- Home
- Speakers
- Bob Jennings
- Revival Holy Chaos
Revival - Holy Chaos
Bob Jennings

Bob Jennings (January 2, 1949 – November 6, 2012) was an American preacher and pastor whose ministry focused on biblical fidelity, prayer, and preparing believers for eternity, leaving a profound impact within evangelical circles. Born in Kirksville, Missouri, to a family that shaped his early faith, he surrendered to Christ as a young man and began preaching in 1978 alongside Charles Leiter in Kirksville. In 1983, he became an elder at Highway M Chapel in Sedalia, Missouri, where he co-pastored for nearly three decades, emphasizing sound doctrine and a vibrant church community. Married to Terri since around 1970, he raised five children—Jared, Zachary, Evan, and two daughters—instilling in them the same spiritual devotion. Jennings’ preaching career gained wider reach through conferences, such as those with HeartCry Missionary Society alongside Paul Washer, and university outreaches in the U.S. and Eastern Europe, where his sermons on sin, grace, and Christ’s return resonated deeply. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, he chronicled his journey in an online journal (bobjenningsjournal.wordpress.com), offering meditations like “The most important thing in life is to be ready for death,” preached at a 2008 funeral. His final sermon, “Behold the Lamb of God” (2012), and a farewell letter to Sedalia reflect his unwavering hope in Christ. He died at 63, his sons having built his casket, buried in a rural Missouri cemetery after a life of humble, resolute ministry.
Download
Topic
Sermon Summary
This sermon recounts powerful moves of the Spirit in various settings, from log cabin Bible school prayer meetings to impactful evangelistic gatherings where people were deeply convicted of sin and sought God fervently. It highlights the transformative work of God in individuals' lives, leading to confession, repentance, and encounters with His love and grace. The emphasis is on the authority and clarity given by God to those who preach His Word, resulting in profound spiritual awakenings and the magnification of Christ above all else.
Sermon Transcription
I suppose you could call it revival, but it was a move of the spirit anyway. It wasn't really any historic revival, but as we think of, you know, where cities were swept into the kingdom and overnight, that type of thing. But one of the most outstanding things in my mind was, like I say, I was up there with Keith MacLeod for eight months, I believe it was, and we made it a practice to meet for open-ended prayer every day, if not twice a day. And there was about four of us, so it was just sort of a log cabin Bible school type of thing. But it was just a matter of meeting every day for preaching and prayer, that's all it was. And so in the middle of that time, Keith had accepted an invitation to hold meetings at a big evangelical Mennonite church. And so we began to pray regularly for those meetings that were coming up. I suppose we prayed for maybe four months every day. And when the meetings began in Weimark, Saskatchewan, God came in power in the very first meeting. I mean, in the very first meeting, God was there in power. People were weeping. People were coming to the front. He never gave any altar call. He didn't believe in an altar call. But people, they couldn't take it. They could not keep their seats. They got up and they went to the front and they were confessing their sins. And every night, as I recall, there was probably 20, 30, 40 people up front there doing business with God. Every night the meetings lasted until 1, 2, and 3 o'clock with people asking for help. They were in distress of soul. I remember one young girl. She was about 12 years old. It was 10 minutes before she could even talk. She was under such deep conviction. And so we got to bed like at 4 o'clock every night, you know. And sometimes people couldn't wait even until the sermon was over. I mean, they were crying out under conviction of sin, and he would have to stop preaching and ask the pastor to take them to the basement. I remember one fellow. He was under such conviction of sin. It was like he was just screaming. And as the pastor took him to the basement, you could hear him crying down there like an animal going to the slaughter. And so it was a very powerful time. People were starting to come from many miles away. You know, the report was spreading. I know Keith McLeod said if he had any regrets. At the end of the time, if he had any regret, it was that he didn't continue the meetings longer. And so at the end of the time, it was estimated that half of the church, there was probably 300 or 400 people attending, half of the church either had a fresh or a new meeting with God. Brother McLeod, he said that every night, it was like he could hardly wait to get into the pulpit. He was full of unvented wine. God just gave him such authority, such clarity, such utterance, such an ability to magnify Christ. I mean, it was like when he was done with his sermon, every tree in the forest was chopped down except one. Just one was left standing. It was like he just cleaned the slate and knocked down every idol, routed every sin. Christ alone was left standing. I remember one time, one woman right in the middle of the sermon, she was under such conviction, she just stood up and called out across the aisle and asked somebody else for forgiveness in the middle of the sermon. It was holy chaos. One time, another remarkable thing, about a half a year after I was converted, when I was a member of a fraternity at Iowa State, so about a half a year after I was converted, this company that I was working for, they were going to have a regional meeting back in the town where I had gone to college. And so I thought maybe this would be an opportunity to organize a gospel meeting for my fraternity brothers. And so this fellow who was friendly with me, he set up this meeting for a gospel meeting after the supper in the living room. And probably about 40 guys gathered in there. Oh yeah, another older Christian by the name of Baylor Zupke from northeast Iowa, he came down, and also my brother was there and another fellow. So anyway, here Baylor was sharing the gospel with these fraternity brothers. And God began to settle in. And what was designed to be a 40 minute meeting in that living room floor, guys sitting around, it turned out to be, as I recall, it was about seven hours before we were done that night. And one fellow sitting there just came under conviction and began to weep and cry out in front of all of these fraternity brothers, calling on the Lord. And there was conversations going on up in the rooms. And people would leave. Some had to go leave for wrestling practice at 8 o'clock type of thing. And here when they got done with wrestling practice, they came back in and sat down again. Couldn't get away. One fellow came in and he heard what was going on and he was pretty huffy. You know, what's going on in there? And he came in and just kind of blowing smoke. And it wasn't but about two minutes before Baylor had his Bible open and this guy was just eaten out of his hand. Another guy came in, a former roommate of mine, and I said, hey, Wayne, come on in. The living room here. We're having a Gospel meeting. And he mocked and said, I don't need that such and such. And you know what? It was about a year later and I heard that this guy had committed suicide. Yeah, his girlfriend left him. And he put the shotgun to the roof of his mouth. Maybe a couple years after I was converted, I began to see the narrowness of the narrow way. And I began to wonder, am I really in or not? And I was sharing this with an older Christian and he began to just share some Bible verses with me where I could evaluate myself. And I remember God just deeply whispering to my soul, that's enough, that's enough, Bob. Don't question it anymore. You are mine. And it was not long after that where I was in a meeting one night and a missionary was back from Italy and he was sharing about the fatherhood of God. God's fatherhood, His tender care as a father. And God settled in. And I don't know if anybody else felt it like I did, but it was, for me, special. And I was just being melted, melted, melted as he was talking. And after the meeting, probably three-fourths of the church congregation had left. There was just a few of us hanging around talking about the things of God. And this older saint, he came up to me and shared a truth with me. And I mean, my heart, I just was flooded with the love of God right there. And this fellow, he says, men, let's gather for prayer. We had a time of prayer in the back of that church building. And I don't remember anything ever like it before or since where all I could say was Abba, Father at the top of my voice. It was just the most special time for me that I've ever had. I think that's the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children.
Revival - Holy Chaos
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download

Bob Jennings (January 2, 1949 – November 6, 2012) was an American preacher and pastor whose ministry focused on biblical fidelity, prayer, and preparing believers for eternity, leaving a profound impact within evangelical circles. Born in Kirksville, Missouri, to a family that shaped his early faith, he surrendered to Christ as a young man and began preaching in 1978 alongside Charles Leiter in Kirksville. In 1983, he became an elder at Highway M Chapel in Sedalia, Missouri, where he co-pastored for nearly three decades, emphasizing sound doctrine and a vibrant church community. Married to Terri since around 1970, he raised five children—Jared, Zachary, Evan, and two daughters—instilling in them the same spiritual devotion. Jennings’ preaching career gained wider reach through conferences, such as those with HeartCry Missionary Society alongside Paul Washer, and university outreaches in the U.S. and Eastern Europe, where his sermons on sin, grace, and Christ’s return resonated deeply. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, he chronicled his journey in an online journal (bobjenningsjournal.wordpress.com), offering meditations like “The most important thing in life is to be ready for death,” preached at a 2008 funeral. His final sermon, “Behold the Lamb of God” (2012), and a farewell letter to Sedalia reflect his unwavering hope in Christ. He died at 63, his sons having built his casket, buried in a rural Missouri cemetery after a life of humble, resolute ministry.