Lord, send a revival to your pulpits. If revival is going to begin, it is going to start at the house of God.”
Alabama Baptist pastors crowded the altar Nov. 12 during the closing session of the Pastors Conference at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile. Some kneeled in prayer, some wept and others laid face down on the carpet.
“Many of you have given up on the hope of revival, but revival is the only power that can be unleashed on America,” said Don Graham, an Alabama Baptist evangelist and revivalist from Clanton. “God is looking for the pulpits of men who have offered Him a broken and contrite heart, and He is able to bring revival.”
About 700 Alabama Baptists joined in the call for revival at the conference, themed Now to Him Who is Able, said Barry Holcomb, Pastors Conference president.
“To see pastors weeping and broken was an answer to prayer,” said Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Andalusia, who said his prayer was for God to get the glory from the meeting.
The conference, usually an all-day Monday meeting, kicked off a day early this year with a Sunday evening message by Fred Wolfe of Barnabas Ministries in Fairhope and dessert fellowship.
“We decided to do it as an impetus for people to come on down early for the conference,” Holcomb said.
Wolfe preached from Philippians 3:10, noting that Christians need to have a servant’s heart, surrendered heart, Spirit-filled heart and sacrificial heart in order to follow Christ.
That focus continued into Monday’s session as Jimmy Jackson, senior pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, expounded on the point.
Church members have over the years “somehow been rocked to sleep and caught this disease that following Jesus just comes naturally and without sacrifice,” he said.
Jackson said the truth is that following Jesus brings “severe pain” at times — but God speaks the language of the brokenhearted.
Preaching from Exodus 2:23–25, he said God hears our cries before we even cry out to Him.
“The children of Israel cried from the weight of their bondage and God heard their groaning,” Jackson said. “When we go through those times where we don’t know what to say to God and we can’t get the words out, God is still listening to our heartache.”
Junior Hill, an evangelist from Hartselle, said every man of God has to contend with certain difficulties that come with being a soldier of Christ.
“A soldier faces intimidation and feels like someone is always out to get him,” he said, preaching from 2 Timothy 2:1.
The devil beats the soldier down every day and tells him he’s a failure, Hill said. “But a man’s ministry is never determined by the size of his church — it’s the size of his heart.”
David Crump, senior pastor of Aspen Park Baptist Church, Broken Arrow, Okla., said those who choose to answer the call to go to war for the culture can expect challenges.
“We know that God is sovereign, but Satan has tremendous power second only to God Himself,” he said.
Describing the world as “Satan’s culture,” Crump warned that like Paul in Acts 13, those who choose to fight will meet opposition. But despite the challenges and consequences, he said, “The prize is souls for the Master. It’s worth it.”
And the prize for Christians is also Christ Himself, said Gary Hollingsworth, senior director of cultural evangelism for the North American Mission Board.
Taking his text from Hebrews 12:1–2, he preached on finishing well.
For ministers “the prize is not a bigger church or a larger salary,” said Hollingsworth, an Alabama native and former pastor of First Baptist Church, Trussville. “Our prize is Jesus Himself. We are preaching for an audience of one.”
He likened the pastoral journey to a race, saying, “God has a personal course He wants you to run.”
Wayne Barber, senior teaching pastor of Hoffmantown Church, Albuquerque, N.M., challenged pastors to avoid the temptation to determine their own ministries without God’s definite calling.
“What I have called ministry for so many years has been at the expense of my family,” he said. But “when God raises something up, He sustains what He initiates.”
Preaching from 2 Corinthians 2, Barber noted the apostle Paul’s discovery of freedom in ministry “when you just let Jesus be Jesus in you.”
John Avant, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, West Monroe, La., said this is important, because the church is not reaching out effectively.
Taking his text from Ephesians 3:20–21, he said the church is reaching almost no one who does not have a church background.
“We’re only reaching our children,” Avant said. “And we’re not doing a great job at that.”
He called the attitude of young people toward Christianity “frightening and urgently important,” laying the blame at Christians’ feet.
For such a time as this
“The Bible says that the cross will be a stumbling block, but so many people never get to the cross — they stumble over us,” Avant said. “It is a desperate hour and we must lead.”
Randy Singer, law professor and author of several legal thrillers, pointed out that our faith is under attack in a way that it has not been since the early days of this nation.
Singer said because God is the God of time and space, “He has decreed that you would live at this time in history.”
“God has given you the opportunity to live in a time and place where you can share the gospel around the world,” he said. “Where you are right now is the exact time and place you are to share the gospel.”
In addition to hearing the messages, the Pastors Conference elected new officers during the meeting:
- Rick Evans, pastor of Dalraida Baptist Church, Montgomery — president.
- Dusty McLemore, pastor of Lindsay Lane Baptist Church, Athens — president-elect.
- Kevin Hamm, pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church — first vice president.
- Glenn Graham, pastor of East Memorial Baptist Church, Prattville — treasurer.
(Jennifer Davis Rash contributed)
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