Ed Walsh
Puritan Board Senior
Greetings,
The mini-revival in the late 60s and early 70s found me in the front row at Woodstock and dropped me off at the foot of the cross.
He is still full of surprises. Within my memory, the American church of the 1950s and 60s was stuck in a rut, getting stale, lacking a prophetic voice, and as the 60s progressed, our nation started tearing itself apart. What happened? God came down. He changed the subject, and crazy, longhaired young people all across the country started running toward Christ in many thousands of improbable conversions. Nobody was expecting that. And it’s time for us to pray again, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down and do awesome things we’re not looking for! Surprise us again!”
Isaiah, God Saves Sinners, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.
The mini-revival in the late 60s and early 70s found me in the front row at Woodstock and dropped me off at the foot of the cross.
Isaiah 64:3
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
What does God’s work in the past teach us? Not how predictable he is, but how surprising he is. He never acts out of character. He never contradicts his own Word. But he is never at a loss for new ways to break through. Israel was cornered at the Red Sea. The Egyptian army was bearing down on them. What happened? The sea opened up. Nobody was expecting that. The whole world was stumbling in darkness, with no way forward. What happened? The Savior of the world was born in a barn. Nobody was expecting that. We were condemned in our inexcusable guilt, without a defense. What happened? Our Judge endured our penalty at the cross. Nobody was expecting that. He was dead and buried. All the hopeful expectations he had created were exploded. What happened? He rose from the grave, ascended to the Father, and began pouring out his Spirit to make his murderers into his friends. Nobody was expecting that.When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
He is still full of surprises. Within my memory, the American church of the 1950s and 60s was stuck in a rut, getting stale, lacking a prophetic voice, and as the 60s progressed, our nation started tearing itself apart. What happened? God came down. He changed the subject, and crazy, longhaired young people all across the country started running toward Christ in many thousands of improbable conversions. Nobody was expecting that. And it’s time for us to pray again, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down and do awesome things we’re not looking for! Surprise us again!”
Isaiah, God Saves Sinners, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.
Last edited:
