My Story (Part 6) - The End of Revival

Read Part 5

To this day, I don't know exactly what happened.  Partly because I was young.  Partly because I wasn't "in the know."  Partly because it seemed to happen so quickly, although I suspect things were brewing long before I realized.  The church that we loved and was so filled with the presence of God had fallen apart.  People were divided.  I know my family had taken a side.  I don't know if we were right or wrong.  In fact, I don't know if either side was right.  I don't even know exactly what we divided over.  All I know is Jesus ceased being our focus.  Well-meaning people, us included, had shifted our focus to personal desires and focusing on people rather than on Christ.  I learned the hard way that revival is a precious thing and the enemy loves to come in and destroy it.  If we are not careful and depending on the Lord, it doesn't take much of the flesh to bring a work of the Spirit to a close.

Pastor Armand Tiffe

Things came to the point where my family knew it was best for us to be among those who would leave the church.  These was deeply painful for us, as our years at Valley View were more precious than words can describe.  We found ourselves at Cornerstone Community Church in a far east side suburb of Cleveland.  The people were great and the worship was more vibrant than what we experienced at Valley View.  The preaching by Pastor Armand Tifffe was solid expository preaching.  It proved to be a healing process for my family after leaving Valley View.  We also had a chance to see a church on the verge of growth.  We met in a YMCA, only using half of the gym.  That quickly expanded to using the entire gym.  God was working in the hearts of people.  So, my senior year of high school was spent in this wonderful church.  But, my heart continued to ache for what had been lost at Valley View.

With some other struggles I had gone through personally at this time, I felt like I was going to head off to college "wounded."  God brought some wonderful people in my life to help me and encourage me through this.  I think I was too focused on some of the negatives to really appreciate what God was giving us at Cornerstone.

The youth leader there was Don.  He owned a painting company and hired me as some summer help, so I could make a few dollars before heading off to Malone.  It was great to work for a Christian man, as we talked about the Word while driving in the van and we listened to Christian radio and Bible teaching on the radio all day long on the job.

By the end of the summer, I was filled with excitement again to head off to my next adventure at college and see what God had in store for me.  

Read Part 7