“BROKEN ALTARS”


A new year is just around the corner. What will it bring your way? What do you hope and dream will happen in your life in the coming year? What concerns do you have? In what ways would you like to grow, improve, and end next year significantly better/stronger/richer (and I don’t mean monetarily!) than you are right now, on December 31, 2011?

A recent writing in my daily devotional, “Magnificent Prayer,” cut me to the heart and challenged me to consider how I’ve been, how I’ve compromised my life, my faith, my values, etc. and how much I want to be significantly better/stronger/richer (and also deeper in my relationship with the Lord) than I am today when December 31, 2012 rolls around.

Here’s what I read. The author is Vance Havner, a popular preacher and conference speaker from earlier in the past century. I’m going to separate the various thoughts that he has for us, to create space for you to think and ponder what he has to say.

“And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.” (I Kings 18:30)


“We read that Elijah began the demonstration of the true God by repairing the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Never was there a revival that did not so begin.

And if today God answers from heaven we must begin to repair His broken altars:

•Altars of consecration, where once we gave ourselves to God and promised to do His will alone; where we offered Him our talents and time and possessions, ourselves…but with the years we have kept back part of the price and lied unto God until it is a wonder we do not drop dead like Ananias and Sapphira;

•Altars of dedication, where we gave our children to God…but later chose our way for them and denied God;

•Family altars, where once we gathered to read the Word and commit our way unto the Lord…but now abandon with the silly excuse that since times have changed, it is no longer practical;

•Altars of praise and testimony, where once the redeemed of the Lord said so…but sin and worldliness and neglect have closed our lips and stolen our song;

•Altars of service, where once we lived only, always, for the King…but have now deserted because we live for self and none beside, just as if Jesus had never lived, just as if He had never died.

Here is our task: to repair these broken altars. All our pious dodges and clever substitutes to avoid repentance will never avail. Stained glass windows and robed choirs and anthems and banquets and dramas and eloquence in the pulpit and elegance in the pew have never fooled God. He demands truth in the inward parts, and heaven will keep silent and no fire will ever fall until we approach Him with rebuilt altars in the name of the Lord.” (Vance Havner)

I think this devotional also struck my heart because of the situation here at Hilmar Covenant. For many years, people have prayed for revival. People have wanted the congregation to grow. People have wanted the church to be alive. We have tried new programs, new activities, new fads, new facilities, new staff...but to what end?

Through the Veritas evaluation process, we were shocked to discover that the health of our congregation was not real good. Instead of revival and growth, we had plateaued – and were even declining! We were a “critical moment” church. Deeper study showed some of the reasons for this.

Why the discrepancies between what we as a congregation desired and the reality that we were faced with?


I think it was because of “broken altars.” Some of the things mentioned in Havner’s comments. Some of the peripheral issues and concerns that we as a congregation got caught up in, expending our energy and emotion on secondary matters instead of focusing on our primary calling as a church: pursuing Christ and Christ’s priorities in the world. Things like worship style, music style, preaching style, length of worship, staff personalities, habits/traditions vs. change/new relevancies, people's fears, etc. became priorities and took our attention and energy away from the central, essential elements of being the church, like our relationship with the Lord, Bible study, prayer, worship, community/fellowship, acts of service, concern for those who do not yet know and follow Christ, forgiveness, grace, trust, and so forth. Being human got the best of us! American individualism triumphed over how we are to live together, serve God and others, and “be” the Church. Our culture’s insatiable thirst for personal satisfaction, comfort, security, and pleasure triumphed over putting other’s interests first, sacrifice, embracing the unfamiliar, and generously deferring to others.


There is only one way for revival to occur – in one’s personal life and in the community life of a church: PRAYER. Focused, committed, communal prayer. Tinkering with the outer things (worship, programs, stylistic choices, fun activities, minimal commitment, new staff, etc.) will never bring revival and true spiritual growth. Appealing to people’s preferences will never bring a church alive either, because the focus is 180° in the wrong direction: on people, and not on God! Prayer brings the necessary change of heart, known as repentance, and that brings a deep desire to repair broken altars in one’s life. The result will be revival.

I believe we at Hilmar Covenant have made good progress forward in becoming a more healthy congregation. We have addressed some of the issues that made us a “critical moment” church. For those of us who continue to be committed and active here, there is a sense of expectancy and hope for better days ahead.

However, the truth of the matter is that we have declined. The only way to reverse this process is through revival – which is the work of the Holy Spirit, not human efforts. And the only way to unleash the Spirit and bring revival to us is through PRAYER.

As the New Year begins, I want to call us as a congregation once again to prayer. For us to be a praying congregation – not just a couple dozen of us, but everyone; 100%! If you have an asterisk by your name in the church directory, you are a member of Hilmar Covenant. When you joined this congregation, you made a number of promises before God as well as before the rest of your brothers and sisters in Christ, and one of these was to pray for the ongoing life of Hilmar Covenant. Are you faithfully doing so? Or is this a “broken altar” in your own life?


If we want to see our church thrive and grow and erupt in excellent health, it is our responsibility, individually and corporately, to seek an active, alive, vibrant relationship with God. This is what it means to repair broken altars, personally and together as a church. If we get our priorities straight, if we will forgive and seek unity, make the Lord first in our lives, and PRAY, “we can approach Him with rebuilt altars” and the Lord will pour out revival in ways we have never seen before.

I close with another selection from “Magnificent Prayer:”

“Brethren, we must fight for the prayer time! We must have time to pray. If we wait until we have some leisure moments to pray, we will never have the chance to pray. We should set apart some definite time for prayer. ‘Those who have no set time for prayer,’ warns Andrew Murray, ‘do not pray.’ For this reason, we need to watch that we may get time to pray. We must also use prayer to protect this prayer time from being snatched away through the wiles of the devil.” (Watchman Nee)

PRAY ON!