Looking around today at our cold, secular society it is hard to believe that just sixty years ago faith in Jesus Christ was considered mainstream and respected. In 1957, when I was 14, there was a great revival with the power of the Holy Spirit spreading like a wildfire throughout our nation. That year the number one song on both the pop and country music stations was, “The Three Bells” by the Browns. Here is the YouTube link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTkbj56bnYs as you listen to the words, try to imagine that song receiving one play on a pop or even a country station today. That song has emotional meaning for me not just because of my first name, but because I was 20 when I married my love and now only the third bell lies ahead for me. (That last bell tolled for Jim Ed Brown last year.) Our society has come a long way since 1957, but in the wrong direction.
Don’t get me wrong, our society was far from perfect back then. The enemy was stirring up racial hatred and fear in an effort to divide and segregate us. But the revival of faith strongly challenged that evil. Don’t let anyone tell you that the civil rights movement was political or secular and limited to the black community. That movement came about as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men and women of all races. I know because my heart was one of those affected.
I want to share with you two of my personal experiences from that era of racial unrest. The first was in the fall of 1961. I was in training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. One Friday evening I was in downtown Biloxi and saw the lights of a football stadium in the distance. I walked toward those lights and began to hear the cheering crowd of what appeared to be a high school football game. An older black gentleman asked me if I was from the base and when I said that I was he told me I was in the wrong part of town and I should get back to the base for my own safety. He said, “You have nothing to fear from us, but if the police catch you in this part of town you’ll be in big trouble.” I still remember that gentleman fondly as my guardian angel.
The second experience took place seven months later and nearly eight thousand miles from Biloxi, when I began my tour of duty on Okinawa. I was assigned as analyst on the second shift working with the current analyst who was due to rotate back to the States in a few weeks. Ernest Lawrence, Jr. was a young black airman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He seemed surprised when I pulled my chair up close to him and paid attention to everything he shared with me about the job. Sometimes things got slow on the night shift so we would drink coffee and share our personal experiences. As a result, we became good friends. On more than one occasion we would continue our conversation in the mess hall while grabbing some breakfast before retiring. At times I received vile comments and even threats for simply sitting with Ernie and talking with him, but they were people whose opinion meant nothing to me and they were too cowardly to make good on the threats. Schools were being integrated and Ernie’s dream was to attend LSU. We lost track of each other but I sometimes wonder if Ernie ever made it to LSU. He was bright and articulate so if he did I know he was successful.
Now for the good news: another great revival is coming to our nation as God works in the hearts of men and women. I can feel it and it is just as powerful as it was back then. It will break through the walls of our churches with the power of the Holy Spirit and overflow into every aspect of our society. I may not live to see it come to full fruition, but you young believers have the glorious opportunity to take part in it and see the power of the Holy Spirit heal our nation’s wounds once again.