Tim Keller recently wrote a little article on revival (ht), and in it he described what a season of genuine revival looks like from a historical perspective:
“[T]hey are seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified many-fold. ‘Sleepy’ and immature believers become electrified through joyful repentance and put Christ in the center of their lives. Nominal Christians within congregations get converted and testify to the fact, which leads to more sleepy believers waking up. In turn, non-believers are drawn in to the beautified Christian community and begin embracing Christ in numbers that defy normal explanations. The ‘church growth’ can’t be accounted for by demographic-sociological shifts or efficient outreach programs in such cases. Most telling of all, the corporate worship gatherings are thick with a sense of the presence of God that is not orchestrated by the presiders.”
Look especially at that last sentence:
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