FORT RILEY KA CRUSADE FOR CHRIST
IT TOOK THREE TENTS TO HOLD THE CROWD
I would like to share a praise report. It was 44 years ago today that our evangelistic team conducted a Meet Jesus Crusade at Fort Riley, KA. It was sponsored by the Chaplains of the base to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Chaplaincy in our military. There were over 25,000 soldiers, and their families stationed there. That was back in the day we had full week revivals and crusades, and in some cases two weeks.
The first night a large tent they had set up was filled and overflowing. Another tent was set up for the next night, and it was filled and overflowed. Then a third tent was put up and again along with the other two; it overflowed with people wanting to hear God’s word preached and be inspired by good old gospel music that speaks to the heart. Scores came to Christ for the first time and several answered God’s call to the ministry of preaching His word.
That was back in the day we had several on our team. Steve Stanfield led the music from the piano with our praise team around the piano. That was before praise teams were popular. Sue Webb, who later married Chief Lawson, former Director of Evangelism for New Mexico was one of our team members. Russ Fox was our associate evangelist and part of our praise team. He later had his own successful ministry as an evangelist. Beverly was the soloist, and a couple of other musicians traveled with us. It is an amazing thing when you are privileged to see revival break out, especially under such unique circumstances.
Last night Beverly was communicating with our long-time friend, Attorney Frank Keasler, of Jacksonville, FL. He said to her, “Tell Charles I am one of the thousands whose faith stands today because decades ago Charles added ‘aggregate to the mix’ in my life and oh how firm a foundation upon which I stand today.”
That’s what revivals are all about.
Charles
MY 4TH OF JULY MESSAGE
It does not take a wise person to realize that everything in America that is dear to us, all our freedoms, all the real democracy that is ours to enjoy, the marvelous opportunities this great and wonderful nation affords, the manifold blessings that have come from God, all our religious freedoms, are the results of people acknowledging the Lord God Almighty.
We enjoy these blessings today because our forefathers settled this country looking for a place to worship God as Christians. As this new little country began to grow, those proud Americans from generation to generation, continued to recognize, if we were to succeed as a nation, we would have to trust in God. “IN GOD WE TRUST” was written in their hearts, and it is written in millions of hearts today. The God we trust in is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is the God manifested in human flesh in the form of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. For us to continue to succeed, we must continue to trust in Him. By so doing, we will continue to right the wrong and make life more fair and more just for everyone. We have come a long way in the last 50 years, the last 100 years, the last 244 years. We still have a long way to go and there is no short cut. In the meantime, we need to love one another like Jesus loves us.