Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Most of these men who had such encounters went on to become revivalists. Parham’s ministry began to attract those who were in pursuit of ministry. A Bible school was opened in Topeka Kansas called Stone’s Folly. Parham had already had manifestations of healing and the revelation of God’s kingdom in their midst, but in the early 20th century, speaking in tongues was a rarity. He gave his students an assignment to study the Bible’s evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, during which they concluded that every recipient of the Baptism spoke in other tongues.2 The result: an outpouring began. They began speaking in tongues and even the newspapers began to report “Pentecost.” By 1902 Parham had become the “Father of Pentecost.”

Azusa Street

Later, after moving to Houston he met William Seymour, who attended his new school in Houston Texas. Seymour went on to become the leader of the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 in Los Angeles. This revival spread the Pentecostal movement around the world. What we now have today in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity can, at least in part, be credited to a young man–Parham–who had encounters with God, even as a teenager, and took these encounters as his arsenal to raise up his generation in an aspect of God that had been hidden for ages (except for in small remnants.)

The Welsh Revival

Another way the Azusa outpouring impacted the world was through not only the manifestation of tongues but the outpouring of the Spirit. Frank Bartleman was an evangelist who had joined Seymour in California. Bartleman had been corresponding with Evan Roberts. Roberts was the unofficial leader of another revival that started in Wales two years earlier. From 1904-1905, the entire nation of Wales was impacted by this revival. A conservative number for how many were saved is 150,000. I don’t know if you have been to Europe, particularly the UK but soccer is a big deal there, and even was back then. The presence of God had so gripped the country that even the soccer matches stopped, not because they were wrong, but because people were just so in love with God. Bars closed, families were restored, and even the miners had to retrain their donkeys because they had trained them using cuss words, and now longer recognized the commands given.

At 13 years of age, young Evan had his first encounter with the Lord. “Because of his unique desire for the Lord, Evan gave himself to fervent prayer and intercession, that by the time he was twenty years old, he was known by some as a ‘mystical lunatic.’ ”3 How did the revival start? He simply got permission to gather those who were hungry for God together, in which he shared his encounters. And his encounters soon became others’ encounters. Word spread like a fire that God was on the move. History is born in the heart of the hungry. Once again, in the annuals of prophetic history we have a young person so on fire for God that he impacted his friends, his nation, the entire world, and future generations!

You are a Revivalist

This is a call. Does your heart burn as mine does in reading such incredible stories. I urge you, go after him:

When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 NASB)

Revivals are born in the same way as a butterfly is created. There was a secret life there first. If the cocoon is the caterpillar’s prayer closet, then the butterfly is the revival that happens in its life. Revivalists didn’t start movements, they burned for God like setting a wick on fire that just happened to light an atomic bomb in heaven that rained His presence down on earth.

The Hebridean Revival

This was a revival that occurred in Scotland in 1949. The Hebrides were a small group of islands off the West Coast. There was “great concern that the church had become powerless to hold young people.”A call went out to pray for the youth. Answering the call were two old ladies in their eighties. They began to pray for water to be poured out on dry and thirsty land. As they interceded I picture them hitting heaven like a pinata until it burst. A particular verse that stirred their hearts and the hearts of others was Psalm 24:

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. (vv 3-6 ESV)

Within a month Duncan Campbell arrived for a two week meeting and ended up staying two years. Strange and awesome things began to happen. Instead of chronologically focusing on the history of it, I will link to some sites with that information, but I want to give you some quotes of the amazing encounters that occurred.

“When God Stepped Down” is a message by Duncan the testified of the events.
(For Permalink visit: http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=1319) Here is a link to a transcribed version of the message.

During my research I came across the following video of first-hand accounts. Following the video is highlighted quotes that struck me while watching.

Quotes from Video:

“As if suddenly something was happening inside him.”

“God asked his people to ask Him a question, ‘will You come and visit us?’ and He said ‘yes, I will,’ and He did.”

“It went out to the whole community, everyone felt it, it didn’t matter whether they were Christians or not.”

“People walking down the road and heard singing, and they would know that they were revived because of the life in the singing.”

“There was something in the singing, something as if it’d just come down from heaven, there was… you couldn’t describe it… there’s something in the singing you can’t hear from the ordinary person.”

“One night a man was praying and saw a white dove resting on people’s heads.”

“Those who were lying on the floor, you could see Christ on their face, you’d know they were with Jesus, for their face was just shinning, just shinning it was!”

Day and night, whenever you woke up, the presence of the Lord was there, when you went to bed, the presence of the Lord was there.”

“However they also encountered God as this blast from heaven, this incredible surge of power.”

“One of those houses shook in Arnold there, as they were praying, the house shook.”

“Before we had minutes of it, but then we had hours of it.”

“Saw this profound divinity coming down as a Gospel Ship. A lot of them saw it at one point. And they all saw. This ship has only been seen a few times in history, so I’m told.”

“Another night in the open field we saw a ship, as it was a navy ship, all lit up, all lit up between the mast and everything, but we knew it wasn’t real, but for it was on dry land. We couldn’t say a word, none of us could even speak. ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ that’s all we could say.”

“Whether it’s a house that shakes with prayer or whether it’s light that comes out of the skies like electricity.”

“Crowds walking on the road, lights would be ’round them. They would be surrounded by lights.”

“Ships passing by felt the presence of the Lord… They felt the presence of the Lord, even going around the island.”

“Revival there in [the] 20′s, 30′s; it’s as if the promises of each generation where passed on to the next generation.” ”And something of the nature of God is; He knows who He can count on to test the promises, to be a trip wire of change, and suddenly release the promises to the present generation. And I think the prayers of these that have passed on are now being answered, it’s not just the prayers of the present.”

“There’s a new wave of young people that have no embarrassment about praying, no embarrassment about coming together…”

“He takes the fruit of the encounter and sends it around the world, this is what it’s like if people come together and spend time, even on their knees; and they will meet with Me and I will meet with them.”

“I don’t believe that it’s God’s heart for us to be complacent, that He does really want us to live in revival.”

“God’s just about to release His glory in our lives again!”

The Call for Revivalist – Revival Starters

The words from the quotes themselves serve as a call from one generation to another, from their generation to ours. Will you hear this call?  I urge you, do not ignore it. You are the encounter with God that all of creation is groaning for!

1. Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals: Why They Succeeded, Why Some Failed (Tulsa, Albury, 1996). p 112.
2. i.p. 118-119
3. i p 81.

Over the years my writing has gone through several changes, or shifts as I’ve grown. It started out really Art Katz-like and now it fancies to read entirely differently as I find my own writing style. I think today that

Some things I write are Biblical studies and very exegetical in nature, where I am trying to convey accuracy and application at the highest levels I am able to describe. Articles like this include the Ephesians Study, Apostolic & Prophetic, and The Manifold Wisdom of God. Other things I write are straight thoughts and revelations. I tend not to edit them too much so that what I was given, I can give to you with the same feel and ambiance. Articles like this include Heaven and Earth, Prophetic Prodigies, and Eyes of Imagination. They are intended to create sparks that allow you to dream.

It is one thing to write a song from the heart and another to compose a symphony. As I find myself–if you follow my writings–you may have noticed the different subtleties along the way. Where will I find the marriage of the two when my book is finally written? The beauty is indeed in the mystery, as it is truly an adventure.

Why am I sharing this with you with cause of an explanation? I think a bit of realism can suffice to enhance and even equip us in our discoveries within the life that is knowing God. Are you a writer trying to find his niche? Then we are brothers. I can tell you that your niche is the deposits God has made in your heart. Find that and you will find yourself and develop a view through which you can see yourself as God sees you. If you are one who hungers for God, then we are companions sharing a journey together.

My hope in this exposition is to allow you to capture the essence of the mechanism from which I try to share my heart and vision with you as the articles pile and the podcast episodes stack up. So, read between the lines and capture the spirit behind what I am so diligently trying to articulate and then I think we can find a connection in the Spirit, if not face to face.

What do you see in the mirror? The past? The present? The future? Past failures, present calamities, or future promises? I hope to strike a cord within you that brings hope to the surface and you can see yourself as great.

The Pilgrim’s Progress is classic literature, and was used in the generation it was given, and I have been encouraged by it. It seems like it describes walking a tight rope, though. Is this the life God destined us to live. Yes it is a narrow path, but that is within the context of the freedom of an awesome relationship and life in God. We shouldn’t live scared.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV)

I believe it was Austin Powers who said “Danger is my middle name.”((I don’t necessarily condone watching the movies, just making a reference many might recognize)) I don’t think spies live within the confines of fear, although they do understand that they have a dangerous occupation. They have training, drive, and determination to fulfill the call. I think it’s safe to say that we are spies, and we understand the discipline needed to complete the mission.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18)

Without vision, we lack the swagger to finish the task. I have been eager to reach the goals I know He has for me, however, the things I have learned in the last decade since Bible school are irrevocably invaluable to the paths on the higher peaks I am called to walk on. When we spy out the land we develop vision to take that land and the discipline required to fulfill our destinies.

Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.

Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan.

And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.”

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 1:2a; 17a: 27-28; 30)

They were sent to spy out something they were already given. One group understood this and one did not. We are spies in a world called to take land that has already been given to us. This attitude makes us victorious. As we discover God in this life, the light of Jesus shines through us taking earth for heaven by the Spirit of God.

For this reason, I shared part of my journey, and hopefully encouraged yours. Can I be real? I want to connect with those I am journeying with so we can find His face together.  That is why this is obviously one of those straight-from-the-heart writings.

What is the kingdom? My first response is this: When that which happens in heaven happens on the earth. On one hand it is the day to day life of the believer and his communion and relationship with God and His people.  On the other hand, it is an invasion of heaven to earth through those very same people. These people are the Church Jesus is building in the earth, and they are the ones through whom His kingdom advances in the earth.

The Lord’s Prayer

If you have been involved in kingdom culture, then these verses have become much more to you than a prayer to recite and repeat. This is what the Church has mainly been doing with the passage for the last 2000 years. Right before Jesus prays He says not to do that (vv 7-8). There is nothing wrong with praying this, but it comes much more alive when our prayers are shaped by this prayer which what I think Jesus intended for us.

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] Matthew 6:9-13 NASB emphasis mine

We pray to our Father in heaven Whose name “hallowed” or set apart-other than the world. To Him who is set apart, we pray “Your Kingdom Come!”  Likewise, “Your Will be Done!” This is how He begins, with an agenda for the kingdom and the will of His Father-our Father to fill this world with His world, to fill the will of this life with the will of His Father. “On Earth as in Heaven.” This is the goal: the earth.  Through the advancement of His Kingdom, His will fills the earth transforming it and recreating it to that which was intended from the beginning.

Therefore, my prayers are directed by this transformed way of thinking. When I pray, it is always with this in mind; His kingdom coming through what I am praying and His will being done in and through me.

The world has a mask blocking it from the true supernatural power it was created for. This prayer is a revolution that exposes the fact that the power behind everything is Father God. This prayer is the secret plan of heaven’s takeover of earth attempting to manifest and play out through our lives.

If Jesus told us to pray this way and for the kingdom to come, then His life is probably a pretty good picture of what this actually looks like. Most of us–whether believers or not–know the stories. He turned water into wine, walked on water, healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, overcame the devil, raised up disciples, opened up heaven on the earth on the Mount of Transfiguration, did good to all. I could go on and on.

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. John 21:25 ESV

The Supernatural Ones

He came as a model for us, as a fore-runner of the kingdom. He fulfills the Old Covenant and inaugurates a new one, in which the Kingdom that has been brewing for the last 4000 years begins to manifest into its fulfillment. This is something that could not be done without the establishment of the Church. Through this supernatural fellowship of brothers God can fill the earth with His glory and power. He set us up to outdo Him. Like David giving Solomon everything he needed to build the temple, Jesus ascended and sent us His Spirit, giving us everything we need to demonstrate and build His kingdom in the earth.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12 ESV

This is what the world is waiting for. They were created in His image therefore they have a supernatural need inside them that only a relationship with God can fulfill.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Romans 8:19 NIV

If our goal is to become more like Jesus-who was, while on the earth, the very embodiment of the kingdom-then why is it so hard for so many of us to receive this concept?  Heaven longs to fill the earth. Creation groans for the release of supernatural power in their midst. Why have so many people become so attached to a belief that says it is otherwise? And, why is it so hard for people to believe that God wants to touch them with His power? WHY?

“Here I am!” screams the creation. “Here I am!” shouts the galaxies.  Face in the wind and we must see to believe?

I just heard a guy in the coffee shop say: “Sooner or later the weather’s gonna get better, it’s got to.” I thought he said; “Sooner or later the world’s gonna get better, it’s got to.” Why does the Church not believe this? He left with a smile on his face as he looked out the window at a rainy, cold, overcast day.

We preach death when the Author of Life lives inside us. We must stop being death to the world, we must become life. If Jesus came to give life then so must we, and this is the simple entity that is the kingdom.

Many people say that the greatest thing we can do is study and talk about the Word. Let me ask you this; what threatens the devil and his evil empire more, those who sit around and talk about the Word or those who embrace the Spirit of the Word and do what it says? The devil is afraid of supernatural power. He is afraid only of those who actually have supernatural authority. You can study and talk about the Word until you’re blue in the face, but it does not mean you are having any impact on the supernatural realm.

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. Mark 1:22 ESV

Studying the Word is awesome and we could all do it more. However, are you really studying it if you don’t believe it or put it to practice? Does it seem like a fairytale to you, all the stories of the supernatural? I do not claim to yet walk in the fullness of this but I know it is available.

The Watchdog Societies

Most of the time, the people Jesus rebuked where those who denied supernatural power. Today we have whole watch dog groups whose purpose is to say that those who walk in power are not of God. They sound more like the ones Jesus preached against and the ones who walk in power look more like the disciples did.  So if you get rebuked for seeking signs and wonders you’re in good company. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew the word more than any other in their time but the missed the season of power and visitation. How could this be? And this is exactly what these groups are doing today. They name all those who are moving in the supernatural and say they are of the devil.

Is everyone perfect? no. Do some people report strange encounters, yes. Do they say things that seem contrary to Scripture, absolutely!  Are they perfect? No. I ask you again, are they perfect? And again you respond NO! So is it OK for them to mess up?  Most would say yes, when in their hearts, the answer is no. What if someone is caught in adultery? How would Jesus treat them?

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7 ESV

To them, to mess up within the realms of the supernatural is unforgivable, yet the ones who accuse are not perfect themselves either. Let me ask you this; who looks more like Moses, the prophets, Jesus, the apostles and those in the early church and even in church history, the one with supernatural testimonies?   Or the ones who accuse them? Compare their lives to the Bible and you tell me who looks more Christ-like?

These Signs…

What does the kingdom look like on the earth? Jesus explains:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Mark 16:17-18 ESV

Most of the people against the supernatural do not heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, cleanse lepers, prophesy, speak in tongues, interpret tongues, have faith, see miracles, signs and wonders, operate in words of wisdom knowledge and prophecy. This is a description of the ones who lived in the times archived in the Bible for our benefit so we could take what they did to the next level in our own generation. Which life more fulfills the Word; the one that talks about it or the one that becomes it?  The one that becomes a written testimony of Jesus to their generation?

The picture I used are of David Hogan (top) and Daniel Kolenda. These are men that are walking in the very things I am describing. Hundreds, even thousands healed, raised from the dead, hundreds of thousands saved and brought into the kingdom.

Who are the true apostles?  The ones sent of God to change a culture to that of heaven.

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. 2 Corinthians 12:12 NASB

“Signs” and “wonders” and “miracles,” these are the things I hear people rebuke me and others for the most when they are the only criteria Paul uses to defend his apostleship.

I do apologize for I am writing with a bit of flare and attitude. I am passionate about this. My heart is to see the Church ignited in this hour that has been given to us in eternity to effect the world with the good news of an awesome Jesus who is King of an awesome Kingdom of awesome people. Please hear me out, if this angers you, examine your life; how does it compare to those lives lived in the Scriptures? There is more.  You don’t have to be afraid of strange fire in the pursuit of the supernatural power of God. His true fire always burns up the strange fire. The enemy is afraid of the power of God and does anything he can to stop it from spreading and setting the Church on fire. A Church on fire will set the world on fire, burning down the devil’s remaining strongholds in the process.

It’s easy for people in America to sit behind their computers and calling devils the ones around the world who are actually putting the Word to the test, and showing it true. Let me ask you who sounds like the Accuser of the Brethren? Jesus said if they are not against us they are for us, but when He said that it was in relation to others who were operating in power. I feel all who have a relationship with Christ are my brothers and sisters in Him, but the reason I am writing this is to shed light on the matter.

We Are Lions

Jesus is King and He is roaring like a Lion in the earth. It does not say “Behold the Kitty Cat.” He is not the Kitty Cat of Judah, He is a Lion who devours sickness. The very reason He ascended was send us His Spirit, so that the same power He had who be in us. To say He took that back 75 years later is to say that He said the Church and the Bible are enough and He can get off His throne now. The apex of His time on earth was not the cross, it was the Ascension. What is the cross without the Resurrection and Ascension. He Himself said what He did was not complete until he ascended. His intention was to make us like Him, lions. We are lions, not kitty cats. We need to remove ourselves from kitty cat Christianity. The world doesn’t need kitty cats that snuggle up next to their diseases and problems, they need lions who come in the power of the kingdom of heaven and unleash the Father’s heart on them in the form of Holy Spirit power, the same way Jesus did and is still doing through us.

Pray this as I am:

“Lord, make me a Lion. Forgive me for living like a kitty cat when you have destined me to be so much more, Teach me how to roar!” We are not kitties. We are not furry little fluffies. We are Lions. Make Lions out of us Lord. IN  Jesus name!”

The Mountain That Fills the Earth

This has been only a small introduction into the answering of the question; “What is the Kingdom?” In this you have heard my heart and my vision, which is not an end all but it is an aspect that is needed in the understanding of the Kingdom. I have included below an except from my Apostolic & Prophetic study that gives us a picture of why the Kingdom is advancing in the demonstration of power (1 Cor 2) and the fulfilling of God’s plan for the ages.

Jesus preached repent or change the way you think and live, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus was of course preaching and proclaiming this news to His Jewish brothers. In their mindsets and understanding of the theme of the kingdom of which He was proclaiming. I think of the references to the kingdom in Daniel.

In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue we find an illustration of all of the kingdoms of all time. I am not going to take a stance on the metaphoric meanings here, just some quick gleanings. There is a list of all of these kingdoms and their rule and power, then all of the sudden out of nowhere you see a rock cut out without human hands strike the statue and crush it so that it is scattered by the wind. This stone became a mountain that fills the whole earth. ref. Dan 2:31-31; 44-45.

So this kingdom is set up by God and not human hands and it destroys all of the other kingdoms and fills the earth. Jesus was proclaiming that this kingdom was at hand which is why it was so powerful. “At hand” the Interlinear says “has drawn near.” The kingdom which would fill the earth. We see now that Jesus by preaching the Kingdom is at hand is also now demonstrating it because He is fulfilling the revelation of the dream.

We know that Jesus is the chief cornerstone, rejected of men, and the kingdom that he is now building in the earth is not of man’s origins but God’s. He is the stone that strikes the statue, the evil empire, and His kingdom is the one that is now filling the earth. (Eph 1:19-23)