REVIVAL
By Mark Stibbe
Monarch in association with EA.
240 pages. £6.99. ISBN 1 85424 401 9
Mark Stibbe's popular treatment of revival (part of the 'Thinking Clearly' series) is enlightening, exciting and frustrating by turn. He helpfully defines revival as: 'A season ordained by God in which the Holy Spirit awakens the church to evangelise the lost, and the lost to their dire need of Jesus Christ.'
I was most fascinated by the insights he gives into revivals from three centuries and various (though exclusively Western) countries, including some of his own firsthand experiences. Surely no Christian could help but get excited on hearing of God's power at work in the conversion of multitudes. This alone caused me to wonder what it would be like if revival were to come to my corner of the world, and to pray that it would.
