REVIVAL IN PICKENS, SC - MT. SINAI BAPTIST CHURCH

I have a TON of editing waiting for me to finish - but I HAVE to write about this NOW!

Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Pickens, SC (not too far from Easley if you are looking at a map), is experiencing a true revival. I cannot explain it, but the presence of God is very real in these services. Over 60 people have been saved thus far.

They started having a regular revival meeting for their church of about 140 people...4 weeks ago! The Lord started moving and people were getting saved and attendance kept climbing, new folks were coming...so they extended it a week. Then another, then another - they announced yesterday they will start a 5th week on Monday.

We attended a Monday night service there last week. There were probably 240 people present. This isn't about some big name preacher they've paid big bucks to bring in (They pass an offering plate quickly, but there's no emphasis on giving money) - I can't even recall the preacher's last name. His first name is Mark and he pastors a church in NC. He's married and he has two (?) little kids. That's all I know about him. He doesn't talk about himself much - he just preaches. Nothing "new" or "enlightening" - just the simple truths of the Word of God. But the power of the Lord is at work all over the building. That night we were there we saw 6 teens and adults get saved, including a grandpa! One man came up to me and said, "I can't remember the last time I couldn't wait for work to be over so I could get to church!" These folks are really excited about what's happening.

We went again last night, partly because CJ asked if we could go again. I had wanted to attend another meeting there, but it's an hour drive for us. But if you have a teenager who is ASKING to attend a revival service, parent, you better make time to go!

Parking was everywhere! On the grass across from the church, down the road - I'm telling you, that building cannot hold all the people who are coming. We arrived 30 minutes ahead of service, and the sanctuary was packed! There were about 50 people who raised their hands as having never been there before. One lady said she'd arrived at 6:35 (services start at 7:30) and she had trouble finding seating. We can't all sit together - our teens sat in chairs set up in the vestibule and Curt and I sat in chairs along the back wall of the sanctuary. At a rough guess, I'd say there were close to 300 there last night.

Now I've been to tent meetings and I attended a Nazarene college and they get a little "active" -- but I've never seen what I saw last night. Folks were going forward and getting saved during the song service! All night long, people were popping up and getting right with God or their fellow Christians, rededicating their lives to Christ - and the preacher never even ended up preaching his message. He talked a lot about the Lord and what He's been doing, there were some testimonies of God's goodness, good music, a psalm (46 I think) was quoted by one gentleman and Scripture verses were quoted, but it was the Spirit of God moving in people's hearts. I felt transported in time, as if I could close my eyes and picture myself at an old-time revival - one where folks got up and got saved without needing an invitation.

Pastor Stafford and Jan attended a meeting last night in Landrum, SC, and they are apparently witnessing a similar moving of the Spirit.

Wouldn't it be awesome if this is just the beginning - perhaps we can see true revival spread through our land once again!