While this is Tommy MacNeil’s first book, the Scottish church leader is already well-known in his homeland as a popular conference speaker and as pastor of a thriving church in his native Isle of Lewis.

Realising our true identity

‘Sleeping Giant’ was first conceived during sabbatical leave in America in 2014. But it took the season of Covid lockdown before the author found the time to translate his long-held vision to written form.

In essence, it’s an urgent, prophetic wake-up call to a very powerful but slumbering giant – the Church of Christ. Tommy says it’s time for individual believers, and the Church across this land, to realise our true identity, and to rise to become a channel of his love and power to a nation in desperate need.

That may sound a familiar theme, but this is no theoretical, triumphalistic rant. Rather, these are ‘lived truths’. Everyone who knows Tommy is well aware, not just of his warm, infectious personality, but of his heart-felt passion for his Lord and Saviour and his yearning to ‘feed people spiritually and physically' (p.141).

It’s time for individual believers, and the Church across this land, to realise our true identity, and to rise to become a channel of his love and power to a nation in desperate need.

‘Sleeping Giant’ is an easy-to-read page-turner that contains a wonderful blend of teaching, prophetic vision, personal testimony and biblical examples. The author bases his study on the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision coming alive, and transforming into a purposeful army, ready to do God’s bidding.

Seeking revival – it’s not just for the young!

Tommy then offers ten helpful pointers to experiencing personal and corporate revival – all very real and practical. Indeed, few people are more qualified to talk on this subject. For eight years, Tommy was pastor of Barvas Church of Scotland, the Lewis congregation where revival broke out dramatically in December 1949; Tommy became personal friends with many who were converted during that movement.

Not only so, but the Stornoway church where he currently serves (Martin’s Memorial Church of Scotland) has a glorious legacy of revival, and even under his own leadership during the past fifteen years, it has known seasons of spiritual quickening, especially among the youth.

While many see nothing but problems and negativity in the Church, Tommy sees hope and potential, and a body that God is preparing for a great resurrection. In the author's eyes, "the Church is still God’s Plan-A for his greater purposes in the world". Thus Chapter 5 – Every Bride is Beautiful – is a salutary reminder of Christ’s jealous love for his bride – the Church, sharing that whatever frustrations we have regarding the ineffectiveness of ‘church’, we should always seek to bless the heart of Christ by loving his bride (and that means every believer).

Tommy makes it clear that no matter our age, we’re never too old to engage, and to be of service in his kingdom.

Martin’s Memorial invests much time and energy on the younger generation, having spearheaded the enterprising and successful Shed Project at considerable cost to provide a neutral, safe environment for youth in the community. It might seem a surprise, then, to see a chapter prioritising the elderly. In 'God’s Retirement Plan', Tommy makes it clear that no matter our age, we’re never too old to engage, and to be of service in his kingdom.

The missing ingredient

Tommy calls prayer ‘The Crucial Ingredient Missing in the Church’, and offers six invaluable lessons based on “the prayer meeting that birthed the church” (Acts 1). The lessons are:

1) Prayer can create remarkable unity
2) We must persevere in prayer until God answers
3) Prayer doesn’t just birth a move of God, it sustains it
4) Prayer is always the priority
5) We pray to a sovereign God
6) We need to pray with expectancy and a holy boldness

Communal prayer is a central feature of Martin’s Memorial. I well remember attending a mid-week prayer meeting in the church a few years ago. As we split into small groups after a time of open prayer and worship, I could hear sobbing break out from different parts of the sanctuary, as church members, broken before God, cried out to him in desperate longing for a move of the Holy Spirit upon their own lives and in the community they served and loved. I found it a deeply moving experience.

‘Sleeping Giant’ is a challenging, yet hope-filled and inspiring read, each chapter ending with a half-dozen pertinent questions that further helps make the book a suitable aid for a weekly Bible study.

Preparing for a resurrection

Other chapter titles are somewhat self-explanatory – ‘The Great Commission, not the Great Suggestion’; ‘Holy Spirit – He’s not an optional extra’; The Church’s No. 1 priority (Worship)’.

‘Sleeping Giant’ is a challenging, yet hope-filled and inspiring read, each chapter ending with a half-dozen pertinent questions that further helps make the book a suitable aid for a weekly Bible study.

As the Rev Duncan Campbell, prominent evangelist in the Lewis revival of 1949-52, declared, “Not seeking corporate revival is no excuse for not living in personal revival”. This book will help attain the latter, while also practically preparing the way for the former.

‘Sleeping Giant’ (182pp) is published by River Publishing, and is available from GLO Bookshop for £6.99 (plus p&p)