This past week Bethel Baptist Church concluded our “Spring Revival Meetings.” If I am reading our congregation correctly, they enjoyed very much the music of the Faithmen Quartet and were challenged by the preaching of Evangelist Calvin Allen. That being said, I am thankful our folks enjoyed them, but that really wasn’t the point. We would rather strive to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading when inviting guests to minister to us. This is not the first time we have invited these men, and it was clear at the conclusion of their first meeting with us, that God would have us invite them back.
There was an unusual moving of the Holy Spirit this week and we are praying for its continuance. It really is unfortunate that we categorize it as “unusual” but it is a sad reality that we seldom meet with God like we did this past week. Following the Monday evening service, a teenager met with the evangelist at 11 pm. He had been faithfully serving in the church for several years, but realized that was what he was trusting for salvation. Sometime around 1 am, he accepted Christ. Tuesday morning early another teen had her father pick her up from school after only being dropped off and was saved as well. As we were rejoicing over her salvation, an 11 year old boy from our school knocked on my door and wanted to talk. Bro. Allen led him to the Lord a few minutes later. Bro. Allen and I were just about to leave to take care of an issue with his car when another 12 year old boy came to me in tears and wanted to talk. A few minutes later he too was gloriously saved.
There was something different as we began the Tuesday night service. The young man who was saved in the night asked if he could give a testimony before he sang with the ensemble to open the service. He preached for about 10 minutes and God began to move again. The quartet followed with some songs and folks began to move from their seats. Some were getting things right with God, others were wandering through the auditorium seeking a personal worker to talk to them about salvation. I was dealing with one lady in tears, when another came to me. One lady was dealing with a teen girl and got under conviction herself. She had made a profession of faith as a child and was baptized but as a teen realized she wasn’t saved and accepted Christ, but never told anyone, and was never Scripturally baptized. Her and the teen drove home quickly and got clothes to be baptized. There was as much going on in the hallways of the church as there was in the auditorium. When someone got saved, a testimony was given right away and it provoked others. When God hears new converts praise Him, He seems to work all the more!
I spent the preaching time preparing the baptism changerooms. We had always kept some open, but our faith was small and the others were used for storage. We cleaned those rooms, found more baptism gowns, grabbed extra school gym clothes we had in store and tried to get ready before the preaching ended. I left the men’s changeroom to see if the Ladies were ready, and met a teenager weeping in the hallway. He too accepted Jesus and asked to be baptized right away. We were out of gowns, but gave him a pair of gym shorts and shirt and away we went. It is the first time I prayed with someone while wearing chest waders and a baptismal gown.
Wednesday morning arrived and the Quartet and evangelist had left the night before. A lady called, driving herself to work, that she needed to talk. She drove right past work and came to the church to be saved. Another 11 year old girl was saved in school that morning as well. In all, 15 have been saved so far, 7 baptized on Tuesday, 6 more scheduled for Sunday and some on Resurrection Sunday when their family can be there. Praise God for all of His blessings! It has been a joy to watch what God has done.
So what now?
Revival meetings are just tools that we use periodically in addition to our church services. Sometimes they have a special emphasis, but almost always more effort and more importantly prayer is invested in these days.
Why not pray for tomorrow like you did for these meetings? Is it possible that God isn’t through yet? Is it possible that God would like to move like this all the time?
The answer is that God is never through! It is often His children who are fickle.
“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5)
Let the spirit of Revival continue. Sanctify yourselves, seek God, pray, plead and witness.
May God continue what He has started, and may we have the wisdom to let Him work!
