By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director
PINEVILLE – Promoted as “a nationwide call for spiritual awakening,” a OneCry Conference took place Feb. 21-22 in the Granberry Conference Center on the campus of Louisiana College.
The conference, which marked one year of ministry for the OneCry movement, was a joint venture between the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Life Action Ministries and the Joseph Willis Institute, which is housed at LC.
OneCry, according to its website, “is a movement of believers who are urgently crying out to God to revive the church and transform the culture.” Life Action Ministries is an organization devoted to revival and advancing the kingdom of Christ, while the Joseph Willis Institute seeks to educate the present and future generations of spiritual leaders on the historical and biblical principles of the great Christian revivals that have significantly impacted Western civilization, culture and church growth around the world.
The conference kicked off with Sammy Tippit, international evangelist and LC alumnus, preaching during LC’s weekly chapel service. He shared several anecdotes that recounted occasions when he said the Lord moved miraculously in response to prayer.
“We need a move of God in our country,” Tippit said to those in attendance. “I invite you to join others who have come here to this campus to seek God for revival.”
Approximately 100 people gathered after the chapel service to hear messages on revival – private, corporate and cultural – and more importantly to spend time in prayer.
Bob Bakke, teaching pastor at Hillside Church of Bloomington, Minn., spoke from the book of Ezekiel and exhorted those in attendance to seek only after Christ’s presence and power.
“We are impressed by stuff happening and people who can produce stuff,” Bakke said. “We buy their books filled with gimmicks so we too can make stuff happen.”
“God stresses in Ezekiel that this is my work,” Bakke said. “But as Augustine observed, “Without God we cannot; without us, God will not. Cooperation with the Lord through prayer is essential if revival is going to ever occur.”
In addition to testimonies and a history of revivals, the conference also featured a panel discussion of OneCry organizers and Louisiana Baptist leaders.
Bill Robertson, LBC pastoral leadership team director, shared about how a revival occurred while he was interim pastor at Midway Baptist in Jena. A revival scheduled for four days instead lasted several weeks.
“Revival came when the people began to obey God in confessing sin,” Robertson said. “Obedience has to be immediate and complete. (Evangelist) Manley Beasley said when God is speaking be still and let Him speak.
“Racial barriers came down, churches were reconciled and many were saved during the nine weeks.”
Byron Paulus, founder of OneCry, said that when God moves in a church service, that’s when the congregation must be open to His leading.
“When God is moving there is no clock on the wall,” Paulus said.
Wayne Jenkins, LBC evangelism team director, said most Christians in the US have never been a part of true revival in their cities and churches. He explained that a hunger for revival must be created.
“The more we read about revival and the more we can get people exposed to it is important,” Jenkins said.
Bakke added that during great revivals people impacted by them told stories about what God was doing. “Stories stir the heart of the people,” he said. “We have to tell the stories so they can taste it one at a time. Then a thirst develops.”
He said that making friends with people who have a similar thirst for revival is important. He added that if a Christian does not know of anyone who shares that same thirst for revival, then mentor young people who then may develop that same thirst.
“Give them dreams and visions of what God has accomplished before and what can be done now,” he said.
The LBC Evangelism Team is planning revival seminars for next year. Jenkins said the material should be finished by the fall and seminars are to be conducted in the spring of 2014.
Louisiana Baptists attending the conference agreed that uniting with others for prayer was key for revival.
Beau Guidry, pastor of First Baptist Milton, said the conference reiterated how Christians should trust God for what they should do in the future. “It will begin locally in our community,” Guidry said. “Revival would then spread throughout the state.
“Our folks aren’t desperate,” he added. “We need to get a deep down desperation for the Lord.”
Larry Pridmore, pastor of Southside Baptist in Mansfield, said the conference reaffirmed a movement that is growing in his community. Pastors in different churches are praying with each other on a regular basis in Mansfield.
“This conference is helping me learn how to mobilize,” Pridmore said. “I believe revival can happen and that God will do something in our nation. Seeing it happen in other places is encouraging to me.”