LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
READING REFLECTION OF
COLLIN HANSEN AND JOHN WOODBRIDGE’S
A GOD-SIZED VISION: REVIVAL STORIES THAT STRETCH AND STIR
Submitted to Dr. Gregory Faulls, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
EVAN 500
Spiritual Factors of Growing Churches
by
Kristopher Williams
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES…………………………………………………………….…...1
Revival Need Not Be Universal or Permanent.….….……….……………………………1
Do Abuses Necessarily Discredit Revivals? .......................................................................1
Revivals Typically Occur in Times of Societal Stress..…….….….….….…….….………2
Structured Biblical Teaching Matters……….….….……………...….….….….…………2
APPLICATIONS………………………………………………………………………………….3
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………….……………………………………………………………………..4
ii
Hansen, Collin, and John D. Woodbridge. A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories That Stretch and
Stir. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010.
CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
Revival Need Not Be Universal or Permanent
Christian revival movements do not of necessity capture every professing Christian,
much as Christianity itself does not capture every human. In their A God-Sized Vision, Collin
Hansen and John Woodbridge recognize that spiritual awakenings among Christians are not
universal phenomena when they admit that “Revival doesn’t sweep up everyone, and those
standing on the sidelines can become the most outspoken critics.”1 Moreover, historical study of
these movements seemingly demonstrate their ephemerality, a reality that Hansen and
Woodbridge explicitly admit when they say that “as quickly as revival comes, it can depart. A
generation may rise that does not remember what the Lord has done.”2
Do Abuses Necessarily Discredit Revivals?
Despite the intervention of the Holy Spirit in revival events, humans still have the ability
to choose otherwise. Just as “[God] gave humanity the choice to reject him and his ways,” 3
humans have the ability to subvert legitimate events by trying to help God. Hansen and
Woodbridge recognize that “Revivals may unfortunately spawn extrabiblical experiences that
divert attention from God” with the caveat that “spontaneous excitement for the things of God
ought not discredit revival.”4 Discernment is still necessary in order to determine if participants
are sincere or merely caught up in group activities without adhering to biblical norms.
Revivals Typically Occur in Times of Societal Stress
1 Collin Hansen and John D. Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories That Stretch and Stir (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 20.
2 Ibid., 22.
3 Gregory Faulls, From Dust to Destiny (Prevailinglife.com, 2014), 18.
4 Hansen and Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision, 21.
1
Peter Scazzero notes that “unless there is sufficient discomfort and anguish, most will not
do the hard work to take a deep, honest look inside.”5 The revival movements covered in A God-
Sized Vision, when viewed in hindsight, demonstrate that revivals sometimes appeared when
people were fearful of existential warfare from foreign powers,6 when material and financial
losses in the economic sector “made businessmen more open to revival,”7 or when social sins
like slavery separated societies and made corporate evils more apparent.8 However, while
individual pain may lead to self-reflection and societal pain may lead to corporate revival, they
are not absolute catalysts, a fact Hansen and Woodbridge note when they say that “Not every
moment of acute human weakness has led to revival, and several revivals have emerged from
self-confident societies.”9
Structured Biblical Teaching Matters
The biggest weakness of the Welsh revival of 1904-1905 was that it “did not prioritize
Bible teaching.”10 Similarly, the tendency towards large-scale events attended by thousands
lessens the ability for structured study. While it is true that Billy Graham certainly advocated the
Bible in his “four conditions for revival: repentance, prayer, church unity, and obedience to
Scripture,” the lack of residential pastoral attention for individuals and the tendency of
evangelists to move on to other locations prevented prolonged Bible teaching from occurring.11
APPLICATIONS
5Peter L. Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 76. Emphasis
added.
6 Hansen and Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision, 53.
7 Ibid., 79.
8 Ibid., 92.
9 Ibid., 79. Emphasis added.
10 Ibid., 114.
11 Ibid., 166. Emphasis added.
2
Revivals are not a replacement for church attendance. Revivals intend to reach everyone,
both within and outside of the universal Church, but the net is very loose and does not
necessarily cause permanent results in a community. Continued spiritual growth requires
ongoing local leadership guiding individuals into discipleship relationship with Jesus. The
proper disciple accurately and conscientiously seeks to apply the methods of his or her teacher.
Christians must seek to accurately apply the methods and teachings of Christ in their own lives.
The local church is the conduit for ongoing and structured training leading to sanctification.
While not necessarily discrediting long-established ecclesiastical “traditions,” such as
creedal statements like the Nicene Creed or liturgies like that of St. John Chrysostom (both of
which draw heavily on the Bible), a grounding by the individual in the Bible itself is necessary to
extend the individual beyond revival to continued life. In fact, Jonathan Goforth “believed the
Holy Spirit works in revival by illumining the Scriptures,” thereby tying belief in the
involvement of the Holy Spirit in revival and the permanent use of the Bible to preserve the
effects of revival.12 To be brought to life again (revive) means nothing at all if the individual
simply dies again spiritually. Continued life requires ongoing spiritual nourishment.
In recognizing that “Revival is neither a well-organized evangelistic campaign nor a
finely crafted apologetic treatise,13 it is seen that revivals need not be large, sophisticated events.
Smaller, intimate, isolated revivals may actually be more effectual and permanent due to smaller
levels of publicity and fewer nominal attendees caught up in the effects of crowd dynamics.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Faulls, Gregory. From Dust to Destiny. Prevailinglife.com, 2014.
12 Ibid., 153.
13 Ibid., 35.
3
