Why You Are Ready for Power

Is something holding you back from being the bold believer you are?  Perhaps you have been told, "Before you can hit the streets with the Gospel, you must worship for three hours to get ready." Maybe you heard, "Before you heal the sick, the key is to fast for a solid 24+ hours." Whatever the justification, there's a word I (and the Apostle Paul) like to use for this kind of formulaic "do this to get God to do that" nonsense: bewitchment.  Pray enough, and God will move.  Pray the right prayer, and He'll do a miracle.  Fast enough, and the heavens will open.  We have heard this kind of reasoning in the past.  In fact, we used to live this way to some degree.  But living a life of resting in God's grace far outweighs the self-righteous striving to bring revival.  The truth is - revival is here.  Plus, people have families to care for, kids who have school the next day, mouths to feed, homework to complete, chores around the house, and jobs that require a good night's rest.  Who has time to churn the wheel of religious striving.  Even if it is "charismatic" in nature, it is still rooted deep in religion as religion is the efforts of humanity to appease God.  The Father is appeased with Jesus and He has poured out the fullness of His Spirit on all flesh.  I rather trust that than do something that would suggest I do not believe He has already done it.  I rather rest in His finished work than toil in mine. Last summer, we had family come into town.  Two of the girls were 12 and 9 years old.  They hadn't really been in church in a long time, voiced they found church boring, and couldn't even quote John 3:16.  They didn't really have a grid for the Bible or the Holy Spirit.  We took them on a hike one day, returned home, and Keeli began asking the youngest about Jesus.  In a few moments, she was a believer!  Keeli prayed with both of them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit that same night.

48 hours passed.  Two days.  We were going to take them on their first treasure hunt/power evangelism outreach.  You may be thinking, "There is no way they were ready in two days!" This testimony is a great reminder that we have the fullness of the Godhead living inside of us - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Colossians 2:9-10) and that the Lord gives the Spirit without measure (John 3:34).  We didn't soak in worship for three hours.  We had full bellies so we clearly didn't fast.  We simply asked Jesus where we needed to go, who we needed to speak with, and what we needed to look for.  We prayed in the Spirit for a few minutes, wrote down our clues, and compared notes.

Keeli's parents were babysitting Anneli but joined in on the clues even though they weren't going with us.  We had a vast array of clues (that we later saw which were truly astounding).  But our favorite testimony from the night dealt with the following clues: Keeli's mom and I had the same location - a dessert location in town.  Keeli had clues dealing with crime.  Keeli's dad had the clue pen.  The 9 year old girl read the organization's name written on the side of the pen she was writing her clues with and said, "What if we meet a girl named Samara?" That's not a name you hear every day.  We didn't think anything of it.  We just headed out.

When we arrived at the dessert hot-spot, the place was packed.  But nobody was really standing out.  We got the girls something to eat (because who is going to pass up some great dessert?) and after a few minutes, the place cleared out.  It was closing time.  I asked Keeli to see if the two employees behind the counter needed prayer for anything.  They looked at each other with dismay and said, "Actually, yes." They explained how they had to call the police on someone.  The culprit knew these two called the cops on them and they were afraid what would happen when he was out of jail.  Keeli's clues were confirmed!  We agreed to pray for them and asked their names.

"I'm Samara," the second employee said.  All of our eyes were as big as saucers.  Did our 9 year old relative who is only two days old in the Lord just get a word of knowledge of someone's name?  It wasn't a common name, either.  It wasn't a Josh, John, or Jessica.  It was Samara!  We shook ourselves out of our bewilderment and prayed for God's protection over these two.  We still have the receipt from this establishment with the name of the employee who served us: Samara.

"If this is church, we want to do this everyday!" the girls said.  When we returned home, the girls ran down to tell of their adventures.  It's like someone turned on the joy switch!  Everyone needs an encounter.  No one should be denied an opportunity to partake in what the Holy Spirit has ordained us to do.  When stipulations are put on a person before they can see the Lord work miracles, we burden ourselves and forget that His burden is easy and His yoke is light.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to testify of Jesus.  There is no junior Holy Spirit just like there is no junior devil.  The devil doesn't have an age limit of who he wants to harm.  In the same manner, Holy Spirit doesn't have an age limit for those He wants to fill, empower, and operate through.

Jesus in the Nail Salon

What girl doesn't love to be pampered?  Having your nails done or a good hair cut just gives you an extra pep in your step.  However, there is a small problem.  These things cost and, sometimes, are not so cheap.  I debated on whether or not to have my nails done a couple months ago.  I could have sent money to support an orphan or help a friend in ministry.  That was literally my thought process.

I ended up deciding to treat myself while Anneli stayed at home with her dad.  As soon as I sat down in the nail salon, there was a lady in the chair directly beside me.  Instantly, she shared with me that it was her 46th birthday.  She was so excited to have her nails done as a special birthday treat!  In no time, she was sharing with me about her life and the health issues she had gone through over the past year.  Her story was heartbreaking.  I was thankful I was there to pay for her nails as a birthday gift.  More than that, I was thankful I had the opportunity to share with her about Jesus.  She was not sure if she would go to heaven.  Her first reason for not being born again was that she had smoked for years.  I told her that God loved her no matter what she did.  He is Love.  After paying for our nails, I had the opportunity to sit with her at a bench in the mall and lead her to the Lord.  As she walked off she said, "Now that was fun!"

She received the best birthday gift of all.  She knows that she will be with Jesus forever!

I haven't had my nails done since, but maybe I should go more often!  No matter where you go, Jesus is there.  He loves for us to enjoy things.  As much as we want to give gifts to our children and make them happy, God's desire to make us happy is even greater.  Enjoy life in abundance!

-Keeli Fawcett

Transformation

Written by Ann Tobler, a friend we had the honor of meeting at a Holy Spirit Party in Raleigh, NC.  After encountering the love of Jesus, Ann was instrumental in bringing transformation to her high school and community through the power of the Holy Spirit. We track our lives by days, months, and years. We celebrate birthdays, take pride in our anniversaries, and mark our calendars anticipating the exciting events that have yet to come. Most of our lives are marked by dates that can’t be remembered. We have our normal routines, our day to day jobs, our families, and everything in between. But then there are days that change our lives. In my opinion, there are typically two types of life changing days. The days that we rejoice in remembering and days that are attached to events of sorrow or pain. I know, in my life, there are several dates that hold life-changing significance and I want to tell you about two of them.

December 9, 2005 was a date that nearly stopped me dead in my tracks and I mean that literally. As a new Christian, a group of friends and I decided to prayer walk our school campus. At the end of our meeting, a friend and I hopped onto the back of a car to sit and talk. Then it happened. The car accelerated and turned and I was tossed from the back of the car to the asphalt. I skidded 15 long feet on my back and slammed my head into the ground. It was a life changing day. I fractured my skull and broke the bones in my ears. I laid on the asphalt unconscious, waiting for the ambulance, unaware of the extent of the damage. The days, weeks, and months which turned into a year and a half were filled with relearning how to conquer the brain damage, memory loss and the horribly frustrating new trait of being the partially deaf girl. Fast forward through the anger and frustration and rebellion against a God who would “let this” happen to me. On top of everything else, when I felt like God was failing me, science was too. I had re-corrective surgery on my ear to restore hearing and was intensely disappointed when the results were far from "healed and whole".

Then there was May 19, 2007 – this was the day that my life was drastically altered by the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. After a night at a local music venue, meeting the members of a band from Boone, NC, I found myself sitting on a couch in a living room surrounded by a group of faces that were mostly introduced the night before.

I quietly sat and began to listen to two “crazy about Jesus” people and was honestly turned off and frustrated that I even came. Keeli opened with, “Tonight we are going to learn about the Holy Spirit and healing.” What and WHAT? I had never heard of the power of the Holy Spirit and I definitely knew nothing about healing. Then another life defining moment happens. I heard the voice of God in the deepest parts of my inner being for the first time. It was strong, clear and oh so life changing. “Open your eyes and look at where you’re at.” In awe of what was happening I quieted my mind and really began to listen to what Keeli and Jonathan were saying. When they asked a very simple question, “Does anyone need to receive healing,” I reasoned with myself before raising my hand and telling my story. In my head it went a little like this, “This is insane. Healing? I mean if it works, great, if it doesn’t then I have nothing to lose. It’s not like they’re practicing witchcraft on me.” So I raised my hand and explained about how, literally 2 days prior, I received the news that my surgery to correct my hearing was not successful. I even had internal pictures of my ear to prove it. I then was scheduled to return for a follow up appointment 5 days later to schedule another surgery in hopes of succeeding a second time. I saw Jonathan and Keeli’s faces light up with the excitement of their complete faith that I would be healed.

Over the next hour or so, I watched arms grow out, spines straightened, terminal headaches relieved and then there was me. I sat in the “hot seat” and experienced the most intense and overwhelming power of prayer. To be completely honest, I can’t even remember if I cried or not but this warm blanket of God’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit was released in my life. I was spiritually on fire and captivated by what I was experiencing. As my turn in the “hot seat” came and went,  I began praying for someone else and within moments I realized that I was baptized in the Spirit and began speaking in tongues. It was undeniable that God was moving in a powerful way that night. Having experienced God in a miraculous way on May 19, 2007, I can honestly say my life has never been the same. When I went for my follow up appointment, the doctors jokingly said I must have experienced a miracle and that I wouldn’t need a second surgery. I was healed. You never realize when you wake up on just another normal day, that it could just happen to be a life changing day.

Ann Tobler

Sharp Dressed Mon

Written by Kermit Harpold; missionary to Jamaica, pastor of Destiny Church and Ministries, and Keeli's father.  Kermit writes about a powerful, transforming encounter one demon possessed man had with Jesus Christ at Lemon Hall Church in Jamaica. Before church one night, I noticed a man sitting alone in the center of a pew.  I walked back to shake his hand and, as I did, I was overwhelmed by the mixture of body odor and alcohol as well as the sight of bugs crawling in his long dreads.  As I held his hand, he shared that his sister said if he went to church that I would be able to cast a demon out of him.  He shared that he had not been sober in over 15 years and that he wanted to be normal and work again. I shared the love of God with him and took authority over the spirits that had wrecked his life.  He received Jesus as his Lord, was baptized in the Holy Spirit, began to speak in tongues and, for the first time in 15 years, was instantly sober.

The next night, there was a man sitting in the same place this man had been sitting the night before.  He was dressed very sharp and I thought he may be a preacher from one of the local churches who had come to visit.  As I stepped forward to welcome him, I realized it was the man from the night before.  God had not only done a miracle in his spirit, he had done a miracle in his physical body.

That night, he was healed of many ailments in his body, including diabetes and Hepatitis C.  He ministered with me, seeing many healed as he laid hands on people in Jesus’ name.  God, definitely, is good!

Kermit Harpold

Fun

It was the beginning of a new semester and every campus ministry is going all out to make sure students get plugged in.  Since meeting rooms on campus couldn’t be scheduled until classes began, Immersion Church needed a meeting space that was close to campus.  Our friend, a local television personality, offered his television studio for the first couple of Sundays.  This was a huge blessing – one we will never forget. Our friend unlocked the studio for us early one Sunday morning.  As we were setting up the sound equipment, he began to tell me that he hurt his leg in a skateboarding accident.  When I first met our friend, he was showing me photos of himself skateboarding.  In person, he always looked very professional.  In the photos, he was wearing a helmet, shorts and knee pads.  It didn’t seem feasible and I wasn’t sure if he was pulling my leg.  It wasn’t until later, I saw a video featuring him skateboarding.  Mind blown.  Now, his leg was injured and he expressed his fear that he may never be able to skateboard again.

I asked if I could pray for his leg to be healed.  We prayed and continued setting up the sound equipment.  This meeting, along with the others held in the studio, were phenomenal.  Our friend Staci ministered one Sunday and, at the end of another, a student was born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The following week, he unlocked the studio and began telling me that he skateboarded that week and pulled some big tricks. “It’s really kind of a miracle,” I remember him saying.  His leg was healed!  Sometimes, we can blame the pain on our fun.  But Jesus wants us to have fun and do things we enjoy.  We don’t have to earn the healing, strive for the healing, or beg and plead.  There’s so much more we want to do to pay our friend back for his kindness in helping us launch another year of ministry at Appalachian State.  I believe one day we will.  Generosity like he had shown us is rare and made a lasting impression.  Had he not opened his studio for our use, I may not have had the chance to pray for his leg and maybe skateboarding would have become a thing of the past – nothing more than a fond memory.  But God…

Jonathan Fawcett

Heart for Harvard - Part 2

I returned to Boone, NC from the Yale Institute with a fire burning on the inside of me that had been ignited by others with a similar passion for revival on college campuses.  At the Institute, I had met the President of Campus Renewal Ministries, Jeremy Story.  It was because of his message that my dreams were awakened.  I heard him share testimonies of what he had seen at the University of Texas and I wanted to see those same things at ASU.  When I heard him minister, it felt like my heart was going to explode with love and compassion for the college campuses.  In that moment, I knew my specific calling.  After hearing Jeremy, my passion to reach the nations through the universities and colleges became my purpose in life.  My life has never been the same since the first time I heard him speak. I was also captivated by the story of Gipsy Smith.  For the next several months I spent three to five hours everyday worshiping Jesus in my bathroom.  Why the bathroom?  Because Smith drew a circle around himself with chalk and asked God to fill the circle with revival and, in my apartment, the bathroom was the smallest room.  I asked God to fill that area with revival so it would pour out onto the entire campus and into the nations.  Worship music would play from the speakers I placed in the bathroom as I read my Bible and spent time with Jesus in the bathroom.  In those moments, I became confident in knowing that what God had spoken would come into being.

These are some of the words Jesus spoke to me in the summer of 2006:

“The Mountain Mission Movement coming out of Appalachian State University is greater than the Student Volunteer Mission Movement of the 1800s.” 

“Appalachian State will be known on the map for their football.  It will be a gateway for media coverage as my Spirit expands on the campus.” (ASU beat Michigan in 2007 and were back to back to back national champions).

On October 25^th, 2006, I met the man of my dreams at a prayer meeting I hosted in ASU’s Student Union.  After that meeting, several of us went out to eat at Dos Amigos.  That night at dinner my dad discovered Jonathan’s heart to host a meeting on campus to teach students on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  My dad encouraged Jonathan to meet up with me to plan the gathering, which we later called Presence: Out of Apathy…Into Power.  Jonathan and I began meeting the next week in the Student Union to plan Presence.  We would read over and add to the blue notebook Jonathan had written his dreams, ideas, and goals in.  It took several months of rejection until we finally had a time and place approved for the meeting: March 27, 2007.  In the meantime, we began Holy Spirit Parties that we intended to lead for only 3 weeks.  However, they continue to this day.

In the midst of continuing to plan Presence and hosting Holy Spirit Parties, we met several other friends who had the same heart for prayer and revival.  We truly lived a lifestyle of prayer and fasting.  Every week, I fasted with no food and only liquids from Sunday to Wednesday evening and again all day Thursday until after the Holy Spirit Party.  From that semester to now, we have seen thousands come to know Jesus and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Many miracles, including physical and emotional healing have also taken place.

We continue to share what Jesus is doing at ASU because testimonies spread the goodness of Jesus!  An individual prayer for revival at Harvard expanded into a vision for the nations and generations to know Jesus.  What may seem like small beginnings are such sweet memories that set you up to change the nations!

Indulge in how good God is!

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.      -Psalm 34:8

Keeli Fawcett

Simple

The moment every believer waits for. If we screw up, we could blow it for all eternity… for the other person. That’s right. I’m talking about the pressure many endure. I'm talking about sharing your faith. Let me give you a scenario that plays through the mind of many Christians who have ever contemplated sharing their faith with others:

First, it begins with learning someone is not a follower of Jesus. When in their presence, it’s like walking on eggshells to be the best clean-joking Christian they’ve ever met. It is not expedient to share with them just yet because we are building the relationship, even if they aren’t that enjoyable to be around. It becomes exhausting and drains the life out of you. Then, the opportunity knocks. It’s time to rise to the occasion and fulfill our call to duty. But instead of simply sharing, the conversation turns to convincing, most likely with hours upon hours of discussion, debate, disagreement, and busting out the greatest apologetic hits. Flex your knowledge, admire the size of your brain, and stand in awe of the knowledge you retained from your preacher. After a heated debate about sin, Pygmies, and smoking, a cell phone call interrupts and time has been spent.

If you’re “successful” then you made it through without losing a friend or burning a bridge. If you’re really good, then you spoke the entire time with their full attention, ending with you leading them in a prayer to receive Christ. Worst case scenario, you may have destroyed any possibility of future (awkward) discussion but feel like a real soldier for Christ because you “planted seeds.” In all of the talking, topics like the power of the Holy Spirit, signs, wonders, healing and miracles do not make their debut for fear it may "weird them out" to hear about the supernatural power of God. Perfect love casts out all fear. If we do this out of religious obligation and not because of love we're missing the mark. Love is fearless.

When we anticipate an event like this, we think about every possible turn it could take, and imagine every ill-occurrence that is possible.

Let me give you another scenario. This one is true.

At a former summer job on campus, I became friends with one of my coworkers. We shared common ground with music, had similar taste in bands, and recorded a few songs. We always had fun, laughed a lot, and jammed when the opportunity presented itself. Keywords: friends and fun. Often, we try to force ourselves into situations with people who we can’t stand to be around. This was not the case.

One night, we were hanging out with some other coworkers. It was the weekend and I was the only sober person in the group. The topic of God was brought up (That tends to happen when people drink). I didn’t bring up God. They did. In their denial, I simply claimed that I had seen the supernatural power of Jesus heal the sick and I had witnessed His Spirit perform signs, wonders, and miracles because of His love and the finished work of the cross. The night ended, the friendship continued and we finished our summer with eight coworkers receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My friend, however, was not counted among them. No hard feelings. No dispute. No hours of long discussion.

Towards the end of the Spring semester, I received a call from my friend. He wanted to grab lunch. I met him in the Student Union. He began by apologizing to me. He continued to explain that he gave up drinking for Lent (Coming from someone who never gave up anything for Lent, it was funny how unbelievers can still be religious). In his forty days of sobriety, he began to like himself more and more. He began reading the Bible and began praying. He received salvation in Jesus and the Holy Ghost took up residence in him!

Now, my friend knows Jesus. Without a heated debate, a long discussion, and without bringing out the big guns of apologetics. I didn’t even pray with him to receive Christ. The goodness of God draws men to repentance. I am not the Holy Spirit. I only stood by Jesus because He has shown me His power. This is why testimonies are important. The lines are being drawn. The real Jesus is being revealed through the power of His Spirit working through His bride while the masquerade of religion, its performance, and grueling boredom is being exposed.

I don’t have to convince people that I’m right or that they’re wrong. That is the beauty of sharing the Gospel. When the Gospel is truly preached, signs and wonders follow. Jesus confirms His Word with signs following (Mark 16:15-20). It’s only in through the power of the Spirit, through signs and wonders that we as believers can fully proclaim the Gospel (Romans 15:18-19). The Gospel is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (I Corinthians 4:20). Talk is cheap. Power was purchased at the cross and its reward is awaiting all who will receive.

Be encouraged and love a friend to Jesus.

Jonathan Fawcett