Is Tent Revival Worth It?

Is tent revival worth it?

I thrive preaching revival. I love to see God reaching for folks and them reaching out to God. I love preaching the Word and watching hungry people grab hold of it. I am an evangelist and I love the whole process of revival. There have been several occasions that I have preached 25-30 weeks of revival in a row. Probably not the smartest thing in the world for our health's sake but people go to work in the factory, construction site and office week after week, why shouldn't I? I love and believe in revival.

But throw 8-10 tent revivals into the mix and it changes everything. The tent revivals add a whole new meaning to the word, work. The tent set up, tent tear down each week, PA set up and tear down each night most places, the logistics of setting the meetings in advance, coordinating with Pastors to make sure everything is ready, pulling the trailer, finding a place to park, the enormous financial pressure and the list goes on and on...

I have not even mentioned the spiritual part of the meetings which includes sermon preparation, prayer, the actual singing and preaching and carrying the burden for each meeting. It seems as if we face more spiritual opposition under the tent than we do in normal revival. I suppose this is because we are daring to reach for those under the oppression or possession of the enemy and reaching for them out there on his turf. All of this on top of our normal responsibilities with the bus, regular revivals and family time.

So, is tent revival worth all of that?

Read my lips. It is absolutely worth all of that and more. It is wonderful to see people saved under the tent that have refused to go into our churches. There is no doubt about it. Everything that goes into having tent revivals is worth it.

There may be years that we do less tent revivals than other years. There may come a time when I am not able to keep up with the physical demands of tent revivals. It may be that we walk through other doors of opportunity as God leads and we do less tent revivals as a result of that.

But for the foreseeable future we want to preach as many tent revivals as possible. I want to take the message of the Gospel to the world as long as I can and I want to do it as effectively as I can. IF we believe the Gospel message and IF we believe the world needs to hear it then we have a duty to proclaim that message as loud as we can and for as long as we can.

We tried to work smarter last year and as I have mentioned in other blog posts we are trying to work smarter this year. I am trying to use the strength that God gives me as efficiently as I can. We have preached some Sunday though Wednesday revivals this year so that we have a little more time to re-cooperate before the next revival. I think that is helping and we are planning on more of that in the future.

In 2012 we set the tent up nine times, in nine cities and in seven states. We had  at least 71 services under the tent. I pulled the tent trailer 9300+ miles from February to September. There were people saved, healed, delivered and filled with the Holy Ghost under the tent. Some places we had much more response from the community that others but not one of the tent revivals was a bust. God helped in every service of every meeting.

Yes, tent revival is absolutely worth it.

We plan to start tent revivals this year, by the grace of God, in Citronelle on Easter Sunday, March 31. We are working again this year in Citronelle with Pastor Gaylon Cunningham and Pastor Darius Templeton and their churches. We plan to be there Sunday through Sunday and then move up the road to Millry, Alabama to set up the tent with Pastor Lamar Chapman and hopefully some of those area churches April 10-14.

We have two tent revivals scheduled in May in Virginia and Indiana and one in June/July in Illinois. We have two tentative tent revivals in North Dakota and Montana and then round out the season in Oklahoma, Missouri and back in Mississippi. Of course all of this is subject to change. I have learned that you can not chisel tent revival dates in stone. There are just too many variables.

We are hoping that we will have a little better handle on the expenses of tent revivals this year. We were spending $3-400 every week just on miscellaneous things to keep the tent up and the whole thing running the last two years. By the end of the 2012 season it seemed that everything was finally in place and the spending was calming down. I do have to replace the rims on the tent trailer this year but I hope to do that one or two at a time. All of the normal expenses and extra fuel go right on but we deal with all of that every month by the grace of God. He certainly knows how to handle it.

Please pray for us that God will use these meetings to reach for souls for His glory and for His kingdom. I would love to see a few dozen people saved in every tent revival. That is totally within the grasp of our God. Pray that God will provide every necessary ingredient for these meeting.

We would love for you to join us in a tent revival some time. You can always check out our schedule HERE. I advise you to check it before driving to be in a particular meeting because dates and locations do have a way of changing at the last minute. We will try to keep the schedule current.

God bless,

Davy

Good News

I have some good news. Bro. Marty Millikin came home from the hospital on Saturday night. He is feeling well and recovering good from the surgery one week ago to remove a large mass and the kidney that it had taken over. He is doing so good for what he has been through. Praise God for helping Bro. Marty.

Bro. Jimmy Millikin said that Bro. Marty will return to the cancer doctor in about two weeks to find out the next steps in his battle against cancer. There will likely be scans at that time and then it looks as though he will have to have some type of chemotherapy. I am praying that God will quickly strengthen him and the whole family.

Thank you so much for adding the Millikin's to your prayer list and diligently praying for them. As I say over and over, we know that God hears and answers prayer. We know that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We know God has the power to do a complete and total miracle. We believe God to heal and deliver completely and instantly and we trust Him to do what is best.

Please keep lifting Bro. Marty up in prayer before God.

We had a good day at White Plains Holiness Assembly yesterday. These folks are so kind and easy to preach too. It is a joy to stand in the pulpit any where and declare the Word of God but preaching has seemed especially joyous the last several weeks. Yesterday was no exception. God has given us some great revival meetings this year and I believe we are going to see lasting results.

We must have lasting results from revival meetings. In this last hour, lost men and women must be saved and then walk in the light. Saints must be touched of God and then reach out and touch others. Churches must be changed and then go out and change their community. The world is too cold and dark and the people are too needy for us to just go through the motions of revival. We must have real revival.

Real revival will change the spiritual atmosphere of families, churches and communities. Yes, the devil will fight revival. Yes, he will hinder every way he can. But he can not stop revival when God's people are determined to seek God for it and when God is determined to pour revival out. I am praying for revival in these last days. Oh, God, our nation needs it desperately. Our world needs it desperately. Oh, God I need it desperately!

I believe God to give revival. Will you join me in that prayer as well?

God bless you all,

Davy

Travel Day - Mississippi

Saturday's was a Revival in Pictures post.

Yesterday was a travel day but it was an easy travel day. We drove less than 120 miles even with a slight detour down into Meridian to visit Dirt Cheap. We have been going to that particular Dirt Cheap for over 12 years. We have not driven through Meridian very many times without stopping. Odie found a few things that she could not live without so I guess it was worth it.

I was telling them at Ellisville Friday night that I could get used to these short travel days. 2 1/2 hours today, 45 minutes last week, 40 minutes the week before, 3 1/2-4 hours next week and 30 minutes the next. Yep, I could get used to that. I love NOT buying diesel!

We arrived at White Plains church about 5:45 and Bro. Ricky Boler met us here. He had the tree trimmed and our spot ready to pull into. It only took a few minutes to wire in and set up. The temperature was about 35 so I am glad it was quick.

They have Saturday night service but we are not starting revival until this morning. I slipped over for service because I love to see trains run that I do not have to pull. That is the punch line from an old joke about a pastor that loved to visit the rail yard. You do not have to hear the whole joke to understand it.

It is great to be with these folks again this year. We first preached here in 2004 and we have been coming every year since 2008. We preached here in 2008 right before we went to look at the BoggsMobile. We had been dealing on it for a long time and ended up making our final deal on it that week. I was sick while I was here and so nervous that I thought I would die. The Lord helped me in a couple of those services and these folks encouraged me so much.

They did not realize what a blessing they were to me on that visit. It seems that it often works that way. You try to minister to others and God uses them to minister to you. This church will always have a special place in our lives because they allowed me to "get my blessing" in those services and not feel like I was cheating them in some way. I still had some nervous times in front of me and some big decisions to make but God gave me the peace I needed right here just a few feet from where I am sitting.

So we are glad to be back and we are looking for the Lord to help and bless folks again this year. Pray that the Lord has his way this week.

Davy