BIG JOHN HALL

MOBILE, AL -- Big John Hall was in town and he came to my home church at Calvary Assembly of God. You might have seen him in the Bill Gaither sing-alongs but you really don’t know him until you hear his voice. him was in the first minister’s conference ever held at Brownsville Assembly of God.

I remember when Pastor John Kilpatrick introduced him on stage. It was with a smile on his face that he called John Hall forth. Immediately Big John launched into his song. It was the first time I had ever heard him sing. Make no mistake about it, God was in his voice. The big booming voice began to sing "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." When his deep voice caressed the Holy Place, your whole heart, mind, and spirit came to attention. Tears flowed as the mighty voice went forth. If you were there that day, you would have felt the rush of emotion as the Spirit flooded and stirred the people. I guess that memory will always stand out about him. He has been well placed in time because when you sit and talk to him you understand his heart. God has specially placed him with several of the anointed vessels of our time. He spoke about his venture into Alabama, as thunderstorms canceled flights and luggage was lost at the Atlanta airport, getting three hours of sleep and then singing before the place where he was called to sing. "I’m not going to let the devil rob me of my joy. I had a few hours to get to a place that was several miles away. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and God would make sure that I was in place to sing when the time comes to minister. He has never failed me yet." Sure enough, there was Big John Hall standing before Calvary Assembly of God for a Sunday night service with only three hours of sleep the night before.

What has this move of God meant to him? It all started at Carpenter’s Home Church in Florida. Rodney Howard-Browne was in revival there and the power of God was falling as men’s lives were being changed. At that time Big John had an interest in football as both of his favorite teams were playing in the Super Bowl. "I wanted to know what was going on but the place to where God had sent me was exploding. The anointing was falling and we were in three services a day. I had never been in anything like it in my life. We would start a service at 10 in the morning and not leave until 2:30 that afternoon. We would come back at 5 PM and go to midnight just to get back up the next morning to do it all again. The presence and the atmosphere of God was so much in that place -- you didn’t want to leave even though it was time to go home. You know I had never seen church in this manner. We had no time for anything at all but church. We couldn’t wait until the next service because the anointing was so heavy in the building and all you had to do is sit and soak in the presence of God. Make no mistake about it. God was in the house. Time went by and we didn’t know what time it was because we were under the power from the time we entered the building until we left. It seemed as if we were going to church around the clock."

I remember getting back to the hotel room with the paper and the story of the game. As I opened up the paper to read about the game, something said to me on the inside, ‘Do you see how unimportant this is?’ I knew God was doing something in my life as the power of the anointing began to come into me. My life and entire ministry would change from this point on." He looked right into my eyes and said, "You know it was like being born again. I’m not saying I was lost but this new awareness of God has pumped a life force into my ministry that I had never had before. God was changing me and the things I thought were so important were not any more."

"Later on Rodney Howard-Browne came to my home church at Calvary Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas. For six weeks my pastor saw the church visited by the great river of Revival. My pastor, Bob Nichols, is one of the greatest pastors in the world. He has always been there when I’ve needed him. But during the six weeks this revival hit our church, we felt the change come in our whole environment there. We have not been the same and don’t even want to go back to the way it used to be. Let me tell you this river of God has been a lifeblood to me and several others that have been in it."