Tent Revival Update and Travel Day

I have a lot to write this evening but I will start with a few more pictures from tent revival. Scroll down through the pictures for the rest of story.

We had some great services under the tent in Bristol that last two weeks. Some were seeking salvation, some were healed and many were blessed. I thank God for helping and blessing. Thank you for praying for the revival. As I have written many times on this blog, I can not do this on my own. Thank you for taking part.

It was a great privilege and honor to work with Pastor David Horton and his wife Sis. Brenda. We have admired this family for years and now that we have been able to spend some time with them we love them even more. God has certainly sent them to Bristol and is using them to win souls to Christ. We are committed to praying for this family and their new church.

It was great to be with Bro. and Sis. Switzer as well. They are super people too. I think they like Odie's new scooter as much as I do!

In yesterday's post I wrote about how beautiful it was in the morning and about the threat of rain in the afternoon and evening. Well by 2:30 or so it was not looking good at all. We decided to take down the tent while we had a little time before the storm and have church inside Wednesday night.

Bro. and Sis. Horton, Kelly Jo and Bro. Switzer and I started in as quickly as we could. The trailer had to be emptied of instruments and sound equipment and then the we lowered the lift and started folding and loading chairs. Before the chairs were all loaded others begin to arrive and soon the cords and lights were down and we were ready to bring down the tent.

By that time the storm was bearing down on us pretty bad with lots of thunder and lightning. We retreated inside the church and waited for that wave to pass. During the next lull in the storm we got the tent down, folded, bagged and everything loaded in the trailer. Just about that time the bottom dropped out of the sky and it rained cats and dogs.

Every one worked so hard and I appreciate it so very much. The folks came on short notice and jumped right in and did the job that needed to be done. We were racing against the storm and thanks to all their hard work, we won.

The sun came out for a few minutes about 7:30 and it looked like we had pulled the tent down prematurely but the storms came back with a vengeance and I was glad the tent was stowed in the trailer. We could not have taken it down after church Wednesday night because of the weather.

We had service inside and did we ever have church. God blessed from beginning to end. It was a great end to revival. Praise God for a tremendous revival!

Bro. Nathan Saltz from the church brought his truck and hooked it up to the trailer about 6:30 this morning.   (Thank you very much, Bro. Nathan!) He moved it away the building and just as we were preparing to pull the trailer out of the parking lot it started raining again. 

I was a little leery of putting 14,000 lbs of strain on a 10,000 lb hitch going out the drive and up the steep and wet hill. I could not stand the thought of that trailer coming lose and barreling into the Hwy a few hundred yards below. Bro. Nathan was a little leery of going down the other steep and wet hill without any brakes on the trailer. (His truck does not have a brake controller) He could not stand the thought of that heavy trailer pushing his truck down the hill into the Hwy.

There was no doubt that his truck had the power to pull it but since we both had reservations about it we decided to pray about it. After prayer we decided to err on the side of caution. We unhooked his truck and called a tow truck to do the job. I had to wait quite a while but 18 minutes after the truck came the trailer was safely down the hill in a parking lot.

I hooked the BoggsMobile to the trailer, loaded the Green Machine in the trailer and 400 hundred miles later we are in a WalMart parking lot in Indiana. It was a long, long, long day and I am off to bed. Tomorrow should be short and easy... We will see.

God bless you all.

Davy

Getting Ready to Roll

It is a gorgeous sunny spring morning in southwest Virginia. The temperature is near perfect and the breeze is blowing just right. Everything is so green and the mountains are absolutely beautiful today. It is a great day to be in Bristol, Virginia.

I have the tent walls rolled down drying in the sun and wind. I would like to take them down dry this afternoon but the chance for rain is about 50% at church time and 70% after church. I am not sure that I should take them down since we may need them to keep the rain out during service.

My plan is to take the tent down tonight so I can make the majority of the 470+ mile trip on Thursday. I usually must take the tent down and pack it in the trailer while it is very dry to prevent mildew but since I should be putting the tent back in the air Saturday, it will be fine to take it down wet.

It is all part of the guessing game of dealing with the logistics of tent revival. Definitely not my favorite part but necessary. That is one reason I have learned to put more time between tent revivals. It causes me to lose days that I could be preaching but the weather and many other things are not under my control. It is hard for me but I am learning to roll with it.

The last two summers we have taken the tent down several times on Friday. Loaded up and drove Friday night or Saturday morning. Then set it all up some where else Saturday and started revival Sunday. It worked most of the time but I paid the price physically and with my sanity. 

Those days are over for the most part. There are just too many variables and I often found myself doing things against my better judgement in order to keep the commitments I had made. There is just too much involved and too much at risk. I had to schedule differently. I am forced to preach fewer revivals in order to preach any tent revivals at all. Does that make sense?

After the tent is down here in Bristol, the trailer is packed and everything is ready to go, then I have to figure out how to get out of the parking lot. The road coming in to the church is very steep I just barely got the trailer in and it is going to be a challenge to get it out. I can not turn down the hill because I know I can not get out that way. I can easily get the bus and trailer out of the church that way but it is way too steep when that road meets the Hwy at the bottom of the hill. The trailer and the bus would scrape in front and back. It would not be pretty.

Just imagine this with the nose pointed down the hill and the trailer attached at back.



Definitely would ruin my day.

You can not back out of that. Nope, it

requires the assistance of a very, very large wrecker, several police officers to direct traffic, a haz-mat crew to clean up the 36 gallons of antifreeze that pours out when the wrecker snags your bottom heater hose, a host of curious onlookers, and the news media.

(By the way, that is not my bus but it could happen so easy.)

I can not turn out of the church and go up the hill either. The front of the trailer would be damaged by the steep rise. I could possibly back out the drive going down hill and then pull up the hill but Kelly Jo is nervous about that. The best solution is to find somebody with a 3/4 or one ton truck to pull the trailer down to level ground. I have been looking for days but I have had no luck so far.

No complaints. Just sharing some of the joys of evangelism. I know we make the road life we live sound awfully fun, but it is not all vacation out here. Lol

In fact, I am ready to get back to the fun stuff. I can not wait to preach to Bristol, Virginia one more time tonight. There is no telling what God is going to do in lives under the Blue and White Gospel tent tonight.

Thanks for praying for us.

Davy

A Beautiful Day and A Stormy Night

Wow! The devastation in Oklahoma is incredible. It is absolutely amazing that hundreds of people were not killed in that tornado. Praise God for his protection. Continue to pray for all of those affected. There are thousands of people who will be consumed by this storm for quite a while.

The weather was beautiful here today in Bristol, Virginia. It was beautiful that is, right up until the end of service. The folks helped us quickly pack the sound equipment in the trailer and then the lightning, thunder, rain and wind started in earnest. It only lasted about 40-50 minutes but it was quite a storm.

I am glad to report that the tent handled it well although several of the chairs were blown over and every thing under the tent received a good soaking. I am always glad the stakes are driven in good and the straps are super tight when the wind starts blowing like that. I suspect that sometimes  folks think I am a little obsessive compulsive about the tent setup but it is worth it when the tent performs like it is supposed to in a storm.

We are have had very good altar services this week. God is faithful to help folks that come unto Him through His son Christ Jesus. Praise God for the access we have to the God Heaven and earth through Jesus our Savior. This old world can be a cold dark place. It does not take long to get beat up and bruised. I am so glad to point people who have been battered to a God that wants to help them.

That is what Gospel preaching is all about. I love to tell the good news to every one that will listen. There are a certain number of people that are not going to come into our churches for whatever reason. I love to take the good news of Jesus Christ to them. I am very thankful for churches that are interested in joining us in that effort.

We passed by the church and tent on the interstate the other day and I wanted to go back while the sun was shining and take a picture of the tent from that vantage point. You can see the tent from I-81 very clearly as you pass by even though my iPhone does not capture it properly.

I zoomed this one in while I was standing there.

The church has great visibility from the interstate and from Hwy 11 that runs by at the foot of the hill. It sure would be nice if Bro. Horton and his folks could buy this building at a good price. It is for sale and they are leasing to buy but the price is way inflated. I believe this is going to be a great location for them so help them pray that the price would lower to a reasonable amount. God is certainly able to do it.

One more night here in Bristol and then we will take down the tent and be on our way. I am hoping the weather cooperates and we can get the tent down after church Wednesday night. That would be great.

God bless you all.

Davy

Moore, Oklahoma Tornado

Pray for the people in Oklahoma. There are many pictures in the news but these two show the scope without being too graphic. They certainly need God to help them. All of our friends we have heard from out there are OK but there are so many hurting families out there right now.

Pray, pray, pray!

Davy

A Great Sunday

We did not take many pictures yesterday (Sunday) but it was a great day. We had church inside the sanctuary in the morning and under the tent Sunday night. Both services were very good.

Just as we were setting up the sound a storm blew over so we pulled down the wall around the equipment. The worst of the storm went around us so we had pleasant weather for the service. I praise God for His touch last night.

It has been raining like crazy all morning today but it is supposed to be better at church time tonight. We are planning to have church under the tent tonight through Wednesday. There is some chance of rain in the forecast each day but we are expecting God to help us. There is no telling what He will do.

Sis. Tonya Switzer prepared an awesome meal Sunday. This is just a sampling of all she had to offer at her table.

Wow, it was so good. She is a tremendous cook. We really enjoyed the meal and we also enjoyed being in their home.

Bro. and Sis. Switzer are an integral part of this church and Bro. and Sis. Horton are so glad to have them here assisting them. Sis. Tonya is the oldest daughter of Bro. and Sis. Horton. She and Bro. Michael have jumped right in to share the burden of pioneering this church. Together they all make a wonderful team.

God is blessing their efforts in building a church in Bristol. God has saved several already in the few months that they have been here and is reaching for many others. We are so glad to be here in support of this new work. I believe God is going to give them a great increase.

God bless you all.

Davy

Saturday May 18, 2013

There is a beautiful park near the church here in Bristol. The entrance is probably less than 1/2 mile from the church. They had a picnic planned at 3:00 with a service under the pavilion afterward. It was all a resounding success. The food was great, the fellowship was great and the Spirit of the Lord was near during the service. It does not get much better than that.

We plan to have church inside the sanctuary tomorrow (Sunday) morning and then continue tent revival Sunday through Wednesday. God is moving and we are excited to see what else He has in store for Pastor Horton and these fine folks.

The service Friday night was awesome. It was raining as we started so we had to roll the side walls down. However, we had the biggest crowd of the week and a wonderful service. Praise God for His help.

Please continue to pray for my cousin Annette Cook. She is fighting cancer and she fell a couple of days ago and hit her head and she is not doing well. She must have a miracle to live. Please pray for Annette and her family.

Davy