Revival Overview

Our Ministry

Beth travels with Tom 99% of the time and is available (when pre-arranged) to speak with your ladies group or groups on a variety of topics.

What Will This Cost Us

Our evangelist’s salary and travel expenses are totally underwritten through Mid-South Christian College in Memphis, TN.  Included in underwritten expenses are fuel, food, lodging, and daily costs of operating the Ministry.  Though Tom & Beth are always up for a "free lunch" or pot-luck dinner at the church, no offering is ever requested or expected.

However, over the years we have come to realize that by not allowing offerings, we have taken away a blessing from churches and individuals who have the ability and desire to share financially in the work of Rock Solid Ministries.

Therefore, should a congregation or individual desire to donate to this Ministry, they may do so by making their tax-deductable gifts payable to Rock Solid Ministries.  All gifts will be used to enhance and improve our ministry to the Lord's Church.  Tax-deductable gifts of pre-paid fuel or restaurant cards are also acceptable and help keep this Ministry within its monthly budget.

REMEMBER:  Tom & Beth never accept personal financial gifts from churches or individuals.  Even though they may now receive gifts on behalf of Rock Solid Ministries, no gift or offering is ever required.

A Cost-Free Revival, Really?

A Rock Solid Revival will cost your church in time, preparation, and prayer.

We also recommend, if the congregation can afford it, that they use the money they would have used to pay the evangelist for advertising and local outreach. They also may want to bring in a song leader, quartet, or praise team (whatever meets their needs) to lead the music during the Revival and/or an area Youth Minister to lead a children's Revival.

All of this is outlined in a "Pre-Revival" packet that we mail to local congregations three months before a scheduled meeting.

Availability

We are available on a first come, first serve basis and are willing (and desire) to set up meetings as far in advance as possible. Available dates are listed on our Open Dates page.  The best way to contact us is by our online Contact Form, but feel free to call and leave a message.

*Are Revival Meetings A Thing Of The Past?

Whenever I get a chance to watch “MYTHBUSTERS” on the Discovery Channel, I do.  While enjoying the entertainment value of the show, I’ve also “discovered” a few things.  One thing is for sure, with the help of the internet, there is a proliferation of myths floating around today.  Just as we find myths in the world, we also find them in the Church.  As a traveling evangelist, one myth I have become acutely aware of is:  "Churches no longer hold revival meetings".

Recently a minister at a church with a scheduled revival was telling another minister about the upcoming meeting.  The immediate response was, “Revivals!  Do ‘They’ still have those?”  Not an uncommon sentiment.  In fact, we’ve heard many such statements in the almost three years that Beth and I have been on the “Revival Road”:  “Revivals are no longer effective”,  “Growing churches don‘t do revivals”,  “That wouldn’t work at our church!”,  “New churches don’t do revivals”.

First, let me say - “Yes, ‘They’ still have revivals”.   In the past  thirty-two months we have held well over sixty revival meetings from Florida to South Dakota, Texas to Pennsylvania, and Virginia to Nevada.  Our schedule is full for the rest of this year and fast approaching full for 2008.  While on the road we have become acquainted with several other full-time revival preachers among the independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ whose schedules are quite full as well.

Now, let’s address some of these other concerns.

Revivals are no longer effective.
If one is thinking of a revival as an evangelistic outreach I would have to admit that this is true to some extent.  It’s hard to get the non-Christian to attend an extended meeting of this sort.  However, revival should not be considered as a primary source of evangelistic growth for the local church.  Revival should be a time of recommitment and renewal for Christians.  This may in turn bring about some evangelistic results as well because of the renewed enthusiasm in the local congregation.  I should add that over the past thirty-two months on the road we have seen almost twelve-hundred public decisions for Jesus Christ and over sixty of those were first-time decisions to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized into Him.

Growing churches don’t do revivals.
“Revivals, oh yea, those are big among dying churches in the Mid-West”, another disparaging remark that has come to my ears even while writing this article.  Below is a testimony from Don Renner, Associate Minister with the growing Chancey Road Christian Church in Zephyrhills, FL where we have held two revivals in the past two years:

That wouldn’t work in our church!
Perhaps, in the past, you have tried revival meetings and felt they weren’t effective.  This may be true for some churches.  However, before you toss the whole idea into “file 13”, consider the following:  Have your past revival meetings been well-planned and hedged about in prayer or were they just something the church scheduled every year with very little thought?  Were they enthusiastically promoted well in advance among your members?  Was your speaker one whose calling and giftedness included this type of meeting?  There are many wonderful, dedicated, gifted preachers whose calling and preaching/teaching abilities will strengthen and grow any congregation they serve, but they themselves will admit that their calling, giftedness, and even comfort zones do not include revival preaching.  You will be surprised at the spiritual results that will be attained in a revival meeting when you pray, plan, and promote with the expectation of real revival among your members.  Before you say it won’t work, why not give it a try?

New churches don’t do revivals.
Following is an excerpt from a testimony by Greg Strickland, Co-minister/founder of the new Lifetrack Church in Kansas:

Well planned and executed revivals are still a part of the spiritual landscape in the United States and Canada.  Why not help “bust” the myths about revivals by planning a meeting at your church in the not-so-distant future?