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The Charismatic Renewal: As I Experienced It

This will not be a history of revivals or an academic approach. I have been asked to write about the Charismatic Renewal as I experienced it, so this will be a personal account and its impact upon me and many, many others. Only God knows the complete story. I do not consider myself an expert on the topic, but I was a participant.

My Background

My father was a faith missionary in the bayous and swamps of South Louisiana from around 1930 until 1941. My mother like almost all South Louisianians was Roman Catholic, one of 12 children, born to German, French-speaking Cajuns though they did not like that label. My earliest words were French and my memories are rooted there in South Louisiana.

Dad went to South Louisiana because his father; who lived and worked in Alabama, had lost everything during the Great Depression, so Dad had to drop out of college and moved to New Orleans to find work. While in New Orleans, Dad became involved with a church that had a vision to reach the bayou people. In between trips to bayou areas, dad attended what is now New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He also met and married my mother who had received Christ. Because of the difficulty associated with their vision, dad and others involved began weeks of prayer and were powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit. I did not know the full story until many years later, and after I had received my own experience with the Holy Spirit.

In 1941, World War II broke out and at the same time, dad and mom became involved in a small Southern Baptist church in Mobile County, Alabama. In 1942, our family moved there. So I grew up a preacher’s kid in a small community. I met the Lord at age 14. The Lord touched me powerfully, but I had no realization that I had been given to God at birth or what that meant for my future.

I grew up under fervent prayer and Bible preaching for which I am deeply grateful! For a year or two, I remained fervent, but as time went on I “cooled off” and succumbed to my own fleshly desires and teenage culture. While I loved and respected my wonderful parents, I had no intention of ever entering the ministry. I had a close up look at what that entitled: hard work, the pressures, temptations, financial leanness, and my own personal preferences. At 17, I became aware that God had a plan that was very different than mine. I loved sports, girls, and racing cars. So I had a two-year-long war with God. I have often said that I wasn’t called, I was threatened! That is another story, but one that nearly took my life. At age 18, I surrendered. That is what you do when you are defeated. Dad was happy for my decision, but I wondered why. The truth is that after a 2 year battle with the Lord and my parents giving me back to God, I was afraid to say no to God.

The Story Begins

I commuted to college in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and worked on weekends in my junior and senior college years. I gave up college boxing on Friday nights because I had been invited to preach at a small gathering each Friday night a few miles from my father’s church. Soon, I was invited to be an interim pastor and then I was invited to be an interim pastor at another small struggling Baptist church in Mobile.

Speaking wasn’t my problem. I won several public speaking contests while in high school and had gone to the state finals. Bible knowledge wasn’t my problem. I had grown up in a very biblical family and church. Hard work was not my problem. Dad and mom had taught me to work in our home; they were both hard workers. I had gotten a job sweeping rooms at age 9. I was driving a pickup at age 13, and learning how to butcher meat. I had worked in a shop during summers, building Venetian blinds and awnings. So, as a pastor, I worked hard at visitation in homes, hospitals, and preaching. But I still had a problem; it was me, my will, intensity and insensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and often to others. I was driven, not led.

Now I was pastoring a church deep in debt, 32 people in size, so broke that all they could afford was me. So I worked, talked to our bankers, met with prospects, and did almost all my flesh could do. The church began to grow, and we began to make our payments. Finally, the church asked me to become the full-time pastor, so at age 20, I was ordained to the ministry. Ready? Of course not.

I continued my education, commuting to a college 100 miles away in Hattiesburg. After graduating, I married beautiful Carolyn Dix in 1960, and we went to seminary together, again commuting to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 150 miles away, and again ministering on weekends. In seminary we were introduced to “Neo Orthodoxy,” another term for liberalism. I reacted and dove into “fundamentalism.” After a year-and-a-half, I quit seminary. The strain, conflict and my calling were too much. I had all the symptoms of a heart attack at 25 years of age and went to the hospital. The doctor told me that I had to give up something so I gave up seminary.

Becoming full-time in my focus on the church was a great relief. I looked forward to investing myself in the work. Of course we prayed, but mostly for God to bless our plan. I was enjoying the work and achieving some success. We were reaching new people, baptizing new believers, increasing our budget, and I was elected secretary of our local pastors conference composed of over 90 churches, at age 27. And I joined the Lions Club.

I still had a problem; it was me. I soon ran out of grace. I preached a year from the book of Revelation, 6 months from the book of Daniel, and about 3 months from Ezekiel before I realized my weakness on many fronts. One thing I realized as I preached through the book of Acts, was that what I saw in the Bible was not what I saw in the church or in me. The Lord seemed to say, “If you had it, they would have had it by now.” For all that I thought I knew, I knew very little about the Holy Spirit.

I was dry, and the church was dry, so dry that people came but would not come to the altar. I could say, “If you love your mother, come to the altar,” no one would come. We had a revival meetings, but no revival. I was filling the building with empty people, yet increasing the size of our auditorium and building a new educational building. Our building contractor was a spiritual man, and I had worked for him in my teens. One day he brought me a book on the Life of Charles G. Finney. Finney preached in the mid-1800’s and influenced the Second Great Awakening.

Finney described his conversion and his baptism in the Holy Spirit vividly; I was awed. Dad had often quoted Finney, now I knew why. Finney and his close friend “Father Nash” were heavily invested in prayer and the power of God. The effect upon me was seminal. I began to search and hunger in a new way.

I have often been amazed at how events seem to come together to provide clues to God’s purpose. And I have been amazed at how many clues I have missed due to my insensitivity and “driven” personality.

Shortly after reading Finney’s book, a mutual friend told me, “Ken Sumrall has gone Holy Roller.” Ken and I met back in seminary and became close friends, and we had exchanged pulpits. When we first met, he was working on a second Master’s degree. Earlier he had graduated from Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Bob Jones was no place for Pentecostalism!

I had spoken at Ken’s church in Pensacola, a 900 member Southern Baptist Church. I discovered that he had been fired and started a small group in a store front in Brownsville, a suburb of Pensacola. His chapel was next door to a liquor store. I decided to visit because he was a close friend.

The Meeting

It is difficult to describe something you have never seen before. I had previously visited a Pentecostal church, because one of our members invited me to a revival service in Mobile. That meeting was not wild, the music was fervent, but fine. The evangelist though sincere, seemed too caught up in his own emotion for my taste, but I was neither impressed or “put off.” But this meeting would be different than any I could recall.

The “store front” was not in an impressive area and was next door to a liquor store. As I entered the room, the lights were low except for the altar area. It was a weekday morning prayer meeting and the group of perhaps 25 were primarily women. I sat down in the back.

It was difficult to know who was leading; it was quiet, casual, and spontaneous. Eventually someone prayed aloud; after awhile someone led a chorus; at some point someone gave “a word.” I can’t recall anything Ken said. I sat trying to read my Bible in the dim light. It seemed like a Quaker meeting with no “quaking.” However, I did sense the presence of God and a sense of waiting on Him and seeking Him. That was where I was, too.

Eventually, the meeting ended and I stepped out in the bright sunlight and realized that I had been there more than 4 hours! I resolved to return.

The following week, I skipped Lions Club again and drove to Pensacola in expectation. The meeting was much the same as the previous week and I sat a little closer. As I sat reading my Bible, I found myself reading Romans 14:17: verses 17, “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost” (KJV). As I read “joy in the Holy Ghost,” I chuckled. Then I heard a woman’s voice, “He is going to get it laughing.” I turned to see two ladies behind me praying.

I wasn’t sure what “get it” meant or what it might look like. I excused myself to avoid embarrassment, and looked around to see if there was another room where I could pray privately. There was none. I spied a small petition in a back corner near the door and went to it. It was not as high as my head nor did it go all the way to the floor, so I bent over to pray. It was like bending over to take a shower except it was not water, it was the Holy Spirit!

I started to beg God for the Holy Spirit, but the words that came out were “Praise God” over and over! Then I began to laugh. I don’t know how long I was behind the petition but as I began to walk back toward the group, someone began to sing the old hymn “Higher Ground.” I knew it well and joined in. “Lord lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heavens table land, a higher plane than I have found, Lord plant my feet on higher ground.”

The second verse was especially relevant: “My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay, though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground.”

Then, another lady began a rather lengthy utterance in a language I did not know. I knew from scripture that an interpretation had to follow. As I contemplated that, without warning, I began to prophesy that there would come a great revival around the world. I felt the power of God upon me, and as I concluded, I said, “Thus saith the Lord!” My mind said, “He did?” My spirit answered, “He did!”

I knew nothing of a great revival or how to prophesy. All of this had moved beyond me or anything I could have imagined.

Finally, the meeting ended. Ken and I had lunch and discussed what was happening. He had encouraged me to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me in a tongue. I had thought of several words that sounded Hebrew, which I had studied, but was not quite ready. I knew that I could avoid a lot trouble if I did not speak in tongues; that would come later. I did not believe that the experience and the expression of “tongues” had to be together.

On my way home, I had a lot of questions as to what might occur next. Carolyn and I had a new baby boy. Would I be fired like Ken was? What would I tell her? She grew up in a rather formal Baptist church. She was a quiet lady with a peaceful spirit. Her father was a physician, her mother a nurse. Her paternal grand-parents’ home was virtually library with hundreds if not thousands of books. They were intelligent believers, cautious about emotions. Would I be rejected by my denomination that had educated and honored me? Those were all serious questions.

Context

It was April of 1964 when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was born in April, born again in April, and committed to the ministry in April. Each event had been preceded by serious struggle, sometimes life and death. It was April again.

Our nation was in a struggle as well. The 1960’s brought a lot of division and chaos. President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Later his brother Robert, attorney general, was assassinated. Then Martin Luther King was assassinated. The Vietnam War began and with it, war protests along with civil rights protests. There were campus riots and later the Kent State University massacre, students who were killed while confronting the National Guard. The Hippie culture, free love, drugs, and the generation gap were in full bloom. Communism and revolution were spreading across the world. It was tough time to be a political leader standing in the midst of division and chaos. Ministry was also being affected by liberal theology and the effort to somehow reach beyond the growing distance between religion and culture. Then there was the removal of public school Bible study and prayer and the institution of legal abortion. There wasn’t much good news.

Fortunately, there were small groups of people gathering to pray and share their experience. Women gathered to pray for husbands and children. Businessmen gathered to pray. One such group was Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship that had influenced my friend, Ken. But there were many gatherings in homes, restaurants, and hotels.

I did not realize, nor did most Christians, that this would be the context for a revival. The forest was very dry, then lightning struck.

Back in the Pulpit

When I returned home from Pensacola, I didn’t tell Carolyn the whole story. I wanted her to see, and she needed to see if it was all real.

The following Sunday, I preached with new passion. The church had been as dry as I was. We were in an upwardly Mobile community, suburbanites. Our, worship leader was vice president of a bank, our finance chairman was vice president of our areas largest bank. Another deacon managed a large industry, but we were very dry with successful programs yet dry spiritually.

I could put a $100 bill on the altar but no one would have come there to get it! I could say, “If you love your mother, come to the altar,” but no one would move. But this Sunday would be different. People surged to the altar before I concluded my message. I thought that they misunderstood the message on the need for a spiritual baptism. Many were weeping. One lady said after the meeting, “I don’t know where you have been, but I want to go there!” She did.

After the service was over, Carolyn, our new baby boy and I, drove the 7 miles to have Sunday lunch with mom and dad. As usual, dad called on me to pray over the food. I don’t know what I prayed but it became quiet around the table as we ate. After the meal, dad invited me back to their bedroom. That is what he did when I was young and he had correction in mind. So I went. Dad had a serious look, beady blue eyes, and premature grey hair.

“Charles, you have somehow gotten into the spiritual world, and I don’t know how, but you did. I am your father; can I tell you something?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“You have just gotten there but the devil has been there since before time. So, just don’t get to thinking that you are smart, ok?”

“Yes, Dad. I won’t.”

It would be years before he would tell me his full story, but I know that he knew something that I did not. I knew that he loved me, was not trying to discourage me, but he had given me some sound advice about spiritual pride.

For a season the church grew, but as some people contemplated the introduction of “Pentecostalism,” they left. There had been no fanaticism or even demonstrations of any kind, but a lot more fervor. There were those being filled with the Holy Spirit in prayer meetings and I could not keep that quiet and didn’t want to. Soon, 7 out of 9 deacons resigned. An unofficial meeting was called by critics to vote on my tenure, but even in that meeting, my tenure was secure. Later in an official business meeting, the overwhelming majority voted for me to remain. But still, there were concerns, and rather than vote me out, about 150 people just left. We roped off the back pews. I was saddened to see friends that I loved depart. But as they went out stories went with them.

The church began to grow again and pruning does that. As criticism and testimonies spread, people came to see for themselves as I had done with Ken. But the growth was unlike anything I might have expected. This was South Alabama in 1965, and the Hippie culture was growing in our area, so hippies came. People who wore sunglasses at night came. In segregated Alabama, African Americans came. Interracial marriages came. Liberals and conservatives came. Both the poor and successful came and to my surprise, nuns came to a Southern Baptist church!

Due to our early experience with the Catholics in South Louisiana where dad and mom did mission work, I had no fondness for Catholics. Now, nuns were coming. I was invited to speak at Spring Hill College, a local Jesuit College. Then I was invited to speak at a local Catholic high school. I couldn’t understand what was happening!

One of the most surprising things was the guru who came, the addicts who came, those in immoral lifestyles, lesbians came and at least one prostitute. Slowly, I began to realize that Jesus loved everybody, a big change from my fundamentalist mentality! I did not have to approve, but I did need to love.

Revival

I have given some of my early story in order to give an example of what revival looked like in my life, our church and the world. My main purpose is to point to what another revival might look like.

Every revival is different in how it happens, its scope and major thrust. Revival is not an end but a means to God’s unfolding purpose. Like waves, revivals purify the water, bring the dead sea-life and trash to the beach. Waves also flow back to fight the next wave with undertow, and they influence the next wave.

The “Charistmatic wave” was certainly influenced by previous revivals. I was influenced by George Whitfield of the First Great Awakening and Charles G. Finney of the Second Great Awakening. Pentecostals, Latter Rain, the Healing Movement each influenced the Charismatic Movement. The Welch Revival, the Shantung Revival and the Hebrides Revival had their influence as well.

I personally interviewed participants in the China Shantung Revival and the Scottish Hebrides Revival. Both were powerful and influenced my thinking after receiving my own baptism in the Holy Spirit. There are common principles in all true revivals but each revival is unique in its purpose. I would like to share some commonalities from my own perspective that might be helpful and hopeful. I am no expert or even historian of revival, just a grateful participant.

Common Principles of Revival

Cultural and Church Decline

We could deal with those separately but they often go together. When the culture decays, churches can shine brighter but often do not. The great revivals come when the nation and the church are dry, not only dry but decadent and facing great difficulty. Some revivals occur near or during wars, military or just culture wars. This was true in both American Great Awakenings. The conditions seem to awaken people to the situation. Some will fight about it, others will began to seek God.

Hungering and Thirsting

There is much Scripture about hunger and thirst. Jesus clearly linked the blessing to both those desperate conditions: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Revival is not planned or forced. God must be seriously sought. It takes fire to light a torch. Routine praying is good, but “not enough.” That seems to be why Jesus came for the poor, needy, captives, and those whose lives had become ashes; they were thirsty. Comfort and self-satisfaction will not motivate. Real humility is absolutely essential. (2 Chronicles 7:14) Humility is to begin with God’s people. Humility is realizing that – I AM the Problem.

Repentance

When people seek God and find Him, He points out their problem, whatever it is – and it could be multipled problems. Repentance means grief over the way God sees it and deep concern for where our path has led or might lead. Therefore it means a change of direction and a commitment to follow Him – regardless. That will require humility, flexibility, and certainly change. Any message of accommodation without change, or without repentance will not bring revival. Change will require courage to face the conflict with the status quo. That is why desperate people are more likely to see revival; they have nothing to lose.

Power

It takes power to lift the rocket – the bigger the rocket and payload, the more power is required. Quiet prayer may bring revival, but revival will not remain quiet! Noise will not produce revivals but revivals will make noise! Music will not bring revival but revivals will create new music. Preaching itself will not create revival – if it did, we would be in the Millennium by now. But revival will create powerful preaching.

If revival is about anything, it is about replacing our frail power with His mighty power! His power reverberates with sound and light into the darkness. It blows away opposition and structures built on sandy foundations! It is like a tidal wave hitting the beach.

Renewal

While there is a destructive side to revival as it clears away the sin and problems. God’s purpose is to renew and rebuild in a better way. Some revivals are called “renewals.” It is my conviction that every true revival renews our love of Holy Scripture and our dependence upon Holy Spirit’s guidance. Foundation builders and various gifts are called forth in revival. These are not simply intelligent, “gifted people,” they are spiritually skilled like Bezalel (See Exodus 31:1-6. Bezalel means “in the shadow of God.” Bezalel builds as God overshadows him.

Stability

Revivals are usually like the large net cast into the sea that gathers all kinds of ocean life. When my father was a missionary in the swamps and bayous of South Louisiana, one group with whom he worked were some Filipinos who shrimped and fished for a living. You could only get to their village by boat. Sometimes a shrimp boat would drag a 1,800 foot long net (seine). That is 6 football fields long! All kinds of fish, shrimp and even debris would be hauled up to the boat. All of that had to be sorted, and that can take some time. Finally, what is desirable to the shrimpers remains.

It takes some time to sort out what has happened and some things will remain. One of the most difficult things for me was to see those who had enthusiastically participated then leave or be overcome by some issue. But eventually revivals do “sort out,” stabilize, and deposit some truth or mission to the larger Church and its history. Unfortunately, that truth can become a wall between the revivalist and the rest of the body of Christ. But unity in the Holy Spirit will enable us to receive and contribute to one another. This was Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21.

Systematizing

Not all revivals create systems, but many have. Because other believers want to label a particular emphasis of that revival and the revivalist rally around it, labels become walls. Hence we have denominations which are labeled groups with their own history, methods, officials, and rules. This is understandable and most denominations have made great contributions in missions, hospitals, schools, and ministries to the needy. But we are now facing a time when faith in Jesus by whatever group, is under attack. Will another revival raise the tide over the walls and open the ocean to us all? Will Jesus’ prayer finally be answered? Will we see the book of Acts again? I certainly pray so!

Conclusion

Much of this article has been personal in order to help you understand my perspective and hopefully how revival often happened in the 1960s and 1970s. But my desire is that God would move once again in His power, which we so desperately need. There is a lot more to my story. As I write this letter, I am nearing 85 years of age. There were more battles, more mistakes, and more “showers of blessings.” All of those stories are beyond my purpose here. But where are we now?

The Covid virus has done a lot of damage added to all kinds of other serious issues, including division. People, especially the young are losing trust – our most valuable possession. They are losing it in parents, churches, government, and education. No, not all, but too many youth are. Older people, like myself are seeing the legacy they worked hard to build, being rejected and that is extremely sad. The culture itself seems to be walking away from its history and heritage.

I know a realtor who specializes in selling church buildings that are only attended by the elderly, and property cannot be maintained. Sure, there are some mega churches, but cultural decline has continued. Many pastors are leaving the ministry that years ago seemed wanted and successful. Fewer young ministers are stepping into that gap. I know if churches searching for a suitable pastor without success.

Many churches are trying new methods to produce church growth and some are having success, but many are not. The denomination in which I grew up was the fastest growing in the world, but has not grown in recent years. Last year it lost over 400,000 members. Buildings once alive with growth are now empty and for sale.

Is it time to seek the Lord while He is yet near? I believe so! Having seen revival and interviewing those who were in earlier revivals, Heaven-sent revival is like a warm shower after working hard, getting dirty and sweaty. We and our nation need a cleansing, a bath that only God can give and I join you to pray that He will.

In Him,

Charles Simpson

Being Led By The Spirit Is The Key! The Wisdom of Walking with Holy Spirit vs the Knowledge of Men 

It so incredibly encouraging to have people who have lived life, and seen the faithfulness of the Lord do great and mighty things in their lives, to walk alongside us and share their lives with us. In this exciting moment, Greg Lancaster continues his conversation with longtime friend and brother in the Lord, Jack Hollis. Vulnerability and transparency have become so rare in our present age. But not with Jack. His life story is a breath of fresh air for those who are hungry for a deeper and closer connection with the Lord. Jack openly shares about his beginning moments coming to the Lord when the Lord showed him something so encouraging and powerful that is in Deuteronomy 4:37-38, “And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day”. Essentially, God brought him out to bring him in. In Jack’s own words, he expresses how profoundly that impacted his life and what the Lord was showing to Jack that He had done. “I didn’t just bring you out of the hell that you were in. I didn’t bring you out of being an alcoholic, I didn’t bring you out of being lost and being undone, I brought you out to bring you into something better, something real!”  This moment with the Lord has been something that he has carried with him his whole life. He even recalls those moments before the Lord compared to walking with the Lord as simply incomparable. There was such a powerful change in Jack’s life when Jesus Christ took over!

 There were so many things that the Lord did through his life, and the 58 years of marriage with his wife Shellie, that he describes those years as “living two or three lives”.  Throughout his time walking with the Lord, Jack experienced the temptation to slow down and be like other people. But he knew he just couldn’t do that. “Maybe everybody’s right. Maybe I need to settle down in a church and do all that stuff. Nah. Didn’t work. Nothing worked.” It’s not about being successful in this life. It’s about being successful in heaven’s eyes; in the eyes of Jesus. As Jack points out, “we have to overcome success in order for God to work through us”. Having to work while he just started high school, Jack decided to drop out of school. Because of that decision, he wasn’t able to get his GED until he was 30. It wasn’t for another twenty years that he got his Bachelor’s degree, and another 10 years to acquire his Master’s degree. The interesting thing is after all of these years of theological education, it didn’t make much of a difference. “I don’t know a bit more than I did before I did all of that.”  The Spirit of God had already led him in all of those areas. Ken Sumrall was a spiritual father to both Greg and Jack. He had a similar understanding as he shares this wisdom, “I was dying by degrees”. In our world of more and more knowledge, simply walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit confounds the minds of men. As Greg shares, “people think that you got something over them. ‘No, its just that Holy Spirit told me to be here, told me to say this’”.

There is nothing more exciting that living a life following the voice of the Lord and the leading of Holy Spirit. As Jack points out, Holy Spirit leads him in his daily life to share with others what God has said to him about them, and impacts their hearts so profoundly, they are led to tears. But it doesn’t always turn out that way. When Jack was sitting down one day at a restaurant, he felt the leading of the Lord to go talk to a lady who was sitting at a nearby table. The conversation started off innocently enough; “excuse me, but…” and that was all it took. She stopped him right there in his tracks. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” She quickly put her hand in her purse and pulled out her pepper spray which was immediately aimed directly at Jack. “YOU GET AWAY FROM MY TABLE!” With his hands up in defense, Jack immediately complied and walked back to his table. “Yes ma’am. No problem. No worries.” After making it back to his table where his lovely wife was sitting, she had seen the sudden stark reaction, and asked Jack, “what was that?” Recognizing that God surely has a sense of humor, Jack replied, “I just about got pepper sprayed and I think God is up there laughing His head off”.

Even though not everyone may be open or receptive to hearing from the Lord, following the leading of the Lord is what this life is all about. Greg beautifully captures the importance of this timely wisdom as he shares, “I know that being led by the Spirit is the key because God is just looking for us to obey Him for the opportunity for Him to do what He was planning on doing anyway”.  Imagine living a life fully devoted to following the voice of the Lord in our lives. How immensely powerful would that be impacting the lives of those around us and loving on the heart of the Father by simply obeying Him? Everyday we have a choice whether or not we will follow the Holy Spirit. Jack points out the important truth, “all you got to do to be led by the Spirit is don’t be led by the flesh”. Greg highlights how many people have described him as a men that “JUST DOES IT!” But the truth is, its just following God. When people ask Jack how he lives a life like that, he plainly asks them in response, “how do you not do it?” Do we even really have a choice? Greg nails the reality by asking this important and vital question; “if we’re doing it for Him, why would there be a choice not to obey Him?”  This is what it’s all about. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives and we can make that choice to live every life focused on the heart of the Father, and loving Him by simply walking in obedience to Him.

HUMOR MOMENT: Nearly Pepper Sprayed for Following God?

There is nothing more exciting that living a life following the voice of the Lord and the leading of Holy Spirit. In this hilarious humor moment, Greg has a conversation with Jack Hollis about following the Holy Spirit and when He gives gentle promptings of words of knowledge to share with people. As Jack points out, Holy Spirit leads him in his daily life to share with others what God has said to him about them, and impacts their hearts so profoundly, they are led to tears. But it doesn’t always turn out that way. When Jack was sitting down one day at a restaurant, he felt the leading of the Lord to go talk to a lady who was sitting at a nearby table. The conversation started off innocently enough; “excuse me, but…” and that was all it took. She stopped him right there in his tracks. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” She quickly put her hand in her purse and pulled out her pepper spray which was immediately aimed directly at Jack. “YOU GET AWAY FROM MY TABLE!” With his hands up in defense, Jack immediately complied and walked back to his table. “Yes ma’am. No problem. No worries.” After making it back to his table where his lovely wife was sitting, she had seen the sudden stark reaction, and asked Jack, “what was that?” Recognizing that God surely has a sense of humor, Jack replied, “I just about got pepper sprayed and I think God is up there laughing His head off”.

The Power of Gratitude in our Hearts expressed by Giving Thanks with our Tongues 

In this exciting and encouraging conversation, Greg Lancaster sits down with longtime friend and brother in the Lord, Jack Hollis. Jack is such a transparent and humble man, that listening to him share about his life, his doesn’t waste time turning the attention to the Lord and His faithfulness. Jack talks about the importance of not just being grateful, but also living a life of continually giving thanks. We can’t stop at the mere moment of being grateful and having gratitude for those around us, we have to use our words to give thanks. As Jack expresses this important truth, “but until you give thanks; until it comes out of your mouth, it has no power. It’s nothing. They can’t benefit. You can’t benefit.” How many people are living their lives with a heart of gratitude but never allowing their tongue to express to the world around them the powerful words of thankfulness? Greg highlights the importance of expressing kind words to those around us because the devil will always capitalize on silence. “If you’re not talking, the devil is, and he’s not talking you up. You better say something quickly.” This is what living an abiding lifestyle with the Lord is all about. Imagine how powerful it would be to start your day every day by expressing your thankfulness to the Lord of all that He has done and is doing in your life? Greg continues, “we practice…a gratitude journal where it forces you to pause from your busy life, to dig around and see things that God did yesterday in your life, and give Him thanks for it.” The enemy is pressing down hard upon all of us each and every day. If we don’t take the time to stop and remember these important moments of how the Hand of the Lord is upon us, the devil will steal those important moments and memories from us.

The Wonderful Blessing of Having Faithful Friends in Our Lives

It is such an encouraging breath of fresh air to have a conversation with those who are down to Earth and humble. Jack Hollis is one of these men and his life is a wonderful, joyful testimony of the faithfulness of the Lord. Greg Lancaster was recently privileged to be able to sit down and recall those iconic memories of a deep heartfelt relationship that has spanned multiple decades. One of those memorable moments, as Jack shares, was when Jack invited Greg to speak at a leadership conference. You may think that such an exciting moment would have provided a few weeks to prepare and plan for. Not exactly. This particular event was held at a federal prison and Jack wanted Greg to be there. So he called him up to graciously extend the invitation to come and speak. “We started at 6:00 and I called Greg at 3:30, I think. And I said, ‘You want to speak at our A.M.I. Conference? Our Gathering at this time?’” Greg asked the obvious question, “Oh Yeah! When is it?” “In two hours and a half”, Jack responded. Jack continued to share the continual needed details. “Well you don’t need to bathe or nothin’, just c’mon.” Greg was there. After giving Greg the directions, he said to simply call him so that Jack could send someone to meet him at the gate. Upon arriving at his destination, Greg was shocked to see multiple signs, “DO NOT ENTER!”. It was at the Federal Prison! Greg had to drive down unknown prison roads to eventually end up at a building he assumed was the building they were meeting at.  Remember, it was dark, he was at a prison and couldn’t see hardly anything until he opened the door to the building they were meeting in.  Greg was so grateful that it was the right building and not prisoner cell or chow hall. LOL  Jack even recalls how powerfully the Lord moved through Greg’s message to his leadership in that moment as the Lord delivered a powerful word for all of those who were gathered. Not only does Jack recognize the significance of the moment, but also life and character of Greg; “not too many people are instant in season and out of season”. Greg shares the one thing that joins and brings him and Jack together, “well love is what connects us so we do what we can.” It’s so deeply refreshing to witness such a beautiful relationship between two people who have the Lord in common and see how deeply the Lord can demonstrate Himself through our lives, and in the lives of those around us.

Jack Hollis: The Impactful Life of Pastoring a City 

It is such an encouraging breath of fresh air to have a conversation with those who are down to Earth and humble. Jack Hollis is one of these men and his life is a wonderful, joyful testimony of the faithfulness of the Lord. Greg Lancaster was recently honored to be able to sit down with Jack and take the time to talk about some of the wonderful miracles that the Lord has done through Jack’s life. It is such an honor to see and experience someone who has the heart and desire to pastor God’s flock, (a church family), to care for them, and demonstrate the love of the Lord to each of them. Jack has been a pastor in his hometown of Marianna, FL for decades, and has had such an influence upon his community, as Greg shares, he has “one thing that the Lord has used you in and what you’ve been faithful to do is literally, pastor a city”.  At his recent birthday celebration, Jack’s son Quinton recognized the profound impact that Jack has had upon his local community; “no matter who they were; no matter whether they went to your church or not, when crisis hit, you’d be the first one they’d call”. Even when Jack and wife Shellie were financially broke themselves, they did all they could in those moments of need for others to help them pay their utility bills or to help them with rent. What a beautiful moment demonstrating the love of Jesus to those around us!

As Greg continues to point out, Jack is a man who continually demonstrates his heart of gratitude to those around him, he doesn’t keep it to himself. When Jack walks past a table of law enforcement officers, he makes sure to take the opportunity to express how grateful he is for them AND to pay for their entire meal when possible. What may seem like a simple act of kindness and generosity has the potential of changing someone’s life. As a former law enforcement officer himself, Greg empathizes with the profound influence of those kinds of actions. “Being former law enforcement…very few people do that…It was so depressing some of the things that we had to do in law enforcement, to have some kind words, or an extra helping of this, or ‘we appreciate you’, it just changed everything.” Not only did Jack continually love on his community around him, but also continually spoke at the local university for the Baptist Campus Ministries, BCM, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FCA, events.

Jack recalls one particular moment speaking at an event that he recalls many of those who were present “went to church”, but yet they had never given their lives to the Lord. He knew that being able to connect with them personally would have an impact on them. “If you want to talk to me about anything, here’s my phone number and just let me know..”  After following the leading of the Lord and sharing a prophetic word for two young athletes who were present that day, they made sure to express to Jack that they had taken down his phone number and would be calling him. As Jack says, “that’s what it’s all about”. In those moments and years, his devoted wife, Shellie, would be faithfully ministering alongside him to all of those who were in need. There was such a hunger for the love of God, back during the days of The Jesus Movement, that Jack’s son, Quinton, recalls his father being able to minister the Word of God for “9 hours straight and no one got tired of it” including Jack.  That is what the anointing of the Lord allows us to do.

Did God Call Us to Organized Religion or Connected Family? 

When we give our lives to the Lord, we so desperately want to serve the Lord with all of our hearts and imagine what it looks like to live a life completely devoted to the Lord. What does a life consumed with the love of Jesus Christ look like? Sitting down and having a conversation with Jack Hollis, a man who has been walking with the Lord for more than 50 years, reveals that encouraging life story. Greg Lancaster recently had the immense privilege of spending time with Jack and talking about some of the miraculous testimonies that the Lord did through Jack’s life. One of these moments was when Jack and wife Shellie would take time to spend weekends at a one-bedroom cabin to minister to people. One particular weekend, the cabin was filled with 30 people who were hungry just to learn about and grow in the things of the Lord. They would spend hours singing together and worshiping the Lord, and then Jack would share a message from Scripture.  Talking with Jack, Greg recalls that season of the 1970’s as a sovereign move of God as the Lord was drawing so many people to Himself through family. As he shares, ‘it seems like some sort of pattern in the 70’s were, were in this thing as a family, we are connected, the Holy Spirit just connected everybody as a family. There was no time limits. I love being with you. I love being with God. Were eating together. That was just the season.’ What a beautiful moment to recall and remember as the Lord was doing so many wonderful and awesome things amongst His people. Greg recalled, during their his interview with Jack, that this was the same time that Keith Green was planning on building on land that he had purchased to help give housing and to disciple as many people as he could in the things of the Lord. Keith Green felt that those being saved in the Jesus Movement, which were known as Hippies, needed more help in being discipled and building life skills needed for them to succeed in life.   Keith’s plans were cut short when he got on to a plane with some of his children and a visiting missionary to show them all the land and share his plans which ended tragically with the plane crashing and Keith’s light going out here on earth, but, surely, began burning bright in heaven.

Isn’t that what is missing today? Some questions that some have asked when it seems the love of God has seemingly left parts of His church.  When people say they love the Lord, do they love the Church? Do they love those that are next to them? One minute the person who says they love God, is now the person that is crucifying you. How does that make sense? As Greg expresses, “if I love you, then I love Jesus. Then if you love me then you love Jesus and our love for God is measured by our love for each other.” If this is what God expects of us, and if this is what is written in Scripture, how did we get where we are today? Why is there so much religion that is absent of the presence and love of Jesus? We can’t walk in the love of Jesus without our hearts being broken for the things that breaks the Lord’s heart and seeing others as Jesus sees them. Jesus speaks to the apostle John describing this as “leaving our First Love.”  Greg recalls that moment when Ken Sumrall, who was a spiritual father in the Lord to him, was suddenly overcome by the Holy Spirit with an awareness of God’s Father Heart towards His [God’s] ministers where a burden from God imprinted upon Ken Sumrall’s life of a Father’s heart for pastors and ministers in that awesome, heartbreaking encounter.  Ken Sumrall wept all night as God broke his heart in this encounter with our Father God, that is why I refer to it as “heartbreaking”.  God broke Ken Sumrall’s heart when what was breaking His.  God’s heart was broken for so many of His ministers being fatherless.  They had no one in their life to speak into their lives, encourage them and be a spiritual father to them as Paul was to Timothy and so many others.   This encounter with the Lord happened most of the night and change Ken Sumrall’s life and ministry from that point on.  This all happened when he was praying in his hotel room seeking the Lord for what the Lord wanted him to speak about the next day at the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International in Mobile, Alabama where he was a guest speaker. ‘he was praying and suddenly God just came down and broke his heart and He said you know, basically, ‘My Church is fatherless. All these pastors are fatherless.’ And it just shifted everything.’ Think about this important truth. Of all the words to be used in language, God chose to use Father when describing Himself. We HAVE to tap into and connect with this reality. This is a river of truth that every area and portion of our lives should flow from.   When Jesus shared with the disciples how to pray, He said, pray like this “Our Father…”

Jack underscores this important reality by stating this vital truth; “everything is about the Father”. Jack continues to talk about how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always glorify one another. When he talks to people about praying, he reminds people to always pray to the Father. If we’re not praying to the Father, we’re wrong. “It’s wrong. Jesus Himself said you’re never going to ask me for anything again. Ask the Father in My authority and He’ll give it to you. He said, don’t ask me for anything. I’ve already given you everything.” This is why Jesus started off the Lord’s prayer with this important words in Matthew 6:9 “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”” This is what Jesus has done for us. Jesus has provided us access to the Father. As John 14:6 reveals, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As Jack describes in his own words, “Jesus has given us the entrance into the presence of the Father”. We’ve made it about everything BUT the Father.  As a man who has walked this Earth more than 82 years, it’s incredibly wise to listen to the wisdom that one would share. Jack expresses the vital revelation that came to him only a few short years ago, “This thing is all about glorifying God. It’s not about any of that other stuff.”

If we leave Jesus out of the reality of this moment we call life, we will have seriously missed what everything is all about. Greg describes an encounter that he had with the Lord, given to him in a dream, that has forever marked him and impacted his life. “I was standing at the doorway, outside the [God’s] Throne Room, and the door was [slightly] open, but not fully opened, and the presence of God was so awesome it feeled every possibly space.  I was filled with the deep overwhelming fear of the Lord.   It was like ‘where’s Jesus’?  since the only way we can withstand God’s awesome, holy presences is by and through Jesus.”  

Greg continues to share about his seemingly  overwhelming profound experience. “It’s not like you can’t bring something up in His presence. It’s like, there’s no room for something else other than Him. As I was standing there, the one thing I thought about was Jesus, because it’s about accessing Him, like you said. I was like, ‘JESUS! Where’s Jesus.’ Because Jesus gives us access to this awesome, holy, perfect, God.”  Greg goes to say, “you don’t want to show up at God’s thrown room without Jesus.  Jesus is the only way you can have access to God”  “With Jesus we can approached God’s thrown with boldness, yet, it is with fear and trembling.”  Encounters like this don’t simply leave you unchanged. Greg also briefly points out how, in a previous encounter with the Lord, he was shown the Lord on the Cross, and in another encounter, he was able to embrace and fully embrace the Lord. Now after experiencing the Throne Room of God, he says, “I’M TERRIFIED! That’s the whole thing. Jesus gave us access.” “It’s not being terrified of God, it’s understanding His Holiness as did the apostle John when He saw the Lord and fell as dead before Him.  To see God, understanding I was on the outside of His Throne Room with just a slightly opened door, is to be overtaken by the Fear of the God for He is awesome and all powerful and sits in the center of all Creation upon His Throne.”  What is immensely powerful to realize and truly connect with, is the fact that this awesome and holy God loves us and wants a relationship with us. More to come!

 

TGLS 112321

These are crazy days that we are living in. There are prophetic words coming to pass at a rapid, rapid rate. When we look at the activities that are taking place within our government today, there is no rational reasoning to make sense of what is going on. Interestingly enough, if any person or American family were to spend money like the American government is spending money, they would be put in jail. It’s crazy to even have this thought, but the agenda is to crash the system. This is the Cloward and Piven Model that is attempting to crash the very system that American depends on, the economy. The goal is to drown every American with debt and lock us into the snares of personal debt and be dependent upon the Government.

The Lord just spoke prophetically to Pat Hamilton about what is taking place at this very momentin a night vision. As Pat shares, “in the vision I’m seeing the whole Earth being held under water by a ball and a chain.” What is interesting is that the ball and chain didn’t sink to the bottom. In the vision, Pat knew that ball weighed about 200 lbs.

WEIGHT OF SIN

Pat continues, ‘everything was being held, suspended in air keeping it from sinking to the bottom by this invisible force, and I knew this had to do with America, the Church, and the whole world…and it was God who was keeping the weight of the ball from pulling us all the way under and drowning.’  It wasn’t sinking. And everybody was slowly drowning but they didn’t know it.” It’s only by the mercies of God that He keeps us from drowning.

God also showed Pat what this ‘ball and chain’ represented. “That represents all of our gods, all of our idols, you know, any cares, concerns, fears that we have, you name it, fill in the blank…anything that is not Him. And He’s saying, ‘if you’ll let go of it, I’ll pull you out’”.We are causing our own pain. Look at what is happening across America, across the whole Earth right now. The world itself is trembling.

IT WILL KEEP GETTING DARKER UNTIL

When the late John Paul Jackson asked the Lord what would happen as the Lord showed him the headlines of the many terrible things that will happen to the earth and the people of the earth, he was told, “things will get darker and darker, until my people cry out to me. It will continue to get darker and darker until they do.” God is waiting for us to cry out to Him. The answer is the Lord. Imagine that! Crying out is an acceptable response to the Lord. When you look at every life that God moved mightily through, it began with desperation. It only begins when you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. There must be some type of desperation, that nothing else but the Lord will satisfy. The Lord revealed to Pat the significance of the ball and chain weighing 200 pounds,“Wicked, insufficiency of money, beauty, religion, and external things, in the worship of God, something in the place of God. Idolatry. So, that’s what that whole thing represented, was idolatry.” It’s interesting to note, that is exactly what the Lord told Jonah in Jonah 2:8‘Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.’ We all need grace to walk this walk with the Lord.

If someone has problems letting go of these idols, it’s only they think they are their savior, their god. Not to have them in their life, means to not to have life they deceptively think. One’s life is often difficult because they refused to let go of their worthless idols. God is a jealous God. He is serious. We cannot mistake His mercies for permission. Considering the nation is drowning right now, it’s a good time to let go of worthless idols. God is wanting His people to cry out to Him. As 2 Chronicles 7:14 reveals, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

DESPERATION MOVES GOD

When we sincerely cry out to God in repentance, He will hear and He will answer. Look at the miraculous provision of how the Lord made the woman’s body to immediately provide the milk a nursing baby needs when she hears the cry of her baby. The very thing the baby needs, milk, is produced at the sound of the baby’s cry. How powerful is that? Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Only God knows what idols you are holding in your heart. America is being brought to a point that we mustdecide do we want our own small “g”gods, or do we want Jesus Christ as Lord? Ask God to search your heart and to show you. When you do, be prepared to acknowledge things you have made idols as sin, repent, ask for forgiveness and don’t pick them back up. Ask God to keep you by His Spirit. God doesn’t mind when we have things in our lives, but He does mind when things have us. Are we more focusedon idols, like a sports team, telling people that we support a team, wear their jersey, have their pictures on our walls and tell everyone how much we love them, but at the same time we are ashamed to tell people that we are followers of Jesus, never wear His name, and have no pictures of Him or His story up in our homes, or workspaces? Did you know that if you are ashamed of Jesus, He is ashamed of you? Did you know that if you are shamed of Jesus, He will be ashamed of you before God? Mark 8:38

JESUS REVEALS THINGS ONLY TO HELP THEM

We are at a point right now where many young people are being told that God doesn’t exist, and that government can provide all their needs. Why is it, when government plans to set itself up as the answer for people, through Communism, and Marxism, it first tries to convince the people it’s over that God doesn’t exist? Because when mankind knows that God exists, that He wrote His laws on every man’s heart, that He created the universe and all that is in it, including man, he doesn’t accept someone setting themselves up or the government up “as god” as their provider and sustainer of life.

This is not by accident. Mark this, the day is coming when there is a “church” that is accepted by a communist, Marxist type of government, that the government funds and accepts, and the true Church, that follows Jesus and makes herself ready for His return. This is the very reality of what has taken place in China. We must spend time with Jesus, abide with Him, and obey Him. This is the very life that Jesus has called us to live, to be fruitful for Him. Remember, that Jesus is revealing these things in our lives because He loves us and wants to free us from captivityfor, He came to set the captive free. When a person serves sin, they are a slave to that sin. Jesus wants you to be free!

 

Tidal Waves, Surge, Undertow and the Coming Glory  

The Lord has shown many of His people a tidal wave coming.  They’ve been seen as tidal waves of God’s glory and tidal waves of destruction.  Truth is more than likely both.  When God shows up, we all bow down, big, small, important, un-important, significant, or insignificant, rich, poor, employee or employer.  All who do not bow potentially are swept away in the very thing that happens before the tidal wave, called the undertow.  Remember, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Jesus Christ is Lord.  
 

UNDERTOW 

Many people who see the waves on the Gulf of Mexico or an ocean near them speak of their beauty and how relaxing they are, but what many may not know is that there is a related under tow that helped build that wave and as a consequence of that wave.  The bigger the wave, the the larger the under tow and danger there is of being exhausted for fighting it, sucked under water because of it and if you don’t resurface, to die under it.  What many first timers to the ocean or the gulf discover is though the waves are beautiful and they are nice to get into, they will soon loose site of their beauty by fighting for their life in the undertow that comes along with them.  

SURGE 

It’s reported that the surge in the gulf or oceans as a result of a Hurricane brings more damage and destruction that the strong winds and tornadoes in a hurricane.  I’ll never forget Wave Land Mississippi where Hurricane Katrina came in.  As we walked among the neighborhoods helping those we could there were certain marks on each house.  One mark meant there were no people who died in that house and the other mark was that people died in the house from the surge and the number of people who died.  It was devastating to see, what was reported to be, seventeen foot tidal waves coming in off the Gulf of Mexico that washed over neighborhoods.   

There were people who understood the times and seasons and prepared who had marks on their homes where nobody lost their lives.  There were others who didn’t understand the times and seasons, or had no one to tell them of the times and season, to cause them to want to prepare.  This cost them and their families their lives.  The water continued to rise from the surge and some people just kept going higher and higher in their houses thinking this will end at some point.  Some even went as far as to get into their attics to get away from the flooding waters that reached their ceilings.  They thought it was safer to get into the attic than to go outside and fight the high winds and surge.  These were the people who drowned in their attics because once they got in their attics there was no way out and the water surged over their roof tops.  In some place, approximately, seven feet “above” their roof tops.  These were the houses that had a mark on the front with the number of people who died inside.  

THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH 

A wise person sees danger and prepares for it, a fool keeps going and suffers for it.  Many lose their life because of being foolish and not listening to the warnings and preparing.   

It’s amazing how clear warnings become AFTER the crisis has come, but how quiet they seem to the undiscerning ear of those who “do their thing” and allow life to pass them by thinking they have everything all figured out.  There are those who a religious who feel as if their works, what they do, will protect them, which in the end they end us going out in the undertow or taken down in the surge with the others who failed to acknowledge God.  Finally, there are those who understand “THE LORD SPEAKS” and warns those who are His of what is to come and it’s their responsibility to believe God and prepare for what is coming, but is not yet seen.  Amos 3:7.   

BRICKS WITH NO STRAW 

When God was working out HIS PLAN to rescue HIS PEOPLE from their captivity in slavery under Pharoh, those who were fearful they were about to lose the control over them increased their work load.  They were already working making bricks to build Egypt, but now, Pharoah cranked up the difficulty of their work by saying, now you’ll make bricks with no straw.  You can call that an undertow as it was a consequence of the waves of deliverance God was bringing to His people.   

I’m watching everyone’s work, if they are working, in America and I’m sure the world, get harder and harder. The pressure is getting greater and greater.  There are others who bought into slavery for their future by not working at all thinking the “free things today” won’t cost them their “FREEDOM” tomorrow.  Publicly confessing, by their actions, or in action, Pharaoh [the Government] will take care of us.   

God had a wave of deliverance coming, or His people the Jews, that was going to be so big that it would take ten concurrent waves of plagues, and one last wave that would drown their enemies.  Yet, many complained of the difficulty.  They accused their leader, Moses, of causing the problems.  They created factions among God’s people.  They began saying they are better off before God showed up and sent Moses.  They actually thought Moses was causing the tidal waves and under tow, complaining against him.  They thought Moses wasn’t empathetic to their pain, to their struggle to the pressure they were under.  They didn’t want to listen to him. Little did they know, but later would find out, they were complaining against God.  They didn’t understand their times and seasons.   

Many had no idea that all this was happening because God heard their crying out to Him for deliverance.  God had heard their cry and His response was deliverance which would come in waves and have a corresponding undertow.  If they didn’t follow God, through God’s leadership, they’d would drown in the surge and be swept away in the undertow that was not meant to destroy God’s people, but the enemies of God and His people.  

PRIORITIES 

Respecting the power and beauty of tidal waves, their surge and the undertow one who is wise, understands it’s not about Egypt, the nation, it’s not about the work load that has become more difficult, it’s about shifting your priorities from what they were in the last season to what they are in the current one.  When tidal waves, surge and under tow is happening the priorities it to “let everything go you have to” to not be swept away or sucked under by the current.   

You have to face the winds of the current times and seasons while others hide out in their house and attics thinking that will keep them safe. You are safer in the winds and what the winds of God bring that the corresponding tidal waves, serge, and undertow that follows.  

You can’t hold on to old ideas, old methods, Egypt [the world] ways because the current will pull on them and take you under. These seasons are times of purging.  Purging of our lives and priorities and even God’s church.  With God’s people, the church, is where it, judgment, always begins.  There are even people who are worldly, who can’t discern the times and seasons, who move in pride thinking they have it all figured out and plan on not preparing or preparing to the level they decide in their own heart rather then hearing God and preparing for exactly what He is saying is coming.  These relationships will be one’s, if you plan to survive and go with God, you will have to let go of. Why?  Because they’ll be like anchors that pull you under and the current you knew to prepare for, or even prepared for, but didn’t follow your own preparation in trying to convince others to come, goes under and dies in the current of what was meant for those who are the enemies of God and His people.  

APPOINTED TO DIE 

Did you know that it’s appointed for all of us to die and then we all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ where our specific eternity is laid out for us?  We can also  die before our time because we didn’t listen to the warning voice of the Lord of what was coming and prepare.  Either way, upon an early death or a death in God’s timing, both will end up before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  What is more important than anything is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, repent from your evil ways and allow times of God’s refreshing to come upon you. Then no matter what happens in these turbulent seasons your eternity is secure.   

TENT OF MEETING 

Though there is and will be tidal waves, surge and undertow that wants to grab all your time, attention and energy, it’s looking beyond what God is doing, the future, that will get you through this difficult time and season.  God’s intentions were to use the waves to destroy the Jews enemies and then allow the waves to sweep His people out into what He would build called the Tent of Meetings.  It was “THE PLACE” where God’s people would “MEET HIM.”  Wow, all that was to have a relationship with God.  God wanted to introduce Himself to His people as their Father, healing, deliverer, provider and so much more. 

GREAT REVIVAL 

God has taken me into the future, allow me to see and walk through, the Tent of Meetings [the meeting place] that He will established at some point through all this process where He will call the multitude of people to Himself to introduce Himself to them as their Father.  I’m not saying that everyone will accept Him or accept the way to Him, which is through Jesus Christ, His Son and our Lord, but they will be given a chance to. 

I was there, God took me into the future,  He allowed me to walk in the future where people are gathered from many different nations to be with God.  His glory will rest upon all who are there.  It will be the most awesome place for the times and seasons for we were designed to be in the glory presence of God.   

He has shown me angels going out to groups of Christians, His people, who among them were certain people who had revival in their heart.  They know the work required for revival and would be honored to work in the revival while the multitude comes to meet God for the first time or to return to Him.  There will be an angel(s) who will gather an army of revival workers, who will be chosen out of many different groups of Christians, and they will march into the Tent of Meetings to work at the leadership of the Lord and serve the Lord and those who have come to meet God for the first time.   

MISGUIDED ANGER  

The future is awesome and I want to arrive at the future the Lord has shown me and I hope that you do as well.  Moses, a friend of God, got to look from afar at the Promise Land, but wasn’t allowed in because of His response to a rebellious people which resulted in him wrongly displaying before God’s people that Jesus would have to be crucified or beat all over again.  I know that might not fit your theology, and I don’t have time to explain.  Jesus was the Rock where water came out of to quench the thirst of His people. Their rebellion and complaining got the best of Moses, which is easy for any of us to respond the same way, and he hit the rock twice.   

God knows who we are.  He knows His people, their sins and the difficult responsibility it for those who asks to lead His people.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  God loved us first before we knew Him.  It’s so important for us to realize, that other people do not determine our future in God.  It’s important for us to understand it’s God they are rejecting not us or our leadership.  God will deal with His people, it’s for us to lead the one’s who will follow and to do what God says in response.   

Don’t allow the current time and seasons of tidal waves, surge and undertow cause you to treat God’s people wrongly, or to disobey God out of your anger towards those who are stubborn and stiff-necked.  Don’t allow those who blame you for their current difficulty or who are accusing you of being un-empathetic to their current struggles and pressure brought on by the tidal waves of God’s deliverance prevent you from following the Lord or cause you to have misguided anger.   

Let God know you want to be a part of His future plans.   Join me in looking to the future of us all who respond to the calling of the Lord will be in, the Tent of Meetings, to encouraging you and help you prioritize what you have to to survive the surge and undertow.     

I’m not giving you any specific timing, but I am telling you what is in the future for those who hold on and learn to ride the waves, face the winds and refuse to hold on to anyone or anything that will suck them under with the undertow or drown them in the serge.

MY PRAYER FOR YOU TODAY. ‘We have NOT STOPPED praying for you. We continually ask God to FILL YOU with the KNOWLEDGE of HIS WILL through all the WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING that the SPIRIT gives, so that you may LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF THE LORD and PLEASE HIM IN EVERY WAY: bearing fruit in EVERY GOOD WORK, growing in the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, being STRENGTHENED with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have GREAT ENDURANCE and PATIENCE, and GIVING JOYFUL THANKS TO THE FATHER, who has QUALIFIED YOU to share in the INHERITANCE OF HIS HOLY PEOPLE [THE SAINTS] in the KINGDOM OF LIGHT. For He has RESCUED US from the DOMINION OF DARKNESS and brought us into the KINGDOM OF THE SON [JESUS] He loves, in whom we have REDEMPTION, the FORGIVENESS of sins.’ Colossians 1:9-14

The church of Colossians, which was just east of Ephesus, was birthed through the evangelistic ministry of Epaphras from the church in Ephesus. Paul had not been their or seen them yet but had a good report of how some who lived in Colossae had accepted Jesus as their Lord and the church of Colossians was birthed. Once Paul heard of this great news, he began to pray continually over them this prayer and wrote them the letter we call Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians.

Lord help us to have this same compassion for Your church so we too, like Paul, PRAY FOR the church and believers everywhere. This is my prayer for you today!

 

‘If any of you think you are wise by the STANDARDS OF THIS AGE, you should become “FOOLS” so that you may become WISE. For the wisdom of this world is FOOLISHNESS in God’s sight. As it is written: “He CATCHES the wise in their CRAFTINESS”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are FUTILE.” So then, no more boasting about HUMAN LEADERS!’
1 Corinthians 3:18-21

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.’ Hebrews 12:1-2

God loves YOU and has a PLAN for YOUR Life! Jeremiah 29:11