THERE IS A GOD
The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.” – Psalm 14:1a NKJV.
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…. 1 Timothy 2:5 NKJV.
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! – James 2:19 NKJV.
The Falls Creek Conference Center is a conference center and youth encampment in southern Oklahoma. It is the largest youth camp in the United States and in the world hosting as many as 55,000 campers during each summer. Falls Creek is holy ground that has been prayed for by many, many, people.
Falls Creek camp came about in 1927 when 273 campers met on donated land. When the campers were first meeting, they stayed in tents and it was only later that cabins began to be built. In the 1920s a large outdoor tabernacle was built and remained in use until 2004. The outdoor tabernacle did have a roof, but it was open on three sides. There is now a huge indoor facility where campers can meet for services.
I never went to Falls Creek as a camper but many times as a sponsor and as a pastor. My first time at Falls Creek was in 1979. That was the first time that I clearly heard God’s call to preach since I was saved in 1970. But that week it didn’t matter where I was on the grounds, in the cabin, or in the tabernacle there was this constant voice about preaching and on Thursday night I went forward during the invitation.
Later in 1990 as I made public my call to preach God’s Word at the First Baptist Church in Elk City, Oklahoma my parents told me that my great Aunt Carrie always said she was praying for me that I wouldn’t miss God’s call. She was first praying for me that I would come to know Jesus as my personal Savior and then that I would hear God’s call. She was also praying the same for my son, Clark. We have both heard clearly God’s call and only because we know without any doubt that God called us are we pastors and preaching today.
Visiting with my great aunt she said that the reason she was praying for us was because her husband, Adair Wrather, always thought that he had missed his call to preach. Adair may have been influenced because of knowing that his grandfather, Baker Wrather, had been a pastor in Tennessee. It was about the same time that I learned of Carrie’s prayers that I found out about Baker Wrather.
The week in 1979 at Falls Creek my niece and nephew that we took with us were also saved. It was always very hot at Falls Creek with temperatures above 100 degrees. One summer, when we were there, I think it was 1985, it was so hot that during the service they were carrying people out who had passed out.
It may have been that year in 1985 that during a service, after we were in the tabernacle a bad thunderstorm came up. Anthony Jordan was preaching about the voice of God. Every time he mentioned the voice of God there would be a huge clap of thunder that would shake the entire tabernacle. If you didn’t believe there was a God, you would have after experiencing that!
If you do not believe that there is a God please think of what I have written as an attempt by God to reach out to you. Read the Gospels in the Bible beginning with the Gospel of John with an open mind. Ask if there is a God, that He would speak to you as you read. Or, you can listen to the Bible by using BibleGateway dot com. The Bible says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).