Hey Fam! Happy Thursday!
What a week it has been! Where do I even begin??
On Friday night, a group of us attended the Rise as One Crusade in Venice and saw 30+ churches unite to put on a two-day event that brought hundreds of people together to hear the gospel. I heard that 157 people made decisions for Christ at the event. Come on Jesus!!! In addition to that, one of the most encouraging things I saw there was 100+ people that came out to get activated for evangelism on Saturday morning. Here’s a video:
The Lord is raising up His laborers!
Speaking of that, it was great to bring Natalie there to see her first Crusade. One day she will be on a stage like this sharing her miracle testimony!
I heard there were some good Divine appointments at Bayfront that night too. BIG thanks to Mike M, Karson, Rene, Maria, Thom, Nate and Amber for coming out to serve in my absence!
Also on Friday, a crowd of worshippers came to our State Capitol and released the Presence of God. I was SO wanting to be there but felt led to be at the crusade instead. There were people there from the 941 though, including Victory Church. My friend Jacob was also playing drums for Sean which is cool. Here’s a video:
It was especially timely given that the Florida Supreme Court just implemented a 6-week abortion ban, but…gave the green light for the issue to be decided at the ballot this November. This will one of the biggest tests our state has had in years, so we must pray for the hearts of Floridians to be in sync with the heart of God.
On Saturday, God moved powerfully at Riverwalk. Many people were coming to the Lord, and several were getting healed. One lady even threw away her idol necklace and renounced her false religion.
The coolest moment though was when a group of soccer players from Cincinnati came over to talk to us. Mike Kramer asked them if they knew Jesus and they didn’t. He then asked if any of them had pain and one boy said he had been hurt in a game and couldn’t run. Mike asked him if he wanted to be healed and the boy said yes.
Mike prayed for his leg, and the boy quickly realized something was different, so he tested it out. After realizing the pain was gone, the boy literally took off running, came back, and had the biggest look of shock on his face.
All his friends were going nuts too, realizing what had just happened. Then they all listened intently as Mike shared the gospel, and all prayed to receive the Lord. Here’s a pic:
BIG thanks to Mike K, Rochelle, Howie, Olivia, Nicole, Kayla, Rebekah, Laney, Mike A, Lauren, Chris, Geraldine, and Ricardo for coming to serve on Saturday!
Going into Sunday, I felt as strong sense of anticipation. It was week number 316, the first outreach of our 7th year, and the last one before the “Nineveh Eclipse” the following day. Little did I know, it would be one of the most powerful nights we’ve ever had…and that we would SHATTER our record for baptisms.
Early on in the evening, I was preaching the gospel and I saw an unusual number of people gathered to listen. I decided to do something I rarely ever do- I asked people to raise their hand if they wanted to receive Christ during the altar call. 5 people raised their hand. They all got prayer after and all prayed to recieve Christ.
I was so blown away by what I had witnessed, that I thought this was going to be my memorable highlight moment from week number 316. Then God blew all our minds even more.
ONE person came to be baptized, and we made the announcement on the shore. Over 100 people came to watch and what happened next was nothing short of revival. Person after person came asking to give their life to Jesus and get baptized. We ended staying out there until sunset and we had about 20 baptisms total. People were also getting deliverance on the shore and getting filled with the Spirit. SO many people came to watch throughout the 90 minutes or so that we were there. This video shows some of the moments of what I will forever call “The 316 Revival”.
BIG thanks to Mike K, Rochelle, Chris, Geraldine, Lucas, Tanner, Natalie, Amber, Laney, Mike M, Jack and Rachel for coming out to serve!
I was so charged up by what I saw that night that I hardly even slept Sunday night. I had to be up at 3 am to go to the airport anyway, so maybe that was better.
When I got to Indiana for the eclipse I was amazed. Even though the weather report said it would be cloudy, there was not a cloud in the sky. I even made it to Nineveh with time to spare and had an amazing time watching the eclipse with about 25 believers at the biggest Church in Nineveh. Which just so happened to be right next to “Jonah Trail”!
Before the eclipse, I also recorded this video of what i felt the Lord was saying through the eclipse: https://www.facebook.com/749050021/videos/1483113262240300/
During the eclpise, it was hard to get good pics of the sun, but here’s the best one.
It was so cool to pray for America with all these believers afterwards too.
Also cool was that I found out from the Pastor that the church was founded in the 1800’s by a man who was instrumental in the Second Great Awakening. This amazing confirmation made me even more excited to see the sites of the big revivals during the Second Great Awakening.
The first one I went to was the Red River Meeting House, where the Second Great Awakening was launched in 1800.
It’s a super cool story of what happened there, which I recap briefly in the video below:
I also went to Cane Ridge, where the biggest move of God was during the Second Great Awakening. Somewhere around 20-30,000 people were at this place for multiple days in the summer of 1801, and thousands were saved and set on fire for Jesus. This exploded the movement to epic proportions and ultimately led to America coming back to Jesus and the church being united.
From inside:
While on the trip, I also stopped by Asbury University and got a tour of the Chapel by someone who was there during the outpouring last year!
Funny enough, the woman has a house in Bradenton and was leaving to come here the very next day! Here’s her sharing her testimony of what happened last year. She also prays over those watching:
After this, I went to the Creation Museum, which was amazing!
I got home around 2am that night, but I was so charged up from the trip, I barely could tell I was so sleep deprived!
This weekend, a team of us are going to Miami for one of the biggest Gay Pride events in the nation. I will be here Friday and Sunday though, and a team will fill in on Saturday. I’m excited to see how the Lord follows up on the amazing outpouring from last weekend! Hope to see you!
Love and blessings!
C, S & N