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Thursday 30 June 2016

Book Review: The Fire that Never Sleeps - Keys to Sustaining Personal Revival by John Kilpatrick & Michael L Brown

Reviewed by Ian Acheson

Photo courtesy of Destiny Image
Blurb

Get Revived . . . and Stay On Fire!

 “I had such a powerful experience with God. He touched my heart so deeply… and after that one encounter, I wanted to live for Jesus every day for the rest of my life.

Then life went back to normal.

Sound familiar?

Perhaps you’ve had an encounter with God that powerfully impacted your life – where sin, addiction, spiritual dryness or other struggles simply faded away. If such experiences are commonplace when revival is happening, then . . .

How can I experience revival every single day of my life?

With guidance from the leaders of the Brownsville Revival and the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival, you will ignite and sustain your passion for Jesus and learn how:
  • Desperate prayer unleashes the supernatural power of God into your life
  • Repentance is your key to enjoying unbroken intimacy with the Holy Spirit
  • You can become a catalyst for great awakening in your church, city, and nation

 Get ready to live passionately for Jesus, walk out God’s divine purpose for your life, and enjoy His presence on a daily basis.

It’s time to revive your fire!

My Review

This outstanding book provides both the background to the Brownsville revival that started in 1995 and an outline to how every believer can be experiencing revival in their personal lives. Michael Brown is a scholar of revival and John Kilpatrick was one of the pastors intimately involved in Brownsville. They know what they're talking about having both experienced revival first hand but studied the history of revival throughout the last two hundred or so years incorporating insights from such people as Charles Wesley, Charles Finney, William Booth, George Whitfield, Leonard Ravenhill, A. W. Tozer, and D. L. Moody.

The books starts with an sobering perspective of the modern church. "The world is actually evangelising the church." was a line that struck me as being true where we've allowed the culture of the time to play too prominent a role in the church. This can discourage us or we can look upon it with much hope. Jesus loves the church and will not let it fall. The potential for revival is enormous.

Kilpatrick then describes how he started praying for revival and then takes us into the days (and years) of when the Presence of the Lord was thick upon his congregation. Here was a man who consecrated his life to Jesus and desired for the Lord to be glorified not just in his church but in the years beyond. As the authors repeatedly state, the true measure of revival isn't about the manifestations of the Spirit but the ongoing transformation of the people years after the events.

They may define revival as a "season of unusual Divine visitation" however, in this book they stress that revival should be the norm for Christians. We should all be living like the first church did in Acts. Accordingly, the world would be transformed by the glory of God.

I couldn't put this book down. It has birthed a desire for more, just like David in Psalm 27. More of His Presence, more of Jesus in my life. With practical strategies on how to recharge and maintain a heart on fire for Jesus, this book is a little gem and has re-energised my desire for more of the Lord in my prayer life.

"Revival and revolution go hand in hand. When the church is truly revived, it will have a revolutionary impact on the culture."

Amen.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Ian. What a great review of such an important subject. It's so easy to slip back from your first love of Jesus. It's life getting in the way. Or maybe that's a well worn excuse. I love the way the Lord woos us back when our hearts become hungry. And I love the way the Lord answers the glimmer of a prayer before it's even formed with His answer on the way. He knows each one of us so intimately that it draws us close to Him. And our daily readings from His Word give us the fuel to keep on in His paths.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, yes, yes, Rita. He sure is the wooer!

      Thanks for your encouragement.

      Delete

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