The service was great and full of joyful singing songs of praise to the Lord, followed by sermons on the source of evil in our lives and the power of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Then people who had sin in their lives were asked to come to the alter and repent. It was a very powerful service because it asks us to examine our lives and realize that even though we might think that we are living a good life, we can still not be saved and will end up in hell without the power of Jesus Christ to wash away our sin. It will not matter if you are in church and holding a bible in your hand at the end of the world. If faith is not in your heart, then you will not be saved. I enjoyed it even better the second time because I went there with friends and arrived earlier to get a seat in the main hall area on the lower level, thereby closer to the altar.
On Friday nights they have baptisms using a real pool built beyond a wall that has a large portal for the audience to see. Each person is allowed to say whatever they want before they are baptised. Video taken of this by a TV crew the night I was there was used in a story on PBS's Newshour with Jim Lerher on the Brownsville Revival.
Amazingly enough due to tourist attraction from all over the world, our local newspaper, the Pensacola News Journal (a Gannett paper) published a week-long series of several articles in each day's paper trying to destroy the success of God's work here. They have a small web site that they started for personals and then real estate, but they made sure that this series of articles was also on their tiny web site as well! They wrote their stories in a misleading, truth-bending, and sometimes even completely untruthful way. They accused the pastors of squandering donations for personal use, making false claims about community benefits, and regular church members who left because of the revival. The truth is that pastors, music director, ushers, lighting and audio workers, child-care workers, nurses, and security are paid a salary from donations. Quotes about community benefits had come from the PNJ itself several months ago! Some regular members have left due to the crowds, but a tenfold more have joined as regular Sunday members. Liberal media news organizations around the country and even at the local level constantly try to destroy the truth about the message of Jesus Christ. They are doing the Devil's work and someday will be cast into the lake of fire.
Last modified: 3/4/2005