Remembering...

Remember.  It is the word that has been in my spirit the past week.  You see, this week we lost and heaven gained a real general of the faith.  Steve Hill, the evangelist of the Brownsville Revival, had a major impact on millions of people including myself.  In 1997 the Brownsville Revival was in full swing.  At the time I had no desire to spend my time in Florida at a church when the beach was calling.  Plus, these people were weird.  They enjoyed church and they would dance, clap their hands, and look happy.  I thought church was supposed to be boring.  But nevertheless here I was in Pensacola on a family vacation attending this revival.  I decided that I could get through a few services and then it was on to Tampa where I could really enjoy myself.  Plus, I was determined to use the beach as an excuse to get out of as many church activities as possible (that only happened once…).  As it would happen my family was able to meet Steve Hill before one of the services.  My sister was ecstatic and in my mind I was thinking, “Who is this joker? What’s so special about this guy?”  For whatever reason, I decided to join in the picture with Steve and my sister before we left the room (it is a picture that I now treasure).  Within a couple days of that meeting Steve’s fiery preaching had brought such conviction of the Spirit that I knew I had to get my life right with God.  I thought I was a Christian.  I thought I was living the way a Christian lives but I was exposed.  I was in sin.  I didn’t know this Jesus I professed to serve.  He wasn’t real to me and I knew that if I didn’t get my life right in that environment I would never do it.  Steve’s message was titled A Taste for God.  I didn’t have one but in those 30-45 minutes in which he preached that hunger for God that is deep inside each and every person was awakened inside of me.  Steve made a statement right before giving the altar call saying, “Some of you have traveled 3,000 miles, don’t not come the last 30 feet.”  We had not come quite that distance (only about 600-700 miles) but I couldn’t resist the Spirit drawing me any longer.  So I, along with several hundred other people, came and knelt down wherever there was a piece of empty carpet.  I wept in deep repentance and when I got up off the floor that night I had no clue how much God had and would change my life.  It was October 29, 1997.  I cut my spiritual teeth on Steve’s preaching in those early days following that fateful night and his passion for the lost and love for Jesus was more than I had ever seen in a person.  His passion for revival was contagious and I made many trips back to Pensacola before eventually moving there in January of 2003 to attend college at Brownsville Revival School of Ministry.  Steve Hill had left Pensacola 3 years earlier but was a frequent guest.  I cannot not accurately put into the words the affect that Steve Hill had on my life.

Me, Steve and my sister before a revival service - October 1997

As I have been seeing all the tributes to Steve, all the pictures from the revival and all the old revival videos being posted on Facebook we as a community, those of us who were touched and changed by the Brownsville Revival, are grieving and remembering together.  Several years ago soon after I left Pensacola there were some people who encouraged me (and a few others probably) to forget the past.  I was even looked at as living in the past if I talked about or mentioned revival/BRSM.  The attitude seemed to be the past is dead, revival is dead, BRSM is dead, move on.  You don’t want to live in the past or else you’ll miss what God has for you.  Although I do see their point and I believe these people were well intentioned I was never willing to forget my past or believe that it was dead.  Revival wasn’t dead because it still lives inside of me and countless others around the world.  

Remembering is not a bad thing.  In fact, God instructs the Israelites to remember what He did for them!  To this day Jewish people still celebrate the Feasts that God instructed them to thousands of years ago to remember what He did for them!  The Bible, the Book in which we as believers live our lives by, is full of remembrance!  By reading it daily we are remembering what God did for those who went before us as an assurance of what He will continue to do!  We remember His promises.  We remember His goodness.  We remember His faithfulness.  We remember His mercy.  We remember His holiness.  Whenever we take communion we do it in REMEMBERANCE of Jesus and what He did for us!  We REMEMBER!  In fact, whenever the Israelites failed to remember what God had done for them they got into trouble (see Judges).  For those of us that were touched by revival we can’t forget because it ruined us.  It ruined us from ever being able to be satisfied with church as usual.  It ruined us from ever being able to live life “normally.”  We had been touched by God Himself in unexplainable ways that went to depths many of us didn’t know existed.  We who were cold and dead were set ablaze by His holy fire.  And it was glorious!  How could we forget?!  And the amazing thing about this phenomenon was that the more He showed up in our lives the more we wanted; the more we NEEDED!  How many of us soaked the carpets of Brownsville and “the Orange” with our tears?  There were tears of desperation to know Him more, to see His face and to love Him deeper.  Tears as we felt His heart for those who were lost.  Tears for nations as He birthed missions callings in the hearts of many who are serving around the world to this day.  What we experienced was not a special brand of Christianity; it was the expression of authentic Christianity.

Dr. Brown and John Kilpatrick

Brownsville helped cultivate a love for Israel

Brownsville Revival

As we remember all that God did in those revival days I think I can safely say that none of us have a desire to go back to those days but we want more!  There is still a faint yellow line spray painted on the sidewalk in front of Brownsville from revival days.  Behind the line are the words “Line Starts Here.”  It was put there to help with the crowds of people lining up each night to get into the services.  Almost 20 years after the Brownsville Revival began (I can’t believe it’s been that long!) I can honestly say, and I think I could speak for many others, that for us Brownsville is where the line started.  We love the memories we have but of course the cry of our heart is still, “We’ve got to have more!”  We remember because it helps to fuel the fire in our hearts that we have only just begun to tap into the depths of God and what He wants to do on the earth.  So as we remember the legacy that Steve Hill leaves, with his passion for souls, His unwavering conviction to live each day for eternity, His uncompromising preaching of the Gospel, we also remember what God did in our lives during those days only to pour more fuel on the fire that was deposited in our hearts all those years ago.  May we never forget!  And may the fire in our hearts stir so we can help ignite the fire in those around us as we live each day in light of eternity!

Desperate to see the lost come to Jesus

Altar Call

PS: For anyone who would like to view the memorial service for Steve Hill you can view it on youtube at the following link Steve Hill Memorial Service