A. W. Tozer, who was a friend of Leonard, said this about Leonard: “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 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.”
I first met Leonard in 1989, when he was eighty-two years old and in frail health. At first glance, I would not have thought that God could still use this fragile, white-haired man. He walked slowly and unsteadily, and he sometimes needed help to get up and down from his chair. Yet, as soon as he opened his mouth, I immediately realized that my initial impression was wrong. At eighty-two, Leonard still spoke with fire and conviction, and it felt like his eyes were piercing right through to my soul.
During the last few years of his life, Leonard moderated a prayer meeting held once a week (later once a month), which was attended primarily by pastors and evangelists. Some of these men made a four-hour round trip to attend those prayer meetings. I attended those prayer meetings from 1989 until they ended in the summer of 1994, a few months before Leonard’s death. During the years that I attended those prayer meetings, I never once left without being deeply challenged by what Leonard had said.
One of Leonard’s gifts was his ability to spontaneously create insightful spiritual maxims as he spoke. These were short, memorable observations about God, the church, and the world. I always took a notebook with me to these meetings to write down some of his observations and maxims.
Here are some of Leonard’s spiritual insights from those meetings:
“A popular evangelist reaches your emotions. A true prophet reaches your conscience.”
“The last words of Jesus to the church (in Revelation) were ?Repent!'”
“A true shepherd leads the way. He does not merely point the way.”
“You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there’s a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.”
“Your doctrine can be as straight as a gun barrel-and just as empty!”
“John the Baptist never performed any miracles. Yet, he was greater than any of the Old Testament prophets.”
“I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again.”
“Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes pride, lust, materialism, and other sin.”
“There are only two kinds of persons: those dead in sin and those dead to sin.”
[Concerning the darkness that has enveloped most of Christendom:] “When you’re sitting in a dark room, you can either sit and curse the darknes-or you can light a candle.”
“Children can tell you what Channel 7 says, but not what Matthew 7 says.”
“Some women will spend thirty minutes to an hour preparing for church externally (putting on special clothes and makeup, etc.). What would happen if we all spent the same amount of time preparing internally for church?with prayer and meditation?”
“Maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age.”
“What good does it do to speak in tongues on Sunday if you have been using your tongue during the week to curse and gossip?”
“Would we send our daughters off to have sex if it would benefit our country? Yet, we send our sons off to kill when we think it would benefit our country!”
“The only time you can really say that Christ is all I need,’ is when Christ is all you have.”
“The Bible is either absolute, or it’s obsolete.”
“Why do we expect to be better treated in this world than Jesus was?”
“Today’s church wants to be raptured from responsibility.”
“Testimonies are wonderful. But, so often our lives don’t fit our testimonies.”
[Concerning one of the new “movements” in the church that was causing a stir among Christians:] “There’s also a stir when the circus comes to town.”
“My main ambition in life is to be on the Devil’s most wanted list.”
“You can’t develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict.”
“When there’s something in the Bible that churches don’t like, they call it: legalism.'”
“We can’t serve God by proxy.”
“We must do what we can do for God, before He will give us the power to do what we can’t do.”
“There’s a difference between changing your opinion, and changing your lifestyle.”
“Our seminaries today are turning out dead men.”
“How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don’t even have the strength to turn off your TV?”
“Everyone recognizes that Stephen was Spirit-filled when he was performing wonders. Yet, he was just as Spirit-filled when he was being stoned to death.”
“If a Christian is not having tribulation in the world, there’s something wrong!”
[Concerning the fixation that today’s church has with numbers, with growth at any price:] “The church has paid a terrible price for statistics!”
“Any method of evangelism will work, if God is in it.”
“Church unity comes from corporate humility.”
“You can have all of your doctrines right, yet still not have the presence of God.”
“Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously?”
“If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.”
“You can know a lot about the atonement, and yet receive no benefit from it.”
“If the whole church goes off into deception, that will in no way excuse us for not following Christ.”
=======================
Pour Thyself through Me
=======================
Spirit of the living God, pray Thy mind through me;
Nothing less than Spirit-power do I ask of Thee.
Purge me, urge me, guide me, hide me-
Spirit of the living God, pray Thy mind through me.
Power of the eternal God, flow Thy power through me;
Holy, Pentecostal power do I ask of Thee.
Lowly, holy, for Thy glory-
Power of the eternal God, flow Thy power through me.
Mercy of the living God, channel love through me;
Nothing less than Calvary love meets the need for me.
Love that's burning, love that's yearning-
Mercy of the living God, channel love through me.
Grace of God, eternal grace, reach the lost through me;
Tenderness for every race do I ask of Thee.
Love them, lift them, reach them, teach them-
Grace of God, eternal grace, reach the lost through me.
Life of God, eternal life, pour Thyself through me;
Nothing less than Thine own life do I ask of Thee.
Life compelling, life that's telling-
Life of God, eternal life, pour Thyself through me</pre>
"My mother was a real fanatic about family devotions. Dad was traveling regularly and she would read the Bible with us or some missionary story. We would always have a short devotional time before going to school, reading either a portion of Scripture or from a devotional book and then have brief prayer. There were times when I thought to myself, "Man, we're going to be late and miss the bus!" But she would not compromise. It was the old way of consistency that some today would call legalism. She had tough love and believed in the 'laying on of hands' with her boys.
Mom was more of the disciplinarian than dad because she was there all the time. Dad would do fun things with us, taking us in the car to places or going to a castle or a museum. He loved walking through the fields and the countryside.
Farm life made things enjoyable as well because teenagers we liked milking cows and driving the tractor, then bringing in the hay and all the outdoor work. We would also roam the acreage and go fishing in the lakes. It was a great family life we had during those years."
Leonard had a high view of marriage and deep commitment to their loving relationship. But like any husband, there were times he had to be reminded of this. One night after Martha and Len had prayed and prepared for bed, he lingered in the living room, continuing to pray. Shortly, he heard Martha call out, "Len, come on to bed." He replied, "I will come when I finish." But, Martha's words were even more insistent, "Len, you also have a wife!" God spoke to him through those words. He got up from prayer, went to the bedroom and slipped into bed. He later said that sometimes the most spiritual thing a man can do is to go to bed with his wife!Leonard and Martha’s godly influence, advice, and counsel to young couples provided an example of what marriage should be.
Paul and his future wife Irene met in Bible school and they were married at the end of a worship service there. They later moved to Oregon for ministry training, then to New York City for a period of ministry and finally to Argentina as missionaries in the 1960’s. Paul and Irene are still there today and have seen God powerfully work over the years in amazing ways. Leonard often mentioned their ministry in his messages:
"In Argentina, our son Paul is seeing the Lord do great things. They are seeing over fourteen hundred people pray until after midnight. Where could we see that in the U.S.? Here we are so full and satisfied, so complacent, and so indifferent."
David and his future wife Nancy met also at Bible college when they both were training for mission work. A native of Michigan, Nancy's family moved later to the Mojave Desert in Victorville, California. God brought them together in marriage on August 24, 1963.
After finishing their Bible college training, they went to New York City, along with Len and Martha, to work at the Brooklyn Teen Challenge. Later they went to the headquarters of Christian Literature Crusade in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, for a period of ministry. In October of 1966, they left America for Barrier Island, off the coast of New Zealand and since that time have served Christ in New Guinea and New Zealand. Since the 1980's, David and Nancy have been involved in pastoral and evangelist ministry in Florida, Missouri, Washington, and Texas. David now travels extensively in an itinerant preaching ministry around the world from their home in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.Leonard and Martha loved their sons deeply. In a sermon, he spoke of David’s life when he was in New Zealand:
"David always reminds me of the gentleness and meekness of Jesus. He was the most nervous young fellow until the Lord saved him and filled him with the Spirit. Now in New Zealand, he's pastoring a church of sixteen hundred, with another six hundred in Sunday school. God is using him around the world. I say that not to boast of my son, but there's nothing wrong in realizing that God can take you and use you. If you are thinking, "God could not use me", well, He can! It's not what you can bring to God that matters--it's what God can bring to you."
Leonard and Martha's third son, Philip, was involved in ministry in the 1970's in New York City with David Wilkerson. He later received his PhD from New York University and then went to Ivory Coast in West Africa. Leonard admired the work ethic and integrity of Philip and his wife Judy. Writing on December 1, 1976, he said,
"Philip and Judy have left for New York. They leave for Brussels, Belgium, and then on back to West Africa. Phil was offered a job there for a thousand dollars a week, but turned it down because he felt it did not give the natives their rights in a certain area. Judy was offered a teaching post at Columbia University, but declined it so she could finish the work in Africa. I am glad they are so conscientious."
Philip went on to specialize in African art history before being invited by the Smithsonian Institute in 1988 to be the curator of the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., where he lived until his sudden death in November of 1997.
Because the Ravenhills were scattered across the world for most of their adult years, family times together were almost non-existent, with Philip in West Africa, David in the South Pacific, Paul in Argentina, and Len and Martha in America. There was only one time in twenty-five years when they were all together all the same time.
Leonard and Martha have eleven grandchildren, including Paul and Irene's children: Deborah Ruth, David, Brenna, Paulette, and Andrew. David and Nancy's children include Lisa, Kristina, and Debra. Philip's children are Geoffrey, Brenden, and Amanda.The effect of Leonard and Martha’s influence upon their sons was immeasurable. Len once said, “The husband often is gone and goes in and out frequently like I did. So it was Martha that had a profound influence on our three boys.” The mutual love and respect between parents and the sons and daughters-in-law ran deep all their lives. It is reflected in a simple act Leonard did one night that was never forgotten.
David Ravenhill, age nineteen, had the evening responsibility of checking the grounds at Bethany Fellowship’s campus in Minnesota. He went to bed one night later than normal, and still awake, he heard the door of his room open and saw his father tape a piece of paper on the inside of the door which he read the next morning:
Build me a son, O Lord, who'll be strong enough to know When he is weak, and knows enough to face himself when he's afraid; Who'll be proud and unbending in honest defeat, And humble and gentle in victory.
Build me a son whose wishbone Will not be where his backbone should be; A son who will know Thee and know himself As the foundation stone of knowledge.
Lead him, I pray not in the path of ease and comfort, But under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge; Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, Here let him learn compassion for those who fall.
Build me a son whose heart will be clear and whose goal will be high, A son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; One who will learn to laugh, yet not forget to weep, One who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
And after all these are his, add I pray, Enough of a sense of humor, So that he may always be serious, Yet never take himself too seriously.
Give him humility so that he may always remember The simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, And the meekness of true strength; Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’ God answered the prayer of Leonard’s heart that night abundantly.
From the biography In Light of Eternity by Mack Tomlinson pg. 125-130
Build me a son, O Lord, who'll be strong enough to know When he is weak, and knows enough to face himself when he's afraid; Who'll be proud and unbending in honest defeat, And humble and gentle in victory.
Build me a son whose wishbone Will not be where his backbone should be; A son who will know Thee and know himself As the foundation stone of knowledge.Lead him, I pray not in the path of ease and comfort, But under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge; Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, Here let him learn compassion for those who fall.
Build me a son whose heart will be clear and whose goal will be high, A son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; One who will learn to laugh, yet not forget to weep, One who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
And after all these are his, add I pray, Enough of a sense of humor, So that he may always be serious, Yet never take himself too seriously.
Give him humility so that he may always remember The simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, And the meekness of true strength; Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’
A poem given to Leonard Ravenhill by his father at age 19.
From the biography In Light of Eternity by Mack Tomlinson pg. 129-130
“Martha was kind and gracious, but she was also tough. She was always in the background, guiding and protecting Leonard. We moved next door to Martha after Leonard died. She was a wonderful neighbor. By the time, she was old, probably in her mid-eighties.
There were many times when people drove up the driveway, stopped, then drove out, probably wanting to see where Leonard lived. A lot of people still thought he lived there and would show up. Martha would come out and say hello and would give them the opportunity to express what Len had meant to them. Even to this day, seventeen years later, people still show up to see where he lived.
At times Leonard had strange characters show up, telling him that God had sent them to be with him or under him. At times he had to send people to some places that could hopefully help them. Sometimes they were just misguided and at other times, they probably had real problems.”
From the biography In Light of Eternity by Mack Tomlinson
“Leonard lived all his life with eternity’s values in view.”
Sometime in 1937, while pastoring at Oldham Leonard met a young lady who was attending mettings where he was preaching. Martha Wilson, a state-certified midwife, was working as the director of the nursing staff at Hope Hospital in Salford, on of the largest hospitals in England at the time.
When Martha was seventeen, she left Ireland by ship for Australia to be trained as a nurse. The journey took three months. After finishing the training she went to England and secured work at the hospital in Oldham. Four years younger than Leonard, Martha was from a family of seven children–five boys and two girls–from County Monaghan, Southern Ireland, where her father was a farmer and blacksmith, and also owned a mill.
Martha attended some of the meetings where Len was preaching near Manchester. The details of the development of their friendship and courtship are not known, but what is known is that God led them together to be partners for life. leonard spoke only briefly of how they came together: “I met my precious Irish wife in a little town called Eccles ten miles out of Manchester. She was the night of supervisor at one of the largest hospitals in England. God wonderfully led us together.”
Their relationship developed with Christian fellowship and friendship and grew into love. Leonard and Martha were serious-minded believers and viewed marriage as haveing one primary purpose–to advance Christ’s kingdom and serve Him together.
The wedding was in Leeds in September of 1939 while Leonard was pastoring in Oldham. Their lives were linked together for the next fifty-five years. The Calvary Holiness magazine announced the wedding in its news section:
“Wedding bells were sounded in Leeds on the occasion of Brother Leonard Ravenhill’s marriage to sister Martha Wilson on Saturday, September 30. Maynard James and Jack Ford were the officiating ministers at this important event. We pray that God’s rich blessing may ever be the portion of the newly wedded couple, as they united to serve the Lord in the Christian ministry.”
Martha resigned from her nursing job to establish their home and took care of all domestic responsibilities so Leonard could study, pray, and preach. Their son David said later:
“My dad couldn’t even boil an egg–what I mean is he didn’t have to do anything in the home. Mom did everything so he could be free to pray, study, counsel, influence people, and preach. She did not want anything to hinder his work.”
Martha was protective of Leonard’s life and ministry and was wise and frugal. When they married they requested that no marriage gifts be given to them. At the time they were strongly considering going to Africa as missionaries among the pigmies of the Itui forest in the African Congo. They offered themselves for that field, but God closed the door. From Leonard’s perspective, it was: “We offered up our Isaac, and the Lord said, ‘No.’” England was to be their mission field for years to come.
Ravenhill sons soon began to arrive. Their first son Paul was born in 1940 while living in Sheffield. A second son, David, arrived in Burnley two years later and finally Philip was born in Bath in 1945. During these years Leonard was interim minister for churches in Bath, Burnley, Oldham, Salford, and Sheffield. The fact that all three were born in different towns reflects the fact that they were living in different locations during those years.
Martha was wholly given to their home life, raising the boys and supporting Len. Leonard later said, “Every mother is a career woman,” and that certainly applied to Martha. She left the boys with a baby sitter only once when Leonard was severely injured in 1951 while in America and she was at his bedside for weeks, leaving the boys with two families in their church.
Being around Leonard and Martha even for a brief time revealed that they had a special relationship. They honored one another in their words and actions. His favorit terms for her were “darling or Martha dear.” After their sons were grown, Martha traveled with Leonard every where he went. They did everything together and his relationship with her and their sons was very special, more often seen than spoken. Their closeness to each other was evident and bolstered the credibility of his message. From the biography In Light of Eternity by Mack Tomlinson pp. 111-113