From Me to You: October 2024
A LOT TO CELEBRATE THIS MONTH
Happy anniversary to Frances and me! On October 10, Frances and I will be married seventy-two years. Hands down, other than the Lord Jesus Christ, she is above and beyond the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and a thousand times over. It seems just a short time ago that she said, “I do,” and now we have great-grandchildren. What little we have been able to accomplish for the Lord Jesus Christ, I could not have done it at all without her. And to be sure, I’m asking the Lord to give us more years, that we might finish this course.
Then, on October 18, Donnie turns seventy, which is hard to believe. From the time Frances and I started in full-time ministry, which, by the way, was also seventy years ago, Donnie was there with us, born, you might say, into ministry. He was with us then, and he’s with us now, and I’m thankful for his faithfulness to the Lord. To be sure, it wasn’t easy for him as a kid traveling from place to place on the evangelistic field, but when the Lord calls somebody, as he has called Donnie, nothing is wasted. If we let Him, the Lord can use every part of our lives for His glory. And the Lord is using Donnie in ways that his mother and I could never have imagined. Happy birthday, Donnie!
THE UPCOMING ELECTION
Like most in this country, I’m appalled, but not surprised, at what I see happening to the United States of America and to its citizens, especially to our former president who, by a miracle of God, is still with us. The greatest nation on the face of the earth is now being likened to a third world country, a banana republic, and the current administration as a regime. That’s why I cannot stress enough how important it is for every Christian to vote, and to vote for those who stand for biblical values—life, religious freedom, marriage between a man and a woman, parental rights to raise godly children, and the like. To put things in perspective, it’s important to understand that most of the governments of the world have always been, and presently are, guided by demon spirits, which steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). The great blessings that America, Canada, England, Australia, and several other countries have experienced in the past was due to biblical influence. Tragically, that influence is weakening and dying.
THE CHURCH
Such is happening because the churches are dying. The true body of Christ is to be a vehicle through which the Spirit of God can flow, which is anchored in the Word of God. It is to preach the cross, in effect, holding up Christ and the cross as the sole answer to the problems of humanity—that is its sole purpose. While money or numbers may or may not come, the church will be a positive influence only by the degree of its spirituality, and not by the degree of its finances or number of people on its rolls. Tragically, the church has never been weaker in the spiritual sense, but it is deceived because of the money and the numbers, claiming such to be the blessings of the Lord. Israel was prosperous in an economic sense up to her destruction by Nebuchadnezzar; however, she had long since ceased to be prosperous in a spiritual sense, hence her doom.
REFORMATION AND REVIVAL
We talk about the church needing revival, and that is certainly true. However, in truth, the church really cannot have revival until it first has a reformation. What do we mean by revival? As someone has well said, revival is not going down the street beating big drums or leading parades. And, believe it or not, revival is not really sinners coming to Christ. The latter is the result of revival, but not revival itself. Revival is the church coming back to the cross and all that the cross entails—a relationship with Christ, which the cross alone can provide.
Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:23-24). For revival to happen, the church must first come to the place that it believes that the cross is the answer to this dilemma. That is the reformation of which we speak. This means that the church must forsake its erroneous doctrines, its wrong paths, its wrong direction, its wrong thinking, and do exactly what Christ demanded. When we see reformation in the church and thereby revival, I believe we will also see our country revive.
WILLIAM FEDERER
Speaking of reviving the country, we’re thrilled to include an article by Bill Federer in this issue of The Evangelist. Bill is an American historian and longtime friend of the ministry. He’s been with us several times on the programming as well as on the platform of Family Worship Center. This man has written several books on America, all of which are excellent. He writes about the Christian influence on the founding of this country and its true history—material sorely needed in America’s classrooms today.
PRAY FOR US...
As Paul said, “Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course” (II Thess. 3:1). I feel like I’m closer to the Lord today than ever before, but I must get even closer. I have felt that unction of the Holy Spirit in my heart to draw nearer, and this we must do. Pray that we will stay in the center of God’s will. Pray that the Holy Spirit would have free access to our heart and to our lives to do what He wants done. I implore you to please do that.
In the Master’s service, yours,
Jimmy Swaggart
