First of all, today (January 20, 2011) is our son, Andrew Lincoln Shelton’s second birthday! Ruth and I, REJOICE in this because outside of salvation nothing in life is guaranteed. However, you can always take God’s PROMISES to the bank. During the darkest days of my life God informed me that I would be blessed to have a baby boy. NOTEWORTHY: Never doubt in the dark what God shows you in the light. He may never be in a hurry but God is ALWAYS on time. Can I get an AMEN??

Andrew was born on Inauguration Day. That’s right – I was born on President’s Day (Feb 20, 1972) and Andrew was born on Inauguration Day. If the Lord tarries this kid could be the one to watch šŸ™‚ We have already picked Marine hero and Evangelist www.TimLee.org to be Secretary of Defense! The word of the day is vote early and vote often! It works for the Democrats (just kidding).

We were going to name him all along ANDREW GRAHAM. Why? Every time Andrew is mentioned in Scripture he was ALWAYS bringing someone to Jesus. We loved Graham as a middle name not because I wanted to bring home a GRAMMY but because Dr Billy Graham invested his entire adult life pointing people to the Prince of Peace. We wanted to give him a name that he could GROW into. We have dedicated Andrew to the Lord and pray, read Scripture and sing Bible songs to him on a regular basis. Our mission for him is the same but his name changed not to protect the innocent but because of the date of his birth. Being born on Inaguration day we elected to name him after Abraham Lincoln. Exactly, one hour before President-elect Obama became President of the United States of America our baby boy was born. As President Obama was coming in our baby was coming out! PRAISE THE LORD!! Speaking of “rejoice” I am pleased to announce that Mark Batterson, pastor www.TheaterChurch.com in Washington, DC and best selling author will be a guest blogger on my site soon!

Secondly, it has been said: “Who you RESPECT is who you will attract.” I cannot tell you how often I have found this to be true. Speaking of respect a special shout out to one of my dear friends and favorite preachers, Dr Johnny Pope from Houston, TX for celebrating his 30th year as pastor of the massive ChristChurch Baptist Fellowship. His entire ministry has been the senior pastor of this great church and God has used him to build a couple thousand seat auditorium and just as impressive he speaks to tens of thousands annually at various pastor conferences, revivals and youth events. He is a soul winning machine! Congrats to Dr Pope and much respect to you brother. You da man!

Over the years, I have had some Major League helpers but some minor league haters. The “Greats are Gracious” and I learned early that Winners are Wonderful but its the Wannabes you have to WATCH out for! Just this week, Stream4Truth graciously reached out to us and included our ministry with their awesome, anointed online outreach. Some of Christianity’s most respected voices are linked with this great Gospel online ministry: Dr Charles F Stanley, Dr Johnny Hunt, Kay Arthur, Tony Nolan, Shelley Hendrix, Eric Helms and a couple others! Stream4Truth has posted several sermons, video, illustrations and powerful, practical tools as Tony eloquently says: “FUEL YOUR FAITH.” You can check out this awesome site here http://www.stream4truth.com/site/channels/speakers/frank-shelton

TO GOD BE THE GLORY – Great things He hath done! Lastly, not only do we rejoice and respect others and what the Lord is doing in our midst but REVIVAL continues to be my heartbeat. No, I am not talking about indigestion but what I have invested my life in these last days before Christ coming again. Some suggest that revival is on its way out. WRONG! People will always second guess what they have not witnessed or never experienced. Too many of my friends over the years have experienced too much of God’s outpouring to convince me otherwise. Just in the last couple months many of my ministry friends have seen firsthand God show up and show off! Just last week, Evangelist Keith Cook, Sr preached to over 35,000 and scores came to faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. My friend, Tony Nolan has already seen over 5,000 come to Christ at Winter Jam in the first two weeks of this years tour. My friend, Clayton King saw over 350 get saved at one service bringing in the New year at Liberty University as he preached to 8,000 students! Dr Johnny Hunt, Evangelist Tim Lee, Tony Nolan, Pastor Marvin Harris, Clayton King, Dr David Ring, Jamey Ragle, Dr Junior Hill, Dr Johnny Pope, Meadowlark Lemon, Nikita Koloff, Keith Cook, Sr, Dr Ron Herrod, Randy Hogue, Dr Ergun Caner, Rick Stanley, Sujo John, Eric Fuller, Dr Bailey Smith, Matt Brown, Brett Watson, Eric Helms, Chris Palmer, Jay Lowder, Dr Jerry Drace, Dave Edwards, Braxton Hunter, Acton Bowen, Bryan Taunton and so many other precious friends see literally hundreds and even thousands come to Christ every year. This is NOT exaggeration but evangelism! Since October 1, 2010, I have had a front row seat to watch God save over 400 to Himself and we all agree this is God’s doing not ours. PRAISE THE LORD! The fact is we are still a few billion short.

Some think that revival is only for reaching lost souls. That is the main focus but the primary purpose is to encourage the saints and help cold hearts get hot again under the power of God’s Word. Charles Spurgeon said: “Yes, I preach to over 5,000 every Sunday but all 5,000 of my members minister in the work place all week long.” See Spurgeon knew what the evangelist long for is to see sinners become saints and then soldiers in the Savior’s Army. We may not all be a preacher or teacher but commanded by Christ in the Great Commission to be REACHERS!

Sometimes saying the same thing under a different voice is how God can communicate what one has been saying all along. This gives credibility to the pastor and enhances his efforts not undermines them. The pastor and evangelist when working as a team are the Dynamic Duo and the Triple Threat is God, Son & Holy Ghost! Intentionally, we recently designed my new ministry postcards to talk about football. NFL is the National Football League but past and present players will tell you it means: “Not For Long.” Players are here today but could be gone tomorrow! Dr. Charles Stanley said: “If you plan to trust Christ at the 11th hour you better not die at 10:30!” Some say “revival” doesn’t last long. I believe it was D.L. Moody said: “True, but either does a bath but it helps to take one periodically.” Revival exists to Exalt the Savior, Encourage the Saints, Evangelize the Sinner and remind all to Expect the Son because Jesus is coming back!

If your church has hit a wall spiritually or numerically, I would encourage you to pray about bringing in a God called evangelist to minister to your precious church family. We have scores of friends that we would be honored to recommend and they have dedicated their lives to staying on the front lines desiring to build God’s KINGdom and bless the local church whom have a heart for pastors. Evangelists are a treat NOT a threat. The most exciting part of football is the two minute warning. Have you ever noticed that more things transpire in the last 120 seconds than the first three quarters? In my heart, God gave me a word: MINISTRY – URGENCY = CATOSTROPHE!! With urgency, we find an alarm, alertness and players come ALIVE in the final moments. Some preach as if they have 30 years to convey a point. The Evangelist preaches as if he has less than 30 minutes. As a kid, it always seemed that the Lord showed up more in a revival weekend than what happened all year long. This is not an indicment against the pastor but a reminder of the effectiveness of the evangelist. God has two oars in His boat. One is evangelism and the other is discipleship. We all talk discipleship but you cannot be a disciple unless you first made a decision to follow Christ. Most churches got one oar right but the problem is without both in harmony it just makes the ship go in circles. You will never get stuck at sea when both oars are rowing while growing God’s Kingdom.

I have prayed for three decades (I turn 39 next month) that God would use me to be part of the stage crew for the Second Coming of Christ. Just last week, I had the privilege to preach revival at First Baptist Church of Hagerstown. God showed up and we witnessed on the last night over 3/4 of the entire church come forward for not only re-dedication but to pray for their precious pastor. Evangelists don’t need a crowd or coliseum to do the work of the Lord. Just an invitation and the power of the Holy Spirit.

What fans love the most about football are the “Throwback Jerseys.” It brings us back to a time of our youth. Its nostalgic for fans but neccesary for saints. Pray about THROWING BACK REVIVAL on your church calendar. Your members will love it and Jesus would be well pleased. God only had one Son and He was an evangelist (John 14:6). His last act in death on the cross was evangelistic by leading the thief to salvation. If it was the first thing on His mind in life and His last act in death than that should be the focus of every born again believer. The clock is ticking, souls are dying and now is the time to SCORE for the Savior.

The Bible notes: “He that WINNETH souls is wise.” The rewards are later but now is not the time for retreat. We are smart when we REJOICE, RESPECT and pray for REVIVAL. Here I am Lord, send me www.FrankShelton.com