Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-04-24
If Revival Should Come to Our
Town,


all believe in revivals, periods whel
the sense of Gods presence possesses
, changes and actuates human heart
, to an unwonted degree. Excesse
{ may accompany these seasons of spir
itual quickening, reactions may fol
low them, but the long history of tn,
, church would have been vastly differ
{ ent had there not been from time t
time such revival seasons. They gave
birth to mighty missionary ant
! philanthropic undertakings. The!
raised up leaders for Christian enter.
prises the world over. They put new
strength and fervor into the rank
and file. Despite the emphasis which
our age rightly places on cultured
methods, we have no reason to sup
pose that the revival has ceased to be
one of the instruments which God
uses in advancing his Kingdom
among men.
These being the facts in the case,
what would happen if a revival
should come to our town? Would
we all be glad to have such a revival
come and be prepared to welcome its
converts?
A revival means the devotion Of
an unusual amount of time and
thought to the things of the spirit
1t calls for the subordination of bust
ness and social affairs. This is just
what we promised to do when at the
altar We confessed Christ. With
what uplift of spirit did we sing,
Love so amazingly, so divine, de-
mands my soul, my life, my ALL" Per-
haps that was long time ago. Since
then other things, most of them
wholesome enough, have commanded
our interest. But if a revival were
to come to our town and we were to
have any vital part in it, we might
have to reconstruct our personal pro-
gram to considerable extent
A revival means readiness, even
eagerness, on the part of men and
women outside to hear and to heed
the gospel invitation. 1t impels
corresponding readiness on our part
to manifest in simple, natural ways
an interest in their spiritual welfare.
1t sends Andrew, not first Of all after
someone fifty miles away, but after
his own brother. II we have been in
the habit of shrinking from giving
the person next to us any indication
that Christ means something to us and
any desire that Christ should mean
something to him also, If we have
taken refuge in the beguiling notion
that when we share that which is
deepest in us with someone else we
are invading his privacy" then
revival makes us bit uneasy. But
should it come our way we might
have to reckon afresh with the New
Testament idea of the way in which
the life in Christ and the life for
Christ communicates itself among us.
A revival brings to the church
great amount of raw human material
to be instructed and nodded. Almost
staggering are the new duties and
responsibilities just now confronting
the Ashland churches. 1t is as if
business or a school keyed to GER
tain amount of activity were sudden
ly required to double its output. If
a revival came to our town, is our
Sunday school equipped to develop in
the convert a well-rounded, intelli-
gent, Christian character? Would |
his aspirations after goodness be
quickened in our prayer meeting or
would they undergo disastrous
chill? Are our services Of worship
and our social gatherings on such a
democratic basis that the newcomer
or scrub woman
rool - 1a,,oo
A revival provides the church with
potential energy for more effective
and far-reaching Christian service
Any man really changed by Christ
wants to go out and do something
'or Christ. Do we know our town,
is spiritual, moral, intellectual, So
,ial and industrial needs, well enough
o be able to direct new converts to
Christian tasks worthy of their zeal
md their capacity? Profitable it is
@ think of revivals, not so much in
he light of the personalities who
happen to figure in them, or the
lueer and Objectionable things that
ire sure to occur, but in the light of
he high and worthy purposes they
nay serve, in securing for the church
/ truer devotion on the part of its
members and in bringing to the
,hurch fresh battalions of recruits.
When any considerable number of
IS are ready to make spiritual con-
,erns dominant in our own lives, and
.actfully to persuade others to enter
nto an experience that is real and