The Letter from 1968

I just received this letter from Cindi Harrod (Hopper). She is the daughter of my Youth Leader when I was growing up in Truth Tabernacle. This letter was written when I was 15 years old! Now, ya'll can figure for yourself how "young" I am! :) We were so hungry for God to "show us His glory" once again. We were wanting to see in "our day" what the old-timers had seen in "their day" . This letter was written from the heart of very sincere, hungry "kids" who loved God, but wasn't willing to have a "normal" youth group, or church. When my Dad, who was the Pastor at the time, received this letter, it gripped him to think the young people were calling for a move of God like this and he took this letter to the church and read it to them. He then challenged the adults to bind together in prayer and fasting, and to unify themselves with the youth of Truth Tabernacle to see a mighty outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It was sometime later that we had our first convert, a leader of a rock band, came to church with his girlfriend and God started doing an incredible work in the lives, and their friends. I watched as God delivered MANY young people from addictions that had them bound. I remember the all night prayer meetings, the Bible studies EVERY Tuesday night, the doorbell ringing at our home in the middle of the night and it would be one or several of the "hippie kids" needing to talk to Daddy and needing prayer. I remember being in church and one of the ones who had been delivered from the chains of drugs would have a "flash-back" and we would pray until they were relieved from this terrible thing that would happen. Oh, my mind is racing with the awesomeness of God in our midst when we got desirous for the miraculous manifestations of God to be among us! It can happen again TODAY! If you are a young person reading this, take to heart what God is talking to you about. If you are an adult, don't sit back and let someone else take the lead. There are hungry young people in our churches who are searching for a deeper walk with God, and we can show them the way! REVIVAL is not for those who sit back and let someone else do it, but for those who are willing to "go an extra mile" to see what God can do for US.....NOW.....not "then", but....NOW! Is there anything too hard for God? He'll do it again if we only make the sacrifice to see it happen! Following is the letter that helped start the revival we had a long time ago.

The older generation and ‘old time Pentecost’ as written by the youth in 1968

We, the young people of Truth Tabernacle are desperately seeking and searching for an answer to a question that has been in our minds since we have been filled with the Holy Ghost…“What has happened to ‘old time Pentecost’ and the miracles we have all heard about?” You see, we have heard of brush arbor days when God moved by His Spirit in such a wonderful way to heal grave disease and even raise the dead, but where are these miracles today? Are they no longer able to be manifest in our lives?We’ve been told how Satan did all he could to crush the church in it’s infancy, how men came to kill ministers but instead were touched by the power of God and went to the altar and found salvation! How the church separated itself completely from the denominal church world and sought truth with all it’s heart. We’ve been told how true believers dared to be different and live a holy and modest life unashamedly for God. It seems that these things have ceased to be in most of our churches. Can we as young people once again see these things happen?We don’t just want to hear about ‘old time Pentecost’, or the old time religion, but we demand to be shown a demonstration of the Spirit that you felt and witnessed. We refuse to be content with just half of the promises of miracles, deliverances and of the old time visitation of God’s Spirit, we feel it is our right, privilege and even our very inheritance. We’ve felt God’s presence, but we also must witness the miraculous if we are to grow and increase in God.  In all humility, we ask you -the ‘old time Pentecostals’ to pray with us and for us that we too may fully know and experience the power God! (Signed by: the Young People of Truth Tabernacle)

Note: Thank you, Cindi for providing this letter. I have wanted it for years!

"Dear God, are you bringing this letter to the attention of your people, once again, so we will feel hungry to see You work like never before? What is the reason for this coming our way? Stir us up, Lord! Don't let us rest! The cry of our heart is to see Your promises come to pass! Show us Your glory! Show us Your power! Break the chains that bind! Not only the chains of those bound by sin, but the chains of mediocrity in our own lives. Put a FIRE down in our souls that cannot be quenched! We want to see a MIGHTY OUT-POURING of your Spirit! In Jesus Name! AMEN!"