Something Is Happening at My Church

Men's Retreat was a very special time for the men. Many tears were shed—in both repentance and joy. There were several times of prayer in which I could just feel God's presence in such incredible ways. It was awesome to see a couple young men turning from their downward path and rededicating themselves to the Lord. And wow! The support and love from the other men obvious in their genuine care for the young men was incredible. Thankfully, it didn't stop there. Sunday's second church service started with Bob Altland asking families or groups of people to gather and simply pray. He didn't tell us for what to pray, but just to pray. Looking back, the service would never have been what it was without this opening time of prayer. I could overhear some of the prayers. Some people prayed in thanksgiving, some in praise, some prayed for upcoming challenges, and most prayed for God's leading in the service to follow. Pastor started out just sharing a little from Men's Retreat, which naturally brought tears to his eyes. He shared what it had done for his own spiritual life, and what he was seeing it do in the lives of other men. And then came the shocker. Between tears, Pastor confessed that he hasn't been the husband that he should be, that he hasn't been the father that he should be, and that he hasn't been the pastor that he should be. He then asked for the congregation's forgiveness and then asked for men and families to come to the altar to pray for him. WOW! Nearly the entire congregation rose and gathered as close to the altar as possible. Many, many tears were shed. Many cries of repentance. And many prayers for God's grace and wisdom upon Pastor, the church leaders, and the men as leaders of their families. We returned to our seats and then, started off by Pastor's wife, had an incredible time of cleansing with several people confessing and asking forgiveness. Most wonderful of all was the joy of repentance and forgiveness between one family and the rest of the church. When the lady had asked for forgiveness, I was almost lead to tears again just from the site of several ladies walking from anywhere in the church to hug and reassure the woman. I have never seen so much love and forgiveness before! The whole atmosphere seemed changed as if the air had been removed and replaced with something more wonderful to breathe. After this, we prayed simple sentence-praises to God. I heard young and old praising God for everything from Jesus Christ and His shed blood for us to religious freedom in America, from love to forgiveness, from blessings to trials. When service ended, it seemed like no one wanted to leave. The time was so incredible, so awesome, and so near to God! God is definitely doing something mighty in my church; it could be the start of a revival. And I'm not the only person to notice this. Just read some of the blogs from several of the young people: Grace Jacob Hannah Carly Michael Rebekah Nichole (If I forgot someone's blog, please let me know it.) Now the questions that should face all of us regarding this: If this is the start of a revival, then what can I do to help it? What should I avoid that would hinder it?