by Tom Flaherty
“He who is thirsty let him come to me and drink…and out of his inner-most being will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38
The German evangelist Reinhart Bonnke recently told a story that made a great impression on him when he was a boy. A barge had become stranded on the beach when the tide went out and he and his friends contemplated how impossible it would be for anyone to move it. Yet when the tide came back in, he found he could move this massive rig all by himself. He realized that the laws all change when the tide comes in.
The first crusade he led in Africa was in a city named Gaborone. He only had one pastor join him yet Reinhart had rented a stadium. The pastor questioned this: “If my whole church came we would only have 40 people; why have you rented this stadium?” The answer: “Because God told me to.” The first night 100 people attended but while he was preaching the blind began to see, crippled people came off their mats, and the deaf began to hear. Reinhart said the stadium was filled the next night. His success in Africa since that time is one of the greatest miracles of our time. There have been over 73 million recorded conversions; 58 million since the year 2,000.
Jesus wants us to do more than our best for the people around us. He wants us to come and drink of Him so that He can do His best for them. Paul said to “pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts.” (1 Cor. 14:1) This world needs more than our love; it needs to experience heaven’s love and in a way that they know God is alive!
I hope you plan on joining us at this year’s FCA USA Convention in Chicago. We have called it “Altared” because we believe we are changed when we lay our lives, our ministries, and everything that has become dead and cold at the altar. This is where He sends fresh fire; this is where we truly drink of Him again; and this is where we feel living waters flow in a greater measure than ever before. It’s time for the tide to come in.
Tom Flaherty is the Lead Pastor of CityChurch in Madison, WI.
