunami waves of revival that I want to focus on in this book, commencing in the 1500s. As I studied the tsunami wave revivals of the past 500 years, it began to dawn upon me that though the Father’s Blessing had, up to that point, been labeled as a renewal, it is actually a fullfledged, genuine major revival. We are in the early stages of a mighty, mighty revival! The result of this prayerful research was profound for me as God highlighted historical facts with His pen of revelation.
MY DISCOVERIES ABOUT TSUNAMI WAVE REVIVALS Tsunami wave revivals have defining marks that characterize them. These marks are not just limited to what people experience, but include the essential rediscovered truths that are emphasized within the revival. What is experienced and rediscovered enables believers to reshape the Church and society during the years following the beginning of a specific outpouring. Tsunami wave revivals are initiated by several factors. There are two components that every major revival features. First, it emphasizes essential truths about the nature and purposes of God that have been ignored, discarded, or lost by successive generations of professing believers and well-meaning church leaders and theologians. Second, the revival is spurred on by hungry and desperate people who are seeking answers to their needs, the Church’s needs, and society’s needs. These desperate people pray and search the Scriptures to find answers, which they then begin to proclaim. This proclamation of rediscovered truth results in God’s presence
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being poured out upon His people and upon the message, and a profound revival takes place. Tsunami wave revivals are preceded and followed by smaller wave revivals that bring additional truths and insights about what God is doing in each season. Each and every wave is an important piece of the divine puzzle and is not to be discounted in any way. Tsunami wave revivals restore life, fire, and vitality to the Church. Lethargic believers are ignited with fiery vitality and a new zest for the purposes of God. Churches that have slipped into legalistic and passionless clinical presentations of what the Christian life is all about become enthusiastic and warmly inviting. Tsunami wave revivals do not just fade out. People’s excitement over a particular outpouring’s accompanying peculiarities of God’s manifest presence may wane, but that does not signal that the revival is over. Each of the four major revivals’ truths continue to be proclaimed, reverberating throughout Christendom on an ever expanding basis. These truths continue on as mighty tsunami waves of God’s glory, changing individuals, the Church, and culture wherever they touch down. Tsunami wave revivals have two initial stages in their early development: the gathering stage and the scattering stage. During the gathering stage, there is a definite local or regional focal point, often based in a church. The spiritually hungry and curious come by the thousands to be impacted by what God is doing. There is much fervor, notoriety, and usually mounting criticism as the core values or divine commissions are identified, which positions the revival for multiplication. Then comes the scattering stage, which is when many think the revival is over. Actually, the revival has now moved into the most dangerous phase for the kingdom of
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From Glory to Glory —
darkness, because now the message and values that it carries are identified. It becomes a mobile, transferable, and hard-to-trace reality. Instead of impacting just thousands, now it begins to impact millions, transforming whole nations as it moves throughout the world. Tsunami wave revivals are based upon divinely revealed objective truths or commissions. They continue to stay on track long after the founding leader is out of the picture. Movements led by apostolic leaders without divinely initiated commissions get off track quickly and often die out when the leader is gone. It takes decades for the whole Church to fully embrace and cultivate the fresh insights that birth tsunami wave revivals. As the truths continue to be proclaimed, even centuries later, they continue to powerfully bless the Church and the world. Tsunami wave revivals are the Lord’s number one tool for ushering in correction for societal woes. Cursory investigations into the timing of significant moves of God and the ensuing cultural adjustments lead to this conclusion. Without revivals, the world would be in a far worse condition than it is. An understanding of the tsunami waves of revival that sweep through Church history, and the benefits that each one brings to the Church and society, has enormous power to precipitate greater unity in the Body of Jesus Christ. Discerning how revivals come, grow, and bless the wider Church helps us acknowledge, honor, and appreciate every true revival movement of God. It may seem at the time that the rediscovered truths are over-emphasized, but that is because they are coming as major correctives, and the overemphasis helps them take their place in the economy of God.
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— T HE WORLD ’ S G REATEST R EVIVALS
All tsunami wave revivals incite negative reactions. The intensity of the criticism proportionately impedes the speed, spread, and blessing of the revival. Critics seem to fall into two categories. One group is comprised of well-meaning people whose comfort zones are ruffled by the manifestations they see during outpourings. They feel that such goings-on are indecent and out of order. The second group is comprised of those who have been blessed in former moves of God and who have been on the cutting-edge of what God is doing. It is hard for them to believe that anything could be of God unless it is initiated through their sector of the Kingdom. They remember the high price that their group paid for the messages that they championed. Somehow, they imagine that their history would be in vain if they endorsed the authenticity of the next move of God. Tsunami wave revivals are a primary means by which the Bride is made ready for the marriage feast of the Lamb (see Rev. 19:7-9). Major moves of the Spirit can drastically accelerate the process of the Lord’s transformation of the Church into the Bride who has no blemishes.
TORONTO MAKES THE LIST As I discovered these trends among the tsunami wave revivals of history, it became apparent to me that the Toronto (Father’s) Blessing is a tsunami wave revival. Its duration, from 1994 to the present, the millions that it has transformed, and the core truths or divine commissions that it carries all qualify it as one of Church history’s four major revivals since the year 1500. The scope of the truth rediscovered through this current outbreak of God’s Spirit is simple but huge: God is a very loving Father, and He really wants
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From Glory to Glory —
His children to experientially know His love. This is a muchneeded truth in this age of profound fatherlessness. I also realized that every significant tsunami wave revival has birthed new ministries and fellowships of churches. God is interested in having new “vehicles” that are transformed by the rediscovered truth, unencumbered by tradition and narrow theological bents. They become movements of people who continue to proclaim the testimony of their personal experience of the rediscovered experiential truths unleashed by that revival. Understanding this fact about tsunami wave revivals brought clarity to me about His reasons for forming Partners in Harvest, our fellowship of churches. This clarity helped our leaders formulate a mission statement that expresses our core commissions or truths. Now the route for my bus is very clear, and my life has become not only easier but also a lot more fun! A clear sense of purpose and an understanding of where we are going has released a great deal of energy and excitement into my heart.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS The chapters that follow provide a more detailed overview of what God helped me discover in July 2000. They include the increasing clarity that He gave me in the months and years that followed. This book should not be interpreted as an advertisement for our new fellowship of churches. Rather, the purpose is to try and help the whole Church to understand that the entire Body of Christ is on a journey together. If we thrust aside our comfort zones, total dependence upon head knowledge, and mental assents from the past, we will launch into the daily, experiential knowledge of our God in the fullness of His person and purposes.
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I am not writing as a true historian in this book. I have included many of my own interpretations that have risen out of what God has revealed to me. I really see myself as a cheerleader, helping the Church appreciate more of what God has done throughout its long history. Excitement about revivals and moves of God is a refreshing change for me. My familiarity with Church history informed me of their strategic value. However, like most Church leaders, I naively allowed myself to be preoccupied by the mundane responsibilities of day-to-day ministry. Not so any longer. My thirst to investigate historical and current moves of God is insatiable. I am also compelled in these days by hunger for more and more of our wonderful God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a book about God’s transformation of ordinary people of past generations into extraordinary spiritual giants. They uncovered truths that blessed their own generations with revivals that stand ready to empower us to expedite the hastening of the Day of the Lord (see 2 Pet. 3:12). I have a hope for this book. It is that it will energize you with the Holy Spirit’s boldness to proclaim unreservedly what God is doing today on earth as He prepares His Bride.
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