Book of the Week: Experiencing Revival

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This week’s book of the week is Charles Finney’s Experiencing Revival.

  1. “The fact is, Christians are more to blame for not being revived than sinners are for not being converted” (18).
  2. “There are two goals necessary for revival; one is to influence men, and the other is to influence God…I do not mean that God’s mind is changed by prayer or that His disposition or character is changed.  Prayer produces such a change in us that God is completely consistent with His nature when He answers our prayers” (52).
  3. “But when the part of the church that does the work begins to think what a great revival they have had, how they have labored and prayed, how bold and how zealous they have been, and how much good they have done, the work is likely to decline” (83).
  4. “I know there are some Christians who would be very glad to return to their former practices…Repentance always consists of a change of views and feelings.  If a person was truly converted, instead of choosing these things, he would turn away from them with loathing” (123).
  5. “Fix these words in your mind: distinguish between emotion and principle…When a man decides to obey God because it is right, that is principle.  Whether he feels any lively religious emotions at the time or not, he will do his duty cheerfully, readily, and heartily” (135).