Revival and renewal

Revival and renewal in the north american church

A plan to bring about what the church most needs

George E. Rice, Ph.D., is the pastor of the Triadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church, Clarksville, Maryland, United States.

I often find myself daydreaming while reading the Bible, and I project myself into the biblical story and live the experience I am reading.

Encounters with God, the joy of victory, the agony of defeat, listening to the searching words of a prophet—all become real and personal.

For example, enter the story of Nehemiah and Ezra as they lead Israel into one of the great revivals recorded in the Old Testament. Priests, Levites, men, women, and children willingly lay aside their personal interests in order to be led by these two men into the spiritual rebirth of the nation and the accomplishment of God's will.

Nehemiah sets the stage: "Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for an other fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God" (Neh. 9:2,3, NKJV).

As they worship, their failure as God's chosen people is rehearsed within the hearing of all; confession is made. Acknowledging that God's judgments are just, the leaders rededicate themselves to the work God has given them. To demonstrate their earnestness, in the presence of the assembly they draw up a covenant, a commitment, and put their seals on it: "In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it" (verse 38, NIV). With that, God's intent that Jerusalem be rebuilt happens with amazing speed.

This is the stuff great daydreams are made of and by which far-reaching revival and reformation is inspired. A recommit ted leadership, rededicated pastors, a revived people, and the blessing of God produces a finished work. But upon awakening from such a daydream and facing reality, I have to ask, Can such a revival and reformation be realized within a church living in a postmodern society, moving into the twenty-first century?

Of course it can. It is a part of God's promise and plan for the final generation. A revived people and a finished work under the power of the Holy Spirit.

An emphasis on spiritual renewal

By the time this issue of Ministry reaches you, almost every Seventh-day Adventist pastor in the North American Division will be aware of the plan for a renewed commitment to the task God has called us to complete. Every church leader, pastor, and member is being encouraged to enter into an experience similar to that of the Israel of Nehemiah and Ezra's day. As these two men led Israel into spiritual renewal, affirming their intent by sealing a covenant with God, we are being challenged to do the same in the final year of both this century and this millennium.

It all began in March 1997 with a recommendation from a subcommittee at the ABC Managers' Convention that 1999 be named "Spirit of Prophecy Year." The recommendation also asked for the appointment of a committee to study ways in which Seventh-day Adventists in North America might be encouraged to read the works of Ellen White.

The recommendation was approved by NAD leadership and, as the committee met, members quickly recognized that much more was needed.

First, it was suggested that our membership in North America needs encouragement to return to daily Bible reading. After a study and discussion of Nehemiah and Ezra's experience, it was decided that a commitment to reading the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy should lay the foundation for a genuine spiritual revival. The committee recognized that a temporary, time-bound program to achieve these things was not sufficient; in deed, they saw that this spiritual renewal had to become a living experience that would last until Jesus returns.

Thus, the "Spiritual Emphasis Study Plan for the North American Division" was born. To accomplish its task, the committee laid out its agenda: (1) evaluate the challenges to be met in conceiving a division-wide revival, (2) consider all possibilities that might contribute to a revival based on the study of God's Word and the Spirit of Prophecy, (3) propose ideas to facilitate a recommitment to meaningful study, and (4) submit for approval a final recommendation for spiritual renewal to Elder Alfred McClure, NAD president.

For the success of such a division-wide plan, it is necessary to have the support of church leaders. Upon Elder McClure's approval, the "Spiritual Emphasis Study Plan" was presented to the Union presidents, and they committed themselves to make the "Plan" the highest spiritual priority in their unions.

A model for revival

As the pastor of a two-church district, I could assume the attitude, "Here is an other program coming down from the top that will only add to my work load and finally be lost in the crush of other programming. Isn't this, after all, just an other top-down initiative?" But, I urge my fellow pastors—think it through. This is the model set by Nehemiah and Ezra's great revival. The corporate leaders wrote out a covenant and committed themselves to obey the commandments of God, and in their leadership role they sealed it on be half of the body. The scriptural model for collective revival is commitment from the top down. This is established in several revivals found in the Old Testament. It is, after all, church leadership that, under God, is in a unique position to influence, sustain, and encourage a sweeping spiritual renewal.

"Wherever Ezra labored, there sprang up a revival in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Teachers were appointed to instruct the people." 1 Rethink the revival under Josiah. Jehoshaphat structured a support system from his leadership position, for a successful revival during his administration: "Jehoshaphat took steps to ensure to his people thorough instruction in the Holy Scriptures. The princes in charge of the different portions of his realm were directed to arrange for the faithful ministry of teaching priests. By royal appointment these instructors, working under the direct super vision of the princes, 'went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people' (2 Chron. 17:7-9). And as many endeavored to understand God's requirements and to put away sin, a revival was effected."2

The revival model in Scripture is summed up well by the following: "The spirit manifested by the leader will be, to a great extent, reflected by the people. If the leaders professing to believe the solemn, important truths that are to test the world at this time, manifest no ardent zeal to prepare a people to stand in the day of God, we must expect the church to be careless, indolent, and pleasure-loving."3

As the leaders of Israel set their seals to the covenant in their day, the Nehemiah/ Ezra model requires something similar to day. In fact, we are encouraged to do just that: "It would be a scene well-pleasing to God and angels, would his professed followers in this generation unite, as did Israel of old, in a solemn covenant to 'observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes.'"4

We have not seen a commitment within the Seventh-day Adventist Church to follow a model for revival similar to that of Nehemiah and Ezra's day. There will be the drawing up of a written covenant to be signed by leaders, leading the way for pas tors, and then for congregations to follow. It is, so to speak, a new concept. We are at that point in history when something new must be tried. "God calls for a revival and a reformation. The 'regular lines' have not done the work which God desires to see accomplished."5

Being ready to meet Jesus

Knowing that a spiritual renewal of the size and magnitude envisioned by the Spiritual Emphasis Study Plan committee is dead in the water without a commitment by church leadership and a support system, the following was done.

First, a written covenant was drawn up committing the signer to the daily study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. White, prayer, sharing, and service. This covenant was given to the church leaders assembled for the NAD year end meetings last November. Time was given for the examination of Nehemiah and Ezra's revival and of the role of leadership in the revival. Then the covenant was introduced. All the leaders were encouraged to sign the covenant as the initial step in following the counsel given to us and in beginning the revival that will see the church through history's final events and into the kingdom. My union and conference presidents signed the covenant. Now it is up to us as pastors to take up the challenge, commit ourselves to a division-wide spiritual renewal, and to carry this experience to our congregations.

If the conference leadership and the pastors are behind the spiritual renewal, the battle will be more than half won. To aid the pastor, a pocket-sized book has been prepared, entitled Getting Ready to Meet Jesus. This is a practical "how to" guide for lay people. Its format follows the four points of the covenant—study, prayer, sharing, and service. The practical guide is followed by a "Bible Reading Plan for One Year" and a "Spirit of Prophecy Five-Year Reading Pro gram." It is hoped that this book will be one of several ingredients in the all-important support system that will be introduced into each NAD conference and church.

In the Chesapeake Conference where I pastor, once the "Spiritual Emphasis Study Plan" has been introduced to the pastors of the Conference, I, as a local pastor, will take it to the elders and church boards of my two churches. Our church boards and elders are leaders in their own right, and it is important that they accept the biblical model for revival in their own churches.

A division-wide revival must reach out to all entities of God's work. The excitement of spiritual renewal must invade the literature, medical, and all levels of the educational work. Leaders within each of these areas, hospital administrators, class room teachers, and others must be introduced to the biblical model for revival and must catch the vision and thus assume their responsibility as leaders. All of these people are members of local congregations, of course, and will be exposed to the call to revival as it is presented by their pastors. But leaders in other branches of the work must take up the call to spiritual renewal and customize it to fit their situations.

God is calling us as a church with all of our various branches of work to a re newed experience with Him. He is waiting to pour out the Holy Spirit in the latter rain so His work can be completed. He waits for a commitment on the part of leadership and a determination on the part of all who carry responsibility to take the momentum of revival and deep renewal to the people. God wants us, as leaders and pastors, to put a support system into place so as revival occurs it will not be just a brief flash-in-the- pan. Events in history demand closure on the great controversy. We have the model to accomplish closure under the power of God. NAD leadership is committed to the model. Now it is up to us, the pastors, to carry it to the people.

1 Review and Herald, Feb. 27, 1908.

2 Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings (Nampa,
Idaho: Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1917), 191.

3 Ellen G. White, "Securing the Cooperation
of the People," Southern Watchman, March 29,
1904, vol. 13, no. 13,195,196.

4 Ellen G. White, "A Solemn Feast," Southern
Watchman
, June 7,1904, vol. 13, no. 23, 355, 356.

5 Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases 14 (Silver
Spring, Md.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1993), 204.


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George E. Rice, Ph.D., is the pastor of the Triadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church, Clarksville, Maryland, United States.

February 1999

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