Let Us Get to God 5/29 Friday Faith

Men have been speaking through the ages, but the voice of God the Spirit is calling us today.  Since the early church lost her power and place with God, we have been struggling back.  Up through "its" and "isms," theories, creeds, doctrines, schisms, issues, movements, blessings, experiences, and professions, we have come.  The stream could rise no higher than its source.  We need no more theology or theory... Let us get to God.

-- Frank Bartleman

Holy Spirit's Focus 5/28 Thursday Thoughts

Any work that exalts the Holy Spirit or the gifts above Jesus will finally end up in fanaticism.  Whatever causes us to exalt and love Jesus is well and safe.  The reverse will ruin all.  The Holy Spirit is a great light, but will always be focused on Jesus for His revealing.

-- Frank Bartleman

Losing Sight of the Fact 5/27 Wednesday Wisdom

There seemed to be a great danger of losing sight of the fact that Jesus was "all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11).  I endeavored to keep Him as the central theme and figure before the people.  Jesus will always be the center of our preaching.  All comes through and in Him.  The Holy Spirit is given to show the things of Christ.  (See John 16:14.)  The work of Calvary, the Atonement, must be the center of our consideration.  The Holy Spirit never draws our attention from Christ to Himself, but rather reveals Christ in a fuller way.  We are in the same danger today.

-- Frank Bartleman

Self-Satisfaction in Service 5/26 Tuesday Truth

Without a doubt, even the least self-satisfaction in one's religious service is a great hindrance to the blessing and favor of God.

-- Frank Bartleman

Danger of Stagnation 5/25 Monday Meditation

We are certainly in more danger from remaining in stagnation, where we are, than in going ahead trustingly for God.

-- Frank Bartleman

Intellectual Knowledge 5/22 Friday Faith

The greater part of most Christians' knowledge of God is and has always been, since the loss of the Spirit by the early church, an intellectual knowledge.  Their knowledge of the Word and principles of God is an intellectual one, through natural reasoning and understanding largely.  They have little revelation, illumination, or inspiration directly from the Spirit of God.

-- Frank Bartleman

Only We Have Changed 5/21 Thursday / Ascension Day

Thursday is Ascension Day, the fortieth day after Resurrection Day.  Come again quickly, O Lord!

The meetings [Azusa Street Revival] were controlled by the Spirit, from the throne.  Those were truly wonderful days.  I often said that I would rather live six months at that time than fifty years of ordinary life.  But God is just the same today.  Only we have changed.

-- Frank Bartlement

A Sea of Pure Divine Love 5/20 Wednesday Wisdom

Divine love was wonderfully manifest in the meetings [Azusa Street Revival].  The people would not even allow an unkind word said against their opposers or the churches.  The message was the love of God.  It was a sort of "first love" (Revelation 2:4) of the early church returned.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit, as we received it in the beginning, did not allow us to think, speak, or hear evil of any man.  The Spirit was very sensitive, tender as a dove... We knew the moment we had grieved the Spirit by an unkind thought or word.  We seemed to live in a sea of pure divine love.

-- Frank Bartleman

The Road to Apostasy 5/19 Tuesday Truth

The apostasy of the early church came as a result of a greater desire to see the spread of its power and rule than to see new natures given to its individual members.  The moment we covet a large following and rejoice in the crowd that is attracted by our presentation of what we consider truth, and have not a greater desire to see the natures of individuals changed according to the divine plan, we start to travel the same road of apostasy.

-- Frank Bartleman

A Hopeless Task 5/18 Monday Meditation

He who sets out to find a perfect church, in which there are no unworthy elements and no disfigurations, proposes to himself a hopeless task.

-- Frank Bartleman

John Wesley's Revival Prayer 5/15 Friday Faith

John Wesley himself once prayed, after the revival had about died out for the time, "Oh, Lord, send us the old revival, without the defects; but if this cannot be, send it with all its defects.  We must have the revival!"

-- Frank Bartleman

The Midnight Cry 5/14 Thursday Thoughts

And now, once more, at the very end of the age, God calls.  The last call, the midnight cry, is now upon us, sounding clearly in our ears.  God will give this one more chance, the last.  A final call, a worldwide revival.  Then judgment upon the whole world.  Some tremendous event is about to transpire.

-- Frank Bartelman

Choosing Second Best 5/13 Wednesday Wisdom

Human organization and human programs leave very little room for the free Spirit of God...  It is very easy to choose second best.  The prayer life is needed much more than buildings or organizations.  These are often a substitute for the other.  Souls are born into the kingdom only through prayer.

-- Frank Bartelman

Faith For Better Things 5/12 Tuesday Truth

When we began to pray in the spring of 1905, no one seemed to have much faith for anything out of the ordinary.  Pessimism in regard to the then-present conditions seemed to be felt generally among the saints. But this attitude had changed.  God Himself had given us faith for better things.  There had been nothing in sight to stimulate us to this.  It came from nothing.  And can He not do the same today?

--Frank Bartleman

Keynote to Revival 5/11 Monday Meditation

I received from God early in 1905 the following keynote to revival:  "The depth of revival will be determined exactly by the depth of the spirit of repentance."  And this will hold true for all people, at all times.

-- Frank Bartelman

A Burden of Prayer 5/8 Friday Faith

I found most Christians did not want to take on a burden of prayer...  Most believers find it easier to criticize than to pray.

-- Frank Bartelman

Communion With God 5/7 Thursday Thoughts

We need a closer, personal, vital relationship, acquaintance, and communion with God.  Only the man who lives in fellowship with divine reality can be used to call the people to God.

-- Frank Bartelman

Hopelessly Divided Church 5/6 Wednesday Wisdom

Ancient Israel, when right with God, was one; how much more should the church be.  We have priests enough to serve continually, and plenty of seeking, needy people to fill the church at all times.  How far we have fallen from the early pattern, and even from the type of the church, Israel.  We are so far from it that we scarcely recognize the real thing... The difficulty and shame is that we are hopelessly divided.

-- Frank Bartleman

God Does Not Have Many Churches 5/5 Tuesday Truth

God does not have many churches, all of different names.  There is no division in a true Pentecost or in true worship.  "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body... and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). 

-- Frank Bartelman

Frank Bartleman quotes 5/4 Monday Meditation

Today I am beginning a short series of quotes by Frank Bartleman, a leading figure and the historian of the Azusa Street Revival.  This revival, which started in Los Angeles in 1906, was the beginning of the Pentecostal / charismatic movement.  It was the beginning of the greatest spread of the gospel worldwide and the beginning of the breaking down of racial barriers in the church.  

Some churches are going to be surprised to find God passing them by.  He will work in channels where they will yield to Him.  They must humble themeselves for Him to come...  Some people are too well satisfied with their own goodness... God will humble them by passing them by.   The Spirit is breathing prayer through us for a mighty, general outpouring.  Great things are coming... God is moving.  We are praying for the churches and their pastors.  The Lord will visit those willing to yield to Him.

-- Frank Bartleman