It Is Time

 It is early. Still dark outside. I have not slept for some time. After months and months of praying and preparing the day for Camp Meeting is here. In a few hours a specially selected person will stride to the pulpit and read the 22nd chapter of Revelation to culminate our cleansing of the temple. A prayer will be offered. Sean Decker will strum his guitar like a battle axe to go to war against the forces of darkness and lead people into an encounter with God Almighty. 

I wrestled all week with what to preach for the first service. I read scripture. Prayed. Waited. Read books and listened to other things trying to get inspiration. It did not come. I spent almost all day in the office on Saturday pleading with God for a message. Nothing. People asked me about it when they came to read for cleansing of the temple. As the day progressed the pressure mounted. I finally settled on a passage God used in my life recently and scribbled some notes in the margins. Before I went to bed, I knew that was not the right message. Both frustrated and exhausted I fell into bed. 

In the middle of the night, I awoke with a passage on my heart. A surprising passage. I mulled it over in my mind for the better part of two hours before getting up to study and put God's message together. It is a messy passage. Not one I have ever heard in a revival service, especially the first one. 

God means business. Therefore, I mean business. We will soon discover what all the praying, preparing and longing for God results in. I fully expect tears of brokenness. I fully expect the altar filled with repentant people. I also anticipate broken people who will need ministry to come forward. There very well may be some who come forward for salvation also. It will be messy. Genuine revival is messy. That should not scare or deter us. 

When God moves, there may be pain. There is also liberty on the other side of pain. Secrets that have long been shut up inside have a way of working themselves to the surface. Secret sins. Secret wounds. Shameful secrets. Trust me. There will be no manipulative tactics used to illicit a response. God does not need those disgusting things. His Spirit, songs of praise, and His word are enough. He is ready to meet His people in a profound way. 

I predict in the early days of these meetings God will deal with His people. Once His people have experienced Him, He will move onto to saving the lost. I urge you to prepare yourself before coming today or tuning in. He is able to move just as powerfully in living rooms, bedrooms, and wherever people tune in online. 

For those who will attend or watch online, come expecting. Come expecting each night for the rest of this week and into next week. Come Lord Jesus. Have your way in us. Prepare us for fresh encounters with You. In Your name we plead, amen.