Below are my take aways from Day three and the last day of the Fires of Revival of Conference in Bangkok led by Randy Clark.
- The Great Awakening in America had its critics who even called it the “Great Clamor”, or great noise, but history vindicated it as a genuine move of God that did more to build the church in America than any other time before it.
- Jonathan Edwards wrote in “Religious Affections” that you cannot tell whether something is of God through manifestations. They could be of God, from the devil, or of the flesh; but its the fruit of the revival that tells your where it’s from.
- All revivals in history have had common characteristics and at least one new things that offends people. Gave many examples throughout history.
- One of the biggest Baptist revivals was the “Shantung Revival” of China and it was accompanied by unique manifestations and signs.
- History proves we most usually miss it when it comes to judging revival.
- I Cor 12- the gifts of the Spirit are mostly for those who are outside of the church. The power of God is power to be witnesses unto the uttermost ends of the earth.
- To think of the revival as a party only grieves God’s heart.
- Many times people throw a party before you go to war. If you only hear about party but not about the war, you will misjudge revival.
- The purpose of revival was summed up in a song that came forth from revival, “Let your glory fall in this room, let it go forth from here to the nations…”
- Revival is judged not by the numbers of people who get saved but how many people get saved through the people who get saved.
- In the last 100 years, more people have been saved and had a “pentecostal or charismatic experience” with the Holy Spirit more than those saved throughout all 500 years of the whole Protestant movement put together.
- In 200 years of Protestantism, all of the Protestants of the world has sent about 100 missionaries. During the Moravian revival, a group of about 300 people sent 100 missionaries within 25 years. This is the evidence of the Spirit at work.
- If you lose missionary evangelism, you lose the fire.
- You can’t keep the fire and not go.
- 2 Cor 4:13 is the secret of the miraculous realm. Whatever we hear from God and declare it, it happens.
- 2 Cor 1:18-20 All the promises are Yes!
- Believe in your spirit even when your brain can’t.
- While we argue whether the gifts are for today, the enemy is rising in power.
- The Last Days will see an increase of the supernatural, both ungodly and Godly. But the devil’s power will be eclipsed by the power of God through His people.
- Moses’ snake ate the snakes of the magicians of Pharaoh. God’s power through his servants is greater!
- We believe in a glorious Church before Jesus returns. Reread the parables of the Kingdom found in the Gospels.
- The greatest church will be the church of the last days because we go from glory to glory not from glory to demise.
Here are my take aways from day two of the conference. See below on the blog for Day 1.
- Genesis 28:10-17 is arguably the most important dream in the Bible.
- Jesus fulfilled this verse and brought a new relationship where heaven could come to Earth. John 1:46-51
- We are the Body of Christ-the place where angels are ascending and descending now.
- Don’t confuse the possibilities of God with the ways of God. There is a difference between what God CAN do and His ways.
- Example of William Carey. People told him that God didn’t need him to go to India to save the Indian people, but God still chose to use him and send him. It was his way to open India. Lord said, “I don’t need angels just like I don’t need William Careys, but I chose to use them.”
- If Jesus needed to be ministered to by angels then who am I? Paul, Peter, Philip & John all were assisted by angels.
- Two different girls who were healed of dyslexia each had separate visions of angels coming and “rewiring” their heads.
- God chose angels to be helpers for us. Hebrews 1:14. The Holy Spirit is our Helper too. Both work together.
- “You don’t have to command friends.” when a friend was asked if humans could command angels.
- Angelic activity often takes place when healing/impartation happens.
- Don’t exalt the messenger, worship God. Rev 19:10
- You don’t worship the postman who brings you a $10,000 check. You thank the person who wrote the check!
- Don’t camp at the cross. The cross is a doorway to a whole new realm of life.
- We have reduced the great victory of Jesus to being forgiven and going to heaven. Our faith doesn’t just prepare us for death, but for Life!
- We receive the Co-mission when we are in submission to His mission.
- Revival is based on a revelation of God’s power which is the revelation that God is good and His mercy endures forever.
- Luke 4:18,19 When Jesus quoted this, he left out the part about judgement for now. Our focus must also not be on judgement but of grace, mercy, and goodness of God through the manifestation of signs and wonders.
- We need a baptism of both power and the Father’s love-not just talk about it but demonstrate it.
- Pastors-Ordination should be a powerful sending experience with words of prophecy, believing God to anoint them with special gifts and words that confirm what God has already placed in that person’s heart.
- Heidi Baker took 12 men with no education, power, money, or education but gave them impartation and prophecy by the Spirit of God and they are shaking the nation of Mozambique and beyond.
- Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of hands. 2 Tim 1:6, Deut 34:8, Ex 17:11
- Don’t turn your “Charis”-mata into Works-mata. If you think you earned it, you won’t be thankful for it. “grace”
- 4 Kinds of Faith: Mark 9:22-27, Mark 1:40, Luke 5:25-34, & Mark 10:46-52
- Three lies from the enemy when you are coming to God: -You are too good. -You are not good enough. -Now is not the right time.
Just a “few” take-aways for you from the first day sessions at the Revival Fire conference at Jaisamorn Church in Bangkok led by Randy Clark. During these meetings there were many practical demonstrations of what was being taught as God healed many Thai people.
- -Acts 19- The greatest revival ever recorded in the Bible was in Asia among the most “demonized” where sexuality and religion came together in the cults of the goddess Diana or Aphrodite.
- Powerful Personal Experience with God plus a Sense of Destiny and Calling = a Historymaker.
- When you have a powerful experience with God and are convinced of your destiny; hardships, persecution, and offense will not stop you. You will have perservering grace and commitment.
- The test of a manifestation of the Spirit in a person’s life is what happens with them after they are touched by God. Are they more passionate for Jesus than they were before?
- There are two main kinds of manifestations: one is the conflict between two kingdoms inside of a person who God is setting free and the other is God restoring those who have been exhausted, burnt out, and or wounded.
- To have a sense of destiny without impartation will result in certain burnout.
- Since around the 13th century with the advent of Summa Theologica we have substituted a knowledge of the truth for experience of the truth.
- Knowing in our head does not equal the Bible kind of knowing.
- Healing is becoming normal for the church. If people don’t get healed, I get shocked. I totally expect healings today.
- Our tendency has been to create a model without the sacrifice that person made to get what they got.
- Our ceiling should be the floor of the next generation, but I don’t think you can enter into it without your own tempering through tribulation & persecution.
- Legalism is a killer of revival.
- Small groups (cells) are healthy as long as they continue to be evangelistic. When visitors quit coming so do the gifts of the Spirit.
- Of the 9 gifts of the Spirit listed in the Bible, 8 are for those primarily outside of the church.
- If you already know everything about everyone in your group, how will there be words of knowledge?
- The work of Pastors/Leaders is not to “Hatch, Match, & Dispatch.” It is more like the work of a drill sargeant taking new recruits and turning them into a core of soldiers.
- Pastors-”Don’t wait on the Saints, equip them”!
- Gifts are the Spirit are not bad, but the handling of them can be bad. Humble yourself when you know you need more training.
- “The best thing that happened to the Church in China was when the government kicked out all of the missionaries, put all pastors in prison, and left the believers with only the Bible. When the people had nothing but the Word and the Holy spirit they experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” Quoting missionary Dennis Balcombe
- We are in revival when our brains can’t understand all that are spirits are leaping about.
- The Kingdom of God is more than forgiveness of sin.
- How can God “confirm” the message preached if there is no risk from proclaiming that God still heals today?
- Matt 28:18-20- How do we know when we have obeyed this scripture? When we have healed the sick. Teach them all that I have commanded YOU- What did he command them? Matthew 10:8 is one of many.
- Basis of Healing: Covenant-Ex 32:10, Atonement at the cross-Isa 53:4-5, The Kingdom of God (many refs)
- We don’t command God, but don’t ask God for something he told you to do. Luke 10:9
- Peter is the example of a “teflon Christian,” he doesn’t let the glory stick to himself. Acts 3:11-12
- There is a mystery to healing. Luke 5:17. ”The power of the Lord was present for healing” Also 2 Tim 4:20
- More people get healed…when more people pray….more.
- Kingdom is Salvation, Healing, and Deliverance because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Luke 6:17-19
This is a portion of a word that was given at Jaisamarn Church of Bangkok on 24 Aug 2008 by Chuck Pierce. I am headed to Bangkok tonight to be a part of a three day conference there that will be led by Randy Clark. This will be my first time at this church and I found out about the conference in a seemingly “random” way.
I am going with the expectation and faith that God has something for me there that will affect our ministry work here. I mean, our ministry is named “Spread the flame”!
At the same time, a group from Bethel Church in Redding will be traveling to various parts of Thailand to minister. People from our “team” have already went out to meet up with them!
My trip will come on the eve of a major ruling by the Thai government that could affect the nation’s peace & stability. This ruling has to do with the wealth of the exiled former leader of Thailand, Thaksin Sinawatra. He was overthrown by a recent coup and his supporters, known as the red shirts, come mainly from the area of the country where we live and work, also known as Isaan. He is still influencing the country from his new home in nearby Cambodia and some would say still causing unrest. Whatever the case, there are at least two groups that are not very happy with one another right now in Thailand.
As I meditate on this word that was spoken, I am also thinking of what may come to pass in Bangkok tomorrow and how it may all tie to this scripture. Hebrews 11:26-29 Whatever may come, it is our prayer that the church of Thailand arise in this hour and bring light to all who sit in the shadow of darkness!
Here is the Word that the Lord has been speaking to me over and over for Thailand. He has spoken to me clearly all year. He has said, “The Nation that I have chosen that it is now time for CHANGE is THAILAND.”
“The Spirit of God says Thailand is going to be baptized with fire. HE has said to me that this is your defining time. The leaders of the movement of God in this region are ready to advance into their next anointing. A new generation is rising filled with passion and fire. There from this night forward, the Spirit of God will start circling this Nation. HIS Fire and Passion will come alive in such a way in this Nation that the Fire began to burn in this Nation.
And He has said to me “You will be known as the Nation of Fire!!”
This Nation is now being released under the Fire of God. That means a new passion of the Lord will overtake this ENTIRE NATION…
As people like Tiger Woods go through the process of dealing with addiction, many are encouraged to look to a “higher power” or a “god as we understand him” in order to help them overcome.
People in 12 step programs are encouraged to connect to that “higher power” for help to be free from addiction.
So, what about Buddhism? Is the Buddha a “higher power” ? Can people chose “Buddha” from a list of ”higher powers”, if he better suits one’s own “taste”?
In my humble opinion, no. There are some who erroneously pray to the Buddha as a god, but he never claimed to be one or desired worship. This idea of praying to “my god Buddha” is an aberration of true Buddhism. It parallels the idea of Christians praying to “the saints.” Nice thought, but no power to really help us. Buddha called people to follow the principles he discovered and laid out in the “Dharma”, or teachings. He taught that humans should only rely on their selves for the help they need.
Some may feel that the Buddha is a good “role model”, but he is certainly no higher power. People who actually study Buddhism will agree with me that in Buddhism there is no “god” to pray to and ask for help. There is no one to cast your burdens and cares upon like the God of the Bible. There is nothing available like the word of Jesus Christ that says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened down and I will give you rest.” (See Matt 11:28)
Buddhists believe that the wisdom they need is already within them. Humans are ends to themselves. Nice thought, but deep down inside, I believe each of us knows that humanity is fundamentally flawed on the inside. As I said in my previous post, we know what is right but many times feel powerless to do it. The Bible gives the reason for this dilemma, as well as its origin, cure, and the power to overcome.
In the Bible; God the Creator of Heaven and Earth of all that is seen in unseen, tells us to seek out wisdom above anything else in life. (see Proverbs 4:1-13) God also says that the beginning of wisdom starts with an acknowledgement of and true reverence for (Godly fear of) Him as the one and only true God…the only real “higher power” if you will. (see Proverbs 9:10 among many other passages)
As you may contemplate taking the Buddha as your higher power; I hope that you will understand that although Buddha has some good worthwhile things to say about the power of craving and suffering, he is definitely not an available savior or living god.
Consider these key verses from the Word of God:
“I alone am God … I am the Lord and there is no other Savior.” (Isaiah 43:10,11)
“…she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21-23
*The world may have many “powers” but only one true Savior.*
Many of you will remember my first hand reporting from Laos on a recent ministry trip. Here is another fresh recent true story illustrating the horrible persecution Christians are facing in the Communist ruled country.
This is yet another ugly stain to the national pride of Laos. Until the Lao government puts a stop to this sanctioned hatred & persecution of Christianity, this is NOT a country that you want to spend your tourist dollars in if you are a backpacker or adventurer!
Pray for the Christians of Laos.
> Lao Officials Force Christians from Worship at Gunpoint. Church members marched to open field, deprived of homes.
LOS ANGELES, February 8 (CDN) — About 100 local officials, police and villagers put guns to the heads of Christians during their Sunday morning service in a village in Laos last month, forcing them from their worship and homes, according to an advocacy organization.
Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that in Katin village of Ta-Oyl district, Saravan Province, Lao authorities including the village chief, a religious affairs’ official, three district police and a 15-man volunteer unit joined 15 village police officers to force all 48 Christian adults and children of the church to an open field. read more…
The highly anticipated and controversial Tim Tebow Superbowl ad sponsored by Focus on the Family was perfect. It took the steam right out of the criticism and had people scratching their heads saying, “what was the big deal again”?
It was charming, warm, and funny which is everything the critics hoped it wouldn’t be. They hoped to have the ammo to continue to paint people who hold pro-life views on the abortion debate as mean spirited bigots who are only out to hurt women.
All of the controversy only served to get the message out to a broader audience more than probably anyone at Focus on the Family could have hoped for. read more…





