October, 2015 Prayer Update

FINISHING OCTOBER

        A Report on the Revival Ministry of Dr. Rick Flanders in October of 2015

Certainly the Lord was with us this past month.  Thank you for your part in it all by praying for us.  Here is where we went.

• THE “OLD SCHOOL GATHERING” AT KINROSS, MICHIGAN. I was glad to accept the invitation of Dr. Tim Rader to preach in the evening service of the great Fundamental Baptist Church of Kinross (in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) on October 4, and to speak twice in their annual “Old-School Gathering” the next day.  Sunday night was about responding right to chastisement, a very important subject for Christians.  My sessions at the conference were both on Acts 9:31, which gives, I believe, “the conditions for multiplication.”  My challenge to preachers and church members to follow God’s plan for evangelism and church-planting all over the state.  The conditions for this multiplication of churches are (according to this verse) rest, fear, and comfort.  Read it.  We must deal with the devil, with our own sin, and with the Holy Ghost to be ready to see the Lord work with His miraculous power through our lives and our churches in this dark day.  I believe God used our ministry at Kinross, and look forward to going back next year.
• REVIVAL MEETINGS IN JACKSON, TENNESSEE. It was a thrill to work again with our friend, Dr. Rick Savage, in this effort at Bethel Baptist Church, October 11-16.  We started right in with great revival truths, the “Asa principle” of Second Chronicles 15, “It is time to seek the Lord” from Hosea 10, and the warnings of Jesus against hypocrisy.  On Sunday we saw a very unusual move of God as very many responded to the truth and sought the Lord for revival and victory.  We saw somebody saved this week, and also many issues settled.  Pastor thought we experienced revival, and followed up with some timely comments the next Sunday which also brought revival results.  I am so glad we were in Jackson for this critical week.
• A CAMPAIGN IN FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE. Then we drove up to Franklin, Tennessee, for a revival campaign, October 18-23, at the Spring Meadow Baptist Church.  Pastor Stephen Schwanke is our friend, and we are acquainted with the congregation from past service here, although it has changed and grown.  Two services at the end of the campaign will, I think, be remembered especially, certainly by me, and they were both about water in the book of John.  There is the well of living water in chapter 4, and the rivers flowing in chapter 7.  We are trusting the Lord to let the rivers flow from within us to meet the needs of the lost world.  Of course all of this is about the Holy Spirit (see John 7:37-39).  Pastor and I are making plans for another time of working together in Franklin.
• CHAPEL AT THE BILL RICE BIBLE INSTITUTE. While preaching at Spring Meadow, Toni and I stayed at the Bill Rice Ranch, and I got to speak in the chapel hour of the Bill Rice Bible Institute on Thursday.  My message was from Philippians 4:6-7 about the kind of praying that brings peace.  John Rice used to call this passage “God’s Cure for Anxious Care.”  They have a good bunch of men and women as students this fall in this unusual and very life-altering school.
• REVIVAL EFFORTS IN HARRISONVILLE, MISSOURI. On Saturday, Toni flew home by way of the Nashville airport, and I started the journey to the Kansas City area for a revival campaign at the Grace Baptist Church of Harrisonville, MO.  It was my first visit to this good church led by a spiritual man named Charles Kaighen.  We saw revival in the church this week, including a very powerful prayer meeting, many revival decisions, and somebody saved.  The focus was on the people of God, and they responded to the message of contrition, prayer, confession, and faith.  I see greater things in the days ahead at this wonderful church.

Pray for us this next month, as I will be preaching (and am doing so now) in a revival campaign at Pleasantville Baptist Church in Iowa, November 1-6 (we have already seen answers to prayer and souls saved); in another revival effort at the Northern Michigan Baptist Bible Church of Alanson, Michigan, November 8-13 (Call Pastor Chatfield at 231.548.2216 for more details); at special services in the Lighthouse Baptist Church of South Bend, Indiana, November 14-15; at revival services in West Virginia, November 20-22; and in a revival conference in Nassau (the Bahamas) that begins on November 29.

It is our plan to spend Thanksgiving with our family in Florida before going to Nassau.  As you can see, we are staying busy, and the Lord is helping us every day (First Chronicles 12:18).  And you are helping us, too, by praying for us (Second Corinthians 1:11a).

Let me pass on two more important needs for you to bring up in prayer:

1. Robyn Shaver, the wife of Pastor Ken Shaver of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was struck this past month by a rare and terrible disease in which her immune system attacked the rest of her body. She ended up at the Vanderbilt University hospital in Nashville, and by divine providence, Toni and I were able to visit her.  God has answered many prayers for Robyn and for the Shavers, but she is still recovering, and expected to experience disability for several more months.  I also imagine (as do you) that this has created many other problems and needs.  Do pray for these great people, whom the Lord is using for the advancement of revival.  You will also want to contact Brother Shaver at gcbc@truevine.net.
2. Marc Knoedler, my co-worker of many years in Michigan, is the faithful, hard-working, godly pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church of North Port, Florida. We have been praying for them especially because government restrictions and a lack of cash have kept this young congregation from occupying the basically-complete building they have constructed.  Ask him about it, pray for them, and give any counsel or practical help you can give at this time.  It is a wonderful work, and the devil is hindering it.  This is a spiritual battle, so pray, but there may be practical things we can also do for them.  Find him at marckno@gmail.com.

Thank you again.

RICK FLANDERS Acts 1:8

“Revival is the people of God living in the power of an ungrieved, unquenched Spirit.” –James A. Stewart