"A REVIVALIST's STRUGGLE" - James Smith
Quote from Forum Archives on February 2, 2005, 4:44 pmPosted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
ANDREW STROM WRITES: I like James Smith and what he
stands for. He is a young ex-skinhead preacher with a powerful
message and anointing. I have ministered alongside him and got
to know him. As you are aware, he will be one of the speakers
at our "John the Baptist" Conference next month. The things that
he wrote below were not designed for publication. -He just wrote
them to a few friends. But I felt that they raise some issues that
it would be good to discuss more widely. If you have any
comments, please write to James at- <xchurch@gwtc.net>"A Revivalist's STRUGGLE"
-by James Smith.Doug, Rick, Andrew and Robert-
Our revival meetings in Yankton, SD went well. As it has been the
last few times that these have been held, it took 3 days to get
through to the people and by the 4th we were close to having
something break. These all seem to be following a general pattern,
I have noticed.On the first day, no one knows what to expect. Those who
attend are generally either from the prophetic movement or from
mainline denominations. Neither of which seem to have ever
heard a repentance message before. After the first night, we
generally lose about a quarter of our audience. The second night
sees a generally different group attending, along with those who
stuck it out past night one. Even though they like what they are
hearing and believe it could be from God, what is being preached
is so radically different than what they are used to that there is
no breakthrough as they digest it all. Day three sees the first
tremors of repenting with weeping in the congregation. By day
4, they are hungry for the truth. You can see the excitement
on their faces as they have, over the last few days, come into
the light. The alter is full and people are weeping and coming
from death to life.Everyone involved in leadership feels on the 4th day that a
break-through is imminent, it could happen at any moment.
Then we have to close down the revival meetings for lack of funds
or lack of having a place to continue the meetings.After the last meetings, I came away each night with $20 - $25
dollars, 20 of which went to gas. The final day I ended up with
$40.00. Since no pressure is placed on the people to give and
there is no selling or buying, no manipulation whatsoever, the
offerings are low. This hurts the speakers of course, who live
by the offerings. Worse hit thought is Brother Rick, who puts
on the events. He intimated to me yesterday that the costs of
the event has not been met even once. So, he has to pay out of
pocket.I say this because I believe it is something we will all end up
dealing with regularly. We will have to depend on God more
than ever before, I feel. I used to see preaching dates as a
source that God used to meet my needs "in faith". Now that
those meetings are not even coming close to meeting needs,
I thank God for the years he has prepared me in advance by
having me live by faith, praying in everything for the family. But
what of those who do not know how to do this? What of the future
of missions and repentance - based ministries? When the
expected source runs dry, how will the young preachers continue
on?Another thing I am noticing is who our enemies are. In almost
every instance it has been two camps of people; the old prophetic
movement (gold dust, third heaven, holy laughter, personal word)
and the once saved- always saved crowd. Our biggest supporters
are not the Pentecostals that I thought it would be but rather the
mainline denominations. It would seem that the old line of division
between those who speak in tongues and those who do not is not
as important in this latest fight. The hard core truths presented in
the meetings revolving around the "old paths" of repentance,
crucified/risen life, prayer, and whole service to the King do more
to include the denominations than tongues does to divide. It is
those who pay no price and trifle with God who are our enemies.Here are the issues I feel we all face.
1. How do we hold revival for the length of time necessary without
proper financing and without using a church building (so as to
avoid de-neutralization of the meeting grounds)? I believe that we
need to come to a town and stay until something breaks, as
opposed to the 3-4 day meetings we are accustomed to.
2. How do those who start preaching repentance who are already
preachers or just becoming one survive when there is no money in
the offerings?
3. What steps need to be taken in our mindsets if our traditional
opponents are no longer opposing us?
4. Are there other methods that should be introduced to the
meetings that they used in previous revivals that are more
conducive to the atmosphere God is creating rather than our
"new ox-carts" borrowed from the last 40 years of revival-less
revival?-James Smith
South Dakota, USA.
<xchurch@gwtc.net>
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
stands for. He is a young ex-skinhead preacher with a powerful
message and anointing. I have ministered alongside him and got
to know him. As you are aware, he will be one of the speakers
at our "John the Baptist" Conference next month. The things that
he wrote below were not designed for publication. -He just wrote
them to a few friends. But I felt that they raise some issues that
it would be good to discuss more widely. If you have any
comments, please write to James at- <xchurch@gwtc.net>
"A Revivalist's STRUGGLE"
-by James Smith.
Doug, Rick, Andrew and Robert-
Our revival meetings in Yankton, SD went well. As it has been the
last few times that these have been held, it took 3 days to get
through to the people and by the 4th we were close to having
something break. These all seem to be following a general pattern,
I have noticed.
On the first day, no one knows what to expect. Those who
attend are generally either from the prophetic movement or from
mainline denominations. Neither of which seem to have ever
heard a repentance message before. After the first night, we
generally lose about a quarter of our audience. The second night
sees a generally different group attending, along with those who
stuck it out past night one. Even though they like what they are
hearing and believe it could be from God, what is being preached
is so radically different than what they are used to that there is
no breakthrough as they digest it all. Day three sees the first
tremors of repenting with weeping in the congregation. By day
4, they are hungry for the truth. You can see the excitement
on their faces as they have, over the last few days, come into
the light. The alter is full and people are weeping and coming
from death to life.
Everyone involved in leadership feels on the 4th day that a
break-through is imminent, it could happen at any moment.
Then we have to close down the revival meetings for lack of funds
or lack of having a place to continue the meetings.
After the last meetings, I came away each night with $20 - $25
dollars, 20 of which went to gas. The final day I ended up with
$40.00. Since no pressure is placed on the people to give and
there is no selling or buying, no manipulation whatsoever, the
offerings are low. This hurts the speakers of course, who live
by the offerings. Worse hit thought is Brother Rick, who puts
on the events. He intimated to me yesterday that the costs of
the event has not been met even once. So, he has to pay out of
pocket.
I say this because I believe it is something we will all end up
dealing with regularly. We will have to depend on God more
than ever before, I feel. I used to see preaching dates as a
source that God used to meet my needs "in faith". Now that
those meetings are not even coming close to meeting needs,
I thank God for the years he has prepared me in advance by
having me live by faith, praying in everything for the family. But
what of those who do not know how to do this? What of the future
of missions and repentance - based ministries? When the
expected source runs dry, how will the young preachers continue
on?
Another thing I am noticing is who our enemies are. In almost
every instance it has been two camps of people; the old prophetic
movement (gold dust, third heaven, holy laughter, personal word)
and the once saved- always saved crowd. Our biggest supporters
are not the Pentecostals that I thought it would be but rather the
mainline denominations. It would seem that the old line of division
between those who speak in tongues and those who do not is not
as important in this latest fight. The hard core truths presented in
the meetings revolving around the "old paths" of repentance,
crucified/risen life, prayer, and whole service to the King do more
to include the denominations than tongues does to divide. It is
those who pay no price and trifle with God who are our enemies.
Here are the issues I feel we all face.
1. How do we hold revival for the length of time necessary without
proper financing and without using a church building (so as to
avoid de-neutralization of the meeting grounds)? I believe that we
need to come to a town and stay until something breaks, as
opposed to the 3-4 day meetings we are accustomed to.
2. How do those who start preaching repentance who are already
preachers or just becoming one survive when there is no money in
the offerings?
3. What steps need to be taken in our mindsets if our traditional
opponents are no longer opposing us?
4. Are there other methods that should be introduced to the
meetings that they used in previous revivals that are more
conducive to the atmosphere God is creating rather than our
"new ox-carts" borrowed from the last 40 years of revival-less
revival?
-James Smith
South Dakota, USA.
<xchurch@gwtc.net>