Have You Been To A Crusade Lately?

It’s been a while since I’ve been to what could be called a large “evangelistic meeting”.  This is understandable since there is often considerable debate just centered around the wisdom of me leaving the house, even for a few moments.

Tonight I attended the “Harvest Crusade” in Chicago and I was able to see how an evangelistic event is done in the year 2010.  It’s pretty impressive.

Of course, the technology is noticeably updated.  Camera operators are strategically set up to capture the event on video for those watching remotely and on large screens for those present at the venue.  Many of the conference materials make references to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and other online technological connections that they would like the crusade attendees to make.

At one point, early in the program, we, the participants were actually encouraged to take out our phones and text family or friends and invite them to watch the program live online.  Really. 

“Get your phone out and text someone who isn’t here and tell them to watch online,” we were told by the computer generated holographic image standing on the platform.

They didn’t mention anything about “texting” or watching “online” when I went to the Billy Graham Crusade in 1974, that’s for sure!  In fact, Billy didn’t make a single reference to cell phones.  Although, he mentioned his CB “handle” a couple of times; he told us his favorite new game was “Pong”; and then he stomped around the stage for a while in his platform shoes.  (He had outstanding sideburns in those days.)

The Harvest Crusade was very good.  The music was excellent.  The musical artists included The Katrinas; Steven Curtis Chapman; and Jeremy Camp.  The speaker was Greg Laurie.  And the ushers were Floyd, Bill and Eddie.  (That’s right, it’s time the ushers get the mentions they deserve!)

The theme for the evening had to do with finding hope in the midst of hurting and pain.  That’s always a relevant subject!

There were a number of terrific moments in the course of the evening, but two moments, in particular, stand out for me.  The first one occurred when we were being led in a song by Jeremy Camp.  I can’t remember the name of it, but it was one of those moving songs that touches the heart deeply.  And as we sang together, we were encouraged to join our hands and raise them into the air.

All around this large arena, some 30,000 people were joined together, hands lifted high, singing a song of praise to Jesus.  It was a spiritually powerful moment.

As we sang, many in the crowd spontaneously began to sway back and forth, with the rhythm of the song.  But that’s where a slight problem developed.  The people I was with couldn’t sway properly.  So, as the song continued and the gentle swaying of the crowd occurred, we were knocking back and forth and awkwardly moving around with no sense of coordinated movement.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was still a nice moment but our swaying, sadly, never quite came together.  It was embarrassing because I noticed as thousands of people throughout the arena began pointing at us, shaking their heads with disdain, and mouthing the words “those-people-can’t-sway.”

The second stand out moment occurred at the end of the evening when an invitation was made for people to come forward to the large open space on the main floor of the arena, in order to make public their profession of accepting faith in Christ.  Thousands of people went forward—literally—and they completely filled all the available space.  It was inspiring to see this kind of response.

As this occurred, I looked at the people in our group.  There were about 18 of us.  I knew that it was good for us to see this work of God in the lives of thousands of people even in our big-city, secularized Chicago culture.  I was especially glad that some of our youth were able to see this massive, humble, public response to God.

I honestly believe that genuine decisions for Christ impact a person’s eternal destiny.  You do, too, don’t you?  So, this was a time of hope, encouragement and true joy!  It really was a great moment and a wonderful evening.

The Harvest Crusade was a blessing.

  

P.S.  On the drive home, Paul let me play with his fancy phone that has Internet access.  It was pretty cool but I think I may have inadvertently messed up some aspect of my Facebook account.  Now, I keep getting a message that says: “Ha! Your pathetic instructions mean nothing to us, you weak, analogue, life form!” 

That’s not a typical error message, is it?

Oh well, that’s the price one pays for exploring new technological frontiers.

This is some of our group standing on line outside the

 arena waiting for the doors to open.