Rut, Rot or Revival: The Condition of the Church

by A.W. Tozer, James L. Snyder (Compilation)

In this powerful collection of verbatim sermons, A.W. Tozer deals with revival issues: the problem of "sleeping" Christians controlling church affairs, the problem of getting out of the ecclesiastical rut, the difficulty of breaking the status quo and more. This is Tozer, pulpit-style -- humor included.

Genres: Christian, Church, Religion, Theology, Faith, Christian Living, Devotional

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Aiden Wilson Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer, and editor. After coming to Christ at the age of seventeen, Tozer found his way into the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination where he served for over forty years. In 1950, he was appointed by the denomination's General Council to be the editor of "The Alliance Witness" (now "Alliance Life").

Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.

A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.

Reviews

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!! Tozer is always amazing. This book does not disappoint. It loses a star because it is not as great as his other books. Which means this is better than most books out there, just not up to Tozer standards!!! Highly recommended!!!

[Linensash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great personal and congregational evaluation tool. Tozer's prophetic gift is evident yet again.

[Johnny McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Tozer's messages in this book makes you evaluate your walk every time you read it. I feel challenged to increase in my faith and walk with the Lord.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the "psychology of the routine", this has the effect of a good gut-punch: "Israel's problem was that they had given up hope of ever getting the land God had promised them. They had become satisfied with going in circles and camping in nice, comfortable places...When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything usual from God, we are in a rut." But it's not enough to get busy so that crowds of other people can share your rut: "When people in the church only point to others for improvement and not to themselves, it is sure evidence that the church has come to dry rot. It is proof of three sins: the sin of self-righteousness, the sin of judgment and the sin of complacency." From fanaticism to gimmicks to the real nature of revival, Tozer calls out each of the encroaching tendrils of sin affecting individuals and churches - and then points to the solutions. Internal change. Prayer. Time in the Word. A real belief that God can really do what He says, and that He isn't surprised by any 'advancements' made by our self-focused modern age. Things that everyone can understand.

Need to imprint this on my heart: "Do not let any of the things of the world or past mistakes paralyze your hearts...You were so bright and cheerful in your spiritual life once, and then you made some tragic mistake or had something happen to you. You got out of it somehow, and prayed and wept your way out of it. But it did something to you, and now you cannot lick it. Past wrongs that have been done to you, past failures, times you thought you were going to win and did not, or present sins and discouragement - these things are not mental at all. They are deeper than that; they are subconscious, and they prevent us from believing."

[Leah Chappell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bam! This little book packs a heavy punch. One word of warning: Don't read this if you want to feel comfortable. It's easy to read in the sense that the language is simple, clear, and arresting, but not so easy in the sense that it will make you ask some soul-searching questions. The main theme is that Christians (and these were evangelical Christians back in the 50's, which sounds surprisingly similar to now) were getting stuck in a rut, stuck doing things just because that's what they'd always done. God wants us to get out of the rut and onto the road of progress in His kingdom!

Here's something I liked: a lot of Christian books will sort of taper off and get more hypothetical at the end, but this one doesn't. It blazes right through and doesn't contain once unnecessary paragraph. It leaves one daring question echoing in the reader's head - but I won't tell you what it is; you'll have read the book yourself.

There really isn't anything bad to say about this book except maybe, as Tozer himself observes, it doesn't go far enough. But it's a book for a beginning, and will start the reader off on an upward path. I'd recommend it for Christians of any age, background, or experience level.

[Pedro David Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiene unos meses que lo termine y voy a leerlo nuevamente, el capitulo "¿donde esta el Dios de Elias?" y "Conocido en el infierno" me han confrontado para apartarme del mundo cada día un poco mas y seguir a nuestro amado y fiel Señor.
Gracias a Dios por este buen libro para pequeños como yo en la fe del Señor.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really beneficial to any Christian. I loved it.

[Dean Akin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought provoking/challenging to my faith. Good read as always for Tozer.

[KD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what it says on the tin. Radical and significant life change. No looking back, new perspective and doing the basics well.

[Anantha Kannnan]

I want read this book

[Ricardo Cifuentes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro que clama por un compromiso cristiano a nuestra ética, un llamado a líderes y pastores para consagración y limpieza. Aunque es un gran libro, posiblemente muchas ideas se vean totalmente radicales.

[Rahnee Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strict and convicting. Straight to the point and critical.

[Jhon Malaver Rodríguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente obra.

[Shaun Quek · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is a book to refresh you in your Christian journey. nothing too new but in Tozer fashion, he calls the Christian and the church to awaken unapologetically.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

READ AUG 2020

[Irina Trancă · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought and self-introspect - provoking.

[Wilmer Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro que te confronta con las decisiones diarias del ministerio pastoral, donde la oración, l a visión y la pasión son el eje del texto.

Frases como:
“Ningún hombre es más grande que su vida de oración”
“Nadie vive más allá de su visión”
“Que instituto bíblico tiene la oración como una de sus asignaturas”
“La peor muerte que conozco es predicar acerca del Espíritu Santo sin la unción del Espíritu Santo”