March 23, 2025
SWAINSBORO, Ga. — The Crusade 4 Christ event in Swainsboro on Feb. 10 and 11 saw 83 public professions of faith in Christ, said Joe Bedgood. Bedgood, the pastor who leads the Emmanuel Baptist Association in evangelism, said, "a significant number of churches showed up to support the crusade. Even more importantly than that, there were lost people who showed up. And it was all done in the name of Jesus.“”
Bedgood explained that churches in Swainsboro and Emmanuel County have planned a community-wide crusade for the cause of Christ every two or three years since 2015. “The crusade was first called ‘Fishers of Men,’ but later changed to ‘Crusade 4 Christ.’ This year, there were 14 churches that agreed to participate in the crusade by moving their Sunday and Wednesday evening services to the Swainsboro City Auditorium, where the crusade has been held each year since its inception.
The organization required to make for a successful crusade became obvious from the beginning. Bedgood stated, “Teams were formed from an original planning team that branched out into many areas so that we could cover all the needs of this huge event. It truly takes an army of workers to make the crusade successful.”
The planning team selected Adrian Despres of Forge Ministries out of Columbia, S.C., to be the evangelist.
“He began the crusade with a powerful message, his signature sermon called ‘The Four Chairs,’” Bedgood said.
In Despres’ sermon, the first chair represents the true disciple of Christ, the kind of believer who allows Jesus to be Lord over his entire life. The second chair represents the “pew sitter,” the lukewarm Christian. Despres calls the third chair the most dangerous of all, because it represents the person who has played church for a lifetime but has never been saved and will one day hear the Lord say, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” The fourth chair represents the person who is an admitted sinner, but who is searching for truth, perhaps even seeking the kingdom of heaven, but gets derailed in his quest by the examples of those seated in the second and third chairs.
Bedgood exclaimed, “That first message was amazing, but every sermon was great each of the four nights. Brother Adrian also poured his life into people in local Bible studies, a private school, and the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization. He made himself available to do what we wanted him to do. His goal was to do ministry and not stay in a hotel room. He pointed people to Christ everywhere he went.”
During the week, in addition to the professions of faith, there were 109 decisions to recommit lives to focus on Christ, other decisions made, and prayers lifted to the Lord. Many people went to the altar each evening for various reasons. In addition to making an appeal for people to be saved, Despres also encouraged people to grow closer to the Lord in their daily walk. "He challenged us to witness and share our faith,” said Bedgood.
Bedgood concluded by saying, “I would encourage those who read The Christian Index to join us in praising God for His special hand on anointing on the whole crusade. When people pray in faith and believe as a community, God still hears the remnant of His people. Don’t ever discount what God can do when we come together to advance the cause of Christ rather than just promote our local churches.”
