The “only hope we have as Southern Baptists is revival,” Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, Ga., told those attending the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference. Others speaking during the afternoon session were Texas radio personality Kyle Martin and Alabama evangelist Don Graham.
“We’re in a battle of open and closed doors,” Catt said. “[The church in Acts] started behind closed doors. Then their doors flung open and thousands were saved. Since then, the devil’s been trying to get the church to close its doors and mind its own business.”
But don’t grow weary in the work of spreading the gospel, he said.
“There’s a war strategy going on right now to take you down, to take me down,” Catt said. “If you quit, if you cave, if you give up … then everything you’ve ever done will be in vain because all they’ll remember is that you quit.”
He reminded the pastors they have the prayer support of other believers, their congregations are depending on them and people outside the church are watching. These are incentives to not give up, Catt said.
He held an altar call for pastors who desired a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit. Pastors filled the altar and Catt prayed, “Send us revival or send us home.”
Martin, who hosts the weekly radio show “Time to Revive,” said it is time for the pastors to get out of their comfort zones and pursue the lost sheep. After all, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, he said.
“When was the last time you sat down with people who didn’t know Jesus and told them how He’s changed your life?” Martin asked the audience. “Your people are watching you. If you don’t do it, they won’t.
“If you want to see Alabama change, you need to be radical for the Lord,” he said. “[The lost] will be drawn to you, but my generation doesn’t care about your religion. They don’t even care about your doctrine. They care if you’re authentic.”
Graham of Don Graham Revival Ministries in Clanton passionately urged pastors to hold a solemn assembly for revival.
“It’s time to jar our people,” he said. “Pastors have to warn people of being rejected by God if they don’t repent.”
The leaders of God’s church must lead the way to repentance, being earnest as they turn to the Lord and ask for a radical repentance, Graham said, urging pastors to humble themselves, weep and even howl if necessary. Pastors must be willing to say, “I think I’d die if God does not touch my church.”
“We have to guard against a divided heart and come to God with a whole heart,” Graham said, suggesting pastors issue a moratorium on all activities that are not directly related to revival. He also encouraged pastors not to forsake the assembly of revival and prayer, despite low participation and interest from members.
“We invite our people to repent by preaching the truth,” Graham said. “Revival or ruin. Those are our options.
“God is a God of now,” he said. “Delayed obedience is the same as disobedience.”
In the morning session, Herb Reavis, pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Florida, shared tools needed for churches to gain a revival fire.
Preaching from 1 King 18:20–40, Reavis said pastors should first provide revival preaching like Elijah, who told God’s people what they needed to hear rather than what they wanted to hear. Revival preaching delivers people from their neutrality, expects a definite decision, confronts people with the truth and exalts the majesty and grandeur of God, “Stop playing games and speak up declaring God as your Lord and Savior,” Reavis said.
Second, hearts need to be prepared for the sovereign move of God, he said, noting it is essential to be unified and not divided. “We will never have revival until we have unity.”
Reavis also noted the need for holiness. “We do not have to compromise with the world to reach the world,” he said. “We have to walk in purity and holiness.”
Third, constant prayer that understands and asks God’s will is needed.
“If you want a spiritual awakening, you have to be ruthless with sin, just as Elijah was with the false prophets of Baal,” Reavis said.
“We have to do radical surgery on our souls to get to the root of our sins.”
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