"Revival" 11/11/89 Psalms 85:6 In mid-April of 1989, I began to hear God speaking to me. It was not something I made up in my mind. I heard an actual voice. The problem was that I didn't understand; maybe I didn't want to. Despite this "affliction," life went on. One day, I told a friend of mine about it. She said, "So, you think God's calling you into the ministry, huh?" Whoa. Ministry? To be honest, that word scared me to death. I didn't want to go to Africa! I said, "Well, I don't think He's calling me to ministry. I just feel like He wants me to do something." Well, she kept insisting it must be ministry, so I let her win. She had told me previously about her prayer for the school. She said, "Something's happening here. I can feel the spiritual warfare going on, and it's getting stronger, and stronger every day." I understood what she was saying, I felt it too, but I didn't see what that had to do with "the voice" until much later. .. (11/9/89) Then, Markos came into the picture. I believe that God worked through him to interpret His will; Markos revealed it, probably without notice. I don't even remember what he said, but all of a sudden, we were working together. We didn't know what we were doing, but we did it anyway. Till school was out, anyway. During the summer, very little was done on my part. The battle was still raging fury, but I didn't see it. Satan took what little faith I had and wrenched it between his fingers like play-dough. But for the prayers of friends and the Power of the Blood, I wouldn't have passed the test. The faith of a mustard seed... In the few discussions Markos and I did have that summer, it had already been understood that Mark and John were in. That I recall, we never talked about it; they had already been chosen. School started, and dreams of the future arose again. John and Mark were told of our aspirations and were in total agreement. But that's all that happened for a while. Satan began to put doubt in my mind, but not for very long. That's when Sam came in. He came out of nowhere; I don't even remember meeting him. But, as we were talking about the group, Markos told me about Sam, and that's all that was said. Excitement grew; we had grown from two to five without any effort on our part. In the middle of September, God told us to get busy. We made copies of a song written by Acappella called "He Gave Her Water." I didn't see the significance of that being our first ..11/9/89 song for some time. That one was easy, so we started to learn some others. Within two weeks, we knew four songs total. We had "View That Holy City" down well enough to do for our debut; the talent show at school on October 13th. That afternoon, we were helping to set up when we were told we had one minute to come up with a name. We had done a lot of prayer and research, so we had a list of names a mile long. We couldn't decide on one mutually before, but that afternoon it wasn't so hard to choose. "Revival"-- "`cause that's what we want to do." Besides, we decided that if we changed our minds later, it's ok. After that night, the list of other names disappeared, and a name change was never even mentioned. That night, we went back stage, sat down on the stairs, and prayed until words were none. We prayed that we could show Christ to a world of dying people; we were blessed that night. When the time came for us to sing, we walked onto the stage and relayed the words the best we could, filled to the brim with the Spirit; we won the talent show. We were asked to go back up, as a matter of fact. But I was convicted for my actions later. Actually, I was convicted for my lack of action. We didn't go back and thank the Master; that's a mistake that we learned from. Though we didn't receive any physical punishment, we did feel a touch of His wrath. One day, John and Markos met a couple that were very musically involved. When told about our group, they asked us to come sing for their little choir that meets at their house; it was this couple that really helped us get started. On October 24th, they asked us to come back and let them help us on microphones, which we desperately needed. That night, they gave us the sheet music to our fifth Acappella song, "John the Revelator." On the 27th of that same month, we sang for a small Bible study group which Markos goes to. There were only about ten people, but it was still exciting. We sang our two best group songs, "He Gave Her Water" and "View That Holy City," then we split to trios to sing "When I Say Farewell" and "Create In Me." That night, we learned another song in about thirty minutes, "For The Lost." It was pretty evident that God had moved us, but then things slowed down again. On November 5th, we sang at the Central Texas Gospel Convention, featuring the Florida Boys. Again, we prayed like mad before we sang. When we were introduced, the audience clapped, but they didn't look to enthusiastic. John said a few words, gave us the pitch, and we began to sing. Almost instantly, the crowd came alive. We sang our new song, "For The Lost," and then we began to walk off stage. We didn't even make it to the door when they called us back on stage. We blushed and sang "He Gave Her Water." At that, the audience was on their feet. Out of that audience, we received four requests to sing at churches, and two requests for newspaper interviews. We also were the only group to receive complements from the Florida Boys that day. We received so many complements that I had to repent for my attitude and pray for humility. When we got through thanking God afterwards, we left to get ready to sing that night. We had been asked a couple of weeks earlier to sing at John and my church, so that night, the five of us sat up with the choir until our time to sing. We had to "speed pray" as we were walking out because we hadn't had time before. After we sang, I felt as though we were accepted, but I didn't feel the Spirit move like He did earlier. But the Youth Minister apparently did; he asked us to sing a concert at one of the largest disciple camps in Austin. As of yet, we're still praying. Around the 7th, my friend began to say that the battle was coming to an end. "The oppression is so great at this school; God is about to do something. My friend and I have been praying for a revival at this school." It was then that I began to realize how God was working in our lives. Our school, our town, our world, have to be revived before it's too late. My friend had been praying for a "Revival"; it is our job, as Christians, to "give the water" to those who thirst. This was the sign that proved to me that "Revival" is of God. A few days later, we received a card from Markos' mother. On the front of the envelope was written: "Revival" "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people - everyone whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:1-3 That night, I began to think about God's plan, and how all the "right" people just came. Sure, we have problems and get into arguments, but God has given us all wisdom, that we may work them out. I began to wonder, how? How can I do anything? I found the answer in Judges 6:14-16: The Lord turned to him and said," Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" "But Lord," Gideon asked," how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The Lord answered," I will be with you and you will strike down all the Medianites together." That means that I can't do it alone; "Revival" can't do it alone. We, as Christians, are a team, an army. When I think about how "Revival" is being formed, I Corinthians 1:26-31 comes to mind: "Brothers, think of what you were when you were first called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'" There is nothing short of God's power that can stop the "revival" that is about to begin. As our theme verse asks: "Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?" - Psalms 85:6 Our message is that God loves you so much that since He can't raise you up against your will, He lowered His omnipresent being into the chains of flesh, His omnipotent knowledge was exchanged for our weak, limited minds; all for one purpose - to DIE, that you might live. He went through Hell so you don't have to. That is love. That is power. That is Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." - Ephesians 6:19-20 Booking Info: Dodie Morris -- (512)-837-8617 OR Kenaniah Productions -- (512)-335-8519 -- (512)-263-3642