From the Trumpet Mouthpiece

This week I have been blessed to be in revival at Union Hill Baptist Church in Ranbourne, Alabama where Johnny Bone is pastor. This is the third year I have been with this pastor and church. Pastor Bone has been there for over five years and, like so many pastors I know, longs to see God work mightily to bring revival to the church. In this regard, there is a beautiful marriage between the pastor and his people.  I have found in this church a faithful Gidean band who are consistently faithful in service, who hunger after righteousness and seek the face of God for revival. 
I confess that I am not praying for revival at Union Hill Baptist Church. I am praying for revival, period. I see America as a nation under judgment: far more ripe for judgement than for revival. When we pray for revival in America we are praying for mercy. But our God is a God of mercy, a God who delights in mercy. 
Pray that God will give revival that will shake this country. When revival comes to a nation it always comes sweepingly. It can never be confined to one church, to one denomination or to one locale. Vance Havner used to say, “When the tide is out, every little shrimp has a puddle of his own but when the tide comes in, they all get caught up together.” 
Pray that God will send revival to our land and pray that churches like Union Hill  Baptist Church will be a part of that revival. Then, pray that YOU will be a part of that revival. 

This week, August 7-12,  I am in revival at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Dahlonega, Georgia where Michael Rodgers is pastor. I have known Pastor Rodgers for many years and have watched his ministry unfold in this church. The revival goes through Friday night and has been well attended all week. I have been in this church many times since 1998 and have had opportunity to put my finger on the spiritual pulse of these people. 
I can tell you that this is a strong church. There is a sweet spirit of unity here. In all these years I have never sensed an undertow. The men meet before every service with the pastor for prayer and it is evident they are solidly with their pastor in every area of ministry. It is a mission minded church supporting directly sixteen missionaries. The church has also been a partner with Sound the Trumpet Ministries for the several years. 
I have often said that I believe in long pastorates. In every great church someone has to put their life in that church. That is what you see in Bethlehem. Pastor Rodgers, his wife Rachelle and their five children, have been here fourteen years. He is a very energetic and gifted leader with a clear vision of where he wants the church to be. He is not caught up with endless programs nor gimmick evangelism. The vision he keeps before his church is a vision of holiness. Pastor Rodgers is also a strong and gifted preacher. I have had opportunity to observe his preaching. He is a disciplined student and diligent expositor of the Word of God. He preaches with passion and with power. As a result, his people are shaken by what they believe, not shaky about what they believe. Fourteen years of that kind of spiritual leadership has borne fruit. God has indeed been pleased to bless it. Bethlehem Baptist Church has enjoyed a solid, continual growth both numerically and spiritually. It is a joy to be in this church and to worship with these people. Their spirit of joyful worship and words of encouragement have ministered to a tired evangelist this week. 
Pray for God’s blessings to fell upon us through this revival. It goes through Friday evening. Then continue to pray for God to bless and strengthen the work of this pastor and church. We need churches like this in every area.  

As an evangelist I find myself week after week working with pastors.  For me personally, I have felt at this stage of my life that a large part of my calling is to pour my life into the lives and ministries of young preachers. I am continually amazed at the work of God in raising up young, godly pastors; men who have a heart for God, who are diligent students of the Word of God, who preach expository messages and who challenge their people to a life of holiness. 
I am with just such a pastor this week at Macedonia Baptist Church, Ranburne, Alabama. 
Dr. Steve McGinnis will be thirty nine years old next week. He and his lovely wife, Stacy, along with their children Abigail, Jared and Olivia came to Macedonia five years ago. He graduated last year (December) from Southern Baptist Seminary  with a doctorate in ministry degree. His doctoral thesis deals with the much needed matter of church discipline. There must be a call to holiness in our churches. If our church rolls are to have integrity, there must be a return to the Biblical standard of church discipline. 
I just finished reading his doctoral thesis: “Developing a Strategy for Implementing Church Discipline At Macedonia Baptist Church, Ranburne, Alabama.” it was a project that involved the pastor, the deacons, the church leadership and ultimately the whole church family. It is a call to holiness for the whole church. I hope Dr. mcGinnis will publish this study. I think other churches could benefit richly from it. 
This is a good church and a strong church. We are experiencing a good revival and it is such a joy to preach to these people. The church has a definitive ministry in the community. It is located in a small community but the church is both salt and light and it’s influence is felt throughout the area. 
Macedonia Baptist Church is located in the northeastern part of the state of Alabama within a mile of the Georgia state line. The population of the city of Ranburne was 459 according to the latest census but the church’s witness reaches well beyond the city itself. Though the church is located in a rural farming community, it has seen steady growth through the years. According to the pastor, several factors have contributed to their growth. He said,  ”For one thing, everyone in the community is related in some way. They are either blood relatives or they married into the family and attending church has always been the “norm” throughout the generations. A second factor is that the church is still a major part of the community. Even those who do not attend church have a great respect for the church and it’s leaders.” 
In the past several years the church has doubled in Sunday School to 140 and worship attendance to 250. The church has no physical hindrances to growth. The have ample parking space and they buildings,  the sanctuary and educational space were well designed for future growth. In every stage of their building projects the people themselves have had a mind to work. They built all of their buildings themselves and were able to walk in debt free.  
It is such a joy to be in this church this week and to see the hand of God at work in our midst.  

One of the greatest blessings I have received on the various mission fields through the years has been the establishment of Pastor’s Conferences or what some have called, “School of the Prophets.” One of the first things we learned in Russia was that, in order to establish churches we had to have trained pastors. We have maintained for almost twenty years that the best way to reach people in Russia (or any other mission field) is to plant churches and the best way to plant churches is to train pastors. That has been a large part of what we have sought to do in Equador, Haiti, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Nepal and Pakistan.
I will soon be 67 years old. I know the Lord could give me another fifty years to preach the gospel, but it is not likely. In all likelihood, I am over half way home. I do not know anything I can do that would be better than pouring my life into young preachers.
That is not a new mission strategy. It is as old as the Word of God itself. Consider the beginning of a succession of prophets and the erecting of a School of the Prophets in Samuel’s time. There were prophets even before Samuel. Joshua and many of the high priests, such as Eli, seem to have had that gift. Deborah was a prophetess. Judges 6:8 records, “The Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel which said unto them…” In 1 Samuel we read, “And there came a man of God unto Eli” (2:27).
But there was not an order of the prophets with any constancy until Samuel. “The Word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision” (3:1). Beginning with Samuel there was a succession of prophets maintained continually without interruption until the spirit of prophecy ceased in Malachi’s day. The New Testament speaks of Samuel as the beginning of this succession of prophets. Peter said in Acts 3:24, “And all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have foretold of these days.”
It was the purpose of God that from Samuel’s day forward there was to be a constant succession of prophets. In the providence of God, Samuel established a school of the prophets, a school of young men, trained up under a prophet of God who instructed them in the things of God and the practice of holiness to fit them for the ministry as God should call them to it. Those young men were called the sons of the prophets. At first, we read that Samuel was appointed over them: “And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them” (1Sa. 19:20).
Later, they were under the teaching of Elijah. One of the sons of the prophets was Elisha who, as Elijah’s successor, desired a double portion of his spirit. When the sons of the prophets perceived that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, they submitted themselves to him, and owned him for their master, as they had done Elijah before him (2Kings 2:15).
Throughout the Old Testament we read of the sons of the prophets at Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal and at Jerusalem. Their number grew. In Jericho they desired leave to go and hew timber to build a bigger house. When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, we read that Obadiah took a hundred of them, and hid them by fifty in a cave (1Kings 18: 4).
The great task before these Old Testament prophets was to preach Christ and the glorious redemption he was to accomplish and to prepare the way for his coming: “To him give all the prophets witness” (Acts 10:43). Peter said in Acts 3:18, “But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath fulfilled.”
These prophets spoke abundantly of Jesus Christ. They made it their business to search out the work of redemption. Peter said, “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, of what manner of time the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow (1Pet. 1:10-11).
The prophet of God is never alone: he is in eternal union with Jesus Christ: our Prophet, Priest and King. We are told that the church is built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20.). Jesus assured His lone prophet of Patmos, “I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10).

I am leaving early this morning (Tuesday) to return to Haiti for a city-wide crusade in Port-au-Prince. As most of you know, we have been going into Haiti for the past five years. Last year in Port-Au-Prince we were in an area-wide crusade sponsored by 48 churches. During the day we were training pastors in the Pastors Conference and preaching in the crusade at night. This year will be much the same except we will be in another area of the city. We will also be preaching in several of their churches on Sunday.
As you know, there was a massive earthquake in Port-Au-Prince on January 12, 2010. It has been estimated that over 120,000 died. Since then there has been a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of thousands more. The invitation for this crusade came almost two years ago from a group of pastors and churches who have been praying for revival in Haiti for many years. These pastors and church leaders do believe there will come a great revival to Haiti but they are asking at what price. They believe God is working to bring the people of Haiti to a place of brokenness and repentance before Him.
Once again, this year I will be traveling with Don Graham, a dear evangelist friend and brother in Christ from Clanton, Alabama. Don and I entered the ministry together and have remained close friends in the Lord since 1962. He is a powerful and blessed preacher of the Word of God. I am pleased to be able to share this important preaching assignment with this dear godly brother.
When we first went to Haiti five years ago it was at the invitation of a group of pastors in Milot who had been praying many years for revival. They asked us to come and help them prepare for revival and to help their people understand how to deal with the demonic influence of Voodoo, the official religion of Haiti. The people realize that they are worshiping demons. The church is faithfully preaching the gospel in the face of spiritual opposition and it is such a blessing to work alongside them. Please pray that our Lord will bless the preaching and teaching of his Word and that many of those precious people will be brought out of darkness into His marvelous light.
I have been a student of revival for many years. One thing I have observed is that many times God gives revival out of the ashes of judgement. We saw that in Russia. I wonder if that is going to the be way of revival in Haiti. Consider this: the earthquake last year was devastating. During the eighteen months prior to the earthquake Haiti suffered three hurricanes. In two hurricanes the eye of the storm came dead center over the island. One hurricane of that magnitude would be tragic. Now they are dealing with a cholera epidemic: all of this in the poorest nation of the western hemisphere.
Missionary Bill Younger of Good Shepherd Missions told me last year that the word on the streets was “judgement.” That is what the people themselves were saying. Most American preachers who visited the island in those days didn’t have the courage to say that. But the Spirit of God has burned that realization in the hearts of the people who live there.
In 1804 the government of Haiti signed a two hundred year compact dedicating the island to Satan. Through the years Voodoo has been the predominate religious activity. The people worship demonic spirits, not out of love but fear: fear of what might happen to them if they displease the evil spirits. Now they have seen the effects of three hurricanes, an earthquake and a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of so many people. According to Missionary Bill Younger, the people are saying, “This is bigger than our Voodoo gods. Our Voodoo practitioners can not help us with this. This is a judgement from God because we have been worshiping the wrong God.” I believe the Spirit of God has burned that truth into their hearts.