Moving Update

Thank you to those who have been praying for my family as we have been transitioning. We bought a house in Greenville, South Carolina and will be moving there in August. Please pray that we sell our house in Canada and for all of our transitions in finding a new church home and settling in. My son Mike will be going to Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Daniel and Carrie will be attending North Greenville University near Greenville.

Travel

This past month I had the privilege of ministering with my dad in Cyprus as we spoke to the national leaders for Campus Crusade from across Western Europe. The Lord is working in Europe where the churches have faced huge challenges over the last several years. The Lord is giving me opportunities to invest in His work in Europe right now as I’ll be in Switzerland in July speaking to the pastors and their families of the international Baptist churches across Europe. This organization will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. Last month I was also privileged to speak at the National Day of Prayer gathering in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well as at The Cove, North Carolina and Lake Louise, Canada with my father.

I’d appreciate your prayers for June. My son Mike will be accompanying me to speak in Singapore and Malaysia in several different meetings. I’ll also be speaking at a Promise Keeper’s conference in Fresno, California and attending an important BMI board meeting in Atlanta.

Reading

I just finished reading an interesting business book by Keith McFarland, The Breakthrough Company: How EveryDay Companies Become Extraordinary Performers. It focuses on business, but I was struck by some of the insights that might apply to any organization, such as a church plant that wants to move to the next level. I liked his differentiation between a company culture and a company character. He defines the company character as: “values translated into action.” I also like his statement: “People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” He also quotes Douglas Adams, “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”

Lately, I have been doing a lot of research and writing on revival. I have been reading and reviewing numerous books. Several things have impressed me. First, a lot of people don’t know what revival is. As a result, a lot of people aren’t sure revival is even desirable. But as you read the first hand accounts of what it was like and how deeply and profoundly it impacted people and churches, you can’t help but have your heart stirred so that you find yourself praying, “Lord, do it again!” Second, I am struck by the desperation of those who sought and prayed for revival. Revival never seems to come to those only half heartedly seeking it. Third, the word “suddenly” keeps reoccurring. Revival is never scripted or choreographed. It comes powerfully and unexpectedly. All we can do is to be ready for when it comes. Finally, the sense of God’s presence keeps being mentioned. People describe it as God suddenly flooding the church with a sense of His presence that is so powerful it is almost overwhelming. People describe moments of revival as times when everyone in the room has no doubt that God is present and that he is dealing with His people. Reading about these moments throws a huge contrast on much of what we presently are experiencing in church today. Sometimes we don’t realize how far we departed from God’s ideal until God brings us back. I hope that in the midst of all the busyness of your life and ministry that you take time, now and then, to plead for God to revive His church, and for God to begin that awesome work, in you.

Posted by Richard Blackaby at 10:45 pm