The first major revival I ever preached was in a Baptist church in Ladonia, Texas. I knew I’d reached the big time when I preached in a place like Ladonia. At that time, 809 happy people welcomed you to that city when you drove in.
I’d never been there before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Of course, I thought I was going to preach in a building. I found out later, that wasn’t the way it was going to be. We drove into town, and I saw this beautiful Baptist church with white pillars. I thought, “Praise God! Owww! Can these things be? Glory! I’ve hit the big time. I’m going to preach in a church with white pillars in front. Glory to God.”
I asked, “Is this where we’re going to preach?”
“Uh, no,” said the man driving me around. “No, not exactly.”
“Not exactly?”
He told me I wasn’t going to preach there. In fact, he told me I wasn’t going to be preaching in a building at all. Instead, I was going to preach in a man’s field.
We drove out to a cow pasture! Out in the middle of this cow pasture were a bunch of sticks stuck into the ground, half cut, with chicken wire on top of them. On top of that was grass and tree limbs. This, I found out, was where I was going to be preaching. I was a little confused.
“What if it rains?” I asked.
“Well, you’ll get wet.”
“Oh, I said. “Well, praise God. Okay.”
Now, you’ve got to understand, I’m a Cajun boy. Cajuns don’t see much pastureland; Cajuns see swamps. That night, I was seeing pasture, man. I could see pasture everywhere – pasture and some cows.
“They’ve got cows out here,” I commented.
“Yeah,” he said. “The man who owns the field also owns the cows.”
“Well, aren’t you going to get the cows out of the pasture before I start to preach?” I asked.
“Well, no, we can’t get the cows out because then we couldn’t use the pasture,” he told me.
“Well, suppose the cows come in when I’m preaching,” I asked.
“Oh, they won’t come in. They don’t like people.”
“Okay,” I said, “You sure?”
“I’m sure,” he said.
That was the first lying Baptist I ever met in my life! That night I went to preach out there in an 890-acre cow pasture, and all we had in the whole place were 34 people and a couple of cows. Thirty-four people and a couple of cows looked like an awfully small gathering in the middle of 890 acres of pastureland.
So they turned the service over to me, and after about 20 minutes the people were looking at their watches. I am not exaggerating. I’m telling you, it was amazing. I had just started to preach, and they were looking to see what time it was. They were trying to tell me, “It’s time to shut her down.”
So I started to wind it up, glory to God. I said, “Everybody, bow your heads and close your eyes.” Boy, I was excited. I was ready for God to use me. God was going to use me, and I knew it. But, I’ll tell you what was really about to happen. God was about to fall off the throne with laughter.
I bowed my head along with everybody else. I told everybody, “Nobody look around.” I had heard somebody say that once, and I thought it sounded really spiritual. So I used it at my meeting. “Bow your heads,” I told those folks. “Nobody look around! If you don’t know Jesus tonight, and you’d like to meet Him, I’m going to ask you right now, with every head bowed and every eye closed…”
I asked anyone who wanted to get saved to come on up and receive Jesus. My eyes were closed, so I didn’t know who was coming. But all of the sudden I heard, “Moooooo!”
I opened my eyes and saw a great big cow standing at the altar. My first convert was going to be a cow! A cow came into that service to receive Jesus. People starting laughing, but it was not funny. I wanted to quit preaching right there. I was so mad at God. I could just see God sitting on the throne and saying, “Look! A cow! Why, that boy’s got power. He’s got cows coming to the altar.”
I was so embarrassed. I was up there earnestly asking for people to get saved, and instead of people, I got a cow. The cow was up there just looking at me with blank eyes. He didn’t know why he was up there.
“Can somebody get this cow out of here?” I asked.
I found out later that there was a reason that cow came up to receive Jesus. The very next week, they took that cow to the slaughterhouse. That’s what the owner told me. I guess the cow had to get his life right before he went to meet his Maker.
I got back to where I was sleeping that night and thought I was such a failure, but the Lord told me, “Jesse, you obeyed Me. You did what I asked you to, and I will honor it.” I preached there the next night and the night after that. All in all, I preached there a week, and those people blessed me. They really did. They blessed me.
God may have you do things that seem like a failure to you, but with God it’s not a failure. You can’t always see what God is doing behind the scenes for you. The reason you don’t always see God doing something is not that He’s being passive.
He’s waiting for you to speak the Word. And when you step out on the Word of God, He reveals what He’s been doing behind the scenes. He’ll honor His Word when you’re faithful to proclaim it.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”