April 24, 2024
This is where we started for 40 days. We as a church coveted to pray this verse together every day at 6:41 in the morning and evening. Not only did we commit to pray this verse but we intentionally prayed every day for five people who we knew were lost. Many prayed and some even fasted.
Eight days before the revival was to begin we went through Claude King’s Consecrate the People together as a church and ended at the Lord’s table with communion crying out to God to “tear the heavens open and come down.”
Would God answer? Did we as a church take serious our responsibility to prepare for revival? Sunday morning, March 29, the day was here. We began our service with baptism.
My daughter had given her life to Christ about three weeks before revival in our student ministry on a Wednesday night. She and another teenage girl that morning were baptized. They stepped into the water and shared their testimony of how God had convicted them of their sin and how they surrendered their life to Jesus Christ.
When the worship was finished it was time for the message. Our evangelist, Jon Reed, came to the pulpit and did something I have never seen or ever heard of! Jon said a few words about the symbol of baptism and then he gave an invitation!
I am sitting there thinking, “What are you doing brother? Preach!” Then God showed up, the Spirit was moving, and without preaching 17 people came forward and gave their life to Christ!
I have been pastoring for 11 years and had never seen or been part of anything like this.
After that I knew – I mean you could feel – God was up to something. I confess I had no idea what God was going to do going forward. Each night people were coming, people were moving, and people were getting saved! On Wednesday night Jon preached and we had 30 people saved that night!
How could we stop? So we extended the revival to Thursday night and because of all God had done over those days we saw 70 people give their life to Christ that week!
How big is that? We are a church that runs close to 200 in attendance on Sunday mornings. So we went another night to have a time of testimonies and praise of all that God had done that week! The other young girl who was baptized Sunday morning with my daughter, both her parents got saved that week!
I have been in church my whole life. I have been pastoring for 11 years and had never seen or been part of anything like this. God opened up the heavens that week, but He didn’t stop! Easter Sunday came, God moved, and we saw eight more people saved! Through this revival God kept moving!
There is a man back home, where I am from, in Jenkins County that I have known my whole life. He is 68 years old and never been to church in all his life except at a funeral. He had a heart attack and wanted me to come and see him, so I did. On Easter Sunday he prayed and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior!
The following week the pastor at my home church allowed me to not only baptize the man who was saved, but also to preach. That day the man’s wife, both his daughters, and his son-in-law gave their life to Christ! Our associate pastor preached for me while I was away and I am glad that he did, because that morning his son gave his life to Christ!
We have been looking for a student pastor since last September and on Wednesday night of the revival God sent us our next student pastor! These are just some of the stories God did and by His grace there are more stories coming! As long as I live I will never forget March 29-April 5, 2015.
God opened up the heavens and answered the prayers of His people. He honored His office of the evangelist and used Jon Reed in a mighty way!
