What a week

I have had a busy week. Last week I was the “crusade coordinator” for Team Delta Force. What is Team Delta Force you ask? Well I would suggest going to my buddy Mike Cline’s blog for that (http://reclinerramblings.blogspot.com/2006/09/muscle-ministry.html) I’ll just say that from the website they are “the most diverse, gifted and experienced group of ordained speaking athletes in the world”
So what does mean? It was one of the most impacting weeks I have ever seen. What did it do for my church you may ask? Well a few things

I) It got current members involved. It started Sunday morning when 25 people came down to the altar, some for the first time, but many coming to dedicate themselves for a week of service. My “stage crew” was basically 12-15 guys from ages 18-54 (the 54 yr old has 20-inch arms and bench-presses over 400 pounds so that was helpful). For many of the guys this was the first “ministry” they had been involved in. And I would like to take this moment to publicly thank them I could not have done it without them. Also, many of the women in my church cooked for the team. This was great because it meant I did not have to take four guys that eat like 7 meals a day out every evening. I had a whole group of senior citizens greeting at the doors and some even came backstage afterwards to do altar counseling. I cannot tell you how many people in my church were rejuvenated during this time.

II) It brought in unchurched people. I have never seen so many unsaved nonbelievers in one place ever. Wednesday night we had about 1000 people and Thursday night we had 1200 people. Our church averages around 750-800 on Sunday mornings so this was significant. I watched people walk in and never take off their hats. I saw kids bring food and drinks into the sanctuary. I tried to do the “Christian handshake” and people just looked at me. AND I LOVED EVER MINUTE OF IT! How amazing is it to see that many people who have never stepped foot into a church.

III) Masses heard the gospel in a positive light. I personally watched over 850 people walk forward to the altar (I will discuss this more later) but I was just as excited that literally thousands of people got to see Christian Men who are sold out and preaching a pure gospel. I promise you in all of the revivals (save ones by my dad) and camp meetings that I have ever been to, I have never heard the gospel presented more clearly. These men recognized that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to lose, and hell is too hot and there are too many souls hanging in the balance to sugar coat or water down their message.

IV) 850 people came forward. How do I know this? Because I have the cards. Almost every person that walked down came to a room and filled out a card explaining what kind of a commitment they had made, and put their address and phone numbers, and if they would like a follow up visit. Granted a few people slipped out the back doors and into the darkness, but almost everyone from 6 year old to teens, to 80 year olds put down their information

V) All ages came! Yes, the majority of the people that came down were under the age of 18. We had around 400 cards for 12 and under. We had 300 for 13-17 year olds. But, here is the clincher. Almost 75 were from the ages of 18-30 (the unreachable generation if you will) and another 75-100 were from 30 and up. We had three people over the age of 80 come down to the altar and fill out a card.

I’m just going to be honest and say that I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I am still a bit high from all of the success stories. Many of the people were at church this past Sunday morning and I haven’t even started the follow up yet. It’s been a good week.