While pushing his way through the cobwebs as he entered the balcony of Moriah Chapel in Wales, Darryl Craft felt chills. During a 10-day trip to the United Kingdom, he stood there looking across the site of the legendary Welsh revival that took place in 1904.
Standing where hundreds of thousands of people once put their trust in Jesus Christ, Craft, senior pastor of Green Street Baptist Church in High Point, asked his guide how many people now attend the chapel each week.
“My imagination was filled with all of the crammed crowds that came when the spirit of God fell, the people cried out to God and thousands were saved … the place was packed to capacity,” Craft told North Carolina Baptists Nov. 8 during the final evening of their annual meeting.
“He showed this incredible look of sadness and he said, ‘There’s usually about 15 people here on Sunday,’” Craft said.
“Today, Wales is a very dark country spiritually.”
Craft said he couldn’t help but wonder, “God, is this where we’re headed where I live?”
‘We need spiritual awakening’
We live in troubled times, Craft contended.
“Our land is in a state of moral and spiritual devastation,” he said. “It is out of devastation that we must unite with one voice … we need revival. We need spiritual awakening.”
Craft described churches today becoming more like “Divorce Court” or “Judge Judy” than a place where people worship and cry out to God.
At the BSC annual meeting, Darryl Craft, pastor of Green Street Baptist Church, High Point, shared about the initiative OneCry, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening set to launch February 2012. |
“I’m tired of seeing the enemy overcome the saints of the Living God and watch them living in such terrible conditions of sin … homes devastated … lives ruined, marriages forfeited,” he said.
Southern Baptists have incredible resources, and they have accomplished many things through the years. But more money, better strategies, resources and new programs aren’t enough, Craft said.
“Resolutions at a convention aren’t going to change anything,” he said. “The deeper issue is an issue of the heart.”
“We can legislate ‘In God we trust’ all we want,” he added. “I don’t care if it is impressed on a coin. What I want to see is the living power of God impressed on the hearts of the people of Christ.”
“We need one cry for God to invade our lives.”
OneCry
During his message, Craft shared about the initiative OneCry, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening set to launch February 2012. The effort seeks to attract 50,000 prayer supporters who will pray for revival and share the OneCry vision. Byron Paulus, executive director of Life Action Ministries, began the initiative.
Revival is the country’s only hope, Craft said.
Reading from the book of Joel, Craft shared how the people of Israel faced drought, locust infestations and devastation. There also was hope, he added.
Craft read Joel 3:18. “In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house, watering the Valley of Acacias.”
“Don’t you want that to happen here in our midst?” Craft asked.
“Don’t you want God to pour His spirit out on this nation … in your church, in your city, in your home and in your life?”
Craft stressed that as it is mentioned in the book of Joel, there is hope for us today.
“I believe God is still working, don’t you?” Craft asked. “The real answer is in Him. Revival is Jesus. We need Jesus.”