It is very nice to be back in Arkansas. We used to preach quite a bit in Arkansas and southwest Arkansas in particular. In fact, we were about an hour north of here in revival when the aerial and naval bombing to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait began on January 17, 1991. That event became known as the commencement of Desert Storm.
It was January 17 in the middle east, but it was announced just before church time on January 16 here. That date is easy for me to remember.
We had two weeks of revival at that church and I remember it being good, but I do not remember many particulars. All of us were concerned about our nation and the world and those events stand out more in my mind than the revival services.
The church was known as Old Center and we were staying in a small camper next to the Pastor's house. With war raging, we were anxious to hear news of how things were going. There was a small AM radio in the camper. I discovered Rush Limbaugh being replayed late at night on an AM station.
Most of the American news media were telling us that the coalition led by the USA was no match for the Iraqi Republican Guard. Mr. Limbaugh rallied us to believe in the might and rightness of the USA military. He was right as evidenced by the collapse of Iraqi defenses during the 100 hour invasion of Kuwait a few weeks later.
Rush has been my late night driving companion for many, many miles since then. He has been right about a few other things since then too.😉
From that revival we met and preached for Pastors and churches all over the area. It was during that time we visited here at Fairland when Bro. Ben Shaw was the Pastor.
Our preaching in Arkansas continued into 1993. Our last revival during our first evangelistic stint was at Calvary in Fouke, only a few miles from where I sit right now.
We preached quite a bit for Pastor Leon Buzzard in Glenwood, Arkansas about two hours north of here. Bro. Buzzard preached the Christmas/New Year revival at our home church for many years and we were blessed to get acquainted with him there.
He took us under his wing and often invited us to preach for him and use his church as a hub in southwest Arkansas. We would stay overnight in a Sunday School room and preach at all of the little churches in the whole area. He was a blessing to us and we have never forgotten it.
Bro. Buzzard loved to listen to preaching and there was no such thing as listening online at that time. "Online" was not even a term we recognized unless you were talking about on the clothesline or on the phone line.
He had a tremendous collection of cassette tapes and nearly every day I was there we would listen to at least one sermon together. Bro. Buzzard was an excellent preacher, but he never got above listening and applying preaching to himself. What an example!
By the time we spent six years in Ohio and nearly four years in Kansas, we had lost touch with many of the churches and most of them had changed Pastors. We did come to Fairland Camp Meeting while we were in Kansas and after we hit the road in 2003, so we kept our connection with these fine folks. Plus, we often saw many of them at Camp Meetings across the nation.
The world has kept spinning, the clock has kept ticking and here we are again in Arkansas. That is the way it goes, round and round and soon we are right back where we began!
I sure hope I am a better preacher than I was those many years ago. I sure intend to be a better preacher and a better man. The USA is still at war with others and even at war with ourselves. We sure need revival and we know exactly what to do and where to get it. Only God can give revival and we are thankful He wants us to have revival.
May God give it to us and may God give revival to you! Thank you for joining my musings on Mile Markers today.
Davy
