Many say that America stands at
its tipping point. I hear the words "A
Line is being Drawn In The Sand" by many over and over concerning where America
and the World will stand in the near future.
Yes, we are at a pivot, and the
elections will reveal where believers stand on many issues.
Some sense that debate and
negotiations are the answer to the world problems; others that we are on a steady decline and
there is no more that can be done and some are proclaiming judgment.
We say that we are at one of the
greatest moments in the History of the Church. And that it is a moment when our
God will arise but not by reasoning and debate, rather as the church sets
its eyes on what gives the Father pleasure, the harvest.
I, like many reading this monologue
once lived on a course that opposed God and am no different than most Americans
and the world today. I loved the party life and all that came with it, until
one day, I met Jesus. Until that moment, I was as religious as most; I was born again from the inside out. All at once, most of the before
life was interrupted by a nature encounter with the living God.
In a moment, that which I once
loved to do, was passed for a new love for Him, with a heart set on His Kingdom
and nature. My brothers and sisters, we are not going to change the world and
its direction through debate or trying to change people's mind. The only way
this world is going to change is as people are born-again, and empowered to be
His witness through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
My brothers and sisters, in the
few minutes that I have taken to share this appeal, thousands have entered into
eternity without Christ, with no chance of ever knowing the goodness and
faithfulness of a God that loves them or what Jesus did so that they can have
relationship with the Father.
Just a few moments in the last
100 years:
North Carolina and Topeka, Kansas 1896-1901
In 1896, a small group of people
gathered in North Carolina and God opened "Heaven's door." An outpouring of the Spirit shook them as
the little bunch began to prophesy and speak in new tongues. Later in 1901, God
moved again among another handful of believers in Topeka, Kansas and Charles
Parham. These events staged the beginning of a great outpouring of the Holy
Spirit that would change the look of Christianity over the face of the whole
earth. A few years later, the fires of God continued to smolder in small
gatherings until an appointed moment on God's time clock.
Welsh Revival 1904-1905
In the early nineteen hundreds
the church rose up to fast, pray and seek God for a restoration visitation. In
1904, the Welsh Revival broke forth in a small coal miners town. This
restoration revival of the Spirit moved over the face of the entire earth after
which smoldering pockets of revival emerged in small churches and cells
throughout America. For years, there remained expectancy in the hearts of people
that "God was about to move again."
Azusa Street Revival 1906
In the early years of the 1900s
in Los Angeles, California, a great Holy Spirit encounter began in a small
living room on Bonnie Brae Street. So great was the stir of the Holy Spirit
power that the street soon filled with thousands waiting to hear and see what
God was doing. The word moved quickly as thousands slept on the streets to get
a glimpse of William Seymour and receive the power of the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit that continually left visitors drunk in the Spirit on the streets for
hours.
Seymour and the small band of
Holy Spirit filled followers soon needed room to accommodate the hundreds,
sometime thousands of visitors that waited day and night to get close enough to
the little house. They soon occupied a facility on Azusa Street, giving rise to
the name, The Azusa Street Revival. The word of this God visitation spread
rapidly across the United States of America.
As the gold rush summoned many to
the expectation of riches in San Francisco, God did not disappoint those that
came from around the globe to receive a touch from Him. They had come for a
trickle of water and instead received a river gushing from their bellies.
Endowed with the power and the fullness of the Holy Ghost, they returned to
their hamlets, gathering believers, to share with them concerning what had
happened. They were pleasantly surprised to find that as they gave testimony to
the events, others received this Holy Spirit experience.
As a result, Holy Spirit filled
believers began to gather in homes all across America, making great, anointed
preachers out of no-name-bodies. Other prior revivals had stirred the intellect
of man. This revival was an external display of Holy Ghost power and His work
in them.
Many seeking the deeper things of
God were excommunicated from denominational Churches that had enjoyed previous
restoration revival movements. The central doctrine of this new Pentecostal
movement was the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" with the evidence of speaking in
an "unknown tongue." Many new Pentecostal denominations began to rise as a
result. The new movement emphasized the Pentecost experience at the birth of
the early Church and the completion of the great commission to go to the world
and tell every creature.
Our God is a God of Mercy and
Jesus is making intercession for us right at this moment. Together we can change to course of America
and the world. As we pursue and hunger for the One whom nothing is impossible.
God our Father, give us souls.
Give us the harvest. Pour your Spirit upon all the nations of the earth
according to your promises.
Act 2:17 In
the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will
dream dreams.
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.........Reveal your Self to a church
and a world that need you so desperately.
The Spirit and the Bride says,
COME.
David Andrade
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