So I am working the altar the other day when I went to pray for a girl.  Instantly I knew that there was an unclean sexual spirit at work.  But I did not feel like she was in sin.  That may sound odd but that was my impression.  I asked her if there might be some sort of relationship that she was involved in that the Father may not be pleased with.  This was nothing heavy handed.  Just felt that I had to ask the question.

She was vehement that there was nothing.  I am ok with that.  I don’t run a cult, I am not going to make someone come up with something just to make me happy.   It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts, not me and it is the Holy Spirit that draws, not my words.  I left her alone and continued working the altar.

A little later I came back to her.  I felt like I had a little clearer picture.  I told her that I felt like something had happened and God wanted to heal it.  As I continued talking I told her that God would show her what I was talking about.  As we talked I knew she was seeing it.

Often as I counsel people they begin to receive revelation.  I frequently meet with people who want counsel and before they are done telling me the problem they know the answer.  That’s just how the gift works in me.

So as I was talking I could tell that she knew what I was talking about.  When I felt the time was right I laid my hands across her eyes and told her to see that situation.  This is not guided imagery.  I am not telling people to see anything.  I never tell people what to do or what to see.  I told her that I do not need to know what happened or what the memory was or any of that.  She had a memory that Jesus wanted to heal her heart of.  As soon as I told her to see whatever it was Jesus was pricking her heart about she started crying.  I asked her if she sees it and she answered that she did.

I then told her to look for Jesus.  The bible says that He will never leave us or forsake us. That He would be with us to the ends of the earth.  That means if we are His, He is with us.  When I told her to look for Jesus she started bawling uncontrollably.  I prayed till the peace of God overcame her.   I then asked if the memory had changed and to tell me what Jesus was doing to which she said,

“He is keeping my father from touching me.”

Selah

I wish I could tell you that I was shocked but I wasn’t.  You hear lots of statistics about girls getting touched inappropriately but when you start to see how it ruins girl’s lives the numbers take on a disturbing reality.

I was in prayer about preaching a few months ago and the Lord gave me a word of knowledge that He was going to bring healing to people who were molested.

At the end of my message I told the 150 or so youth the word of knowledge.  I did not pray for a minute before there were youth sobbing all over the building.  Boys and girls.  I wanted to just sit down and cry but I had an altar call for that and one other thing so they could have plausible deniability and the altar was full.  It seems like a majority of the girls that have relational issues that I counsel were molested.  I don’t know how many of the boys.

After the girl I ministered to this week regained her composure she began to make excuses for her dad, “I just want to let you know I did not get raped or anything.”  She was protecting him.  How sad is that.

I wish that I could hear preachers address this in service more often.  Just cut your giving message back a few minutes once a month and say something like, “Men, if you are touching your daughter inappropriately you need to repent and move out of the house until you get some professional help.  Girls and boys, if you are bing molested call the police.”  The fear of the Lord would come upon those who are contemplating it.

I don’t know this girl’s father, he does not attend our church.  I truly don’t know what I would do I he did.

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Now playing: Hillsong United - Lead Me To The Cross

This will either bless and challenge you, or totally puzzle you.

I had a Friday night class that centered on ministering in the power of the Holy Ghost. About 30 people came. Most between 15 and 20 years old. Some older, some younger. One night I heard the Lord tell me to have an altar call. He said that if anyone wanted a spiritual gift to come to the altar and He will give it to them. That was a new one for me. I was obedient and told the people just as I had heard it. To my amazement only one person responded.

This was a 15 year old girl who said she wanted the gift of deliverance. I told her there was no such gift but that you would need the gift of discerning of spirits for that ministry so I will pray for that. I laid hands on her and called it forth. Down she went. She got up about a half hour later and told of a complete open heavens encounter that she had. She saw angels waring with demons in a complete battle. It was long and detailed. I talked to her about never taking part in the battle and not getting involved in the warfare. The angels were there for a reason.

Over the next couple months she got all kinds of stuff. She would get visions and see things in my meetings all the time and I came to really treasure the gift. Recently I sensed a shift in the gifting in purpose and strength. I had been discipling her in this gift but Jesus has decided to take over the discipleship process. I asked her to give account of what has happened recently. I mildly edited it to conceal her details.

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It was June 17, 2007 and I was at Carl€™s Friday night class at church, the last one I would attend since I was going on a mission trip to Omitted. We worshipped God, Pastor Pedro was a guest preacher, and then he asked us to come up to the front (I don€™t remember for what). When I went up there, it was something different. Carl prayed for me and he didn€™t say anything but €œopen heavens€. Then the fire of God fell on me and God, almost immediately, told me that my visions were going to be so clear from now on. Since that day, they€™ve been picture clear.

A week from that day, I went on a mission trip to Omitted. Half way into the trip, while the team was in prayer and worship, God did something like I had never experienced. The song playing at the time was singing €œI want to stand at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand, lay against you and breath, feel your heart beat€. That underlined part really sunk into my spirit. I asked God, €œGod, I want to feel your heart beat.€ As soon as I said that God responded saying €œI will give you more than that.€ In an instant, I had a vision that I was in God€™s heart. It was so real that I could tangibly feel God€™s love around me. In God€™s heart, I had my own room. In the room were pictures of my life hanging on the walls. The only picture that I saw was the Eiffel tower. As the vision ended, I could still feel God€™s love around me and I couldn€™t help but smile from ear to ear.

The next encounter was on a Wednesday night, my first Wednesday back from Omitted. At the end of the service, I went up to worship. Sometime while I was up there, I saw angels pick me up and we started soaring through this €œicy tunnel€. The reason I call it this is that it was a tunnel made completely of blue ice. We soared through there straight for about 2-3 minutes and then I was back where I was in the service, worshipping. I was so shook by where I had just been that I had no words except €œGod, You are so amazing!€ A few minutes after that, Carl came over to me and started declaring open visions over me. Immediately, I was back in that same icy tunnel. I was enjoying it so much but I was still wondering where I was going. After soaring for about a minute, the tunnel dropped me of into the throne room of God! God€™s glory in the throne room was so heavy that I fell at His feet, in the throne room and at the altar, to worship Him. I stayed down there for a while after I came back into the meeting and was by consumed by the glory of God. I just started singing €œLet it rain!€ over and over again until I saw that rain was falling down from heaven onto the people at the altar. This rain was the Holy Spirit coming and falling on the people there with all of His glory, fire, and power.

The next Wednesday was even more spectacular. We had a worship night that day. I knelt down at the altar to worship Jesus. Then, Carl came over with a word for me from God. God told him that I have the €œBride of Christ€ anointing. He said that I have this intimacy with Christ that I€™m actually able to go into His wedding chamber. He told me that I€™m supposed to show others this intimacy so that they can have it, too.

God made this more clear through the following experiences.

It was towards the end of a Friday night class at Carl€™s house. The glory of God started falling on me and I felt a burning fire running through my whole body, especially my head. I felt angels pressing me into the ground. All of a sudden, I was in the throne room. Jesus was on the throne while myself and others were sitting around Him. Everyone was dressed in royal gowns and jewels. I asked God, €œWhy are we all dressed like royalty?€ He answered, €œBecause you are all my princes and princesses.€ After He said that, I noticed that we weren€™t conversing in English, but in tongues. Although I didn€™t understand what we were saying, my spirit seemed to and so did the people around me. The only tongues that I recognized were Carl€™s, who seemed to be talking with us. God revealed to me that that is how they speak in heaven.

After a little while of being back in the natural, I laid back down again in the same spot that I was in when I went to the throne room. God took me someplace but this time it was different. Jesus and I were in a courtyard dressed as if we were from the middle ages. I was sitting on one of the benches in the middle of the courtyard (The benches, though not connected, formed a circle) and He was holding my hand sitting in front of me. We were speaking in tongues to each other but this time I got the main point of what we were saying. We were speaking terms of endearment and telling each other how much we love one another. It was very intimate and something special between me and God. Ever since that day, I€™ve gone back into that place that is only for God and I when ever I worship or pray to Him.

One day, as my mom and I were driving home, my mom started yelling at me. Every word that she spoke broke my heart a little more. As tears poured down my face, I lifted my head to see a sticker on a car that said, €œRelax, God€™s in control.€ That little sticker slightly lifted my spirit. When we got home, I ran to my room and knelt down. I started to cry again and prayed to God asking Him to take everything. I then went to our courtyard and, instead of me sitting on the bench, Jesus was and I laid my head on His lap and He poured His love on me. He was dressed in a white gown that seemed to be silk but it was softer. The white of His gown was a white that I have never seen before and it seemed to glow along with the rest of Jesus.

One or two Wednesdays after this, I was worshipping. I was telling God that I just wanted to be with Him. Right after I said that, I went back into that courtyard. When I looked at His face, I was somewhat mesmerized by His beauty. I can€™t even describe to you His features because they are so distinct like no other man. His eyes shined with love. He didn€™t even need to say anything yet I still knew that His love for me was immense. After, the band told us to go back to our seats, I was still dazzled by God€™s radiance.

At the end of the service, after Carl preached, Carl said for the intercessors to start praying, God gave me a vision. I saw Jesus walk over and sit on the edge of the stage, facing the audience. He started to cry. I said, €œGod, why are You crying? I don€™t like when You cry.€ He said, €œThey can€™t here me, their ears are closed to my voice.€ He yelled at the youth to hear Him but they didn€™t. I started to pray and ask God to open their ears to His voice. As I prayed, people€™s ears started to open and they could hear Jesus€™ cry to them. Jesus stopped crying and started smiling, as did I. People went up to answer the altar call.

A few minutes later, I went up to worship behind them. As I looked at a cluster of people at the altar, God started speaking to me. He told me that they didn€™t know how to drink from Him so they went to find things in the world to drink from because they were thirsty. God then showed me a pool of water in an oasis. He told me again that this was His water and that people needed to drink from His water but didn€™t know how. They needed to be taught how to drink from God€™s Spirit and someone had to teach them. This whole time that God was speaking this to me, I was burning and, basically, being overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit. He is so amazing!

As I sat in a chair that I had been placed in by Carl while the above paragraph happened, I went back to the courtyard. There, God told me that everyone has there own place with Him, like our courtyard, which not even angels can enter. This place is intimacy with God. Everyone€™s place is different. He also said that others can experience what I have experienced and to take others with me the next time He takes me to heaven. Through these encounters, I was further understanding the Bridal anointing.

The next time I went to Carl€™s Friday night class, I was worshipping. Carl saw an angel pouring oil over my head. Then He saw an angel walk across the room and place something purple in my hands. Then my hands physically started to lean down and before I knew it I was on the floor. I could feel an angel breathing on me and speaking to my spirit. Even though I didn€™t know what it was saying, I knew my spirit did. God said to listen to the angels because they are here to help me. Then I saw the angel put a goblet made of gold in my right hand. I asked God what I was supposed to do with it and He said pour it over people.

—

It goes on but you get the idea. Exciting times!

I was on a Christian jewelry site and saw a link to their doctrine. My first question is to wonder why a jewelry site needed to post their doctrine. I looked however and came down to the last point of the section titled:

IV. PNEUMATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

4. The Spirit bestows gifts, however the sign gifts (e.g. tongues, miracles) gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority was confirmed (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:20; 4:7-12; Heb. 2:1-4; 1 Thes. 5:1).

Now, for the sake of being a good Berean lets take a little look see here:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Listen

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Says that there are gifts and goes into detail listing them.

2 Corinthians 12:12 Listen

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Ok, signs attest to the office.

Ephesians 2:20 Listen

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

The foundation, these gifts must be pretty important.

Ephesians 4:7-12 Listen

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

More gifts given to men by the Spirit of God.

Hebrews 2:1-4 Listen

2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

God bares witness to doctrine with signs and wonders. Very important indeed.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 Listen

5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.

huh? Not sure what this has to do with anything.

But I did not read anywhere in this list of Scripture that says it is ok to rip out whole chapters of the New Testament with a doctrine that is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Does someone else see it in here?

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Now playing: Extraordinary - Hear Us From Heaven

We had a little move of God this past summer. We had a little outreach to some urban young folks and saw lots saved, set free and baptized in the Holy Ghost.

One girl showed up and got right (I actually blogged about it here). What I found out later was that this girl had just gotten out of a correctional institution. I still don’t know what got her there but she lost a year and a half to the place. She had gotten out that week and her younger sister brought her to the meeting.

As it turns out, she had been accepted to a Christian College and had gotten a financial needs scholarship. Now she was right with God and was really excited. She was faithful to the meetings and grew in her relationship with Jesus. As the weeks passed she began to develop an unusual maturity in the Holy Ghost. We prayed for her and laid hands declaring that she would see a move of God at her new school.

The night before she was to leave she called me and asked if I would baptize her friend before they left. Her friend had gotten out of the institution the same time and was now going to go to the school with her. She had come down to make the trip with her. I had lead her to Christ a few days earlier and wanted to be baptized before she went.

I went to her house and baptized her.  She came up out of the water filled with the Holy Ghost.  We prophesied over her, declared things of the future, broke off things of the past and watched her glow that you see on a person with a fresh filling.  I then realized that the roof was awfully close to the pool. Of course we spent the next half hour jumping off the roof into the pool. This may be the best benefit of working with young people.

All seemed well until I got a phone call a few days later. It seems they had run into a few problems. Without going into details, I later discovered this on the schools website under beliefs

Without meaning to be unfriendly or unkind to anyone, we feel it only fair to say that Pensacola Christian does not agree with the modern-day charismatic movement, and we believe that students who are a part of the modern-day tongues movement should seek their college education elsewhere as they would not be allowed to participate in or promote any charismatic activities.

That could be a problem! I am waaaaay beyond charismatic. And these girls got right with God under the anointing. They were believing God for a move of God in a place that did not believe that God moves anymore. As time went on people around them began to experience manifestations of the Holy Ghost. there were angelic visitations, sovereign deliverances, works of knowledge and prophesies through people who did not know that such things were possible and the leadership of the school was not liking it in the least.

Last week they were brought into the dean of students office and were given an opportunity to promise that they would not pray in tongues. If they did not promise then they would be expelled. To try to keep this story brief, these girls were expelled from the school three days later.

Those that know me know my intolerance for the biblical liberals who have disregarded whole chapters of the Bible by saying that the Holy Spirit ran out of power sometime around the 3rd century. But on another note, how cool would it be to have the testimonies that these girls will have?

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Now playing: Rick Pino - I Can Hear The Sound

I was working the altar on Wednesday night when I prayed for this girl who got really wacked.  She had been going to this really good baptist church down the street but through relationships wound up with us.  Anyway I got this message from her through myspace (hope you can read teenager):

im still singing…lol… idk how to explain how i feel.. but its amazing… thx so much 4 praying 4 me… after u prayed 4 me it was like i have 2 worship him and i cant control it.. my brother already told me to stop, but i cnt…..

I replied:

Thats awesome. Welcome to revival.

I sometimes want to get my computer and throw it out of the second floor window of my bedroom. The impurity that is on the internet should make any true believer blush. To imagine the foul lies we allow into our homes via the internet would make the Apostle Paul write a new epistle.

Of course if you know me then you know I am talking about the lie that is wrapped in the Pharisee’s cloak of cessationism.

Note to cessationists: This blog is not a forum of debating unbiblical doctrine. We at RevivalBlog hold a high view of Scripture that does not allow us to delete whole chapters of the Bible like the liberals do who write these lies.

This current rant started when I read outright accusations about a ministry that is seeing some signs and wonders. Every time I see these things I wonder what the Holy Ghost feels. Besides the fact that the authors have yielded to the spirit of antichrist, they are defaming ministers of the Gospel by name. They walk in a self-ordained authority. I pray that God would show the mercy in the Great Day.

But this all brings me to this question, “Would you allow God to do something in you, or your ministry that not only is beyond your understanding, but beyond what is considered orthodox?”

If you have been crying out for something new and are not seeing it you especially want to ask yourself this question.

Imagine this scenario: You are getting ready for a meeting and you distinctly hear God tell you He is going to do something in the Bible, like cause people to interrupt your meeting with someone coming to wash your feet. Or you clearly hear God quote Isaiah 56:10 and tell you that He is restoring the bark to His people? Do you completely freak out?

What if He goes even further and quotes Isaiah 43:19? In case some people aren’t fluent in English, new means it has not been done before. As in God is going to do something that is not in the Bible.

Would you allow Him? Would you lay your reputation on the altar in order for God to be the head of your ministry? What if God said that after He did these things you would lose your credentials but this would be a sign against your denomination? What then? What if He told you that your name would be vindicated but not until after you died?

Lets get down to where the rubber meets the road. What price are you really willing to pay to see the Glory of God manifested in your life?  Is that even important to you?

I firmly believe that the primary role of teaching is to understand experience and frame it within a biblical context. Far to many Christians have lots of bible knowledge but it is so far removed from an intimate, experiential, relationship with Jesus that it actually robs the student of faith. I believe this is why the Word says that knowledge puffs up.

Here is how it is supposed to work.

A person encounters Jesus. He is immediately discipled in the Word to gain an understanding of who this Jesus is and what He is supposed to do in response to the encounter. The more we encounter Jesus, the more we desire to gain understanding of Him and this drives us to search and understand His Word but not the Word only. And here is where most churches are failing.

2 Peter 1:5 Listen

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,

It does not say add to your hunger knowledge and your knowledge faith. First faith, then virtue, then knowledge. The American church is exploding with churches that serve up a Hungry-Man size serving of knowledge every Sunday with no faith or virtue.

I began to think about this last night when a group of young men asked me to begin to disciple them in the Word. They have experienced the supernatural. They have been responding to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in character issues and now they want a firm foundation in the Word.

This is what I believe to be biblical Christianity.

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Now playing: Lecrae - After The Music Stops

• The AG has a new leader George Wood. My only reaction is, “Can someone hook this guy up with a template?”   Wrong George Wood.
• I am using Cocomment again. There is a new version of the plugin. I stopped using it because it was slowing my page load times. I would give you a page link to my discussions but I can’t find out what it is.
• The devil hates my ministry and has launched an all out assault. If you get a word please email me.

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Now playing: Hillsong United - Hosanna

This is the post I do not want to write.

The Assemblies of God is having its convention this week and they will elect a new General Superintendent. The only reason this is a big deal is because so many people think this will have a great effect on the direction of the AG.

Follow me here.

The Assemblies was born in revival as people were kicked out of their congregations for receiving the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Others formed new congregations that were on fire and sought fellowship with like-minded ministries. From the AG website:

A cooperative fellowship emerged from the meeting and was incorporated under the name “The General Council of the Assemblies of God.” Most of the delegates had little desire to form a new denomination or sect, and they structured their organization to unite the assemblies in ministry and legal identity while leaving each congregation self-governing and self-supporting. This structure continues to the present.

While it is true that the structure continues to the present, the need for the structure and the desire of the delegates has strayed far off of that original path.

You want to know the definition of a “Spirit-Filled” church today? Loud music and a little tongues. That is it. The Spirit may come in worship but He better leave in time for the welcome and announcements because we are moving the service along.

I wonder what would happen if a church could not call itself Pentecostal unless the Apostles and Prophets came and tested the meetings against Pentecost and discerned whether or not the same Spirit that fell on Pentecost was at work in the service.

Ooops, I forgot, the AG does not believe in Apostles and Prophets anymore. In fact they have a whole position paper on it. No, today the AG has senior pastors and missionary evangelists. The other terms might offend somebody. And they might actually carry the anointing that comes with the office.

No, we are happy to hear Bible stories of miracles and declarations that we will see them again but we do not want to take any risks and declare “And we are going to wait until it happens today.” And we certainly are not going to call a fast to hurry its coming.

I read lots of comments in blogs where people pray that God send revival to the AG. Have you forgotten Brownsville? God did send revival. The denomination got itself wedged into the middle and the thing and caused a series of splits in the congregation.

The move in Toronto that was mocked by many AG people still has all the key players on staff a dozen years later. The real difference? Toronto recognized that God was doing something new, left their denomination and started a new move. Brownsville tried to make the move of God fit into a denominational structure. God was merciful and touched many lives but the effect is still there. Toronto has a convention center that is paid for and all their staff either in tact or sent out with blessing to start a new work while Brownsville is strapped with debt and the wounds from the splits.

I know this is a wandering, meandering train of thought but an important point here: The AG of today lacks focus and has sought expansion at the cost of its founding mission: revival. I read Mark Batterson’s blog every day and I love what his church is doing but there is no connection between his fellowship and Brownsville, or Azuza, or Pentecost for that matter.

What does the AG need? Decentralization. Right now, churches operate within the structure of the organization. The national structure needs to be cut back to the point of only supporting missionaries. Tell the congregations to seek the Lord as to the direction He is leading and then come back in 10 years to see what structure is needed. Determine that religious spirits will be cast out of the fellowship and declare that we are moving forward in revival. Partner with what Bill Johnson, Randy Clark, Che Ahn and others are doing.

Get a fresh move of God. Open the door to let congregations that really just want to be a slightly more spiritual then Calvary Chapel to leave. Rebuild a fellowship of churches that want revival and move on in that path.

In the end, the AG needs to decide if it wants to be a cooperative fellowship of ministries born in the fire of the Holy Ghost or just the new Methodists.

I will pray for this convention. But my prayer is not for the right leader, it is for purpose.

edit:  I wanted to add that this is in no way an indictment of all AG churches.  I was speaking about the denomination and its direction.  I attend an AG church and I do not hesitate to recommend it to those seeking a church.  Simply being a part of the AG is not wrong and in fact there is much good in the denomination.

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Now playing: Jeff Deyo - Bless the Lord (Featuring Rita Springer)

So I came together with some of my disciples to reach a certain people group.  There were about 7 people meeting on a patio in the south Florida heat.  The Lord has touched this group and it has grown … and grown … and grown.

We had our outreach The Mission last Saturday and had 110 people show up.  Lots of people got saved.  It was a “Yeah God!” kind of night.

This past Tuesday night we had our normal meeting in a living room.  The problem?  We had 57 people show up.  Imagine 57 people worshiping in the living room of a 1800 square foot house.  When I preached I had about four square feet to move around.  I literally had a one foot by four foot area to move around in.  There were people stuffed into every imaginable spot.

The good part is that when time comes for ministry, you don’t need catchers because you can only fall back a foot before you hit someone.

The bottom line:  I do not know what to do now.  Tuesday night we had several drug addicts cry out for deliverance confessing Jesus.  We had a guy who got out of jail within the last week.  A whole bunch of people responded to the altar call about sexual purity and almost ten responded to a word of knowledge about rage.

I have to find a way to pastor these people.  I can’t continue to bring these folks in someone’s living room and we simply do not have room to grow.

I do not know what to do now.  Please pray.