Uprising 2008 is over as the event but for some it has only just begun. I have lots of thoughts and I will try and share them as we travel through the next few days. My first thought is this; it is obvious that attendance by our own church was low. Several people have asked me why and the answer is, I really don’t know.
The first thing I will say and I mean this, it really doesn’t matter how many come, God is at work. Now I am not crazy, I wanted the auditorium to be packed every night. I wanted our members as well as local churches to come and be involved and benefit from what was being offered. The fact is, 20 years ago people looked for events like this to go to but not in 2008.
The second thing I will say, it wasn’t any fault of Johnny V. Johnny spoke the truth and it did that quite well.
There are several factors that may have contributed. Number one, many people viewed this as a youth event and felt they didn’t fit that category, so they didn’t come.
Most are very busy and some may have felt this was the item on the list that they just couldn’t fit into an already full schedule so they didn’t come.
Some are not interested in Spiritual things so they didn’t come.
Some were not physically able to come.
We could rack our brains and try to figure out why people didn’t come but the truth is, the ones who came received a blessing and many people are walking closer with God because they came.
I am all about talking about what went well and what we can do better next time and we will do that, but, this is 2008 and people are not looking for a revival to go to like they were 20 years ago. There is so much that the world has to offer in 2008 that it didn’t in 1988. Johnny V. spoke about American Idols one evening and we live in a Country that is full of idols’ and we don’t even understand. God give us ears to hear and eyes to see (remember the Golden Calf).
We had a great event, I for one made several new friends and acquaintances. I consider Johnny V. a good friend, one with whom my spirit bears witness. I mean, theologically we agreed on almost everything so he must be a good guy.
I met other pastor’s in the area that I feel are going to become great friends and people that we will work with in the future on more events like this one. I got to see and fellowship with my friend Ron Fredricks more than I usually get to see him in an entire year.
We had Methodist, Pentecostal Holiness, Presbyterians, Baptist and others in the same building together worshiping God and enjoying fellowship. There are people who will go into full time ministry because of this event; there are people who will be in heaven because of this event. The event was successful and changed the lives of those who were there, no apologies and no fretting over those who were not there.
God is So Good and we are So Blessed
Ronnie