Broken Cisterns
Arnold Cook
As a church leader, I am concerned
about the subject of revival. My background
is conversion at the age of 11, in a dying
church out in the country. Then at age 20, I
was invited to go to a conference where the
speaker gave messages on truths I had never
heard before. God had moved me in His
providence into a church that was in the
middle of a revived state, and that church left
on me an indelible imprint that has lasted
and served me well over the years.
In that church I sensed the
supernatural. I sensed it in their
spontaneous evangelism. They had just
finished a crusade of two weeks that was
extended another four weeks because people
kept getting saved. God also impressed upon
me in that revived church the power of
corporate prayer. I learned about radical
deeper life teaching. God was there,
transforming lives in a miraculous way. I had
not known the Holy Spirit existed, but
learning about Him, I gave myself fully over to
the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Now at this stage in my life, valuing as I
do the rich heritage I received from revived
churches, I question: what will my generation
pass on to the next generation in terms of
bequeathing the supernatural? A great
burden on my heart is: how can we pass on
the supernatural?
Desperate Need For God's Visitation!
Today I see things happening in
churches that concern me. I see church
conflicts up and preaching on revival down. I
see conflict resolution seminars popular; I see
corporate prayer dying. I see infatuation with
the social sciences high; I see theology being
given benign neglect in many churches.
Enthusiasm for structural renewal is high
and strong, but hunger for spiritual renewal
tends to be weak. I see transfer church growth
common; I see conversion church growth
rather uncommon. The encouraging thing is,
I do hear the voices of some prophets crying
out about such things.
We are in desperate need of God's
visitation upon us! There is a tendency of
organizations, including the Church, to begin
strong and with a vision. They become a
healthy, powerful movement. But eventually
they begin to decline, and if that is not curbed
and turned around, we drift on down to the
stage where God lifts His hand and moves on
with someone else. He writes over the top of
those movements, “Ichabod--the Glory has
departed.” I see this happening, and my
conclusion of the process is:
(1) It is inevitable.
(2) It can be curbed by strong,
courageous, godly vision, making tough
decisions on the downward path.
(3) It can be reversed by God-sent revival
and renewal.
Over history there is much evidence of
what happens when God moves in spiritual
awakenings. Out of that comes all kinds of
new movements. God raises up His Church
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