Psalm 145:4 One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.
My Grandpa Creech served as a country preacher most of his adult life. He founded and pastored the small church where I grew up in southern Ohio for about forty years. Rehoboth Mission was a shoutin’ church. People often expressed their zeal for Jesus with great enthusiasm. They had witnessed the Holy Spirit deliver people from alcohol addiction, tuberculosis and cancer. They saw lives totally transformed by the power of God, including their own. And they weren’t shy about praising the Lord.
During one meeting Mrs. McComas started shouting so much that in her enthusiasm she literally picked up a long wooden bench and lifted it up about two feet in the air. Grandpa said in those days it wouldn’t have been so fascinating, but Opal Dunn was sitting on it! He tells of one man who got so caught up in the spirit that he ran out the door of the church shouting praises to God. He came back five minutes later, still shouting. Many were ushered into the kingdom as a result of their fervent prayer. Grandpa writes about one revival that drew particularly large crowds. He said the conviction of the Holy Spirit was so strong, that all he had to do was point a finger at someone and they fell to the floor in repentance.
I recall these stories because Grandpa had the foresight to write them down. His book, A Drink from the Well at Bethlehem’s Gate, not only reminds me of my spiritual roots, but produces in time a deep hunger for more of God. I knew these people, and as peculiar as their experiences with God might sound, they were some of the kindest, most God-fearing people I’ve ever known.
In Psalm 145 David writes about the importance of telling the next generation about the “wondrous works” and “awesome deeds” of the Lord. Not only that, he says tell them about how God has proven faithful, how he has shown mercy and goodness. Tell them about how he has lifted you up in times of despair and supplied your needs.
You might have kids or grandkids. Maybe nieces and nephews. Don’t miss an opportunity to tell them about your walk with God. Maybe they will hear, and like me, want some of that old time religion.