Joel Revalee, ministry blog

He was a powerful preacher,  used in the gifts of The Spirit. He preached conferences, campmeetings, and national events. People would drive for several hours just to hear him. ... And at some point during all this, he sinned. Committed deeds that would end his public ministry. A man used of God, now a trophy on Hell's wall . If you have been in Pentecost for a while, you've heard stories just like the above.  They are jarring. They can even make us afraid to trust the pulpit at times. Surely there is some sign that these sins are happening? There must be an indicator - a precursor - to these moral failures. Indeed there is, and that is the subject of today's post. The Wisdom of Solomon King Solomon was a man acquainted with both sin and salvation. He lived for God in his early life, backslid in his later years , and finally came back at the end . So, his thoughts on this matter would be VERY informative and useful. In fact, Solomon specifically identif...

It was a pleasant afternoon conversation: an unnamed Pastor and I were talking … Pastor : “We have been stuck at 30 for a while. How do we grow as a church?” Me : “By reaching the lost. You are in a city with untold masses of people with no Pentecostal background. Many of them have no Christian upbringing to speak of. Reach out to them. Talk to people that God brings into your daily life. You’d be surprised how many will come.” Pastor : “… (coughing) … Brother, I want to reach out to the backslider.” Me : “We can do that. You can reach out to them during revival services. Do everything possible to contact them and make them welcome back. But don’t lose your focus on the lost. There are some backsliders who may not come, no matter how much we encourage them to.” Pastor : “… (Pausing for a moment) … Brother, this church has always reached out to backsliders. I hear you about the lost, but I don’t want to ignore the backslidden.” Me : “It’s not either-or. You can do both. Call...