Chapter 13 - All The City Was Moved
Series: Our Fathers Saw His Mighty Works
During the first eight months of 1949, the Lutheran
Evangelistic Movement had witnessed in and around their areas of ministry
mightier and more regular stirrings of God’s Spirit than had occurred for
decades in the United States. Their
leaders were active participants in a city-wide ministerial group under whose
sponsorship a revival movement with national implications had begun in
Minnesota’s Twin Cities. And the
outbreaks of revival which the LEM was seeing and hearing about showed no signs
of decreasing. Early in December 1949
came news from the ELC church in Longview, Washington, of “showers of blessing”
during Enoch Scotvold’s evangelistic meetings there.1 Many Christians rededicated their lives to a
closer walk with God; and ten younger folks, mostly married couples, received
Christ as Savior and gave clear public testimonies. Just hours before the final service, a group
knelt at the altar to pray for the salvation of several people by name; and
that evening, three of those prayed for surrendered to Christ. The next week, a Lutheran pastor in the small
town of Palisade, Minnesota, reported that a half-year of steady conversions
had culminated in the salvation of twenty people during five nights of special
meetings preached by Rev. Joseph Stump.2
Such happenings during the latter part of 1949 were not
limited to the LEM’s region of influence or to just Lutheran churches, nor were
they occurring in only the small towns.
In New York City, multi-thousands flocked nightly to St. Bartholomew’s
Episcopal Church to hear Anglican evangelist Bryan Green. On one night alone, nearly 200 people made
professions of faith in Christ.3
For three weeks in Syracuse, New York, Dr. Harold Ockenga preached to
6,000 on Sundays and 2,000 on weeknights in an evangelistic campaign sponsored
by 43 churches.4 By “the
conclusion, there were 312 conversions and 202 people had confessed sin and
taken the step of reconsecration . . . .”
Additionally, several area churches saw remarkable responses from 20 to
30 people apiece, either during pre-campaign preparation or during the campaign
itself. The Christ for America
organization reported that 100,000 people were converted during 1949.5 But none of these items made national
headlines. Then came an incredible
breakthrough in Los Angeles.
Revival Becomes National News
The relatively unknown Youth For Christ evangelist who
had been so impacted by Dr. J. Edwin Orr’s evening messages at the 1949 Forest
Home College Briefing Conference was a young man named Billy Graham. And testifying that the Holy Spirit had
filled and empowered him late one night at that summer conference, he began an
evangelistic campaign in Los Angeles on September 25, 1949.6 Sponsored by a committee of area churches and
upheld by countless prayer meetings, the services were held in a 6,000-seat
big-top tent. For several weeks, Graham
preached repentance and the filling of the Spirit to Christians with over 1,000
responding on one night alone. Several
hundred were saved also, but there seemed to be no unusual stirring until near
the end of the scheduled three weeks. On
the scheduled closing night, a regional radio celebrity - a notorious gambler,
drinker, and sinner named Stuart Hamblen - was in the audience with his
wife. Under intense conviction of sin,
he angrily stormed out in the middle of the sermon and went to the bar but was
unable to alleviate his soul‘s torment.
Finally in the middle of the night, he called Graham at his hotel
room. There at 5:00 AM, Hamblen found
peace with God. On his radio program the
next day, he announced his conversion.
The effect was sensational.
Attendance at the big tent increased phenomenally, and the campaign was
extended.
Graham
was preaching in the power of God and relying on the authority of Scripture,
often tying it to current events.
“You
have a problem tonight of sin. You say,
‘I’m not troubled with sin.’ Then you
are the only one in the world outside of Christ who is not troubled with sin,
because the Bible says, ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ .
. . the only One that has the answer is the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of
Calvary.”7
By the end of the fourth
week, the local and national press had picked up on the unusual happenings in
the big tent and reports of the revival became headline news across the
country. The tent was enlarged to seat
3,000 more and still the crowds overflowed.
Two to three hundred responded to the invitation nightly. The conversions of a local TV personality, a
gangster wire-tapper, and a World War II hero added to the sensation. “So deep was the moving of the Holy Spirit
that at times Graham did not have to preach.
After some of the testimonies from the converts all he had to do was
give the invitation.”8 The
revival was the talk of all Los Angeles in taxicabs, restaurants, and
stores. Streetcars and buses were often
filled with hymn singing. When the
campaign finally concluded after eight weeks, the committee reported that 3,000
had received Christ for the first time and another 3,000 backsliders had been
restored.
Having recently relocated to Los Angeles, LEM National
Board member Rev. Theodore Hax was able to give Evangelize readers a
firsthand account of the major cause underlying what had just transpired. Said Hax,
“We
feel that the success of the Billy Graham meetings may be traced in no small
measure to the prayers of many Bible-believing Christians. Perhaps it would be unfair to single out any
particular group but we know of a prayer group of ministers from many
denominations which began monthly all-day prayer meetings about ten years ago
and continue to the present. We have
attended some of these prayer meetings and the burden has been for spiritual
revival for this wicked city.”9
Graham’s next meetings began five weeks later in Boston,
an unlikely place for revival considering its small Protestant population.10 He had been invited to Park Street Church by
its pastor Dr. Harold Ockenga who had also planned a special New Year’s Eve
service in the 6,000-seat Mechanic’s Hall.
In unprecedented fashion, the Mechanics Hall service was jammed without
standing room for the last four hours of 1949, and 150 accepted Christ as
Savior. Spontaneously, Ockenga announced
another meeting at the Hall the next afternoon at which 150 more received
Christ. Boston newspapers began giving
the revival front-page coverage. On
Monday January 2, 1950, when Boston celebrated New Year’s Day, the 2,000-seat
Park Street Church overflowed, 7,000 were turned away, and over 1,000 stood in
the street singing hymns in pouring rain.
For the next two weeks, either Mechanics Hall or the 3,400-seat Opera
House were rented for nightly services and were often filled to standing room
only. After one week, a total of 900
people had professed conversion. Even
the announcement of Dr. Walter Maier’s unexpected death from a heart attack “moved
many to repentance.”11 On
Friday of the second week, crowds seeking admittance to the already packed
Mechanics Hall pounded on the doors until it sounded like thunder inside. That night approximately 400 came
forward. The whole city surged with interest
in religion.12 A reporter
told Graham that the press couldn’t understand what they were seeing. “Pastors all over the Boston area reported
improved church attendance and conversions.”13 A pastor who had seen no conversions for two
years reported 45 converts after his morning sermon on Sunday the 15th. A discouraged pastor who had resigned on
January 1 withdrew his resignation two weeks later to care for the 27 new
Christians in his church. At the closing
meeting on Sunday January 16, sixteen thousand from across New England jammed
the Boston Garden, 2,500 stood in the lobby, and 10,000 were left outside. Graham preached on Noah and the Ark. “When the . . . rain started and the water
rose,” “thousands came, pounding at the door of the Ark, begging Noah to let
them come in and be saved.” “. . . The
door [is] open for you tonight.” “. . .
Come into the Ark now.”14 At
the invitation, over 1,200 of all ages streamed forward bringing the total
number of conversions to 3,000 in 18 days.
Younger generations today who know Billy Graham for his
tremendous evangelistic career which spanned the second half of the 20th
Century may be tempted to read the previous paragraphs as a brief biography of
Graham’s rise to success rather than as a story of God’s Spirit moving in fresh
revival power. J. Edwin Orr - who was
one of the chief revival historians of all time, a personal friend of Graham’s,
and an eyewitness to what happened in Los Angeles - was in a better position
than most for analyzing the situation.
Over thirty years later, his conclusion was that “Graham arose in the
1949 Revival as its chief evangelistic harvester, a product of the movement of
the Spirit . . . .”15
Although Graham had been involved in large-scale evangelistic work for a
number of years already and had prophesied a spectacular outcome for Los
Angeles, even he himself was taken aback by what happened. At the height of the Los Angeles movement, he
excitedly told Armin Gesswein by phone that he didn’t fully understand what was
happening.16 Clearly, a
Supernatural Force beyond Graham’s power had taken control.
On February 2, 1950, Dr. Harold Ockenga was in
Minneapolis to speak to a ministerial group of over 100 at noon and to a
revival rally that evening which overflowed First Covenant Church. The leaders of the LEM who attended were only
a few of those deeply stirred by his account of the Boston revival the previous
month.17 Ockenga titled his
noon message, “The Mid-Century Church,” and added the faith-inspiring subtitle,
“1950. The Year of Revival.”18 Springboarding from Habakkuk 3:2, Ockenga
described the similarities between the prophet’s day and the United States in
1950. The evil, sin, and corruption of
the nation had as yet not been judged by God, but impending doom impelled God’s
people to plead with Him for revival mercies and the withholding of wrath. A review of the first half of the 20th
Century was a deplorable display of the criticism of Scripture, blatant
unbelief in Christ‘s salvation, the closing of churches, decreases in Sunday
Schools, the recalling of missionaries from the field, and the general defeat
and retreat of the Christian church. Now
God was graciously visiting many of the nation’s cities with revival in the
middle of the century. Evangelists of
many denominations were seeing an inexplicable surge in religious
interest. Masses of people were coming
under conviction of sin and were turning to Christ. It was the beginning of an awakening
comparable to the greatest ones in America’s history. Life, boldness, radiance, and power would be
infused into the churches. From a human
perspective, the last half of the 20th Century was a bleak forecast of crisis
and ever-threatening war. But the
Christian’s responsibility was to submit in faith to the God who was moving,
utilize the modern opportunities He had provided such as those in communications
and transportation, and walk through the doors He was opening. “The outlook is one of confidence, of hope,
of trust,” declared Ockenga. “God is
moving in sovereign good pleasure. God
uses human instruments [and He] wants you to be in His will.” “Mankind at home and abroad [is] ready,
responsive . . . longing . . . waiting.
Will these doors close?” “This is
the hour. This is our last chance. This is our task. God asks who will go, who will pray through,
who will preach, who will pay the price?”
Many of the pastors and leaders who heard Ockenga that day began
discussing the possibility of a united evangelistic campaign in Minneapolis.19 But even they could not have guessed the
tremendous results to which their discussion was ultimately to lead later that
year.
Only a few days after Ockenga’s talks in Minneapolis, the
next major outbreak of revival to catch the attention of the national press
occurred at Wheaton College just outside Chicago, Illinois.20 In 1950, Wheaton College was perhaps the
best-known Christian college in the country.
Every semester was begun with special meetings. This year at the opening Sunday evening
service, the speaker exhorted students to repent of all sin that was blocking God’s
power in their lives. The response was
small and continued so for the next two days.
On Wednesday night, the college president asked if there were a few who
wanted to share testimonies before the sermon.
One young man came to the microphone; and when he was done, a few others
were waiting in line to share next. But
by the time they had finished, there was quite a line of students waiting their
turn to speak. The mighty Spirit of
conviction of sin swept over the audience.
Almost every student who came to the microphone began to publicly
confess wrongdoings, and nearly all the students in the audience began to
painfully recognize the sins in their own lives for which they had been making
excuses. All sorts of sins were
confessed from cheating and theft to pride and bitterness. Confessions were made solemnly and sometimes
with tears. One student apologized for
criticizing the faculty. Another
confessed being proud of his membership in a certain campus organization and
looking down on others in a different one.
Several students who had stolen things were moved to return the stolen
items or to pay for them. One young man
testified, “Last night I looked in my yearbook, and after my name it said
baseball is my main interest. I want to
change it to say: Christ is my main interest.”
At
first between 50 and 100 students waited in line to confess and testify. The scheduled service had long been
forgotten. As hundreds upon hundreds
more were moved to speak, the line of students began sitting in the choir
chairs on stage to await their turns.
Confessions continued all night.
Classes were canceled as what had begun as a Wednesday evening service
continued unbroken and unabated through Thursday morning, Thursday night, and
Friday morning until lunch. During the
first twelve hours, it was mostly Christian students who were stirred to
confession and rededication of themselves to God. But by Thursday morning, quite a few unsaved
began to be affected. Clearly, what was
happening was the intense convicting power of the Holy Spirit. The college debate team was traveling in
Florida and unaware of what was transpiring back in Illinois. One member was reading his Bible and praying
when he suddenly became overcome with conviction of his sins of criticism, hatred,
and conceit. Immediately he confessed to
his fellow team members who were subsequently struck with conviction and
repented of their own sins towards each other.
A University of Chicago student heard a radio news item about what was
happening at Wheaton and went to see for himself. After listening to five hours of student
confession and testimony, he sought counsel for how to become a Christian. It seemed as if the Spirit of conviction of
sin was almost inescapable in the Wheaton College assembly.
A Lutheran pastor and friend of the LEM who happened to
be preaching in Chicago at that time visited Wheaton College during the revival
and brought back a detailed and favorable report for readers of Evangelize based
on personal observations and interviews.21 “Praise God for the Wheaton revival!” he
said. “May the same spirit spread,
giving rich showers of blessing to even our beloved Lutheran Church!”
“Surely, we are living in days of revival,” wrote Rev.
J.O. Gisselquist in March’s Evangelize,22 and again the next
month, “We praise God . . . for what we see of the revival in our day. This is a day of divine visitation.”23 May’s issue of Evangelize carried a
feature article by Gisselquist entitled “The Challenge of Revival” which both
rejoiced over the current movement and exhorted Christians on how they might
advance it further.24
“It is evident that God is sending
revival in our day! Recent news from
various places and widespread interest in revival indicate that, by the grace
of God, we are entering a period of revival that will stir our land.”
“If God is sending revival, churches
cannot isolate themselves or stand on the sidelines; they must either support
or oppose the work of God.”
“That revival is desperately needed
today even worldly people realize . . . Worldly people are looking to religion
as the way out of the critical problems we face . . . common people today are
interested in news of revival and what religion has to offer.”
“We can only meet the challenge of
our day by a fresh consecration, a whole-hearted yielding to God and a quick
response to the leading of God’s Spirit.”
“But the question is, are we willing
to go God’s way? Or are we so rooted in
old forms, prejudices and plain selfishness that we make ourselves unusable in
the day of battle?”
“Cleansing is needed before God can
or will use us as His channels . . . The revival must begin with the house of
God.”
“Shall we at the turn of the
half-century see a mighty revival? We
believe so. We believe it is here
already.
“Shall we as a Lutheran church and a
Lutheran Evangelistic Movement have a part in this revival? We most certainly can if we are willing to
pay the price.
“Let us close ranks with the
brethren and unitedly face the foe . . . ‘Lord, make me a channel that you can
use.’”
Near the middle of that March, United Spiritual Advance
sponsored a two-day prayer fellowship retreat for 120 Minneapolis pastors of
all denominations, including ten Lutherans and LEM men.25 Once again there was discussion of tentative
plans for a united city-wide evangelistic campaign. Ever since their October 1948 retreat, the
Holy Spirit had continued to stir this group of leaders towards personal
revival and had so deeply burdened them to pray for a moving of God in their
own congregations and city that they had been meeting every Tuesday morning to
do so. Their leaders, Dr. Paul S. Rees
(Mission Covenant) and Dr. Victor B. Nelson (Presbyterian),26 had
become part of a seven-man independent volunteer steering committee working to
secure Billy Graham for an evangelistic campaign later that fall.27 It was obvious that God had raised up Graham
as His instrument unto revival in several major U.S. cities over the previous
few months. Might he also be God’s
answer to the years of prayer offered for revival in Minneapolis? Then in April came the disheartening news
that, due to a doctor’s advice that Graham needed rest lest he overextend
himself more than he already had, the tentative Minneapolis plans would have to
be canceled.28 From
Minneapolis, Drs. Rees and Nelson flew overnight to where Graham was then
speaking in Providence, Rhode Island, and asked him to reconsider in light of
the outstanding need and opportunity of the Midwest. Graham promised them that he would wait on the
Lord’s leading before making a final decision; and after a period of rest
during May, he indeed felt encouraged to reschedule the Minneapolis
meetings.
As
anticipation grew and plans progressed towards the autumn crusade, Graham
himself came to speak to 160 of the sponsoring pastors at a June 12 breakfast
meeting.29 The LEM men
present were struck both by the noticeable absence of any critical or divisive
spirit in the gathering and by the widely representative group of local pastors
including some “from what might be known as the liberal camp.” It seemed as if God had taken control of all
factors and had brought them into conformity with His own overriding
purpose. The LEM leaders were also
impressed with Graham’s humility, vision, and simple faith in the power of
God‘s Word. The main themes which he
plainly told the gathering he emphasized in crusade sermons - sin, the
certainty of judgment, and salvation through the cross of Christ - were the
very themes which the LEM had been emphasizing during thirteen years of
conferences. This crusade was an
endeavor which they were eager to support and advertise. LEM Director Evald Conrad was appointed
chairman of the prayer preparation committee whose goal was to have between 500
and 1,000 prayer groups actively operating before the crusade started. As the crusade neared, hopeful expectations
and prayers increased that 1950 might be the year in which God’s Spirit visited
Minneapolis in an extraordinary way.
Revival at Mid-Century in the LEM
Meanwhile, signs of the Spirit’s mighty moving within the
LEM were still abundantly evident by the middle of 1950. At the Minot, North Dakota, Bible Conference
May 7-12, “the spirit of revival was present.”30 Among those who found salvation were “some
older people who had been seeking a long time to find peace with God,” several
nurses from the local Lutheran hospital, and a number of students from the
local Lutheran high school. Rev. Conrad
estimated that at least 25 people gave testimonies at the closing service. A “tender spirit of unity in the ministry of
soul-winning” was seen among Christians attending the Sheyenne, North Dakota,
Bible Conference in early June.31
During the final Sunday sessions, “scores of people” gave public
testimony of salvation and deepening of Christian life. After the last service, over 50 people stayed
behind for salvation or rededication.
One month later, a most amazing report was received from
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lynwood, California.32 By the middle of a week of special meetings
with Dr. J. Edwin Orr, the church officers and members had come under such
“deep concern” over their spiritual condition that confessions of sin,
reconciliations, restitutions, and restorations from backsliding had become the
norm for the rest of the week. After the
close of each evening’s meeting, many of which had lasted until 10:00 PM, the
pastor had been kept in his office until midnight counseling repentant church
members. During the midst of the
reviving of Christians, some unsaved had begun spontaneously to confess their
need for Christ. Although the church had
already grown tremendously from 20 to 400 members since its beginning five
years earlier, the pastor exclaimed, “Never before . . . has there been such a
working of the Spirit of God.” Orr later
reported that, over the weeks and months which followed, the revived Christians
began inviting friends and neighbors who in turn were converted and
transformed. Within one year, St. Paul’s
had received 400 new members, thus doubling its size.
By mid 1950, the renowned revival historian Orr could
declare concerning the current movement across the nation, “We have not seen
anything like the Welsh Revival yet, but I do think that a great Evangelical
revival has already begun.”33
In view of that movement, the timely theme chosen by the LEM Executive
Committee for 1950’s Deeper Life Conference was “Revive Thy Work in the Midst
of the Years” (Habakkuk 3:2).34
As the conference opened in mid July, Rev. Conrad challenged those
arriving,
“There
is one definite prayer that all of us should have for this conference, and that
is revival, awakening, and quickening . . . We believe this year in America is
one of special visitation from heaven.
We hear of showers of blessing in many areas and among many different
groups. Now we believe that great
showers will fall upon us. Let that be
our united request these days.”35
Some
of the session topics during that year’s two-week conference included “The
Place of Judgment in God’s Dealings With Men” (“In Salvation, The Judgment Seat
of Christ, Judging Ourselves, Judgment Begins at the House of God, Final
Judgment of the Ungodly”), “Vessels Meet for the Master’s Use”, and “Studies in
New Testament Revivals.” Open discussion
during one session in the latter category yielded both a fascinating report and
a definitive conclusion. “Testimony all
the way from the West Coast to West Union revealed [that] each revival in all
LEM conferences [had] been preceded by [the] revival of Christians through
prayer, [the] settling of differences, and [the] union of motive and desire to
that one end - [the] salvation of souls.”36 While the observation about the reviving and
unifying of Christians was significant, the compilation of revival accounts by
a never-more-widely-representative group of LEM friends37 was
invaluable. Clearly, there must have
been more revivals occurring at LEM conferences and evangelistic meetings than
were being reported in Evangelize. Another
conference topic which undoubtedly inspired the faith and divine imaginations
of many was “Reports of Modern Revivals.”
Within this category were considered the revivals in Scandinavia under
Hauge and Rosenius; those in Finland over the years; those in Rockford,
Illinois, and surrounding communities in the late 1800’s; the mighty movement
in China during the 1930’s; and the current movement in central Africa.38
On the afternoon of the first Friday of Deeper Life, Dr.
Paul S. Rees of United Spiritual Advance and Minneapolis’s First Covenant
Church addressed a special gathering of pastors on the theme, “Re-thinking
Evangelism.”39 As a
nationally known and influential Christian leader, Rees offered five main
points which were pertinent not only for Midwestern Lutherans but also for
churches across the nation.40
“We must reassess the degree of
drift and decline in Protestant churches.
God has trouble getting us to confess sin both as individuals and as
churches.”
“We need to reverse the order of
revival and evangelism. Revival should
be first and evangelism growing out of it . . . A revived church is God’s most
effective instrument of evangelism.”
“We need to readjust our thinking to
the variety of levels at which revival may be experienced . . . personal,
congregational, denominational, community, or national.”
“We need to remove the prejudices
and preconceptions of liberals and conservatives alike.”
“We need to rediscover the cell
structure of revival. The mass methods
are reported in the press. But there are
things going on under the surface that need to be intensified or the large
campaigns will not give us what we need.”
One of those sub-surface cells occurring unbeknown to the
national press was the LEM and its flagship conference.41 “We praise God that He [indeed] gave us
revival at Deeper Life,” rejoiced Conrad.
Registration for that year’s two-week conference had risen to 1316 and,
as usual, was supplemented by hundreds of daily commuters from the Twin Cities
and surrounding vicinity. Others
listened to the daily broadcasts from camp over radio station KTIS.42 The 2,000 present on the closing Sunday was a
new mark for an LEM gathering whose attendance was spread out over two
weeks. Leaders commented on the
remarkable freedom from any disturbance of the enemy which reigned throughout
all sessions. “Hundreds of Christians
were . . . revived and quickened by [God’s] Word.” Good evidence of this fact was the loving
family spirit of helpfulness and sharing which pervaded the grounds, the strong
interest in the optional 7:00 PM Fellowship Hour (testimonies and singing), and
the large response to the call to consecration and Christian service. The youth were so affected in their
conference that it was difficult to find enough time for all the testimonies
which they desired to share.43
Christians rejoiced in the “large number of young and old [who] were
awakened and converted.” “Almost every
night there were people who found their way to the front after the service and
requested spiritual help.” On some nights,
the sizable number at the altar were matched by the number of friends in the
front pews praying for them. Conrad
noted that a certain young man who had received Christ one evening “came from a
nearby town where quite an awakening had been in progress the previous
weeks.” Again, it is clear that more
revivals were occurring than were being reported by the national or local
press. After the closing service of
Deeper Life had been dismissed on Sunday night, about 200 people who wanted to
share testimonies or get spiritual help stayed behind for a spontaneous and
glorious after-meeting.
The Great Minneapolis for Christ Crusade
By the time Deeper Life had concluded on July 30,
preparations were rapidly accelerating towards the Minneapolis for Christ Crusade
scheduled to begin September 17. The
most important of those preparations, said Billy Graham in conference with
prayer chairman Evald Conrad, was that the city be saturated with prayer.44 Two weeks before the crusade began, Conrad
could report the following. A large
city-wide prayer meeting was being held downtown daily Tuesday through
Saturday. Additionally, daily prayer
meetings were being conducted in twenty downtown shops, stores, and offices
while over 100 churches were hosting Saturday evening prayer meetings for
men. Cottage prayer meetings were being
held every Tuesday through Friday in several hundred homes across the
city. More homes were being added, and
hopes were for 1,000 such daily prayer meetings attended by an average of ten
people each.
Minneapolis was only Billy Graham’s fourth crusade since
Boston,45 and prayers were that God might bless this endeavor with
revival as He had each of those previous ones.46 It did not take long to realize that He was
going to answer this request abundantly.
Within just nineteen minutes of the Minneapolis Auditorium’s doors being
opened for the first crusade meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, September 17,
its 11,000 seats were filled.47
Another 1,000 people were seated in an annex where they could hear over
a loudspeaker although they could not see the platform.48 Still another 11,000 were left outside. About 2,500 of these gathered in a nearby
parking lot where Billy Graham preached an impromptu sermon to them, and about
75 there accepted Christ before the official crusade had even begun. Inside the auditorium, Minnesota governor
Luther Youngdahl publicly welcomed Graham saying, “These are going to be
tremendously important spiritual days for Minnesota. The simple reason we have so many troubles
today is that we have forgotten God.”
Rising to address the expectant crowd, Graham quickly deflected
attention away from himself. “I do not
carry a revival in my suitcase. We are
looking to God to send a revival.”
“We’ve heard what the psychologists and scientists have to say. Now I believe it’s time to hear what God has
to say.”49 For his text from
God‘s Word, Graham selected Galatians 6:14.
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ . . . .” (KJV) “The reason the
world is in the mess it’s in,” declared Graham, “is that we have forgotten the
Christ of Calvary.” Next, he listed four
things which revealed the depravity of man: the world in which man lives, the
moral law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, God’s law which shows man he is a
sinner, and the cross of Calvary.
Striding back and forth across the platform, the fiery young evangelist
made his points in a voice ranging dramatically between shouts and whispers while
“sometimes waving his Bible, pounding his hand or pointing his finger.”
“The
very fact that the sacred Son of the living God had to die on the cross of
Calvary shows me how black and how dirty and how awful sin is. The cross exemplifies the highest love of
God. I don’t care how deep in sin you’ve
gone. God loves you in everlasting
love. If there had been any other way,
God would not have sent Christ to the cross.
He paid the penalty for you and me and there is no other way to be saved
except through Him. If you think you
will get to heaven any other way, brother, you’re mistaken.”
At the altar call, 150 men,
women, and children of all ages came forward, many wiping tears from their
eyes, while others in the audience sniffled.
The next day, the first line of the Minneapolis Star’s front-page
report read, “Revival fire has been re-kindled in Minneapolis.”
On Monday evening, Graham preached on Naaman the Leper.50 “Tonight you have the leprosy of sin. It is in your heart, in your mind, in your
body. You’ve all got it.” Describing the citizens of Minneapolis as a
“proud, comfortable, middle-class people,” Graham admonished, “You will have to
humble yourselves. I tell you, outside
of Christ no man is safe.” Though the
attendance was 4,000 less than the previous afternoon, a greater number - 175 -
responded to the altar call.
On
Tuesday night, delegations from several surrounding Minnesota cities increased
the attendance to 10,000.51
“Have you repented of your sins?” shouted Graham. “Think!
Think! Have you? Jesus said, ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish.’ Brother, when Jesus
said it, I believe it. Unless ye repent
you’ll never be saved or walk down the streets of heaven.” Graham defined four parts to repentance:
conviction of sin, godly sorrow for sin, confession of sin, and discontinuance
of sin.
“You
cannot live a worldly life and say you are a Christian. Any professing Christian who lives a worldly
life has a false experience. Repentance
means to change - a complete turning around.
Unless you’ve confessed and humiliated yourself before Christ you’ll
never get to heaven. Tonight, God the
Father has His arms outstretched to forgive and cleanse if you will come
confessing your sins.”
One hundred sixty-two people
came forward that night to do so.
Certainly,
those who were being converted through the crusade were not being drawn by
sugar-coated descriptions of an undemanding religion. Future generations may be somewhat surprised
that thousands of modern, cultured people would not only tolerate such fiery
preaching but would even flock to hear it and obey it. Wednesday night’s crowd of over 10,000 heard
Graham boldly declare, “I’m not so afraid of what Communism can do to America
as much as what the judgment of God will do unless we repent and turn to God.”52 After that evening’s altar call, a total of
647 people had come to Christ in just the first four days of the crusade - an
overwhelming response according to Graham.
And everyone around him added their amazed agreement.
Friday evening, when delegations from twenty Minnesota
and two Wisconsin cities raised attendance to 10,700, Graham spoke on
backsliding.53 “A backslider
is a person who grieves the Holy Spirit by sin in his life. If you are a backslider, there is but one way
to return. And if you keep going on
after a sermon like this, you’re in greater danger than if you hadn’t come here
tonight at all.” At the invitation, 107
backsliders rededicated their lives to Christ while another 110 individuals
received Christ as Savior.
Saturday
night’s crowd was augmented by 550 who had traveled by special train from
Duluth, Minnesota, and 650 who had come on a fleet of buses from Willmar,
Minnesota.54 Interest in the
crusade and in Christianity was so great that Sunday afternoon’s meeting was
held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds where delegations from Wisconsin, Iowa,
North Dakota, and several Minnesota cities55 were just some of the
31,000 people who filled the grandstand and listened to Graham speak on “Casey
at the Bat.“56
“God
has a television camera and a tape recorder on your life each moment of the
day. At the judgment day He will show
each one of us our sins, and unless we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior,
we’ll spend eternity in hell.” But “if
you will accept Christ today as your personal Savior, you’ll not be left
stranded at second or third base. He’ll
give you eternal life. He’ll bring you
home.”
At Graham’s invitation to
receive Christ, 261 people filed down to the large platform and lined it from
end to end, five and six deep. The front
page of the next day‘s Minneapolis Star reported that, with 1,206
converts thus far, the Minneapolis for Christ Crusade had seen more results in
its first eight days than any other previous Graham crusade.
What was the nature of the conversions which were
occurring? Graham’s organization
reported that those coming forward in Minneapolis were both young and old and
represented every walk of life.57
Their countenances were sober and thoughtful, their faces often stained
with tears. Theirs was no mere passive
acceptance of the gospel. Personal
workers were spending late hours in the inquiry room counseling those who were
diligently seeking the Savior. LEM
secretary Orloue Gisselquist commented, “Many of us have heard of definite ones
converted and now happy in the Lord.”58
Interest in and receptivity to Christianity were surging
among all age groups across the whole city and throughout the surrounding
area. Each noon on Tuesday through
Friday of the second week Graham spoke to between one and two thousand
University of Minnesota students in the Armory, and daily there were
conversions.59 On the second
Saturday, 14,000 children between the ages of five and fifteen came out for a
morning rally hosted by Graham and his team; 500 of these answered the appeal
to “come unto Jesus.”60 On
“Ladies Night” of the crusade, the Minneapolis Auditorium filled in a record
fourteen minutes and several spacious neighboring church auditoriums tried to
accommodate the overflow crowds.61
Hundreds of women stood outside or sat in parked cars to listen over
loudspeakers while lack of space forced many buses bringing women from other
cities to turn around and head home.
“There is a community-wide appeal,“ observed Orloue Gisselquist, “that
touches the city and a surrounding area greater in size than the state and
reaches into strata of society unreached before.”62 “There is revival in Minneapolis,” exulted
LEM Director Evald Conrad.63
Citing as evidences of this the enormous attendances, the hundreds of
conversions, and conversions occurring even outside of crusade meetings, Conrad
continued. “The whole city is being
stirred. People are talking about
religion in the street cars, in the shops, in the stores and in the offices . .
. One can sense in the very atmosphere that there is revival in the city.” A veteran Lutheran missionary to China who
stayed in Minneapolis during two weeks of the crusade said she was reminded of
the great Chinese revival during the 1930’s.64
After
Graham’s sermon on “Visibility Zero” on day fourteen of the crusade, the total
number of reported converts had reached 2,544.65 To what were they responding? “Like Bartimaeus, scores of you here tonight
are blind,” Graham had preached. “You
are blind to the gospel, to the light of God, to all spiritual things. Jesus is passing by you tonight. If you cry out for mercy like the blind
beggar, Jesus will hear.” While many in
the audience had wept, 136 people had come forward seeking Jesus for that mercy.
On Monday, October 2, members of the LEM Executive
Committee attended a city-wide ministerial breakfast meeting addressed by Billy
Graham.66 Undoubtedly present
that morning were many pastors from the 200 supporting churches67
who had been attending the meetings nightly “in a fine demonstration of united
vision and genuine cooperation.”68
Graham listed for them three “results of revival” that he was seeing.69 First of all, Christians were being refreshed
and were beginning to witness more openly for the Lord. Secondly, sinners were being saved. Thirdly, the converts were being directed
back to their churches or, if they had no church of preference, to one
recommended by an independent committee of seven pastors.
For
convenience sake, the LEM Executive Committee held their own meeting later that
morning in a conference room of the same hotel which had hosted the ministerial
breakfast.70 Upon breaking
for lunch, they came across a remarkable sight.
The large banquet room of the hotel was crowded with members of a
certain local organization’s booster club to whom Billy Graham was speaking.71 The men present in the smoky room “were not
likely the kind to have heard [Graham] at the evening meetings,” yet they were
obviously quite interested and respectfully attentive as they listened to
Graham’s message about America’s need to repent of her sins and return to
God. The partitions between the banquet
room and the general dining area had been opened; and scores of other diners,
as well as waiters and waitresses, were listening also. When Graham had finished, the assembly gave
two standing ovations and then adjourned quietly and thoughtfully without much
of the typical chatter and joking. To
the LEM men, the booster club’s response was “indicative of the breadth of
ministry and appeal” of both Graham and the entire crusade.
On its twenty-second day, the great Minneapolis for
Christ Crusade concluded with another massive Sunday afternoon service at the
Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
Twenty-seven thousand people endured chill autumn weather in overcoats
and blankets to hear Graham warn that World War III was on its way “unless
sinners give their hearts and souls to this great revival. God says the sinner must die. The sinner is at war with God.”72 At that final altar call over 600 people came
forward, 262 of them to receive Christ as Savior. In just 22 days, an estimated 262,000 people
had attended the crusade.73
Of the nearly 5,700 counseled in the inquiry room74 over
3,800 had been converted,75 approximately a quarter of that latter
number being Lutherans.76 The
ratio of converts to attendees was the best Graham had seen yet, and this in
spite of the fact that he admittedly had “never preached with more weakness”
and his “sermons were never worse than [in Minneapolis].”77 “All credit must go to God,” he told the
press. And indeed, where else could it
go? The outpouring of revival for which
Christians had long been petitioning God had finally come. Spiritual fruit which no amount of effort
could have produced a decade earlier was now abundant. Minneapolis had experienced “a great stirring
from its center to its circumference, and it [would] never again be the same.”78
1950: The Year of Revival
What Billy Graham saw during 1950 was not limited to his
crusades alone. Other lesser-known
evangelists, especially those of Youth For Christ, also saw incredible numbers
of souls saved or revived during 1950 crusades - several thousand in Long
Beach, California; nearly 1,000 in Oakland, California; nearly 1,000 in Fort
Wayne, Indiana; well over 700 in Memphis, Tennessee; and so on.79 In July of 1950, such a large crowd showed up
for the opening Sunday service of a Kansas City Crusade that Youth For Christ
evangelist Mervin Rosell preached three services instead of two inside the
12,000-seat Municipal Auditorium.80
Well over 500 people professed decisions for Christ within the first two
services alone, and a total of 5,300 had done so by the end of the 22-day
crusade. The next month, Rosell moved on
to Des Moines, Iowa, where as many as 30,000 gathered for evangelistic services
under big-top tents on the lawn of the state capitol. In addition to the multitudes saved during
the crusade, “conversions were occurring in churches on Sunday as well.” 81 After the crusade, Rosell made a quick
preaching tour through several county seats and saw another thousand come to
Christ.
But it was not just in the large cities and crusades that
God was moving. It was also in the small
towns and rural areas, within individual churches, and during countless weeks
of special meetings sponsored by evangelists and groups such as the Lutheran
Evangelistic Movement. Reports printed
in Evangelize during the latter months of 1950 indicate that this was
so. In September, five evenings of
special meetings at a Lutheran church in Ellsworth, Iowa, were extended to
twelve to accommodate all of the seeking souls.82 Some were so burdened and troubled that they
would leave after the service but soon return for prayer and counsel, staying
as late as midnight in order to find the Lord.
Over 40 turned to Christ, most of them youths and young married
couples. The following month during
special meetings at a Lutheran church in Northwood, North Dakota, so many
unsaved and backsliders repented of sin one evening that some had to kneel for
prayer at their pews because the altar was already full.83 In spite of the school carnival across the
street, many young married couples chose rather to attend the church meetings
in order to find peace of soul. After
the final service, several stayed as late as midnight to obtain help from the
evangelist and local pastor.
Without a doubt, 1950 was, as Dr. Harold Ockenga had
predicted, “the year of revival.” It
marked the beginning of a new era in which God drew hundreds of thousands to
the cross of Christ. At the end of 1950,
Billy Graham could state, “In our own campaigns during the past year we have
seen nearly seventy-five thousand souls coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ . . . .”84 And those were just Graham’s campaigns. How many tens of thousands were converted in
1950 through scores of similar large city-wide crusades held by lesser-known
evangelists? Statistics in those
instances might at least have been recorded and be able to be compiled. But who was keeping track of such statistics
within all of the smaller churches and Christian organizations? Even within the LEM itself where reports were
plentiful, it is impossible to estimate how many hundred were saved or revived
during 1950. And the LEM was just one
organization within one denomination.
During the summer of 1950, Lutheran evangelist Clarence Haaland
conducted tent campaigns in five Midwestern states and saw usually 15 or more
souls converted at each set of meetings.85 Such news was so comparatively insignificant
in 1950 as to be hardly considered noteworthy.
Not even Evangelize reported it though Haaland had close ties to
the LEM and his schedule of meetings was sometimes noted in its magazine. It was not revival compared to what was
happening elsewhere. In 1950, it
represented just one very small part of a much larger story. The work of the Lutheran Evangelistic
Movement was another small part of that story.
Taken as a whole, though impossible to completely quantify and qualify
these many decades later, the story might correctly be called “The Wonderful
Works of God.” (Acts 2:11 NKJV) It is
not a story about man. Rather, it is a
story about the mighty works which our forefathers saw God perform towards them
and towards those around them. And it
deserves to be retold so that we might praise God for what He has done and hope
in Him for what He is certainly still able to do again today.
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