Some of the occurrences of the fire of God have been so phenomenal as to make church history. I have written here before of the great Pyongyang revival that took place over 100 years ago in what is now the capital of the most brutally repressive regime on earth. It was a movement begun in repentance, through a Methodist medical missionary. It was characterized by confession of sins, long sessions of prayer, and the receiving of the Holy Ghost in such flaming passion as to empty out prisons.

The Revival broke out also in Wales during this same time period, the early years of the 20th century. Ministerial candidate Evan Roberts is the man most usually associated with this outpouring, but he was certainly not the only one used.

The inauspicious beginning of Roberts' ministry was a message shared with a youth group. He had recently had a baptism of the Spirit of God, though he was by no means a newcomer to the things of the Lord. During this renewal time he felt he must share the thoughts that poured into his soul with the folks at his home church.

The essence of his message: confession of sin, abandon anything even "doubtful" in your life, be ready to obey the Spirit instantly, confess Christ publicly. The response was not overwhelming. But some of those who did respond, a team of 5 girl singers, were taken by Roberts on a tour of South Wales. Within a year, 10,000 converts were added to the Welsh church.

That's what revival looks like. People repenting. People praying. The fire in a man's soul to speak the Word of God. More people repenting because of that fire. And quite often, miraculous manifestations to accompany and confirm the Word. Signs that follow, not lead the operations of the Spirit, which are first and foremost geared to saving people from their sins, and calling out a people for His name.

In America, following the Great Awakening, came the revival that is perhaps the grand-daddy of all Western revivals, the events that took place at Cane Ridge, in Kentucky. You can still go to the Log Cabin meeting place of Barton Stone and the rest, and view the grounds where the fire fell. Unfortunately, the meetings that take place there now are quite a bit calmer. No stories are coming out of gut-wrenching conviction, multiple thousands of penetrated hearts, and all the rest. But eyewitnesses were there at the beginning, and wrote their observations. There is no question that the Cane Ridge revival was a mighty move of God.

The happenings at Cane Ridge pre-date Pyongyang and Wales by 100 years. Though Barton Stone and a few others figure prominently, there seems to have been a general stirring of the waters in those days, as old denominational staleness was about to yield to the new wine. The Presbyterian Church in particular would never be the same. The Christian churches and churches of Christ would be formed out of the demise of denominationalism, and on the negative side, the ground would be prepared for the evil of the Shaker movement.

The catalyst for the opening salvos of the Spirit was a need for churches to come together for Communion. Only "licensed" persons could administer the sacraments, and these folks were few and far between. So at certain intervals, the churches would come together to experience the Lord's Supper.

As the Spirit began to bring conviction to men's hearts, and as the free grace of Christ was lifted up in contradistinction to the damning Calvinism that was being preached in that day, something happened. The spark kindled a fire that eventually brought tens of thousands of men and women, saved and lost, trekking to the hills outside Paris, Kentucky. They stayed for days. They could not get enough of this new life. Only when the food ran out did people start heading home.

These Presbyterian communion services began to look more like Methodist camp meetings. Fiery preaching, from as many as ten locations at the same time. Men so convicted that they passed out under the power of God. Dancing and singing that was called Heavenly by men advanced in the faith. No one had ever seen such manifestations, even among the Methodists.

Immediately the Pharisaic type began to criticize this new liberty, as they have always done and always will do, because such antics are outside their experience. Some preached a heavier Calvinism than ever to be sure they did not lose members. The losses mounted up anyway. This movement was not to be contained by these old wineskins. A new day had come to America, for this movement spread far beyond the hills of Kentucky.

Eventually it was Cane Ridge descendants that gave birth to Azusa Street, and all the other American revivals that have ensued. God will not be kept out of His own church. Those church leaders who continue to deny life to their people by dry sermons, dry programs, dry forms, will one day be set ablaze by the prayers of hungry people in their midst. The church is controlled from heaven after all. Woe to that church that has no hungry people.