This week I’m preaching a revival in the Deep South – the Bible Belt is where I have dropped my anchor this week for a 5 night revival. Five-nighters are a thing of the past for the most part on the Eastern seaboard, but down here – they are alive and well. I seriously took my Wii Fit training to the next level leading up to this week to prepare my body to be pushed to its limits. (For those that don’t know, preaching in the Black Tradition can be a full body experience!)
I laid out my sermons for the week and was given some pretty sage advice about pacing myself and gradually building intensity from night to night.
I also prepared myself for the socio-theological landscape which I presumed to be different from the one that I am accustomed to “up north.” I was not surprised then to have to address the issue of “women preachers” on my first night in the Bible Belt. It wasn’t an issue lobbed at me in an antagonistic way. Far from it. It was an honest and respectful inquiry of my thoughts on the issue. I shared that I believed that God could and does use women to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reply came back from my Brother in the Lord that he hasn’t found scriptural support that gives women the license to preach.
We agreed to disagree, but I thought it was interesting that while “female preachers” is still a focus of much attention in some Christian circles; it would seem that there are more important issues out there that impact all Christian churches. As soon as I touched down here, I picked up the paper at the hotel and on the front page of the USA Today was an article that says all Faiths in this country are losing ground and more people are claiming no Faith at all. Even down here in the Bible Belt, people are leaving the Christian Faith. It presents the sobering news that makes the Faithful realize that while this country may have a so-called Judeo-Christian foundation (and of course that’s debatable); we are quickly becoming a post-modern or post-Christian nation. (Something that Dan Kimball is laying out wonderfully in his book They Like Jesus, But Not The Church.)
I’d rather focus energy on these types of issues…more on that later as I continue reading Kimball’s book.
As far as first nights of revival go, tonight went well. Attendance was okay and through the foolishness of preaching, some seemed to be encouraged. I’ll try to do better tomorrow night.
I’ll give you a rundown night by night as to how things go. This is a first for me and I don’t mind sharing the experience with my Faith In Action family.
Reporting live from The Bible Belt, I’m a preacher who is a long way from home.
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Rev. Brown,
I wish you well on your revival. I recently viewed the program “Right America” where a lot of the Bible Belt conservatives were spotlighted. Not a pretty picture. Hopefully your journey can get the people fired up more like the Robert Duvall character(minus the obvious transgressions) in the excellent film(to me) ” The Apostle”. The work you do is very serious and I am just trying to convey my opinion by using these films as a contrast. Best of luck to you on this mission.