Inspire, Fall/Winter 2011

Study Tour of Israel Join Dr. Bill Brown and Dr. Bob Gromacki on a May 8–18, 2012 Follow the footsteps of Jesus and heroes of the faith who walked before us through biblically significant sites. Caesarea Mount Carmel Megiddo Mount Arbel Sea of Galilee Dead Sea Masada En Gedi Qumran Jerusalem Visit cedarville.edu/studytour to make your reservation. Register now to reserve your spot! All of a sudden, the doors flew open, and police officers came running down the aisle. They were dripping wet and in a hurry. Up on the platform they came, with their blaring walkie-talkies and all-business demeanor. They approached the school president who was sitting beside me, so I heard the urgent news. The officer in charge said, “A tornado is coming this way. You must get the students out of this room as quickly as possible.” We were directed into rooms without windows and told to get down low. We couldn’t see what was going on outside, and so we didn’t have a sense of how immediate the danger was. Word eventually came that we could go back upstairs. I didn’t know if they were going to go forward with the service. When we got back into the chapel, there was a new atmosphere of seriousness among the students. We sang a couple more songs and then I got up to preach. Five minutes into the message, the entire chapel went black. The generators had failed, and every emergency light was out. The students started murmuring, but I clearly sensed that God wasn’t finished with us yet. Since the microphone died with the lights, I whistled for attention and then yelled into the darkness, “There is no way in the world that we’re going to let an electrical problem get in the way of what God wants to do in our lives here tonight!” The students cheered and somebody put a flashlight in my hand. For the next 45 minutes I preached my heart out, even though I could barely see my notes and not a single face in the massive auditorium. I closed in prayer, and then the students began to sing spontaneously. First quietly, but then incredibly, they chorused the great hymns of the faith at the top of their lungs for well over an hour. No instruments, no song leader, no lights, no words — just powerful, heartfelt expressions of praise and thanksgiving to God. It was one of the most moving things I have ever experienced in my life. We later learned the tornado came right over the school. Cars were damaged; tree limbs and debris were everywhere. Ten minutes later, the tornado touched down in another spot. Several people were killed, and many more evacuated as houses, retail outlets, and at least two churches were demolished. Meanwhile, God had the full and undivided attention of that campus as we recognized in a fresh, new way how we take the simple things of life for granted, but God sends a little wind, and, apart from His grace, we can all be gone in a moment. Dr. James MacDonald founded Harvest Bible Chapel in Illinois and has a national radio broadcast called Walk in the Word . Fouad Masri (January 10) Founder of The Crescent Project Indianapolis, Indiana crescentproject.org Chris Williamson (January 24–25) Founder and Senior Pastor of Strong Tower Bible Church Franklin, Tennessee strongtowerbiblechurch.com Nicole Braddock Bromley (February 21) Founder and Director of OneVoice Enterprises Columbus, Ohio onevoiceenterprises.com Samuel Rodriguez (March 29) President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference Sacramento, California nhclc.org Save your seat in chapel to hear these engaging speakers. Listen online at cedarville.edu/chapel . ______________________________________________________________________ But God Sends a Little Wind On September 20, 2000, during Dr. James MacDonald’s fall Bible conference presentation, a tornado forced students to evacuate the chapel. Dr. MacDonald writes about this experience in his book, Lord, Change My Attitude (Before It’s Too Late) . The following is an excerpt from his book, reprinted with permission. Listen anytime to Cedarville chapel online at cedarville.edu/chapel . “Since the microphone died with the lights, I whistled for attention and then yelled into the darkness.” 24 FALL/WINTER 2011 chapel notes