Everything listed under: pentecost

I love it when Heaven invades earth.  I love it when the Spirit of God begins to do unusual things to get our attention.  People sometimes say the Holy Spirit is a gentlemen, and while that may be true in some people’s experience, whenever I read about what He does in the Bible, it seems to be a tad more….demonstrative!

When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:2 says “…suddenly there came a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” 

And that wasn’t all.  Tongues of fire rested on each believer, and they all began to speak with other tongues! It was so extreme, that people thought they were drunk! I don’t know about you, but when I’m around people speaking other languages, I generally don’t think they are drunk.  I generally think people are drunk when they stagger, laugh, fall down, etc!  Did people think that early believers were drunk because they spoke in tongues, or was it because they literally acted drunk?  It’s something to think about!

Extreme?  By most modern day church standards – yes!  And yet the Bible is filled with radical moves by the Holy Spirit.  What about the apostle Paul?  He gets knocked off a horse and blinded for three days during his conversion experience, which included a light from heaven and an encounter with Jesus.  Can you imagine if someone got saved like that in a church today?  Most of us would questions if it was the Lord.  Many would say it was demonic!

These are only two examples, but many others fill both the Old and New Testament.  What about Paul’s account of his being caught up to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 2?  He had such a powerful revelation of Jesus that he didn’t know if he was in the body or out of the body. 

Paul wasn’t alone in the glorious things he experienced.  John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, also was caught up in powerful heavenly encounters that resulted in the book of Revelation.  Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, Mary….the Scripture is full of accounts of people that experienced extreme things.

So why do we struggle when God does things that seem unusual?  I read a quote today by Eric Johnson, a pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, that really resonated with me:

“If you ask for the Kingdom, be prepared to see things you may not understand.”

I write all this to give an introduction to what I will be blogging about in the upcoming days.  In the last days, we have been seeing an increase in unusual things at Harvest Fellowship, both in the church and the school.  I’m attempting to create a foundation for people to receive some of the things that are happening.

One other thing I must add.  I don’t just run after experiences.  And when they happen, I ask one big question – are they directing me and others towards Jesus? 

My answer to what I see happening in this season is yes! Stay tuned for part 2….it’s coming soon!

The Lord birthed His vision for Harvest Fellowship in a time of seeking Him brought on by great distress in our lives.  Unable to sleep one night, I found myself listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice.  In the middle of the night He spoke.  “Start a church and start in your home.”  I was shocked at His direction because this was the last thing I desired to do, but my heart was flooded with a great sense of peace at His direction.  It was as if a great heaviness lifted off of me at that moment as I received His word.

Still unable to sleep, I continued listening to the voice of the Lord.  I began to hear one word – ‘Sivan’.  I didn’t know the meaning of this word, but I knew it sounded Hebrew in origin.  As I pondered the meaning of Sivan, I heard the Lord say “It’s linked to harvest.”

I searched on the internet and what I found astounded me.  Sivan is a month in the Hebrew calendar that is linked to the Feast of Pentecost – a celebration of the harvest in the Old Testament that also includes thanksgiving for God’s provision of the Word and the Holy Spirit.  Not only was God speaking to me about vision for the ministry of Harvest Fellowship, but He was giving a time frame in which we were to begin – Pentecost of 2008.  We must be people who know the times and seasons!

My biggest concern at this point wasn’t how to begin this, but what my wife Jami would think!  We had long resisted the thought of living in Ardmore but God brought us back from Japan with great confirmation and direction that this area was destined for a move of the Spirit.  The thought of starting a church in South Central Oklahoma was more difficult than moving back to my hometown.  I dreaded telling Jami when she woke up.

In the morning I brought up the delicate subject with the statement “You’ll never believe what God spoke to me in the night!” To my great surprise, Jami said “You’ll never believe the dream I had!”

‘In my dream, I was sweeping the house when a couple of relatives arrived, followed by other people.  I realized I needed to feed them something so I rushed to the refrigerator.  When I opened it, I was surprised to find it was full of dishes that had already been prepared.  As I took the food out, I noticed more people were streaming into the house, so I rushed back to get more food.  I opened the refrigerator and it was once again completely full of food.  It was

constantly filled fresh every time I opened the door for more food.  I continued to do this because more and more people kept pouring into the house. 

Finally, I opened the door and the food was gone.  I looked out the window of our house, and to my surprise and relief, people were coming up the driveway carrying more dishes of food!  At this point I sat down and they began to serve what they brought.’

I believe God was clearly speaking that spiritually hungry people needed to be fed, and that there is a great harvest of these people that are coming.  Also, He was going to use not only us, but He would raise up others in this place that feed and impart to others as well.  I’ve further seen in these last days that this is the blessing of Pentecost – thankfulness for God’s provision for the past season, but His faithfulness to provide in the next season as well.  I believe the church in this region is only beginning to see what is in the Father’s heart for the future of our territory.

Greatly encouraged by the Spirit’s direction and confirmation, we sought counsel from several spiritual fathers and leaders.  They encouraged us to pursue what the Lord was directing us to do. 

We have been privileged in our first year to see God begin something that will not only impact this city and region, but the nations of the earth as well.  We rejoice in His promises and His Goodness as He is fulfilling everything He said He would do.