An experience of revival

1 O for a thousand tongues to sing
my dear Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!

4 He speaks; and, listening to his voice,
new life the dead receive,
the mournful broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.

Hymn 493 -- The Hymnal 1982

Today honors Charles and John Wesley as a lesser feast of the church. Although we think of them as founders of the Methodist Church, they were Anglicans until their deaths. The split came later. We have a number of Charles’s hymns in our hymnal, including the one above. John is the one who expressed himself in other ways, including a description of the moment of his spiritual conversion:

"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

This is when the Methodist revival was born. I pray for moments when my heart is warmed, when I can experience a revival in my faith and ministry – without feeling the need to found a new denomination.