Great Awakening Tour Tampa – Rodney Howard Browne

When we had a break, he looked over at me. He recognized
me and said, “You’re that preacher who goes around with
that joy stuff,” and started verbally attacking me ten feet from
where the stone was rolled away!

I’m thinking, Hello? Something’s wrong with this picture.
I said, “Excuse me, sir, did you know that when this stone
was rolled away, the people around this tomb fell as dead men?
Did you know that when they heard that He was risen, they were
filled with joy— and they weren’t just smiling. And besides that,
you just got through telling me the story, and you even got a little
excited for yourself that the stone was rolled away and that He
is risen. Yet you attack me for traveling around the world with
‘that joy stuff.’”

I can’t help it if I get excited about what He did two thousand
years ago! It’s not just something off the pages of a history
book; it’s something that is real. He is alive, He is risen and He’s
living in my heart. And I can’t be quiet!

They can say we are radical. They can say we’re overboard.
But I will not be quiet, because He’s alive and He lives on
the inside of me. I’ve got something to shout about. I’ve got
something to rejoice about. He is risen! The stone is rolled away!
He’s alive forevermore! Hallelujah!

Jesus, the joy of my salvation. It’s not, “Jesus, the depression
of my salvation.” It’s not, “Jesus, the sadness of my
salvation.”

If you watch the Easter services in churches all over the
world on television, you’d think it was a mass funeral. They stand
there, with a sad look on their faces, droning somberly, ‘And we
are so thankful today that He died for us, that He arose again, and
that He is Lord.” Where’s the joy?

The reality of the resurrection is more than just words. It’s
the joy of our salvation and it’s emotional! I guarantee you, a
month after the resurrection, those disciples were still excited
about it. Somebody said, “Now, don’t overdo it, we know He rose
from the dead, but don’t get too excited about it. We’ve heard the
story before, but let’s be more mature about this thing now.”

I want to tell you, this is not something that we “psych”
ourselves into. This is not just a temporary emotional high. You
can wake me up at two o’clock in the morning and I’ll feel the
same way It has nothing to do with emotions gone awry Jesus has
touched me. He’s changed me. And I just have to tell somebody!

Have you ever had some good news in the natural, and you
couldn’t wait to run and tell your friends? They don’t know what
news you’ve got and you say, “You won’t believe this! You’ve got
to see it! Remember how sad we were because He was dead?

Well, He’s not dead anymore, buddy! I just came from the tomb!”
Our critics say the Christian walk is not to be based on
experience. But I want you to know that the whole of life is experience.
When a woman gives birth to a baby, it’s an experience.
She can’t say, “Well, I want to give birth to this baby but I don’t
want to have an experience. I don’t want this birth to be based on
experience.”

Your whole life is experience. You ride a roller coaster
and you have an experience. If you plug your finger into a light
socket, you will have an experience. When you get married, you
have an experience. Everyone should have the opportunity to
experience a mother-in-law! It’s an experience. Everything in life
is an experience. You go eat at certain restaurants because you
like the dining experience.

Teachings of Rodney Howard Browne

Read more about Rodney Howard Browne and the Revival Ministries on his other blogs and websites:

Squidoo | Rodney Howard-Browne

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InsaneJournal | Rodney Howard Browne