Pastoral Transition Service

We had a tremendous service today at Revival Center! Rev. & Mrs. Crawford Coon preached the Pastoral Transition Service today as the Mills officially stepped in as Pastors of Revival Center while the Clacks are relocating to San Diego, CA.

It was a historic day in the lives of the Clacks, Mills and Revival Center Church. We are all excited about the future!

Revival Center Church Elects NEW Pastor

On Sunday, May 2nd, Revival Center Church elected a NEW Pastor:Rev. & Mrs. Devon Mills (Georgia & Eden)

Pastor and Sis. Mills lived in the Atlanta area for 10 years and assisted before answering the call of God to Pastor a great Church in East Liverpool, OH. Just recently, God had been moving on Pastor and Sis. Clack (the Founding Pastor of Revival Center) to move to San Diego, while at the same time, moving on Pastor and Sis. Mills to move back to Atlanta and take over the Pastorate at Revival Center Church. Pastor Mills will officially take the Church on Sunday, June 6th.

We are all excited about the future and what God is going to do!

SUNDAY'S TEMPORARY LOCATION REMINDER

Join us again THIS SUNDAY at our
TEMPORARY LOCATION:Holiday Inn | Gwinnett Center

6310 Sugarloaf Parkway
Duluth, GA 30097

For more Information call: 770.262.5173

Wednesday Night Bible Study Location

Revival Center is literally a "Church on the MOVE!" With that in mind, I'd like to invite you to join us EVERY Wednesday Night for Bible Study at:

Hampton Inn | Riverside Parkway
1135 Lakes Parkway
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

We will be meeting in their Meeting Room at 7:30PM and don't forget to BRING YOUR BIBLE!

See you there!

CELEBRATE the POWER of the Resurrection with us EASTER SUNDAY at our NEW TEMPORARY LOCATION... Holiday Inn | Gwinnett Center

WHEN: Sunday, April 4th @ 12PM
With Evangelist Shawn Meeks and Family

WHERE: Our NEW TEMPORARY LOCATIONHOLIDAY INN | GWINNETT CENTER
6310 Sugarloaf Parkway | Duluth, GA 30097

AFTER you've have done the will of God...

I came across a scripture that really hit home this morning. The scripture is Hebrews 10:36 where it says, "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."

I don't know about you, but I have a real hard time with the "patience part." For me, doing the will of God is NOT nearly as much of a challenge as the patiently waiting part AFTER I've done the will of God. But the writer of Hebrews made it painfully clear that our obligation after doing the will of God was to have patience on the arrival of "the promise!"

Another writer said it like this, "let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9). In other words, we CAN'T do God's part and He WON'T do our part, so after we've done what we supposed to do we "wait PATIENTLY!" And guess what? When it's time (according to God's timing, NOT ours) the harvest will come; what God has promised will come!

Here's one more scripture to encourage you: (Isaiah 40:31) says, "they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

AFTER you've done the will of God...have PATIENCE!

Servants of the Cup

(Genesis 44:1-17) says, “And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.

11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.”

You have to imagine that Benjamin must have thought this was all a cruel joke. He knew he had not taken ‘the cup,” but the fact was “the cup” was in his sack, which made him Joseph’s servant.

What Benjamin, nor any of his brothers realized was that “the cup” was actually going to be the tool to bring provision to their whole family. What was appearing to be punishment was actually God’s plan for provision!

The first time Joseph’s brothers came to visit him, (Genesis 42:25) records that “Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way.” Now, they’ve come a second time, and (Genesis 44) records that again, they filled their sacks with as much food as they could carry, and money, but this time Joseph had “the cup” planted in Benjamin’s sack.

Joseph realized that eventually the food was going to run out, and the money was going to be spent, so he set it up in a way that because of “the cup” being found in Benjamin’s sack he would become his servant. It is amazing to me to see the level of “submission” given by Benjamin, that even though he didn’t understand it, he submitted to it and as a result of his submission, God provided for his whole family by having them move to Egypt.

Joseph wasn’t even the king, he was simply the authority, but because Benjamin “submitted” his own personal will, provision was given!

It’s sad, but I know of people who would’ve argued with Joseph, and chose rather to go back home without any food and money and watch their families starve, rather than submit to the authority in their life!

PROVISION is ONLY found in SUBMISSION!

That brings us to the garden of Gethsemane where (Matthew 26:36-44) says, “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”

Here we find Jesus struggling with the reality of what “the cup” is requiring of Him. It’s so intense that He’s actually praying “IF it be possible, let this CUP pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt,” and “If this CUP may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”

Again the principle of “submission” comes into play and as a result of Jesus Christ submitting His personal will to the will of the Father, the provision of Salvation is made possible as He becomes a “Servant of the Cup!”

If we’re going to receive the provisions of the Kingdom, it is necessary that we become “Servants of the Cup” and SUBMIT to what ‘the cup” requires!

Are you willing to submit to “the cup?”

Are you willing to submit your will for the sake of provision not just for yourself, but for your whole family?

Are you willing to give up WHATEVER “the cup” requires?

Are you wiling to walk away from WHATEVER “the cup” requires?

Are you willing to get rid of WHATEVER “the cup” requires?

If Benjamin had not submitted and become a “Servant of the Cup,” his whole family would have eventually starved to death!

If Jesus Christ had not submitted and become a “Servant of the Cup,” the gift of Salvation; Deliverance; Healing; and Provision would NOT be possible!

Are you willing to become a “Servant of the Cup?”

An ermine's understanding of Holiness

I came across this quote yesterday from A.W. Tozer, "The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy." Contrary to what some Christians would like for you to think, God is not as concerned about your "happiness" as much as He is your "holiness!" You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact—the matter of personal holiness is extremely important to God!

The Hebrew word for holiness is kadesh which means something which is cut off, separate or set apart. It describes that which is anti-secular (secular = of or relating to the worldly or temporal), in a category all its own. Kadesh describes something that is elevated out of the sphere of what is ordinary. The New Testament word hagios also means set apart, separate and so in a class by itself. It follows that for believers (saints or "holy ones") the call to be holy is a call to be separated from common use and set apart, or reserved, for special use. In both Old and New Testaments the term is applied to things, persons, and pre-eminently to God Himself.

A beautiful illustration of the inherent idea of separation that is found in the word holiness comes from the world of nature. In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.

To the ermine, in the analogy above, Holiness was more important than happiness! His instincts were to first, "protect his purity," NOT make himself "happy!" Sure, he would have rather gone into his home and been safe, but to compromise his "holiness" for "happiness" was simply NOT an option!

I wonder what would happen if we received the kind of understanding of Holiness that this ermine has!

It's time we stopped apologizing for our moral positions! We need to get back to the simplicity of exposing sin as the enemy of humanity and setting forth righteousness and true holiness as the only worthy pursuits for God's "called out and separated" people.

(1 Thessalonians 4:7) says, "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto HOLINESS."

The life of a Christian is NOT governed totally by the question of whether or not something is sin, but by whether or not it will damage the image of Christ in a Christian's life. The question is not merely, what do I have to do? But it is, what does Jesus want me to do? How can I please HIM? How can I draw closer to HIM? How can I become more like HIM?

In these Last Days, just as there was NOT another option for the ermine, there's NOT another option for us! We must preserve our purity and choose Holiness or we'll never make it to Heaven! (Hebrews 12:14)

It's about that time...

Well, it's about that time...just a couple more days and the hustle and bustle of shopping crowds and Christmas parties will be just a memory of another year that has come and gone. I think we all come to the same conclusion year after year of how fast time really does fly. It's hard to believe that another year has almost passed.

So, with that in mind, I'd like to encourage you to stop for a few minutes over the next couple of weeks and just look in the mirror. Sure, you're not everything you used to be, but are you everything you could be? At what point do we finally get tired (seriously) of just "getting by?" How many more years will we let pass us by before we really do what God has called us to do? How many more years will we let pass us by before we do what we know we're supposed to be doing in the first place? How many more years will we let pass us by before we take true responsibility of our actions as individuals; parents; children; leaders, etc?

It's about that time again...time to repeat the same old "resolutions" about how we're going to LOSE WEIGHT! Yeah...RIGHT! How bout this year, let's NOT "LIE AGAIN" about that! How bout this year, let's just get back to the WORD and start doing those "things" we know we're supposed to be doing! How bout we get back to taking the Word of God seriously. What would happen...really happen in our personal lives, families, and Churches IF we really got back to reading the Word of God? Why don't we try it and see!

It's about that time...make your "resolution" one that really matters this year! Fall in love with the Word of God again...it's about that time!

The day after Thanksgiving

On the eve of Thanksgiving Day I just felt like reminding everyone to remember tomorrow as you're stuffing your face, that we do have a LOT to be THANKFUL for, and even though the Bible promises in the Last Days that the people would be "unthankful," that we don't have to be!

We have so much to be THANKFUL for: TRUTH, SALVATION, DELIVERANCE, HEALING, STRENGTH, PEACE, THE HOLY GHOST ( the Comforter), THE CHURCH, GRACE, MERCY, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, FAMILY, FRIENDS and the list could go on and on and on and on...you get the idea.

With all of that being said, may we be THANKFUL people EVERYDAY and NOT just on the last Thursday of November!

(Colossians 3:15/NLT) says, "always be thankful!" On Friday, when you're regretting eating that FOURTH plate of food, will you still be THANKFUL? Just wondering.

A Wake Up Call To The Church!

This is along the same lines of what I've been preaching at Revival Center Church for the past month. The hour is late. These are the last days. It's time the Church made another trip to the Altar and allowed our carnality, fleshly desires, and personal will to die and a passion to please God again to be reborn! I invite you to take a few minutes and watch/listen to these desperate words and let them become a wake up call to the Church!

What Do You KNOW?

I admit that I'm not the most disciplined guy when it comes to doing this "BLOG THING." However, I've become pretty good at keeping up my "status updates" on Facebook. With that in mind, I've been posting, for the last week, the importance of reading your Bible. (Hosea 4:6) says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

I'm concerned that IF Christians don't open up their Bible more than they have in the past, we WILL be DESTROYED for LACK of KNOWLEDGE! It all comes down to what you KNOW, not what you've experienced! Even Jesus made it clear in (John 8:31-32) when He said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." That's powerful! The way it's revealed that you're His disciple is that you CONTINUE in His WORD! Which would also means that IF you don't continue in His Word, you're NOT His disciple! Did you get that? In other words, IF you're NOT a student of His Word; IF you're NOT continuing in His Word; IF you're NOT READING HIS WORD, you won't KNOW HIS WORD, and therefore, you're NOT His Disciple! That would mean that some who call themselves a "Christian" are really LYING!

It's not a matter of what you call yourself, or even what all you've experienced. It all comes down to the question, "What Do YOU KNOW?"

(Colossians 2:4-8 ) says, "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. 5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

Unless you KNOW THE TRUTH, it will be difficult not to be deceived into believing a LIE! Be careful that you're not deceived by philosophy. Be careful that you're not deceived by traditions of men, which is allowing a particular Religious Denomination to determine what you believe instead of the Word of God. Also, be careful that you're not deceived by what the world determines as acceptable (1 John 2:15-17).

Remember (Hosea 4:6) declared, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!" So, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW?"

"Walk by the SAME RULE...Mind the SAME THING"

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become SILENT about THINGS THAT MATTER!” I'd like to take that principle and say that "the Apostolic Church will begin to end the day we become SILENT about THINGS THAT MATTER!"

Let me begin by saying that there are some THINGS that STILL MATTER and I refuse to be SILENT about them! Regardless of the century or the culture, there are some "rules" that still apply to the people of God and some "things" that we're commanded to do and some "things" we're commanded NOT to do.

(Philippians 3:16-19/ KJV) says, “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. This scripture begins with making it clear that after we have “attained,” meaning after we’ve been Born Again, “let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”

(Ephesians 4:5/ KJV) says that there’s “ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism.”

That means there’s ONLY ONE Lord and His name is Jesus! There’s ONLY ONE Faith! There’s NOT two or three different “faiths” out there that are each acceptable. There’s ONLY ONE! There’s ONLY ONE baptism (of water and Spirit)!

(Galatians 1:6-9/ KJV) says it like this, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

There’s ONLY ONE GOSPEL! There’s NOT “another gospel!” There’s ONLY ONE WAY! There’s NOT a “truth” for me and another “truth” for you! There’s not a “white gospel,” or a “black gospel,” or a “Hispanic gospel”, or a Jamaican gospel,” or a “Russian gospel!” There’s JUST ONE GOSPEL for EVERYONE ONE to OBEY! We are to live by the “SAME RULE” and the “SAME THING!”

The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and is applied to our lives when we OBEY (Acts 2:38) by repenting of our sins, being baptized in water in the Name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in other tongues!

(Ephesians 4:11-24) went on to say, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: ...

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the NEW MAN, which after God is created in righteousness and true HOLINESS.”

(Hebrews 12:14/ KJV) says, “Follow peace with all men, and HOLINESS, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

The necessity of being BORN AGAIN and “perfecting HOLINESS in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1) STILL MATTER so I refuse to stay silent! We MUST ALL “walk by the SAME RULE and mind the SAME THING!”