7 Stewardships of Revival

This book is an offering  to future generations by a long-time pastor of all he has learned over the years. Particularly, it’s a description of that one thing that has become most important to him, and how his devotion to Christ the Vine has determined everything in his life and ministry. Author Joe Humrichous’ personal experiences of having been part of several official American revivals in the 1980s seems to give some credence to why Christ as Vine has become so important to him as a person and a pastor, and why he’s particularly fit to discuss it.

The first two sections of this book are autobiographical, Section 3 focuses on prayer, Section 4 offers the promised “7 Stewardships of Revival,” and Section 5 describes how to take one’s abiding in the Vine into the future. I had mixed feelings about the book, to be perfectly honest, because while his autobiographical first sections were clear, concise, and convicting, the rest was a bit difficult to follow.

Don’t get me wrong: I think it’s super impressive that a guy can summarize his whole worldview in 160 or so pages, but the final three sections felt convoluted at times, overly systematized, and wordy (kinda like the book’s title). Parts of it felt like the author was jumbling together a handful of conference topics and series, so I didn’t quite know which topic was the current focus of discussion. I’m sure that if I sat down and outlined it out, the book would prove to be just chuck full of gems, but I don’t have that kind of time.

Several passages and lines stood out to men, so I’ll relate a few of them here. About prayer, for example, he writes: “Prayer will always be boring and powerless if it is a monologue.” (77) The following are some other statements that caught my attention:

If Jesus Christ obviously present and actively in charge is our definition of revival, then a proper stewardship of his life and activity in our midst will allow revival to be the lifestyle of our church and will release the transforming power of the gospel. The potential of these seven stewardships is limited only by the sovereignty of God himself. Watch the order: 1. By grace… 2. through faith… 3. in worship… 4. in warfare… 5. by choice… 6. within the church… 7. into the world. (88)

Live in a Discipleship Sandwich. Teach your congregation to live in a II Timothy 2:2 sandwich like Timothy. He was to be accountable to Paul and responsible for faithful men. If everyone will align themselves under a faithful person to whom they are accountable and pray to find God’s person for whom they are responsible, disciples will multiply exponentially. I love to watch it happen. (116)

He also took some time to describe a number of the gifts mentioned in Romans 12. I’ll relate his descriptions of them here, from the viewpoint of a pastor trying to raise up gifted servants from within the church:

Prophets — Look for well prepared sermons exposing sin, proclaiming righteousness, and warning of judgment to come.
Teachers — Look for in-depth Bible studies with special emphasis on precise meaning of words.
Exhorters — Look for personal counseling and encouragement for each member to assist him in applying Scriptural principles to his daily living.
Givers — Look for generous programs of financial assistance to missionaries and other ministries.
Administrators — Look for smooth running organizations throughout the church so that every phase would be carried out decently and in order.
Mercy-showers — Look for special outreach and concern for the precise and varying feelings of individuals with a readiness to meet their needs. (122)

Overall, this is a book that’s great for posterity by not necessarily a super easy one to read. You’d be much better off, I’m sure, sitting under the man as a speaker at one of his conferences about Revival or about abiding in Jesus the Vine. Sometimes it just happens that way.

©2023 E.T.