When the Fires of Heaven Fell: Volumes 1-2

When the Fires of Heaven Fell, Volume 1, by Malcolm R. McDow

Tracing the history of revivals from Moses on Mount Sinai to the Reformation, Malcolm R. McDow places biblical revivals within their historical context. In this first volume of what will be a two-volume set, McDow outlines the principles of awakenings and explains how Old Testament revivals represent significant awakenings in Jewish history. New Testament revivals not only show how Christianity grew through the Roman Empire, they also were part of the Lord Jesus’s ministry, the beginning of the church, and the Advent of the Holy Spirit. Revivals in Christian history impacted the spread of Christianity and the reforms included in this volume influenced Christianity history.

McDow’s desire is When the Fires of Heaven Fell provides a “beacon to guide us in our understanding of spiritual awakening, enlighten us on God’s movements in history, and inspire us to ‘wrestle with God’ until the spiritual tidal waves of awakening move with heaven’s force throughout the earth.”

To learn more about When the Fires of Heaven Fell, please read the press release here.

You can purchase volume one as a single book here.

When the Fires of Heaven Fell, Volume 2, by David Wheeler & Frank Harber

This book is a companion to the first volume of When the Fires of Heaven Fell, covering the story of how God shapes history through revivals from the dawn of modern revivals up to the present day. The first volume was written by revival historian and longtime evangelism professor Malcolm R. McDow, tracing the history of revivals starting in the Bible through the Reformation, as well as providing principles of awakenings. Written by those who he taught and who have been influenced by his faithful ministry, this volume completes McDow’s project.

The contributors wrote these essays to honor McDow, who served for 23 years as professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Most of the contributors were students of McDow and remain close to the man who significantly shaped their ministries, including their involvement in revival movements. In completing this project, the contributors take readers on a “revival journey” and share in McDow’s desire, as expressed in the first volume, that these volumes will be beacons “to guide us in our understanding of spiritual awakening, enlighten us on God’s movements in history, and inspire us to ‘wrestle with God’ until the spiritual tidal waves of awakening move with heaven’s force throughout the earth.”

You can purchase volume two as a single book here.

Paperbacks

Published: March 1, 2024 (vol. 1), November 13, 2025 (vol. 2)

221 pages (vol. 1), 372 pages (vol. 2)

6 x 9 inches (vols. 1 & 2)

ISBN: 979-8-9852536-4-1 (vol. 1), 979-8-9991514-0-7 (vol. 2)

About the Authors

Malcolm R. McDow, a native of Waco, Texas, earned a Bachelor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1962. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at Baylor University in 1958, the same year he was ordained to ministry after the Lord called him to preach in 1954. He earned a Doctor of Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1968. Before he began serving at Southwestern Seminary as professor of evangelism in 1982, a role he held until he retired in 2005, McDow was the state evangelism director for the Tennessee Baptist Convention (1977-1982).

David Wheeler is professor of evangelism at Liberty University and Liberty Theological Seminary.

Frank Harber is president and chief legal counsel of Defending the Faith Alliance and a former professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.