The Revival

Subtitles by explosiveskull

No man has seen God at any time.

John 1:18.

How do you define God?

If you look at Christianity, Judaism, Islam.

Each group, we all define God differently.

And our definitions are based on our culture,

our geography, our experiences.

Amen, Brother Eli.

There's a great comfort in defining things.

Labeling them.

It gives us a sense of control.

But, if we define something,

aren't we saying that we understand it?

Aren't we limiting it with our own perspective?

I love Jesus.

Thank you, Brother Trevor.

All right.

As you all know, we have a little potluck

after the service down in the, um...

Fellowship Hall.

Thank you, Miss Martha.

The Fellowship Hall.

You should all try some of my wife's Tater Tot casserole.

All right.

Thanks so much for coming.

See you all next Sunday.

Oh, Trevor. How are you doing?

I've got great news for you, Preacher.

Oh, yeah?

I got the Southern Baptist Board of Churches

coming down here in two weeks.

Why would they be interested in coming down?

Well, I just happened to know their head talent scout,

Brother Charles Bucky. (chuckles)

He and I actually went to huntin' camp together as kids.

I'm the one who actually drug him to the nurse

after I shot out his eye.

Well, my father never joined the board, so I...

Your father drew 400.

Manuel Baptist is the church.

Emmanuel Baptist just gives out door prizes.

Well, maybe we should give something out, too.

Besides the Word?

I'm gonna go welcome the visitor.

All right.

Good talking to you.

Hello, brother.

I haven't seen you in church before.

I'm glad you made it to the potluck.

Do you want to come over

and meet the rest of the congregation?

Okay.

You want some time by yourself.

I can respect that.

I just wanted to come over here and introduce myself.

I'm Brother Eli.

I'm the pastor here at First Baptist.

Okay.

Well, enjoy your food.

I like your hands.

Excuse me?

Your hands.

They're pretty.

Like you ain't never done anything with 'em.

Well, I've done things with my hands.

Like what?

Well, I do my studies.

I wrote my sermon with my hands.

Church got any place for folks to stay?

Unfortunately, we can't have people staying in the church

because of insurance reasons.

You got any place I can stay?

June.

Oh, um.

This is my wife.

What was your name?

Daniel.

Daniel, Daniel.

Hello.

Daniel, we have a nice service on Sunday nights

at six o'clock with a nice worship band.

You're more than welcome...

It's good to meet you.

All right.

He might come.

Yeah, you never know.

If you've been born again

and you have the love of God in your heart,

then you are called to spread his message.

When I go out soul winning,

I go in assuming that they are gonna get saved.

Now, you may say, Brother Aaron,

it doesn't always happen that way.

Like seeds falling on hard soil some...

And sure, there are gonna be days

when you're giving it your all.

You're knocking on doors, you're passing out pamphlets,

you're stopping people at Walmart.

Something on your mind?

No.

And still folks don't get saved.

But, you know what?

We need to expect that the Word of God

is gonna change people.

We preach with conviction expecting something to happen.

Praise the Lord, that's a biggin.

Yeah.

Follow me.

Did you freeze up?

Most people do on the first time out.

No, I had no intention on shooting anything.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I almost shot your son.

That's all right.

I got a spare at home.

God bless you, brother.

Hey, He does.

Every single day.

Come on.

Oh, yeah.

Best part of huntin' is the cleanin'.

Most people talk about the trackin' and the shootin'.

Hangin' with their buddies.

Not me.

No.

For me, huntin' is something you do with God.

I like the blood.

Not the sight of it as much as the feel of it.

It feels like life.

Like hot liquid life.

It's exhilarating.

You know, sometimes I get all dressed up for work

in my suit, and my tie, my hair all gelled.

And I'll spot some blood on my forearm,

or under my nails, or on my chin.

Just between you and me, I don't clean it off.

Nope, I keep it with me throughout the workday.

I figure if an employee sees it

maybe it'll make 'em work a little bit harder.

That blood is life.

People respect, and even fear a man,

who can grab ahold of life.

Take it.

Take it.

You know, offerings this week was the lowest it's been

since the first year this church has existed.

I'm aware.

The congregation's grumbling.

What do you mean they're grumbling?

Some folks, not me, of course,

but some folks are talking about bringing in

another pastor if things don't improve.

That's my father's church.

They can't take it away from me.

If they voted you out,

there ain't a whole lot you could do about it.

Look, I am on your side.

I'm the one who got the Southern Baptist Board of Churches

to come down here.

Come on.

That's exciting, man.

What do we do?

Okay, okay.

First, I need you to bring your sermons

down to the congregation a little more, you know?

People around here like to feel like

something's happening in their souls

and sometimes you're just trying to make a little too much

happen in their brains.

So, let's bring back some questions, you know?

A call and response.

Who loves Jesus?

Well, I love Jesus.

I love Jesus, too.

I don't know, give 'em something else to do

besides just sitting there listening to to you ramble.

You think I ramble?

I outline my sermons three times.

Forget I said that.

I'm sorry.

I told the board that the week they is coming down,

that that was the week of our annual revival.

Our annual revival?

Yeah, we gotta get the town behind us, you know?

Singin', dancin', rededicatin'.

That sort of thing.

Get as many people out as we possibly can.

Put up signs, grill up hot dogs, potlucks,

whatever we need.

Just make a good first impression.

I've no doubt that you can be a good preacher.

It takes time.

Folks know that.

All I'm saying is now is the time.

Some folks, they're gonna get to Heaven

and get many crowns, and many rewards.

And other folks are gonna get saved

by the hairs of their chin.

If God gave us what we all deserve,