Leonard Ravenhill was born in Leeds, in Yorkshire, England on June 18, 1907. Ravenhill was educated at Cliff College in England and sat under the ministry of Samuel Chadwick. He was a student of church history, with a particular interest in Christian revival. His evangelistic meetings during the Second World War drew large crowds. Many converts devoted themselves to Christian ministry and foreign missions. In 1939, he married an Irish nurse, Martha. The Ravenhill's had three sons: Paul, David, and Philip. Paul and David are Christian ministers, and Philip is a teacher. In 1950, Ravenhill and his family moved from Great Britain to the United States. In the 1980s, Ravenhill moved to a home near Lindale, Texas, a short distance from Last Days Ministries Ranch. He regularly taught classes at LDM and was a mentor to the late Keith Green. He also spent some time teaching at Bethany College of Missions in Minnesota, and some time in Seguin, Texas. November 27, 1994: Ravenhill died and is interred at Garden Valley Cemetery in Garden Valley, Texas, near the grave of Contemporary Christian music artist Keith Green.
|
Into the Highways and Hedges In the Middle Ages, Bernard of Clairvaux, Arnold of Brescia, and even Francis of Assisi were open-air preachers. In the Reformation days, John Wycliffe, John Knox, several English Puritans, William Farel, and others could be seen preaching in the open air. George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and John Bunyan also add to the list. In recent decades, Paul Washer, Leonard Ravenhill, and Westminster Theological Seminary professor Cornelius Van Til have regularly preached in the open air. (Desiring God 2/4/24) READMORE>>>>> "When there's something in the Bible that churches don't like, they call it legalism." -Leonard Ravenhill
Today God is bypassing men—not because they are too ignorant, but because they are too self-sufficient. Brethren, our abilities are our handicaps, and our talents are our stumbling blocks! – Leonard Ravenhill –
 Leonard Ravenill
If you want to be like Jesus, remember, He had a wilderness, a Gethsemane, and a Judas. – Leonard Ravenhill – 
1959: Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill; Bethany Fellowship. Ravenhill wrote many books but Why Revival Tarries is considered his best and has been an international best-seller for over 40 years. Ravenhill's writing is weighty with a gravitas that modern Christian writers lack. He is eminently quotable, each sentence of this book feels as if it were placed on a scale before being written down. His work fulfills the ministry of a prophet challenging God's people to repent of their carnality, backsliding and lukewarmness. He lamented the curses of Modernism and entertainment that were compromising the church in the 1960s and 70s. If he thought the condition of the church was bad then, I wonder what he would say today? God help us.
Judgment Seat of Christ Leonard Ravenhill
|
Feb 20, 2023: Rick Pidcock wrote: In their chapel service for “When God Comes,” Chris Bounds, a professor at Wesley Seminary, referred to one of the Asbury Revival preachers of the past named Leonard Ravenhill. Bounds joked: “Some of us at the time called him Leonard Raving Mad, because he stood in this pulpit and basically scared the hell out of me. And I did not swear when I said that. As I realized, that’s what he is intending to do — scare the hell out of us. “He told me I was a sinner, a hypocrite, and if I didn’t change, I’d go to hell. Prophets are never very popular people. But, oh, the freedom that comes — I don’t know how to say this strongly enough — the freedom that comes when you get to a place where you realize, ‘I’m just a no-good, low-down, dirty rotten bum. And everybody else is too. And they know I am.’ Isn’t it a glorious reality to live in?” April 27, 2015: Christianity Today Posted: I am convinced the church suffers today because of the perpetual cycle of pain in the church where there needs to be a perpetual cycle of love. When we get hurt in the church it's damaging. In his book Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray says, “One of the reasons God cannot bless His church is the want for love. When the church is divided there is no strength.” Leonard Ravenhill once said, “Eighty-five people a minute die not knowing Jesus.” That was a 1959 quote, so I imagine the number is much higher today. Love is crucial. April 1, 2007: Gordon McDonald wrote: What do leaders pray for when they go to their own versions of the tent? What themes stabilize a downhearted leader in the fog of spiritual warfare? A mid-20th century preacher on revival, Leonard Ravenhill, wrote in a rather poetic fashion: “Poverty stricken as the church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, but few prayers; many singers but few lingerers; lots of pastors but few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, but little passion; many interferers, but few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.” 
|