Azusa Street Revival

Azusa Street Revival

On April 9, 1906, at a prayer meeting in a modest home on Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles, a few men and women spoke in tongues. They had been meeting to pray for "an outpouring" of the Holy Spirit. The tongues speech convinced them that they had "broken through."

News of the event spread rapidly among blacks, Latinos and whites, the prosperous and the poor, immigrants and natives. Those who yearned for revival, as well as the curious, thronged the house.

The need for space prompted a move to an abandoned Methodist church on Azusa Street. For the next two years, waves of religious enthusiasm waxed and waned at Azusa Street, attracting visitors from across the nation and missionaries from around the globe. The faithful announced that this was a reenactment of the New Testament Day of Pentecost: "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:4). God was restoring New Testament experiences of the Holy Spirit -- or, as devotees of the movement put it, restoring the apostolic faith.

At Azusa Street, one could see and hear the "utterance gifts" listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Seekers spent hours praying to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, an experience they expected would be attested by speaking in tongues. People interpreted tongues and prophesied -- phenomena with which few Christians had any direct experience. The sick came for healing.

Why were such things happening on an out-of-the-way city street? The faithful had a simple answer: the end of the world loomed, and God was sending the Holy Spirit to equip his chosen people for one last burst of evangelism before it was too late. The baptism with the Holy Spirit was an end-times "enduement with power for service" that went hand in hand with personal holiness. The visible gifts of the Holy Spirit testified to the Spirit’s immediate presence in and among believers.




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Azusa Street Revival
 
Here is some Revival history from 1949-1989



In 1949-50 J. Edwin Orr was used to bring significant awakenings on several campuses of Christian colleges and Bible Training Schools.

Billy Graham’s visit to Haringay. London in 1954 raised the spiritual temperature of the nation’s capital and subsequently thrust scores of new candidates into the ministry. While not a full revival as we understand it, there was a new spiritual awakening that occurred in the nation.

From 1967-1975 there occurred what became known as the Jesus Movement. It was a movement amongst alternative youth culture in America which soon overflowed into Europe. John Wimber later calculated that three million were converted during this unusual awakening. Notable personalities were Arthur Blessit, Lonnie Frisbee, Chuck Smith and Larry Norman – with a host of others who sang Jesus songs, ran local community houses, worked amongst college students, hippies and street gangs. It was a spontaneous, humanly unorganised awakening which reached a culture far removed from the white Anglo-Saxon respectability of the contemporary church. The current writer was a product of this move of God in the UK. This movement began to experience a new brand of Christianity which was Bible-based, Spirit baptised, focussed on community and missionally oriented.

David Wilkinson’s work amongst drug addicts had phenomenal results, not just among the thousands of young people who were converted though messed up with drugs, but also through the reporting of the miraculous conversions in his book, The Cross and the Switchblade. Wilkinson brought a charismatic dimension to the Christian gospel which was illustrated amazingly throughout his ministry.

In 1970 a revival broke out in Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, on Tuesday 3 February 1970. The regular morning chapel commencing at 10 o'clock saw God move on the students in such a way that many came weeping to the front to kneel in repentance, others gave testimonies including confession of sin, and all this was mixed with spontaneous singing. Lectures were cancelled for the day as the auditorium filled with over 1,000 people. Few left for meals. By midnight over 500 still remained praying and worshipping. Several hundred committed their lives to Christ that day. By 6 am next morning 75 students were still praying in the hall, and through the Wednesday it filled again as all lectures were again cancelled for the day. The time was filled with praying, singing, confessions and testimonies.

As they continued in prayer that week many students felt called to share what was happening with other colleges and churches. Invitations were coming from around the country as news of the revival spread. So teams went out from the next weekend to tell the story and give their testimonies. Almost half the student body of 1000 was involved in the teams witnessing about the revival.
In the first week after the revival began teams of students visited 16 states by invitation and saw several thousand conversions through their witnessing. After six weeks over 1,000 teams had gone from the college to witness, some of these into Latin America with finance provided by the home churches of the students. In addition, the neighbouring Theological Seminary sent out several hundred teams of their students who had also been caught up in this revival.

Those remaining at the college prayed for the teams and heard their reports on their return. Wherever teams went the revival spread. The college remained a centre of the revival with meetings continuing at night and weekends there along with spontaneous prayer groups meeting every day. Hundreds of people kept coming to the college to see this revival and participate in it. They took reports and their own testimonies of changed lives back to their churches or colleges. So the revival spread.

A similar dramatic revival occurred at Whittier Christian High School in 1987-1989. All he classical marks of revival were evident: deep conviction of sin, spontaneous repentance, innumerable conversions and a passion for the lost and needy. The Spirit would fall in student prayer meetings and sometimes in class time, causing students to tremble or fall to the ground. Others broke into spontaneous praise in new tongues from God.



Twentieth Century Revival - Catalogue
 
Good history here , GodSpeaks , thanks . If only a lot of the churches would have a revival like Azusa Street . We would not be in such immoral decay as we are today .
 
Good history here , GodSpeaks , thanks . If only a lot of the churches would have a revival like Azusa Street . We would not be in such immoral decay as we are today .


The moral decay is because most of the Body of Christ has not stayed on fire for God and is flowing with the tide of the world.

There have been many revivals and awakenings in the world and nations that has revolutionized society. We are at the point where we must have another awakening, for there is no other solution. It is up to us. We must hunger and thirst like never before, pray and fast like never before, to see our nation and our world turned around. There is no more time to play church, sit on the fence, or be distracted by the things or ways of the world. No more time to procrastinate but to be diligent unto God in every area of our lives. No half way or half heartedness, but completely sold out to Him.

It’s time to have a dissatisfaction for what the world and the church calls the ‘norm’ and be desperate for His presence. Its time to get our priorities straight, get on our face and cry out to the Living God for His mercy and a world shaking, fire falling, Holy Ghost awakening that will set souls on fire and set the captures free. Signs, wonders, miracles, that will arrest the attention of the world and cause their hearts to desire Him above all. It’s time to determine to seek His face and press in until we encounter Him in a greater way, until we are completely engulfed in His cloud of Glory. In the brilliance of His awesome glory all these everyday things are nothing and the desire for them just fades away
 
I find with revivals (just an observation) there is this grace thing that happens . people get closer to God .. and then these people start laying rules down that only work for them .. and it kinda chokes it .
 
According to Galatians we receive the Spirit of God by trusting Him . and it appears focussing on works first seems to be a hindrance to that free flowing spiritual atmosphere that makes anything possible . i've noticed a similar pattern in my life .
 
Much of what we see in the churches is just religion. But if we do as was mentioned in post 4 it will bring true revival to our hearts that can change our nation. The true revivals of the past changed the world
 
Much of what we see in the churches is just religion. But if we do as was mentioned in post 4 it will bring true revival to our hearts that can change our nation. The true revivals of the past changed the world

True , true ..... But you see here in the Western world we are too comfortable and people have the sense that they don't need God .

We had a Pastor from India speak last night and because Bombay has so many poor ( Not poor in Spirit , but poor in not having anything ) people the people are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God and are grasping and believing in His miracles . This pastor ministers in a church of 4, 000 and growing .

We are missing out and the peoples from third world countries are the ones experiencing the revivals . Even when I was on mission trips I saw how people were running after the misssionary , just for a little tract . The church there had prayer meeting where people stayed all night and worshipped and prayed . ( How I know: is we were in a house where above us on the roof people were gathered and we could not sleep because they were so laud.... )
 
Dusty, James spoke of this . apparently the poor have a special favour that the rich do not .

Yes , I know . And that is why I am saying that these counties are seeing marvelous miracles of healing , restoration and the glory of God and we are missing out because of so much disbelief.
 
Matthew 11 (New International Version)


4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."


But go and report that the blind do not receive sight, the lame do not walk, and those with skin diseases are not cured, the deaf do not hear, the dead are not raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the middle class and rich people that God wants us to be well to do and blessed is the one that does not fall away by offensive things we say to them .
 
True , true ..... But you see here in the Western world we are too comfortable and people have the sense that they don't need God .



There an thousands here now that are not comfortable anymore ebecause of allthat is happening here. We are told not to put outr turst in the things of the world but in God. They will have to call upon the Lord for help for he is the only one that can help them. Nothing else is going to work anymore.



We had a Pastor from India speak last night and because Bombay has so many poor ( Not poor in Spirit , but poor in not having anything ) people the people are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God and are grasping and believing in His miracles . This pastor ministers in a church of 4, 000 and growing .

Its because they have to depend on God or they will die, so they believe and recieve miracles. Its already starting here and there in a few places in American and will pick up momentum as they realize Jesus is the only answer.

We are missing out and the peoples from third world countries are the ones experiencing the revivals . Even when I was on mission trips I saw how people were running after the misssionary , just for a little tract .


Yes many who go there said the people would run after you and want you to tell them about God.

The church there had prayer meeting where people stayed all night and worshipped and prayed . ( How I know: is we were in a house where above us on the roof people were gathered and we could not sleep because they were so laud.... )


I pray the church here will get a hunger for God that they would seek Him this much. They did during the times of revival and I believe it will happen again
.
 
Good history here , GodSpeaks , thanks . If only a lot of the churches would have a revival like Azusa Street . We would not be in such immoral decay as we are today .

I agree with you Dusty. This world seems to be sugar coating everything these days, and too much sugar causes decay.

:smiley80:
 
Compromising God's principles is why we are in the trouble we're in today

Alternatively, I think it was because we exchanged the development of the new nature through trust relationship with the Father for a pursuit of "morals"

when it becomes about what we do . it is no longer about Him .
 
Alternatively, I think it was because we exchanged the development of the new nature through trust relationship with the Father for a pursuit of "morals"

when it becomes about what we do . it is no longer about Him .

If those morals are according to what the Lord says pleases Him, then it is about Him. This isn't about legalism, but we do what pleases Him out of love for Him


John 14:23
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
 
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