Bright Light: A Lifetime of Seeing God at Work

Book excerpt: Bright Light tells the story of God visibly at work in and through the life of pastor and revivalist Harold Burchett, now (March 2016) ninety-one years old. What Harold has seen and reports here are not flashy “signs and wonders” in the traditional sense but other ways that God has unmistakably shown up in Harold’s experience and ministry. He tells his story in three parts. 1. “God’s work in me—first”: from a loving, God-centered childhood into the rough-and-tumble world of a reporter for his local newspaper—and then, while still a teenager, to war in the South Pacific on a U.S. Navy destroyer. Prayers answered in the war zone, along with practices learned for reaching the hearts of his faith-mocking fellow sailors, set a fire in Harold’s heart that shapes his entire career. 2. “God’s work in my public ministry”: scenes from Harold’s life as an itinerant evangelist and settled pastor. Through prayer and with total confidence in God’s power to change lives on the basis of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, Harold ministers in public settings from New Brunswick to Virginia. He details some of the notable results. 3. “God’s work in my personal encounters”: stories of individuals who experience the Lord’s personal rescue from a wide variety of crippling issues through Harold’s prayers and words. Those early shipboard lessons on how to be a “fisher of men” (Mark 1:17) clearly have paid off! The book concludes with pointed summaries of lessons learned and of life-advice, especially for readers hungry to experience the same Bright Light that Harold has seen.