Brethern, brothers and sisters,
this is just a testimony, and a confession before you, and before the LORD.
first the confession, i was wrong in hectoring Greg to shut the forum down, and i beg forgiveness, from the LORD, and from Greg and the saints here. i was wrong.
rest assured, as God is my witness, it isnt the first time, nor the last, i will be wrong in anything, but i do thank God in the Lord Jesus Christ, that thru His Grace, i can confess my "wrongness"...in ANYTHING, we must be real, authetic. God strike me down, if i ever engage in any religious posturing.
my short testimony, God took mercy on me ten years ago come May, He revealed His Son, Resurrected, to me, and in me, Praise His Name.
naturally, one who has been brought to a saving Grace in Messiah, should seek spiritual Food, that would be the Word of God, and he gave me this Hunger, which thru Him, has continued unabated to me, and in me, to this very day. i boast in the Lord, 'eating" of the Word. Its not a heavy burden, its light, its joyful, its Peace...Shalom...
and in the mystery of God the Holy Ghost, He led me to two other extra-canonical books of this Most Holy Faith, (actually three, but the third i wont name, just only because i never wish to be divisive) the two books were, "The Life of Brainerd", and a biography about Evan Roberts, 26 year old Welsh revivalist, "An Instrument of Revival". Both books and the lives of these two dear saints, have thrilled me, emboldened me, gave me a Godly model to emulate, though to my grief, i have fallen far short of the earthly lives of these two precious saints.
(please bear with me) then, my heart seeking revival, personal revival, as well as a wide and deep revival, worldwide, i was led HERE. actually it was first to "FireontheAltar dot com, THEN to here.
the three men, human agents of Jesus, i gravitated to, were first Michael Brown, then Duncan Campbell, then Len Ravenhill.
now you can "listen" to a Message and you can listen to a Message, there's a difference i believe, one is primarily with your ears, and the other is with your heart VIA your ears, the latter is Better.
and as i listened first primarily to Michael and Duncan, i noticed they referenced the ministries of both Brainerd and Evan Roberts. i gave Len short shrift, listened maybe to five of his messages, then i noticed that Michael referenced Len and Duncan, and then i began to really listen to Len, and to me, there seems to be One Underlying Call, and that is to the ministry of prayer, whether it be secret travailing prayer, ie the prayer closet, or the oft neglected prayer meeting.
Now, this day, God has seen fit to hide me away, in a most beautiful part of America, the "driftless region" of Wisconsin. i asked for that in prayer, and He gave it, BUT i have ....neglected, not lost, neglected, my private ministry of secret prayer. where are my tears? where is that blessed communion with Jesus?
Now many saints go to seminaries, and thats good. Anyplace where Jesus is lifted up, and praised and served and loved is GOOD, i will speak NOT ONE ILL WORD against a seminary, but God gave me something this morning.
Though dear Len be gone in the flesh, he still lives, alive in Christ, AND through the mixed blessing of modern technology and the blessing of the ministry of sermonindex, i shall endeavor to go to the "seminary of Ravenhill", which in its final analysis is an elder, who grabbed hold of the right end, and preached and exhorted and taught of the Risen Messiah, Who's Blood is Wholly Sufficient to cleanse all sin.
i cant even count the number of Len's teachings and exhortations on here, but they have to be hundreds, i think i've downloaded at least 50 to 75, now i have to listen. therefore i thank God for you Greg, the moderators, all the saints here.
i therefore ASK God for the ministry of secret prayer back, i will SEEK it, and i will KNOCK at the Door, and Blessed be His Name, Jesus is the Yes and Amen, may He see fit to bring revival to MY heart and life, May He see fit to revive ALL our hearts, and May He see fit to Revive His Church, for the Purpose that ALL may be convicted of their sin, and their NEED for a Messiah, so that NONE may perish, so that even the most hardened embittered atheist BE TURNED BACK to God.....it can start in a prayer closet, a barn....we just need more, more prayer, more tears, more love, more Jesus, neil
if you made with me this far, God bless you, as i type this, there's storm clouds on the horizon, both physically...HERE, and on the horizon of a dying world, amen.