Bibliography: Good Books and Resources on Revival and Christianity

A. W. Tozer, God Tells the Man Who Cares (Christian publications, 1992). The insights of this short but all the more concise book of the author of "The Knowledge of the Holy" are surpassed, in my opinion, only by some of Wesley's writings. Tozer does not belong to the holiness movement, as he indicates it in his book.

D. Michael Henderson, John Wesley's Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples (Evangel Publishing House, Nappanee, In., 1997) In the life of John Wesley, at the heart of the revival accompanying it to the end were the different groups developed by him for various purposes. The author describes how these groups functioned and where they came from.

John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. This work hardly has a match in Christian literature! (I have made both an abridged and a complete translation of it.)

John Wesley, Sermons. It is hard to choose some from these brilliant sermons but for Christians I especially recommend "The First Fruits of the Spirit", "The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption", "The Great Privilege of Those that are Born of God", and from the series on the Sermon on the Mount, sermon 28 on a single eye and laying up treasures (Matt. 6:19-23), sermon 31 on entering the strait gate (Matt. 7:13-14), sermon 33 on the wise man and the foolish one (Matt. 7:21-27), "The Law Established through Faith, 1", "The Nature of Enthusiasm", "Catholic Spirit", "Christian Perfection", "The Scripture Way of Salvation", "The Wilderness State", "The Cure of Evil Speaking", "The Use of Money", and "The Good Steward".

The Journal of John Wesley. It is a treasury for those who are looking for the secrets of revival and of building communities of evangelical strength. Abridged edition.

All of Wesley's sermons and many of his writings can be found at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley. For his complete journal and other writings see The Works of John Wesley, 14 vols. (Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1979; reprinted from the 1872 edition by the Wesleyan Conference Office / Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, London). Most of the material of the first 9-10 volumes can be found at www.godrules.net. All his scanned WORKS can be searched, read and downloaded at Google Book Search, and can be found on the Internet in digitized form. I recommend the 17-volume version (London Conference-Office, 1809-1813).

Richard Green, John Wesley: Evangelist. A biography of John Wesley.

L. Tyerman, The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A. (3 volumes, Hodder & Stoughton, 1890). It contains a detailed description of Wesley's marriage, see volume II, p. 100-115.

Dennis F. Kinlaw, We Live As Christ (OMS International, 2001). This little book contains four lectures of a leader of OMS International delivered at the 1999 International Theological Consultation.

Dennis F. Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (Francis Asbury Press, 1998). "It is perhaps the deepest study of the inner life of the saint, coming out of this generation", said Robert E. Coleman, author of "The Master Plan of Evangelism".

John A. Knight, The Holiness Pilgrimage (Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1986). See my article "The Phases of Spiritual Development".

Westlake T. Purkiser, Beliefs That Matter Most (Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1959). A short exposition of the Christian faith connected to the beliefs of the Church of the Nazarene.

Charles M. Sheldon, In His Steps (1896). What Would Jesus Do (if he were us)? This excellent novel launched the WWJD movement (What Would Jesus Do; cf. 1John 2:6: "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did"). It can also be found on RevivalCD (see below).

Samuel Pearce Carey, William Carey (1934). William Carey (1761-1834), the father of modern foreign missions, a rural shoemaker, who mastered Biblical and eastern languages on his own, almost by himself convinced lukewarm English Christians opposing missions but supporting slave trade, and, supported by only some small churches, sailed to India in 1793, where he translated the Bible to many languages, and became a great church planter, launching the protestant mission movement. He broke through the resistance by his sermon based on Isa. 54:2-3, which he summarised in the famos words, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God."

John Pollock, Hudson Taylor and Maria (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., Scotland, 1962, 1996). It was Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) who launched missions in the interior of China, following Carey and his friends who started it only in some cities near the sea. This book stands as a notable example worthy of following, not only of the extraordinary and adventurous marriage of the Taylors, but also of their outstanding faith.

Phyllis Thompson, Hudson Taylor God's Venturer (Moody Press). A short but all the more exciting biography of Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission.

Grubb P. Norman, C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1991). A biography of Charles T. Studd (1860-1931) in whom I have found the best example of living by faith (beyond the Biblical examples). After his conversion he experienced deep darkness and a restless state when he turned to his friends and relied on human reason instead of God's guidance. Later he trusted Christ completely with his life and received "the fullness of the Holy Spirit" with inner peace, following Jesus who called him to missions. On the day of his engagement he and his bride gave away all his great wealth and served in China, India, and Africa as a missionary. Before the day of going to Africa, a young man had asked him, "Is it a fact that at fifty-two you mean to leave your country, your home, your wife and your children?" "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him," he answered. He founded Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC) which had more than 100 missionaries at his death, and in 1967 it had about 1150 workers in 28 countries. "Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell," he said. (See this summary of the book. See also this web site on Studd.)

Gladys Aylward, The Little Woman (The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1970). An autobiography of a Chinese missionary woman who experienced the usual fate of the faithful followers of Christ: trials and persecution on the one hand, and miracles on the other. For instance, she erected an invisible "wall" between herself and her persecutor which he could not come through. Because of her many trials she was close to madness for a while. A revival began in a prison because she broke one of the most important unwritten rules of the Chinese by spontaneously touching a wicked prisoner that she could not convert before. When she returned to England she saw the same shallow Christianity as Charles Studd had earlier.

Fritz Berger, God's abounding grace in my life (Evangelical Brotherhood Church, Herbligen, 1989). An autobiography of the Swiss founder of Evangelical Brotherhood Church. He believed God's Word--that by God's grace it is possible for believers to be perfect.

Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival (1860; The Banner of Truth Trust, 1989). An account of the widespread awakening that happened in Wales around 1860.

John F. MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Zondervan, 1992). The author, though sometimes a bit biased, explains the pentecostal and charismatic movement with its deviations and dangers very clearly and thoroughly, based on the Bible.

K. P. Yohannan, Revolution in World Missions. See my article on poverty.

Wesley L. Duewel, Touch the World through Prayer (Francis Asbury Press). A useful book for young and experienced believers alike, with amazing examples and answered prayers.

George Verwer, No Turning Back (George Verwer and Tony Collins, 1983). This small book by the founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM) contains several excellent insights and inspires a Christian life that is more serious than what we are used to.

Charles Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion. His complete works also can be found here, at www.GospelTruth.net.

William MacDonald, True Discipleship (Send the Light, Bromley).

William MacDonald, God's Answers to Man's Questions (Walterick Publishers, Kansas, 1990). A short summary of the gospel in the form of questions and answers.

Christianity Explored: a detailed material for a 10-session course with suppers and conversation, based on the Gospel of Mark, made in 1995 by Rico Tice, assistant pastor of Dr. John Stott's All Souls Church in London. It presents the gospel very faithfully and is used really successfully worldwide.

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2000). A thorough and inspiring study of the different areas of the Christian life based on God's Word.

Watchman Nee, A Table in the Wilderness (Angus I. Kinnear, 1965). Devotions for each day of the year. Nee, who writes in the spirit of Keswick theology, is sometimes a bit "mystical", but he often has very good insights.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Devotions for each day of the year in the spirit of Keswick theology.

Klaus Douglass, Die neue Reformation (The New Reformation, Kreuz Verlag GmbH & Co., 2001). 96 Theses on the Reformation of the Church. It has a lot of good ideas, especially for the people's churches (historical protestant churches). The author quotes Churchill's words: "Protect the rebels" - that is, those who have the dream of the new, Biblical church.

James I. Packer, Among God's Giants: the Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Kingsway Publications, Eastbourne, 1997). The author of "Knowing God" and many other books, though biased to the Calvinic strict predestination, presents puritan giants like Richard Baxter, John Owen, William Perkins, Thomas Goodwin, and Jonathan Edwards with insight and inspiration.

Josh McDowell, The NEW Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., 1999). This serious and profound work on apologetics musters critical evidence that demands a verdict for the inerrancy of the Bible, the Person and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christian faith, and absolute truth.

www.christiananswers.net - Good questions and evangelical answers.

Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction (Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, 1994). A relatively unbiased and comprehensive discussion of the subject, though it says quite little about Wesleyanism.

Some Wesleyan/Arminian Bible commentaries: Adam Clarke's and Wesley's (and many others from not Wesleyan authors) can be found at Biblos.com and downloaded for the free Bible sofware TheWord. The Beacon Bible Commentary can be downloaded in digitized PDF format from WHDL's page.

Etc. (this list is not meant to be complete)

Róbert Hargitai (www.hivo.hu), 02/2005-03/2015.
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