A church in Tennessee has reportedly baptized more than one thousand people since December.
In a recent report, Faithwire featured Robby Gallaty who is the senior pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He said that after a season of what he describes as "silence and solitude," their church has seen 1,048 baptisms since Dec. 20.
In a Zoom interview, Pastor Gallaty recounted the backstory of the incredible "spontaneous baptisms" at his church.
"Here's what happened. I began sitting with the Lord for 10 months. Then, finally, Dec. 15, 2020, I'm on the porch, and I hear as clear as day these words in my head, after a season of silence and solitude: 'Spontaneous baptism,'" he said.
Gallaty admitted that he had never done nor seen one before but resolved to be obedient to the directive. The next Sunday, according to the pastor, was the lowest attended service in his first year as overseer of Long Hollow. That was the time when Tennessee was grappling with reported cases of COVID-19 infections.
Though the circumstance seemed contrary to the mandate he received, Gallaty was confident that he heard right from the Lord. As if to confirm his faith, 99 people came forward for baptism on that Sunday, says Faithwire.
"I'd never seen anything like this before in my life!" he exclaimed.
Satisfied at the experience, he assumed that the Sunday event was the culmination of the revival he had sought. Apparently, God wasn't finished yet. He gave the pastor another vision on Sunday evening.
"The Lord gave me this visual," he said. "He showed me, 'These are the heavy raindrops, Robby, before the torrential downpour that' coming.'"
Pumped with the latest spiritual breakthrough which transpired at Long Hollow, Gallaty convened with his fellow ministers. The church decided to host a baptism-only service on Tuesday where 81 people reportedly came. That was the beginning of successive baptisms which attracted even those from the outside of the state.
Gallaty said he never asked anyone to show up for baptism in Tennessee but those who did told him that they "felt compelled by the Holy Spirit" to fly to Hendersonville.
So in less than four months, Long Hollow documented over 1000 baptisms of individuals from 15 different states, reports Faithwire. Additionally, each of these newly baptized believers was reportedly "plugged into community groups at Long Hollow or have been encouraged to seek discipleship in their hometowns."
Faithwire noted that Long Hollow has baptized in 162 people in 2018 and 222 in 2019.
"It's a genuine pulling and tugging of the Holy Spirit," declared the preacher.
Gallaty went on to explain that the spiritual awakening they have witnessed as church came after a time of "silence and solitude" with God. The preacher admitted that he had been complaining to the Lord and that he wanted Him to fix everything that's wrong in his church and the country. Two months later, he got an answer from the Lord in the form of a rebuke.
"About two months in, God showed me, 'The problem is not with your church. It's not with your staff. The problem is you. You're the problem,'" recalled the preacher.
Humbled, he did what he had to do to resolve the besetting sins in his life namely pride, jealousy, and arrogance.
So speaking from his experience, Gallaty urged his fellow ministers to also search their hearts before they start making demands from God. He also told Christians to "get out of the Western reciprocity mindset of, 'God if I do this, you do this.'"
"That doesn't work with silence and solitude," he said.
The interview ended with a good note on prayer where Gallaty said, "I'm convinced prayer births revival and revival births prayer."
