Here is a short clip of Preacher Langston and his wife singing, God Saves Old Sinners. They sang this tonight during our revival service. I think it's wonderful that they are still excited about serving the Lord after all of these years. They also seem so happy together.
Last night during our revival service, Preacher Langston had the congregation all join together and sing at the end of his message. We sang a verse and chorus of "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be," and a verse and chorus of "Never Grow Old." I thought it was absolutely beautiful when I listened to it.
Day 4 of the revival was fantastic! We kicked things off with the choir singing, "City of Gold." We had 15 folks in the choir tonight and everyone really sang out. I had been praying for the Holy Spirit and I got exactly what I prayed for! It was all I could do to keep from ripping into a preaching fit after the first song but I somehow managed.
The first congregational was, "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart." I have always loved leading that song. After that the choir sang, "Saved By the Blood of the Crucified One." Then another congregational with, "I Rejoice In the Lord." For fellowship we sang, "There Is A Name I Love To Hear," and then we had altar prayer.
For special music the pastor asked my mother to sing. She sang the Greater Vision hit song, "Uncommon Garments," and did a great job. I felt bad for her because there was some issues getting her accompaniment CD to play and she had to stand there in a brief moment of awkwardness, but she came through it good. Next up was the pastor's brother, Rex, and his wife. They sang two songs with Rex playing the piano. After that, Rex stood and gave his testimony about all of the problems and addictions the Lord had brought him out of. Then Mrs. Langston sang a song with Carol playing the piano.
Finally it was time for Preacher Langston to step into the pulpit. He started out by pulling some hardy "Amen's" from the crowd and then went into reading Scripture. His message tonight was titled, "Why Should We Get Saved?" You can listen to it HERE. He brought out many wonderful reasons why a person should get saved. He ended his sermon by singing a verse of "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" and asked the congregation to join in. We then gave an altar call and one person came down to pray.
It was a great service and I'm sad that it will be ending tomorrow night. We are expecting a pretty good sized crowd tomorrow. We will be having food and fellowship tomorrow night after the service and everyone is invited.
I was still walking on cloud 9 from last night's service and expecting big things. The choir cranked out a lively rendition of the Kingsmen's hit song, "I'll Live Again," which brought many Amen's from the row of preachers that were sitting on the front 3 church pews. The choir wasn't as large as it was last night, I think we only had about 12 folks but they sang their hearts out and did a great job. Again, support from our regular membership was very poor but we had lots of visitors.
Up next, I led the congregation in 3 verses of "My Sins Are Gone." Man, I love that song and would sing it every single service if I could. After a welcoming and announcements, I had the choir sing, "I Am Redeemed." I just about over sang on that song and felt my throat giving out about half way through. I have to do a recitation on that song and I somehow managed to do it without choking. Then I led another congregational out of the Inspiration Hymnal, "Saved to the Uttermost." After that, we had fellowship and altar prayer and sang "What A Day that Will Be" as our song selection.
For special singing, Linda Long, with the help of Sister Carol and Charlotte McCollough, sang the very beautiful, "Come Morning." They did a fantastic job and I was proud that we have so much talent in our membership. Then the pastor and Sis. Carol sang, "The King and the Beggar," and of course did great as usual. The pastor then asked Mrs. Langston to sing and she had Sis. Carol back her up on the piano. She sang, "I Call It Home," and did a marvelous job. The pastor then asked Preacher Langston to come up to bring the message.
One thing I love about Preacher Langston is his ability to make you laugh while driving home a great truth. He speaks to you on a level that you can understand. The man has been preaching for 53 years and has probably forgotten more Scripture than I'll ever be able to memorize, so if he chose to, I'm sure he could outwit and confuse you if he wanted to, but, that's not how he works. I believe that the Gospel should be understood by everyone, from the very smallest to the oldest and that's exactly how Bro. Langston preaches. He will also pull your sin up by the roots, wave it out in front of you and call you on it. Last night he brought a message about why he lives for the Lord. I wish every member of our church had of been there to hear it. you can give it a listen HERE. His main point was if you really love the Lord, it will show in your life by your church attendance, your willingness to serve Him, and your desire to live for him. My favorite quote from his sermon last night was this: "the reason I'm here is because I want to be here." He went on to say, "if you want to be here, you'll be here, if you don't then you won't be, you'll be home in bed or somewhere else." He spoke the truth last night and that's a fact.
Preacher Langston won't be preaching on Wednesday night, he will be at his church, but he will be back on Thursday and Friday. I'm really excited about the rest of the revival.
Read about Day 1 of the Revival here.
The first night of Revival I arrived at the church around 6:30. I needed to run off some copies of a flyer and get my music straightened up and ready. Folks started trickling in shortly after that and by starting time we had a pretty good crowd of around 100 folks. As I panned the congregation I couldn't help but notice that most people that were there were visitors. We had a very poor showing from our regular members. I tried not to let it bother me but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.
I had a pretty good choir full, I think 17 or 18 people. They put out a big sound anyway. We kicked things off with Goodbye World, Goodbye. There was a really good Spirit from the get-go. Lots of encouragement from the congregation by means of "Amen's" and shouts, and hand lifting toward Heaven. I was pretty caught up in the Spirit and so excited I thought I was going to jump off of the stage. I managed to settle down enough to lead a congregational and do announcements. After that the choir sang 2 more specials, 'Send A Great Revival" and "I'm Glad I Know Who Jesus Is." Then another congregational of "Power In the Blood," and then we had fellowship singing, "I'd Rather Be An Old-Time Christian." Altar prayer came next and then special singing. The pastor asked me and my family to come up and sing, "Thank You Dear Lord," which Elizabeth leads the verses and we back her up on the chorus. Then, Ray, ( a 78-year old man that has been blind since birth ) got up and testified about how the Lord has always been good to him and he sang, "Where the Roses Never Fade," with help from Preacher Langston and his wife. Then Mrs. Langston sang a song before Preacher Langston came to preach.
At 77-years old, Preacher Langston has more energy and pep than most folks that are half his age. From his opening remarks to his closing prayer he vehemently expounded the Word of God with great authority. He didn't pull any punches, or make any apologies, just straight in your face Bible preaching. His delivery style is reminiscent of the old-time preaching that I grew up listening to in the 70's. You can listen to his sermon HERE.
By the time the night was over, I was worn out but felt very blessed and revived and looking forward to the next service.
"I. Definition of Revival/Spiritual Awakening (borrowed from the handout, Theology of Revival, from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
A. Various Definitions
"God's quickening visitation of his people, touching their hearts and deepening his work of grace in their lives." J. I. Packer
"extraordinary season of religious interest." Robert Baird
"the sovereign act of God, in which He restores His own backsliding people to repentance, faith and obedience." Stephen Olford
One of the worst things in the life of a music minister, is waking up with a sore throat and stopped up ears on Sunday morning. Alas, that is my predicament this morning. I know it's just sinus drainage (sorry, that's gross I guess) but it makes it very difficult to lead music this way. Through the course of the day I will lead 20+ songs plus teach a Sunday school lesson. By tonight I probably won't be able to talk. I'm praying that God will give me relief. I've drank 3 cups of coffee already this morning and it feels some better but I can tell that it's not going to go away. I remember my choral director at Gibbs, Mr. Reeves, once told us that someone had done a study where they had their sinuses blocked and they sang before and after and you couldn't tell any difference between the two. Well, the church congregation may not be able to tell but I sure can! It could be a lot worse. Just look at the Apostle Paul who was stoned and dragged out of the city and left for dead. He got up, brushed himself off and headed right back into the city to preach! So, I'll keep on keeping on. We are having Revival next week and I'll be leading the music every night. Please remember me in your prayers!
The Family of God!
This week at Emory Pike American Christian church where my brother-n-law (and lifetime best friend) is the pastor, they are having revival. I've only been able to attend one night thus far, Tuesday night. The Rev. Boyd Myers is doing the preaching and doing a wonderful job of that. As I sat on the pew Tuesday night and looked around the congregation, I couldn't help but notice nearly half of everyone in there was related to me. There was my mother and father-n-law, Harry and Helen, my sister and brother-n-law, Sandra and Wayne, my sister and brother-n-law, Kevin and Martha along with their children, Nathan and Jared, my sister and brother-n-law, Mark and Susan with their son, Ryan, and my son Matthew. All except for my son, are related to me by marriage. Then I got to thinking, you know, everyone else in the church that has accepted Christ as their Saviour, is also related to me by marriage, they married into the family of God! It makes me think of that Bill Gaither song that we sometimes sing in the choir; The Family of God:
"I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God, I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, For I'm part of the family, The Family of God."
I see so many times in church where there are divisions among the people. One group won't associate with the other or they hold grudges against one another. I see people with huge chips no their shoulders just looking for some reason to get "hurt" by somebody and to "hurt" them right back. One itty bitty thing doesn't go their way and they are ready to just sull up and cry like a baby. The worst part is those types of people get on the telephone and start calling up anyone that will listen and infect them with their misery. "Oh poor me, old brother so-n-so said this about me or he didnt' shake my hand or he didn't do this or do that." You can see it in their eyes when you look at them. They sit in their pew and smile and put on this big show of "righteousness" and then as soon as you walk past the smile leaves and they spend the rest of the time wondering how they can dig the knife into you. I've seen churches split, friendships ended, and crimes committed all because of some "hurt" church member. My friend it ought not to be so, because in 1 John 4:20-21 the Bible says:
"20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."
That is pretty clear to me, how about you? We can't just pick and choose the commandments from the Bible that want to follow. If we believe one of them, we have to believe them all. I think we all need to make a new commitment to love one another as much as we do ourselves. If everyone would just follow that one simple commandment from God's Word we wouldn't have so much misery and heartache in this life. There would be no wars, no crime, no hatred, it would be paradise!
Praise God there is a day coming when we won't have to worry about all of the stuff going on down here. If we are truly saved and have trusted Jesus, we will be spending eternity in Heaven with Him. No more chips on the shoulders, no more whispering, no more gossiping, no more finger pointing, no more divisions, all of that stuff will die with us and be left for Satan and his crowd. Which is where it should be left today, and not amongst God's people.
So, next time you sing that song, The Family of God, think about this little post and ask yourself if you really mean what you are singing about. Be honest with yourself. You might as well be because God already knows the depths of your heart. Why not get on your knees and ask God to give you love for your fellow man? Turn things over to Him. He's the only one that can fix it for you.
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