Christian world mourns well-known tent crusade evangelist T.L Lowery

T.L. Lowery, the well-known evangelist who spent more than seven decades in ministry and helped win thousands to Christ, went to be with the Lord on Sunday, his family announced.

He was 87.

The Pentecostal icon celebrated his 70th year in ministry in 2014, according to the T.L. Lowery Global Foundation. He is perhaps best known for the 15-plus years he spent traveling the globe with a 10,000-seat tent, preaching the gospel in 115 countries and each of the United States.

During his tent crusades, Lowery’s name “was synonymous with spiritual power, fire-from-heaven sermons and miraculous healings,” according to the foundation, which lists testimonies from dozens of people who said they have been touched by Lowery’s ministry.

A woman identified as June Sandifer wrote she was born with crossed eyes, but she was healed after her mother brought her to one of Lowey’s tent services in Tifton, Georgia, in 1962.

“She took me through the pray line that night, and The Lord performed a miracle right there,” Sandifer wrote of the service. “I remember Bro. T.L. told me to walk across the front (of) the tent so everyone could see what The Lord had done. I was six years old. I still believe in miracles.”

According to the foundation, the Georgia-born Lowery accepted Christ in 1943, about two weeks before his 14th birthday. In the next 11 years, he pastored four churches, married his wife and welcomed the birth of his son. He became a full-time evangelist in 1954 and preached around the world until 1969, when he was named senior pastor at the North Cleveland Church of God.

Lowery served at that church until 1974, according to the foundation, and also served as the pastor of the National Church of God in the Washington, D.C. area from 1981 to 1996.

Lowery’s son, Stephen, is currently the bishop of the latter church. He announced the evangelist’s death on the foundation’s website.

“He has been an evangelist, pastor, author, friend, mentor, and father. But, most of all, he was an ambassador of the Kingdom of God,” he wrote. “We, of course, do not have arrangements in place. As soon as we do, they will be posted. Please pray for our strength and wisdom.”

News of Lowery’s passing quickly circulated through the Christian community, with several popular evangelists testifying about how Lowery has shaped their lives.

Perry Stone spoke about Lowery’s passing on Periscope, a video streaming service, on Sunday morning, calling the preacher “one of my great mentors.”

“The first miracle I ever saw was in his ministry,” Stone said.

According to the foundation, Lowery once said “As the fire of God burns within us, we will walk in His righteousness and power.”

It’s clear that the fire of God burnt within Lowery, as he had a significant impact on the Christian community. He will be missed here on Earth, but we at Morningside take comfort in knowing he now is able to walk in God’s righteousness and power for all of eternity.

Pastor Jim Bakker Talks With Rick Wiles of TruNews Radio

TruNews interview with Pastor Jim Bakker and Rick Wiles

Pastor Jim Bakker sat down with Rick Wiles of TruNews Radio to share the history of Christian media and discuss its promising future. How is the Church going to be able to use broadcast during the turbulent times spoken about in the book of Revelation?

Listen to the interview in its entirety to find out what God’s Vision is for the future of Christian media!

Unchurched Americans More Resistant To Evangelism Than Ever Before

A new study from Barna Group says that unchurched Americans are more hostile toward evangelism than ever in the country’s history.

The survey says that since 1993, the number of unchurched Americans who would be open to attending church if invited by a friend was down from 65 percent to 47 percent.

The study showed that most people open to visiting church did so because of personal invitations from friends they knew well.  Advertising and impersonal contacts such as cold phone calls were shown to have more negative than positive impact on those who do not attend church.

“The gap between the churched and the churchless is growing, and it appears that Christian communities of faith will struggle more than ever to engage church outsiders in their neighborhood, town or city,” Barna Group President David Kinnaman told the Christian Post.

He said that secular society has taken aggressive steps to make Christians seem “increasingly alien and difficult to understand.”