The Repentance Road to Revival: The 10 Deadly Sins of the Church Kevin Hamm and Jerry Watts. Morris Publishing, 2024.
Kevin Hamm and Jerry Watts are both pastors with a passion for revival in the Church.
They collaborated on a slim but powerful volume titled “The Repentance Road to Revival” about the vital role of repentance in spiritual awakening in the Church and the nation.
Hamm is the pastor of Gardendale First Baptist Church, which is one of the largest churches in Alabama, and Watts is pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Foxworth, Mississippi. Both bring spiritual depth and significant ministry experience to this series of messages about revival. They are convinced that the 10 sins they focus on in these pages are serious hurdles to the vitality and effectiveness of churches in today’s culture.
“We do not believe we are experts concerning the truths of these needs; rather, we desire to be the catalyst of prayers, thought and spiritual truth that brings much-needed revival to the Bride of Christ” (p. 9).
Each chapter focuses on an area where repentance is needed. They identify “weak pulpits” where God’s truth is minimized and neglected.
They see the problem of “tiny faith” in which believers lack true trust in the Lord.
‘Timid prayers’
A third issue is “timid prayers” that are shallow, routine and weak.
Hamm and Watts note that “small commitment” to the Lord is at the heart of much of the spiritual problems in the Church. They warn against the tragedy of being a “silent witness” when God calls us to be bold. The terrible effects of “lost joy” are reviewed as a consequence of believers’ spiritual decline.
Another symptom they address is “little compassion” for others, especially the lost. The effects of “dry eyes” and “shallow worship” show the sad state of many churches.
Holy reverence, accountability
Their final chapter sums up their main concern that there is “no fear” of the Lord among many professing believers. This lack of holy reverence and accountability is crippling the effectiveness of churches and many individual Christians.
Throughout this exploration of sins in the Church is their consistent call for believers to turn fully to the Lord and to seek genuine revival. This is a book that would benefit all believers, Bible study groups and Sunday School classes.
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