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April 6, 2008 AM
Pastor Steven L. Shelley
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We have several things we want to do this morning but I want more than anything, above all things, I want the Lord to have His way. I believe He is having His way. If we will just be careful right now and not get in His way, everything will be all right. So if you're in a hurry . . . I hope you're not. I hope you didn't leave a roast in the oven. It'll be about that big by the time you get home. Because we are not in a hurry this morning.
We did not have church last night. Of course, some of you were in church twelve hours yesterday - you that went to The Call [Montgomery, Alabama]. A great group, around thirty of our people, went over to The Call yesterday. I wasn't there, but I streamed from start to finish.
I was so amazed that GOD TV . . . It must have cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it, but they streamed it from the first hallelujah to the last amen. At 11:07 last night, our time, I turned it off. And I have to tell you, I think I was there in the spirit. I think I made a few trips over there and back during the day. Hallelujah. It was a wonderful thing for our state, for our region, for our church, for our community.
But right now what I want you to do is I want you to release a little love therapy. I want you to give a little love therapy for just a moment.
[Singing:] "I'll Say, 'Yes, Lord, Yes'"
I'm feeling something off of what you are doing. There is some real love going on this morning. I feel some of it coming this way.
[Singing:] "I'll Say, 'Yes, Yes, Yes'"
My, you're a loving group of people. I am feeling something off of that. I am writing in my book this week . . . I'm writing a portion of a chapter on perfect love. I am feeling some of that love this morning. The Bible says that perfect love casteth out fear. There's a lot of fear in the Body. But we're going to receive His perfect love.
A few quick announcements and then we are going to have Bro. Jerrell Miller to come. He didn't know it, but we are going to have him to come and greet you. If he gets anointed, he can preach. I don't have the preacher's itch. This year, I'll be preaching thirty-three years, so I've preached a time or two. So if I didn't get to preach this morning, I wouldn't cry.
But I love the atmosphere. Sometimes, that's my problem. I really was never called to be a pastor. That's a terrible confession to make, isn't it? But I've been doing it since I was seventeen. But I am really a worshiper and an intercessor. I really get into that sometimes and I think, "O God, I've got to get up there."
I'm thanking God for modern technology. I thank the Lord. I hope you don't think I'm making an excuse for my absence, but I really had some instruction from the Lord that I was not to be at The Call, although I did a lot of things to help promote it and encourage. And I didn't even share that, but with a couple of people, because I didn't want in any way to discourage you because I felt like many of you were to be there.
But I realized in the spirit that there were some things that were going to be stirred up in the heavenlies because of what was going on. And I have a calling to help protect this place in the spirit realm. And so the Lord said, "I've called you to be a watchman and I want you to do some watching." Because you get that many people together, and they're praying, and they're coming against, and they're loosing, and they're binding . . .
You know, I've been told that Jeffersonville, Indiana, was one of the hardest places in all the world to try to live because thousands of people came there and had the devils cast out of them when Bro. Branham was ministering. And they said you could feel it when you drove into the place. I've only been there once, but I know about eight hours was about all I could stand. So I know a lot of people don't believe like that, but we're not here to convince you of anything.
But there's a lot of shifting and moving. There's a lot of stuff going on just above us, as the Word that brother gave this morning.
But I thank God for modern technology. To be able to be in my home and my bedroom, to intercede the way I wanted to intercede, the way I felt like God wanted me to intercede, and yet watch with clarity . . .
And I want to thank the Lord for GOD TV. It must have cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that, but they streamed The Call into all of the nations of the world. And in America . . . The station is 12 or 13 years old in Europe, but we've only had it right at one year. The only way you can see it in America is through satellite, which I don't have. But you can stream it on the Internet.
And they've got a desire . . . I thought, "Well, they'll show a couple hours of it just to be . . ." But they showed it from start to finish.
And there were a few times that the anointing was so strong I couldn't speak. That's how heavy the anointing was. In fact, my mother came in one time and I had my face buried in the bed. She said, "Are you all right?" I barely said, "Yes, Mam, I am." But it was just heavy.
And to see that many - seven or eight thousand people - gathered that way, calling on the God of eternity . . . And there was a lot of emphasis on this state. I know that God could never turn a deaf ear to that many sincere people.
And I asked the Lord last night, before I went to bed . . . At the very end of it last night, Lou Engle prayed that God would give dreams. I asked the Lord . . . I do dream. I'm dreaming more now. I used to just see visions, but now as I get older . . . This is my birthday month. I'll soon be forty years old, in a few weeks, and I'm dreaming more like an old man now than I used to. But I asked the Lord for a confirmation dream last night and He gave me not one, but two. And I want to share them with you in a little while.
Before Bro. Jerrell comes . . . He is the editor of "The Remnant." There are a lot of shiftings going on. He has received a fresh mandate from the Lord. And I want him to share that because we want to know about it, we want to be a part of it. If you are not a subscriber and you want to find out . . . He's not here for that purpose, but if you're not a subscriber, you want to subscribe to it because there's a lot of wonderful things. I'd like for him to share just a minute with us how it started and where it's going.
Before we do that, on the little table out in the foyer just as you go out the door, there are some postcards there that Caleb Davis sent us advertising the conference that we are doing this year in Tucson. Several of you have said that you are going to be at that conference.
The dates are June 19th through the 21st. I'll be speaking, with Keith Miller, Paul Keith Davis, Patricia King is going to come and do a session, and the worship is by JoAnn McFatter and Steve Swanson. If you want to take one of these, they are out there.
And just yesterday, these came. This is the advertisement from Bro. Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj. I had an e-mail from him this morning and he sends his love to you. This is advertising the conference that we are doing in Jerusalem this year, June 6th - 10th. There are plenty of these back there. We have some more if you take all of these. This explains everything about the tour, the different options that are still available.
They have extended the pre-registration until April 14th, so if you are interested in that, you need to take this brochure. It makes a nice souvenir if you don't even go to Israel. It's got at least one handsome guy and a beautiful woman, Dr. Gwen Shaw.
Sis. Gwen needs our prayers seriously today when you pray. She has just gone through a very serious time with her health. She is in her eighties and she has been a real prophetic voice in this nation for many years. She is a dear, dear woman of God. We love her very much. She is scheduled to be at this conference with Paul Keith and myself and Neville Johnson and Bobby Connor. It is going to be a wonderful time. So the brochures are there now and you can get them.
It's an honor to have Bro. Jerrell Miller with us. We already spent some time together this morning. It was getting good. We just enjoyed . . . You know how when you first get to sit down with somebody, you think of a hundred things you want to tell all at one time. So I am going to have all afternoon, the Lord willing, with him to do some catching up.
I want you to come, take your time, share with us what's going on with "The Remnant." If you want to preach a little bit, prophesy, have a vision, dream a dream, do anything you want to do as long as it is from the Lord.
Jerrell Miller:
You know, we started our vision. It says, "Write the vision and run with it." I didn't know what the Lord was saying to me, but it was fifteen years ago I met a man called John Kilpatrick at a pastors' meeting. He stood up and he spoke about Phenix City, Alabama, and he spoke about Columbus, Georgia. And he spoke about an old man named Wetzel. And Wetzel must have been a portal from God because he knew how to get a hold of God.
I sat there and I listened to him talk as he was being run out of his church, and how God had spoken to John Kilpatrick audibly and called him to preach. And then one night, when the man was about ready to resign, seventeen men were in a church and they saw warring angels coming through the back door and stood during the watch night of that hour. And the next day, it was around the church that the angels had come.
I am telling you this, when God sends his angels to defend a man of God, He is just not defending a man of God, He's defending a whole move of God. When God brought that man to church on Wednesday . . . And here's how important the fundamentals of the faith are. When he spoke and began to pray, the whole church was slain in the Spirit and they began to speak in tongues and magnify God.
In the Last Days, it says:
(Amo 9:11) In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
Well, when we were in worship, I saw something. I saw a vein of gold on the eastern side of Alabama. You know, in the old days, when they said there was gold in them there hills, what happened when the gold was in the hills? Everybody that wanted to make an economy within their own pocket book ran to that place.
But this is not a gold that will advance you in the kingdom of money, but this is a gold and a Presence that's on this side of Alabama. And when they find out that there is gold here, they will come and they will come.
I'm sharing something with you that in the days of John Wesley, his move could not be contained within the inside of the church. I'm telling you that the sides of this hill . . . I prophecy today that the sides of this hill will be covered with gold and people coming for answers.
I asked God . . . I said, "This is a new move of God. I've got to build a new foundation for a Temple."
We ended "The Remnant" newspaper in November after thirteen years. It is the history of the Brownsville Revival. It is the only recorded history of that revival. And the Lord said, "Start a new work with these new men."
And I said, "Well, who are these new men?" And then somebody introduced me to Paul Keith Davis. And me and my wife went to these meetings in Robertsdale. And I said, "There's something there. There's a Presence of God that's so great, I've got to have some more of that."
And then God just moved on me and He said, "You know, this is all the way different than anything that you have ever done."
And I said, "Paul, I want to commit myself to this." I said, "I'm not financially able to move like I want to move." I said, "But they did call it a remnant, didn't they?"
See, there's a small group of people that are hungry for the Presence of God. And because of their pressing in and their sacrifice, they say that the Lord was breaking through. Well, I am sharing something with you today that He is breaking through. The remnant is breaking through.
You see, if you can break through to the Presence of God and bring Him in your House, then they will come from the East, the South, the North and the West because they are hungry, and they are desperate, and they are dying.
It always comes through a remnant. Oh God, I can feel this today.
And I asked the Lord, "Well, where do You want me to go?" And I set my soul in one direction, and the Lord said, "That guy that you missed here speaking down in Robertsdale, Alabama, that's the man [Pastor Shelley] I want you to go and visit. Because through him, something magnificent is going to happen.
And then he told me that Bro. Wetzel was his mentor. And I said, "Does eastern Alabama have all the glory?" But I tell you, the story hasn't been written. But I have a written Word that is yet to come through, to be birthed. Because when it's birthed, and it's signaled across this land, Alabama shall see the glory of God.
There are things that are happening here that can't happen anywhere else. It has to happen here. This is the first place that slavery came to and a rebellion in a city called Montgomery, Alabama. This is the first place where a prophet came through named Martin Luther King to turn back another element.
And I tell you this, that this is the first place where race will know no difference and where revival will hit the land. And it will be like a shock wave.
Politics says that there's change, but God says that there's a bigger change - His mystery to be revealed. I'm telling you how big it is. This is the last move of God on the face of the earth. I really believe it. And He is going to center it through the center of Alabama.
He's going to turn back age-old things that need to be repented of. And the land is going to feel the Spirit of God. And there will be no more prejudice in the land. There will be no more religion in the land. There will be those that want to keep on with religion and will curse the newness. But I tell you, the newness will overtake because it will bring a highway.
I'll tell you something. This week, God gave me a message. He said, "Your prodigals are coming home." Every mama that is in a pew today that has a son out there that is living for the devil, I'm telling you, "Your prodigal is coming home."
I never knew what it meant until I heard it from another man of God. And when it hit me, I said, "Lord, what have I been doing? Where am I going? Lord, I don't know where . . ."
I'm playing that song. Paul Keith said that we were going to learn how to play musical instruments. Somebody gave me a $2000 organ. I got out there and I started playing my favorite hymn, "Be Thou My Vision." And the more I played, "Be Thou My Vision," the Lord spoke to me and He said, "Do you know why this man wrote this song? Because he didn't know where he was going either."
"Lay it down." That's what God is saying. "Lay it down. Lay it down and I will lead you into what you need. And I will give to you and I will feed you. Don't look for more. Look for the accomplishment done and I will provide the more. If you are looking for the more, the accomplishment will not be made because more is selfishness, but the accomplishment is the Kingdom of God and His Presence."
Thank you all for having me today.
Bro. Shelley:
Let's do another surprising thing since we're just not following any rhyme or reason. Let's have Bro. Carter come greet everybody. We're glad you all are back with us. Come on, Bro. John, and greet everybody.
Bro. Carter:
Good morning, everybody. I never thought I'd be standing here. I thought I would be sitting down there, but boy, it's good to be here. It's good to be here at New Hope, but it's also good to be in the state of Alabama.
You know, what the brother was saying a minute ago, there is something brewing in this state. It is unlike any other state in this country right now. Your governor is saved. There are mayors of cities that have given the keys of the cities to the King of Righteousness.
There's something that's happening here. I tell you, really pray and just thank God every second you're alive to be here. There's something supernatural that's brewing in this whole state, this whole thing.
And I am glad that he mentioned Martin Luther King. He's finally getting some of the glory - I don't know if I am saying that right, but - some of the appreciation that he deserved. The man labored hard, and he labored in this state. He labored very, very hard.
And a lot of his words are words of wisdom. If you'll study some of the things that he said . . . And his church was right there next to the State Capitol of Alabama. We saw it yesterday as we marched from the State Capitol. And the Lord just kept on saying, "Just look toward that church and begin to prophesy to the state." We're in the State Capitol and we're prophesying that there's a justice movement that's coming again.
And I'll tell you, it has to do with the unborn, with these unborn babies. And all of this is about to shift. And when racism shifts, God's . . .
We were in this church a few weeks back for the Spirit of Prophecy Conference. Right after we left here, we went to the Caribbean Islands to a little island called St. Vincent. And I preached to a very few young African kids down there, maybe 15 or 20 kids.
And this is what the Lord told me one night to preach on - to tell them to get in the House of Prayer for all nations. And that word, nations, means ethnos - all ethnic groups coming together.
"And this is how you're overcoming racism. We're all coming into one building together to thank God and worship God because Jesus said that outside of that covering, nation will be going against nation, ethnos against ethnos. So your only covering to win the war over racism is to come together - all the colors in one place."
That's what's about to happen in your state. It's something that I think Jesus has longed for in His heart all these years, and we've never seen it come to fruition. But you're about to see a House of Prayer with all nations coming in this state. And the Glory of the Lord is going to race across this whole state of Alabama.
Something strategic . . . Really, my heart bursts when I think about what's going on in Alabama. And it's all over. Can I say a little bit about Alabama?
(Bro. Shelley: Yeah, but why are you living in Florida?)
That's the question I'm trying to find out now. You know, our heart is longing to be here. Pray for us. Really, pray for us. Because the minute . . . We have even family members that are longing to move here, back to Alabama with us ? even family members. So we're praying for the right timing of God and all that. Honestly, we want to be here.
But let me tell you a few other things that we found out yesterday about Alabama. In Birmingham, they have a group over there called The Basement. Six thousand kids are praying in that Basement ministry. Six thousand kids are praying for the state of Alabama and this move of God. In Montgomery, we found all kinds of Houses of prayer going on there.
And you probably know that in the last few days, you have had more rain in Alabama than like you've had in a year or two. This was a strategic timing for your state. Something's moving forward.
And the excitement has got to be brewing in your heart. I mean, really, all over this state, people are praying. They're crying out.
There's a torch, the light of God's Presence, you're going to have to carry in this state. And some of you may have to carry it out of the state. You know, sometimes it's just too much to contain in one place. You've got to take this out and carry this light of God's Presence and His justice, this move of God. Because you can touch . . . Once God touches you, you can begin to teach other cities and other states how to overcome racism, how to overcome the things that can hinder a people.
They mentioned over there in Montgomery that justice and righteousness were being married. That's very, very important because, you know, righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's Throne. God's Throne is about to be established in Alabama.
We don't even know for sure what it looks like. Imagine everything that you pray . . . Basically, you could pray and get in line with God, where His Throne is in your midst, and your prayers are answered. I'm going to go a little further for a minute, if I can.
In Revelation 12, we're coming to a time when there is a war in heaven - Michael and his angels fight against the devil. Is that right? You know, it says that satan comes down because he knows that his time is short. He comes down with great wrath.
If he comes down, what's that really mean? That means when you pray, there's nothing much stopping your prayer in the second heavens. Your prayers go straight to God. You are going to need a quick answer, why? Because the devil is right in front of you. You're going to need an immediate answer to your prayer for the war that's going on in the earth. That's where we are heading to - immediate answers.
There was some warfare going on - Pastor Shelley was talking about it a minute ago - over there yesterday where literally warfare in the heavens was going on. I'll guarantee you, it was going on. You could sense it. Angels were warring, and I don't believe just over the State Capitol in Montgomery, just over the hotel down the street. But he's warring over this entire . . .
You know, a lot of times things are legislated from a State Capitol in the natural. And things have to be done there in the spirit realm to legislate for the entire state. That's what was going on over the state of Alabama yesterday. There was a war in the heavens to shift the entire state into this new move of God that's coming. Very strategic things are going on.
I heard on the news this morning, before we left our hotel in Montgomery, there was over eight inches of rain in Mobile, Alabama.
God's strategically placed people in this whole state. Paul Keith Davis and WhiteDove is down in the south of the state. Your group right here with Pastor Shelley is in the east of the state. Hamilton, Alabama, Karen Wheaton (Am I saying it right?) is in the western portion of the state. Montgomery House of Prayer, Birmingham, The Basement . . . In the north, you've got Oxford and Word of Life.
God's got this whole state . . . I mean, it's like compassed about. It's compassed about. There is a transference of wealth you're going to see in this state as this whole state begins to move forward.
You know, part of Joshua's mandate when they went into the Promised Land was the transfer of wealth from the Canaanite nations. You're about to see a transference of wealth to this state.
There's so much coming here. Align with God's heart and get into the prayer room. Really start seeking God, because it's burning all over this state - just like a momentum that's coming here. And it's coming from every angle. Every angle of this state is being covered. I've never seen such a strategy that God's got here. I never understood it.
I want to ask my mother sometime if I can . . . We have relatives that were from Alabama and their names were Godboad. I need to ask my mother what part of Alabama, but that's where they were from. They were originally here in Alabama. And I grew up in Virginia, northern Virginia. So whatever seeds I've got here, or whatever, I'm interested. I'm very interested.
You know, we were crying out the other day . . . So much is flooding through me now from this Call.
The jealousy of God is going to be released across this state - the jealousy of God - and the spirit of Phineas. When Phineas saw anything wrong in the camp of God, he raced right to it and he said, "We can't have this in the camp. We cannot allow this in the camp." The Phineas anointing is coming here where literally the jealousy of God . . .
See, the jealousy of God is attached to the Fire, the all-consuming Fire of God, the devouring Fire of God. In Isaiah 33 it talks about, "Who can live with everlasting burnings?" That's a man or a woman that's possessed with the Fire of God. It's burning consistently in you - holiness and the Fire of God and a Voice of God.
Something strategic is going to happen in this state that's going to lead this nation. Get ready for it. Get ready for it. Get ready for it.
(Bro. Shelley and the congregation shout.)
Everything you can know, every emotion that you can know, every emotion - whether it's joy that was released this morning . . . Tears are going to come to you at times. And sometimes it's not only just bad tears, it's tears because the Presence of God is so strong.
We talked about Presence meetings when we were over there. There are going to be times when the Presence of God comes into a meeting and literally we won't do anything corporately but lay on our faces. You can't do anything. You can't get up to minister. You can't do anything but just lay there and let God . . .
I am going to decree something now. There's something coming to your church locally here, I feel as I'm standing here. It's like a Maria Woodworth Etter anointing where people are going to fall down. The fear of the Lord is going to be released in such a degree.
They are going to fall down in the meeting, but as you're down, you're stuck down, sometimes for a long period of time. Some of you are going to be taken into the heavenly realm and you're going to be given your commissioning from God. As you lay on the ground, it's not going to come from a man. A man's not going to speak to you. God's going to glue you to the floor. As you're glued down to the floor in a deep Presence, fear of God, He is going to commission you into what you are called to do for Him.
She was called . . . You know, she was called the trance evangelist because every night when she would go from city to city to city, people would fall down in trances and they would receive their commissionings of God. Doctors would come into the meetings and place a stethoscope next to the heart to see if that man or woman was still living, breathing. They found out that everyone was breathing; they were in another place, sometimes up to eight days.
Imagine coming into church and for days, someone's stuck here with their eyes open, their hands in front of them, and they're experiencing the heavenly realm.
Get ready, for some strategic things are about to happen in your church and in this state.
I want to speak a blessing over your pastor because I believe that your pastor is called as a very, very important man in this state, and not only in this state or in this nation, but in a global-wide move.
If something truly is about to happen with these Seven Thunder Voices, that's a global impact. That's not an Alabama impact or a US impact, that's a global impact for the Body of Christ.
So, Father, we just ask You to bless this man. Father, I ask for Your divine protection over Steven Shelley. God, I believe he is a leader of the End Times, one that You've chosen, one that You've marked. And Father, I pray that You would hasten the day and bring him this revelation. Anoint his ears to hear the Voice of God.
And Father, I pray as these Seven Thunder Voices begin to utter their Voice and he begins to hear the sound that would activate this End-Time Bride's Revival that would strike Alabama, that would strike this nation and strike the entire globe, that the revelation would pour forth.
Father, we call this anointing, we call this experience, in Your time, we call it forward, God. We ask you to bless him, God. I ask You to strengthen him.
Pastor, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and bless you with peace.
God, write Your Name upon his forehead. Write Your Name upon his forehead, God. Thank You, Lord, for this great opportunity. We thank You, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Bro. Shelley:
Whooo! Let's give God praise! Come on!
Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus! Grant it, God, for Smiths Station, for Salem, Alabama, for Opelika, for Auburn, for Phenix City, for Columbus, Georgia, Muskogee County, Harris County, Russell County, Lee County, Chambers County. Lord, for this region, we claim these promises. Oh, hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Come on, listen. I believe as sure as God has been speaking to us all these years about Alabama, I believe that you could not spiritually separate Columbus, Georgia, from this region. There's no way in the world you could do it. We're one. We're on the border. The river separates us.
But these areas have been married together hundreds of years - so much so that we are illegally in a different time zone. Legally, we're supposed to be bearing the Central Time Zone. But for all these many, many, many years, this area illegally observes the same time zone as Columbus, Georgia. And we have been doing that all these years because of the mills and the working and the people driving back and forth. So there are many . . .
I feel the Holy Fire of God. Pshow! Pshow! Pshow!
We know it's not about one place; it's about a region, it's about a state, it's about states, it's about a nation, it's about the nations. But the prophets have been prophesying for years that Alabama is the first state in the roster of states, and that it will be a flashpoint - Lou Engle prophesied and Dutch Sheets - a flashpoint for revival.
Sis. Ruth Heflin, that we loved so much, she said before she died that God was going to take up Alabama like a banjo on His knee and play her for His glory. Oh, hallelujah!
Be seated when you can.
We had a building in Columbus. For all these years we worshiped in Columbus and we had this property. We have 60 acres here. And we had this property and God brought us here. It has only been, what? How many years have we been in this building? Four or Five? Four? Going on four years.
Miraculously we sold our building. It was God. It drug on and drug on. And people looked at it. And I just want to tell you it wasn't that much. It was paid for, but it was sloppily put together, and it needed some effort and some work. And we were just honest. I would meet anybody who came and looked at it, and I'd tell them, "If this is going to stretch your budget to buy this place, don't buy it because you are going to need to put some effort in it."
And listen at what God did. He took a church that was connected to us for some spiritual reasons - a church that we had sowed into for years on the mission field, an Assembly of God Church, who also had an old out-dated building that needed serious attention. They wanted to be where we were. We wanted to be here. God sent a heart doctor that offered them triple the value of their property. They sold their building and were able to buy our building and make some improvements and fix it up.
And God kicked us, He launched us, and told us it . . . And it was hard because we had a lot of people in that area that had just started coming to church.
But God told us that when we crossed the Chattahoochee, it was going to be a prophetic act of moving in to the promise that the Lord had given us.
So if you think this is about us . . . I know there are visitors here that may think, "Well, that's the craziest bunch. They're just all about them." But I just want you to know that it's not all about emotion, it's not all about prophecies, it's not all about visions and dreams.
We've been sowing in the Word. We've been sowing in the Word since 1990, preaching an uncompromised Gospel when very few people wanted to walk the way we were walking. And so I believe God is just heaping some of that on.
I can't hide the fact that I am so excited that I almost lost my britches a few minutes ago. Hallelujah! And you know what? I don't really care! That's a crazy thing about it. That's how lost it I have. That's how far gone I am. And if I had known God was in it, I'd have just picked them up and pulled them up and kept going.
Bro. Jerrell was asking me about the meeting in Maryland, and he said, "You were there, weren't you?" I said, "Oh yeah, I was there. I misbehaved myself." He said, "Yeah, I heard you did." Pshew.
Well, I don't know what to do, but I think I'd better give you a Scripture. Look at these musicians. They've been up here all this time. Do you all need to go down? Anybody need a break? Good.
While I get ready to share a couple of Scriptures . . . I mean, I was going to preach. I had a full-blown something. But it's one o'clock. Oh, you all are precious. You're so precious. You just really want the crowds to die down in the restaurants so you can get in there and don't have to wait in line. You're so precious. Oh, wow. Pshew.
I mean, there's nothing that . . . Two things will make a preacher want to preach - hearing one that can and hearing one that can't. I've heard a lot of preachers that didn't do very well that really inspired me. But these men have just got me going. I tell you, I'm ready, but I know we'd better not.
Well, I am going on a vacation. Hallelujah! I don't know how long it's been since we've taken a non-working vacation. But I've been threatened. I am going to be allowed to carry my laptop, but my time is going to be limited and I'm not going to be able to take it to bed like I usually do. I am going to have to leave it on the table. So if I don't get right back to you on your e-mails, you'll understand.
I want to give you two Scriptures. One, the Lord gave me yesterday during The Call. You don't have to stand, but we do need to recognize the fact that we are streaming into one, two, three . . . Twelve nations are watching this service live. And that's why I wanted to make sure you knew that what God is doing is about first fruits.
You see, in the field . . . We find in Bible times this concept of the Feast of First Fruits. And you know, this has just happened in Israel right now. The Karaite Jews have just gone out all over the land of Israel looking for the barley that is abib, that's ripe. Because the Karaite Jews do not base their holy festivals on the lunar calendar like the rest of the Jewish people do. They base their feast on the Biblical calendar, meaning from the time that the barley is ripe.
So there is a group of Jewish people all over the world, many living in Jerusalem, who observe . . . They're called Karaite Jews. They literally, still to this day, go out in the fields to see when the first barley has become ripe. And from that moment, they start counting down for Passover, for the Feast of Weeks, and so forth.
So this was a Biblical concept. And when we look at it in the Scripture, you go into the field, how many of you know all the barley doesn't get ripe at the same time? But do you know what they would do? They were commissioned to go out and gather that which was ripe and bind it up in sheaves.
I wish you'd help me. If you don't, I'm going to preach. If you help me, I'll just share.
They bound these sheaves up and the priests would stand and wave those sheaves over the field. And it was not to say that these are the only sheaves. This is not all the fruit of the harvest. This is the first fruits. You see, Alabama is a first fruits state. It doesn't mean that there's not going to be a great harvest. There is. It's coming. But there's a first fruits. And that's why the ministries of men like A. A. Allen and William Branham are so significant.
I was so blessed this week. I got a book that's just off the press sent to me with a beautiful letter and a beautiful autograph, a note of love, from A. A. Allen's son, who said, "I wanted you to have this because of what you've said about my dad." And you know, that's precious.
And these men were forerunning men. Now you know I'm very - more than any ministry because I have spent so much of my life connected to the ministry of Bro. William Branham . . . I clearly see that he was a part of that first fruit offering. He was one of those sons that came into a place of maturity. He was some of that grain that came into a place of maturity.
Then, in the great healing revival of the forties and fifties, these men and women of God who came to that place were waved over the people. Don't look at me like I just fell off the banana truck. They were waved over the people.
And they greeted one another . . . You know what I preached down in Robertsdale. They greeted one another with this greeting, "Bible days are here again," because they saw the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, raised from the pages of history, standing before the people, performing the same works that He performed when He ministered on the Sea of Galilee - the same thing. And they greeted one another, "Bible days are here again."
And I believe that we are coming to that place. These men, these ministries, and specifically . . . I just need to be totally honest with you because you who know me know there's no reason to hide.
I believe specifically, strategically, God used the ministry of William Branham. He waved that ministry over the heads of this nation and the world to say, "This is what an adopted son looks like."
Somebody said, "I don't buy that." Buy whatever you want to buy. It's cheap at Wal-Mart. Go for it. But I believe that God was saying - not so that you would make an icon out of William Branham or an icon out of Maria Woodworth Etter or an icon . . . What good does an icon do? Somebody to sit around and look at. And it's like that . . . I need a breath.
You see, I believe God sent those ministries as signs. But what we need to remember is every sign has a Voice. There's a whole lot of people that are after the sign. But if that sign ever starts talking, you'll see that it's going to be a remnant. That's when the multitude becomes a remnant.
You see, I've written in my book already about those fish sandwiches you've heard me preach about. As long as Jesus was serving fish sandwiches, everybody went to His meetings. But when He started saying, "You've got to eat My Body and drink My Blood," I want you to know there was a lot of people that said, "I don't want a part of a cannibalism movement. I'm leaving today."
But there were some that looked right at His face and said . . . He said, "Aren't you going to leave me, too?"
"Well, we thought about it. We've considered it. But we came to this conclusion: 'To whom else could we go, for You alone have the Words of eternal Life.'"
I am persuaded that there is a people predestinated before the foundations of the world to come forth in this hour into the full adoption of sons and manifest the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth in these Last Days. And it will not look like religion, and it will not look like churchianity. But it will look like the ministry of Jesus Christ updated - updated, brought into this day.
You won't see everybody in robes and sandals. You're going to see men and women who come from different cultures, from different backgrounds, who have different appearances, different talents, different convictions. But they're going to be driven by the same passion. And that passion is to be a lover of Jesus Christ.
We don't just want our ceremonial position down beside Him in the altar as His Bride. We want to go into the chuppah and become His Wife. We're looking for the intimacy that only takes place in the tent.
You see, anybody can walk down the aisle in a pretty dress and say, "Look who I am." But I'm not interested in that. I've done that all my life.
I'm interested in what goes on after the ceremony. You say, "You're a little sick-minded, aren't you?" Well, whatever. You don't want me to go there. I get real plain. I got so plain in Maryland, I blushed and embarrassed myself.
I said, "There needs to be a whole lot more hoopla in the chuppah." And then for one of the most conservative people that you've ever met in your life, I said something that rocked my own world. I said, "We just need to get naked!" Please don't put that in the article. But we do.
We need to come to that place where there is nothing, nothing, nothing that we can hide behind - nothing that we can hide behind. But we just come naked and not ashamed into His Presence. And we say, "God, You know everything anyway. You know it all anyway. I can't hide it from You, Lord. I can't hide it from You."
I gotta close.
[The Holy Ghost came down on Pastor Shelley and he dances wildly in the Spirit, finally falling on the floor. The organist fell off the organ bench under that heavy anointing.]
Let's just give God praise. Come on, Holy Ghost. Come on, Spirit of God. Knock the starch out of all of us. Jesus, get rid of the starch. I'm not looking, but when I look, you had better be smiling.
Holy God. Come on, let's tell Him how holy He is.
We want You. We want You, Jesus. We want You, Jesus.
Come on, God ain't through. Let's just holler at Him.
Oh, come on, Jesus. Loose, loose us, Lord. Loose us right now.
Something funny, something funny was going on in that Upper Room. Something funny was going on in that Upper Room. It didn't look like the Jewish folk. It didn't look like that festival of Shavuot. It didn't look like all the ritual. It didn't look like all that God had ordained. It looked different. Something funny was going on in that Upper Room.
So much so, that as Brother said, "The Upper Room couldn't contain what God was doing, so they came busting out of there, staggering around like drunk men, speaking in other tongues."
I am identified. I was there. You with me? I was there that day. I'm identified with Pentecost. And it still sets captives free. It still liberates. It still gives life. Hallelujah.
Give God a shout - one more shout. Come on, come on . . . come on.
Let's come. Come on, come on . . . come on. Let's come and stand. Let's come and tell God we are ready for revival. Let's tell Him we're ready for revival.
We are ready, God. We are ready. We are ready. We are ready, God. We are ready to be used. We are ready to have the Fire. We are ready to be purged. We are ready to be cleansed. We are ready to have the starch knocked out of us.
Come on. We are ready for our routine to be broken. We are ready for our rituals to die. We are ready for Fire. We are ready for Fire. We want to be purified. We want to be made holy. We want to be made clean by the Fire, by the Blood and the Fire, by the Blood and the Fire.
You told us years ago that this was a blessed piece of property. You told us that this land would be a refuge for eagles, that eagles would come. And you gave us Matthew, "Where the carcass is . . ."
And that's not the old dead carrion like the preachers have translated it. It's not the old dead carrion out there. It's the Living Carcass, the Living Word, Body Word, the Body Word of Jesus Christ - the same Word He was talking about when He said, "You eat My flesh and drink My blood."
You gave us the Word for this place: "Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Bring in the eagles. Bring in Your eagles.
An eagle is a type of the prophetic, and an eagle is a type of the overcoming believer. Bring in those who are needing to overcome. Oh, ohhh.
You're in there. You are plugging in. Go ahead. You don't need me to tell you how to touch God. Go ahead. Go ahead. If you don't know what to say, say, "I'm ready, Lord. I'm ready, Lord. I'm ready, Lord. I'm ready. Wash me out. Wash me out. Wash me out. I'm sick of church. I'm sick of church. Wash me out. Revolutionize my life. Set me free to go forth in You."
(Tongues)
Come on, let's go into some prayer and intercession. (Tongues) I don't believe we need to contend. I don't believe we need to contend. I don't believe we need to struggle. I don't believe we need to contend. I believe it is here. I believe it's upon us. And we need to receive the fresh Wind of the Holy Spirit. Receive it right now.
Let Him breathe on you. Let Him breathe on you right now. Just let Him breathe on you right now. Don't struggle your way into this. You can't even really press your way in. You have to come by invitation and He is inviting you. Come on.
Lord, I receive Your Breath. I receive Your Wind. I receive the Ruach, the Wind of the Holy Spirit of God, the Ruach HaKadesh, the Holy Breath of God, the Holy Spirit of God. We receive it right now and, Lord, for the nations.
We can't help but mention the fact that 46 streams are going out of this place right now: Across Canada France Germany Iceland Israel Japan Mexico The Netherlands Norway Rumania The United Kingdom And the United States.
And Lord, right now we claim the Breath of God over these nations. Let those that are streaming this service be flashpoints. Let them be catalysts. You were faithful to wave over our heads to show us what mature sonship was like.
I can see the priest out in the field waving the sheaf. What he's really saying is, "Come on. If this barley can come to maturity, you can, too."
And Father, that's what You were saying in the great healing revival with men of God like Brother Branham. You were waving them over. And You were saying, "This is what the ministry of Jesus looks like in an updated fashion in your nation, in your time. This is what it looks like."
And you weren't saying, "Everybody sit down because a few sons have come to maturity." What You were saying was, "Look on this. Look on the first fruits. Get an idea. Emulate their faith. Emulate their faith. Emulate their faith. Come on, you can come to this place, too."
Oh, the great Cloud of Witnesses cheer us on. The great Cloud of Witnesses cheer us on today. The great Cloud of Witnesses - they without us are not made perfect.
I heard the Lord say, "Don't put them in that realm." I hear the Lord say this morning, this day, "They're closer to you. That great Cloud of Witnesses is closer to you than the heavenly realm."
I hear the Lord say, "They're with you this morning, just in another dimension." Hallelujah.
We've heard the prophets prophesy that this was going to be a season of greater cooperation between the angels, the heavenly and the earthly. We've heard the prophets prophesy there was going to be greater cooperation between the Cloud of Witnesses and the overcomers of this last hour.
Some people are afraid because they try to theologically process it, and they're afraid of necromancy.
I want to tell you something, we're not talking about necromancy. We're not talking about communicating with the dead. We're talking about receiving the cheers in our spirit, receiving the cheers that are being released in this House from those who have gone before us, those who are saying, "You can do it, too. You can make it."
Perhaps there's a cheer coming across this House from a man like A. A. Allen saying, "You can do it. You can come to maturity. You can let God flow through you."
Perhaps because of what our brother said, there's a cheer that comes across this place from Maria Woodworth Etter. And perhaps her cheer would be, "Come on. Come on, troops. Come on, troops. In all that God did through us, in all that God did through us, we are not perfect unless you come, too. In all that God did through us, we are not perfect unless you come to that place, too."
Oh, let's receive encouragement from the Lord right now. (Tongues)
I'm going to quit talking and let you connect. Connect. I'm going to let you connect. I'm going to quit talking. For just a few moments, before we leave this ground, let's connect with Him.
Jesus.
If you want to stand, stand. If you want to kneel, kneel. If you want to lay, lay prostrate. If you want to sit, sit. However you feel. But let's spend a few moments right now in quiet connection. And I don't mean like you have to be quiet. I mean personal connection. Let's connect personally - however you connect best.
If it's with worship, then worship. If it's with prayer, pray. If it's prophetic decree, then make or release a prophetic decree. If it's through ministry, then minister.
But for just a few moments, let's connect. We're on the brink. We have come to the threshold, and it's just time to check our hearts quick before we step in. It's time to check our hearts real quick this morning.
God said last Sunday to us . . . He said, "I will sanctify you if you will let Me deal with your sanctimony."
So that was one of the ways God was checking our hearts. Let's see if He wants to check us in another way before we leave this morning.
(Tongues)
Keep your mind on the Lord. Make your connection. While you're making connection, make consecration.
Lord, we check our hearts before You right now. Prepare us for what is coming. Oh yes. Oh yes. Prepare us. Prepare us.
Revival is not about a church, it's about individual lives. Let a revival start in us no matter where we worship. Revive us. Revive us. Revive us. Revolutionize us. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa . . . Ohhh.
I wouldn't normally want to interrupt this, but I have to because I am pretty weak in my physical body now. Something has drained me.
When I went to bed last night, I asked the Lord for a confirming dream of what was being spoken.
I had two dreams right after one another. The first dream I had was, I was standing in a pastor's office somewhere in another place, in another church, getting ready to go out and preach. And a brother, a young brother, stepped into the room and he said, "Pastor Steven, there is a phone call for you."
And I said, "Well, I'm getting ready to go out and preach. I can't take the call right now."
And he said, "It's from your church at home and there has been an emergency."
And even in the dream, I had that sinking feeling that you get when the phone rings in the middle of the night. You know that one, don't you? Just this fearful feeling came over me in the dream: "Oh, God. What has happened?"
And I took the call. And I said, "Hello." And it was one of the brothers. And in the dream, I recognized the voice, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember which of the brothers it was.
And he said, "Pastor, come home. Come home right away. You have got to come right now. You've got to come right now."
And I kept saying, "What is it? What is it? Tell me what it is. What's wrong? What's happened?"
He said, "I can't. You've got to come now. It's serious. It's an emergency. You've got to come." He went on and on and on. And I was just so perplexed that I couldn't get him to tell me what was so serious. I didn't know who had died or what had happened.
All of a sudden, joy . . . I'm on the phone, and he's fixing to tell me that some terrible tragedy has happened. And all of a sudden, I felt a joy welling up way down inside. And I started laughing from my belly into the phone: "Ha, ha, ha, ha . . ."
And I was just carrying on like that. And I'm thinking in my mind, "Why am I filled with such joy?" And finally I said, "Brother, please calm down and tell me."
And I'd go back into another laughing fit. And he said, "What's wrong with you?"
And I said, "I don't know. But please tell me what's wrong."
And he said, "I was on my way to the campground this morning, and I could hardly make it in for the cars." He said, "There are hundreds of people that are filling up the parking lot, waiting for the doors."
He said, "There has been a convergence. There has been a convergence of people and we can't get in."
And I said, "What has happened? Why have they come?"
He said, "They heard about the creative miracles."
And I said . . . Listen, this is what was so funny. I said, "Who told them? Who told them?"
And the dream ended.
And the next dream I went into, I was standing on an overpass - not Spaghetti Junction, but some overpass in Atlanta. And there was traffic going every which way.
And I said, "This is Atlanta traffic."
And a voice said, "No."
I said, "This is just ordinary Atlanta traffic, Atlanta rush hour traffic," or something like that.
And the voice said, "No, they're all going to Alabama."
It happened. I told Brother Jerrell the dream this morning. He said, "They're all going to Alabama."
And I just spoke out in the dream. I said, "Why are they all going to Alabama?"
He said, "They have heard that the wells of revival have been uncapped."
That was the confirmation that I asked the Lord for concerning what was accomplished yesterday in the spirit.
How many of you just want to claim some of those promises? Many of you know, who are familiar with this place, especially . . . You know for many years, over fifteen years, the prophecies have come that creative miracles are going to take place in this place.
And when Paul Keith [Davis] and Randy [DeMain] were here, you heard what both of those men said on that Sunday morning when they prophesied over this church, that creative miracles . . .
And the dreams and visions the people have had. But I tell you, they must be closer than . . .
But can you imagine my response? I said, "Who told them?"
When I came to myself, I woke up and I thought about the dream. It was almost . . . It wasn't the Lord, but it was almost like I could hear the Lord say, "You can't keep it to yourself but so long. You know, you're not going to be able to hide it forever."
Let's just say, "Lord, whatever You want to do in me . . ." (We're not going to hold you here.) "But whatever You want to do in me, whatever my part is, for this region, for this state, for this nation, whatever my part is . . ."
Oh, ohhhh. We won't strive, Lord. We will just ask for the release of all that the heavens are holding over us. Let it be released.
Wow.
And then I'm going to leave you. I'm not going to make any comment except to say that this was the verse that I read some time ago.
And the Lord said that this was for today. He told me this morning when I woke up. He said, "This is what is about to happen."
(1Co 15:47) The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Here is what God says is about to happen:
(1Co 15:48) As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
This was the promise God said for us.
(1Co 15:49) And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
There is coming a change. There is coming a transformation.
Those illuminated ones . . . That sounds a little funny, doesn't it? Those illuminated ones that Paul Keith spoke about . . . Those that the Glory of God comes and changes and transforms them until their countenance shines like a candle . . .
And people come to them asking, "What is this? What is this about you? What is your faith? Why do we feel drawn to you?" I believe that God is about to let there be a great cooperation.
And this came from a sermon that I never finished on "Exercising the Senses of the Spirit," the spiritual senses. Just like we have natural senses that connect us with the earthly environment, we have spiritual senses that connect us with the spiritual realm and with the Spirit of God.
And as we exercise those spiritual senses, we come into great alignment and greater cooperation with the Spirit realm. And when we do that, we are not connected, like yesterday, through the Internet, we are connected spirit to Spirit.
And when we connect with God, spirit to Spirit, and we begin to connect with one another spirit to spirit, we're not only going to bear the image of the earthly as we have very well displayed it. Haven't we? Some of us have done a real good job displaying the earthly realm.
We are then going to be transformed to a place where we also display the image of the heavenly realm. It's going to bring a real reformation in people's lives.
There's people who are looking for reality. The church has failed them. They are looking for reality. They are looking for reality. How many of you know there's people outside these four walls that all they want is somebody who can live and can demonstrate the ministry of Jesus - not just talk about it.
I liked what this brother said yesterday. I admired him that he had the guts to say it. And there's no way of dressing it up. It's guts - good old intestinal fortitude.
He said, "We are not seeker sensitive. That is not what God is going to use to bring in the harvest." And he said, "It won't be because they've replaced Jesus with doughnuts and coffee in the lobby."
You see, this church world . . . (Don't get me going there.) This church world has tried to make everything so attractive because they mean well. They feel like that causes financial prosperity and it causes more people to be attracted. Because the bigger the Temple, the bigger the glamour, the bigger the glitz, the more people are attracted to it.
That's their philosophy. You can say, "Amen" or "Oh, me." That's their philosophy. And it's working pretty good for them, it looks like.
But I want to tell you something. The real hurting and the real needy, and the real dying, and the real oppressed, they could care less. In fact, they are repulsed to the place of vomiting when they see what the church has become.
Everything has had to be so glitzy, so glamorous, so . . . Let's just say it this morning.
I have been a holiness preacher a long time. And let's just say it. They have tried to dress it up until the church looks so much like the world. They think that the world is going to be attracted to the church because the church has become so much like the world. But that is so contrary to what the Bible teaches.
To love the world is to hate the things of God. That is what the Bible says.
So we are telling you what's going to bring in the harvest. It's going to be a people who absolutely could care less about the fads and the fashions, the glitz and the glamour of this world, but who are so radically hungry, filled with passion for Jesus, that they want more than the language.
Sometimes, just be honest with me, I get sick. I do. I'm just human. I get sick sometimes of church vocabulary - all these extracurricular words, these extra words that we have made a part of our faith to try to make the church look more appealing.
But I don't believe that's what's going to do the job. I believe it's a people. Some of them are going to look odd, in my opinion - like this young man.
How many of you were at The Call? How many were at The Call? How many of you saw it, streamed it over there, somehow had a way of seeing it?
What about this young guy with whatever color hair that was. I'm not sure what hair he had. Didn't have a lot of hair, but whatever he had, it was kind of yeller.
But I was so captured. Brother Greeley mentioned it. It was the only thing Brother Greeley mentioned. He said he wept during his testimony. I did, too.
Here's this guy with a black T-shirt on and iridescent letters that said, "Bible Thumper." His head was almost shaved. But what he had was bleached white.
And I am telling you, he had a testimony of being a convicted felon, a crack addict. What all it was, I don't remember. But he so radically praised God without any religion.
Now I'm a pastor, so I had to stop thinking like a pastor.
Then I remembered when I first came around a group of people, I had so much Fire in me. And that was . . . They loved me. But they would . . . The pastors would literally . . . I was a grown man in my twenties. But they would pat me on the head, and they would say, "When you get more settled down in the Word, you'll calm down. You won't be so wild and radical."
How many were here this morning? I'd like to say to those dear old precious brothers, "Ha, ha, ha." They'd say to me, "When you get a little more mature, you'll settle down a little bit. You'll calm down a little. You'll have a little more order, you know - a little bit of divine order. Well, you need divine order. You believe in the Spirit, but you need divine order."
That young man, from a pastor's mind, he could have used a little divine order. But I think if he would have exercised that, he would have lost the passion and the intensity and the anointing of what he was saying.
And he said, "I worship God. I want to worship God with the . . ." You know, basically his testimony was, ". . . with the same passion that I served the devil."
And he said, "I go home sometimes." He was in his sock feet. He said, "I go home sometimes with bloody blisters on my feet because I have jumped and danced, and jumped and danced, and praised the Lord."
You know, if he would have said that in a bragging way, it would have been one thing. But he said it with such humility, it broke my heart.
And I said, "Oh God, we need that. That is going to speak to those out there who are so bound and so needy, and so in trouble. When they see . . ."
And he'd jump up. He'd jump way up there, and he'd say, "Salvation is real!" He'd say, "Jesus is real!"
And I realized, that's the passion that's been lost in the church world.
Father, give it to us again. Give it to us again.
Let's love one another. It's late. Wow. Wow.
There will be a meeting Tuesday night at 7:00. I won't be here. But there's going to be a powerful meeting. You don't want to miss it.
Saturday night at 6:00, Sunday morning at 11:00, next Tuesday night. We are going to be gone nine nights. Please pray for us and we will pray for you.
I believe the Lord is getting us ready.
Will you just love on somebody right now? I know you've done that already, but that was good.
Be sure to tell Brother Jerrell Miller, Brother John and Sister Bonnie Carter, Sister Catherine and her husband, all these that are here with us, our visitors, how great it is to have them.
[Singing:] "How Great It Is To Serve a Living God"
Just go in the peace of God when you get ready to go. We love you.
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