Not the Real Thing

The current recession will not bring repentance and revival. A lot of people will feel a lot of pain, but most will continue their borrowing and consumption. The recession will be painful and may drag on for a while, but it will not usher in revival, as some Christian commentators seem to be suggesting.

To bring a radical change of heart and crying out to God, the economy would have to plummet much deeper into depression. A slump on this scale would have to be prayed into being by the church. When David Pawson visited New Zealand in 1982, he gave this challenge.

God wants to bring revival to New Zealand for the first time.
God will bring revival through economic ruin.

He then asked,

Who is willing to pray for economic ruin,
to make revival possible?

The current recession is not the answer to this prayer. How do I know?

• Few Christians would be willing to pray such a daunting prayer.
• The church is not ready, because the spiritual commando armies have not been training.

Still Walking the Dog

The current recession is not the Great Depression over again. People are still walking their dogs.

GDP declined by 30 percent in the early 1930s. A quarter of the population was unemployed. With minimal welfare benefits, many people were destitute and on the brink of starvation. Large numbers of banks failed, robbing many people of all their savings. The share market lost ninety percent of its value. Many farmers walked off their land when they could not meet their interest payments. Many more people lost their homes in the cities.

We are not experiencing anything like what happened in the 1930s. Life is still a breeze compared to those times. People are still walking their dogs and not eating them.