Leonard Ravenhill

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Leonard Ravenhill at age 81
Leonard Ravenhill at age 81

Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) was one of Britain’s foremost outdoor evangelists of the 20th century, a pillar of the Christian renewal movement, and one of the greatest authorities on revival. His message is drastic, fearless, and often radical.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Leeds, in Yorkshire, England, he was educated at Cliff College in England and sat under the ministry of Samuel Chadwick. He was a student of church history and an expert in the field of revival. His meetings in the war years drew traffic-jamming crowds in Britain, and great numbers of his converts not only followed the Savior into the Kingdom, but into Christian ministry and the world's mission fields.

In 1939, he married Martha, an Irish nurse. Together they had three sons. Paul and David are ministers.[2] Their third son, Philip Leonard Ravenhill (1945-1997), was a high-level researcher at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.[3]

In 1950, Leonard and his family moved from Great Britain, where he was a popular evangelist, to the United States.[4] In the 1980s, Leonard moved to a home near Lindale, Texas, a short distance from Last Days Ministries Ranch. Leonard regularly taught classes at LDM, and he was a mentor to the late Keith Green.

Among others mentored by Ravenhill are Ravi Zacharias, Tommy Tenney, Steve Hill, Charles Stanley, Bill Gothard, and David Wilkerson.[5]

A close friend of pastor and writer A. W. Tozer, Ravenhill was a prolific writer in his own right and preached until well into his later years. His books demonstrated his dry wit and the ability to turn a phrase.

Through his teaching and books, Ravenhill addressed the disparities he perceived between the New Testament Church and the Church in his time and called for adherence to the principles of biblical revival.[1]

To quote A. W. Tozer regarding Ravenhill's character: "To such men as this the church owes a debt too heavy to pay. The curious thing is that she seldom tries to pay him while he lives. Rather, the next generation builds his sepulcher and writes his biography – as if instinctively and awkwardly to discharge an obligation the previous generation to a large extent ignored.

"Those who know Leonard Ravenhill will recognize in him the religious specialist, the man sent from God not to carry on the conventional work of the church, but to beard [oppose boldly] the priests of Baal on their own mountain-top, to shame the careless priest at the altar, to face the false prophet and to warn the people who are being led astray by him. Such a man as this is not an easy companion.

"He is not the professional evangelist who leaves the wrought-up meeting as soon as it is over to hurry to the most expensive restaurant to feast and crack jokes with his retainers. Such evangelists will find this man something of an embarrassment, for he cannot turn off the burden of the Holy Ghost as one would turn off a faucet. He insists upon being a Christian all the time, everywhere. And again, that marks him out as different."[1]

Gravesite at Garden Valley Cemetery
Gravesite at Garden Valley Cemetery

When he passed on in November 1994, Ravenhill was interred in the same cemetery near Keith Green.

[edit] Quotes

"If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere." — Leonard Ravenhill
"Men give advice; God gives guidance." — Leonard Ravenhill
"Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?" — Leonard Ravenhill
"A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning" — Leonard Ravenhill
"The only reason we don't have revival is because we are willing to live without it!" — Leonard Ravenhill
"God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost." — Leonard Ravenhill
"The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising." — Leonard Ravenhill

[edit] Books

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Scroll Publishing
  2. ^ Amazon.com editorial review
  3. ^ Based on information from long-time LDM associate
  4. ^ No Compromise, Melody Green with David Hazard
  5. ^ Amazon.com editorial review
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