Posts with the tag “revival-history”

On this day, December 31, in the year of our Lord 1738, a mighty group of sixty seekers gathered on New Year’s Eve in London, England for prayer and fasting. They prayed into the early hours of the morning until they caught fire with the manifest presence of Christ. The group included George Whitfield, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley.   Read More

On this day, November 21, in the year of our Lord 1922, Presbyterian minister, T.J. McCrossan received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was so overwhelmed, he fell to the ground, during which time God gave him a spectacular vision. “The blessed Holy Spirit came down upon us. We saw light, far brighter than the noon-day sun – a perfect blaze of glory. Then hundreds of tongues of fire seemed to dart forth upon and around us. Then for an hour or more, great billows of glory, indescribably beautiful from the standpoint of light and colors, began to roll through our soul like mighty breakers over a sandy beach.   Read More

On this day, November 7, in the Year of our Lord, 1918, William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born. Billy Graham would go on to become not only the greatest American evangelist, but the person who would preach the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history—2.2 billion people (including live audiences, radio and television broadcasts). The Billy Graham Organization has documented more than 3.2 million people who have received Christ as Savior through the preaching ministry of Dr. Graham.  Read More

On this date, November 1, in the Year of our Lord 1934, Billy Graham received Christ as His Savior. He was 16 years of age. In his biography, Just As I Am, Billy Graham described the night he came to Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Read More

On this day, October 31, in the year of Lord 1904, the manifest presence of Christ was poured out on Evan Roberts and the seventeen young adults who stayed with him to pray in Moriah Chapel in New Qua, Wales (where he would later be buried at the age of seventy-three.) He had shared his burden for revival and asked all seventeen to confess Christ as Savior. In the next two hours, every student had prayed to receive Christ. They decided to meet every night that week, and one of the prayer services lasted until 6:00 A.M. the next morning.  Read More

On this day, October 13, in the year of our Lord 1971, God wonderfully manifested His presence in Saskatchewan, Canada. Pastor Bill McLeod invited evangelists Ralph and Lou Sutera to speak at his church. An amazing spirit of conviction gripped the people that day, and many confessed sin publicly. Their numbers grew each night until they filled the capital Civic Auditorium, seating two thousand people. People did not want to leave. They prayed together, humbled themselves, confessed sin, and were miraculously converted. Almost half those who met Christ were young people. Sherwood Wirt, editor of Billy Graham’s Decision magazine, visited the phenomenal revival and said, “We’re walking knee deep in love up here.”   Read More

On this day, October 10, in the year of our Lord 1821, Charles Finney encountered the manifest presence of Christ. He fell weeping at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “‘I receive the mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost’…without expecting it, without ever having thought in my mind there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, at a moment entirely unexpected to me, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me body and soul.”  Read More

Tomorrow marks a significant anniversary. On October 10, in the year of our Lord 1942, a revival broke out at the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York. A.W. Tozer was the speaker. A holy hush settled over the students. Then groaning, weeping, holy laughter followed. All these manifestations of the Holy Spirit were spontaneous, authentic, and God-initiated. The young students in the meeting were marked for life.  Read More

On this day, October 5, in the Year of our Lord 1703, Jonathan Edwards was born to the Reverend and Mrs. Timothy Edwards. The young Jonathan quickly distinguished himself as a child prodigy, learning to read Latin by the age of six and writing remarkable treatises on insects, botany and science by the age of eleven. He earned his master’s degree at Yale in 1722, and would go on to be one of the greatest revivalists and Christian theologians in North America.  Read More

On this day, September 29, in the year of our Lord 1903, the Welsh Revival broke out. It was a sustained move of God that lasted more than 24 months. Under the leadership of Evan Roberts, there were thousands of Charismatic-like manifestations such as prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation, visions, and much holy trembling.   Read More

On this day, September 25, in the Year of our Lord 1949, Armin Gesswein facilitated a prayer meeting with two thousand people praying in a tent on one side of the street while Billy Graham preached his Los Angeles Crusade to ten thousand people on the other side of the street. Many Hollywood movie stars would receive Christ that week, and reports of these dramatic, life-changing testimonies spread around the world. In many ways, this Billy Graham Crusade in Hollywood would catapult forward Billy Graham’s international world-impact  Read More

On this day, September 23, in the year of our Lord 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier knelt in prayer all by himself in the upper lecture room of Old North Dutch Reform Church in New York City, New York. He had rigorously distributed handfuls of invitations to this noon time one-hour business person’s prayer meeting. For the first thirty minutes, he prayed alone. A lesser man would have quit. Then someone joined him, and then another.   Read More

On this day, September 22, in the year of our Lord 1967, Raymond Edman, beloved President of Wheaton College stood before the student body to give what would be his last chapel address and his final moment on earth. Dr. Edman was preaching about being in the presence of the King. While bringing his message, he collapsed and fell to the floor. Soon after, he was pronounced dead. But he was very much alive in the presence of Christ.  Read More

On this day, September 19, in the year of our Lord 1906, the Holy Spirit of God swept through an orphanage in Khamgaon, India. God’s presence was so strong that the children stood for an extended time of silence, hands lifted up prayerfully to the Lord. This was followed by overwhelming conviction, children swooning, confessing, shouting, praising and groaning in delightful encounter with God. The noise was so loud it was heard a block away, and yet there was no confusion. It was called a “wave of divine harmony.” Two weeks later  Read More

On this day, August 22, in the year of our Lord 1727, “The Prayer Watch” was launched in Herrnhut, Germany. The Prayer Watch was a twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week, fifty-two week prayer meeting that lasted one hundred years. The small community of only twenty-four young men and twenty-four young women rallied with their pastor, Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, and agreed to spend an hour each day in prayer in their own rooms. They interceded for each other’s needs and the needs of those around them.  Read More

On this day, August 13, in the year of our Lord 1727, the manifest presence of Christ was poured out on Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf and his church family in Herrnhut, Germany. This twenty-seven year old pastor of a group of young, vibrant believers would refer to this day as “our baptism in the Holy Spirit” and “our Pentecost.” Church history would call this day the birth of the missionary church. They received fire—they had ignition and they had lift off!  Read More

On this day, August 11, in the Year of our Lord 1906, the manifest presence of Christ was poured out in Akidu Yellamanchili, India. Meetings lasted ten hours at a time, and in some places, far longer.  Read More

On this day, August 9, in the year of our Lord 1907, A.B. Simpson, missionary pioneer, renewed his love covenant with Christ. Toward the end of a Bible conference, he reported that he received a “mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost in His complete Pentecostal fullness, embracing all the gifts and graces of the Spirit for my personal need at this time and for the new conditions and needs of my life and work  Read More

On this day, August 5, in the year of our Lord 1907, a large number of people sought the infilling of the Holy Spirit at the Old Orchard Convention in Maine. They not only asked, but they received. There were many profound manifestations of the blessing of the Holy Spirit  Read More

On this day, August 2, in the year of our Lord 1931, Armin Gesswein was ordained into Christian ministry. He has been called by many The Father of the Modern Prayer Movement. Armin had a significant impact on the early formation of the College of Prayer, mentoring Fred Hartley and many other young leaders.   Read More

On this day, August 1, in the Year of our Lord 1489, the manifest presence of Christ fell on San Marco, Italy. Gerome Savonarola preached his first sermon and people responded with heartfelt enthusiasm.  Read More

On this day, July 28, in the year of our Lord 1907, the Holy Spirit came on a large gathering of believers in Nyack, New York. One of the leaders, A.B. Simpson reported, “I received…a distinct touch of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit – a kind of breaking through, accompanied by a sense of awe and a lighting up of my senses.  Read More

On this day, July 25, in the year of our Lord 1912, a significant group of seekers gathered for a conference in Dallas, Texas. God came in a Pentecost-like movement. It resulted in honest confession of sin, repentance, cleansing and a profound unity among the believers, who went out empowered by Christ to change the world.  Read More

On this day, July 21, in the year of our Lord 1907, A.B. Simpson reported that there were many “special manifestations of power” at the Rocky Springs Campground meetings outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Four evenings of all-night prayer were led by Daddy Whiteside and his friends. Dozens received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in these extended nights of prayer. One pastor reported, referring to the leader of the meeting, “I saw fire over his head!”  Read More

On this day, July 12, in the year of our Lord 1723, seventeen year old Sarah Pierpont married twenty-three year old Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan had been attracted to her when she was only thirteen. They would become not only marriage partners but soul mates who frequently encountered the manifest presence of Christ together. They loved to pray together and honor Christ together.  Read More

On this day, July 9, in the Year of our Lord 1742, a revival that began the day before was still continuing past 1 AM. George Whitfield had preached to an enormous crowd in Cambuslang, Scotland, on the afternoon of July 8, and a mighty revival erupted. A local minister documented, “For an hour and half there was such weeping, so many falling under deep distress, and manifesting it in various ways, that description is impossible.”  Read More

On this day, July 8, in the Year of our Lord 1894, D.L. Moody and R.A. Torrey met with a large group at Northfield’s Student’s Conference. They received their baptism with the Holy Spirit and encountered the manifest presence of Christ. R.A. Torrey later reported on this demonstrative encounter when he wrote, “Seven Reasons Why God Used D.L. Moody.” The seventh reason was that Moody received the endowment of power of the Holy Spirit. Torrey writes, “I shall never forget the eighth of July, 1894, to my dying day.   Read More

On this day, July 7, in the Year of our Lord 1741, Jonathan Edwards was preparing to preach the next day his most memorable sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God.” In the sermon, Edwards would preach, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the flame, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire…it is nothing but His hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.”  Read More

On this day, July 6, in the Year of our Lord 1415, John Huss was burned at the stake. We honor this day on behalf of the persecuted church worldwide. The lives of many of our brothers and sisters are on the line today and everyday because of their faith in the Lord Jesus. More than 300 Christians will die today because of their faith in Christ. The same will happen tomorrow, and the next day, all year long.  Read More

On this day, July 1, in the Year of our Lord 1857, the North Dutch Reform Church in New York City appointed Jeremiah Lanphier to do outreach because they were in spiritual decline. Lanphier was forty years old and a single businessman. The church thought that as a layman, he might be able to connect with other businesspeople. When he presented the idea of having a prayer meeting for business leaders, the church board was less than enthusiastic, but they gave their half-hearted approval.  Read More

On this day, June 30, in the year of our Lord 1905, the Spirit of God spread like wildfire across India to Puny, Bombay, Yoetmal, Manmad, Hyderabad, and other cities in Gujaret. This was prompted by a well known social reformer, Pandita Bamabai, who had been wonderfully converted years earlier. She grew rapidly in Christ and was invited to speak at a Keswick convention, where she pleaded with a crowd of 4,000 people to pray for the evangelization and revival in India. She spent most of her life serving at a girl’s school where revival broke out June 29, 1905. The next day, June 30, the revival spread out of her girl’s school all across India.  Read More

On this day, June 29, in the Year of our Lord 1905, the Holy Spirit poured out the manifest presence of Christ on a group of girls in western India. The girls responded with weeping, confession of sin, and prayers to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Many Holy Spirit manifestations followed, including visions, dreams, a spirit of prayer, shaking and holy trembling. Many girls at the mission boarding school spent hours weeping, praying with outstretched arms, and repenting under profound conviction of sin. At times, they erupted in intercessory prayer that sounded like the roar of many waters, and like rolling thunder. The girls would dance for joy after receiving forgiveness of sins. They broke out in spontaneous tongues, speaking in other languages. Several of the girls were bitten by cobra snakes and yet none of them died. Every one of them were reported healed.  Read More

On this day, June 28, in the Year of our Lord 1810, the first official foreign missions organization was founded in the United States, named the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Their first missionaries were Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson, Samuel and Roxana Peck Nott, Samuel and Harriet Atwood Newell, Gordon Hall, and Luther Rice. Many of these missionaries were graduates of Williams College, Amherst and Princeton. Four years prior, during a rainstorm in August 1806 a prayer meeting of college students was interrupted, and they ran to a large haystack for shelter and continued praying for world evangelism. Historians have since called this the great Haystack Revival.   Read More

On this day, June 24, in the Year of our Lord 1936, the manifest presence of Christ flooded the African country of Rwanda. Groups of believers gathered to sing and worship, and they fell down under the conviction of the Holy Spirit in open repentance and conviction of sin. Following repentance came singing, dancing, and celebration late into the night. God gave them increased hunger for more and more of His presence.  Read More

On this day, June 20, in the year of our Lord 1907, at the Wesleyan Hall in downtown Boston, Ira David, Bishop over a network of churches, led a corporate gathering where many members came under the power of the Holy Spirit. Several manifested with the gift of tongues. Several days later in Brockton, Massachusetts, many others received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Several weeks later, others gathered in Boston, experiencing many other Holy Spirit manifestations including singing in an unknown language, and seeing visions of the second coming of Christ.  Read More

On this day, May 30, in the year of our Lord 1735, Jonathan Edwards published his book on the manifest presence of Christ at work in North Hampton, Massachusetts, entitled A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God. In it he wrote, “I know of not one young person who has returned to former ways of looseness and extravagance in any respect, but we still remain a reformed people and God has evidently made us a new people. For here in this corner of the world God dwells and manifests His glory.  Read More

On this day, May 28, in the year of our Lord 1908, Christian leader A.B. Simpson not only experienced the Holy Spirit manifestation of the gift of prophecy, he wrote about it with keen insight and clarity: “Prophecy is not always the power to foretell future events. A prophet is rather a divine messenger, the man who catches the mind of his Master, and gives it out to his fellow men at the divine direction  Read More

On this day, May 26, in the year of our Lord 1907, Assemblies of God leader Stanley Frodsham was the baccalaureate speaker for the Nyack College students. Many students, faculty and administrators had fasted and prayed for weeks prior. Many had spent the night in prayer coming in to the baccalaureate. As the service started, there was a “quiet sobbing going on in several hearts as we bowed in prayer…we all felt like going through with God, cost what it may.  Read More

On this day, May 24, in the Year of our Lord 1738, John Wesley, while attending a Moravian meeting at Aldersgate Street in London, England, listened to the reading of the preface of Martin Luther’s commentary on the book of Romans and was born again. Wesley writes about this gathering, saying: “About a quarter to nine, when he was describing the change which God works through the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warm. I felt that I did trust Christ, Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Wesley admitted that he went to the meeting that night very unwillingly and depressed. But that night proved revolutionary, not only to Wesley but also to history.  Read More

On this day, May 22, in the Year of our Lord 1662, Richard Baxter preached at St. Bride’s Church in Blackfriars, England. He stood at the pulpit and invited the manifest presence of Christ. God came. The visitation from Heaven was powerful. From that day forward until Baxter’s death in 1691, churches all across the British Isles experienced unusual revival, deep repentance, and confession of sin. The move of God was so deep, it resulted in a lifestyle of holiness and devotion to Christ.  Read More