Hail Him the Lord of Years, and Lord of many revivals

Church historians write about revival times in the history of the Christian Church. The Great Awakening and the Welsh revival come to mind. But one thing that is fairly clear is that these particular periods, when many people are drawn to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, are birthed by the sovereign Lord. Although people may have prayed for such a time, it is still the Lord's doing.

Over thirty years ago my husband and I became part of a church that grew out of what was called the Jesus movement. That was a time when we experienced God's revival or renewal.

For us it began when we noticed an older man looking with disapproval at a young hippie couple in our Assembly of God Church. My husband grew up in the Assemblies and that was where we made our Church home for the first fifteen years of our marriage. We longed to see God bring these lost young people to himself. And he answered our prayer.

We began to be pulled to a small but new Church that had grown out of a Bible study for young people. The Bible study was led by a woman, Mary Neely, whose husband, Louis Neely, was a traveling evangelist who spent most of his time in Africa and South America. When she quit traveling with her husband in order to provide a home for their daughter she found a new way to serve God. Some young people came asking her to start a study.

The study became church after her husband came home from his travels and could hardly get around in his house because there were so many people gathered for the study. One of the first things that happened was Saturday night Christian rock and folk concerts.

But the wonderful things that happened, such as witches and prostitutes and drug dealers coming to the Lord, is something I have wanted to write about for awhile. This was God's time and although I may never experience it again, in my life time, I want to share it. I also want to share about some of the difficulties that happen when God revives his Church and brings many people all at once to himself.

Such difficulties as false teachers waiting to pick off the new converts or new converts who become too stern and forget the grace of God. I also want to write about the way God brought people to himself. Some in Christian concerts, but also some in homes as their relatives made themselves obnoxious constantly reading Scriptures to them.

And here are my disclosures, the church was arminian and dispensational, but nonetheless it was God's timing and out of the many young people that came to Jesus Christ, during this time, as has recently happened in the Southern Baptist denomination, many became Reformed in their theology.

By way of explaining how God used music and musicians during that time I will be giving examples. One of the persons who often came for concerts was Barry McGuire, at the time a new convert. He had played in the stage production of Hair.And his most famous recording was "The Eve of Destruction." But, Jesus grabbed him and would not let him go.
I am going to post his most famous song and then a song he wrote and sang after he turned his life over to Jesus.

Calling Me Home