Looking Back at March of 2016

A Report on the Revival Ministry of Dr. Rick Flanders

Thanks for praying for us this past month.  Here is a brief report on where we went serving the Lord in March, and some of what happened:

• THE VICTORY CONFERENCE, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, at the Falls Baptist Church. This wonderful revival conference in the Milwaukee area took place February 29 through March 3.  The theme of this year’s VC was prayer, and we learned a whole lot about it.  I think many churches will be affected by what their pastors and members learned from the sessions about personal and corporate prayer.  You really ought to go to the internet to hear the presentations the speakers gave us.  A surprising number of attenders committed themselves to give us certain time-consumers in order to devote an hour a day to prayer, and we got help on how to spend an hour praying.  And some special times of praying will see great answers to prayer.  Toni and I deliberately chose to stay around home the week of March 6 to take care of some things.  Often I am at home only a few days a month, so once in a while it is right to take a few days “off.”
• EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH, in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I was for their Missions Conference, March 13-16. Really Pastor Jackson and I thought these days should be about the mission of the church and not just about helping missionaries.  The Lord gave us a great conference, with souls saved at church and at their homes, as well as revival repentance among Christians. The preacher got hold of me about blessings that continued after and resulting from the conference, and we can see God’s hand in the whole thing.
• GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH in West Columbia, South Carolina, for a five-day revival campaign the week before Easter, March 20-24. I sought to unfold the truth about revival at this well-known fundamentalist church beginning with a Sunday school lesson on celebrating Easter, emphasizing getting baptized and the Romans 6 principle of reckoning oneself raised with Christ to victory over sin.  We got to the truth about pride as an obstacle to revival as well as surrender to Jesus (illustrated by the colt that carried Jesus into Jerusalem).  Many saw the truth and took steps forward, and we saw a remarkable move of the Lord among teenagers.  Several powerful prayer meetings were held among them in during the day at the Christian school.  Pastor Egerdahl says that God continues to use events at the campaign, including good things on Easter Sunday.  Thank you for praying for us the week before Easter.
• THE WESTERN REVIVAL CONFERENCE at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, March 28-April 1. I began on Easter Sunday, the 27^th, at the Prince Albert Baptist Church, and then continued in this important conference Monday through Friday.  Evangelist Jim Van Gelderen was with us, too, and he brought a fine musical team with him.  Sunday morning, Brother Van Gelderen preached a good sermon on salvation and assurance, and we saw people saved.  Sunday night, I preached on doubting Thomas, to emphasize the importance of believing to revival issues.  The week was remarkable, as have the past WRCs in 2014 and 2015, and included good response from the congregation at the invitation as well as Spirit-led prayer meetings.  We had a daily revival seminar in the afternoons, which dealt with revival truths and revival history.  Pastor David Webster has a vision for revival that has infected others.  People came from other places to this year’s Western Revival Conference, and many from all over were praying for it.

April begins with a set of “Family Revival Meetings” at the Vision Baptist Church of Leduc, Alberta, Canada, the third through the sixth.  Then I am to preach in a revival campaign Decatur, Illinois, April 10-12, at the Decatur Baptist Church, followed by two revival nights at the Believers’ Baptist Church of Coal Illinois (the 13^th  and 14^th). Then I am to be at the First Baptist Church of Ranson, West Virginia for a revival effort, the 17^th through the twentieth.  Toni and I are to go to Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania, for revival meetings at the Faith Bible Church, April 24-29, and on April 29 and 30, Toni will speak at the Ladies’ Prayer Encounter organized by Evangelist Tom Palmer in Pennsylvania.

The website Ministry 127 has posted another of my articles, this one on Isaiah 6.  You may have read it before, but it you want, you can see it by going to http://ministry127.com/christian-living/isaiah-was-transformed-when-he-learned-these-three-truths.

RICK FLANDERS

Acts 1:8