Church History Review

Most Pleasurable Read

It’s not often that a relatively long book has no unnecessary chapters, has no boring bits, but instead continually offers unexpected delights. Spanish historian, scholar, and brilliant story-teller Irene Vallejo has done it! This is a wonder-filled ride through the story of books, from the early classical period in Greece, through to the romance of the great library of Alexandria, all the way through to a myriad of intriguing modern anecdotes of writers and lovers of books. A book about books might sound dull, but a story-filled panorama of the precious – and often fragile – carriers of ideas from age to age, now that’s a good premise for a book! Irene is on X here

Most Important Read

Unsurprisingly, the best-selling book on this year’s list – as with every year – is the Bible. I listened to this paraphrase of the whole Bible on Audible with great pleasure and benefit. Peterson’s famous work is not intended to replace close translations but is rather a commentary, and he suggests some wonderful applications and insights.

Historical Delights

An absolutely breathtaking overview of the thinkers and makers of the world as we know it, particularly in those countries shaped by Western thought. Included also is the development of Christian thought onto those Greek foundations. It is an interesting thought how Alexander’s broad vision for a diverse but unified multiculturalism (enforced militarily and then led, inevitably, by Greeks!) may have paved the way for the Christian message to spread. I found Beaton’s wonderful big picture fascinating.

I had initially heard Islam Issa on a couple of podcasts and was captivated. He is an Egyptian-British man educated in Britain and justifiably a proud son of his native city. I was particularly interested as he retold the story of Alexander the Great, his vision, his drive, and the astounding story of the establishment of the Greek city of Alexandria in Egypt. I was intrigued by the fact that Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, and Aristotle taught Alexander. Aristotle taught Hebrew, which means that Aristotle, surely, had access to the Old Testament. Alexander likely studied the scriptures, which makes sense of why he ensured the Jews had a large portion of the city when it was to be built. And, of course, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (the Septuagint) at the research centre of the Library of Alexandria.
The vision itself for a library that would hold all the accumulated writings of the human race in one place, was Alexander’s own vision. There’s so much here: the design of the city, the angle of its streets to ensure a cool wind blew through them during the hot summer months. The lighthouse. The building of a life-giving canal from the Nile into Alexandria. The attraction for scholars, medical research, the scientific breakthroughs. So much! So, so much!
The book gets less interesting, and raises a few eyebrows as it progresses, but those early chapters are a sheer delight.

I was in the airport at Cairo, about to leave this enchanting country, with a little cash left in my wallet, when I saw this. What a lovely souvenir, I thought. Wrong. What a hobby-inducing, obsession-starting, wonder-creating entrance into the romance of Egyptology. Welcome to the cave of wonders. And Chris Naunton, the British Egyptologist, is also such a lovely guy. It’s not very often, when you enthuse about a book on Facebook, that the author himself kindly comments and thanks you for your enthusiasm. Briefly, this is an overview of the discoveries of early, mostly, 19th Century explorers and archeologists in Egypt. It’s a wonderful story, informative, full of great photos and sketches. I couldn’t put it down.

A bit silly? I suppose so, but a fascinating short ride through the story of the Royal Mail and adjacent British happenings. Only mistake I spotted was on the culture side: the author thought the Sex Pistols released a single called ‘No future’, when he was referring to either God Save the Queen, or Anarchy in the UK. I gave my copy away so can’t check. But the story of the design of the stamps and the eventual branching out into series that celebrate aspects of British culture and history was good fun.

Last one in this section. Everything I’ve read by Mary Beard has been brilliant. I also enjoyed her Very Short Introduction on Classics (OUP) this year. The story and the wonder of the Parthenon is told easily and simply and its continued presence as a blueprint for buildings that denote authority, balance, intellectual clarity, and justice makes it worth learning about.

Truth, and Truth-Telling

Where to begin? I was extremely grateful to Dirk Jongkind for kindly bringing me this set earlier this year. Christopher Ash seems to be in an altogether new place since joining the Tyndale team. He is producing some beautiful work. Sometimes when someone is described as ‘sound’, or theologically orthodox, we think ‘stuffy, stiff, pedantic’. Ash seems to be able to combine a keen theological intelligence with genuine tenderness. It is a rare thing.

A wonderful collection of short essays on the Psalms. A good devotional collection if you are about to begin a long devotional reading through these wonderful lyrics, songs, and prayers.

We don’t seem to have a modern-day Schaeffer. Therefore, let’s go back and immerse ourselves in the wisdom, insight, and balance that he exuded. I found this volume, which I listened to several times, utterly engaging and inspiring. If you are a Christian involved in creating, don’t miss this.

Words and Thoughts

I bought this when it was first published but somehow never got round to working through it. I realise there is limited interest in seeing Eliot’s developing process in the creation of the most significant poem of the 20th Century. But Ezra Pound’s confident, authoritative, scalpel-wielding incisions are a wonder to behold. How did he know what was dross and what was genius? From our perspective, knowing the phrasing of the poem so well that each line seems almost inevitable, what confidence was he drawing on to make such sweeping cuts?

EM Forster is probably my favourite English novelist of the 20th Century. As authors generally go, CS Lewis and George Orwell because of their brilliance both as creative writers and essayists would take first and second place. But strictly as a novelist, I think it would be difficult to beat such gentle power-houses as A Passage to India, or Howard’s End. So here, in Abinger Harvest, we have Forster essentially as columnist. And except for only one or two duds, each article, short essay, or magazine/newspaper column has the same gentle, insistence: ever the critic of empire from within (much like Lewis and Orwell) he offers fresh and humorous perspectives.

But, to the master. This is the second collection of Orwell’s short articles, newspaper columns etc. I’ve read, and as is typical, he doesn’t disappoint. Great bed-time reading for Orwell fans.

I’ll be honest, it took me a while to get through this. Most boring bits: by Cicero. That was a surprise, seeing as he was supposed to be the greatest orator among the Romans. But we have all read books by outstanding preachers that seem stiff when compared to their preaching. A but like a band you’ve discovered live, and the first studio album is emptied of the power and emotion of their actual live performance.
Having said that, the sections by Aristotle were superb, particularly his thoughts on youth and the freedom to take risks. He sounds like he is literally describing Alexander, his most famous student. And Quintillian was a total giggle, telling us what not to do. I took out some of his quotes for your enjoyment here.

The Rest

For anyone interested in my other reading this year, here’s the remaining list:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – God is in the Manger (good)
JI Packer – Weakness is the Way (2 Corinthians) (very good)
Nadine Gordimer – Living in Hope and History (good)
Francis Schaeffer – The Mark of the Christian (good)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – The Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (very good)
James Boswell – Boswell in Search of a Wife 1766-1769 (typically funny)
Julian Barnes – Death (not quite as funny but very good)
Shepherd Pani – Never Beyond Hope (to be published in 2026)
Mary Beard & John Henderson – Classics, A Very Short Introduction (very good)
Butler & McManus – Psychology, A Very Short Introduction (good)
Lyle W Dorsett – Joy and CS Lewis (OK)
Andrew Wilson – Unbreakable (good)
Preston Sprinkle – People to Be Loved (very good)
Phil Waldrep – Beyond Betrayal (excellent)
Simon Winder – The Man Who Saved Britain (funny in places)
Henri M Nouwen – In the House of the Lord (OK)

If you got this far, thank you. I hope this has given you some ideas for some reading in 2026. Much love.

Public Speaking. Advice from the Ancients: what NOT to do

December 9, 2025Lex Loizides2 Comments

I’ve been enjoying a wonderful Penguin Classic recently: Ancient Rhetoric from Aristotle to Philostratus. And it’s been more fun that you might expect. And, as you may have the opportunity to speak publicly from time to time, I thought I could be of service to you as you approach the task. This volume gives us weighty insights from Aristotle, Cicero, and others. Two particularly useful sections are by Quintilian (35 – 96 AD) on ‘Voice and Breath’ and, ‘Bad uses of Gesture’, and focus on avoiding some common pitfalls. Enjoy.

Voice and Breath
‘The voice must not be strained beyond its natural capacity. Strain can make it choke up or become less clear or even make that sound the Greeks call ‘Rooster Song’. We must not speak in a jumbled rush, thereby destroying clarity and emotional impact, not to mention sometimes even depriving individual words of their full enunciation. The opposite of this, also a vice, is excessive slowness.’

‘There are some speakers who, due to missing teeth, do not so much take breaths as suck them in, complete with a slurping sound. Others breathe so often…that they sound like yoked oxen struggling beneath their load. Some even make a show of this style as if they are burdened by the abundance of their ideas. With others there seems to be a violent struggle between mouth and words! Although not strictly vices of the voice, a number of other faults can be cited here since they happen through the voice, namely excessive coughing and spitting, hacking up phlegm from the depths of the lungs, spewing saliva on those close by and talking while breathing through the nose.’

Bad uses of Gesture
In his section on ‘Bad uses of Gesture’ he offers the following sterling advice:

‘Take care not to let the chest or stomach protrude. It exposes the posterior, and all such bending is repulsive. Let your flanks share in your gesture.’ And he helpfully notes that ‘even Cicero advised, “No flicking of the fingers, or using them to mark the time; the orator moves with his whole torso, bending and stretching in a manly manner…No smacking of the forehead, no striking of the thigh.” Although,’ Quintilian counters, ‘if I may, I disagree about the forehead.’

‘With respect to the feet, we need to pay attention: To stand with the right foot extended, thus projecting the same hand and foot, is not a good look. Sometimes it’s acceptable to lean forwards on to the right foot, as long as we don’t in so doing twist the chest…To place the legs far apart is ugly if we are standing still and virtually obscene if we are moving. Taking an occasional step forward is acceptable, provided it is deliberate, short and steady. The same is true for walking during the delays created by applause…Running about, or what Domitius Afer called Manlius Sura’s ‘hyperactivity’ is completely ridiculous.’

Actions considered silly
‘Of course, some speakers jump backwards, which is out and out ridiculous. Stamping the foot, as Cicero indicates, can be advantageous at the start or finish of a lively passage; but doing so repeatedly is silly…It’s also unattractive to sway left and right while placing weight on one foot or the other….I also advise against frequent, vigorous rocking from side to side, something Julius made fun of in the elder Curio, when he asked who it was that was speaking from a rowing boat.’

And finally, and most helpfully, let me leave you with this as you consider your next public speaking engagement: ‘Some speakers will toss the toga over the shoulder and use the right hand to pull the fold up to the waist, gesturing with the left as they walk and talk. This is not to be tolerated.’

I trust these helpful insights will improve your next public display, and help make you the influencer, and mover of hearts, you’ve always suspected you could be. Good luck!

For more, get hold of your copy of Ancient Rhetoric from Aristotle to Philostratus translated rather brilliantly by Thomas Habinek, and published by Penguin Books (2017).

An Astonishing Season of Church Planting

June 13, 2025Lex Loizides1 Comment

Here’s a short video (just 90 seconds) highlighting the amazing growth of one part of the Baptist movement during the (mainly) 19th century. This only features what was happening in Sussex, England, and is astounding. Small towns, even villages with small populations, were on the hearts of these faithful believers. We may not exactly describe ourselves as ‘strict and particular’, but I found their zeal to reach their fellow countrymen deeply challenging. Take a look, and let me know your thoughts.

George Orwell on the loss to culture of Christian thought

April 10, 2025April 10, 2025Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Orwell on Christianity

George Orwell wasn’t exactly a friend of Christianity. Some of his harshest criticism of the temporary accommodation provided for the poor in the 1930s was directed at the Salvation Army (he felt they were too strict). But he had a very keen eye for social and political change, as well as movements in culture generally. And so, it’s refreshing to find him, in his various newspaper columns, at times defending Christianity.

Orwell recognises that Christian ethics resist fascism

In his 1943 review of VK Narayana Menon’s The Development of William Butler Yeats, Orwell observes that there seems to be a connection between fascism and the occult. He writes,

‘A year before the war, examining a copy of Gringotre, the French Fascist weekly, much read by army officers, I found in it no less than thirty-eight advertisements of clairvoyants. Secondly, the very concept of occultism carries with it the idea that knowledge must be a secret thing, limited to a small circle of initiates. But the same idea is integral to Fascism. Those who dread the prospect of universal suffrage, popular education, freedom of thought, emancipation of women, will start off with a predilection towards secret cults. There is another link between Fascism and magic in the profound hostility of both to the Christian ethical code.’ [1]

Without agreeing with specifics, Orwell sees the decline of Christianity as a great loss

And in his 1944 column for the Tribune, he observed that belief in life after death was waning in Britain, and crucially that ‘the Western concept of good and evil is very difficult to separate from it.’ He continues, ‘There is little doubt that the modern cult of power-worship is bound up with the modern man’s feeling that life here and now is the only life there is.’

‘I do not want the belief in life after death to return, and in any case it is not likely to return. What I do point out is that its disappearance has left a big hole, and that we ought to take notice of that fact.’ After discussing both Marxism’s unfulfilled promise of a system of good and evil, and Socialism’s promise of a better material life for everybody, he concludes: ‘One cannot have any worthwhile picture of the future unless one realises how much we have lost by the decay of Christianity.’ [2]

These two quotes taken together suggest strongly that Orwell was entirely aware of the preserving power of Christian belief. I wonder if he would have even more concerned in our own day?

To read a brief overview of Orwell’s Works click here

[1] George Orwell, Seeing Things as They Are, Penguin Classics, 2016, p206
[2] ibid ps265-6

Orwell on War: You can’t shoot a man whose trousers are falling down

April 3, 2025Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Fighting Fascism
The British author George Orwell had gone to Spain fight as a volunteer on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 (they lost). Orwell was, of course, primarily driven to fight against fascism and wrote at length about his experiences and disappointment with Communism in the brilliant Homage to Catalonia. He later added an anecdote highlighting the strangeness and humanity of these deathly combat moments. He eventually eventually escaped the war after having been shot through the throat.

A sight of the enemy
‘Early one morning another man and I had gone out to snipe at the Fascists in the trenches outside Huesca. Their line and ours here lay three hundred yards apart, at which range our aged rifles would not shoot accurately, but by sneaking out to a spot about a hundred yards from the Fascist trench you might, if you were lucky, get a shot at someone through a gap in the parapet. Unfortunately the ground between was a flat beet-field with no cover except a few ditches, and it was necessary to go out while it was still dark and return soon after dawn, before the light became too good. This time no Fascists appeared, and we stayed too long and were caught by the dawn. We were in a ditch, but behind us were two hundred yards of flat ground with hardly enough cover for a rabbit. We were still trying to nerve ourselves to make a dash for it when there was an uproar and a blowing of whistles in the Fascist trench. Some of our aeroplanes were coming over. At this moment a man, presumably carrying a message to an officer, jumped out of the trench and ran along the top of the parapet in full view. He was half-dressed and was holding up his trousers with both hands as he ran. I refrained from shooting at him. It is true that I am a poor shot and unlikely to hit a running man at a hundred yards, and also that I was thinking chiefly about getting back to our trench while the Fascists had their attention fixed on the aeroplanes.

Still, I did not shoot partly because of that detail about the trousers. I had come here to shoot at ‘Fascists’; but a man who is holding up his trousers isn’t a Fascist, he is visibly a fellow creature, similar to yourself, and you don’t feel like shooting at him.’

From ‘Looking back on the Spanish War’, August 1942

Looking Back on the Spanish War

To check out brief outlines of all Orwell’s major works click here:

George Orwell’s Works – an overview for Christians

George Orwell’s Works – an overview

February 13, 2025April 10, 2025Lex Loizides4 Comments

Why read Orwell?

Compassion: George Orwell was a passionate defender of the working class, with a particular concern for those living and working in poverty. His concern didn’t lead him to make banners or slogans but to live partly as a homeless person in both Paris and London, as well as to immerse himself in the difficult world of miners in an impoverished northern English town. His concern then broadened to the larger arena of political movements and their ability or inability to bring change.

Clarity of expression. Orwell’s writing style is unpretentious yet vivid. His essays are particularly brilliant in their observation and clarity (skip past the novels if you want to see my brief overview of his essays). His comments on writing have become a kind of gold standard.

Insight. Whether literature, leftist politics, fascism, social trends, or even comic books for boys, Orwell has such fascinating observations that the reader’s perspective is continually broadened. I think even for those of us living and working outside of England, his ability to see the bigger picture will help us likewise to see beyond specific local challenges. His abandonment of communism, and his stinging criticism of the relentless sloganising of the far-left socialists of his day (while he retained his sense of compassion and justice for the downtrodden) are a good example of intelligent thought.

The Novels

Animal Farm. In my view, the best of his works of fiction. It is a word-perfect critique of liberation morphing terrifyingly into authoritarianism, and the propaganda strategies that enable and maintain that disfigurement. Authoritarian behaviour can emerge anywhere, even within organisations whose initial impulse was to do good. It’s a cautionary tale, and a brilliant work of literature.

1984. For me, a very close second. It traces the human impulse for freedom within a tightly organised and censored totalitarian world. Orwell wrote that it ‘is NOT intended as an attack on socialism…but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralised economy is liable and which have already been partly realised in Communism and Fascism…Something resembling it could arrive.’ He argued that setting the novel in Britain was a deliberate assertion that ‘the English speaking races are not innately better than anyone else and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere.’ 1

The Other Novels

I’m lumping all these together because, although each novel has moments of brilliance, none of these would count as great and their continued publication is really due to Orwell’s other work. That’s why I read them. A brief comment on each in order of their publication:

Burmese Days – slightly better than the others, being an insight into the tensions of colonial rule from a personal perspective. For greater impact, though, read his stunning essay, ‘Shooting an Elephant’, or EM Forster’s Passage to India.

A Clergyman’s Daughter – Eminently forgettable except for the fact that Orwell breaks almost all of the writing rules he later emphasised. There is some truly bad writing in here, including words he would certainly have criticised in later years like, ‘machicolated’ and ‘oleographed’. There are a few redeeming features, like his having a character say ‘everything’ as ‘everythink’ which, in 1935 was an astute observation. Also, this line: ‘Her oft-repeated phrase, ‘It’s the fees I’m after,’ was a motto that might be – indeed ought to be – written over the doors of every private school in England.’ This, I believe, was the novel that Orwell became so ashamed of that he went around bookshops buying them in order to throw them away, partly because of the accusation that he unwittingly expressed the thought that poorer, working class people smell (he refuted that strongly in a later newspaper column – referring to housing that had neither running water, nor a bathroom).

Keep the Aspidistra Flying – only 2194 copies were sold during Orwell’s lifetime and it wasn’t reprinted until after his death. It’s a depressing story of a man unable to climb out of his drab life – unable to earn more than just barely keeps him alive. Think darkened streets, and dark bookshops with a miserly, mean boss.

Coming up for Air – This is the better of the ‘other novels’, written between the two world wars. It has an uncanny almost prophetic expectation of the looming, dangerous, massive war that was indeed just about to break. Unfortunately I didn’t make notes in my copy as I read it, but apart from Animal Farm and 1984 this is possibly worth reading.

The Non-Fiction

Having left the disappointing unevenness of the fiction we now have before us a very impressive corpus of vivid, dynamic writing. I often feel this with CS Lewis also. I love Lewis’s fiction (mostly) but his essays are stunning. Same with Orwell. He goes up a gear. For any believer who wants to experience compassionate sociological and cultural insight, look no further. Obviously we face limitations in terms of time: Orwell died in January 1950. But the insight is enormous. He is sometimes hard on Christians (particularly the shelters provided by the Salvation Army) and Christian thought, but the value of his pristine clarity will help you to look at your current situation with fresh eyes. So, high praise for all of these. I recommend each one, and I’ll be brief.

Down and Out in Paris and London – Talk about participant observation! Orwell became a ‘tramp’, a homeless person, seeking work in kitchens in Paris, and moving from ‘spike’ to ‘spike’ (overnight shelters for the homeless) in London. His insights are heart-wrenching. But he does at least identify a core personal need; one that we know the gospel can meet: ‘The problem is how to turn the tramp from a bored, half alive vagrant into a self-respecting human being. A mere increase of comfort cannot do this.’

The Road to Wigan Pier – A work of true genius. Get a copy and read it. Amazing. A longer review by me is here

Homage to Catalonia – Orwell, like several other left-leaning intellectuals, abandoned the security of their homeland to fight fascism in the Spanish civil war. They lost. And Orwell fled the war in danger of being executed by both sides, and shot through the throat by a fascist sniper. His naive idealism about the strength of communism to raise standards for all people were shattered as well. He saw that both communism and fascism, both far-left and far-right are failed promises. It’s a fascinating read.

Essays (incorporating Inside the Whale, Decline of the English Murder, Why I Write etc) – Penguin have bound these various earlier volumes into one and it’s worth its weight in gold. Orwell ranges from colonialism (from the inside, as it were), to discussions of Dickens, Yeats, Antisemitism, Nationalism, Gandhi. Flicking through my copy I don’t have to turn too many pages before seeing another section noted, or underlined. This is where Orwell helps us to think. Even if we reach different conclusions, his ability to think clearly serves us well.

Seeing Things as They Are: Selected Journalism and Other Writings – This is the most recent of my reading of Orwell, and which completes all his major works and the most important pieces of journalism for various newspapers. It’s also a fascinating view of the period covering WW2. I’m going to post separately on this volume and its connection with Christianity, but there’s humour, as well as his growing critique of propaganda and the Left. While Penguins collected Essays would be my recommendation, this is also an excellent read.

Orwell is important. His observations are important for Christians as well as non-Christians. What do you think?

Photo ℅ BBC
1. Seeing Things, p449

Prayer Points for Revival

February 6, 2025Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

David Angel's incredible picture of mining village Blaenau-ffestiniog, with the massive Chapel before it.

How should we pray today?
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ Rev 1.8
Reading our shared church history can inspire us to pray. We are somewhat tempted to be merely entertained by reading these seasons of grace, but let’s pray. Here are some prayer points based on the revival sweeping across Wales in 1859-1860 in and around Tregaron. The quotes are by those who were actually there (and all from Eifon Evans’ excellent history. See the footnote). Enjoy!

Gospel impact, with great joy, among ‘the youth’.
February 17, 1859. A meeting in a school room near Tregaron where a group of young people crowded in. ‘A general jubilation broke out in that meeting, in which almost all the young people present joined, as well as the old. The following night similar meetings took place….That was the beginning of the great outburst of jubilation in the revival.’ 1

Anointed Ministry
‘The great deluge of converts into the church could be dated from that time…all the religious means of grace, of all kinds, were subsequently under a most manifest anointing, especially the preaching.’

Conviction of Sin
‘The Sunday referred to above certainly proved to be a memorable one at Tregaron, under the ministry of David Morgans. While singing the hymn before the sermon in the morning service, scores of people, scattered in the congregation, gave vent to their feelings in loud cries. This continued for some two hours, and at the end thirty gave themselves to the Saviour. The evening service was even more remarkable, for with every sentence of the sermon a strong overpowering influence was felt, and the exultation of the congregation knew no bounds. Fifty-seven were accepted into the “society” at the close of the evening service.’

Additions to the churches – many doubling in size
‘During the Sunday which followed, Robert Williams preached with exceptional power. In the evening service the congregation could not be restrained from breaking forth into exultation and praise. According to the testimony of William Griffiths, writing early in 1860, it was in February 1859 that his church had experiences comparable to those of Pentecost…Anxious inquirers came forward in dozens, some under strong mental emotions, perceiving their lost state as sinners; and shortly they received relief to their minds by exercising faith in the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.. The churches are generally doubled in number, and new inquirers are continually coming forward. The heavenly fire still continues to burn, and the flames spread throughout the county at large…’
‘During that year William Griffiths received more that 650 into membership of his church, and the experiences of the beginning of 1860 were to parallel, if not to surpass, those of February 1859.’

Huge numbers, even for small towns!
Maybe our prayers are too limited, too small. These numbers are amazing by today’s standards. Eifons (quoting others, and all from 1859) reports: ‘The converts among the Calvinistic Methodists alone number above 8000′, Aberystwith Tabernacle, about 500, Rhydfendigaid about 400; Tregaron about 400…’
On August 4th some 18,000 gathered for an 8am prayer meeting in Llangeitho!
There were ‘powerful movements’ in various churches on Sunday August 21st. ‘On Monday morning the amazing news was blazed abroad that overpowering spiritual forces had descended the previous evening on every congregation in the neighbourhood.’ Within six weeks a further 720 had been added to the churches.

110,00 people were saved AND added to the churches
As a result of the extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit among the churches of Wales in 1859 the leaders were able to report accurately that 110,000 people had been converted and then added to local churches in that nation. All age groups were impacted, and just about every denomination was blessed with new believers. The effects were lasting; this was not an overnight fad. The intensity did, of course, settle but the impact was significant. It wasn’t the only revival that was to break over Wales as a new move of God was coming. In 1904.

1.All quotes from Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, Evangelical Press of Wales, p79-103
Photo used with permission of David Angel
For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

PS. From Evans’ notes (p121) ‘That night [in mid-March] a prayer meeting was held at Blaenpennal…and a multitude of people attended. While singing ‘He who speeds the lightning flashes etc’ there was a general confusion. The place was momentarily overcome by a heavenly disorder. The rejoicing and shouting in the chapel was chaotic. Those who shouted were only rarely visible. They lay prostrate in the dust, and only an arm occasionally thrown over the back of the seat in front would be seen. For ten months afterwards hardly a meeting would pass without an outburst of general jubilation.’

The God of Wonders

September 24, 2024Lex Loizides1 Comment

Some Remarkable Features of Genuine Revival
Martyn Lloyd-Jones made the observation that revival is when lots of people are baptised in the Holy Spirit at the same time. I was reminded of this surprising phrase when scanning through Thomas Phillips’ The Welsh Revival. He describes how two young men who were working in the Festiniog slate quarries in 1859 could barely stop weeping for conviction of sin. Their colleagues couldn’t help but notice and then during their lunch break on the following day these two weeping men climbed to the top of a small hill to pray. ‘They were followed by all the workmen in that quarry, being about five hundred in number.’ There they began to pray. The Rev. D. Edwards, who reports this event, continues, ‘Whilst they prayed, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them most abundantly. Nearly all present wept and sobbed aloud.’ And so the revival continued.[1]

Curious and Tantalising observations from Wales – that’ll make you want to pray
‘Many prayer meetings were held underground at Frongoch Mine…One morning a prayer meeting was commenced as usual on reaching their work at six. Heaven penetrated into the pit and earth was forgotten. When the worshippers awoke from that sacred trance, they found it was two o’clock in the afternoon.’
‘Many of the older ones in the congregation were praising God, dancing as though filled with new wine, and crying out in great jubilation.’
‘Neither of the [preachers] could minister because of the profuse weeping which overpowered the congregation, and Morgan could only cry out…’Oh the shekinah!’
‘There were indications of a powerful movement of the Spirit, for as the converts moved forward, some infinite power fell upon the audience, darting around like wildfire.’ [Note: this is remarkably similar to the observations of both George Whitefield in the 18th Century, and Charles Finney in the 19th.]

Moral transformation of whole communities
‘While he was delivering his sermon, the praise and rejoicing of the congregation were so great that he was unable to draw his remarks to a conclusion.’
‘The morals of whole communities were vastly improved, and in some localities there were but few who made no profession of a vital and saving Christianity.’
‘He felt his own frame as though electrified by the spiritual energies.’
‘Waves of power often overwhelmed them, and most extraordinary physical effects accompanied their impact. Many leaped and danced in the exuberance of their rapture…the established formalities and proprieties of a religious service were cast to the winds; all the Lord’s people became prophets, and the ordinary barriers of diffidence or reticence having been swept away, began to speak, sing or pray as the Spirit gave them utterance.’

Significant numbers converted, including Dave the Bully!
‘The preaching was drowned in the praising, and all present wept without shame or restraint.’
‘As the converts stood up to come forward, some divine power fell on the hearts of scores, and many burst out crying for their lives; that is, some of the old members, not the converts. These were weeping and trembling.’
‘The intense glow pervading the place vindicated itself as God’s fire.’
‘We have received three hundred new members within the first five months of this year.’
‘In fifteen days…151 had been converted in the town.’
‘About 400 members have been added to the church.’
‘He suddenly dropped to his knees, shouting with an exceeding bitter cry, ‘O God, be merciful unto Dave the bully!’

OK, that last one isn’t typical of revivals except that people are suddenly convinced of their specific sins and their need to find relief in the mercy of God.
Maybe some of these statements will stir you to pray for your town, your circle of friends, your family, and your church.

More next time.

For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

[1] Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, Banner of Truth 1989, p48
[2] From Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, Evangelical Press of Wales, 1986, p56, p58, p.59, p62, p64, p68, p70, p72, p77, p78
Photograph from Festiniog Town Council (uncredited) https://www.cyngortrefffestiniog.cymru/en/

The Mighty Power of Conversion

August 10, 2024Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

What does revival look like?
Some of the most wonderful and exciting examples of conversion are found in the Welsh revival of 1859. Let these quotes from local pastors, written at the time, wash over you and inspire you to fresh faith. Don’t be afraid of sharing the gospel. It is the power of God to utterly change someone’s life, irrespective of their former behaviour or beliefs.

The Greatest drunks genuinely converted
‘It is supposed that about three thousand persons have been added to the Calvinistic Methodist Churches in this county during the past year. Some of the greatest drunkards in some neighbourhoods give evidence of a change of heart by a change of life. The old people say that there is more of God in this revival than they ever saw in any similar movement. It is quite clear that a work has been done which none but God could accomplish. In some places the cause of religion had nearly died away, but now those places are quickened. The churches, which were small, have received a large accession of members, and new life runs through the whole.’

‘It may be said that nothing is now left to the devil but a few gleanings; the large sheaves are in possession of the Lord of the harvest.’

‘The congregation at Talley has greatly increased, and many scores have been added to the Church. Amongst the converted are the greatest drunkards in the parish: men who never went to a fair or a market without returning home perfectly drunk. But as far as we can judge at present, there is a thorough change in these characters.’

No fear in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers
‘I ought to add that the leaders and office-bearers in the churches throughout the country have been greatly awakened-the spirit of doing good has fallen upon them. They are like so many home missionaries-they preach to the people wherever they meet them, in the streets or else-where, in the spirit of the injunction, ‘Compel them to come in.”‘ [1]

The gradual intensity of the Holy Spirit’s presence
‘”In the united services, the power of the Holy Spirit was being felt with gradually increasing intensity. It was in its terrors that the eternal became a reality to them first. They seemed plunged into depths of godly sorrow. . . For some weeks it was the voice of weeping and the sound of mourning that was heard in the meetings. The house was often so full of the divine presence that ungodly men trembled terror-stricken; and at the close, sometimes they fled as from some impending peril; at other times sat glued to their seats, ashamed and afraid to [leave] in the presence of the church.’

Time forgotten in the presence of God
‘The revival affected a nearby lead-mine in a remarkable way. “Many prayer meetings were held underground at Frongoch Mine. Not an oath was heard within the confines of the mine. At the name of Jesus every knee bowed of ‘things under the earth’. One morning a prayer meeting was commenced as usual on reaching their work at six. Heaven penetrated into the pit and earth was forgotten. When the worshippers awoke from that sacred trance, they found it was. two o’clock in the afternoon.’ [2]

Let us recognise that the church must start speaking evangelistically to the world around us. Let us pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

[1] Quoted by Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth), p24-28
[2] Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales), p55-56
Pic. A Welsh Valley: nationalgeographic.com

The War Against Cliché

June 3, 2024Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

The War Against Cliche by Martin Amis

500 pages of literary criticism, who’d want to read that? Well, put like that, not many. But when it’s 500 pages by Martin Amis, one of the finest writers in English in the last fifty years, it’s different.

Here are reviews and essays on books and authors that originally appeared in various papers and publications from 1971 to 2000. What makes Amis’s observations especially interesting is that he’s more than a reviewer: he’s a successful practitioner. His own writing is genuinely pleasing whether it be autobiography like Experience and Inside Story, a stunning novel like Time’s Arrow, or his articles on 9/11 in The Second Plane.

He’s rarely boring, and this 500-pager feels like 150. His skill with language is enviable, and – pity the authors he reviews – his zingers are hilarious. I also find him affirming: some books are just too long. Why are we subjected to them? Why do publishers insist on a certain length? The quotes below made me genuinely laugh, but this is a biased selection, and they are, of course, out of context. Amis isn’t as cynical as these ego-puncturing darts suggest.

Reviewing Making Love: An Erotic Odyssey by Richard Rhodes in the New York Times he says, ‘As so often when Mr Rhodes gets grateful and reverent, you have to read the sentence twice, even though you didn’t want to read it once.’

He’s not a fan of Iris Murdoch. For the Observer, on Murdoch’s The Philosopher’s Pupil, he writes, ‘It would be futile to summarize the plot. Life is too short.’

On Brian Aldiss’s The Malacia Tapestry: ‘[It] is Aldiss’s longest watertread in the mainstream to date, and by now, I’m afraid, the lifeguards are getting nervous.’

On questioning sentence construction in John Fowles’ Mantissa: ‘The sentence just lies there, pining for another visit to the drawing board.’

On how Philip Larkin, once revered as a great poet but now fallen into disfavour, he writes, ‘the Observer piece is in fact a Tour de France of back-pedaling.’

Reviewing Cornwell’s biography of Coleridge for the New Statesman: ‘Inside John Cornwell’s 400-page critical biography of Coleridge there is a 200-page uncritical one trying not nearly hard enough to get out.’

Also helpful are his honest confessions about authors who are sometimes held in such high esteem that they seem to be beyond critique, or long novels that the reader feels compelled to finish.

On Samuel Beckett: ‘Beckett was the headmaster of the Writing as Agony school. On a good day, he would stare at the wall for eighteen hours or so, feeling entirely terrible; and, if he was lucky, a few words like NEVER or END or NOTHING or NO WAY might brand themselves on his bleeding eyes.’

On The Adventures of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes:
‘While clearly an impregnable masterpiece, Don Quixote suffers from one fairly serious flaw – that of outright unreadability. This reviewer should know, because he has just read it.’
‘Reading Don Quixote can be compared to an indefinite visit from your most impossible relative, with all his pranks, dirty habits, unstoppable reminisces, and terrible cronies.’
‘His epic is epic in length only; it has no pace, no drive.’
‘The author took a decade to recover from the first part of Don Quixote before completing and publishing the second. The modern reader, of course, enjoys no such holiday.’

And finally, on Ulysses by James Joyce (a novel I’ve tried twice to read, having enjoyed both Dubliners and Portrait): ‘If, like me, you have tried Ulysses before, and got about halfway through (its common fate with the common reader), then the refurbished text simply provides another excuse to try again. Take my word for it: you won’t notice the difference.’
‘The truth is that Ulysses is not reader-friendly.’

We may not hold Amis’s favourites (Bellow, Nabokov) in as high esteem, or agree with his undiscerning dismissals of religious faith, but one thing strikes me as true: if you want to improve your English, read Martin Amis.

Why Pray For Revival?

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Good Growth but where are the conversions?
My own observation over the last few decades in churches I’m connected with, is that we’ve got better at thinking through strategies for growth, and we’ve been able to gather and retain the believers who have come to us. It’s been good. Our concern however, must surely be that we are seeing less baptisms of recent converts. Many of our baptisms are of folk who have joined us from churches that don’t practice believers’ baptism, or from our wonderful young people who have grown up in Christian families and who now want to make their own decision to obey the Lord Jesus.

Likewise, your church may be growing for reasons other than effective evangelism. Over these past decades the church-planting movements have got better at serving believers (which is vital), but have we really improved evangelistically? Of the last ten people baptised in your church, how many were converts from genuinely non-believing backgrounds? Please add a comment if you’re bucking the trend – and tell us how!

Those evangelists, and evangelistic pastors, among us have been exhorting us to evangelism. But the unnerving thing is whether there’s any spiritual shift towards conversions. I’m not sure.

Fantasy or Reality?
At the same time, some leaders feel the call to pray for revival is almost like chasing fantasy rather than facing reality. There was an English sitcom where Wolfie Smith, ‘the self-proclaimed leader of the revolutionary Tooting Popular Front (merely a small bunch of his friends)’ would continually threaten, ‘Come the revolution….'[1] The comedy was, of course, that the suburban revolution would never come, and that Wolfie should have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, and maybe get a job. Are our prayers for genuine culture-changing revival just as unrealistic? I don’t think so.

Persecutors cry, ‘What must we do to be saved?’
Wales 1859: ‘The additions to the churches in a very short period have been incredibly numerous. Now, at the end of February (1859) we could name more than twenty churches, each of which has received an addition of one hundred members, and several have received more than two hundred each. In many neighbourhoods, very few persons remain who have not made a profession of religion. There are considerable additions to the parish churches, (where the ministers have church meetings or societies,) and to the Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans. About three thousand have been added to the Calvinistic Methodists alone. The fire is spreading still.'[2]

and…’We see that something awfully strong takes hold of the minds of the people. Some, after they are deeply wounded under the ministry, attempt to go away. We have seen numbers with weeping eyes leaving the house of God, but unable to go further than the door; they feel compelled to return again, and offer themselves as candidates for admission into the Church. In some cases. entire families have done this. You might see, at the close of the public service, twenty or thirty of the worst characters remaining behind, to be spoken to and prayed for. They appear as if they had been shot by the truth. They are as easily managed as lambs. Some who had persecuted the revival have been led to cry, “What must we do to be saved?”‘[3]

Pray, Pray, Pray
The historians of this revival insist it was preceded by prayer: ‘When the stated Sabbath arrived, we were blessed with remarkable earnestness at the throne of grace for the descent of the Holy Spirit to revive the Church and convert the world. Ever since that memorable Sabbath, the prayer meetings presented a new aspect-they gradually increased in warmth and number during the following months. This continued to February [1859] … when it pleased Jehovah to pour down His Spirit from on high, as on the day of Pentecost.'[4]

And…’By the closing months of that year [1858] very many of the Welsh churches had applied themselves to diligent and fervent prayer for revival, so that what has been said of the Ulster Revival of 1859 is also true of the Welsh Revival, it was born in prayer.'[5]

In Luke 18 we read that, ‘Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.’ Many of our churches are strong but may be on the cusp of decline unless we pray for conversions to take place. For our non-believing neighbours to be born again. We thank God for every addition either from other churches, or other countries where Christianity has produced large numbers of converts. But we need to see our own conversions among those who live in our towns and cities. And prayer for revival, for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that causes us to be bold and to speak up, and to see the power of God change lives, this is no fantasy. This is what God promised us: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ Acts 1.8

Let’s keep praying.

Note. By revival we mean an outpouring of the Holy Spirit coupled with evangelism that leads to many non-believers being converted and added to the churches. The ‘revival’ in this sense is a revival of the presence of God, and the power of the gospel coming through freshly empowered Christians. The dominant characteristic is the tangible power of the Holy Spirit leading to conviction of sin, and lasting conversions. There is an alternative definition within the USA, which refers to a series of special meetings aimed at reviving existing believers in their faith. This website and this article refers to the first definition, although in every revival believers are definitely ‘revived’ and regular church gatherings are infused with dynamic energy and faith.

Pics: top: Jubilee Community Church, Cape Town, 2024 (city-wide youth meeting). Middle: Actor Robert Lindsay in the BBC role that made him a household name. Pic: independent.co.uk
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Smith
[2]Quoted by Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.21 (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)
[3] ibid p20
[4]Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.37 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)
[5] ibid p40

Charismatic Gifts in Church History

March 28, 2024April 17, 2024Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Recently I had the opportunity of sitting down with Jez Field to discuss and enjoy some examples of remarkable gifts of the Holy Spirit from various periods of church history. It was such an enjoyable conversation and, as you’ll hear, we only got to a few stories, but they are so inspiring. To hear Spurgeon recount how he had a miraculously specific word of knowledge, and then to find the actual verbatim transcript of it happening, was just thrilling.

And it all reminds us that as preachers and as those quietly sharing our faith with others, that God is active, and an ear to Him as we speak could yield wonderful results.

I hope you enjoy this interview. On Apple podcasts:

You can also listen here on soundcloud:

Enjoy!

Guided to the Word by a Voice

February 13, 2024Lex Loizides2 Comments

The Unlikely Conversion of Sheilagh Kaiser
I haven’t included any contemporary accounts on the Church History Review, but I am going to make an exception. I met Sheilagh at her Aunt Cassy’s funeral – or more precisely at the wake at a very smart house in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Sheilagh gave what I expected would be a normal eulogy. But as she spoke of how she encountered God’s love I was thunderstruck that her Aunt Cassy, a quiet, humble ‘little old lady’, had broken through so many points of resistance to share the gospel with her. This post may seem a little long – believe me, you will not regret setting some time aside to read the story. I’ve put this online not because the recipient of God’s grace was a very wealthy person, but because of the obedience of a humble Christian to speak about Jesus to others. I’ll let Sheilagh take it from here:

A Privileged Home
I grew up in a privileged home, the daughter of hoteliers Ray and Doreen Roberts. And Cassy Cunningham was Doreen’s oldest sister, so Cassy was my aunt. My father owned popular hotels and many people came for holidays. Cassy and her son Michael were often with us over the holidays from Joburg. Cassy was strange; she would talk about Jesus every chance she got. And this irritated my very worldly father. He called her a fruitcake but was tolerant of her so long as she didn’t preach to him. As children we picked up on this attitude and shared in the disrespect. As a family, we grew up with plenty. Plenty of everything: the best schools, hotel food, servants, cars, and whatever we wanted. I was a complete stranger to lack and didn’t notice others who had lack and needs.

Financial Success
I moved from Durban to Joburg after College and began selling real estate. I became successful at a young age, selling blocks of flats and then sectionalising them for individual sectional title sale. At 23 I was fortunate enough to land a very exciting and prosperous job which required I move back to Durban where I settled in Umhlanga Rocks. I quickly rose through the ranks and became the Sales Manager of the operation. We sold Umhlanga Sands, and then I moved to Plettenberg Bag to sell at the Beacon Island Hotel. I enjoyed the best of everything. I rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, sailed on yachts – had a beautiful place overlooking the sea, drove an expensive sports car, flew in the company Lear Jet. I was 24 and had everything a young person could wish for. Many asked for an opportunity to work for me. I was responsible for hiring and firing.

Something Important Missing
When I wasn’t working I would jog along the beach on the Roberg side of the mountain, which was flat with a long stretch to jog comfortably for quite a distance. One evening I was jogging. It was beautiful weather – the moon was rising over the ocean, casting a moon beam on the water-logged sand. Dolphins were surfing the waves on my left. I was conscious of being in a beautiful place, but there was an emptiness in my heart which I could not explain. Something was missing, but I had no idea what it was. I tried to run towards the moonbeam. I was running faster and faster, jumping, running backwards, but always the moonbeam was just out of reach – always ahead of me. I couldn’t catch up to it. I stood on the beach that evening and was confounded as to what was missing. What did I need? What did I want? What was the problem? I looked up at the stars which were starting to come out and I prayed a silent prayer. I said, ‘God if you are real I want to know you.’ I didn’t want religion – I wanted to know God if that was possible. I had no idea that I had just prayed the most important prayer of my life.

That was in November 1983. In December I went to Cape Town to a New Year’s Eve party. It was a who’s who of Cape Town people. I remember that beach party so clearly. I had the sense that there was a change coming – I thought maybe it would come with the New Year. When midnight came everyone whooped and hollered and I realised even more that I was missing something: this feeling of joy. Again I looked up at the stars and prayed a silent prayer that change would come.

The Embarrassment of Auntie Cassy
I returned to Plett around the 2^nd January. On 4^th January 1984 I was sitting in my office at the Beacon Island Hotel, overlooking the green lawns and beautiful blue ocean when a young boy came up to my desk and tapped my arm saying, ‘Hello Aunty Sheilagh!’
I recognised him as Michael and wondered where his mom Cassy was. Inwardly I groaned as I didn’t want to be preached to. She had arrived on the island with two friends. They were staying in Knysna on holiday. Cassy later told me that God had told her to come and see me in Plett and talk to me about my soul. She had argued with God saying that I was not very receptive but she finally obeyed and came to see me.

I was very conscious of my appearance and keeping up with the Jones’s. Cassy and her friends looked like Methodist missionaries! I was not very proud of my visitors. I figured I’d give them refreshments and set them on their way as quickly as possible. We sat at a table on the lawn with this incredibly beautiful view. My very important, wealthy friends and clients were coming and going among the tables. Cassy narrowed her eyes and gave her disarming smile and asked, ‘Sheilagh, how is your relationship with God?’ I was expecting something like this. I quickly replied, ‘Oh Cass, I’m a good person, I give to the poor and don’t harm people.’

I didn’t want this line of questioning – I wanted this over! She said that it wasn’t about do’s and don’ts – it was about a relationship with Jesus – did I have a relationship with Jesus? Well of course I didn’t, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss this! Then her friend also started to talk to me about Jesus. Something held me in my place while they started talking about Jesus. They told me that I should ask Him into my heart. Finally I said I would do it at home later that night, but they said, ‘Today is the day of salvation.’

Pierced to the Heart
The words pierced my heart. They asked me to pray after them, and I did. I invited Jesus into my heart and life. Suddenly I felt Jesus standing behind me. It felt as though a can opener went around my head and the lid was lifted off backwards. I felt myself fill up with a glorious something – it started at my feet and went right through my body until it passed through my heart region. I felt my spirit and my smile connect for the first time in my life. Then the lid was put back and I knew I had everything I had wished for. I was full. I had found what I was looking for. I walked back into my office and my staff asked me what had happened to me as I was shining. I dismissed it as sunshine.

Following the voice!
That evening I left work early. Usually I was at the hotel until all hours of the night. I loved my job and it never felt like work to me. This night I was home before 6pm. I knew something had happened to me but didn’t know what it was. I sat on my bed and prayed out loud.
I said, ‘God what must I do?’
I heard an audible voice coming from the righthand side saying, ‘Sheilagh go and get your Bible.’
My Bible? I didn’t have a Bible! I remembered someone had left a small New Testament among my books from years before and I had boxes of books downstairs unopened. I ran to open the boxes – there was no Bible. I ran back upstairs and sat down. I prayed again, ‘I don’t have a Bible, what must I do?’
I heard the audible voice again saying, ‘Go and buy your Bible.’ I looked at my watch. It was 6.10pm. Where was I to buy a Bible in Plett, at 6.10pm (this was January 1984 remember)?
I felt that I must get in my car. This voice was guiding me, telling me to turn right, turn left, stop etc. Finally I came to a shop that I thought was an Estate Agency – until I saw letters in the window saying , ‘Jesus loves you.’ I argued with this voice saying that they would not be open this time of night. Then I saw movement in the shop, so I parked and walked in.

A Vow Broken
At the age of 15 I had made an internal vow to never cry again. Ever. I was now 24 and had been faithful to that vow. However, when I walked into the store I felt tears welling up in me, and instantly felt ashamed of the tears and wanted to run out the shop. Why was I crying? I walked in saying, ‘I have come for….’ The shop assistant interrupted, saying, ‘…your Bible!’ She handed me a Bible. I was speechless. How did she know? She told me that her shop was never open past 4pm every day, but this day God had spoken to her and told her that He was sending someone in the shop to buy a Bible and told her which to give me. I was so thrilled I wrote her a huge cheque!

Off I went with my Bible in my sports car. Before this experience, I used to go to the top of Roberg mountain to meditate. Now I went there with my Bible. I didn’t know how to read it or where to start, so I asked the voice. I said, ‘Where must I start reading?’
I heard Him say, ‘Start in the Book of James.’ I didn’t know there was a book of James, but I looked it up and lo and behold there it was! I wondered why I should start reading from the back of the book, but made a calculation that God was a Hebrew, and Hebrews read from back to front…!

Finally, I Found what I was Looking For
I was 24 years of age and I had started on a marvellous adventure with God. I would fly to Cape Town every weekend to go to church. God sent friends to me to help me, teach me, encourage me. My life changed dramatically and instantly. I had a thirst for the word of God. I was truly Born Again. All the material gain I had was nothing compared with the gain of Christ. I was transformed by the love of Christ. I was 24 years old, and had clamoured for success and wealth, and things had come easily to me. But I was never satisfied – there was always something missing. Finally I had found what it was I was looking for. I am 60 yrs of age today and I’m still serving Christ, grateful for his love and what he has done in my life.

I’m so thankful that Cassy took time that day to overcome her resistance and to reach out to me, despite the fact she knew I was not interested. I was the least likely person to hear and receive, but it was my time, and God prevailed over my stubborn pride.

Sheilagh Kaiser

Some Great Books You May Have Missed (2023/4)

December 28, 2023December 28, 2023Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Below are some of the books I read this year, with my honest opinions, and it may give you some ideas of what you might like to read in the coming year. By the way, if like me you’re a legalist who has to finish every book they begin, then I may have discovered a cure! I created an ‘Abandoned’ list for awful books. This enabled me to relegate an unfinished book without feeling I’d wasted time. So I recommend you develop your own ‘A list’ for 2024. I’ve not given you my complete 2023 reading list because, even with my A List, I still finished some books that were just not that good. I properly abandoned only three – but I’m working on it!

Christian Teaching

Holy Bible NLT – Chronological Bible (Audible)
This is my second time through the NLT and, although I rarely preach from it nor use it for study, I must say that it remains one of the most enjoyable translations to simply read through. As with all English translations there are verses here and there that you feel don’t carry the weight of other translations (and therefore presumably the original), but I am happy to recommend it.

John Bunyan – All Loves Excelling
A devotional symphony based on Eph 3.18-19, with these chapter titles: 1. Describing the Inexpressible. 2. Desiring the Incomparable. 3. Obtaining the Unsurpassable. Just go and buy a copy!

John Wimber and Kevin Springer – Riding the Third Wave
Dennis Bennett – Nine O’Clock in the Morning
It was in 1984 that I first experienced an infilling of the Holy Spirit that floored me and utterly changed my life. This experience of being ‘clothed with power’ was not, of course, competing with conversion, but it enhanced and enlivened every aspect of my Christian life from that point. The ecclesiastical context of that and subsequent experiences of the Spirit was the Newfrontiers family of churches – a movement committed to planting and building churches as far as possible along strictly New Testament lines rather than traditional historic denominational lines. It was to my loss, then, that I hadn’t read anything by Dennis Bennett, nor the experiences of individuals in Wimber’s book Riding the Third Wave, most of whom were pastors in traditional denominations. I strongly recommend Bennett’s Nine O’Clock in the Morning. It’ll give you a lift, and draw you towards the great Baptiser in the Spirit.

Randy Clark and Bill Johnson – The Essential Guide to Healing
Forgive me, if you like these guys, but I must say I was expecting something barmy bonkers wacko or harmy. In fact, this was generally good, with plenty of caveats on not over-promising etc. And more often than not I was saying to myself, ‘I need to pray for more people who are struggling or suffering,’ which is not a bad thing. Probably worth noting that Clark and Johnson don’t hold to the classic ‘faith’ type teaching exemplified here.

Andrew Wilson – Spirit and Sacrament
Andrew Wilson – God of All Things
See here for my short review of Spirit and Sacrament. God of All Things was a pure joy. The short chapters are actually like short columns in a paper or magazine, and most contain some fresh fact or insight that makes the heart sing. Taken as a whole this would be a perfect gift for a pastor, or friend who needs a refreshing reminder of God’s goodness reflected in numerous simple materials, things, objects. Excellent.

Openness Unhindered – Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
I find Rosaria Butterfield’s testimony and exhortation to hospitality absolutely refreshing. She can occasionally phrase something a little strongly and with both books I’ve read I haven’t always agreed with everything. But isn’t that the case with many books? But her work is definitely worth your time. I didn’t agree with everything here, specifically her taking up Romans 7.14f to be a description of the normal Christian life, and her description of the Adamic pre-converted you not as dead (unlike Rom 6.6) but like a tree stump that keeps sprouting after it’s been cut.

Leadership/Character

Chuck DeGroat – When Narcissism Comes to Church
Kyle Johnston, who is Chairman of Biblical Counselling Africa, first mentioned the name Chuck DeGroat to me and stressed how vital his work is to the health of Christian organisations and churches. But it’s only very recently that I got round to reading this important book. DeGroat implores counsellors and leaders to listen up and be aware. Because narcissism is so devastating to those caught in its damaging force field, and is usually at the heart of most, if not all, of the ‘falls’ of celebrity pastors around the world, it’s not surprising that this book is being recommended to church teams. Too much is at stake to not assess the character, broken histories, or historic relational problems of those who volunteer to govern the church of Jesus. Like others, DeGroat strongly warns against us being wowed by platform performances, theological education, or the sheer drive of personality, and offers hope to those who have suffered, and for narcissists who acknowledge their ‘shadow side’.

Other recommended books on leadership and character development
C Peter Wagner – Humility
Not a bad accompaniment to DeGroat as we seek to assess our own weaknesses and become more Christlike. A superb self-evaluation type book that could be of great help.

Rick Warren – God’s Power to Change Your Life
Hope for those who need to change but feel stuck.

Sophie Hannah – How to hold a grudge
A surprisingly helpful approach to protecting yourself by noting that sometimes the other person will never change, and she suggests a means of categorising the hurt or the person in such a way that enables you to move on. So ‘holding’ a grudge, as it were, is a play on words.

Liza Huie and Kyle Johnston – How to get the most out of your Counseling
Simon Lancaster – Winning Minds
Both helpful. Lancaster looks at the relationship between language and leadership.

Literary fiction

Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist (Audible)
Surprisingly not so good.
Alain de Botton – Essays on Love
A cracking beginning but tapers off.
Francis Spufford – Light Perpetual
Love Spufford and enjoyed this.
HG Wells – The Invisible Man
Apart from the brilliant idea of an invisible man, the story doesn’t really go anywhere and he’s just a nasty character. How different from Wells’s excellent The Time Machine which so creatively tantalises the imagination.

Biography

Daniel Nayeri – Everything Sad is Untrue
One of the very best books I read this year. Utterly fascinating, moving. Couldn’t put it down and I don’t want to tell you any of the story. I read it without knowing anything about Daniel and was thrilled and thrilled again as the story unfolded. It sounds too boring to describe it as the story of a refugee finding his way to the USA. It’s very much more than that. Go and get yourself a copy.

Luis Bunuel – My Last Breath
Actually quite funny and sad. The avant-garde film director Lius Bunuel, writing in his later years, also describes the loneliness of an older person who doesn’t have family close by. ‘Sometimes an entire week goes by without a visitor, and I feel abandoned.’ and ‘I don’t want to die in a hotel room with my bags open and papers lying al over the place. On the other hand, an even more horrible death is one that’s kept at bay by the miracles of modern medicine, a death that never ends. In the name of Hippocrates, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.’ Also, ‘my own sexual desire has waned and finally disappeared, even in dreams. And I’m delighted; it’s as if I’ve finally been relieved of a tyrannical burden.’

Olaudah Equiano – The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa
Devastating. And devastating again. Equiano was an enslaved African (18th century) who accomplished his own freedom and then became an active abolitionist.

Stewart Copeland – Strange things happen
Copeland was the drummer for The Police, and his father was a US intelligence agent who was a friend of Kim Philby in Beirut. I enjoyed his podcast about his father, but found this boring.

Rosaria Butterfield – The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
Butterfield’s conversion story. Well worth reading.

William Hague – William Wilberforce
Detailed. Careful. Surely the standard biography of Wilberforce.

Thomas C Oden – A Change of Heart
Good if you’re already a ‘fan’ of Oden, which I am. This autobiography tracks Oden’s theological development from liberal Marxist to consensual classical and evangelical theology. Good stuff, but for an intro to Oden read, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind.

History

James Sutherland (Ed) – The Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes
Absolutely brilliant. An excellent bedside book. I’ve just bought the updated new edition.
Dean Merrill – 50 Pentecostal and Charismatic Leaders you should know
Ferguson/Beeke – Church History 101
Both OK, but not anything to get excited about. Especially as church history is something we should get very excited about.

A Forgotten Christmas Carol

December 22, 2023December 16, 2025Lex Loizides1 Comment

How was this Christmas carol forgotten?
Of course, the similarity to the undoubtedly superior ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ could be a reason. But these lyrics are full of gospel truths.

Philip Doddridge, the 18th Century Congregational pastor, wrote over 370 hymns. Most of them, amazingly, were written to accompany a sermon. This was a delightful, if strange, self-imposed discipline: his sermon preparation included writing an original hymn based on the text he was preaching from!

I love these lines: ‘The silver trumpets publish loud the Jubilee of the Lord;
Our debts are all remitted now, Our heritage restored.’

Isaac Watts was not only impressed with his songwriting skill, but his leadership too, and encouraged him to open a seminary to train other non-conformist pastors. He trained 120 new pastors [see note].
This Carol is ‘Christmassy’ largely because of its opening line – everything else about it is pure gospel, and is a delight.

Hark, the glad sound

Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long!
Let every heart prepare a throne,
and every voice a song.

On Him the Spirit largely poured
Exerts its sacred fire;
wisdom and might, and zeal and love
His holy breast inspire.

He comes the prisoners to release
In Satan’s bondage held;
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasure of His grace
Enrich the humble poor.

The silver trumpets publish loud
The Jubilee of the Lord;
Our debts are all remitted now,
Our heritage restored.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And heaven’s eternal arches ring
With Thy beloved Name.

Maybe we should add this in to our regular Christmas sets? See how it goes?
Note:
A non-conformist pastor was a church leader who refused to conform to the Church of England. These pastors generally started new congregations which they felt refleted more accurately the teaching of Scripture – these included Baptists. Doddridge was Congregational.
See Ian Bradley, Book of Hymns, 2005, London, Continuum Books

Short review: Why the Church Needs Her Memory

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023Lex Loizides1 Comment

Andrew Wilson: Spirit and Sacrament / Thomas C Oden: A Change of Heart

Two rather different books. Although I like Andrew very much, I didn’t expect to like Andrew’s book, having something of an inbuilt resistance to church traditions and, I hope, a rejection of the form of religion without the power. And I suspect the readers most influenced by Spirit and Sacrament have been non-charismatics and not the other way around. Nevertheless, the insights, the impulse towards restoring memory, and of course, acknowledging that even newly planted charismatic congregations do in fact begin to build a ‘liturgy’ – a regular form of worship in our church services – were interesting (no, not in that dismissive, ‘How interesting…’ way). I reckon this crisp, highly readable, sometimes funny, short book may be the perfect gift for your non-charismatic friend. His chapter arguing for the continuance of the biblical gifts of the Spirit is superb.

Thomas Oden is now something of a legend. My first encounter with him was in his astonishing book ‘How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity’. It is a true stunner. I couldn’t put it down and have recommended it continuously since. Many of the earliest patristic theologians and church teachers were African, and their intellectual rigour shaped European Christianity. Intellectual and theological rigour, with permanent global influence on the Christian church, moved from Africa to Europe. In the earliest centuries it wasn’t just from the Middle East to the South, or Europe to the South, but from Africa into the North. We’ve forgotten this, or not been told it clearly. We still have the idea that Christianity arrived in Africa in the 19th Century. Read the book.

This volume – A Change of Heart – is Oden’s autobiography and traces his growth out of nominal, liberal, political thinking, as a professional theologian, to his thorough conversion largely through rediscovering the early church fathers – many of whom were African. He discovered that, rather than evangelicalism being an aberration, that in fact the theologically aware evangelicals were actually harmonising with the consensual classical Christianity of the first few centuries. How had the church somehow lost this memory? His story culminates in his acceptance by the evangelical community and his attempts to unite widely differing church traditions and denominations through a rediscovery of patristic orthodoxy. Again, fascinating stuff, and I am longing to somehow get hold of the Ancient Christian Commentary on the Bible (some 30 volumes – I’ve been longing for several years now), and have ordered several more theological and historical books by Oden. Please start with ‘How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind’. It is utterly gripping.

This biography will serve you if you’re keen to see how the seminaries buttressed an anti-biblical mindset through the 60s and 70s, and how God can break through to the mind and heart of one of its champions. This review is too long already, but I must add some quotes. The point of both books is: the church needs her memory whether charismatic or scripturally orthodox, and preferably both.

Wisdom from Thomas Oden (US spelling retained)

As a professional theologian in the 1960s

‘I was finding that the confessional glue that had held the modem ecumenical movement together was becoming leftist politics just at the time I was in the slow process of recognizing their disastrous consequences. All of this poured out of my heart in an instant during that protest march when I finally grasped that I was in the wrong place.’

‘I was finally coming to understand that my generation of ecumenists had deeply disrupted the fragile unity of the body of Christ in an attempt to heal it. I felt to some extent personally responsible. I had been party to tearing down church institutions that could not easily be replaced and moral traditions that would take decades to rebuild. ‘

‘My generation of idealists had been uncritically convinced we could build something better, more faithful, more humane than all that we had received from all of the previous generations. I could see that what was emerging was nothing like what we had anticipated.’

The return to genuine Christianity

‘I had been enamored with novelty. Candidly, I had been in love with heresy. Now I was waking up from this enthrallment to meet a two thousand year stable memory.’

‘THE DREAM OF UNORIGINALITY
The tombstone said “He made no new contribution to theology.” In the season of Epiphany 1971 I had a curious dream in which I was in the New Haven cemetery and accidentally stumbled upon my own tombstone with this puzzling epitaph: “He made no new contribution to theology?.” I woke up refreshed and relieved.’

‘I had worked hard to get an education, but now I had to work even harder to overcome the education I got.’

‘I was going through a cycle of learning, unlearning and relearning. That is best seen in my joyful reception, then in my sophisticated rejection, then later in my embracing the hymns of my childhood. When I first sang them, I knew naively that God had come in the flesh. Then I learned that God had not really come in the flesh but rather in some symbolic sense acceptable to modern assumptions. At last I learned to recover the uncomplicated truth that God precisely becomes human in the flesh, dies for me, rises again and saves me from my sins. All these are viewed by consensual Christianity as historical events.’

‘After rediscovering the ancient Christian writers, my mind has steadily focused on making no new contribution to theology, but to adhere closely to the unchangeable, irreversible and unalterable apostolic tradition.’

‘Evangelicals have continued to flourish, living out of a history of revivalism that has often been thought to be philosophically immature or historically naive. But now evangelical, charismatic, Baptist and Pentecostal traditions are rediscovering the actual twenty centuries of the history of the Holy Spirit. Among the children of the Great Evangelical Awakening, a reawakening in orthodoxy teaching is emerging, in part grounded on consensual exegesis.’

Finally, some comments on the African contribution to global Christianity

‘The further I pursued the Africa thesis, the more I confirmed that out of early Africa came Christianity’s most brilliant early intellects (Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement and Origen) and texts (philosophical, religious and moral) that would put a permanent stamp on Western European culture, and would come to dominate much of Western thought. This African priority was recognized and acknowledged in the fourth century by Cappadocians (Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus), Syrians (Ephrem), Greek writers (Evagrius Ponticus), and Romans (Rufinus), but the African roots of these consensual teachings were later disregarded, not remembered by Europeans.’

The last word: Read Thomas Oden!

[All Oden quotes from Thomas C Oden (2014), A Change of Heart. Downers Grove, IL, IVP]

Our Need of Revival

August 17, 2023August 21, 2023Lex Loizides1 Comment

‘Optics’
What a strange word to have entered the evangelical lexicon! How things look. How things appear. Optics. Stage lighting is fine, but the word is mainly used for presenting the best version of things. I just wonder if we’re too concerned about communicating what’s going well, and perhaps not communicating enough our desperate need for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not that we should rubbish what’s currently happening, or become cynical. Not at all. There truly are wonderful things happening in local churches, away from the headline-grabbing failures of church leaders.
But we should not to give up on the idea of revival – a sudden and glorious manifestation of God’s presence, with conviction and power – NOT because it’s a pipe-dream, but because it has been a historical reality. Again and again. God does this. It’s just a fact.

Wales, 1857
In a West Glamorgan gathering of Baptists, in 1857, ‘Phillips of Loughor preached on “The Danger of Religious Lukewarmness”. These statements reflect a condition of uncertainty and frustration in the churches. On the one hand, the preaching of the Word was not without its effect, but on the other hand, the churches were prone to be too readily satisfied with a limited success. They failed to realise the inadequacy of ordinary means to meet effectively the grave situation which faced them.'[1]

Preach and Pray Unashamedly for the Need for the Holy Spirit
This was a time when Charles Hodge was happy to preach on ‘Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord.’ (Zech 4.6) and respectable Christian leaders published on ‘The Promise of the Holy Spirit’. [2] By the middle of 1858 it was becoming evident that more folk were attending church, getting converted, and becoming members. And still, no resistance to an actual outpouring of the Spirit. No hint of ‘We’ve already got the Bible, we don’t need these experiences of the Holy Spirit.’ Rather, there was an increasing call among the Welsh churches for ‘the necessity for the work of the Spirit to secure a religious awakening.’ [3]

‘The Descent of the Holy Spirit’
And in May 1858 at the Assembly of the Baptists we read: ‘Proposed by Dr. Davies, and seconded by the Rev Owen Williams – “that the first Sunday in August should be spent by the churches in prayer for a more extensive outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them.”‘[4] A similar resolution was made by the Congregationalists and William Griffiths of Llanharan wrote, ‘When the stated Sabbath arrived, we were blessed with remarkable earnestness at the throne of grace for the descent of the Holy Spirit to revive the Church and convert the world. Ever since that memorable Sabbath, the prayer meetings presented a new aspect – they gradually increased in warmth and number during the following months. This continued to February [1859] … when it pleased Jehovah to pour down His Spirit from on high, as on the day of Pentecost.'[5]

Honest Desperation!
Again, there’s absolutely no hint of defensiveness, of ‘we’ve already got the Holy Spirit, and we’ve already got the Word, so all is well.’ There’s nothing of that with these evangelical leaders who know they need an intervention of God, and had heard that He was doing remarkable things in America at that time. ‘Where is the Lord God of Elijah?’ is still a valid and acceptable prayer. The age of wonders is not past, and God can break in even today.

We need the Holy Spirit today. The churches need Him. Individual Christians need Him. The world needs Him, both to be convinced of the truth of Christ, and to have Christ’s work powerfully applied to their lives. Our kids need Him. They need a first-hand encounter with the true and living God. So do we. Surely we can pray unashamedly for a fresh outpouring of His power and mercy!

For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

[1] Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.28 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)
[2] ibid p30, 32
[3] ibid p35
[4] ibid p36
[5] ibid p37

Image: http://churchstagedesignideas.com/beams-of-strings/

FREE – Beginnings, a study for new believers

July 19, 2023July 19, 2023Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

one-on-one-beginnings Download

Church Growth in Wales, 1859 (part 4)

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

Penllwyn Calvinistic Methodist Chapel ℅ Google — *Penllwyn Calvinistic Methodist Chapel (Google)*

Surprising Additions to the Churches
A characteristic of the revivals in Wales, Ireland, and England in the 19th Century was church growth. The term ‘revival’ wasn’t often used merely to describe meetings where Christians were refreshed and revived, but included definite additions to church membership, and often in the thousands across many churches.

The Rev T Edwards, one of Penllwyn’s pastors, writing in the first few days of the sudden outpouring of the Spirit in Wales in 1859, says, ‘The additions to the churches in a very short period have been incredibly numerous. Now, at the end of February (1859) we could name more than twenty churches, each of which has received an addition of one hundred members, and several have received more than two hundred each. In many neighbourhoods, very few persons remain who have not made a profession of religion.’

Three thousand added
‘There are considerable additions to the parish churches, (where the ministers have church meetings or societies), and to the Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans. About three thousand have been added to the Calvinistic Methodists alone. The fire is spreading still.’ [1]

Fears that ‘revivals’ are superficial
The fear is understandable, that when people seem caught up in something highly emotional, especially religious emotion, it may be superficial. Where’s the long term fruit? Almost every responsible reporter of local revivals, especially pastors, are the first to ask those questions. See the posts on Jonathan Edwards a century earlier. He had to defend the outpouring of the Spirit in his day.
The pastors in Wales during the 1859 revival were no different, but felt compelled to move from nervousness to full-blown support of revival by so many proofs of God’s power at work not only among believers, but remarkably among non-believers too – bringing them to Christ. Welsh Pastor T Edwards again:

‘God is at work!’
‘Most of us, however, have lost these fears, and we cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that God is at work, saving the souls of men. We see that something awfully strong takes hold of the minds of the people.
Some, after they are deeply wounded under the ministry, attempt to go away. We have seen numbers with weeping eyes leaving the house of God, but unable to go further than the door they feel compelled to return again, and offer themselves as candidates for admission into the Church. In some cases entire families have done this.’

‘The worst characters…appear to have been ‘shot’ by the truth.’
‘You might see, at the close of the public service, twenty or thirty of the worst characters remaining behind, to be spoken to and prayed for. They appear as if they had been shot by the truth. They are as easily managed as lambs. Some who had persecuted the revival have been led to cry, “What must we do to be saved?”‘ [2]

Oh for similar moves of God in our day!

More next time…
For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

[1] Quoted by Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.21 (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)
[2] ibid. p.20

Can we Prepare for Revival? (Wales 1859, part 3)

March 18, 2023Lex Loizides1 Comment

One of the delights of reading about revivals of the past is the fact that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Heb 13.8) And that we cry, ‘Oh that You would rend the heavens, and come down!’ (Isa 64.1) One of the key questions we’re left with is, ‘Can we make this happen? Can we get ready, or prepare?’

The pre-revival condition of the Welsh Bible-believing churches
Eifion Evans writes that by 1858 ‘the churches had declined to an alarming state of deadness and barrenness. The means of grace had become more or less a formality, made unattractive to the world by the coldness even of its orthodoxy; sinful practices were rampant and carried on openly without any sense of shame; the Church was spiritually “asleep”, oblivious of its mission to the world, and satisfied with its lukewarmness.’

‘Popular’ preaching, lack of willingness to do the work
‘The prayer meetings were not burdened for the souls of the unconverted, and preaching was theoretical, oratorical and “popular” in the worst sense.
Thus, E. Richardson writes in the Drysorfa for June, 1854: “We must confess that we have become too formal, lukewarm and unwilling in the work of the Lord generally in these days, but especially so in our prayer meetings”…
…By and large the churches were orthodox in their beliefs. but ineffective in their witness.’ [1]

Evans also refers to the fact that many of the churches were faithful doctrinally, just lukewarm: ‘There was much compromise with the world: there were petty grievances and jealousies within the churches; and the blight of traditionalism crippled much of the Church’s young life and zeal [and] men would speak of “the good old days” of bygone revivals…’ [2]

Too satisfied with limited success
‘On the one hand,’ Evans continues, ‘the preaching of the Word was not without its effect, but on the other hand, the churches were prone to be too readily satisfied with a limited success. They failed to realise the inadequacy of ordinary means to meet effectively the grave situation which faced them.’ [3]

But can we do anything?
David Morgan of Ysbyty Ystwyth (true story, a lovely village in Ceredigion), writing in his diary in 1855 declared, ‘It is a big thing to have a feeling that God would revive His work. Whoever possesses such a feeling will be compelled to do all he can to revive the Lord’s work. By reading the history of the Church we find that the great cause fluctuates up and down through the ages, but that, whenever the Lord drew near to save there was some considerable expectancy amongst the godly for His coming. As well as praying, we should be doing our utmost to revive the work. So did the godly of old: they prayed and they worked.’ [4]

And the power and the presence of the Lord broke through!
Thomas Phillips, in a classic example of wonder and excitement, describes what it’s like to be in genuine revival: ‘The character of this revival is deeply interesting, and its results have already been most marvellous. It may well be doubted whether anything has taken place in Ireland, or in America, or in any part of the world, since the Day of Pentecost, more truly wonderful than the revival at Festiniog…’ [5]

That sounds absurd. Ah, but reader read on! Indeed, we are used to hearing claims of ‘revival’ from time to time, and often they are seasons of refreshing upon believers. But, unless it comes from a shameless charlatan, if we should ever hear a pastor or reporter seriously claim that nothing like what they are seeing has been seen since the Day of Pentecost, it is quite possible a real breakthrough is happening. Even Jonathan Edwards had to defend himself against claims of exaggeration and wild enthusiasm. More of that later, and more of the Welsh breakthrough coming up… Let’s pray (oh…and work)!

For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

[1] Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.23 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)
[2] ibid. p.26
[3] ibid. p.28
[4] ibid. p.25
[5] Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.x (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)

Revival in Wales, 1859 part 2

March 13, 2023Lex Loizides1 Comment

Wales, land of revival
By 1859, Welsh pastors and churches were not strangers to sudden and overwhelming outpourings of the Holy Spirit. The nation had been powerfully impacted by the ministry of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland a century before. Harris’s passion and service was legendary, and the sheer number of conversions was staggering.

But there were numerous smaller revivals before 1859. It may be helpful to note that by using the word ‘revival’ I’m referring to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit which impacts both the church – existing born again Christians – but reaches beyond the churches’ meetings, drawing non-believers to Christ, and usually accompanied by a life-changing awareness of the presence of God. Those who are not followers of Christ are powerfully convinced of their sin, and their need to repent and come to Christ. A sense of God’s power is felt. An unusually high number of genuine conversions take place, and that unusually high number of people are added to the churches. It’s not always about thousands, but often is. And very often moderate and mature ministers and pastors will say that nothing compares to what they are experiencing except Acts chapter 2. That’s a feature of genuine revival: the comparison to Acts 2. But more of that later.

Snapshots of two revivals before 1859
– Bala, 1791/2
‘At Bala, Thomas Charles could also speak of a revival, and in a letter dated January 26th, 1792, he writes of the work, that it was, ‘very gracious…very powerful…growing…general… lasting.’ It had commenced in October 1791, when Thomas Charles was preaching at the chapel in Bala on a Sunday. The Spirit’s powerful workings were felt particularly in the evening service: ‘about nine or ten o’clock at night’, he says, ‘there was nothing to be heard from one end of the town to the other, but the cries and groans of people in distress of soul.'[1]

– Beddgelert, 1817
‘After years of spiritual dearth and moral darkness, the faithful of Zion were witnessing the desire of two or three to join with them in fellowship. This stirred them to seek God with renewed zeal, but the outcome of their prayers far surpassed their imaginations or desires. The next notable incident occurred in the Sunday School at Beddgelert. The young women of one of the Sunday School classes were moved to tears while reading a portion of St. John’s Gospel. Further demonstrations of the Spirit’s power were evident in the means of grace during the succeeding weeks, until the most powerful influences were felt, and the work spread abroad rapidly. The revival was experienced throughout North Wales, and certain parts of the South were also blessed. Some thousands were added to the church.'[2]

Angelic singing?
‘An unusual phenomenon in this revival was the “singing in the air” which many reliable witnesses had heard. The sound of heavenly, angelic voices, sweetly and softly joined in harmony, without any apparent melody, was overpowering. The effect on the hearer was to render him incapable of movement as though nailed to the spot.’ [3]

Additions to the churches
‘During the years 1817-22 many parts of Wales were awakened, the work being by no means confined to the Calvinistic Methodists. The Baptists received more than 8,000 into membership between 1816 and 1822, and many Congregational churches in the counties of South Wales were blessed with revival.’ [4]

We have perhaps got better at strategy, at organising and managing churches, at planting churches, and helping them grow and train leaders. All good. But at the same time I wonder if we have allowed ourselves to consider prayer for revival, or even reading histories of revivals, as a kind of nostalgic hope; a kind of unreality. But the Bible says, that our God is the God who is, and was, and is to come. ‘I am the same, yesterday, today, and forever,’ says the Lord. Maybe by reading and praying, and seeking His face, God would be gracious to us, and do what we cannot do.

More to follow…
For the beginning of this series on the 1859 Welsh revival click here

[1] Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.12 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)
[2] ibid p.15
[3] ibid p.15
[4] ibid p.16

Revival! It’s time to pray!

March 8, 2023March 13, 2023Lex Loizides7 Comments

‘Thank God, the days in which we now live are days of blessedness and glory! The Kingdom of Christ is now everywhere making unexampled progress. Sinners are being brought to repentance, not in small numbers – ‘one of a city, and two of a family (or tribe)’ – but in multitudes!’ Thomas Phillips [1]

Beginning with this post I am going to tell the story of the 1859 revival in Wales. I’ll confine myself mainly to two sources (although feel free to send me more in the comments section): Thomas Phillips’ The Welsh Revival: its origin and development (Banner of Truth), and Eifion Evans’ excellent Revival Comes to Wales (Evangelical Press of Wales).

We’ve been stirred once again by news of ‘outpourings‘ upon believers, and of a deeper commitment to Christ among them. May that news from around the globe, and even these posts about God’s amazing work in Wales in the 19th Century, stir you to prayer for an outpouring of the Spirit that propels the church into the world, and draws unbelievers to Christ and to His purposes.

Eifion Evans: ‘To the vast majority of Welsh churches in 1859, revival was neither a new nor a strange phenomenon. Many of their members had witnessed previous manifestations of God’s presence and power, even if they had not experienced them themselves.
Consequently, when news reached Wales that a remarkable revival had broken out in America, most of the leaders in the churches were fully aware of the implications and effects of such a gracious, divine visitation.
They were constrained to survey their own spiritual condition, and became gravely concerned at finding a serious deficiency in true godliness amongst the members, and an alarming ineffectiveness in the witness of the churches.
As they applied themselves to prayer, they requested that God should do in their land what He had been pleased to do so many times before within living memory, and what He was doing at that time in America.’ [2]

In the posts that will follow, we’ll be astonished at the sheer power of the Spirit of God as He works among communities, and in the transformation of individual lives of non-Christians, bringing them to genuine repentance and faith in Christ. We’ll see that churches, which had begun to accept the decline of Christianity in their towns, were revolutionised by an influx of newly converted men and women. Oh, let’s pray for such an outpouring again. For the early and latter rain of God’s Spirit upon us and in our cities.

Click here to read about some powerful Holy Spirit revivals in Wales

[1] Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.viii (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)
[2] Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.9 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)

The Gift of Tongues

November 25, 2022November 26, 2022Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

In the early 1960s a conservative Episcopalian journalist, John Sherrill, was commissioned to write an investigative book on Pentecostalism. He began consulting with academics and church historians to see if this was a worthwhile pursuit. He was surprised to discover that they spoke of Pentecostalism not in terms of small churches, or a single denomination, but of an apparently unstoppable global movement growing by millions every year. The academics claimed that, in terms of its breadth of influence, and size, that this was the most significant religious shift since the Reformation.

So Sherrill got to work, and part of his investigation was examining its distinctive features. He soon found that the experience of the baptism, or infilling, of the Spirit followed by the gift of tongues was a key distinctive.

The definition of ‘tongues’: Tongues is a prayer language not learned but which is spoken out by the believer usually after being filled with the Holy Spirit, and which then becomes a regular part of their spiritual life.

Testing the claims
He interviewed people of all denominations who had experienced being filled with the Spirit and who spoke in tongues. They claimed to have received these various languages as a gift. They weren’t making up the sounds. Could he test whether that claim was true?

‘I’d decided to get some tape recordings of people speaking in tongues, with the idea of playing them back for some language experts and seeing what they made of it all.’

He invited people to come and make the recordings at his publisher’s offices in New York. He tried unsuccessfully to sound-proof the room, with hilarious results as his fellow-workers eagerly listened to whatever it was that was happening inside.

Speaking in tongues – What does the Bible say?
At the same time he needed to find out whether this was a legitimate part of Christian worship. Here’s some of his results:

He discovered the New Testament contains some 30 references to tongues, and that they were used in different ways:

to exalt the greatness of God, not only as a one-time event but as a regular spiritual exercise
to build up the believer in prayer;
– that they helped the believer pray when he wasn’t sure what to pray for, or in worship;
– that they were spoken out in public meetings, followed by an interpretation by someone else, and that this combination invigorated the church gatherings.

In terms of Paul’s response to tongues he found:
‘there was no sense of surprise about tongues…He accepts them without discussion as a genuine part of the Christian experience.’
that Paul considered the Holy Spirit to be the source of tongues, and that their use is appointed by God
that they are given for ‘useful purpose..the strengthening of the one who uses them.’
that he is not teaching about them theoretically, ‘but from personal experience. He himself uses tongues extensively.’ ‘I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all…’ 14.18
that he not only prays in tongues but sings in tongues too 1 Cor 14.15
that he does not expect the tongue to be understood by the hearers
that not everyone in the church speaks in tongues
that he encourages them, ‘Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues.’ 14.5
and that one of the cautions them, ‘do not forbid speaking in tongues’. 14.39

But, he asked, why is there a gift of tongues? He asked one of those tongues speakers: ‘What’s the use of speaking in tongues?’ She replied, ‘The only way I can answer that is to say… ‘What is the use of a sunset? Just sheer, unmitigated uplift, just joy unspeakable and with it health and peace and rest and release from burdens and tensions.’

In the end, rather than focus on Pentecostalism as such, Sherrill called his book, ‘They Speak with Other Tongues’. He recounts instances where someone praying in tongues in church is discovered to be praying in a known language with highly specific knowledge of a visitor. These are amazing accounts, but relatively rare. Tongues usually are unknown languages.

Language experts examine the taped recordings of people speaking in tongues
After making recordings he gathered six language experts to examine a selection of the tapes: Two specialists in modern languages, three in ancient languages, and an expert in language structure. They convened at Columbia University:

‘I was interested in their reactions to our experiment. They were extremely attentive, dubious without being hostile. As I put on the first tape each one leaned forward, straining to catch every syllable. Several took notes…For the better part of an hour we listened to one prayer after another, spoken ‘in the Spirit’.’

‘There were some interesting observations… One of the linguists reported that although he did not identify words he felt that one tape had been structured in much the same way as a modern poem is structured. ‘Modern poetry depends upon sound as much as upon verbal meaning to get across its message,’ he said. ‘In this one prayer, I felt that although I didn’t understand the literal sense of her words, I did catch the emotional content of what she was saying. It was a hymn of love. Beautiful.’…
‘Although no language known to these men was recorded, they frequently identified language patterns on the tapes. The shape of real language, the variety of sound combinations, infrequency of repetition and so forth, is virtually impossible, they said, to reproduce by deliberate effort…

Fake tongues exposed!
‘I had slipped onto the tapes two instances of pure made-up gibberish, one by our son, Scott, and one by Tib [his wife]. They had tried to sound as much as possible like the tongues on the rest of the tapes, but the linguists spotted the deception immediately.

“That’s not language,’ one man said. ‘That’s just noise.”‘

The academics were impressed. And Sherrill was impressed that these unknown tongues had definite structural similarities to known languages. He continues,

‘I had always read the opening words of St Paul’s great thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,’ in a poetic sense…But there is no doubt in my mind now that Paul was speaking of tongues in the specific Pentecostal sense, and of angel tongues as one variety of these.’

Read the book for the rest of John Sherrill’s story! It’s an intriguing read!

Other books by John Sherrill include:
The Cross and the Switchblade (about David Wilkerson) – John and Elizabeth Sherrill
God’s Smuggler (about Brother Andrew) – John and Elizabeth Sherrill
The Hiding Place (about Corrie Ten Boom) – John and Elizabeth Sherrill
The Happiest People on Earth (about the ‘Full Gospel’s business fellowship) – John and Elizabeth Sherrill
My Friend the Bible – – John Sherrill

Alan Paton: Instrument of Thy Peace

April 16, 2022Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

As you can probably guess, this isn’t my normal type of read. But I was intrigued that Alan Paton, anti-apartheid agitator, and author of Cry, the Beloved Country, had written a devotional.

Published in the UK at the height of the apartheid years in the old South Africa, there is a kind of serenity in the midst of ever-tightening injustice, which comes through in his meditations.

The book is based on a famous soul-guiding prayer of Francis of Assisi. The prayer is better than the book, and is worth praying through, clause by clause.

The Prayer
‘Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is sadness, joy;
where there is darkness, light.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; not so much to be understood, as to understand; not so much to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying the we are born again to eternal life.’

Whatever your Christian background or tradition, and whatever else we may think of Francis and the traditions surrounding him, this is good prayer to pray; a good prayer to re-focus us on our character, and on our desire to serve those around us.

The Wit and Wisdom of Charles Spurgeon

February 17, 2022Lex LoizidesLeave a comment

One of the many remarkable things about CH Spurgeon was his quick wit. His lectures and sermons to preachers and leaders are full of ‘street smart’ wisdom. And his much loved alter-ego John Ploughman was created largely as a result of his early years spent learning from rural working people rather than in the cloister of a formal education (although as a self-taught man he made every effort to be very well-read). I hope you’ll enjoy some of these sanctified zingers!

Don’t criticise the Preacher!
‘If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons, it would be a righteous judgement upon them; but they would soon cry out with Cain, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!”’1

‘I heard one say, the other day, that a certain preacher had no more gifts for the ministry than an oyster, and in my own judgement this was a slander on the oyster, for that worthy bivalve shows great discretion in his openings, and he also knows when to close.’2

‘Rest assured that there is nothing new in theology except that which is false.’3

Don’t criticise the Church!
‘Our daydreams are over: we shall neither convert the world to righteousness, not the church to orthodoxy. We refuse to bear responsibilities which do not belong to us, for our real responsibilities are more than enough. Certain wise brethren are out to reform their denomination. They ride out gallantly. Success be to the champions! They are generally wiser when they ride home again.’4

‘When we see the wonderful activity of the servants of Satan, and how much they accomplish, we may well be ashamed of ourselves that we do so little for our Redeemer, and that the little is often done so badly that it takes as long to set it right as we spent in the doing of it.’5

‘A religion that cannot stand a little laughter must be a very rotten one.’6

Don’t intrude on my Self-fulfilment!
‘A brain is a very hungry thing indeed, and he who possesses it must constantly feed it by reading, and thinking, or it will shrivel up or fall asleep.’7

‘I would not wish for any man a long time of sickness and pain; but a twist now and then one might almost ask for him…Trials drive us to the realities of religion.’8

‘Idle men tempt the devil to tempt them.’9

‘There’s Mrs Scamp as fine as a peacock, all the girls out at boarding-school, learning French and the piano, the boys swelling about in gloves, and GB Scamp Esq., driving a fast-trotting mare, and taking the chair at public meetings, while his poor creditors cannot get more than enough to live from hand to mouth. It is shameful beyond endurance to see how genteel swindling is winked at by many. If I had my way, I’d give them the county crop, and the prison garb for six months; gentlemen or not, I let them see that big rogues could dance on the treadmill to the same tune as little ones. I’d make the land too hot to hold such scamping gentry if I were a member of Parliament, or a prime minister.’10

‘The dog in the kennel barks at fleas; the hunting dog does not even know they are there.’11

‘Self-praise is no recommendation. A man’s praise smells sweet when it comes out of other men’s mouths…Good men know themselves too well to chant their own praises…Good cheese sells itself without puffery. when men are really excellent, people find it out.’12

In praise of good thinking and good theology
It cannot do any hurt to the most lively evangelist to be also a sound theologian, and it may often be the means of saving him from gross blunders.’13

‘I am sure that no preaching will last so long, or build up a church so well, as the expository.’14

‘Christian labours, disconnected from the church, are like sowing and reaping without having any barn in which to store the fruits of the harvest; they are useful, but incomplete.’15

‘To know Christ, is to understand the most excellent of all sciences.’16

‘There is power in a happy ministry.’17

‘Rash vows are much better broken than kept.’18

‘It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.’19

‘I would advise no one to attempt a thing which will cost more than it is worth.’20

‘Hard work is the grand secret of success.’21

‘He who respects his wife will find that she respects him. With what measure he metes it shall be measured to him again, good measure, pressed down, and running over. He who consults his wife will have a good counsellor.’22

One of the few photos of Spurgeon looking genuinely relaxed and happy. Here he is with his team.

Here – for the time being – endeth my underlined quotes from various CH Spurgeon books. I don’t think there’s been one of his books I haven’t gleaned some excellent insight from. And I would encourage you, if you have not yet discovered his rich expression of devotion and evangelistic passion, then go on the hunt until you have something by him. In the mean time, if you’re in a situation where buying his books is not possible, feel free to scroll down or search for Spurgeon on this site, as well as numerous others, and enjoy the feast.

For the first post in this extended series on Spurgeon click here

1 CHS, sermon, Forward
2 CHS, sermon, Forward
3 CHS, sermon, Faith
4 CHS, sermon, What we would be
5 CHS, sermon, Light. Fire. Faith. Life. Love
6 CHS, sermon, John Mark; or Haste in Religion
7 CHS, sermon, Light. Fire. Faith. Life. Love
8 CHS, sermon, The Minister in these Times
9 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
10 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
11 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
12 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
13 CHS, sermon, Forward
14 CHS, sermon, Forward
15 CHS, sermon, How to Meet the Evils of the Age 16 CHS, sermon, Forward
17 CHS, sermon, Light. Fire. Faith. Life. Love
18 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
19 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
20 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
21 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk
22 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk

Most Pleasurable Read

Most Important Read

Historical Delights

Truth, and Truth-Telling

Words and Thoughts

The Rest

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Orwell on Christianity

Orwell recognises that Christian ethics resist fascism

Without agreeing with specifics, Orwell sees the decline of Christianity as a great loss

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Why read Orwell?

The Novels

The Other Novels

The Non-Fiction

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Christian Teaching

Leadership/Character

Literary fiction

Biography

History

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Hark, the glad sound

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Wisdom from Thomas Oden (US spelling retained)

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