I've been listening to Brother, Sister, the new album from mewithoutYou and have to say the band has done it again. They have such a cool and unique sound. It's so fun to hear a good band stay good. Perhaps I can even say "a great band stay great." I get worried sometimes that a good band is going to falter or they'll run out of creative ideas. Not this time. Good stuff.
I'm planning on going to a great rock show tonight down in San Antonio. Demon Hunter, Zao, Spoken, August Burns Red, and Becoming The Archetype. Should be great.
In chapter 24 of Rees Howells, Intercessor, we read about six years of Mr. & Mrs. Howells' lives in Africa. There was some AMAZING revival going on there. Book of Acts stuff. Meetings would go on for hours (day after day), where the Holy Spirit would fall on a crowded room and people would cry and weep and praise and sing and confess their sins. What a treat this couple had. Many missionaries give their lives to the Lord and serve in mission fields and trust that their work is fruitful, seeing changes here and there and, after much labor, converts come. But the Howells had the reputation of the revivals come with them and they immediately were asked to talk and share about the blessings they had received back in Wales. This quickly turned into revivals within six weeks.
The media reported on this (and I can see this happening today...as more and more media people either become saved or acclimated to understanding spiritual things). Here's an excerpt from a report that Mrs. Bessie Porter Head gave in a booklets (Advance in Gazaland and Retrospect and Revival in Gazaland):
"...Meetings lasted from early morning till sunset, with only a short interval, the people weeping and confessing their sins, so that the missionaries could not put in a word, but simply wept with them and prayed for them. Sometimes everyone would be kneeling and confessing together in great agony of soul, and then one and another would 'get free' and begin to sing for joy. This went on day by day from Sunday till Thursday, the Spirit doing a mighty convicting work in souls and leading to confessions such as no human agency could have extorted from them..."
Howells saw only a small fraction of the people in the area not come to Christ -- and that was the married men. Apparently they resisted because of some ancient traditions about men paying 25 pounds for a bride, which meant a lot of money to a father with three of four daughters; but converted men would never sell a daughter. So money kept these men stubbornly refusing to convert. After strategically praying for their conversion, building a home and praying that married men would be hired on to work with him, he slowly but surely saw this stronghold break.
All of the marvelous things are wonderous and incredible to think of. I shrink away, though, at the patience and cost that brought them. The missionaries that the Howells came to assist had given a great many years and effort that preceded these revivals. And then Howells paid great price in prayer and lifestyle. I am so used to a fast food and instant life that I honestly find it hard to see myself paying that price. Would I be willing to pray hours a day for days and months about something? Would I put myself in an intercessor's position to see these changes happen? Man, I just don't know! And I think of the culture around me and ask, "Who will pay the price? Who will pray for souls?"
I thank God that there are some. In Austin there's this place called AHOP (Austin House of Prayer), where believers from different churches all over this city come together to blanket the city with prayer. This happens in many cities all over the world, I believe. This is a good sign.
where did you get a copy of mewithoutyou's new album it would be great if you would share with the rest of the class particularly me i would love to hear it
Posted by: ley at June 23, 2006 10:03 PMi could share it with you, but then i'd have to kill ya. or at least shave your head and tie you up, transport you to Rio and leave you there with no food, no English/Portuguese translators, and no iPod.
it's one of those advance cds the press gets, and if we shared it, the label would get mad; rightly so, as they trust us to use it for the purpose of reviews/preparing for stories, etc. but if you lived nearby and visited the office, you could certainly hear it over the stereo..
:?)