Much in March, and Beyond, 2017

MUCH IN MARCH, AND BEYOND

A Report on the Revival Ministry of Dr. Rick Flanders

Our work for revival in the month of March, 2017, produced much good, and came to the final days of the month with Rick Flanders in Israel on the Revival Tour of Israel.  So this report will cover what was done in March and in the part of April when I was in Israel.

• THE VICTORY CONFERENCE (February 27-March 2). Again this year, the important revival gathering at Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, was powerful in its effect on all of us who attended it.  Again there was an emphasis on prayer.  Among the speakers were Attorney David Gibbs, Irish pastor David O’Gorman, Pastor Alan Fong, and church-planter Mark Irmler. Several other familiar friends of revival preached, and I was also a speaker.   I spoke in a daytime session on what it is to wait on God.  It is actually a way of life, based on depending on God for everything (read Psalm 25).  They also had me preach on Wednesday night.  We had a phenomenal ending with an emphasis on the fact that God can and will do what men think is impossible!  What a helpful conference!
• TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH OF FLUSHING, MICHIGAN (March 5). Pastor Seth Ferguson (an informed and passionate friend of revival) asked me to come to this good church on a Sunday specifically to speak on fasting and prayer for revival.  I was encouraged that the congregation seems to be well into the revival movement, and felt that real progress was made on this day.
• THE ENRICHMENT RETREAT (March 7-9). Pensacola Christian College has for many years sponsored a special get-away time of refreshing for preachers and their wives, called the Enrichment Conference or Retreat.  This year Enrichment was especially powerful and helpful.  I got to teach and preach a series on the talk Jesus gave His disciples the night before He died, recorded in John 13-17, and folks said they were helped.  Several other men brought good messages that the Lord used in our lives.  I also got to preach in the College chapel on Friday.
• THE REVIVAL CAMPAIGN IN LEDUC, ALBERTA (Vision Baptist Church, March 12-19). I was privileged to have a role to play again in what God is doing at this wonderful church in western Canada.  The campaign lasted for eight days, and we saw many important decisions made among Christians, and several souls saved.  On the second Sunday, Pastor Jim Price baptized two.  The Lord was with us day after day, and we are thanking Him for hearing our prayers.  We had good prayer meetings every day of the campaign.  I am looking forward to going back to Canada for other revival events this year, and I will keep you posted.
• THE PASTORS’ MEETING IN LANSING, MICHIGAN (March 23 at Parker Memorial Baptist Church). A good group of pastors interested in revival gathered on this day in connection with preparations for the Michigan Revival Conference, June 18-25.  Some of the more significant matters that were handled on this day were the announcements about the Pastors’ Prayer Retreat to take place May 2-4 at Camp Co-Be-Ac, about new plans for Conference meetings up north, a testimony by Dr. Don Green concerning revival in his life, and a good prayer meeting for the revival we need.  Many of us also went over to the Michigan Capitol Building for a meeting with others concerned about the spiritual needs of our state.  Continue praying for revival in Michigan and for the Michigan Revival Conference (and write me for more information).
• THE REVIVAL TOUR OF ISRAEL (March 24-April 4). In 2014 the Baptist College of Ministry sponsored the first Revival Tour of Israel, and I went along as one of the teachers.  The idea is to combine a revival conference with a Holy Land tour.  They did it again this past month, and again I got to teach and preach and to join the touring group.  My wife Toni and also our daughter Susanna (registrar at the Bill Rice Ranch) got to go along, too, and the whole thing was just wonderful!  We could see a powerful spiritual effect upon all of the nearly forty members of the group.  They came from eight different states, and right away we were a family.  A mutual love for Christ and passion for revival made us one.  Many of you know a lot that went on because of the reports and pictures that were sent back through e-mail and social media by members of the group.  We studied revival passages from both the Old Testament and the New, and prayed in places like Mount Carmel, the Garden Tomb, and the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was a transforming experience.  Thank you for praying for us.

Do continue to pray for our ministry and our lives as I serve on a very busy schedule the rest of April.  I am preaching in a revival campaign at the Lighthouse Baptist Church of South Bend, Indiana, the 9^th through the 14^th; in the Western Revival Conference at the Prince Albert Baptist Church in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the 16^th through the 19^th; at the Falls Baptist Men’s Retreat the 21^st and 22^nd; in a revival campaign at Grace Baptist Church of Appleton, Wisconsin, the 23^rd through the 28^th; and at Dixie Baptist Church of Clarkston, Michigan (preaching on revival), on the 30^th.

Please give special attention to praying for the MRC Pastors’ Prayer Retreat at Camp CoBeAc, May 2-4; the National Conference on Prayer and Revival in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, May 21-26; and the Michigan Revival Conference, June 18-25.  Also make it a matter of serious prayer to seek the blessing of God on the Ohio Conference on Revival in Cleveland September 24-27.  It is the will of God to revive His people in order that the world will hear the Gospel, and He is at work among us to this end.  Thank you for praying (Psalm 85:6).

RICK FLANDERS Acts 1:8