As a 16-year-old teenager, I found myself sat in a prayer tent in the heart of rural England, at a Pentecostal bible week, explaining to a prayer counsellor why I had responded to an alter call moments earlier. That encounter was the culmination of a number of days under the increasingly intense conviction of the Holy Spirit – I had just sat through a pretty mind numbing sermon (something to do with Amos and God’s plumb line, I seem to recall), while I wrestled with a very simple yet defining question over my life – was I going to go my own way (I was poised to leave home and all things Christian to join the Air Force later on that year) or give following Jesus another go?

When the preacher finally wound up his sermon the host evangelist of the event (the irrepressible Cornish revivalist, Don Double) leaped to the stage and did what any self-respecting evangelist will do in any such circumstance – hold an alter call! When I moved from my seat in response, I had made my decision – I reasoned that I simply could not turn my back on God. As I walked to the front of that meeting tent I wasn’t expecting much, but I had settled in my heart that I would have another try at living as a Christian. I explained all this to the counsellor and in a very matter of fact way he led me through a prayer recommitting my life to Jesus. Then he said, ‘now I am going to pray for you to receive the gift of tongues’. I had no knowledge of tongues prior to that week, but it was very prominent in the worship during the meetings that I had sat through. So why not. He went on to explain, ‘I will start to speak in tongues, and I just want you to copy what I say’.

Literally, the moment I moved my lips I let out the most ear-piercing scream, which I imagine was audible across much of the camp site. Then, I exploded into tongues, as what I can only describe as a tsunami of God’s love washed over me. I collapsed in a heap and sobbed my heart out. Then the laughing started, I could not stop laughing, then I sobbed again. When I eventually regained some composure, I felt able to leave that prayer tent – but I was a very different person. It was for me as Charles Wesley had penned some centuries earlier, ‘My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed Thee!’.

The date was August 1979, and although completely unaware at the time, I had just encountered, first-hand, one particular expression of what is widely recognised today as the Charismatic Renewal.  This was a move of God’s Spirit, which first emerged in the UK during the early sixties and continued on through the following decades. When I returned home from the bible week, I immediately left the denominational church of my parents and joined the house church that was run by the family who had taken me.

House churches (literally, churches that met in people’s homes) were an integral part of the early charismatic renewal movement, often set up by disaffected believers who felt that God was doing a new thing and that the established denominations were no longer relevant. Many of these groups eventually morphed into what later became termed ‘new churches’; and over the passage of time grouped together to establish their own denominations or ‘streams’, as they chose to be known.

Of interest, I recall that the preacher that night was to later describe this early renewal movement as the ‘Joseph’ of the Church – self-confident, at times appearing arrogant, yet evidently anointed; it would eventually lead its older siblings into a new place. Thus, it proved to be the case, as the influence of this movement over time spread more widely into the established denominations; notably in the Church of England through the ministry of such charismatic evangelicals as David Watson, who went on to develop a close association with John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard movement.

To renew something is to give it a new lease of life. This is very much what the Charismatic Renewal was about. Individual believers as well as churches being reinvigorated in their passion and desire to follow Jesus. There was a reawakening of the use of spiritual gifts and new openness to the miraculous, which spread far beyond the boundaries of established Pentecostalism. This was a movement that touched many different Christian communities – it did not have a particular geographical centre, and it played out over an extended period of time. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it has shaped my entire Christian experience over the past 40 or so years.

In contrast to renewal, a revival may be characterised as a significant move of God amongst the lost (or the unchurched as we might say today). Undoubtedly, the most significant revival to occur in the UK since Christianity first arrived on these shores (and it was eventually to spread to the USA), was the so-called Great Awakening of the 18^th Century. Countless souls turned to faith in Christ under an evangelistic movement spearheaded by the clerics John Wesley and George Whitefield. These men (and others inspired by them) took the then radical step of taking their preaching outside (literally), as increasingly hostile churches across the country closed their doors to them. The Methodist movement was born out of this revival; the new believers setting up devout groups spurning the establishment Church. Most notable about this revival was its sheer breadth of impact both geographically and socially. Few places or stratums of society were left untouched as Wesley and his associates criss-crossed the land, often on horseback, spreading the message of salvation to any who would give them a hearing.

There have been other notable revivals in the UK, though these have tended to be more localised focussing on a particular region (such as the Welsh Revival in the early 20^th Century under Evan Roberts) or a particular community (such as the Hebrides Revival under Duncan Campbell, in the mid-20^th century).

Typically, a revival will have a central figure or figures, who appear specifically called and anointed by God for this special task of shepherding a move of His Spirit. They will, in turn, be accompanied by a cast of unsung heroes of the faith, who have caught the flame of revival fervour alongside their leaders. As noted, although leading to renewal in the Church, a revival will primarily focus on bringing the unsaved to faith in significant numbers, which distinguishes it from other moves of God’s Spirit. This phenomenon creates problems in its own right, as the Church suddenly finds itself dealing with the challenge of pastoring significant numbers of new converts. The Church needs to get this part right (Wesley, in particular, was recognised as an exceptionally capable organiser), otherwise those fledgling Christians will likely fall prey to the enemy’s whiles and fall away (as illustrated by Jesus in the Parable of the Sower).

Those individuals who have figure-headed past revivals vary quite widely in personality and temperament (Wesley and Whitefield shared a deep mutual respect but struggled to get on due to substantive theological differences and Whitefield eventually departed the UK to shepherd the revival in the US where he is more fondly remembered today). Yet all of these individuals share certain key spiritual traits that are characteristic of any who would lead such a movement.

Wesley and Whitefield first met at Oxford where they gathered with a small group of associates, which became known as the holy club (likely a derogatory label attached to the group). There meetings were characterised by devotion to prayer and God’s word. It was here that they formulated and practiced that particularly disciplined spirituality eventually to become known as Methodism (because of its highly prescribed and methodical nature). Whitefield’s personal devotions where especially intense and quite distressing during this early period of his life, as he fervently sought God in order to attain a more complete sanctification of his soul. His relief came only after receiving a personal revelation that salvation was by grace alone. He went on to become a highly anointed preacher who proclaimed the Gospel to vast crowds and saw huge numbers come under conviction of sin and turn to Christ.

There is little evidence in the accounts of the Awakening of a substantive signs and wonders anointing. Instead, the most defining characteristic seems to be that those who heard their preaching came under a powerful conviction of sin and acute awareness of the need to be made right with God. This was well illustrated when Whitefield determined to preach to a group of miners on the outskirts of Bristol, at a time of considerable social unrest and general antagonism towards their preaching. Needless to say, upon his oratory Whitefield quickly disarmed any hostility amongst his listeners, his own journal recording of the miners that as he preached, ‘the tears flowed, making white gutters down their coal blacked faces’.

It should also be noted that although deeply devout in their faith, these individuals lives were not perfect. John Wesley was estranged from his wife for most of his life (although more favourable biographers suggest this situation was not entirely of his own making) and Whitefield gave at least tacit approval to slavery in the US. It should come as no great surprise that God will choose to work through imperfect individuals – clearly, if this were not the case nothing could be accomplished for God’s kingdom through any human agency. This is not to say any such personal limitations and failings do not matter; and a move of God may indeed be significantly diminished or even completely derailed by human failings (as was the case quite spectacularly with the Florida Healing Outpouring in 2008). However, we should not suppose that the shortcomings of the leaders of any move of God’s Spirit necessarily invalidate the movement itself. Where determined critics of outpouring and revival take such a view, they overlook the simple fact that in order to be consistent with such a position, they would necessarily have to remove all of the psalms penned by David from the bible, on account of him being discredited by his flagrant sin over Bathsheba.

Reference to the Florida Healing Outpouring brings me to the final class or category of notable moves of the Spirit. The Florida outpouring began as what might be termed a blessing. In so far as it was a relatively small, localised event that was not out of the ordinary (a healing conference scheduled to last just a few days led by the Canadian Evangelist, Todd Bentley). God blessed this event with many signs of healing and a powerful sense of His presence. If we understand a blessing as the manifest presence of God in a gathering, then whenever we sense the presence of God and He is touching people present, we are experiencing what might be termed a ‘blessing’.

I would say that what is happening in Asbury currently might be described as a blessing, and it remains to be seen if it will develop further into a full-scale outpouring or even a revival. I say this because it seems unclear whether the primary driver of this event is the Holy Spirit or simply people’s ongoing enthusiasm – there is nothing wrong with the latter, however a fully-fledged outpouring tends to be driven expressly by the Holy Spirit and typically will take on a life/direction of its own that may appear unique and unprecedented. This peculiar characteristic is why some commentators find notable moves of God’s Spirit especially difficult to understand and validate – for examples where this is certainly the case, readers might wish to look up the Azusa Street Revival (1906) and the Brownsville Revival (1995).

Returning to Florida, the meetings led by Bentley continued unabated as did the miracles of healing. Word quickly spread about this apparent move of God and more and more folk began to attend, forcing the organisers to seek out bigger and bigger venues (they eventually ended up on an airfield). Meanwhile, the God TV network picked up on the event and took the decision to suspend all of their normal scheduling to provide 24/7 coverage. The miracles of healing kept coming and quite remarkably and unprecedented (as far as I am aware) people were being touched by God via there tv and computer monitors as they watched. This, in turn, sent the event global, with believers travelling from all parts of the world to experience the outpouring first-hand and carry the anointing back to the own communities.

As things developed there was a growing sense of being on the cusp of a possible revival in the US – indeed, when Bentley tried to hold a meeting at a satellite venue in a different city the place became completely grid-locked with traffic as people from all around were trying to get to the meeting. At this pivotal juncture, Todd Bentley’s personal life went into crisis with the breakdown of his marriage, and the outpouring shuddered to a halt.

Such an outpouring may be a precursor to revival, or it may prove to be a catalyst for renewal in the wider church, as was the case with the so-called Toronto Blessing in the 1990’s. The Toronto Blessing was characterised by some quite bizarre manifestations of the Spirit, which many people struggled to accept. In reality, whenever the Spirit moves substantively in any gathering things can be unsettling for observers. What must have folk around thought when I let out that ear-piercing scream? My best understanding of that moment was that it was possibly demons departing as the Holy Spirit took up residence in my life. But it may have simply been a guttural expression of deep wounding and release, as I had had a less than happy childhood.

My only personal experience of the truly bizarre was actually during the Florida outpouring, whilst attending a worship event at my local church here in the UK, which was directly inspired by events happening in Florida. During the worship I had my hands raised and when I brought them down, I noticed they were covered in specks of shimmering dust that looked like gold glitter but only much finer. I momentarily stopped worshiping and just stood there staring at my hands – I had heard of the gold dust phenomenon but did not in my wildest imagination expect to experience it – it has never happened again since. I guess it was just the Lord’s way of saying in that moment, I am blessed by your fervour and devotion, keep going!

So, what can we learn from these past experiences of the Spirit moving? Here are some takeaways:

Personal and corporate devotion to prayer, worship and God’s word is the kernel of any move of God anywhere at any time. It may only be a handful of individuals. But as was the case with the holy club, the potential exists to reach an entire nation when we get serious.

Neither the UK population nor the established Church were in a great place spiritually at the time of the Great Awakening. We should not be deterred and think that society today is beyond the reach of the Gospel, however negative things may appear – we should take heart from Whitefield’s courage and resolve in the face of the Kingswood miners.

If we genuinely want revival in our community, we have to be ready for the cost and commitment of supporting and discipling new believers. If substantial numbers of converts are going to suddenly walk across the threshold of our churches, we need to be sure that they will encounter the welcoming embrace of established believers, who are both equipped and ready to receive them.

Jesus made clear that whenever we push to expand the bounds of His Kingdom, the enemy will resist. Any move of God will attract criticism and negativity, not least from those who claim to speak for the established Christian community and who are likely detached (both physically and theologically) from what is happening. Wesley and Whitefield faced quite widespread and outspoken opposition. Similarly, the wave of vitriol unleashed against Todd Bentley on social media during the Florida outpouring was quite shocking, especially given that it was coming from supposedly Christian commentators.

During the Florida outpouring, I viewed much of the coverage put out by God TV over the weeks that it ran. Over that time what struck me most about Bentley was his capacity to encourage faith in others – it was a child-like faith where you simply take God at His word and act accordingly. Bentley was definitely a ‘step out of the boat’ person and worry about how things might look later! In the end, whatever else we might commit to in order to prepare the ground for revival, we have to be ready to go and do likewise.