Could it be that revival is coming to First Baptist in Shawneetown? I shared an incident with our folks last Sunday that I would like to share with you.
Recently we had to repair a fallen soffit at the peak of our roof in the rear of our church building. It is very high, and the electrical wires on the back of the building made it even more difficult. We had to have Ameren (and I'm thankful to the company) come and detach the wires from the building before we could get to the place needing repair.
After the wires were down, the person we had hired to do the repair had to build a scaffold to get to the soffit. The soffit had pulled down, and birds had been nesting on the broken piece. Eventually, squirrels were able to scale the wall of the building and get into our attic. It took a while to put the scaffolding together and do the repair -- most of the day -- and then get the electric wires attached again.
The repairman shared with me that he could not assure that there were not any squirrels trapped inside the building. In fact, he said it was mating season and there was the possibility of baby squirrels in there.
The next morning, I returned to the church to do some work in my office. As I came to the back door of the Family Life Center, I looked through the full glass door. From that door, you can see straight through the FLC to the door at the other end of the room. Sitting on the inside handle of the door was -- you guessed it -- a squirrel!
As soon as it saw me, the squirrel scampered across the floor toward the worship center. I immediately went strategically into action. I opened a door to the exterior near where he entered the auditorium. Then, I began to track him. Do I sound like an outdoorsman? Hardly! I began to close all the doors to the auditorium except one. Then, I opened the nearest outside door to the auditorium.
I backtracked and came around from the other direction. I saw him near the kitchen area and began walking toward him. He ran in the direction of the open door, so I followed him and cornered him in the men's restroom. As soon as I stuck my head in the door, he ran out of the bathroom and out the open door. Whew!
As I thought about this sequence of events, a song out of the past came to mind. A few of you may remember it. It's by Ray Stevens titled "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival Song." It's the tale of a revival being spurred by a squirrel getting loose in a worship service in a church in Pascagoula, Mississippi. I wondered. Could it be that we are about to have revival?
Well, enough of the tongue-in-cheek. I hope you got a little laugh reading about my recent escapade. But we all know, as did Ray Stevens, that a squirrel cannot possibly cause revival in a church.
However, I am pleased to see some spiritual signs of revival in First Baptist Church of Shawneetown. God has been blessing us in many ways. We have grown more intense in our prayers for revival in our own hearts and in the life of the church family. Jesus said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)
And, God keeps His word! We are seeing our midweek children's program just keep on growing. Our ministry to these kids has become very important to us. In the face of many barriers, we have some workers who are very dedicated to reach the kids.
One of the truly bright spots within our church's ministry is our adult Bible study on Revelation on Sunday evenings. We have a large group of participants who are truly enjoying the study, the fellowship and the food!
Join us for the study of Revelation at First Baptist on Sundays at 6 p.m.
