Some Texas congregations seeing revival, repentance

Several Texas churches have felt the stirrings of revival recently, and in at least one instance it spread into a movement that awakened congregations across an entire community. Such reports provide encouraging signs of spiritual awakening.

Such stirrings?quite apart from whether or not they are indicators of a widespread movement?are not unnoticed by those who fill pulpits frequently.

“Last week a group of about 175 teenagers gathered for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting in Haslet, Texas. Northgate Church was coordinating the event. When the gospel invitation was given over 100 of them filled out commitment cards indicating they received Jesus as their personal Savior,” observed Jim Richards, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention executive director. “Youths will come to Christ if we will simply present the Word to them.

“This is one example of a number of moves of God I am seeing all across Texas.”

At East Paris Baptist Church in Paris, an eight-day revival meeting in November resulted in more than 600 people professing faith in Christ for the first time. When the church referred them to nearly 80 sister churches across the community for follow-up, one congregation reported that the revival saved it from dying.

“God worked in such a way that many churches in our area benefited spiritually,” said East Paris pastor Mike Fortenberry. “That’s what’s exciting to me, that not only were we blessed as a church but that God brought many into his kingdom, and then he placed many of them in our area churches, where I pray they will be fruitful believers.”

Yet the revival emerged out of difficult circumstances.

“Our church had a couple of glitches in the two or three years prior to this, and our church had really been hurt,” the pastor said. “There was a spiritual dryness not just in the people but in my own life.”

When members recognized their church was struggling, some began to pray. Efforts included home prayer meetings, a 24-hour prayer chain and fasting. Through prayer, Fortenberry became convinced that God’s will was for the congregation to hold an eight-day protracted meeting with evangelist Ken Freeman. So they scheduled the meeting despite the fact that such long revival gatherings are uncommon in contemporary church life.

The results were astonishing.

“What happened was not a man thing,” Fortenberry said. “God just chose to show up. That’s the crux of what took place those eight days.”

The initial service on a Sunday morning drew 550 people and saw more than 20 first-time professions of faith. Fueled by assemblies Freeman conducted in area public schools, attendance increased each night as the professions of faith continued. By Wednesday, 1,200-1,400 people were lined up to enter the church’s 800-seat auditorium. So beginning Thursday, it held two services nightly.

A high point of the meeting occurred Wednesday night when more than 230 salvations were recorded in one service. No service saw fewer than 20 first-time professions of faith.

“Many of the decisions ? not only came to church, but they did follow the Lord in believer’s baptism,” Fortenberry said. “So we have just been tremendously blessed through this revival experience and plan to have Ken (Freeman) come back in the future.”

In all, East Paris has baptized between 40 and 50 people since the meeting and continues to follow up with another 100 or so people.

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