Revival and Reformation has been a passion of mine for awhile now…both personally and for our world-wide church and the community of believers. Often, when called to speak or share, that will be my topic of presentation…sharing stories of revivals from the past and present as well as seeking to inspire people to dig deeper in the Word and fall in love with prayer so that the Holy Spirit's "Rain" (Zech 10:1) will fall and a greater revival will come. Of course no true revival has ever occurred apart from Bible Study and Prayer. (It was the same in the past and it will be the same in the future!)
With my interest in the topic of "Revival and Reformation," I suppose that no one would be surprised if I told them that I've always wanted to go on the famous "
Great Controversy Tour" that the Damsteegts host from Andrews University. This tour traces the footsteps and history of the church from its early European roots through the dark ages down through the reformation. But since my time is always limited and funds are even more limited, I've accepted that some dreams will only come true in Heaven. For now I need to continue to walk forward and create my own legacy of faith. However, as for God, His ways are perfect, and we are told that if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart! (I've been finding this true time and time again in my life!)
So once again, He's given me the desire of my heart...
After the successful completion of our 9th ARME Bible Camp in England (see previous post), I had a day to myself to see a few sights in the United Kingdom. I had a few spots I wanted to see, so I rented a car and took off on my own adventure, driving on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, and with my wrong (left) hand. (Of course I say it's "wrong" because it's backwards from what we American's do! But of course, to those in the United Kingdom, it's "right." So it's all a matter of where you come from.) With the Lord's blessing, although I was always thinking backwards as I drove, I managed.
I traveled from Birmingham England down to Bristol, near where John Wesley worked and preached. Wesley was the founder of the Methodist movement (from which Seventh-day Adventist arose) and this evangelical (evangelistic movement) which encouraged people to experience Jesus personally was highly popular during the 18th-Century in England.
There’s a story about John Wesley that impacted me a lot in earlier years. He had been invited by a very important dignitary to spend time with him. This was an honor that few received. However, before the evening was over, John Wesley got up and began to excuse himself saying that he needed to leave. The dignitary was almost offended. "Why are you leaving when the night is still young. Don't you realize that I am a very important man and many people beg to spend time with me at my table?" John Wesley's simple reply was this: "I don't mean to offend you Sir, and feel very honored for this time together. But I have an appointment with the King of the Universe now, and I dare not be tired and I dare not be late."
Now if only we ALL had that kind of dedication to guarding our "prayer time" with God!
After visiting Bristol, I traveled over to the beautiful country of Wales where I looked up the Bible College in Swansea that Reese Howells founded in the past century.
Reese is known for his powerful prayer life and faith, and you can read about his story in one of my favorite books called "
Reese Howells - Intercessor." Or to read an inspiring summary, please look up my blog post I wrote about his book a couple summers ago during my time at Ellerslie. It is linked here -->
"Becoming an Intercessor in Prayer."
The Bible College of Wales actually relocated to Rugby England in 2004, so locating the old school was a task. But as always, God directed my steps. Even though I did not have an address, when I stopped to turn around, and ask for directions, I discovered I was less than half a mile away from the old school. Isn't God amazing?
At this school, Howells and his students spent hours, days, and weeks in prayer - united prayer. And their prayer influenced even the outcome of Hitler's regime and the War. (Read the book for full story!) It was such a special experience to visit this old place…now sitting quiet and vacant in its retirement years. (See pictures below!)
Time was short and I only had one day to travel, so after a few somber moments on this precious campus, I hurried on. This time I was looking for the Moriah Chapel where the Welsh Revival of 1904 began. Again, I had no precise address. All I knew was the town. When I arrived at the town, I drove for a bit, then stopped and asked for directions. Again, God was guiding me. I was less than 4 blocks away.
I was about to leave and head back to England (as it was afternoon by this time and had taken me quite a bit of time to get into the South Western corner of Wales), but just then someone came up and unlocked the gate to the chapel. I rushed over to them. "Can you show me inside?" I begged. "I came a long ways to visit this place." And would you believe it, they opened it up just for me. I got my own private tour. If I'd been a bit earlier or a bit later, I would have missed them and the church is only open for services. I say only God could have scheduled that.
Speaking of this revival in Wales, Dr. Ron Clouzet writes, "The Spirit of God took hold of Wales by storm. In five months, half a million people became Christians. Taverns went bankrupt for lack of patronage. Unwed pregnancies practically disappeared. Judges were given white gloves: not a case to try—no robberies, no burglaries, no rapes, no murders, no embezzlements. Crime had simply stopped. District councils held emergency meetings to decide what to do with so many police with nothing to do! Some got creative; instead of patrolling football (soccer) games or the pubs at night, they began singing in the churches. So many coal miners turned their lives over to Jesus and stopped using foul language that the horses used in the mines slowed down production, not knowing what was now being said to them! In many places dance halls, theaters and gambling dens were closed or emptied. New churches began to spring up everywhere. Family altars were restored, and the spirit of prayer grew in intensity until anyone could cross the land and find a mid-day prayer meeting going on in almost any town. It was estimated that 50,000 decisions for Christ were made in one week during the height of this revival. Powerful prayer groups sprung up everywhere, and church prayer meetings were revitalized. In many churches the all-night prayer meeting was restored, or introduced for the first time, resulting in the real movings of the Spirit of God in conviction of sin, confession, and reconsecration - upon the part of both ministers and congregation. In some towns, city-wide all-night prayer meetings have been held by the churches as they interceded before God for the whole community. Godly ministers of all denominations, burdened for real revival sought God in fasting and prayer on behalf of their churches and, as a result, many witnessed gracious manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s working, such as they had never known before. The revival spread to all English-speaking countries, including African colonies, and to Northern and Central Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, and Latin America. Its impact may have exceeded any known previous awakening in history. In Wales, one of every ten citizens was converted.”
How did this revival start? It started when just a few people got on their knees, confessed their sins, humbled their hearts, put away evil from their lives and PRAYED!!!!
“IF my people which are called by my name
shall HUMBLE themselves
and PRAY and SEEK MY FACE,
and TURN from their wicked ways,
THEN will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin
and will heal their land.”
II Chron 7:14
Traveling through England and Wales was such a blessing. While my favorite spots were those I shared about above…I also got to see a few castles and lots of other pretty scenery along the way. While driving a modern car on modern nice roads, it was almost as if I was traveling through another time period in history. (See pictures below!)
However, my real "Revival Tour" was only beginning…
After leaving England, my next appointment was Germany - April 11th-17th. (Yep, that's right… 6 whole days I would stay!) The invitation to come and speak about united prayer came literally one day before I was leaving for England, so changing my ticket would have been almost impossible if it had been any later. But once again, God was in charge of the timing. (You can read how this came about
HERE.) The stranger that invited me (and Raluca as well) to visit Germany has now become a very special friend, and while my task was to bring inspiration and revival, I feel like I have been the one revived.
The time with the
Christian Advent Center was such a blessing! Words can't even describe it. Founders, Reed and Gerda von Maur were such an encouragement and inspiration to Raluca and I, and I think both felt like we met "kindred spirits." Furthermore, the congregation was such a joy to work with and God opened many hearts during our times of sharing and united prayer.
Just like
Raluca, I have to admit I had my doubts about how things would go in Germany. But thankfully God did not work according to my weak faith, but He poured out His rich blessings upon all of us. After the first time of "United Prayer," although many people prayed, I wasn't so sure how everyone had accepted it - and it's hard when everyone is praying in another language, to read the spirit or know the depth of prayer. Yet our hosts and new friends, Reed and Gerda, told us excitedly that everyone was so happy and their faces were glowing after the time of united prayer. Finally, after we'd prayed several times together, people began to open up and share more testimonies.
One girl shared with Raluca how she'd had questions about prayer and after having been in Raluca's prayer workshop at Youth in Mission (which occurred before I arrived in Germany), all her questions were answered. We just praise the Lord! Another girl was so eager to pray more together that she asked if we could meet early the next day to pray. (Unfortunately, because of our travel schedule we didn't make it in time, but her spirit and hunger was a blessing to see and we plan to keep in touch with her.) Another family shared how their son had been praying for a friend to come to know God and that weekend, after he'd begun praying, she came to church with them for the first time and expressed interest in Christ. Another man, who'd seemed distant and reserved (and I wasn't really sure if he was appreciating what I was sharing when I saw him in the audience), came up to me at the end and told me from his heart that THAT very morning he'd spent 4 hours in prayer….much of the time weeping before God. He'd also been convicted to "fast" for 10 days as he prayed for some specific areas of his life. What makes this testimony so powerful to me is that it occurred before I spoke that final night on the topic of fasting! (I get goosebumps just remembering! Shows me the Holy Spirit must be the One speaking as He's already going ahead and impressing the hearers of what they need to do
before I share!) Isn't God amazing?? (Here we are below with many of the Christian Advent Center group.)
All I can say is, it was a complete privilege and joy to work with this group! And having Raluca by my side was an added blessing. She's been working and leading united prayer all over Europe, and I've been working in Africa and Asia, but this was the first time for us to share together.
So through God's providence, not only did I once again get to see a fellowship of believers fall in love with the power of united prayer, not only did I make some new priceless and wonderful friends which I know I will have from now on, but as icing on the cake, I also got to walk more footsteps in the history of the Reformation. I got to walk in some of the very footsteps of Martin Luther.
Below are pictures of our visit to Worms, where Luther made his famous stand before the Diet. If you aren't familiar with this story, I urge you to read the chapters in the
Great Controversy about Martin Luther and the Reformation. Raluca and I read them together before we visited Worms and I was crying most of the time through the reading. Powerful!!! This man had a backbone of steel…a strength that only one could receive from God. It's such an inspiring story. Unfortunately, many in the spiritual world today have forgotten what Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation were all about and even now steps are being made to re-unite the gap between Catholics and Protestants.
Pictured above is the famous Dome Cathedral that stands next to where Luther was brought before the Diet. Unfortunately the building that Luther stood in has been destroyed, but a plaque remains where it is said he stood and you can see that below. When I stepped on to this stone with the inscription "Here I stand," I got tears in my eyes. Could I have the strength to stand against the opposition that Martin Luther faced??
After some more delightful sightseeing, Gerda took us to visit the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach where Martin Luther was kidnapped and taken to hiding for 10 months after he'd been excommunicated from the Catholic church. (If it were not for this providential and God ordained kidnapping, he probably would have been killed and burned at the stake as other earlier reformers like Jerome and Huss had been!) During his time in the Wartburg Castle (pictured below), he translated the entire New Testament into German so that the common people could read the Bible. These words of life were eaten hungrily by the masses who had never been able to read the Bible before. Unfortunately, the church leaders tried to make this Bible illegal and banned it, but it only spread further. The reformation was going forward and nothing could stop it!
Here I stand inside Martin Luther's tiny room…the room where he worked so diligently to translate the Bible. His enemies could not reach him here, but God did and the work continued forward.
Finally, in the valley below, we visited the house that Luther spent time in as a child. In this village he studied, learned to sing, and spent much of his early years. Of course he had no idea that he would one day be a prisoner in the castle above this small town…a prisoner for his own safe keeping in the Warburg Castle. But God knew and I'm sure God must have been smiling...
Luther has been an inspiration to me for many reasons…mostly because he stood against the heresies of the time and stood for truth. He unflinchingly stood for truth! This stand started the reformation and broke the control of the church from over the people. Finally they could read the Bible for themselves and know the truth of salvation - that it comes by grace through faith, and not by our works. But he could have NEVER taken such a stand if he had not been a diligent Bible student and a passionate man of prayer.
In the
Great Controversy we are told, “From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the world in the Great Reformation.” Luther himself stated, “None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.” But what were Martin Luther’s prayer habits really like?
During the struggle at Augsburg, Luther “did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most favorable to study.” In the privacy of his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul before God in words “full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks to a friend.” (The Great Controversy, p. 210.) And he himself testified, “If I fail to spend two hours (at least) each morning in prayer, the devil gets the victory throughout the day.”
TWO HOURS at LEAST to pray??? Wow!! Imagine how different our lives would be and how much the Holy Spirit would be FREED to work if this was the testimony of our lives today??
My six days in Germany passed all too quickly and it was with bittersweet emotions that I flew back to England to catch my return flight home. I was sad to be leaving and yet filled with a renewed inspiration and passion to stand strong for God and for His Word. However, for Raluca and I, we know this is not the end of the story. It was very obvious to us that God is already doing a great work in Germany and we believe the fires of the reformation are going to be rekindled. We, along with many others, are praying they will be rekindled, and we will keep praying until the whole country is aflame!
Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to share one last blessing from my European Revival Tour. This is a blessing that came in an unexpected way...
To fly home I had to fly back to England and spend a 6 hour layover in the Birmingham airport. I was not real happy about this and had done everything I could to get my ticket switched so I could just leave directly from Amsterdam Netherlands. But God had a plan. After arriving back in Birmingham, I found a bench and pulled out my blanket and pillow to rest. It was about 11pm and my flight didn't leave until 6am. But how can you rest when many people are walking around and you're worried if someone might grab your laptop or purse while you sleep?
However, not long a couple came by and sat down near by. I got up and we talked for a few minutes and they told me they'd be there all night to, so if I needed someone to watch my luggage while I slept, they would he happy to. I felt good about them and praised God that He had sent some human angels to watch over me while I slept. Thankfully I was able to get about 3 hours of sleep before I awoke to see the woman jumping up and down trying to stay warm. The airport waiting area, where we were, was freezing. I had on my winter jacket, summer jacket, and I was wrapped in my fuzzy green blanket that I always travel with, and I was STILL cold. So when I say it was freezing, it literally felt that way. However when I saw this woman trying to keep warm, I instantly remembered Eric Ludy asking a question in one of his talks from long ago. "What if you are stuck in a cold prison cell and you only have one blanket. Would you give Jesus your blanket?" (The thought behind the story was, "Of course we would give Jesus our blanket. So if we'd give Jesus our blanket, why wouldn't we give it to a brother in need?") Instantly I was convicted, and I jumped to my feet. "You look cold," I told the woman. "I think you should use my blanket for a bit. I'll be plenty warm without it." The last bit was a white lie, but I knew she wouldn't take it otherwise, and I did have on a winter jacket - so at least I looked warm. She reluctantly, but gratefully accepted the offer. (It was seriously VERY cold!) I walked to the restroom wondering how I was gonna stay warm the rest of the night, but I knew I'd done the right thing. A few minutes later I returned and the couple and I began to talk.
They wanted to know where I was traveling, what I'd been doing in Europe, what I did in life and I began to share. One thing led to another and then the man began to ask me questions about my faith, about Salvation, about the reformation and about WHY I believed the Bible. It was 2am in the morning and I began to give a Bible study on Daniel 2, and then Daniel 7 and then talked of the prophecies that have come true throughout scripture. They hungrily ate up my words…words that it seemed they had never heard before. By the time it was time to go check-in for the early a.m. flight, they were so enthralled that they wanted to keep in touch and know more…and all I could do was stand back and say "Praise God. There was a REASON I needed to come back to Birmingham for a night."
Furthermore, I realized that during our entire time of Bible study, although I'd given my blanket to the woman, I had not felt one bit of coldness. To me that was an incredible miracle! I guess when the Holy Spirit starts moving, you don't need blankets to stay warm!
This experience was so special as it reminded me, I am revived to share and pass the inspiration along. I am warmed by the Spirit to warm others…nothing is to be kept to myself. I am called to share. So…only hours after leaving the steps of Martin Luther, I was able to testify to what Martin Luther stood for and why the Reformation was so important in Christian History and in our history today. And I was able to testify to the magnificence and justice of our incredible God.
While I believe that God called me to England (with ARME) and to Germany (with United Prayer) to help revive those in need of reformation…I left realizing that He had also called me to be REVIVED once again!!
While my journey has just begun in retracing the steps of the Reformation, I know that it is far from over. And all I can say is, "Wow! Our God is amazing!!!!"
*Mel's Endnote: Yes, there are more miracles on the horizon - God is opening the doors for ARME Bible Camp to come to Germany in October of 2013. Interestingly, in 2017, the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation, the Pope is scheduled to return to Worms Germany to meet with the head Bishop of the Lutherans to re-unite the two churches and faiths. "After all," as many are saying, "Martin Luther didn't mean to divide the church. It was all a mistake, and it's time we all be reunited and one church family." Unfortunately many don't know what that unity means and, sadly, most protestant Christians have forgotten WHY the reformation occurred. We are warned in Revelation that when the deadly wound is healed, the deadly atrocities of persecution aimed at the Christian church remnant will be revived. So in light of all the spiritual developments taking place, I am reminded that time is short. Now is the time to bring people back to the Bible and back to prayer…that the dying embers of the reformation would be reignited and that God's people would stand.
In light of what I've shared, let me close with this sobering paragraph:
"Why is it, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber? The only reason is that the church has conformed to the world’s standard and therefore awakens no opposition. The religion which is current in our day is not of the pure and holy character that marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the spirit of compromise with sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so indifferently regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the church, that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let there be a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will be rekindled."
Great Controversy, p. 48
Hmmm….if we want to be reformers like Martin Luther, like Evan Roberts, Reese Howells and others, we might be called to face some FIRE. Are we willing to take our stand????
"There is no danger that the Lord will neglect the prayers of His people. The danger is that in temptation and trial they will become discouraged, and fail to persevere in prayer." p. 175
