What a Day!

Today, May 7th, is my younger brother's 32nd birthday. It is now the spiritual birthday of a lady we have been praying for. On Saturday night of our revival, we prayed specifically for Linda to be saved. Linda is battling some pretty significant health issues and has been for a couple of years. She lives a few hours away from our church but her daughter is a member at EBC. Several months ago I shared Christ with Linda over the phone but she did not trust Christ.

I received a text message from her daughter this morning saying that Linda was ready. After talking to her for a few minutes, Linda trusted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. We praise the Lord for another person added to God's family.

If you have been reading this blog, Linda's daughter is married to the man whose parents were saved Saturday night during our revival. God has done an amazing work in this family and He alone deserves all the credit. No matter what happens the rest of the day, it has already been a great day.

Day #5

Sunday morning was the conclusion of our revival services. We had 111 people in attendance this morning and many who we have been praying for to be saved. Bro. R.E. brought the concluding part of his "The Study of Faith" series from Hebrews 11 God was moving. We had two people join the church and one is a lady who is asking the church to pray for her husband. We have made contact with him and I visited him with another member just last week. We are praying that God would get through to this man!

In total, we saw 1 person surrender to ministry, 4 people born again, and 6 people join the church. There are many other things that the Lord is doing. I cannot describe to you how blessed I am to be the pastor at EBC. I thank the Lord for the work that He is doing and for the sweet people that He has surrounded us with. 

It is important to point out that our revival has not ended even though the services have. What was started this week is only the beginning of what God will do in a church made up of people who recognize that He is everything and His grace is enough. 

To God be the glory! Not only for the things He has done, but more importantly- for who He is!

Day #4

Saturday night we saw the Lord add 3 people into the Kingdom. A husband and wife who have been coming to our church for awhile were saved. She told me today (Sunday) that she feels like a whole new person today! Since I have been at EBC, I have had the privilege of seeing three generations of this family come to Christ!

The other was a ten year old girl. When she came forward and said she needed to be saved, I motioned for her mom to come forward. When I told the mom what was going on, she said that she could tell God was dealing with her heart. After talking extensively with her, this girl totally understood her sin and even referred to it as evil. She prayed the sweetest prayer all on her own asking Christ to forgive her and to be her Lord and Savior. This family has just moved to our area and joined our church last Sunday.

God is so good! Praise Him for what He is doing in your life and the life of your church!!

Day #3

Tonight we heard the third part of "A Study of Faith" by Dr. R.E. Clark from Hebrews 11:17-23. Not only did he preach the Word, but he also shared his personal testimony of losing his wife to ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). It was a remarkable testimony, especially of Miss Kay's incredible faith. I could certainly feel the Lord working, especially in my life.

Bro. R.E. is a dear friend and mentor in my life. 2007 was the darkest year of my life and he was there for me and my family and helped us walk through it. 2008 was the year that he was dealing with his wife's illness and death and I was not there for him. I have asked his forgiveness and told him that it will never happen again! You see, he needed me as a friend and I was distant and didn't know how to handle the situation. I make no excuses and I am grateful for his forgiveness. God really brought all that to my mind once again this evening.

I don't know what you are going through but you can trust God. He is faithful and will not let you down, even when those who are close to you do. That doesn't mean that you will have all your questions answered, but it does mean that you can trust the One who hung the moon and the stars and spoke this world into existence! Praise the Lord that He is God and I am not!

Praising God for Revival

Thursday night was the second night of our revival services. We are praising God for what He did tonight. One soul was added to the Kingdom and another accepted the call to preach. The invitation was an awesome display of God working in the hearts of people. The message tonight was a continuation of faith from Hebrews 11:8-16. I want to thank those of you who are praying with us and for us. I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do on Friday night.

Revival Services Day #1

We began revival services on Wednesday night and it was a great time. Bro. R.E. Clark brought a message on faith from Hebrews 11:1-7. He will be preaching from Hebrews 11 each night unless the Lord changes his direction. 

As the pastor of EBC, I am extremely excited about what the Lord is doing and about the willingness of His people to hear from Him. We talk all the time about how the Lord must first do something in us so then He can do something through us. We are getting ready to begin a couple of community outreach activities that will get us out of our comfort zones and get us in front of the community with the goal of showing them and telling them about the love of Christ. This really ties in with Bro. R.E.'s message as we go out by faith, obediently trusting the Lord and knowing that the results are up to Him.

Revival services are Wed.-Sat. at 6:30 nightly and Sunday morning at 10:45. Would you please take a moment just to pray for God to do something that only He can explain and take the credit for? Thanks. Leave me a comment and I will be sure to pray for you and your church as well.

Revival Depends on You!

Revival services begin Wednesday night May 2nd at 6:30pm at EBC. We are really excited about this time and are praying for a renewed sense of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin. This is a revival meeting and therefore it is primarily for the church. The goal in this revival is not to see a bunch of people come to Christ, but that the church is renewed and restored to health. While we certainly pray for the conversion of the lost, the main focus is for the church.

Revival must start individually before revival will spread throughout the church body. Revival is really up to us, not up to God! At first this may seem arrogant, but truthfully revival depends on God's people. The Lord has promised to send revival if His people will humble themselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from their wicked ways. Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Psalm 85. The world is not hindering revival, the church is. To listen to the message I preached leading up to this revival, go to www.ebcjane.org and you will find it on the home page.