Recently a furor has erupted within the ranks of the evangelical world over the nature and character of revival. More interested in sensational manifestations than in genuine repentance, more concerned with style than substance, more inclined to follow the broad way of emotional fashion and fancy than the narrow road of biblical obedience and discipleship, modern revivalism has actually become a caricature of true revival. Hanegraaff's book is a sobering look at the very worst of shallow religious hucksterism. On the other side of this contentious tumult is the Hebraic scholar Michael Brown. You asserts that whenever true revival occurs, some excesses are inevitable.
Bright lights attract big bugs.
Even the preaching of the apostle Peter attracted Simon the Sorcerer. Indeed, he argues that when critics of revival paint with too broad a brush they become guilty of the very excesses they caution against. Combining keen scholarship, historical acumen, biblical fidelity, and prophetic zeal, Mr. Brown paints an entirely different picture of many of the people, places, and events than that of Mr. Hanegraaff. An outpouring of revival in our own time, he admonishes, ought to be met with grateful faith, not with cynical doubt. The sermons collected here demonstrate his commitment to the sometimes disturbing signs of true repentance, of heartfelt praise, and of expressive affection that accompany providential visitations.