I Saw Revival At Liberty U — Part 1 | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

I Saw Revival At Liberty U — Part 1

Clayton King visited us for the twelfth year in a row and caused revival at Liberty U!

47
I Saw Revival At Liberty U — Part 1
Connor Hagen

Last week, Liberty University celebrated its annual Spiritual Emphasis Week. We Liberty students got to hear from Clayton King, who has spoken at every Liberty SEW for the past 12 years.

We saw him preach not one, not two, but three times within the span of 36 hours! In total, he preached for about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

The first time he spoke to us, which was last Wednesday morning (September 9th), he spoke about how we, as both sinners and Christians, try to hold on to our sin until it kills us.

He told a story of how, one time, he went on a trip with a friend of his when he was in his early teens. His friend's father was a fireman, and the firehouse owned a house next to a lake. He went mainly for the cute girls that he knew were going to be there. A group of them were going to go water skiing, and he was asked if he knew how to do it. He said yes, and the man who asked him told him he would go first. He didn't know how to water ski, but he wanted to impress some girls. Eventually, he was able to get the skis on with some help, and he was out in the water waiting for them to start the boat. The guy steering the boat punched it, and Clayton immediately went underwater. The force of the water forced his athletic shorts down (He didn't have swimming gear on at the time.), thankfully leaving his underwear intact before he then popped out and began skipping across the water. The one thing he remembered hearing from the boat was "LET GO!!!" He survived.

The moral of the story, other than "Don't try to impress girls with things you know nothing about," was this. He later realized that the force of the water could've killed him, had he been under any longer. In the same way, our sin will kill us if we hang onto it. "The whole time the Spirit is telling you, 'Let go'" but we refuse to, whether it be pornography, lying, gluttony, or even just laziness. It doesn't even have to be a sin. It can be a bad relationship, comparing yourself to your friends on social media, past pain (like being sexually abused), or something else.

As Clayton said,

He quoted an unnamed pastor he once heard in his youth who said, "Sin is not fun!" His young self's response? "Sin isn't fun? Then you're not doing it right!" Sin may satisfy for a season, but it quickly turns into a season of consequences. Pornography leads to broken marriages and broken people. Laziness leads to being fired. Lying leads to hurt people and broken relationships.

But there's more. There's a way out. "What you hold with your hands that you think will satisfy you, that is the very thing you must let go of in order to receive the thing that God wants to give you. In other words, ... if you want to receive His gift, you have to release your grip."

As C. S. Lewis said, "We are like little children who live in the slums who are content to make mud pies when God offers us a holiday at the beach."

At the end of his first sermon, he called those who had yet to give their lives to Christ to pray to receive him, to raise their hand, to stand up, and then to go to the front so the LU Shepherds (including our Student Shepherds) could pray with them and celebrate. Several responded to the call God commanded him to give. I was in the perfect position to take a picture, so I did with my phone.

Several people came to Christ after that Convocation. Little did I know, it was only the beginning of God's work during this time.

This article is part one in a three part series. Part two will be available next week.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

211
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments