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August 28, 2017 In 1998, I sat to pen a prophetic vision that I titled: A Prophecy to the Church – The Eclipse is Over – The Coming Hurricane – Prepare for the Latter Rain! The heart of this prophetic word is that the Lord had not left America but that a time of darkness had entered into the country, beginning in the early 1960’s. After this season of darkness settling over the country, God would revive America again. The coming revival would be a double-portion of what occurred during the 1906 Azusa Street revival, and come like a hurricane’s power. It would saturate and flood the church. This was in 1998, and then… • • •

On August 21, 2017, the USA had a solar eclipse that was contiguous from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast (from sea to shining sea). Four days later, on August 25th, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast as a Category 4 storm. In the following days, an epic event is occurring as this hurricane stalled over Texas, dropping a torrential rain of historic proportion. Over 50 inches have fallen in two days over south Texas as I write this cover page.

Because of what the Lord showed me in the 1998 vision of an eclipse, hurricane, and flood, I believe that this natural eclipse, hurricane, and torrential rain, are signs to announce this revival will now initiate. You might not agree with some of my emphasis or challenges, or even the style I wrote this in; but I encourage you to see the main point: God has confirmed a promise to revive America and the time is at hand! I feel overwhelmed to encourage people to prepare and make ready for revival. There were not many “ears to hear” in 1998, and now I feel that it is time to “blow the trumpet” so that many today might listen. Because these major natural events occurred in the exact sequence of this prophecy, I feel you should read this with faith and hope. The present system of Church in America can dull a person to God’s promises, so don’t let this be a night time reading to put you to bed, for we have been asleep too long. But rather, let it be for your call and anointing to be alert and sharp. To God be the glory,

Richard Humphries 2

A PROPHECY TO THE CHURCH THE ECLIPSE IS OVER; THE COMING HURRICANE; PREPARE FOR THE LATTER RAIN!

When this was penned in 1998, Richard Humphries was serving as the President of Trinity Fellowship Association of Churches, an apostolic organization, where he provided churches and ministers alike with his insight into the spiritual life of leadership and the Church. In addition, Richard was an Associate Senior Pastor of Trinity Fellowship Church, Amarillo, Texas. In 2017, Richard became an associate of Larry Titus, founder of Kingdom Global Ministries. He relationally serves the KGM family of leaders both stateside and internationally. The reprint of this prophecy was kept intact as written in 1998.

Kingdom Global Ministries PO Box 700 Colleyville, Texas 76034 USA www.kingdomglobal.com 

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A PROPHECY TO THE CHURCH As a leader of an apostolic organization, I take it seriously to pray and seek the Lord for direction that He has for the Church. I would be the first to say that I might not always be right but I will always share what I feel that the Lord has spoken to me. For several months, I have had a strong sensing of a message of encouragement and clarity to the Church regarding the days that we live in and are going to begin to live in. I believe that the Lord would have me to share this in a three-part prophetic declaration: The Eclipse is Over; The Coming Hurricane; Prepare for the Latter Rain! - Richard Humphries, 1998, Amarillo, Texas

THE ECLIPSE IS OVER – When a people forsake God, He will not leave them but He will allow for darkness, or ‘dark times’, to come into the land until they cry out for God’s glory to return! While deep darkness is over America, God’s glory is coming to this land from His Church! ‘Dark times’ have affected the Church in America where spiritual maturity has suffered and been lacking. Coming out of the eclipse and responding to God will jolt many spiritual leaders and churches but God designed the timing this way. Now it will be faith and not education; anointing and not personality; Biblical pattern and not style that will distinguish truth from everything else offered. The spiritually dynamic Church will be a balance of anointing and love; anointing to break the yoke of Satan and love to restore the hurting. Pages 5 - 21 THE COMING HURRICANE – God is forever moving forward with His plans for the world and His purpose for the Church. More and more those plans and purposes will clash like a warm front and cold front. As the earth’s atmospheric conditions constantly change, there are peak seasons when the conditions slowly build up terrific forces of nature called hurricanes. Because of the force within them, hurricanes bring change. There has been a buildup of the purpose for the Church and the plans of the world similar to the buildup of a hurricane. Soon the hurricane will ‘come ashore’ and both purpose and plans will encounter the power of God. This activity has been tracked by God’s prophets and the discerning spiritual leaders of the Church for over three decades. Some have ignored the signs of the approaching storm and others have long awaited it. There is change coming to America because there is a spiritual movement of God that is preparing to come inland to the Church! Pages 22 - 38 PREPARE FOR THE LATTER RAIN – The Church has never been without the spiritual ‘showers of blessings’ of God, which can be referred to as the ‘rain of God’. But those showers have preceded the great outpouring of the fullness of God that is soon forthcoming! The prophet, Joel, spoke of ‘the early and latter rain’, the early rain symbolizes the Church’s beginning and the latter rain symbolizes the Church’s restoration. [Joel 2:23] God cannot hold back His abundant nature. Every promise for His Church shall be ‘filled in full’. The Fullness of God is coming to the Church in a sustained way like an extended rainy season. The churches that have prepared for the outpouring of the ‘Fullness’ will reap great fruit. For those who have been faithful to plant the seeds of His divine pattern, He will be faithful to His promises and they shall reap the fruit that the latter rain produces! Pages 39 - 56 4

THE ECLIPSE IS OVER! THE ECLIPSE IS OVER - When a people forsake God, He will not leave them, but He will allow for darkness, or ‘dark times’, to come into the land until they cry out for God’s glory to return! While deep darkness is over America, God’s glory is coming to this land from His Church! ‘Dark times’ have affected the Church in America where spiritual maturity has suffered and been lacking. Coming out of the eclipse and responding to God will jolt many spiritual leaders and churches but God designed it this way. Now it will be faith and not education; anointing and not personality; Biblical pattern and not style that will distinguish truth from everything else offered. The spiritually dynamic Church will be a balance of love and anointing, love to restore the hurting and anointing to break the yoke of Satan"

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Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you." (Isaiah 60:1, 2) What is the Eclipse?

What was Isaiah seeing and saying? If you consider his words closely, he declared God’s glory, which he associated as light, coming to God’s people while the people of the land were in darkness. One of the best descriptions to represent the words of Isaiah would be to imagine an ‘eclipse’ at the moment when the light and darkness are present at the same time. Take note, an eclipse is when the light of the sun is in it’s place but the moon moves in front of the sun blocking out the direct influence of the sun’s light. The message Isaiah was communicating was that God had removed Himself for a season from the land, but He was now returning in glory. Furthermore, during that time of separation many of the people had come to live in darkness, unable to recognize the light of God. Whenever God wants to discipline or bring judgement upon a people, He does so by separating Himself from them for a season. The result is darkness, or ‘dark times’, which means that the people live without God’s intervention. The result is the reaping of human wisdom and decisions that rule without God’s standards. While judgement is within God’s character, fortunately, His desire is to give people favor. In fact, Isaiah said it this way: •

To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn… (Isaiah 61:2)

One of the attributes of God’s character is that while God might give a day of correction, His purpose is to bring about a year of favor. God is a creator and builder, not a destroyer. Even while we go about life on earth, He is in heaven building every believer a mansion! His glory is to be with His people and to have His people share in His glory. In the course of doing that, God will separate Himself from the 'land' so that a renewed or revived attitude 5

toward Him will begin to exist. Looking at Israel in the Old Testament this is obvious. In 1 Samuel, chapter four, Israel had grown spiritually complacent and apathetic. The spiritual leaders had become one of two groups - liberal leaders who had no relationship with God or called leaders who failed to lead. •

Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. (1 Samuel 2:22)

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Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. (1 Samuel 2:31)

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And you will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all that I do good for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar that your eyes may fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. And this will be the sign to you which shall come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them shall die. But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. (1 Samuel 2:31-35)

Phinehas and Hophni, sons of Eli, represented spiritual leaders who had no relationship with God. These men represent the development of today’s religion during America’s ‘dark times’. Israel, at this place in history, looked a lot like religion today – apathy, void of strong Godly leaders, tolerance of every view but God’s view, and the preeminence of human wisdom! During ‘dark times’ it seems that volunteer, unfruitful vines suddenly take root and choke out planted, fruitful, vines. Phinehas and Hophni had liberal philosophy that ignored, denied, or even disavowed God and their spiritual leadership had taken root in Israel and spread. Because of the past decades of ‘dark times’, many churches have drifted and become very liberal in practice and doctrine. Like a wild, unfruitful vine, the liberal churches have become the rule while the fruitful churches of the Lord have become the exception. God has never intended for His Church to be the exception – He has intended for His Church to be the RULE! Eli failed to pass the mantle to men who were the spiritual ‘sons of God’. Instead, he passed the mantle to his natural sons! Natural men like Hophni and Phinehas have taken the glory away from God’s House with their man-made doctrines and by prioritizing their tradition over God’s Truth. But that ‘old man’, the natural man, will be cut off [1 Samuel 2:31] and a ‘new man’ of the Spirit will rule God’s House! God is preparing a Church whose leaders have been born in His House, who are ‘sons of God’, and who have the hearts of the Father! Phinehas and Hophni systematically took ‘physical treasure’ from Israel without ever putting back ‘spiritual treasure’. This is like dead religion that takes the finances of the people but never builds the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God. I declare that those days are over! By over, I mean that it will exist but lose its attraction because God is showing up - the eclipse is over. The

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deadness and unfruitful ways of the Church that have been accepted during ‘dark times’ will soon be revealed for what it truly is. The eclipse is over! The ‘Light’ returns. The Three Sins of Hophni and Phinehas What was it that provoked God with the leadership of Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas? There are three things in 1 Samuel, chapter two that have prophetic meaning for today’s Church. •

But they would not listen to the voice of their father,… (1 Samuel 2:25)

The greatest obstacle to the Church is the tendency of its leaders to become independent of God, especially in listening to or obeying instruction. As the children of God, the Church is dependent upon communication to exist. Jesus said that He did nothing unless He first heard it from the Father. [John 5:19] Children who do not listen to their father, tend to learn hard lessons from life, just as Hophni and Phinehas did. The result of the Church not listening to the Father has been an independence that has bred liberal philosophy that directly contradicts the Bible. One phenomenon of an eclipse is the disruption of radio frequency. During an eclipse, the solar disruption creates chaos in the atmosphere, making radio communication dangerous for vessels dependent upon it for direction. Imagine what an extended eclipse would cause related to communication! During the ‘dark times’ a large part of the Church veered more than a little off course in regard to Biblical direction. •

'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling…’ (1 Samuel 2:29)

Israel had slowly lost faith in the sacrifice and offerings that God commanded them to offer Him. They had lost faith in the sacrifice and offering that God commanded by either treating it as unimportant or performed with dead tradition. The word ‘kick’ means that Israel had begun to treat God’s sacrifice in demeaning ways. In the early 1960’s, the American church began to drift off course until today the doctrine and practice of the Church is not only unscriptural but actually dismisses scriptures as antiquated or irrelevant. The liberal church scorns God’s ways and divine patterns! The liberal church treats the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus as foolish and impossible. Modern religion justifies itself more by science than by the Word of God! The liberal church is full of social, cultural, and political agendas as opposed to God’s agenda! The liberal church is so distant from the will of God that it aims animosity at those who practice a New Testament model of ministry. Don’t be fooled any longer by the preeminence of the liberal church and the world’s acceptance of it. The ‘kicking’ at the sacrifice of Jesus will remove the strength or power of God from those churches. The liberal church builds everything by man and for man, which is a mockery of the sacrifice of Jesus. However, the blessed Church builds everything by Jesus and for Jesus, which is a blessing to man! •

‘…and honor your sons above Me…’ (1 Samuel 2:29)

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Whenever men are given more prominence than God, you can expect judgement to correct it. God will allow ‘the arm of the flesh’ to rule for a season so that we can be reminded how insignificant we are as things fall apart around us. While God’s nature is to help us, He has to let us become helpless to get our attention. ‘Honoring your sons above me…’ is easily recognized when churches are run by the congregation rather than by men and women chosen by God and gifted to lead. God was correcting Eli and the philosophical system that allowed everything to be done so that the people were in charge rather than God. Everyday Eli was found ‘sitting at the gate of the city’ rather than sitting ‘in the tent of meeting’. Eli had allowed himself to become more involved in the people’s civic matters than over their spiritual matters. He was ‘over-administrating and under-ministering’. In many cases, church leaders have either allowed or been entrapped by a system that cannot let them properly lead, correct, or challenge a local church body. ‘Honoring our sons above honoring God’ is as if you allowed your children to run the home…it is dysfunctional and chaotic. As a father, I could never allow my children to take precedent over my leadership, though I love them deeply. Many churches lack spiritual blessings because the order of authority is missing. The liberal church is led by natural men rather than spiritual men. Eli passed the mantle to his natural sons, rather than giving the mantle to spiritual sons! God will break the strength off of the church lineage that is run by natural sons instead of spiritual sons! Psalm 78, which begins by reflecting on God’s faithfulness to Israel, recounts the departure of God from Israel. [1 Samuel 4] •

So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, And gave up His strength to captivity, And His glory into the hand of the adversary. He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. (Psalms 78:60-62)

Israel would go out to war carrying the Ark of Covenant, representative of God’s presence with Israel, and assume victory. However, on this occasion, Israel suffered an unusual defeat – it was unexpected, quick, and decisive. God had forsaken Israel. Israel had been lulled into complacency and deceived into thinking that God would never allow harm to come to them. When Eli heard of the lost battle, he was devastated. •

And it came about when he mentioned the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years. (1 Samuel 4:18)

Eli represented a called man who had become too comfortable in his natural life and apathetic in his spiritual life. His heavy body symbolized his apathy and his dim eyes represented being out of touch with God. •

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see. (1 Samuel 4:15)

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Sitting beside the gate of the city while Israel corrupted itself was a sign that Eli was out of touch with the people as well. His death by a broken neck was God’s judgement on the apathy and lifeless ministry of spiritual leaders of the day. It still happens today – ministers are trapped in a vicious cycle of over-administrating and under-ministering. Most ministers with any kind of spiritual success begin to run from breakfast meeting to business luncheon, abusing their body and neglecting their spiritual life. Soon there is no time for God and ‘the light goes out’. After a while they ‘sit at the gate’ unmotivated to do God’s work. ‘Sitting at the gate’ of the city was a formal and civil duty that men like Eli would carry out each day. Eli was not sitting in the Tent of Meeting, praying or worshiping. He was dispassionately administrating issues for the people because the people were his focus. Israel was run by the people, from the grass roots upward, rather than by God downward! Without a spiritual passion for God, you cannot have a ministry passion for the people. God had been faithful to Eli but now a new leadership would be ushered into Israel – a leadership that would not sit idly by as the nation declined morally and spiritually. Listen carefully, man and woman of the Lord; know that the Lord’s ways of passing His spiritual mantle of leadership is not through a natural generation but through a spiritual generation. God will not allow the mantle of anointing for leading His Kingdom to be passed over to natural men. The spiritual mantle of leadership of God’s Kingdom must pass from spiritual fathers to spiritual sons! If the spiritual fathers of a generation do not raise up spiritual sons to receive the mantle of Kingdom leadership, then God will allow for time to pass so that He can raise up His own spiritual sons! •

Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. (Psalms 78:1-8) When Did the Eclipse Begin in America?

When God miraculously rescued Israel from the slavery of Egypt [Exodus 7-14], Israel balked at the direction of God to come into the Promised Land [Numbers 13]. Israel did not take the land because of fear, apathy, and disunity. Despite the urging of Joshua and Caleb [Numbers 13], the majority of God’s people did not have the faith to believe that they could amount to something great for God. The size and development of the people in the world intimidated them. Israel had the call of God to be His spiritual sons but 9

unfortunately, they had the natural hearts of mere men. Joshua, a young man, and Caleb, an older man, were the exceptions because they were sons who had the heart of their Father, God! The result was a wandering in the wilderness for 40 years so that a new generation could be raised up. •

And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they." But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Thy strength Thou didst bring up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of this people, for Thou, O LORD, art seen eye to eye, while Thy cloud stands over them; and Thou dost go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if Thou dost slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Thy fame will say, 'Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.' (Numbers 14:11-16)

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So the LORD said, "I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs, which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.” (Numbers 14:20-23)

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"Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses shall fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey - I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they shall suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you shall know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they shall die.'" (Numbers 14:28-35)

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The spiritual dynamic of Israel’s pardon [Exodus 14:23] is that God is not going to let the devil win. He did not allow Egypt to have the last laugh with Israel and He will not allow the devil to have the last laugh with the Church today. When God spares or pardons an entire people, He does it by allowing the people to ‘regenerate’. In Israel’s case, the old generation literally had to die off. God’s pardon meant that He would not destroy them, but it also meant that He would not give to them His overwhelming plans. When God finds people who are willing to follow, then He returns to lead them into amazing victory. America has had a generational shaking take place just as Israel did. During the wilderness wanderings of Israel, God was with them but they were pestered mightily by the enemies around them. It was ‘dark times’ for Israel, but when the ‘eclipse was over’ the new generation was ready to take the land along with the few who had been faithful and lived to see victory. America has had a similar time with God – He was with America as she wandered, waiting for a new generation to rise up. It is not that God wants to kill people – the new generation is more of the birthing of a spiritual awakening compared to the birthing of a natural generation. I declare that ‘the eclipse is over’ and this new generation is ready to be led with power into the land! America had the Pentecostal outpouring of Azusa Street revival in 1906, the revival outpouring of the 1940’s and 1950’s, but the Church never took the land. To this day, Evangelist Billy Graham still holds the record for filling the Madison Square Garden, New York City, for consecutive nights during the revival outpouring of the 1950’s. Many great healing evangelists, such as Oral Roberts, gathered great crowds that disbanded and are only now coming back. The prophet, Paul Cain, disappeared from public ministry only to reappear today in the ‘90’s. During those years of spiritual visitation to our land, America was mightily successful in war. From the 1960’s America has slipped into spiritual ‘dark times’ and the world dominance in military power struggles to succeed despite the best technology. Weak nations that America should be able to crush mock and remain out of grasp. After countless displays of His faithfulness to America were spurned, the Church in America had the ‘Ark of Covenant’ taken away and America went into the ‘dark times’. The liberal religious leaders took on the personalities of Hophni and Phinehas, while the established Church became like Eli. God’s Church in America has been like the ‘dark times’ of Israel, ‘having the glory in a pagan land’! Today, I believe that the ‘eclipse is over’ in America and a renewed visitation of God is preparing to occur in a wide area. There is a new generation of spiritual vitality that God will return to America’s churches. But first, let me track some key points that document a forty year ‘dark time’ in America. In the late 1950’s and early 1960's, major events occurred that could prophetically be interpreted as signs of God letting America be separated from His presence. •

In 1958, the Supreme Court began to introduce a liberal perspective of the separation of church and state. In addition, in the late 1950's, mainstream denomination began to introduce doctrine that stated that the contemporary work of apostles and prophets did not exist. Theological conservatives also said that the 11

gifts of the Holy Spirit had passed away with the first generation of early church Christians. The modern theological views were similar to the negative words spoken to Joshua and Caleb when they tried to get Israel to take the land [Numbers 13]. The 1906 Pentecostal Movement in America failed to take the land in the 1950’s and the conditions were set for a liberal movement to begin that would stagnate the Church in America. Instead of reaping the fruit of the land, the Church stayed in the wilderness and America entered into ‘dark times’. •

In 1962 - 1963, prayer in America’s schools was declared unconstitutional and, therefore, forbidden. ‘Dark times’ have followed for the children of America. To the natural mind, the spiritual principles of removing prayer might seem foolish but to the spiritual mind, it is obvious that, in the name of intellectualism and political tolerance, God was told to leave our children alone. The results have been devastating. Youth violence is epidemic; moral behavior has no values to use as an anchor; America’s educational system has continually fallen off for decades as the youth of today lose motivation. Why couldn’t the people see the correlation of the removal of the spiritual and the advancement of evil? Because it has been ‘dark times’. They think they see but they are blind. [John 9:39-41] In the early 1980’s, a prominent church leader said ‘the 1960’s was the decade of freedom from all rules, the 1970’s were the ‘ME’, or material years, and the 1980’s would be the years of confusion.’ The confusion he spoke of was women wanting to be men and men wanting to be women. Women feel the need to be the strength of our society while the men are being pulled into passivity by things like being told to get in touch with their feelings. The results are children with no model of normalcy. The word dysfunctional describes the 1990’s family after decades of ‘dark times’ that kept creation from the creator. I added that the 1990’s would be the decade of the bizarre, and how true that has become.

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In 1963, contemporary church historians agree that the Charismatic Movement began. The word charismatic comes from the Greek word ‘charisma’, meaning ‘free gift’. The Charismatic Movement was a renewal of the ministry gifts and active presence of the Holy Spirit. In the early 1960’s, there was a renewal of the work of the Holy Spirit within denominational churches. This was the early beginning of God calling forth a work that would mature in the understanding of the ways of God. Even the Roman Catholic Church experienced revolutionary change when the Vatican II Council, under Pope John Paul VI, made sweeping changes. Some of those changes included having the Priest face the congregation from behind the altar instead of facing the altar with his back to the congregation, changing the Mass from the Latin language to the indigenous language, and allowing the Mass or worship service to take place in places outside of the church building. Every denomination experienced the ‘breath’ of the Lord as He released the Holy Spirit among the Church. The receptivity varied but soon many believers were caught in a place where their experience in the Holy Spirit was not embraced by the local or denominational leaders, so an exodus took place, hence, the Charismatic Movement was born. Today, the Charismatic Movement should be mature and in place for a great move of God as the ‘eclipse finishes’. Many of the outbreaks of renewal 12

throughout Northern America are the results of the maturity in the Church. Jesus is coming to the city where the disciples are ready for revival! And it came about that when Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. (Matthew 11:1) •

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. An interesting pattern of the Old Testament was that God’s social judgement was sometimes associated with the violent death of the people’s leader. Again, ‘dark times’ followed this event. Disguised with material prosperity, the moral and social decline of America was tolerated, excused, and in some cases argued as justified, i.e. abortion. I am not saying that God willed the President to be killed but only that the timing coincided with many events that would later transpire. Sociologists all agree that America made a swift and deep change in values beginning in the 1960’s. One reason for the spiraling free fall was the sympathy vote in Congress for Kennedy’s liberal agenda that his assassination created. The eclipse had begun!

Based upon these few facts, it appears that ‘dark times’ came quickly to America while at the same time God was giving birth to a spiritual remnant. This remnant would mature and grow so that when the people of the land were ready, Jesus’ Church would be ready to take them from ‘darkness’ into the ‘light’. After Psalm 78 describes that God has given the Ark of Covenant to Israel’s enemies, it shows what happens when the ‘dark times’ are over: •

Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. And He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. (Psalms 78:65, 66)

This is renewal, revival, restoration or whatever you want to call it, but it is now! I declare that the time for this to happen is now! Church leaders; be sure that you did not miss growing mature during the ‘dark times’. Church leaders need to stop thinking that the renewal occurring in Northern America is the result of ‘special gifted men getting God to do something that He doesn’t want to do!’ Renewal is the result of the maturity of leaders who can move spiritually for God and keep order in the Church. The influence of the ‘dark times’ has caused stagnation and suffocation for many spiritual leaders. Many people think that they have had total illumination but in fact, they have grown up in ‘dark times’ with only a candle. The lack of illumination has parted a way where the Church became incredibly liberal. But there are some who have strained to take advantage of even a ‘candle’ and matured to be ready for when God returns in full light. There has been so much influence of liberalism in our society that the average pastor, who is isolated, and possibly independent, feels intense pressure to conform to the culture versus the scriptures. The Church is constantly fighting a battle to remain ‘relevant’ to society. The thrust among many leaders today is to be sure that they are more current on how culture is being defined than growing Biblically mature. We want to know the difference between a ‘Baby Boomer’ and a ‘Generation X’; when God merely refers to everyone as being like Adam, one man. [1Corinthians 15:45-50] I will tell you a simple definition of a Baby Boomer and a Generation X. The Baby Boomer grew up in ‘dark times’ and rejected God. The Generation X is growing up without God. They all face a decision about God because the ‘eclipse is 13

over’. Everything else we need to know about society is found in the Bible and through the anointed relationship God has with a leader. Just as Joshua and Caleb were the few that survived Israel’s generational renewal, there are men like Paul Cain, who is resurfacing today after 40 years of absence. Paul Cain is a modern Caleb and, the young men and women that God is raising up to represent Joshua are a new generation of warrior leaders! The Church that was birthed out of the Pentecostal Movement of the early 1900’s, did not take the land. The Church today will have to kill our father’s giants! Moreover, those spiritual giants have gotten bigger! Forget about the reports on CNN about the next generation having to bail out Social Security – the next generation will be busy hearing about Eternal Security! Because the Church in the late 1950’s did not enter the Promised Land, heaven has been on hold until God can raise up a new generation of believers. The mantle is preparing to be passed on to a new generation in the next five to seven years. Very few, if any at all, has seen the Church that is coming to America! Be sure you know God’s ways and thoughts as best you can or the ‘light of His glory’ will cause you to stumble as the eclipse finishes. This is the day to expedite your understanding of what God has for the people of the land. God’s Glory in a Pagan Land It is my belief that America has been in a spiritual eclipse similar to what Isaiah prophesied. While we have had God in our land, God has allowed deep darkness to come for a time so that the separation of God from the land would be evident. But the Holy Spirit declares today that the ‘eclipse’ is over! This is the time when deep darkness is upon the land but the light of God’s glory shall be on the Church. Just as a jeweler shows a diamond on a black, velvet cloth, with overhead light so that it shines brightly, so shall the Church shine now. There have been ‘dark times’ in America for over three decades but now God is restoring His glory to the Church. These ‘dark times’ have not just been in America but through the influence of American culture, technology, the economy, and political stature, America has been used by Satan to bring ‘dark times’ into other parts of the world. The glory of God through the Church will be in direct correlation to the ‘dark times’ in the world. In His sovereignty, God has planned it this way. This is a time of the ‘wheat’ and ‘tares’ that Jesus prophesied would happen according to God’s ways of dealing with the Church and world. [Matthew 13:24-30] verse 30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest…’ It does not necessarily mean the end of the world, but it does mean the end of the ‘dark times’! Darkness and light have been growing together like two seeds in a field and this is the time that God is ready to pull up what is unfruitful and harvest what is good! Because the two have grown up together, and since America has this glory in a pagan land it will take Kingdom leadership that knows how to lead Kingdom ministry! America has been like Israel - a people who had a covenant with God but had neglected and forsaken Him. The result for America is the same as God’s displeasure with Israel when He pulled away from them for a generation and let ‘dark times’ come. In Israel’s situation, the Philistines defeated Israel and took captive the Ark of Covenant, taking it back home with them. [1 Samuel 4:10,11] Like Israel, America has had a season of ‘dark times’ after experiencing God’s outpouring of glory. God’s glory was now in a pagan land. The ‘eclipse’ had begun! 14

When the Ark of Covenant was taken by the Philistines to their country several things occurred which give insight to how the Church must lead. There Must be the Anointed Power of the Holy Spirit •

Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. (1 Samuel 5:2-4)

This spiritual confrontation took place out of the sight of the people [i.e. ‘the next morning’] but the effects were eventually seen by all. Many people might not know, understand, or be able to perceive the working of God but as the ‘eclipse’ finishes, whose truth is standing will be evident. Despite countless encounters with God’s truth, during the ‘dark times’ the world has persevered by picking up their ‘god’ and placing him over and over again back in place, trying to believe that they have been right all along. The world has a terminal case of denial related to thinking that their ways are higher than God’s ways. However, there is a time, which is now, and more so in the future, when the Holy Spirit’s power will make evident whose ways are true. Power has always been the evidence of right. The elementary principle of war is this: might makes right! This is how many wars are decided and the heavenly war is no different. Seek this, spiritual leader, to preach with power. I do not mean just the power of revelation, though that is important. I mean the power of signs and wonders, miracles, and prophecy. Many of us have lost faith in this area because we have not seen this anointing or have only seen glimpses. Keep pushing on, man and woman of God, because ‘the eclipse is over’ and the anointing will increase! Having the anointing of Kingdom power means that believers and church leaders need to obtain a spiritual reputation more than a natural reputation. •

And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. (Acts 19:11-17 NASB)

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The ‘seven sons of Sceva’ did not have a spiritual reputation like Paul! All they had was ‘head knowledge’ instead of ‘heart knowledge’! Man and woman of God, be sure that you know the King if you are seeking Kingdom anointing so that the devil cannot say, “who are you?” when you minister! The ‘dark times’ are over and Kingdom anointing is coming to men and women who will minister in the Name of Jesus and not in the name of men! We live in a time when the first pursuit of the church needs to be spiritual power. There is a fear of the excesses that the dynamic of the Holy Spirit brings, but just the fact that there is a fear reveals the church’s anemic experience in spiritual power. This is the time for accurate prophecy to overthrow 1-900-Psychic Hotline! God is ready to release authority to the mature disciples that will pull down the devil’s spiritual authority over people. God is ready to make the devil fall on his face; break off his hands of control over people; and do this ‘on the threshold’ so that everyone can see! It will take the anointed power of the Holy Spirit for the Church to exist in a pagan land! There Must be Anointed Biblical Authority to Confront Unhealthy Issues in the Body •

Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god." (1 Samuel 5:6,7)

In order to provide leadership to the Church in a pagan land, there must be a resolve to confront unhealthy cultural issues that will find their way into the church. With cultural differences, today’s political correctness, and the ‘tolerance’ of every social behavior and action, leaders must be willing to show Biblical authority when these views are superimposed upon the church. Some liberal believers today are no different from the postEgyptian Israelis who knew God but were willing to build a golden calf to worship. Be sure that you do not build something that God will have to dismantle! Unhealthy issues are sure to breakout in the Body of the Church. There must be a clear distinction between what is allowed or disallowed in the Body so that good health will occur. The Philistines recognized the distinction between God and what they had believed in, Dagon. ‘Now the hand of the Lord was heavy’ is similar to the hand of authority that every church leader must be willing to allow to function so that the healthy and unhealthy are recognizable. In the movie, Titanic, the officers of the ship were men of duty, diplomacy, and discipline. They were gracious men who the passengers enjoyed relating to. However, in one scene during the tragic chaos where the men were fighting over the lifeboats, one officer pulled his gun and declared, “There will be order!” How audacious…insisting on order when they were facing certain death. This is similar to the strength of Biblical order that ministers need to have! The ‘dark times’ have clouded the true role of authority in the Church.

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There Must be Anointed Wisdom •

And it came about that after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. (1 Samuel 5:9)

America has a shortage of wisdom for its problems, which is a direct result of the separation of God from the land. There is a ‘very great confusion’ today because Satan has used philosophy and intellectualism to cloud the people’s proper understanding of many things. Satan is referred to as the father of lies [John 8:44] and he works in the domain of darkness. Remember that Jesus was arrested, bound, and tried during the night; and throughout the whole night of His captivity, Jesus did not reveal His identity to His accusers. •

And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a robber? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours." And having arrested Him, they led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest… (Luke 22:52-54)

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Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Pilate therefore said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (John 18:36,37)

Spiritually speaking, the world thought it could arrest Jesus again, bind His Church, and get the people to reject Jesus, just as they did when they shouted for His crucifixion. When someone is arrested it means that he or she is not free to move about. When someone is bound for trial, it means that his or her personal power is restrained. It may look as if Jesus is captive, but it is only the eclipse! Satan works his schemes and plans in ‘the power of darkness’. He is constantly working to bring ‘a very great confusion’ among people so that Jesus is very hard to recognize. The devil has taken full advantage of the ‘eclipse’ and sown a ‘very great confusion’ throughout the land. The devil has had plenty of opportunity to go about unseen, unthought of, and unrecognized during the ‘dark times’. •

He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did 17

you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!’ (Matthew 13:24-28) The devil cannot overcome the truth so his only recourse is make the truth confusing! This is how it has been during the ‘dark times’ in America. An eclipse occurs when an empty, void, mass called the moon crosses between the light of the sun and the earth, temporarily bringing darkness. The world’s wisdom is like that moon; empty, lifeless, and void. The ‘dark times’ might have been opportunity for the devil to spread confusion but now God will overwhelmingly display His light of truth! Because the people’s thoughts have been confused during the ‘dark times’, many might assume that Jesus is buried and gone. However, the eclipse is over and Satan’s work revealed! He had a season to sow his seeds and create incredible confusion in the land. Simple issues of life or church health have become very hard for many to grasp. Many churches seem to be mired in the diversity of social thought that has eroded faith in God’s truthful ways. There is a ‘very great confusion’ that envelops ‘both young and old’ so that family tragedy seems to be the normal thing. Divorce now is as rampant among the elderly as the young. The ‘young and old’ are hurting because of the breakdown of truth, family, and social conduct. There are very few people today who do not have open wounds or scars because of unhealthy practices brought on by an ignorance of God and His ways. As things get worse, the leaders of the world keep staring into ‘darkness’ thinking that they will finally see an answer. For the church, it is time for spiritual leaders to stop pussyfooting around with psychology, trying to find ‘coping’ skills for people. The desire for the church to be accepted by the modern world has crept into the effectiveness of the church. I am not saying that we cannot be knowledgeable so that we can stand toe to toe when it comes to identifying modern issues. However, the need to relate to modern psychology can remove the power of the Holy Spirit from God’s answer, which is through Jesus. •

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Godly wisdom is the only cure for the disease and confusion in America. Many of America’s spiritual leaders have allowed the ‘dark times’ to lead them astray from Biblical pattern or truth. The Hebrew interpretation of ‘very great confusion’ means a forceful, abundant confusion brought on gradually that brings about disturbing panic, chaos and disorder. People can find nothing consistent or lasting and there are no human answers that work. It is the time for the Church to speak with very great wisdom. This means that spiritual leaders must be positive that they represent the ways, thoughts, and plans of God. Church leaders must develop an expectation in the people to receive the blessings of God when the Church honors His ways.

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In 1 Samuel, chapter six, the Philistines finally began to recognize a correlation between all of their problems and the presence of the Ark of Covenant. Finally, they decided to send the Ark of Covenant back to Israel. Working out a plan provided by their priests and diviners, they placed the Ark of Covenant into a new cart along with offerings of golden images. •

Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land.” (1 Samuel 6:4,5)

The five golden tumors and mice, one for each plague and each Philistine lord were symbolic of their desperation to find a solution to the madness that they were living in. The fight for supremacy of who was right, conservative or liberal; and how to live had been taken from them. The people of the land were giving God a chance to show whether or not He is God! The Philistines took two milk cows that had never been yoked to a cart and had nursing calves. Separating the cows from the calves, they locked up their calves and yoked the cows to the new cart. First, it is not wise to separate a cow from her calf. Secondly, yoking a cow to a cart that has not been broken to pull is also unwise because the approach defied natural instincts. This test was a mixture of incredible faith and doubt. •

"And watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance." Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh. Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it. (1 Samuel 6:9-13)

As the eclipse passes, the people of America look similar to the Philistines. The people of America have been worn down with false ideas and the devil’s lies. After the eclipse, the people are willing to defy their natural instincts and allow God to prove to them that He is in the Ark of Covenant! In today’s restoration, the Ark of Covenant is the Church! God will come in glory to the Church and reveal to the world that He is the Light! The cows walked miraculously to Beth-shemesh, which by the way means ‘House of the Sun or Light’! If the Church does not allow itself to be His Church then the world will turn 19

away and say ‘everything has happened to us by chance, God was not trying to get our attention’. Just as it was with the problems of the Philistines, this was no chance regarding the past thirty years of problems overwhelming America – God is in it all! The devil has worn down the people of America, but they cannot see the light. We have an opportunity to make the Church the ‘House of the Sun’ or ‘Light’ for the world to come to! The world is poised to believe that God is in everything that is happening or they are poised to believe that it is all by chance. This is a time for the Church, the Ark of God’s Covenant, to display His power through signs and wonders. Jesus said "So then, you will know them by their fruits”. [Matthew 7:17-20] The ‘dark times’ have kept healthy, spiritual fruit from growing. However, for those who have planted and grown according to Biblical truth, this will be a very fruitful time after the eclipse is over. 1 Samuel 6:13 reads, ‘the people of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it’…can you catch it? The people of ‘the House of Light’ were reaping a harvest when the Ark of Covenant came to them. The passage continues as it reads, ‘The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.’ (1 Samuel 6:18) The name Joshua in Hebrew is Yehoshua, meaning ‘The Lord is Salvation’. When these sequences of events are interpreted, it can be said this way: So there was a celebration of God’s people when God returned with signs and wonders to the House of Light. In addition, during the harvest, the foundation that God’s glory was set on is ‘The Lord is Salvation’! That ought to make you say ‘Glory’! There Must be Anointed Action •

They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. (1 Samuel 5:11)

Now it is ‘a deadly confusion’ and ‘the hand of God was very heavy ’ on the Philistines. There are few issues today that can be considered deadly but the fact is, there are some. Some of these issues are literally deadly to human health while the others are deadly to social and spiritual health. While the deadly issues may be few, there is no denying that God’s methods and ways are in direct contradiction to them; hence, the ‘very heavy hand of the Lord’. When people begin to embrace blatant lifestyles and behavior that mocks God, His hand will press heavily on society. ‘God’s heavy hand’ means that the people are receiving the harvest for the sinful seed planted. But society is worn out from reaping the fruit of its behavior and the people are willing to listen to truth that brings satisfying results. The door to society’s heart is open. The Church can walk through that door but first, we must learn how to walk in God’s anointing! Today’s society will listen to about anything in the quest for knowledge or spiritual truth. There is an obvious increase for the pursuit of spirituality by the world. The unanointed church is at best one more contestant in a beauty contest of offering spirituality. This is the time for the Church to walk in the power of God’s message, preaching with miracles and allowing the Holy Spirit to empower God’s wisdom for the ages.

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Because of the direct contradiction between God’s truth and the devil’s lies, the devil cannot use philosophy or intellectualism to cloud things. Therefore, these deadly issues stir up persecution against spiritual leaders and the Church [‘send away the ark of the God of Israel…’]. Social approval of the homosexual lifestyle, the selling of sex and violence, tolerance for dangerous lifestyles, the extremity of the feminist movement are examples of issues that have brought ‘deadly confusion’ upon our land. During the ‘dark times’, whenever a spiritual leader would confront an issue of ‘deadly’ proportion, there was a backlash of persecution. I believe this is demonic activity that says ‘if you try to put your hand on the light switch, I will kill you’. The devil was secure in the ‘dark times’ and many good spiritual leaders probably lost heart on more than one occasion. But now the hand on the switch is God’s! The despair of the ‘dark times’ made us all wonder if God’s power was truly what we believed it to be. As the ‘eclipse’ ends, so does the ‘dark times’. So get ready for the Light of His glory, Church! •

Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep, Like a warrior overcome by wine. And He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. (Psalms 78:65, 66)

During the ‘dark times’ it seems as if the Lord has been asleep but get ready; His redemption of His people is close. He will come like a warrior who has had too much wine – I did not pick that word picture – God did! In the spiritual realm, God is going to put a whipping on the devil like a drunk Navy Seal who had warned his foe and now was giving him all the fight he could handle. As a warrior, God will put the devil in place – He will drive him “backward”! During the ‘dark times’, the devil assumed a place of leadership, but it is now time to remove him from that place. God is going to correct wrongs and do battle with the enemy who has assumed Jesus’ place of honor! As the Lord returns to lead the Church like a ‘warrior’, the Church will see a renewal of authority in the five fold gifting [Ephesians 4:11-13], especially of apostle and prophet! As the Lord restores this fragmented ‘army’, it will reveal the perfect order of the government of God’s Kingdom! Church leaders get ready to lead into the Promised Land! The mantle of God’s anointing is preparing to be passed! Get ready, because the ‘eclipse is over’! •

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

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…because the darkness is passing away, and the true Light is already shining. (1 John 2:8)

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THE COMING HURRICANE! THE COMING HURRICANE - God is forever moving forward with His plans for the world and His purpose for the Church. More and more those plans and purposes will clash like a warm front and cold front. As the earth’s atmospheric conditions constantly change there are peak seasons when the conditions slowly build up terrific forces of nature called hurricanes. Because of the force within them, hurricanes bring change wherever they land. There has been a buildup of the purpose for the Church and the plans of the world, similar to the buildup of a hurricane. Soon the hurricane will ‘come ashore’ and both purposes and plans will encounter the power of God. This has been tracked by God’s prophets and the discerning spiritual leaders of the Church for over three decades. Some have ignored the signs of the approaching storm and others have long awaited it. There is change coming to America because there is a spiritual movement of God that is preparing to come inland to the Church!

The Hurricane is Inevitable Jesus said that predicting the natural course of events, such as the weather, was achievable by natural men. As He acknowledged the world was wise in predicting and interpreting natural events, He chastised them for not knowing how to understand ‘the signs of the times’. •

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Him asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He answered and said to them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning, There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:1-3)

Technology, education, and human shrewdness have allowed the world to advance in areas like weather prediction, financial analysis, and political transitions. But Jesus said that it was more important to know ‘the signs of the times’, not just the signs of the world. The ‘signs of the times’ [Greek ‘kairos] means recognizing the major intervening times when God is shifting His Kingdom like the plates of the earth moving or the buildup of a storm that finally unleashes its force. There is a spiritual storm coming but it will not bring destruction to the spiritual sons and daughters of God. This spiritual storm will wreck havoc with everything that is not built upon a spiritual relationship with God. It is not intended to bring judgement, but instead to draw people closer to God. Similar to the times when a major hurricane is forecast, there are two groups of people; those who act as if nothing is going to happen and those who anticipate the storm. Just as there is the fear of an approaching natural hurricane, the world boards up its homes and businesses; there is a resistance from the world as this ‘hurricane of God’ approaches America. The devil has deceived the world into ‘boarding’ itself up from the coming move of God. 22

Materialism, sin, and pride have blinded the spiritual eyes of the world. In the history of man, the resistance to God has never been stronger; however, God’s move will advance and leave no doubt as to who He is and His ways. Because this storm is not seen by the world, it takes spiritual discernment to see ‘the signs of the times’. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8) It is a supernatural storm that precedes a major movement of God into the Church and out to the world! The Church today lives in an accelerated day of restoration. "The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former”, says the LORD of hosts… (Haggai 2:9) The word ‘greater’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘gadal’, which means ‘to root, to grow up, become greater’. The accelerated day of restoration is the result of the maturity of God’s people. The glory will come to the Church when the saints of God grow in spiritual maturity AND are willing to line up with God’s will to perform it. All this implies that the extended work of God’s Kingdom will be the result of the maturing of His House, the Church. God is not giving to the Church what it never had, but rather, the Church is finding what has always been present. God has taken thousands of years to usher in His Son’s Bride, the Church. This is the day for the Bride to come to the Father to receive His wealth so that she properly represents the family that she is truly from. This is the day for the Bride to adorn herself with gifts, which always are given to her before the wedding! I am referring to the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. I declare that the bride is getting ready! And, like a bride who has been betrothed, the groom accepts her as she is, but she is compelled to make herself beautiful for him. •

…Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

God, in His infinite ways, is not only the Father of the Bride but the Groom, as well. In addition, He is the glory of the Church because He will ‘present to Himself’ the Church. He sanctifies the Church, matures the Church, and blesses the Church all for His own glory! The Greek word ‘present’ is ‘paristaymi’ and means to place beside, to present, to stand by and appear with. God has called out to the world and proposed a relationship with His Son, Jesus; Jesus has sanctified the Church so that the wedding is a compatible union; and then, He will give Himself the Bride! The only glory that the Church will ever have will be because of Whom we are marrying! This is important because the Church has lost the perspective that in order to be the anointed Body of Christ, we must allow God to be the wholeness and completeness of Who He is! We must lose the tendency to think that we can do it ourselves without God’s presence! This will affect every saint of God because there are very few, if any, believers that have seen the Church that God is ushering in very soon! The Patterns of a ‘Storm Watch’ are Upon Us God’s movement is the result of worldwide ‘atmospheric’ conditions. God never does anything that does not align with His purpose and plans for His Kingdom becoming established on earth. 23

A hurricane is a phenomena that takes quite a while to form. While there might be a hurricane season, scientists know that there is a constant churning of world atmospheric events that trigger the ‘season’ when the hurricanes might actually develop. While hurricanes develop quite slowly, they gain incredible wind speed that is quite destructive. It is the pattern of God to allow for world events to develop, then there will be a ‘season’ of His intervention into the Church. I say that we are in such a ‘season’; and just like a hurricane is tracked from a ‘higher’ view with satellites and radar, the spiritual leaders of God can track what God is doing today. You can see the course that is being set. But just as tracking a hurricane in its early stages is highly unpredictable, so is attempting to accurately predict what God is doing. As it nears land, the hurricane’s course can begin to be tracked, warnings given, and preparations made. I say that ‘a hurricane of God’ is coming and the spiritual leaders of the Church need to begin to track His ‘new movement’, give warnings where needed, and make the preparations for the Church to encounter Him! Symbolism on the Facts of Hurricanes: Hurricanes are the Most Powerful Forms of Energy and Force in the World While a hurricane might have destructive force at the main line of travel, its wide-ranging effect favors a large area because of the abundant rain it brings. Jesus’ ministry on the earth had this effect as well. He brought destruction to the things that were not of God and increased the fruitfulness of the things that were of God. •

And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. (Mark 11:15,16)

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But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up." (Matthew 15:13)

Jesus was a destructive force to the things that were not planted by Heaven. God defends the Truth with power that He has set forth. Jesus overturned the ‘temporal’ works of man within the Temple; and He would not allow anyone to carry ‘natural goods’ into the Temple. In the coming hurricane, Jesus is stopping the ‘temporal busy-ness’ men have brought into the Church and He is calling forth ‘eternal business! The correlation for today is that God will come to the Church like a hurricane of power which will test the foundations of Truth that have been laid. The Church is a spiritual House not a natural house, and the Lord will not allow ‘temporal’ business to take precedent over the spiritual. One plant sown by the devil during the ‘dark times’ is the deception that a Senior Pastor should be a ‘caregiver’. The Senior Pastor of every local church needs to be a ‘leader’ more than a caregiver! This deception of being a caregiver will be rooted up. Many ministers already feel the power of the storm! They sense the Holy Spirit calling them away from the religious patterns imposed upon the ministry. The apostle Paul did not pay social visits on church members and the apostle Peter did not wait on tables; He waited on God! Man and woman of God, if your spiritual identity among the people is based upon being constantly available to comfort them through average issues, you are an Army doctor and 24

not an Army General! Your church is the medical recovery tent in the war and not the strategy tent. You won’t receive orders in the hurricane, you will receive victims that the hurricane offends! Is that what you want to pastor and lead? If the answer is no, then make changes now before the hurricane comes and makes them for you! If something is not fruitful for eternal value, it does not last, nor can it provide solution to man. God planted man on the earth and God has supplied every need for man. Yet, religious patterns have developed church leaders to think that the Church can exist without God’s presence. In some cases, there are Bible Schools that even teach young men and women how to have church without God. The coming hurricane of His presence will shock and rock religion! God created man in His presence; God wants man in His presence and He created the Church to bring man back into His presence! The idea that man can exist without God is a dangerous religious supposition! •

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding…” (Job 38:4)

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The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him… (Zechariah 12:1)

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Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)

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"Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. (Ephesians 1:3,4)

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And, THOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF THY HANDS… (Hebrews 1:10)

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For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)

God says that He was before the earth – He laid the foundation of the earth – He had plans for the Church before the Church began – He knew His people before creation. God ‘fixed’ the beginning of all things and all things abide in Him. Nothing else works and nothing else matters! When Jesus comes to the Church, the force of His Truth is so powerful that what was not ‘set 25

in’ by the Father will be pulled out of the ground. To be pulled out of the ground denotes force. Like the pulling up of unfruitful growth in a garden, if the ground is soft, wet and properly prepared, it is not that strenuous. But if the ground is hard, dry, and unprepared, the force is wearisome and painful. Every church will encounter some purging when God’s hurricane of power comes. If the Church has been diligent to His truth, the unfruitful growth will pull up easily; however, if truth has been improperly laid, the purging will be difficult. A Hurricane Brings an Initial ‘Storm Surge’ That Nothing Can Stand Up To Storm surge is a large dome of water often 50 to 100 miles wide that sweeps across the coastline near where a hurricane makes landfall. The surge of high water topped by waves is devastating. Storm surge is a great dome of water often 50 miles wide that comes sweeping across the coastline near the area where the eye of the hurricane makes landfall. The surge, aided by the hammering effect of breaking waves, acts like a giant bulldozer sweeping everything in its path. The stronger the hurricane, the higher the storm surge will be. This is unquestionably the most dangerous part of a hurricane. Nine out of ten hurricane fatalities are caused by the storm surge. During the infamous Hurricane Camille in 1969, a 25-foot storm surge inundated Pass Christian in Mississippi. Lesser height are more usual but still extremely dangerous. The stronger the hurricane and the shallower the offshore water, the higher the surge will be. Along the immediate coast, storm surge is the greatest threat to life and property. [National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; http://www.nhc.noaa.gov] When the hurricane of God comes, the initial ‘surge’ of power that is propelled can be overwhelming. In fact, God is so abundant that there is no church that can adequately prepare for His presence. •

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34,35)

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…in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD saying, "He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting," then the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13,14)

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And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

The word ‘shaken’ in Acts 4:31, is the Greek word ‘saleuw’ which means shaken as if by agitating; it implies that the early church members were stirred together in unity by the shaking of God. It means the shaking was for the purpose of being blended together. It gets better, 26

‘saleuw’ or shaken comes from the Greek ‘salos’, which means tossing, as if by the swelling of the sea! The early church began with a tremendous outpouring of the power of God that the religious, political, or world community could not stop. God’s response to the world’s needs and the early Church’s prayer was to abundantly send the Holy Spirit. Spiritually, it was as if a powerful wave of the sea had come upon them! The world believes that they are in control of all things, including God’s role. His response will overwhelm His adversaries while at the same time bring His Church into great unity! This outpouring should precede all major moves of God, and I declare that our day shall see this outpouring! God is going to pour out His Spirit with such an overwhelming ‘surge of power’, that it will redefine the thoughts, ideas, and philosophies of many church leaders. Theological books that were written in the ‘dark times’, just might have to be rewritten or they will gather dust, only to be read by the old men and women of the past! The Church will soon receive a ‘new wave’ of the presence of God that will make every believer who participates stand in one accord and say ‘Wow!’ instead of ‘Woe’! The little issues that believers get caught up in and stifle church dynamic will be gone or ignored. “Pastor, is it appropriate for people to wave a banner during slow songs?” “Pastor, should the women be laying hands on the men to prophesy during prayer services?” Get a life…a spiritual life! When God heals the first blind man, I say WHO CARES about all those petty issues! The power surge of the coming hurricane will overwhelm even those in the Church who are anticipating it! When a Hurricane Moves Inland, There is a Storm Tide That Will First Reveal Hidden Problems and Then it Breaks Old Boundaries If the storm surge arrives at the same time as the high tide, the water height will be even greater. The storm tide is the combination of the storm surge and the normal astronomical tide. [National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; http://www.nhc.noaa.gov] When a hurricane approaches, the power of the hurricane offshore can make the water level at low tide become excessively low, revealing hidden objects that are normally covered. Then when the water level comes to high tide, the water will surpass the normal tide level and go beyond to a new water level mark. When a natural hurricane is being tracked toward land, the proper hurricane warnings are given. Some of the hurricane warnings caution about avoiding low-lying areas due to excessive rainfall and avoiding unsafe structures. The hurricane warning might caution about areas that in normal atmospheric conditions are considered safe or are taken for granted. The spiritual hurricane of God is coming to bring a new level of His presence to the Church, and God will issue warnings as well. Just as a natural hurricane can pull away the normal astronomical tide, revealing hidden objects, the Holy Spirit will visit the Church and reveal division, factious behavior, hidden or passive resistance, and uncommitted hearts. The devil will scheme to place hidden problem people into the Church that do not seem to be a problem or to be a threat in normal times. But then the ‘storm surge’ comes, and the Holy Spirit shows up bringing change that initially overwhelms most people! The devil would love to push the ‘power surge’ of God back or stop it all together! Before the ‘storm tide’ brings this deeper move of God ‘inland’, the Holy Spirit 27

will reveal problem areas that would resist, or try to abuse and take advantage of the new movement of God. Before the ‘storm tide’ comes, the Holy Spirit will reveal the hidden issues or ‘false’ believers and will allow church leaders time to correct or remove them. There are believers that hide their motives and selfish agendas until they feel it is safe to come forward. These people are ‘false’ believers because they are not honest with church leaders and their selfserving ways deny the Lordship of Jesus. When the deeper move of God comes to a church, those ‘false’ believers either try to use the ‘new move of God’s Spirit’ to their advantage by taking opportunity to become so-called ‘experts’ of the subjective or spiritual ways of the Spirit. Or these so-called ‘experts’ will examine the people’s response to the Holy Spirit’s deeper ways. If enough of the Church is resisting the new, deeper work of God, then the ‘false’ believer will organize resistance and attempt to become their sympathetic leader! There are destructive forces that can harm the order of the Church. Church leader, if you cannot prepare the Church for revival by protecting the Church from revile, then how can you lead the Church through the new move of God? How well you clean up the beach before the hurricane comes ashore will determine how far the flood tide will go inland! Remove those hidden issues now while the Holy Spirit is revealing them and there will be nothing to restrict the coming flow of the Holy Spirit into the Church! •

These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:12,13)

Once the issues of destruction are seen and dealt with, God will move forward with a ‘high tide’. The ‘storm tide’ represents the new level of Biblical standards and maturity of the Holy Spirit that surpasses the old level of where the Church was. In West Texas there are ‘high water markers’ set beside low-lying areas, usually a dry bed or with very little water flow. It seems strange to see this ‘high water marker’ when it is so shallow or dry, especially when the marker reads four-foot or five-foot. When the rain comes, the lowlying area will rapidly increase to the high water mark. I am saying that the coming hurricane of God will break the old marker and move the Church beyond what anyone has ever experienced! For instance, if the old water level mark read four-foot, then the new one will read eight-foot – but if the Church has not prepared itself, then after a season, the Church is back to its old level. It takes preparation and maturity so that when God comes to the Church, the leadership has been able to maintain the ‘new level’ of God’s power. Many churches will receive from the coming hurricane, and the ‘flood tide’ will bring new depth of the Holy Spirit! It will be fun and there will be rejoicing in the ways of the Holy Spirit! But will it last? Yes, but church leader, you must do everything that God asks for the new ‘flood tide’ to stay at the new depth. It will be very easy to just have fun and then go back to the old tide boundary! The hurricane represents the move of God that is coming; and the Church that does not take the new move of God and reach the lost will find the new ‘flood tide’ shrinking back to the old tide boundary! God is coming to the 28

Church and He is coming with power that will break old boundaries! He is coming to reach ground that has not been reached and, while it will be fun, it is not just for fun! He comes to reach new ground that the enemy controls! The coming hurricane brings a flood that will reach into places that are shallow or dry! Get ready for a flood that invades homes and businesses! Get ready for a flood that will break the Church out of old boundaries and take land we thought was impossible to take! However, it will mean, the Church must listen and obey! Jesus is calling out the servants of the Kingdom to a great work! Everyone will taste the goodness of God but not all will know how to produce it! In John, chapter 2, Jesus manifested His glory in Cana despite telling Mary, his mother, that her request for His involvement was not in the plans. “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) Mary, who had one of the best understandings of who Jesus is, pursued Jesus to miraculously provide wine at the wedding in Cana after the wine had run out. Mary’s tenacity and relationship with Jesus shows us that Kingdom history can be changed if we pursue Him properly. First, Mary had the audacity to come to Jesus with the needs of people who did not recognize Him. Jesus was in Cana only because He was a distant relative. Secondly, Mary did not take no for an answer. Too many people say they believe in Jesus but take no for an answer. When something is not in God’s immediate plans, He expects faith and perseverance to create a breakthrough. He wants to see how bad we want something before He decides to act. Thirdly, Jesus used servants to reveal His glory! The servants probably had some doubt and question, but they did what Jesus asked. Every servant has a human side and questions the ways of God, but they must remain a servant and obey. Jesus told them to take several waterpots used for the Jewish rite of purification and fill them with water. You can just imagine that they talked about whether or not His plan was going to work but they still obeyed. •

Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter." And they took it to him. And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now." (John 2:6-10)

In relating this to the Charismatic Movement, there have been servants and headwaiters! Many church leaders have been like the headwaiters, or master of ceremony, that have tasted the good ways of God, even the great ways of God, but they never took the time to learn where the ‘new wine’ had come from. Only the ‘servant’ leaders who had obeyed knew! And those are the leaders who will prosper in the coming days of the Lord. When the hurricane comes, it will reveal who is the servant and who is the headwaiter; who is the builder and who is the consumer; who is the developer and who is the devourer; who is the doer and who is the master of ceremony! If your model has been to be a master of ceremony, who could only stand in the glory of Jesus for a time and is not able to understand how Jesus has worked, then your time in His glory will end! The servant who obeyed could understand Jesus’ ways and those servants will share in the glory of Jesus continuously! God is building a Church that not only will taste 29

His good ways, but will understand His ways! Man of God and woman of God, let the hurricane bring the ‘flood tide’ of God’s presence to the Church, beyond where it has ever been; but then listen and obey so you will learn how to keep the depth of God in the Church! The First Area to Take the Violent Force of the Hurricane is the Coastal Region The United States has a significant hurricane problem. Our shorelines attract large numbers of people. From Maine to Texas, our coastline is filled with new homes, condominium towers, and cities built on sand waiting for the next storm to threaten its residents and their dreams. [National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; http://www.nhc.noaa.gov] According to the National Hurricane Center, it seems that people will move to a region that could suffer the catastrophic affect of a hurricane without considering that to be a key factor in whether or not to locate there. Whatever the reasoning, many people who encounter a hurricane have the disillusioning attitude of ‘how could this have happened to me?’ It seems like most of the world will not listen to warnings, cautions, and directions of where and how to build their homes and the same goes for their personal lives. Jesus warned that storms would come, so be careful where you build. However, some people live like He was either wrong or they are above the warning. •

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:24-27)

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Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:47-49)

It is architecturally easy to understand why rock or solid ground would be better to build upon than sandy coastline. The coastline is sandy, loose ground that is undependable to build upon, especially in a terrific storm like a hurricane. So the first place that is hit by the coming hurricane is the easiest place to get torn apart or pulled down. But the implication here is WHERE someone builds a home, as much as WHAT ground the home is built upon. If you build your church or personal life in the natural realm, then you are building on the coast and building upon sandy ground! If you build your life in the spiritual realm, then you are building upon high ground and upon the rock! The coming hurricane will bring terrible strain to the natural man, but the spiritual man will be safe and secure. For instance, if the richest man on earth never 30

gives into the Kingdom of God, then he is really the poorest man in the spirit! The spiritual man has stored his treasure in heaven and not the earth! The natural man has disregarded the Word of God! The natural man went and built his life in places that he was warned about, but he ignored the warnings! The Church or person who has built more upon the natural man is likened to someone who builds on sand, which is the coastline. The coming hurricane will hit the coastline first! The parable Jesus told of building a house upon the rock or sand said, ‘the ruin of that house was great’. [Luke 6:49] The Greek word for ‘ruin’ is ‘rhaygma’, and means fracture. The home life in most American families has become severely fractured. The phrase ‘broken home’ is the common identifier of many backgrounds of the people. The ‘coming hurricane’ is not coming to fracture or breakdown the people, but this hurricane will breakdown the lies, deception, and foolishness that is destroying America. Because of His grace, God is coming to rebuild what the devil was destroying. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations, And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:4) The coming hurricane of God is coming to drive the people from the sandy coastline towards the high places where the ground to build a home is on the ROCK! Obviously, the first area that a hurricane hits with violent effect is the fixed coastland. It is interesting to note that because of the sandy soil, this is the land that is the most susceptible to the violent winds of the hurricane. This is not only the worst land for building foundations upon, but it encounters the initial winds of the hurricane, which are the most violent. According to the National Hurricane Center, there are many listeners who have heard about the dangers of the hurricane but build their home on the sand anyway, only to encounter a great disappointment. Because the coastline is sandy soil and takes the most violent first strike force of a hurricane, it is by far the worst place to build. The parable of the storm and cautions of where to build that Jesus referred to in Matthew 7:24-27 and in Luke 6:47-49, was for our personal lives and the church body life. He said, “everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.” Remember, man and woman of God, it is not just WHAT you build upon but WHERE you build that will decide what affect the coming hurricane has! Jesus never exempted anyone from the rain, floods, and winds, but rather said that those who built upon the foundation of acting upon His truth would do well. The ‘coming spiritual hurricane’ will not only reveal what is built upon the natural and spiritual, but what is truth and what is not. There might be human truth related to science, finances, health, etc., but God is able to overrule all natural truth with spiritual truth. What especially will be challenged by the ‘coming hurricane’ is the human wisdom that contradicts or resists God’s truth. Because of the disregard or abuse of the apostolic and prophetic ministry, many churches lack a truthful foundation to build upon. [Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15] The average church in America is under led, under fed, and cannot be wed - referring to the marriage of Jesus to His Bride, the Church. This is because the Church has laid faulty foundations that cannot hold up to a revitalizing move of truth. Twenty to thirty years ago, most churches had splits or divisions because of doctrine, especially related to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Today, most churches are dividing over how the Church is built or foundationally governed and led. The 31

apostolic foundation of government and the prophetic foundation of the Holy Spirit are essential for each church to grow. The ‘coming hurricane’ will complete the ushering in of the restoration of revelation of the government of the Kingdom of God! The winds of this restoration have been blowing, but the hurricane will demand paying attention to this restoration. The restoration of the government of the Kingdom of God begins with acknowledging that Jesus is the Head of the Church! [Ephesians 1:22] This restoration means realizing that the apostolic and prophetic ministry are active and essential to the Church’s existence. [Ephesians 2:20] I believe that the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation, chapter eleven, refer to the authority of the apostolic and prophetic ministry that will be mightily restored in the last days! Those witnesses are referred to as an ‘olive tree’ and ‘lampstand’. It means anointing and revelation are being restored to the House of God! The restoration of the government of God will affect the authority of the local church, from the Mosaic role of the Senior Pastor to the corporate anointing of the eldership. Church leader, if you have not taken seriously that Jesus is intimately interested in being the Head of His Bride, then fall in line! If you have been taught that the ministry of apostle and prophet passed away, get yourself retrained! Start preaching about the Lordship of Jesus and then make sure your church understands the government of the Kingdom of God. The church that does not understand His Lordship, the Mosaic authority of the Senior Pastor, the anointing of the elders or team ministry, will be pressed hard by the coming hurricane! Every church must be built upon the Word of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit! Every church must have leadership that can govern and leadership that can discern the spiritual realm! The ‘coming hurricane’ will test how well each church has built upon the divine patterns of God! This test will be from the sustained wind of the hurricane that will bring change or tear down the foolish plans of men and leave standing the unshakable plans of God. For leaders who have not been serious in building His Church, they will wonder when the blowing winds will end and if the previous plans that have been laid will hold up ‘the new movement of God’. The statement, ‘the new movement of God’, is referring to a Biblical standard being established for the Church by God. The divine pattern of God is that He takes His Church from one level of maturity to another, expecting His Church to follow in His plans and purposes. •

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… (Romans 1:17,18)

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Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17,18)

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For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but 32

then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:912) •

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we shall do, if God permits. (Hebrews 5:11-14; 6:1-3)

God’s ‘new movement’ might appear to be revolutionary because He will press the Church out of old patterns and into new patterns. Just like a father with a son, the Father will determine a new standard for the Church, establishing that the present generation must conform to that level of truth and nothing below. To use a modern term, God is not the ‘enabler’ for our immaturity but the ‘equipper’ for our maturity! I declare that the Father is moving the Church from its young, immature ways and taking her to vigorous, mature ‘acts’! An interesting note regarding the modern sophistication of man is that enough information about hurricanes has been documented over the years enabling modern architecture to develop construction that will endure a major hurricane. But not everyone builds accordingly. One of the first disaster zones in the hurricane is to the old structures that either were never built to last or never remodeled and strengthened so that they are as strong as the new buildings. The spiritual hurricane of God will bring down the old structures of the Church that cannot withstand or understand the forth-coming power of the wind of the Spirit! In the ‘new movement’ of God, the churches that have not built according to the divine ‘building code’ or that have disregarded the ‘inspection’ of the apostolic and prophetic anointing will teeter. Churches that have ignored Biblical models of government and resisted the Holy Spirit’s authority will encounter great strain in unity and vision! Churches that have ignored the ‘building codes’ of the Word of God, might suffer so much harm that a spiritual sign that says “DANGER! CONDEMNED PROPERTY” might as well be placed on the walls. Human control means damage control and divine pattern means divine destiny! You can choose to either be in damage control or to control your destiny! Church leader, you had better be sure that you have built according to divine pattern if you want to see divine destiny! Every church has the Word of God to model itself by and ‘an ear to hear’ what God has called and anointed each specific church to do for Him. If the local church does not build upon God’s Truth and walk out the vision the Holy Spirit imparts, I promise that God will transfer ‘old anointing’ to a ‘new anointed’ during this ‘new movement’.

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Because of Sophistication of the Hurricane Alert, Many People are Apathetic to take Action Over the past several years, the warning system has provided adequate time for people on the barrier islands and the immediate coastline to move inland when hurricanes have threatened. However, it is becoming more difficult to evacuate people from the barrier islands and other coastal areas because roads have not kept pace with the rapid population growth. The problem is further compounded by the fact that 80 to 90 percent of the population now living in hurricane-prone areas have never experienced the core of a "major" hurricane. Many of these people have been through weaker storms. The result is a false impression of a hurricane's damage potential. This often leads to complacency and delayed actions which could result in the loss of many lives. [National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; http://www.nhc.noaa.gov] The combination of denial and pride are destructive. According to the National Hurricane Center, during a major hurricane, “…complacency and delayed action could result in the loss of many lives”. The same is spiritually happening to the Church. The American Church is becoming so sophisticated in worship and ministry skills that there can be an attitude that says ‘why would we want to change?’ Like the large population of people who have never experienced a major hurricane, much of the Church has never experienced a major move of the Holy Spirit! The NHC says that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get the large population of people to transition quickly because the outlet roads have not kept pace with the population. Bottleneck! In many cases, there has not been the adequate effort to prepare or plan so that when the hurricane comes, and it will come, there is a good transition out from the hurricane. There are large churches today that are like the large cities that do not believe they need to prepare because they do not think they need to change anything! Just like the big city that says ‘hurricanes can’t hurt us’, the large church says ‘it can’t get any better than this’. Like large cities that have not taken effort to be able to move the people during the hurricane, there will be churches, large and small, that have not thought about any type of change. This affects especially the large mega-church. Many have tasted the ‘richness’ of the Spirit! During the next move of God, there will be ‘slow to change’ churches that have 2,000 and 3,000 members that will be coming to ‘willing to change’ churches to learn how to follow this movement of God that the hurricane is bringing! Small church leader, don’t think that the coming hurricane will blow over and miss you! Large church leader, don’t think that the coming hurricane will blow over and kiss you! Big towns, you must not think this is insignificant and it is like the storm you once embraced in the past. Large ministries will face challenges if the leaders have been embracing momentum rather than the movement! The large ministries will be like the mayor of the large city who will begin to spend and plan for the hurricane and face opposition from citizens who cannot sense or see the hurricane approaching. You can miss it, leader, if you do not lead the people by preparing them for the hurricane! Small towns, the hurricane comes to you, as well. Small church leader, you think that nothing ever happens to your ministry! You think that you get the scraps under the table but never the banquet or the runoff from the rain but never the rain. The hurricane will come to the small town as powerfully as it comes to the large town! I prophesy that the Lord will break the small measure that we have had for the small towns and He tears up our demographic studies or our old status quo for what is possible! Quit thinking that 150, 200, 34

or 300 members would be the ultimate goal for your church. Get in line according to the divine pattern of God, and then, get in line to receive! Start thinking about your city and the domain around the city! When the anointing begins to flow from the pulpit in a new, deeper way, then the people will flow into the church in a new and deeper way! During a hurricane, compare the issue of ‘bottleneck’ of people unable to leave the city, to the Church where the ministry has slowly become a professionally oriented occupation. The congregation sits, observes, and ‘preserves’ while the ministers do it all! Many churches are like the ‘preserves’ that grandmother puts up. The Church has more than it can eat and instead of feeding others outside of the House, the church is ‘preserved’! When renewal blows inland with its sustained force, the churches that will receive the greatest benefit are those that have equipped the saints to move out in the Lord. ‘Moving out in the Lord’ means that the church body has been adequately trained to minister to the multitudes that will seek refuge from society’s moral sickness and emotional catastrophes. The coming hurricane will Blow Down what is not of God, Blow Around the old ways so that new days come, and Blow Out the Church into a mighty harvest! But not every believer will receive the new movement of God at the same time and not every believer will be willing to ‘move out’ for God. During a hurricane, many people become so stubborn to stay in their home that the National Guard is necessary to remove them. The Governor has to declare martial law and overrule the people’s choice to stay in their old, comfortable homes. The old man or woman of God sits on the porch defying the approaching hurricane’s powerful insistence that they ‘move out’! They refuse to budge despite that their ‘old house’ is going to come down and God is going to rebuild a ‘new house’! In the ‘coming hurricane of God’, it will take strong church authority to get some of the people to make the break from the comfort in their personal lives. Church leader, you will need to gracefully, yet authoritatively, insist that they come with you! Church leader, if they absolutely refuse, then you must be sure that they do not try to influence others to stay in the ‘old house’! Some believers have become so entrenched in ‘staying put’ that they will resist the forthcoming move of God. There are believers, both leaders and laity, who have not heeded the ‘storm warnings’ to prepare for the ‘coming hurricane’. In the recent past years, there have been many that have eventually awakened to the ‘storm watch’ reports and changed their opinions about God’s ways. There is a renewal among those who have begun to understand ‘the signs of the times’ and the ‘ways of God’. They are quickly poising for a ‘new move’ of the Lord; a move forward out of the comfort of the ‘old house’. But there will be a few who will resist to the end. They will curse the winds of change. Those are the ‘old guards’ who need the ‘old house’ to come apart before they will admit the need to go forward with God. Some of them will actually ‘die’ in the ‘old house’ rather than make a change. Biblical leadership is not always well received in America because most believers bring ‘political freedom’ into the Church, rather than ‘spiritual freedom’. ‘Political freedom’ says, “I have a say”, while ‘spiritual freedom’ says, “Whatever you say”! Under martial or military law, leaders must be willing to make hard decisions. I know United States military men who had to literally decide which men were likely to live and which men were likely to die. It was very difficult for them to make such hard decisions, but war creates such decisions. Like the military, a leader’s absolute wisdom must absolutely come from above! In the coming hurricane of God, there will be a polarization in 35

the Church; those who will not change and those who will try to bring unhealthy or weird spiritual practices to the Church. Those who will not change will be the ‘political freedom’ zealots who will ‘resist the war’! They will intentionally or unintentionally divide the Church just as the Vietnam War resistance divided America. The other extreme group is the believers that will seek to take ‘spiritual freedom’ to new levels. This will be hard to discern, because God will be doing extraordinary works in this coming new movement of His Spirit. But this group will become infatuated with Style and Method, rather than Spirit and Ministry! This group will want extraordinary to become so normal that they will seek abnormal patterns to promote it. The coming hurricane will mean that the government of the Church will need to rise up and lead, even with hard decisions! Church leader, if you absolutely know what the Lord has said to allow or disallow in the new movement of God, then don’t let it be compromised or factiously challenged! God Will Not be Misrepresented Any Longer The center, or eye, of a hurricane is relatively calm. The most violent activity takes place in the area immediately around the eye, called the eyewall. At the top of the eyewall (about 50,000 feet), most of the air is propelled outward, increasing the air's upward motion. Some of the air, however, moves inward and sinks into the eye, creating a cloud-free area. [National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; http://www.nhc.noaa.gov] In the ancient days of weather, hurricanes were not understood and when the center, or eye, of the hurricane passed onto land, the first reaction of the people was that the storm was over. Unfortunately, it was a fatal mistake, because once the eye moved inland, the tail spin of the storm would move forward, at times with more force than the initial blast. Until modern radar, satellite imagery, and airplanes, little was understood of the hurricane’s behavior. Much like the ancient misunderstanding of the hurricane is the misunderstanding that religion has of God. The Pharisees and Sadducees were not just part of Jesus’ time, they exist today wherever manmade rules and human wisdom take precedent over God’s truth and ways. The devil is not above scheming to confuse theology so that the Church is blind or limited to the ways of God! If religion were told to describe God, the picture would be that of an inverted hurricane – calm, peaceful, never intervening with man either with miracles or sovereign authority. Religion, at best, believes that God set everything in motion but then left it for man to run. Religion is like the little toddler who is outside in the yard with his father, pushing his toy mower. Sadly, he believes that he is as productive, or more productive than his father. When God comes to a land like a hurricane, part of the reason is to bring correction to works that are being done in His name but do not have His power or anointing. God comes to stop the misrepresentation of Himself to the world, especially by religion. •

You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, “THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS 36

DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.” And after He called the multitude to Him, He said to them, "Hear, and understand. Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." (Matthew 15:7-11) •

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:25-27)

Religion has always had the ways of God backwards! Religion is always misrepresenting God – telling man what defiles him when it does not, and then representing God as a passive, nonentity. The religious voices that try to speak in His Name do not have His authority, and constantly describe to the world a God with no power. Most churches that are entrenched in religious patterns are constantly defending their doctrinal position that God is not a ‘hurricane’ or power. The true model of the New Testament Church is a place where the fullness of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is free to minister and the inner sanctum is a place of grace and peace. God is like a hurricane and the Church represents that nature – power, but filled with peace! Religion has made God into an ‘inverted’ hurricane – powerless on the outside but filled with wrath and destruction on the inside! Religion promotes a view that God does not perform miracles and that He is harshly dealing with mankind because of sin. If you listen to religion’s message you will not hear about the power of the Holy Spirit. If you look into the inner sanctum of religion, you will not see spiritual men in unity but rather see natural men struggling against each other. Jesus said that the inside, or ‘eye’, of religion is filled with natural, human behavior and not supernatural character! Religion says ‘there is no hurricane’ and ‘the power of God has passed!’ They do not see the latter glory of the House that is about to pass back upon the Church, like the second line of the hurricane after the eye! They only see the former glory of the House! “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former”, says the LORD of hosts, “and in this place I shall give peace”, declares the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:9) Religion stands in the eye of the hurricane and says that God is finished! This is the picture of God that religion has – a powerless Savior where the Church is filled with political corruption. Remember that the early religious leaders of Israel, symbolic of today’s Church, were internally divided over Jesus’ ministry. The internal political corruption of their religious system was not a place of God’s peace and grace, but a place of division and personal agenda! Whenever a major hurricane hits land in America, it prompts the Federal Government into action. The ‘coming hurricane’ will reveal whether the government of God’s Kingdom or the government of man is ruling the local church!

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Joel 2:23 prophesied that there would be ‘the early and the latter rain’. The ‘early rain’ was when the Holy Spirit came to the early Church [Acts 2] and was the first ‘storm surge’ that fulfilled Joel’s prophesy. In reading the Biblical accounts of the early Church, no one can deny that the early church began with a mighty roar of power! In the 2,000 years passed since the Church first began, the Church has never been like it’s beginning. The eye of the hurricane has been over the Church, causing religion to conclude that God might have begun with power, but that those days have passed. Those days did pass, and they will pass over the Church again! I declare that the storm is preparing to pass over us again and soon! The eye will always be the eye – a place of peace and grace, but the overall nature of the hurricane is power, which is the true picture of God that will be revealed. God is like a ‘hurricane’ – a force of power that rules the world yet with an inner core, or ‘eye’, that is a place of grace and peace! God will not defend Himself at every little misrepresentation of His Kingdom. Nevertheless, there is the time when the Lord comes to the land like a hurricane, and He reveals His true ways so that a choice can be made about who He is! I declare that God is preparing to show His ways are powerful and full of grace! Get ready, for the hurricane is coming!

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PREPARE FOR THE LATTER RAIN! PREPARE FOR THE LATTER RAIN - The Church has never been without the spiritual ‘showers of blessings’ of God, which can be referred to as the ‘rain of God’. But those showers have preceded the great outpouring of the fullness of God that is soon forthcoming! The prophet, Joel, spoke of ‘the early and latter rain’, the early rain symbolizes the Church’s beginning and the latter rain symbolizes the Church’s restoration. [Joel 2:23] God cannot hold back His abundant nature. Every promise for His Church shall be ‘filled in full’. The Fullness of God is coming to the Church in a sustained way like an extended rainy season. The churches that have prepared for the outpouring of the ‘Fullness’ will reap great fruit. For those who have been faithful to plant the seeds of His divine pattern, He will be faithful to His promises and they shall reap the fruit that the latter rain produces! The Fullness of God The early church began with power and experienced tremendous influence throughout what was then the modern world. The prophet, Joel, prophesied the Church’s beginning as the ‘early rain’ of the fullness of God’s presence, while the ‘latter rain’ referred to the return of the fullness of God’s presence to the Church. •

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the LORD has done great things! Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. And the threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. (Joel 2:21-24)

In most cultures that depend upon agriculture, the crops are planted and grow around the rain season, which is usually spring and fall. The ‘early rain’ would be the rain that was important for the planting season. The ‘early rain’ signifies the change of season that is an atmospheric change, with the spring season being a change from cold weather to warm weather. The contrast with the warm and cold can create prolonged and intense times of rainfall, which sometimes brings about flooding. Prolonged rains usually cover a large area of land and this coming ‘rain’ of God will do the same. The meaning of ‘early and latter rain’ is like God saying, “I am making an atmospheric transition that will bring change upon the land. My presence shall break forth in a sustained way so that I will flood the Church with My Fullness.” There is a sustained supernatural movement coming that will displace demonic power and usher in true heavenly authority! •

And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.” (Luke 10:18,19) 39

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“…and in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:16,17)

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ… (Ephesians 1:3)

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… even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:5-7)

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To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:8-10 )

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For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

The modern Church has not seen a move of God that displaces the evil authority in heavenly places, but this is what the ‘early and latter rain’ means. Just as seasons change and are marked by times of prolonged rain, so the Lord will mark the heavenly change of the past season of unchallenged demonic authority by pouring out His goodness on the Church! When God decides for His ‘Fullness’ to come, it means an increase of heavenly authority that nothing, either on earth or in heaven, can compare to. "…I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:18) I declare by the prophetic word that the ‘latter rain’ of God has begun to fall upon the land! God has declared a change in the heavenly authorities that rule the world. The ‘dry, difficult times’ for the Church are over! The Church built upon divine pattern shall have ‘dynamic days of divine destiny’! The ‘rain’ is coming and everyone in the land will encounter it. The ‘Fullness’ will not discriminate whom it falls upon, just like prolonged rain does not discriminate the land it falls upon. When the rain comes, the condition of the soil and the heartiness of the seed planted determines the benefits reaped. •

“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44,45) 40

For the Church, those who have been faithful to prepare the hearts of the people and to plant the seeds of divine pattern, there is a harvest. But for those who have not prepared the soil [people] or planted the seed [divine pattern], this rain will be of no benefit. In fact, they might even curse the rain because they only see ‘Fullness’ as a reckless flood, out of control and causing damage. •

“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” (Matthew 13:18-23)

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“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27) The Fullness

God’s nature is abundant and He cannot hold back from His promises, especially those made to His Church. In creating the earth, God put forth laws of evaporation, condensation, and gravity. During hot, dry times, the waters of the land are pulled up into the atmosphere. This moisture builds and condenses until it becomes too heavy and falls to the ground. RAIN! There has been a hot, dry spiritual drought in America; and, just like being in a natural drought, times of fruitfulness can be forgotten. There have been some exceptions but, by and large, many churches have wondered if the promises of the Word of God will ever come to pass. There has been a spiritual drought and like the farmer who wonders if it will ever rain so the crops can burst forward in fullness, many believers are looking for the ‘rain’ of the Holy Spirit to make the Church burst forward in great fullness. But despite the spiritual drought, the heavens have become ‘condensed’ with the prayers and perseverance of the remnant Church. The heavens are beginning to open and the ‘Fullness’ shall be poured out! Despite the analysis of religion and unbelief of the world, God is preparing to testify to His Word! •

Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return 41

to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy, And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up; And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up; And it will be a memorial to the LORD, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:7-13) The nettle is a desert plant as is the thorn bush or cactus. The coming ‘Fullness’ shall take the ‘desert’ and turn it into a fruitful place! For this to happen in the natural realm, it requires an incredible atmospheric change. In the spiritual realm, the ‘latter rain’ will transform what is dry and hard ground into a fruitful place. If the churches that have lost sight of what it takes to be fruitful will quit thinking their own ‘thoughts’, and having their own ‘ways’, and recognize that My [God’s] ways are higher than your ways, And My [God’s] thoughts than your thoughts…’ (Isaiah 55:8), then there will be renewal! If the Church does not become the spiritual house of Jesus and the leaders think like spiritual leaders, then the ‘latter rain’ will not bless them. It is inevitable that the Fullness of God is coming to the Church. God said, “So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) The Church has a ‘hidden program’ within it’s purpose, much like a computer can have a ‘hidden program’ within it’s operation. The ‘hidden program’ within a computer comes alive at the precise time that the programmer instructed it to somewhere in the past. If you have a computer and turn it on after Day Light Savings arrives, then your computer is programmed to ask you if you want to receive the new time setting. There is no stopping a computer program once it has been instructed to begin and the program will either automatically do its work or ask you to accept or reject it. Hidden in the Church are spiritual instructions that were set within the Church by God. On the day commanded and set in by God from the beginning of natural time, there will be promises that come forth for the Church that leaders will have to choose to either receive or reject! Lining up with the eternal promises of God is the Words of Jesus for the Church! •

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

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He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has 42

come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:7,8) Those instructions will come alive during this ‘latter rain’! God said that His word ‘shall not return to Me empty’. I see the Church full of believers because that is what Jesus spoke! I see the Church full of power because that is what Jesus spoke! God said to the Church, ‘make disciples of all the nations’ and those words will not come back to Him empty; so then neither will the Church return to Him empty but full of disciples! The ‘latter rain’ shall release this instruction that has been dormant within the Church like a seed that will come alive to yield its fruit! Because many churches in America do not understand the Grace of Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit, they have become dry, hard ground that won’t produce fruit and many church leaders have become ‘farmers without seed to plant’! A farmer without seed to plant would be a person who would be tired of working with no fruit to show for it! But if you turn to Him now, and leave the natural ways of human thinking, and allow God to rule with Kingdom government, then the coming rain will benefit your labor! The coming rain will not prosper the natural man but the spiritual man. The coming rain will bless the ‘spiritual seed’ that has been sown and will be sown, and the fruit of Truth will begin to prosper! •

And seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He answered and said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening. (Mark 11:13,14)

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And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. (Mark 11:20)

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For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. (Hebrews 6:7,8)

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"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

In Mark, chapter eleven, verse twenty, the Greek word for “withered” means to dry up and waste away. Jesus will not bless something that is not fruitful. He will allow it to dry up. He will send shower after shower, but then He will make a ‘root decision’! The rain might come, but this tree was not going to be fruitful again, even in a flood! Jesus rebuked the fig tree despite the fact that it was not the season for figs! Here is an important question for church leaders to ask themselves: If Jesus would curse a fig tree for not having fruit, even when it was not the season for figs, then what will He say to the Church that is not bearing fruit when it is the season for fruit? Many churches in America face a ‘root decision’. The rain will come upon everyone but not everyone will grow from it! Church leaders have to plant spiritual seed so that the roots will be 43

blessed and not natural seed or the roots will be cursed. Remember that the Church is the ‘spiritual house’ that Jesus is building. If the Church has become a ‘natural house’ for unchanged people to live, rather than the ‘spiritual house’ of Jesus, make changes now! The ‘Fullness’ is coming! If the ground is not fruitful and yields only ‘thorns and thistles’, then it is close to being cursed. [Hebrew 6:8] Just like rain is filled with nutrients for the soil and seed, this ‘latter rain’ is filled with ‘spiritual nutrients’ for the Church. One of the main ‘spiritual nutrients’ is the goodness of God. How could the Church in America ever lose the idea that God is full of goodness? During the drought, the idea that God was demanding and hard became a popular view of religion. Check your roots, church leader! Make sure that you are ready to receive the goodness of God! If you cannot ‘smell the rain’ coming, then you should ask the Holy Spirit to help you make the changes that will help you realize what I am saying. If you ‘smell the rain’ coming, then get ready to put out the barrels because God has more for you and the Church than you can imagine! Get ready for abundance! Just as Elijah declared that there would be drought and there was; and just as Elijah declared that the drought was broken and it was; I declare that the spirit of Elijah is upon the Church and the spiritual drought over the Church is over! I declare that there is a ‘spiritual outpouring’ preparing to let loose and it is the goodness of God! The River of God This coming rain is going to release many believers into a deeper and stronger spiritual life. The result of that spiritual life will be a revival in the churches that embrace this deeper and stronger spiritual life in believers. The ‘coming rain’ of God is going to release the ministry of Jesus and the acts of the Holy Spirit into the Church with a sustained outpouring! The flow of God in the Church will be compared to the flow of a river, always moving toward an end result and taking with it everything that gets into the water! In a downpour of natural rain there is a gradual deepening of the water that allows the people to respond to the land’s conditions and the water’s effects. As the water becomes deeper, a person has the time to make the decision of either getting in or getting out of the water. As this coming spiritual rain becomes a spiritual river of the flow of God, He will allow everyone who seeks Him to come into the water and grow into the flow! Man and woman of God, everyone will be allowed to go through the increased deepening of the flow of the Holy Spirit, and God is in the river waiting for us to flow with Him in Fullness! The prophet, Ezekiel, [Ezekiel, chapter 47] saw a vision of the Holy Spirit’s flow of the presence of God to His people, that represented this new movement of God that is coming to the Church. •

Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. (Ezekiel 47:1)

Ezekiel saw a vision of the ‘early and latter rain’ of God’s Spirit being poured out to the world. Just as the first rain [Acts 2] came to the world from God’s people, Israel; the second rain will 44

come to the world from God’s people, the Church! The ‘rain’ of God’s Spirit is likened by Ezekiel to water that has supernatural significance. The water comes from the House of God and the source of water is the altar, representing the offering of Jesus for the sins of the world. Everything that God will do in the Church and world will be done through His Son, Jesus. The altar represents the work of salvation that Jesus accomplished for mankind. The power of redemption through Jesus has not been poured out on the world because much of the Church has strayed from the message. The redemption of Jesus is viewed as foolishness by the world, in its sophistication. The majority of the church has been caught up in the world’s dismissal of salvation through Jesus by looking for ways to disguise the truth and to make it culturally appealing. The reason that the water has to trickle out from under the threshold is that the door has been closed to the true message of redemption by modern religion. In many churches in America, if someone was sincere about repentance or salvation, the door to the altar has been closed! Demonic powers have worked hard to try to keep the world in darkness about the truth of God and even harder to keep believers intimidated from walking in the power of God! The world’s mockery of Jesus or religion’s embarrassment of the message will not hold back the promise of God to reveal Jesus to the world! The Holy Spirit is wooing people to come into the flow of water that the rain brings. The call of the Holy Spirit is to come and walk in the spiritual goodness of God! The ‘rain’ is coming and it will flood the earth! The call of the Holy Spirit is to come and enter into the fullness of the river of God! The Water was ‘Trickling’ •

And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. (Ezekiel 47:2)

The first appearance of the water of God is that of a trickle. A trickle either creates curiosity about its origin or it will command that someone close it off. A wise person would look for the source of the trickle. If a person had water trickling into their home, they would try to understand where the water was coming from. A church that immediately begins to ‘shut down’ the first appearances of the Holy Spirit is doing something very unwise. A wise person would examine carefully what was occurring if water began to trickle in their home so that they could understand the ‘source’ of the water. Just as the Holy Spirit is the source of the ‘spiritual life’ in a church, demonic powers have been the source behind modern theology’s conclusions that the Holy Spirit’s power is not for today. If the Holy Spirit even ‘trickles’ into some churches, there is a command to shut Him off! There is no sense of spiritual adventure to seek out the Holy Spirit to see if He might be starting to reveal Himself. The position assumed is that the Church knows everything there is to know about what God is up to and what He is about! Naturally minded doctrines will not allow the water to even trickle in the Church; therefore, the Holy Spirit is shut off in many churches. Related to the Holy Spirit, some churches probably look like cities with sandbags surrounding them, prepared to resist any flow of water that comes in their direction. I am going to prophesy a caution to church leaders; if there is a desire to participate in the ‘latter rain’ flow of God’s Spirit, then be sure that the Holy Spirit has been the teacher of doctrine to the Church, and not man! 45

Man-made doctrines have been like the sandbags to a city during a flood, defending the Church from the coming flood of ‘Fullness’! '…BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'” (Matthew 15:9; ref. Isaiah 29:13) Another word for ‘precept’ is ‘injunction’ which is a form of court legal order. An injunction is given and then, it sets aside any prior legal agreement or action. Jesus is quoting Isaiah and saying that the people ‘worship God in vain’ because men have placed man-made doctrines into the people that set aside or negate the prior orders given to them by God. Many people do not receive from God today because there have been wrong doctrinal teachings that have set aside the teachings of the Bible especially related to areas like the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of prophecy, the five-fold ministry, and worship! God has spoken from heaven and declared promise and fulfillment for the Church but men have set those words aside with their own! Man and woman of God, be sure that you are not doctrinally defending yourself from God! Be sure that you are not putting spiritual sandbags around your personal spiritual life or the spiritual life of the Church! Start following the trickle of the Holy Spirit instead of shutting Him down! The Water was ‘Reaching the Ankles’ •

When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. (Ezekiel 47:3)

Some churches or believers will enter into the water of the Spirit to the depth of what Ezekiel described as the ‘ankles’. Ankle-deep water occurs when the rain has saturated the ground. When the ground cannot contain any more moisture, the water begins to rise, and the runoff of water begins to take place. When rain is prolonged enough to produce runoff, the water begins to flow upward toward heaven rather than downward, within the ground. When a believer or church begins to accept the ways of God, the ministry of Jesus, and the acts of the Holy Spirit, then ‘spiritual saturation’ begins to take place. You cannot ‘grow up’ in the Holy Spirit if you do not allow the Holy Spirit to assume an abiding role in your life or the life of the Church! When the Holy Spirit is allowed to ‘rain’ upon the Church in regular ways, the Church is able to ‘spiritually grow up’ because there is a ‘saturation’ of spiritual life. One experience that the Holy Spirit brings to believers or the Church is ‘times of refreshing’. •

Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. (Acts 3:19-21)

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For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God… (Hebrews 6:7)

After preparing the field and planting the seed, farmers anticipate a rain that will saturate the ground. If the Church has prepared the soil [the hearts of the people] and planted the seed [the 46

Word of God], then there needs to be the anticipation that the Holy Spirit will bring rain [the presence of the Lord] so that spiritual life might grow. Church leader, this is a season for you to call upon ‘times of refreshing…from the presence of the Lord’, just as a farmer would call for rain upon the planted seed. Let it rain and soak into the Church so that spiritual growth might occur! Much of the Church has become so indoctrinated with man-made opinions about the work of the Holy Spirit, that there is a fear of allowing the Holy Spirit to move or minister! Many churches and believers have lived spiritual lives likened to a farmer living with an underground well. If the farmer draws out from the well more than the rain comes to replenish the well, then you can expect a shortage of water and the well can run dry. Many churches and believers have drawn out of the ground more than they have allowed the Holy Spirit to put back into the ground. Not only do they live frustrated spiritual lives, but they never ‘spiritually grow up’ because they do not allow the Holy Spirit to saturate the ‘ground of their life’! Man and woman of God, if you find yourself always spiritually thirsty, then be a ‘ground’ that will drink up the spiritual rain of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is constantly sending forth! Drink up the Spirit and grow up in the Lord! One of the results of flowing, ankle-deep water is the washing away of debris and clutter. Some churches need to allow the Holy Spirit to come and remove the works of man that only clutter the House of God! People can put obstacles in the Church that complicates the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Let the Holy Spirit come and identify the debris of unnecessary works and the clutter of complication so that it can be removed! Once the clutter and debris is washed away or removed, there is a caution. Church leader and believer, do not allow the water of the Spirit of God to runoff without ‘catching it’. Catch it, like the good farmer who has dug pools to catch the rain. The Lord’s presence is coming to respond to the hearts of the people and to faith in the Word of God, but He expects you to receive the rain and then direct the flow! Many churches are not being blessed today in the showers of God’s blessings because the leaders are allowing it to runoff. There are many churches that have had some level of the Holy Spirit, but they have never benefited from the flow. There is no direction of the flow and everything is immaturely attributed to the ‘Holy Spirit’s work’. That type church will never move deeper with God unless the leaders begin to ‘catch it’ by bringing understanding of God’s ways to the Church. I do not mean to control the flow, I mean to provide leadership for the flow! Too many churches are too shallow because they allow every whim of doctrine to come into the Church or they allow unscriptural actions to go unchallenged because they have not learned the Holy Spirit’s ways. There will be many churches that will begin to allow the Holy Spirit to move more freely, but if they do not ‘catch’ His ways, then they will be like a farmer who enjoys the rain but complains about the weather three or four days later! The church must become like the farmer who enjoys the rain and catches the runoff of water so that he can use it for later! Church leader, understanding the ways of the Holy Spirit will allow you to keep the flow of the coming movement of God going forward! •

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him. (Psalms 32:6)

The Psalmist was writing about the flooding waters, which is not the time for learning how to swim! You need to learn how to swim before the flood! If you do not learn to provide 47

leadership for the Holy Spirit’s ways today, the rain will flood the land with the goodness of God, and your church will not be able to relate to this moving of the Lord. Seek Him now, man and woman of God, so you can flow in the deeper ways of God without fear! Learn the ways of the Holy Spirit, He is a teacher! He has been sent to come along beside you and lead you. Learn to lead the people in the ways of the Holy Spirit! The Water was ‘Reaching the Knees’ •

Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. (Ezekiel 47:4)

When going into the river you will pass through ‘knee’ deep water. Unfortunately, many believers are willing to live in the ‘knee’ deep water. Whenever you reach knee-deep water, you can feel the pull of the river. This pull releases something in you that wants to remain in control. For most believers, remaining in control of their personal and spiritual lives is very important to them, whether they admit it or not. In countries that depend upon natural rivers for water consumption or washing clothes, the river is for personal use. They can use the river and never have to go past their knees. Knee-deep water represents using the water of God for your own purpose rather than for the purpose of God. Many believers stay in knee-deep water because they want God for their personal use, rather than being used by God! Knee-deep water is a good place to be when you have personal needs, but you cannot let your ‘dependency upon God’ keep you from ‘growing in God’! If you have not learned to access provision in your life, then you will stay in knee-deep water and you will never be able to fulfill flowing into what God ultimately has for you! Having God meet your needs while still wanting control of your life will make getting His provision a burden instead of a blessing! It is like a person who is glad to have a river to draw water from for personal use, but then they become weary of drawing and carrying water. God wants you to be free in the river and not a slave to your needs! God wants you to learn how to access provision that is flowing towards you instead of wading in a little at a time to have each need met by Him! A river knee-deep might be good for personal use but it will never work for moving barges or ships. On a major river, like the Mississippi river, barges and ships are constantly moving about commerce’s provision to the people. Those barges and ships will never come near knee-deep water because there are ‘sand bars’ that would ‘high center’ them. God has more for every church and believer but because they choose to ‘use God’, rather than ‘be used by God, they never receive the fullness intended for them. Many believers need to move from always needing provision to becoming providers! They need to believe God for more and get deeper in the river! God wants to do more for the Church and the believer, but they live in ‘sand bar’ territory! God’s ship of provision can’t come to them because they are content to get and not give, ask for and not ask how to, receive a measure instead of receiving without measure! God wants His people to learn how to access His divine provision that flows from His river of abundance, rather than be dependent upon His daily provision that mercifully makes its way to shore! In the coming move of God, churches had better learn how to sow, grow, and reap, rather than keep hoping for ‘manna’ from heaven that only lasts a day! In these days of accelerated restoration, 48

it will take having the spiritual understanding of how to use the ‘seed’, rather than how to buy bread! God has not called His Church to be a consumer, but a gatherer and dispenser of His provision. •

Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. (Joel 1:3,4)

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So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. And the threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. "Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame. Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the LORD your God And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame. And it will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:23-29)

God rebukes the ‘locust’ or the ‘devourer’ [Malachi 3:11] for you and tells the Church to become the fruitful nation! There is a river of God that will bring provision to the Church but you cannot receive the abundance of God if you stay in the knee-deep water! God is the river and He is willing to share the shallow edge of the water with multitudes that have personal need, but He desires to take you deeper! Knee-deep water is good when you are wading into the deeper ways of God because you are learning to entrust your steps to Him! Be sure that you learn how to be used by God in this water and don’t stop or shrink back from going deeper! •

My steps have held fast to Thy paths. My feet have not slipped. (Psalms 17:5)

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Thou dost enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped. (Psalms 18:36)

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The steps of a man are established by the LORD; And He delights in his way. (Psalms 37:23)

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When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Psalms 37:24)

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The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip. (Psalms 37:31) 49

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Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Thy way… (Psalms 44:18)

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The naive believes everything, But the prudent man considers his steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

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The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

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Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way? (Proverbs 20:24)

When the water rises during the ‘latter rain’, you will have to decide if you will move deeper into the river or move back to stay knee-deep. It will reveal an issue of who is in control of your spiritual life! Is it you or God? When the anointing upon the worship and the preaching makes the church service longer, will you flow deeper or seek out a place to stay knee-deep? When the leadership makes challenging requests for personal faith, will you stay in the knee-deep water, only using God for your personal needs; or, will you step into the deeper water and walk in faith? When the sick or oppressed begin to get healed, will you become uncomfortable with the amount of ministry time in the service? How will you respond to the Holy Spirit’s presence overcoming people so much that they might even fall over during church service ministry time? Will you stay in water that you feel safe in, or will you allow for extraordinary ministry that is measured by its fruitfulness evident in the lives of people rather than by the fear of losing control? In the time of Ezekiel, it was the ‘slave’ that carried the water from the river or cleaned the clothes in the knee-deep water. Are you a slave or a disciple? Man and woman of God, break away from the ‘slavery of fear’ that many people are in! Let the Holy Spirit begin to teach you deeper in the ways of God! Natural water is a great leveler and revealer of high and low ground. Spiritual water is a great leveler and revealer of how mature or knowledgeable a person or church is, in relating to God’s Kingdom work. A church or believer that prefers knee-deep water usually prefers to remain immature because there is little effort and responsibility in staying immature. God’s Kingdom work is a river that will pass you by if you are not taking the right spiritual steps to flow deeper with the Holy Spirit. The coming rain of God will bring a flood that some churches will ‘flow in’ and other churches will ‘frustrate in’! Water weighs 62.4 lbs. per cubic foot and typically flows downstream at 6 to 12 miles an hour. When a vehicle stalls in the water, the water's momentum is transferred to the car. For each foot the water rises, 500 lbs. of lateral force are applied to the car. But the biggest factor is buoyancy. For each foot the water rises up the side of the car, the car displaces 1,500 lbs. of water. In effect, the car weighs 1,500 lbs. less for each foot the water rises. TWO FEET OF WATER WILL CARRY MOST AUTOMOBILES AWAY! [Flash Floods and Floods…the Awesome Power – The American Red Cross Chapter/National Weather Service] Many churches refuse to change because they believe that they do not need to change. The leadership has lost sight of Who God is and what He is doing today! The principle of flooding water is, the deeper the water, the more force the water has to move objects; and, the deeper the 50

water, the lighter the object is. In deep, flowing water a fixed object such as an automobile faces tremendous force that eventually washes the vehicle away. In some cases, the Church has ‘sat parked’ for way too long in an old place of worship and ministry that will encounter great force from the coming flood of God. Sometimes the Church was intentionally ‘doctrinally parked’ and sometimes the Church just ‘spiritually stalled’. Many churches or believers are not moving with God and are in a dilemma because they have ‘spiritually stalled’ or have ‘doctrinally been parked’. Like a stranded automobile, the Church needs a push to get moving, more forceful than a man can provide to bring about a change. Church leader, the answer to your stagnant church is not going to be found in a ‘new model car’ but in a ‘new model of ministry’! Most church leaders or believers know more about new models of automobiles than they do new moves of God! During Israel’s days of spiritual renewal, David tried a ‘new model of car’ only to find out that God would not bless it. •

And they placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:3-7)

David’s ‘new cart’ represented the best idea of a man rather than the divine pattern of God. God is looking for His leaders to minister with His divine pattern, and not with their good ideas! Man and woman of God, if the Holy Spirit is allowing the old model of ministry to fall apart, then replace it with the new model of ministry that God is blessing, and not a ‘restored’ version of the old model! Let God do something new in the Church! You might say ‘the Church is not ‘stalled’, but it is ‘parked’! In a flood, there is little consolation to a car owner who stalled the car or the owner who had their car parked, because they are both washed away. If your experience with the new movement of God is that it is pushing you along with catastrophic result, then you or the Church were probably ‘stalled or parked’. God does not desire to push you into His plans or purposes, but desires that you enter into them! But if you have been stranded with complacency, stalled in your spiritual life, or parked in pride, then it is because you have trusted in an old model of ministry that won’t move forward anymore. The coming rain will bring a flood that will wash away old models of ministry. The coming rain of God is coming to take the Church into a river of God! Man and woman of God, enter into the fullness of His presence by telling God, “I will let you use me. I will not try to control the Holy Spirit! I will let Jesus be the Lord of my Life! Take me from this shallow water and teach me the deeper ways of God!”

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The Water was ‘Reaching the Loins’ •

Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. (Ezekiel 47:4)

When a person or church goes into the loins or waist-deep water, it is not an issue of commitment; it becomes an issue of comfort. When someone goes deeper into a pool or the ocean, there is a noticeable discomfort zone breached in the body temperature. Something or someone has persuaded you to go into the deep water, and hesitation comes on you when you feel the change. This is not an issue of who is in control because you have already decided to go deeper, but it now becomes an issue of comfort! It is not a decision of whether or not you want more, but whether or not you are comfortable with more! When the human body enters into water this deep, the body temperature begins to change and the brain sends signals for the body to hesitate and stop. It’s as if the body is saying, “Keep at least half of me out so I can maintain the normal temperature.” When you begin to follow God and His Kingdom begins to rule most of your nature, your natural man will resist the spiritual man! Your natural mind will want some things to stay ‘normal’ while allowing for the Holy Spirit. I am not calling for the church or believers to be weird, but the extraordinary ways of God will challenge the natural man. God did not call for the Church to be a balance of the natural man and the spiritual man, but to be a balance of the Word of God and the Spirit of God! Move into the deeper water, man and woman of God! The natural man will speak fear to the things of the Spirit of God! Man and woman of God, do not fear backward but begin to flow forward! The natural man fears what he or she does not understand; so if you do not understand the ways of God, the ministry of Jesus, or the acts of the Holy Spirit, then pursue understanding them without fear! Standing in waist-deep water will let you pass for someone who is going into the water for more because you look half in and half out. Are you going in for more or did you just step out from the deep? Maybe you began a deeper walk only to have your natural man begin to fear the work of God so you are not going deeper with the Lord. Many of the churches that are doing a great work of God today are in waist-deep water, either half-full or half-empty. Do not think that you have received all that God has for you, for the rain has only started to fall. The half-empty church has experienced the Holy Spirit’s presence but does not have the fullness that is coming. No church has had the fullness of the Holy Spirit that is coming to the Church! Be sure that you do not think that you have drunk of the Holy Spirit and tasted all that there is! Don’t think ‘halfempty’ thoughts, man and woman of God! That kind of thinking will not take you to the river, and it might even result in ‘less of what you once had’ as opposed to ‘more of what is coming’! More is what God is intending and more is coming! Be a person or church who thinks ‘halffull’ thoughts! God, it is good; but I want more, Lord! As the ‘latter rain’ continues to come down, it will eventually differentiate among churches and believers who are truly going in the deep water with God and those who are only looking like God is in complete control. Don’t experience the power of God’s ways, and then return to having as much natural man out of the water as you do spiritual man in the water. Don’t stop here, church, move deeper, and the Holy Spirit will lead you! The day will quickly come when 52

the difference between who is in the waist-deep water will be as recognizable as much as who is in the ankle-deep and the knee-deep water! The following is an excerpt of a prophecy given at the Azusa Street revivals in 1906, over eighty years ago. The Azusa Street revivals were the beginning of the modern Pentecostal movement. It is a dramatic picture speaking to ‘the other half’ of the Church that God is calling into the water.

In the last days three things would take place in the great Pentecostal movement: 1.) There would be an overemphasis on power, rather than on Righteousness. 2.) There would be an overemphasis on praise to a God they no longer pray to. 3.) There would be an overemphasis on the gifts of the Spirit, rather than on the Lordship of the Messiah!

Church leader, if you see the Church as ‘half-full’, then you are accepting the coming spiritual rain of God! The Church must believe in the power of God; there must be the liberty to praise Him; and there must be the anointing of the gifts of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has certainly given the Church those three ministries. But the Holy Spirit is bringing a balance in this day of the ‘latter rain’. Power, praise, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been the focus as the Church went into waist-deep water. In the ‘latter rain’ of the Church, the three issues of righteousness, prayer, and Lordship will determine who has stayed in the waist-deep water of God or who has moved on into the river! Church leader, if you see the Church as ‘half-empty’, it might be because you have lost the passion for power, praise, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The truth of power, praise, and the gifts of the Spirit have probably become ‘principle driven’ rather than ‘passion driven’! The ‘latter rain’ of God is coming, so seek renewed passion for what you had but began to lose. If the Church does not have passion for what the Holy Spirit has been doing, then the Church will not have passion for what the Holy Spirit is preparing to do! There is a new movement of God coming that will flow from the past movement of God. Be sure that you are in the flow to go into the river of God! The Water was ‘a River That Could not be Forded’ •

Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. (Ezekiel 47:5)

The coming ‘latter rain’ of God will be such an outpouring of His Fullness that it will take His Church to new experiences that have only been seen in the New Testament accounts of the early Church. In fact, God spoke that the glory of today’s Church will surpass the early Church! [Haggai 2:9] When you are in the river of God you are in His Fullness. His Fullness means that there is expectant faith in God to fulfill all His promises of the Word. Fullness is the ‘full filling’ 53

by God of every promise to the Church. The Fullness is coming but to receive the benefit, you must break away from any trust in yourself or in human ways! •

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

The Hebrew word for ‘lean’ means to support oneself and ‘to lean on your own understanding’ means that you are not trusting in the flesh or your own natural ways! God desires to take the Church, the leaders, and the Body to a place of relationship where we must trust in Him and His ways. When you are in the river of God, you are unable to support yourself. If you go into a river where the water is over your head, you must leave the natural source of your personal strength and be prepared for natural laws to change. With your feet off the ground and ‘leaning’ in the flow, the effect of gravity differs because of weight changes! You must learn to move differently! God is taking His Church in over its head and we should trust and not fear because JESUS IS THE HEAD! The prophecy mentioned above coming out of the 1906 Azusa Street revivals from eighty years ago provides a spiritual pattern for trusting in God – righteousness, prayer, and the Lordship of Jesus! Man and woman of God, follow that pattern so that you can trust in God and you will flow into the river! No one in this present generation of believers has ever seen the Church that is coming! It will mean pressing in to God and leaning to the understanding of how to be a spiritual man and woman! Being in the river of God means being in the river with God! The fresh and deeper anointing preparing to pour out to the Church cannot be maintained by principle, but only through relationship with God. Preacher, you won’t be able to stay in shallow water or go ashore and then come jump in the river on Sunday. You will have to learn how to live a spiritual life in the river with God and then lead the people into the river on Sunday! God is taking His Church over its head; Jesus is assuming His place of Headship! The result will be a greater anointing of grace and a higher level of spiritual authority present in the Church. God is raising up apostolic generals and prophetic mouthpieces in this new day! In this new day of Fullness, the Church that releases Jesus to His place of Headship will experience powerful authority and anointing! God is restoring anointed leadership patterns in the Church and releasing anointing that will protect the Church from the mockers and critics who would try to ‘pollute’ the river! There is grace for many to come into the river, but the Holy Spirit is releasing another mantle of prophetic anointing that will protect the river from ‘pollution’ by demonic powers of false accusation or attack! •

And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for thus his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is 54

upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13:6-12 The latter rain will provide greater anointing for the Church, but it will only be men and women that have prepared themselves that will receive this great anointing. There will be apostolic leaders, like Paul, who know the course of the river and will not allow it to be changed! These leaders will not allow the river to be spiritually polluted. Any false teacher or prophet who begins to accuse the river of being unsafe or tries to persuade people ‘away from the faith’ can expect a confrontation with the Holy Spirit. The river of God is coming and it does not come to judge the world, but to release the Church in the Fullness of the anointing of Jesus! Get ready, men and women of God, and prepare for the latter rain! •

And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then he said to me, "These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. And it will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there, and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. It will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. And by the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:6-12)

Man and woman of God, listen and then get ready for the rain is coming and the river is flowing! The rain is falling even now and the river that has always been present with us will now be revealed! •

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the 55

prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place. "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." (Revelation 22:1-7)

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden… (Genesis 2:10) and the garden was called ‘Paradise’. And in Paradise, the Father created His children and His children were named ‘Adam’. Adam lived in Paradise, but then they sinned and had to leave Paradise. But the Father wanted His children to be able to live in Paradise so He had another Son, also called Adam. The second Son, Adam, went to the Father’s children and told them they could return to Paradise. The new Son, Adam, gave Himself as a sacrifice so that everything wrong that the Father’s children had done would be forgiven. The Father built a new Garden for His children and He called it the Church. Now everyone of the Father’s children could go to this new Garden, called the Church, that would be Paradise. Man and woman of God, you have been looking for a Church called Paradise. You have been looking in the wilderness! You have been looking in the dry desert! You have been looking in the rocky places! But you have not been able to find the Church called Paradise. So you told the Holy Spirit, “ I have been in the wilderness, I have been in the dry desert, I have been in the rocky places, but I cannot find this Church called Paradise!” And the Holy Spirit says to you, man and woman of God, “ You cannot get there from here! You cannot get to the Church called Paradise through the wilderness. You cannot get to the Church called Paradise through the desert. You cannot get to the Church called Paradise through the rocky places.” Then the Holy Spirit said, “There is one way, and only one way to get to the Church called Paradise. IF YOU GET INTO THE RIVER, THE RIVER WILL CARRY YOU TO THE CHURCH CALLED PARADISE!”

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