Stopping People From Running Into the Pit

This morning we began our annual Missions emphasis at our church. During one of the praise & worship songs, Mighty To Save, (the lyrics talk about our mighty God's power and His salvation) I remembered an incident from the middle 80s that I related to our 8:15 AM service congregation. Kathy and I were serving on the staff of the PTL Television Network and I was also on the pastoral staff of Heritage Village Church. It was a holiday weekend and PTL usually had many holiday events, including All Night Sings. All the greats in gospel music were invited. That weekend Maude Aimee Humbard was one of the singing guests and her husband, Pastor Rex Humbard, was along for the trip. He was the long time pastor of The Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio, and at one time reached more people around the world by television than any other Christian broadcast.

Rex Humbard was driven by the task of preaching and leading people to Christ. He was known as a "soul winner", a person who has a single focus of leading people to Jesus. On this particular weekend, during the early hours of the morning, while the All Night Sing was going on in the main auditorium, I went behind the auditorium into a large hallway where there were refreshments and chairs for performers to sit on. Rex was there all by himself, sitting in a chair near the refreshments. I asked if I could sit down and talk with him. He said yes. In the course of our conversation, I asked him what had started him on the ministry path of being so focused on leading people to Christ. He told me about an early dream or vision he had. "I was driving on a rural road. As I drove past a large field, I noticed many cars pulled over and people running to the center of the field. My curiosity got the better of me and I stopped my car and started walking toward the center of the field. As I got closer to the center, I realized that there was a large pit in the center. Many people tried to hold themselves back, but they couldn't and fell screaming into the pit. Others, as they were running, never even slowed down and fell into the pit. I immediately realized that this was an opening to Hell and I had to stop people from falling into the pit."

This was near the end of his public ministry. Probably close to 50 years of preaching and teaching. As he told me the story, I could tell he had the same passion, and the story was just as real that night as it was when he first experienced it. Incredible. Are there any more Rex Humbards out there?