WHAT was it ABOUT WALES??
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
THE WELSH REVIVAL of 1904-5"
-by Chris 'Prayintongues'.
"Revival is a community saturated with God," said revivalist
Duncan Campbell. And so it was in Wales. Reports speak of "an
overwhelming sense of God's presence and holiness at home, at
work, in shops," even in hotel bars!
Powerful conviction of sin follows. "Many lay flat on the ground in
agony of conviction." In one meeting sinners "fell in a heap and
cried out pitifully and loudly for mercy."
Such conviction triggers off intense prayer and repentance before
God, but also confession and restitution towards man: "the most
remarkable confessions of sin, confessions that must be costly."
Respectable church members and leaders publicly confessed sin
hidden deep in the hearts. This results in long-standing debts
being paid, stolen goods returned, church and family feuds being
healed, and enemies reconciled.
Outside of work-hours, worship, praise, prayer, Bible reading,
fellowship--these become the Christian's whole life. Meetings
couldn't be closed and went on all night. Men came in their work
clothes with their next day's lunch packed. Prayer meetings were
held in mines, trains, trams, and businesses. Shops sold out of Bibles.
Great numbers of people become Christians. In Wales: "70,000 in
two months, 85 thousand in five, and more than 100,000 in half a
year." By the end of the Revival, 90 percent of the people of Wales
were attending church.
In some Welsh districts, drunkenness halved, bars went bankrupt,
police had nothing to do, courts had no cases to try. Social
problems disappeared. But one statistic rose slightly--that of
insanity. Could it have been among those who endlessly resisted
conviction of sin?
So the nation is changed. Its values become Christian. But do
Revivals last? Dr Edwin Orr says the Welsh Revival was maintained
till the outbreak of war--WW1--in 1914. When he investigated the
effect of the Revival in 1935--thirty years after--he found that Revival
converts were "the choicest segment of church life." These converts
were now the elders and ministers of the church right across the nation.
Many now look on this Revival as a prototype Revival--a model for
all others. Yet the fact is there was one other feature of this Revival
that persisted until Orr published his favourable findings. The
Revival was criticised almost out of existence. For decades it was
considered "much ado about nothing because of its emotionalism"
(Dr Eiffion Evans).
~Found on the Forum at- http:/www.revivalschool.com