Don Graham Revival Ministries
101 Craig Circle
Clanton, AL 35054
205-755-7295
Dear Beloved,
Writing this letter the morning after returning from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a flood of emotion sweeps over me, over all I saw, heard and felt. Following the earthquake in January the city looks like a war zone. I am happy to report to you that the church is alive and well in Haiti! God's people are pressing on in the face of untold and indescribable heartache.
The Pastor with whom we stayed during the week has taken into their home ten members of his wife's family who lost their homes. We were awakened the first morning there with these people worshipping God. They were singing, God Will Take Care of You. I learned later that they had earlier that morning learned of their sister-in-law's death back in the U.S. Living in a tent now for the sixth month and under the grief of disquieting news they were worshipping! That was a cameo shot of the state of the Christian Church in the aftermath of the earthquake.
On Sunday morning, July 4th, I preached at the Carre Four Church in one of the hardest hit areas of Port-au-Prince. The church building was undamaged but the pastor's home was destroyed. He, his wife and eight children are living in a tent!
The church that morning was filled with over 300 people, many standing around the walls. Over half the congregation were young adults, teens and children. The great majority of them were not there before the earthquake. They have come and stayed now for six months. I felt such a keen anointing as I preached to these people. When I gave the invitation 35-40 people crowded into the altar and knelt on hard, rough concrete and prayed.
The crusade services at night were a blessing. Evangelist Larry Draper and I alternated the preaching each night. We met with some real Satanic resistance and oppression, yet the Lord's people prevailed in victory. Etched into my mind will be the scene of thousands of Haitian people who walked there in the first place, stood for worship for nearly three hours and then walked home! And I thought of the church in America!
Because we often ask our interpreter, a great man of God, to give and, or clarify the invitation, we will never know this side of glory all that happened. Upwards to a hundred people responded to the public invitation each of the last three services. We must leave that ever in God's hands. When we get to heaven there will only be one language and we'll all understand then!
The highlight for me of the whole week was the Pastor's School held from 9-2 o'clock for three days. Larry and I poured our souls into 40-50 church leaders for 12 hours of instruction. When we finished on Friday they gathered around us, laid hands upon us, and prayed for us. Following the Amen, they embraced us with a warmth that transcends language barriers.
Thank you for praying for us! Many of you gave to help these people pay for the cost of the crusade, i.e., construction of the platform, rental for portable lights, amplification systems, generators, fuel, meals for the Pastor's School, etc. Because of your generous giving, all these needs were adequately supplied. You blessed and encouraged me with your response. Thanks!
Thanks for your prayers and support through a very lean June and July. I'm looking forward to a virtually full schedule August through the end of the year. Your gracious support makes it possible for us to stay on the road and we thank you. We bless God for you.
Yours because His,
Don Graham
A WORD FROM "THE WORD"
II Kings 4:8-37
The Problem of Powerlessness II Kings 4:8-37 In the last edition of The Yoke we looked at Epaphras, who through his association with the Apostle Paul became a model minister of the gospel. Let's turn now to see the opposite example in the life of Gehazi, who in spite of his association with Elisha, forfeited his privileges and failed miserably. A careful study of the life of Gehazi will underscore the problem of powerlessness that plagues the church, pulpit and pew in our day.
The church of Jesus Christ is bereft of power in the main in these days of decadence. Never has the church had at her command more wealth, prestige, clout, skill, resources and technological know how and never has the church been weaker. Like the Pope of old who bragged to a visitor while showing him the church's full treasury, No longer does the church need to say, "Silver and gold have I none... “The terse reply of the unimpressed visitor returns hauntingly, But neither can the church say any longer, "In the name of Jesus, rise and walk." How long has it been since anything happened in your church that was the unmistakable and undeniable manifestation of the power of God?
In II Kings 4:8-37, we see powerlessness demonstrated in two different men. The Shunamite woman watches her only and beloved son die in her lap and promptly leaves in search of Elisha without even telling her husband their child had just died. She did not tell him, I believe, because she knew her husband was spiritually powerless, so she pressed on the find Elisha whom she knew could help. For all of his noble traits this husband was spiritually impotent.
Following this cameo shot of powerlessness the woman rides furiously in the chariot for Mt. Carmel. She locates Elisha and breathlessly reports to him that the child Elisha had prophesied had just died. Elisha hands his staff to his servant Gehazi and sends him on ahead of them with instructions to lay the staff upon the child and pray for God to raise him up. This Gehazi does, but nothing happens! Powerlessness!!! The problem of Gehazi's spiritual impotence underscores the fact that...
I. PROXIMITY WITH THE MAN OF GOD DOES NOT INSURE POWER
Gehazi had the privilege of walking daily and watching closely this remarkably endued man of God. Yet, being in such close proximity to Elisha had no guarantee within itself that he would be endowed with the same power. While it is good to have our spiritual heroes, we must never make the mistake of presuming that our being in their presence will ensure the presence of God upon our lives. We may be able to rehearse their stories, recite accurately their axioms and repeat their theological dictums and yet never experience their power! Gehazi was so close, yet so far away. We may even be able to emulate their preaching style and yet be bereft of power.
III. POSSESSION OF THE MAN OF GOD'S STAFF DOES NOT INSURE POWER
Gehazi laid Elisha's staff upon the dead child and there was neither voice nor hearing. Gehazi pitifully had to report, "The child is not awaked.” (v.31) What a painfully accurate portrait of the average church leader of our day rising on the Lord's Day to wave Elisha's staff without Elisha's power and the church sleeps on—how sad! We can easily come to depend on 1. religious relics (staff) to get the work done, (i.e., clerical collars, vestments, etc.). Go ahead, preacher! Wave your magical staff and watch the dead sleep on! How pathetic!!
We can also come to depend on 2. religious tradition as the staff we raise to summon the dead. Whenever we come to an ancient landmark, before we remove it we must ask, "What's it for?" I've watched many near-sighted church leaders barnstorm through the Lord's church abolishing ancient landmarks without ever honestly trying to determine why they're there. But, having made such an honest search, many traditions will be found wanting that are merely self-perpetuating, and many need to be removed. Yet we cling tenaciously to these relics of tradition while nothing happens to all the dead folks around us. Why? Because tradition repeated does not guarantee power.
Further, we often come to rely on 3. religious programs, new and improved, to bail us out of this sinking church-ship. With a pizzazz and charm rivaled only by Hollywood we wow the public with our entertaining events, dupe them into coming to our church where upon their arrival we seek to blow their socks off with our technological savvy but totally impotent when it comes to raising the dead. Oh. we may get a lot of new members, but where are the dead being raised? Preachers strut to their pulpits and members to their pews for the weekly performance but just after the benediction is pronounced and the last critique of the pastor's sermon on church property has been rendered, I think I can hear someone say, "The child is not awaked.”
III. POSITION ON THE MAN OF GOD'S TEAM DOES NOT INSURE POWER.
Gehazi enjoyed a prominent position on Elisha's team. He was the leading member of the preacher's cabinet, he had his ear. He had all the prestige of being the most powerful person on the preacher's staff, yet, in time of critical need he was spiritually impotent. Faced with death he was helpless and clueless.
Enter Elisha! He shuts the door upon himself and the corpse of the young boy, stretches over the dead body and cries out to God. The child is raised from the dead and presented to his awe-stricken mother! WOW! Resurrection power! That has been bequeathed to the Lord's church, yet we have forsaken the Source of power and hewed out cisterns that hold no water. Only Elisha's God can endue with power. Oh, that God's church will stop this mad rush to see how we can impress the world with our craftiness and return with broken and contrite hearts to the God who alone can make an exceeding great army out of a valley of dead bones!