NEWEST POST RELEASE; Continued from Home Page

3/1/2010

It really is well established that true revival has always changed the society and quality of life whenever God's presence is poured out on a city, a region, or nation. Societal transformation is never the objective or goal of the revival at its inception. God alone is always the goal of those who initially seek the spiritual awakening of a people. The darkness and perversion of a society serve as one of the motivators that cause a core of God's people to turn to Him and call on His Name for His intervention. But if the movement is going to stay pure and unsullied in its pursuit, God alone must be the chief end and the means of any true revival.

This is born out in Jesus' letter to the church in Ephesus, recorded in Revelation 2. First, He commends them for being a hard working church, and for their perseverance.  This was no small task in the pagan culture of Ephesus with the kind of fierce opposition Christians faced daily. Jesus also commended the church in Ephesus for their vigilance against false apostles and by inference, false doctrine. Lastly, he commended them for not allowing themselves to become weary in well doing.

 It must have been quite a church, except for one thing. And this one thing, Jesus warned them, could cost them everything. They had lost their first love for Him. The believers in Ephesus needed reviving. In all their doing they had become indifferent about the main thing...their zeal for the Lord. They needed that back if they were going to move forward.

The main thing for the church in Ephesus was Jesus. Whatever impact they were going to have on their city would be in direct relationship to their love for Jesus. Without Him they would have no light shining out to the city. They must have responded to Christ's letter because when I visited the ruins of Ephesus two years ago the guide showed me secret markings on the road through the center of the city that indicated the presence of Christians. There were several such markings. They must have retained their light.

Sound the Alarm exists as a ministry of pastors to pastors for the purpose of pointing out the condition of the Church of Jesus in our day, and calling for repentance and prayer to the end that we might see a state-wide revival in our day. Like the church in Ephesus, we are working hard but have lost our first love. The tension we all face is that with a growing darkness all around us, there is a temptation to want revival so that God will fix our society. He has certainly done just that in too many historical revivals to mention here. But the reality is that we need revival so that our first love for Him can be restored, period. We cannot afford to be looking past Him to see if He is going to save our nation. He may or may not do that. I do know with great confidence that He is going to save His Church. He did in Ephesus when they met the conditions He set for them. I believe He will do it for us when we are ready to meet His conditions.

Pastor Alec Rowlands

Founder and President

2/3/2010

As Pastors of local churches, we sense that all is not right in the lives of our people. It may just be a feeling of unease, or tangible knowledge of members of our congregations that lack commitment, hunger for God and passion for the lost.

Add to that the perception that we the church are powerless in the face of the onslaught of secular, godless forces putting us on the constant defensive.

We seemingly are praying in desperation for "the Big One" - that is the great awakening that falls on the Pacific Northwest in a moment of time bringing life and transformation to our churches and culture.

We ought to be praying for and living in expectation of that great awakening, the revival that sweeps through not only the Northwest, but our nation as a whole. But are we then to just wait and pray only for the "Big One?"

Ian Murray, in his book, Jonathan Edwards, A New Biography, tells of some interesting occurrences prior to the Great Awakening in New England.

Most pastors in the early 1700's New England were appointed to their parishes for life. Obviously we can see both pros and cons to that! Timothy Edwards, Jonathan Edward's father was one such pastor in East Windsor, a town just north of New Haven Connecticut.

Jonathan writes of "four or five seasons of the pouring out of the Spirit to the general awakening of the people since my father's settlement amongst them." He goes on that "the next season of revival occurred in East Windsor in the years 1715 -16 as Timothy Edwards (his father) continued his normal course of preaching."

In a letter to his sister Mary who had recently left home, he writes, "Through the wonderful mercy and goodness of God there hath in this place been a very remarkable stirring and pouring out of the Spirit of God..." Jonathan goes on to hope the intensity continues and gives a  list of the new converts who came to Christ as a result. So what? What is the significance to our churches and ministries today?

While I believe very strongly that a massive spiritual awakening, a revival of historic proportions is the only hope for this country, God is able to send revival to any and every church of His choosing, producing revival in our individual churches, one at a time. Maybe your church!

This could be just revival in small pockets of the Kingdom at a time, or the beginning of a wider more significant regional or national great awakening. Only God knows.

The encouragement is that you don't have to wait for "the Big One" for your church to experience revival. God can do it in you, for you and through you for your church today.

Just some thoughts.

Mark Nordtvedt

Executive Director

Sound the Alarm

12-28-2009

A Message from Pastor Alec, Founder and President:

There were signs in 1739, in the churches of New England, that America was on the threshold of a great revival. Jonathan Edwards records that preachers were getting themselves and their congregations ready for God to appear by preaching a strong message of law and Gospel and calling their people to repentance.

Much of Edwards preaching that year was in preparation for "what the Lord is about to do." A spirit of prayer was present in many churches, and in some places in New England men and women were already showing concern for the salvation of their souls, which was later to become a general condition throughout the colonies.

I am convinced that I see some of these very signs from town to town in our great state of Washington.
If you see them also, would you join me in working and praying for a great awakening in our state in our lifetime?

11-30-2009

A Message from Pastor Alec:

Here are some encouraging thoughts from a fairly recent biography on the life and times of Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening in New England in the mid 1700's: The biographer says that the revival was preceded by "a long season of coldness and indifference." Then, he records that the presence of God "broke upon the slumbering churches like a thunderbolt rushing out of the sky."

There are some strikingly parallel circumstances in this report to what we are facing in America today, and our prayer is, "Lord do it again! Break in upon our churches in the state of Washington again!"

Alec Rowlands
Founder and President
Sound the Alarm