ACCOUNTS OF DREAMS, REVELATIONS & VISIONS
WITH SPIRITUAL
SIGNIFICANCE
I believe that God has given me
visions, dreams, revelations and prophecies in the past few years that are of
great significance in my life. I felt it necessary to write down my impressions
of these experiences so that I would not forget the details with the passing of
time and to be able to share them with others for their encouragement and
edification.
In 1966, the Lord
ministered to my spirit and revealed what I now call the skeleton vision of the
Church of the New Testament. It was simply a compilation of the characteristics
of the Early Church. I had for many years prior to this experience longed for a
return to the simplicity and power of early New Testament Church life.
In 1968, the Lord put
meat on the bones of this skeleton vision and gave me a greater understanding of
the Church He was building. It was this vision of the early church that
prompted me to attempt to implement these principles when I became the pastor of
the First Baptist Church in Winnsboro. But the implementation of these
principles was later revealed to me by the Lord as pouring “new wine into old
wineskins.”
In 1976, the Lord
revealed to me in a visionary way a revelation of the traditions of men within
the church and how He was going to restore His Church to be all that He designed
and purposed it to be in these Last Days. (See full Testimony: “In Search of a
New Wine Skin”) During the next three years from 1976 to 1979, the Lord began
to give me detailed revelations of His Church.
In 1976, the Lord spoke
to me in my spirit and told me to clear my office desk, get out a piece of paper
and to write down what He was going to reveal. He began to give me the first of
many hundreds of teachings from Scripture about the Early Church.
In 1976, after having so
many fresh revelations from the Scripture concerning the ekklesia that Lord is
building, I became very discouraged with church life as I was experiencing it.
This began a difficult but necessary part of my journey in discovering the
ekklesia of the Lord. In desperation, I locked myself in my office and got on
my face before the Lord. I wept and cried out to God that I needed to hear from
Him concerning what I was to do with this inner turmoil of comparing the
traditional church, as I knew it to the ekklesia He was building.
Approximately 2:00 AM, the Lord
mightily spoke to my spirit and revealed in a very painful way the sins of the
traditional church. I was devastated, convicted to the core and wept in
repentance. Then I cried out to God and said, “What am I to do, Lord?” He
spoke plainly to my spirit and said, “Stop pouring new wine into the old
wineskin. Pour My new wine into a new wineskin!” Until that moment, I did not
know that was what I was doing.
Then I sought the Lord and
asked, “What is this new wine and what is the new wineskin?” He replied, “The
new wine is I, drink of Me. The new wineskin is the ekklesia I am building in
these closing days of the ages.” I cried out to Him, “What do you want me to
do, Lord?” He replied, “I want you to obey Me and begin pouring My Life into
the new wineskin of my ekklesia.”
My immediate reaction was one of
complete sense of unworthiness and helplessness. I then asked the Lord, “When
and where am I do this?” He plainly told me that I was to begin this new
ministry of “pouring new wine into A new a wineskin in September of 1979 and I
was to begin it in Winnsboro.
In September of 1979, I
resigned as pastor of the First Baptist Church after serving ten years. In my
resignation, the Lord would not allow me to share what He had revealed to me.
In fact, He told me not to try to explain. His exact words were, “I would
rather they be united against you that divided over you!” Thus I began my
journey toward walking out the simple life of the early church with other
believers whom God had sovereignly sent into our lives.
That same September of 1979,
only two weeks after my resignation, I was in a local restaurant for lunch and
was told by some brothers in the Lord, “there is no room at our table for you.”
I was devastated and wounded. I sat alone at my table, heart broken. In my
spirit I cried out to the Lord, “Lord this journey is already so hard. It looks
like it is just You and me.” The Lord then said, “Son, who else do you need
beside Me?” Suddenly I realized as never before, the sufficiency of Jesus! I
began to literally laugh with joy in His presence. He then spoke in my spirit
and said, “Now, I can trust you with relationships with others.”
1979 was the beginning of
many experiences of persecution from other believers that we had never known
before. I cried out to the Lord about what others were saying and doing against
my family and me. His response was, “Son, I am more interested in your godly
response to the persecution than what they are doing to you.” He then led me to
a new revelations of Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Also, in 1979, the Lord
encouraged me through an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News about
“House Churches in China.” Until that time, I did not know there were house
churches anywhere except in the pages of the Scripture. In fact as I read this
article to my wife, I exclaimed to her, “The Chinese and the Hubbells are
meeting as house churches!” This began a great love affair I had for China.
Little did I know then that I would be ministering years later in Mainland China
encouraging the “house churches” and equipping Chinese saints for the work of
ministry.
From 1979 to 1987, the
Lord allowed my family and me to live out the truths of the Scripture concerning
the Lord’s ekklesia. It was like a boot camp of preparation for future ministry
the Lord had ordained for me. He used me to teach, equip and train many
believers to prepare for the future day when He was going to completely restore
His ekklesia for the closing ages. He taught me many invaluable lessons both
positive and negative for the spiritual journey that lay before me. These were
difficult and challenging days but necessary ones to equip us all for the
continued journey in “searching for the ekklesia, whose builder and maker is
God.”
1987 was a crucial time
in my life and ministry when the Lord instructed me to learn to be a “tent
maker” in providing for my family and ministry to which He had called me. I was
told by the Lord to lay down “my ministry”. I did not realize at that time that
I considered it as “my ministry” and not “His ministry,” but God knew my heart
better than I. He told me that I was to “learn to serve others,” which I
thought I had already learned, but again, He knew my heart. He wanted my wife
and me to host people as the owners of a bed and breakfast in Winnsboro. So for
twelve years through the bed and breakfast, my wife and I ministered in serving
people, serving the church at large, serving the community and serving through
government as mayor and judge. During those twelve years, I was simply told by
the Lord to “demonstrate His servant-hood by washing the feet of others in
sacrificial service, to be still and simply wait upon Him.”
In 1988, the Lord told me
to put the suitcase of teachings in the closet that I had used in ministering
about the simple church of the New Testament and not get it out until He
specifically told me. This was part of the “laying down” of “my ministry” so
that He could raise it up as “His ministry” in His time.
In 1989, the Lord called
upon me to be willing to allow someone else to carry out the ministry to which
He had called me. This was a devastating experience for me. I could not
understand why God would bring me to this point in preparation for His ministry
and just put me aside. But in deep grief I yielded to His will. It was such a
serious word from the Lord that I thought that He was literally going to take me
home to be with Him. It was as if my life and ministry were over. It was so
serious a time that I made arrangements for my funeral and instructed my wife
about all of our business affairs.
From 1989 to 1997 were years
of silence. That is not to say that the Lord did not speak to me in the
Scripture and in prayer but rather He did speak not as He had previously in
dreams, visions, revelations and prophecy. I remember crying out to the Lord
during this time for Him to please speak to me again in the same miraculous ways
as before. Then the Lord asked me, “Son, if I never speak to you again in this
way, will you still love Me and obey Me?” His word crushed me and I wept and
cried out, “Yes, Lord I will still love you and though you slay me, I will serve
you!”
In 1997, the silence was
finally broken. I clearly heard the Holy Spirit say to “get the suitcase of
teachings out of the closet and place it at your bedside.” I just assumed that
God was immediately raising up His ministry through me, but instead the suitcase
stayed by the bedside for another year before He spoke to me again. When He
finally did speak, it was a clear word for me to “clean out the teachings in the
suitcase of everything that was not directly given to me from Him.”
In 1998, the Lord
instructed my wife and me to sell the bed and breakfast tent making business,
which we were finally able to do in May of 1999. This was a time of great
disappointment for my wife and me. What we had hoped would be a profitable
business sale, turned out to be a loss. We had prayed the income from the sale
of our property and business would be used in ministry to others around the
world, but it was not meant to be. The Lord told me that the purpose of this
experience was “to be able to teach others who later would go through similar
experiences of material loss.” I was to begin to learn what it meant to
experience “the loss of all things.” We signed the contract of sale one day and
the next day we flew in faith to South Carolina to teach in our first of several
national house church gatherings.
In 1999, the Lord
instructed me to move to a leased property on Lake Winnsboro and to call that
place a “hired house” named after Paul’s “hired house” in Rome where the
Scripture describes his ministry in Acts 28:30-31, “Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house, and received all that came to him, preaching the kingdom
of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all
confidence and no man forbidding him.”
The Lord told me that many would
come to the “hired house” for ministry and that I also would travel to the ends
of the earth strengthening the church, establishing new churches and equipping
saints for the work of ministry. He promised to make provisions for all future
ministries and that He would use financial resources through others to help me
know when to travel and when to stay at home in the “hired house.”
In 1999, I had dream that
was very vivid and graphic. I dreamed that I was in the midst of some great
devastation. All around me was death, destruction and a wounded mass of
humanity. I did not know what caused the catastrophe but it was horrible.
People were screaming and crying out in great pain and desperation. I felt so
helpless and useless as I stood in the midst of this carnage.
As I looked upon this scene, I
saw many other people just standing around but doing nothing to meet the needs
of the hurting and crying multitudes. I strongly felt the Spirit urging me to
begin singing a song, the words and melody of which, I had never heard. The
words of the song were, “I’m learning to serve. I’m learning to serve. I’m
learning to serve according to God’s Word. I’m learning to serve. I’m learning
to serve. I’m learning to serve as God shows me.”
When I began to sing this song,
the Spirit led me to begin doing what I could to alleviate the great pain and
suffering. I kept thinking as I began to serve and sing, what can I do, as just
one person, to help in this seemingly hopeless situation? But as I became
obedient to the Lord in serving, the other people who had previously just been
standing around, joined me in reaching out to the needs of the suffering and
wounded.
As they ministered, they joined
me in singing the simple melody that God had given me. The only difference was
that they substituted the word “serve” in the song, to words describing what
they did in their various ministries to the hurting and wounded, such as “heal,
help, feed, clothe, teach, deliver, pray, sing, worship, praise, etc.” The
individual voices soon became a chorus of “angelic” music as if it were one
voice in united orchestration being lifted in praise to the Lord!
In 1999, another dream
occurred. The Lord was examining my life and casting some kind of a radiant
light upon me that showed me clearly everything in my life that was displeasing
to Him. I saw some kind of a large earthen like vessel or jar like container
into which I began reaching and pulling out garments that were dirty and worn.
To the best of my understanding, these garments seemed to represent the sins of
my life. As I removed them, they disappeared.
As I reached into the jar for
the final time, I drew out a clean, white garment that the Lord told me to put
on. The meaning seemed to be that this was His righteousness with which he
clothed me. As I dressed in the robe like apparel, I immediately fell to the
ground as if I were dead. My wife was standing with me in the dream and as I
fell, she exclaimed something like, “What a wonderful way to go be with the
Lord!” But in what seemed to be just a split second, to my wife’s and my
amazement, I once again stood to my feet.
The next thing I remember was
that I entered what can best be described as a convocation of believers. As I
entered onto this scene, the congregation of people apparently did not see me
but rather must have seen the righteousness of Christ exemplified by the garment
I was wearing. For one by one they began to change their countenance and
behavior from a solemn, sad and serious to jubilance, rejoicing and singing.
Some began to dance before the Lord! Soon the entire convocation erupted in a
chorus of praise and worship of the Lord! It must be emphasized that the
reaction of the people was not to me personally but only the Lord Jesus in me as
represented by the garment of His righteousness.
In 1999, another dream
occurred on Christmas Eve. The Lord gave me another “new song”. Like the
previous song He had given me early that year, “Learning to Serve”, the Lord
gave me another “song in the night” entitled, “O Bless the Name of Jesus”. The
words were based on the passage in Isaiah 9:6. It was a very simple song of
praise: “O bless the Name, the Name of Jesus. O bless the Name, the Name of
Jesus. O bless the Name, the Name of Jesus. O bless the Name. O bless the
Name.” By substituting the Isaiah passage and by addressing the song directly
to Jesus, it also included the words, “Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.
In 1999, I heard the Lord
sing a song in the night while I lay sleeping. It was the most touching and
inspiring experience I had ever had. Just the thought of my Lord singing was
overpowering and awesome! After I awakened from this dream, the Lord led me to
the Hebrew 2:12 passage, where Jesus is speaking “Saying, I will declare Thy
name unto my brethren, and in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto
thee.”
In 1999, a special
revelation occurred where the Lord described His Remnant Church as “lively
stones”(I Peter 2:5) “being prepared and hewn” (I Kings 5:17-18; 6:7) for the
building of His Church. It was revealed that His sons and daughters were now
being quietly prepared in secluded places throughout the world by God’s work of
hewning, sawing and cutting. In God’s perfect timing, He was going to bring
these prepared stones together and place them as “lively stones”, “without a
sound” into the building of His Remnant Church.
In 1999, I experienced a
vision where I saw a globe of the world of the Lord’s people scattered all over
the earth as small-unconnected pools of water. It seemed to be the purposeful
design of the Lord to keep these little puddles separated for a season to
purify, to hewn and to burn out the dross. Then I saw in the vision a shower
covering the earth that caused a small trickle that became a stream, then a
river, connecting the pools. Finally I witnessed pouring rain come upon the
earth that caused the pools to flood into one mighty ocean that engulfed the
globe.
In 1999, I received a
combination of a revelation and vision from the Lord concerning Genesis 3:1-24
in which He strongly warned about a satanic plot which had its beginning in the
Garden of Eden with the first woman, Eve. It was as if a curtain were pulled
back in the heavens where I saw Satan at work preparing his deception among
women today as in the Garden of Eden. Satan was being instrumental in setting
up women in places of leadership throughout the world, both in society,
government and religion. It was in the relinquishing and degrading of the man’s
loving and protecting role both in the home and public, that men would again
heed the words of the women and thus be led astray as in the beginning of
creation. Satan will again try to deceive men through women in the world.
This was in no way to be
understood as degrading the role of women, but rather as a caution of Satan’s
end time scheme to deceive the world. For the Lord led me to Acts 2:16-18 to
more clearly understand the role of both men and women in the last days, “This
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the
last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:”
In 1999, a strong
prophetic word from the Lord was given to me that was addressed to the Church:
“I am shaking everything that can be shaken: governments, economies, schools,
churches and individuals to cause you to know whether or not you are built on
the Rock. This is the reason I had warned you to build on the rock. I warned
you to build your lives upon a solid rock foundation in preparation for these
and other storms that are to come. I am Jesus, that foundation Rock!”
“My remnant people are like
puddles of water scattered and isolated all around the Globe. I am now bringing
showers of rain, which are causing my remnant people to connect as trickles of
water, little by little, overflowing from puddle to puddle. I will shortly pour
out the latter rain and flood the world with My presence and power through My
Body, the Remnant Church.”
“My mighty presence and power
will bring godly fear into your lives as My People, which will bring about a
purging, burning of dross, persecution…a baptism of fire! I will use this to
conform you into the image of my dear Son, Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord.
You will become my purified and prepared Bride.”
“You will be stirred by My
Spirit to begin crying with great shouting toward the heavens, ‘Come, Lord
Jesus!’ All my saints will join in crying out, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus!’
Then My Spirit will cry out, ‘Come! When My Bride is prepared and ready and
when the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come’, then in My sovereign time I will say,
‘Son, it is time to go get your Bride!’’
In 2000, the Lord stirred
in my spirit the following experience: I was lying in bed one early morning when
I felt the Lord stirring in my spirit a special word. As I got up and began to
dress for the day, the Lord began to reveal His message. I heard a SOUND that
resembled a clicking or rattling. It was similar to a large wooden puzzle being
assembled SUDDENLY. As this occurred, I heard in my spirit the Lord saying,
“Now, SUDDENLY, is the time that I am raising up My Church and bringing the
“lively stones” together to be jointly fitted in their place.” the Lord gave me
the understanding and revelation of these words through other Christian
brothers, by pointing me to Ezekiel 37:1-10, “So I prophesied as I was
commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a NOISE, and behold a shaking, and the
bones came together, bone to his bone…” Then from Isaiah 48:3 came forth an
explanation and confirmation, “I have declared the former things from the
beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them
SUDDENLY and they came to pass”.
In 2000, my wife Laurel
and I were having breakfast at a restaurant, when the Holy Spirit suddenly
revealed in minute detail His Church in our city of Winnsboro through the
Scriptural examples of the churches in Jerusalem, Antioch and Ephesus. This
revelation came with such rapidity that I had to hurriedly put my breakfast
plate aside, grab a paper place-mat and borrow a pen to begin writing down all
that the Lord was saying to me about His Church.
In 2001, the Lord spoke
to me the revelation of the “Barnabas principle,” which was to be the way He was
to restore the New Testament pattern of using people who had the gift of giving
to be connected with Ephesians 4 equipping servants. These givers would serve
as one of the Lord’s primary channels of resources for itinerant ministry around
the world. He told me that “He was raising up saints all over the world who
would be blessed materially in order to share their abundance with equipping
servants of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.”
In 2002, the Lord gave me
a dream where I found myself in a large corridor with various doors opening into
it. As I stood there, I was overwhelmed with the sense of God’s presence
assuring me that He was with me and had allowed all the things to happen to me
up to this time as a preparation for this very hour. “What man had meant for
evil, God had meant for good.” I was so overcome by His love and tenderness
that I began to weep uncontrollably.
From the various doors leading
to the corridor there came fellow laborers who had gone through the same
purifying and refining fires I had experienced. As each one entered the
corridor, the Lord showed me in a moment of time everything that they had been
through in their spiritual lives. He also showed them all that I had
experienced as well. They cried for joy in knowing that their suffering and
brokenness had not been for naught. We embraced and wept in each other’s arms.
This parade of spiritual
warriors continued until all who were to pass into the corridor had arrived.
There was only one person whom I recognized out of the many who joined me in the
corridor. I was told not to reveal that person’s name until the fulfillment of
this dream had occurred. I woke up from this dream with tears streaming down my
face. I was still crying for joy as I awakened my wife to share the dream with
her so that she could help me remember what the Lord had just revealed.
Also in 2002, the Lord
gave me a dream in which I was empowered with a tremendous healing gifting. The
awesome power of God was so strong that I could not even stand, but only lay
flat on my back during the entire dream. I was told by the Lord to pray for
those who needed healing while “His power to heal was present.” I began to pray
for everyone I knew who needed a healing touch from the Lord. As I awakened
from this dream, the power of God’s healing presence was so powerful that I
continued to pray for miraculous healing for everyone the Lord brought to my
remembrance. Even in my waking state I felt the warmth and glow of the healing
power and presence of God.
In 2003, I had a vision
as I was praying and seeking the mind of the Lord about unity in the Body of
Christ. There was such a deep desire to see oneness in the Church. I was
crying out to the Lord for wisdom and a word from Him. The Spirit told me to
open my eyes and look around me. As I opened my eyes I saw brothers and sisters
all around me who were also pressing into the Lord with great hungering and
thirsting. The Lord revealed to me that true unity was in oneness with anyone
in the Body of Christ who was in one accord. The word for “one accord” in the
Greek means of the same temperature, heat, fire, fervency, first love! He
showed me that true unity is in the Spirit and that we are to “keep (guard) this
unity!”
In 2003, as I arrived in
China for my first mission there, we as co-laborers gathered in our hotel room
for prayer and commitment for the task of ministering to the persecuted church.
All of us had committed ourselves to do whatever our Lord commanded on this
mission. We were to be fellow servants and co-laborers together with our Lord
in encouraging the saints in China.
In order for us to most
effectively minister, we had to know in what our individual gifts were for this
mission. The other brothers had come prepared to teach and I had come to carry
their suitcases. Then suddenly after our prayer time, Holy Spirit spoke
prophetically through me the clear gifting of each of the co-workers. One had
the gift of prophecy and the other had the gift of administration and giving. I
laid hands upon them and prayed for God’s anointing and power for them to
minister their gifts in China on this mission.
When we arrived at the training
center, the Lord used all of us in a unique way to minister to the Chinese
saints. The prophet-gifted brother shared many powerful words from the Lord to
us as co-workers and to the students. The administration and giving gifted
brother spent the most effective and fruitful time he had ever experienced in
all of his trips on mission to China. The Holy Spirit empowered me for anointed
teaching during the remaining time we were at the training center. Each of us
ministered in the exact gifts the Lord had ordained for the mission.
In 2003, while on mission
to China, the Lord told me to change the subject of the teaching session from
what I had intended to teach to the subject, “How to Respond to Persecution.”
Little did I know that during the teaching on this very subject that we were to
be abruptly interrupted by the threat of Chinese security officers looking for
us at the training school compound. We miraculously escaped being arrested by
the grace of God.
In 2003, as we were
gathered for another mission journey to China for commissioning prayer with the
Body of Christ in Winnsboro, the Lord spoke to me that we were to teach English
to the students at the training school to prepare them to evangelize the Nations
of the world. This was confirmed by the Chinese saints who shared that they had
heard a prophetic word from the Lord that they were to evangelize the nations
and take the Gospel back to Jerusalem where it had begun 2000 years ago.
In 2003, I was
ministering individually to Chinese students in a private setting with my
American Chinese interpreter. As I began the first interview with students, I
was overwhelmed with the awareness of the gravity of their life’s experiences.
I listened sometimes for up to three hours to each student as they shared their
life story. As the first student began to conclude their story, the Lord told
me that I was not to pray for them but rather to let Him minister directly to
them. Jesus said to tell them “He came to heal the broken hearted, bind up the
bruised and to set the captives free!” I shared this with each student as I
laid my hands upon their heads and remained silent as Jesus ministered to the
students.
The students began weeping as
the power of the Lord swept over them. After the Lord ministered to them, they
would stand and embrace me with such griping force that I could hardly breathe.
They would once again begin to weep as they hugged me tightly. For each
student, this was the first embrace they had ever experienced due to their
culture and tradition. It was one of the most moving experiences in the Spirit
I have ever had in my life.
In 2003, a student became
ill during the night. I was asked by her classmates to minister healing to
her. Several of her friends gathered with me to minister healing prayer. The
Lord impressed me to ask the student the questions He often asked during His
ministry to the sick, “Wilt thou be made whole?” and “What wilt thou have me to
do for you?” Also, Jesus led me to the passage in James about confessing sin
that could have a bearing on the sickness.
As I asked the student these
probing questions, the answer was “Yes I want to be made whole and I want the
Lord to totally heal me by His power.” When asked about whether there were any
sin that might have caused the sickness, the confession was that there was
bitterness and unforgiveness toward one of the students who gathered around in
the prayer circle.
I asked the student to confess
and repent of this sin of bitterness and unforgiveness. Then I turned to the
circle of her peers to ask of them, who among them had caused this offense. One
of my co-workers looked at his watch at that moment and told me later that
twelve minutes of silence went by as the Holy Spirit convicted the offending
student. Finally, the offending student ran to the sick student and locked her
in an emotional embrace begging for forgiveness. All the other students
followed this example and relationships were restored with the offended student.
The Lord then led me to take
anointing oil and give to the circle of students and together we anointed the
sick student with oil and laid on hands in pray for healing and miraculously by
the power of God healing was received!
In 2004, the Lord spoke
to me a special word to give to a Chinese apostle that had asked how he could
possibly minister to the thousands of believers he had responsibility for and
minister to his wife and family at the same time. The Lord gave the words of
Jesus on the cross, “John, behold your mother and Mother, behold your son.” I
spoke the words of the Lord to the apostle, “While dying on the cross for the
sins of all the world, I took the time to minister to His family, surely as an
apostle could find the time to minister to your family.” The apostle suddenly
burst into uncontrollable weeping and repentance before his wife. Then all the
other apostles spontaneously repented to their wives as well.
In 2004, as I was
visiting with some of the leaders of the training center, the matriarch of the
group who had been the host of the house church there for many years, kept
looking at me and quietly crying. I asked the interpreter to inquire about why
“Mama,” as she was affectionately called, was weeping. Mama replied that she
and the church had been praying for many years for someone like Dan Bo Bo (My
Chinese name) to come to China to teach the students. I asked her when they had
begun to pray for this special person, and she said it was in the late
seventies.
I then realized that it
coincided with the exact time the Lord had me to leave the traditional pastorate
to begin ministering among house churches in America. The Holy Spirit
ministered to me the discernment that my being in China to equip these servant
workers was one of the reasons for all the preparation the Lord had made in my
life. I literally felt at that moment that the Spirit lifted me and placed me
in China like a prepared hewn stone among the other living stones of His
ekklesia.
In 2004, the Lord spoke
prophetically through me that I was not to return to China as I had planned but
rather I was to delay any future missions until the Holy Spirit released me to
do so. The purpose of this delay was to give time for the Chinese leaders and
students at the training center to obey the 180 hours of teachings that God had
given them through me during our previous four months of ministry in China.
In 2004, on the last
night of our ministry at the Chinese training center, the Lord spoke to me that
I should wash the feet of the apostle leader of the center. One of our
co-workers brought me a pan of water and a towel. As I washed the feet of this
leader the students literally gasped aloud as the leader and I wept together as
I washed his feet. It was a powerful demonstration of the Lord’s humility
granted to both of us and was an example to all the students who were to go
through out China on future missionary journeys.
In 2005, the Lord spoke
prophetically to me that “He was raising up apostolic servant teams from many
nations who would travel on mission around the world to expand the Kingdom of
Christ.”
In 2005, I had a strong
prophetic warning from the Lord about our mission to China concerning pending
danger while we were ministering there. This crisis came to pass during the end
of our second week on the Mainland as one of the trusted men betrayed us. God
miraculously delivered and protected us.
In 2005, the Lord brought
clearer revelation to me what He meant when He said in Mark 16:20 “And they went
forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the
word with signs following.” On the mission to China, I found that as I
faithfully taught God’s Word, He confirmed the Word with signs following. I was
not there to perform signs bur rather to teach His Word as He had assigned me.
As I was teaching a group of
servant leaders, a woman suddenly came rushing toward me and proclaimed, “I have
just seen a vision and God told me to come up to you and you would interpret it
for me.” I had never interpreted a vision for anyone else before, so I was
totally unprepared for this experience. I immediately led the group in prayer
asking God for wisdom to comply with this sister’s request.
I then asked the woman to share
her vision. She told me, “I see an old crippled woman lying on the floor,
pulling herself along with her hands and I hear a voice saying to her, ‘Old
woman, in the Name of Jesus, get up and walk.’ What does this vision mean?”
Before I had time to attempt to answer her, another woman came from the crowd,
shouting, “I know that old woman on the floor…She’s my neighbor!” I asked the
two sisters if they knew one another and they didn’t for they were from two
different provinces.
The second woman went on to say,
“The Lord has been leading to me to this neighbor next door and tell her to “Get
up and walk in the Name of Jesus but I didn’t have the faith to do it. So, I
asked the Lord for a sign to assure me that this was His word to me and this is
that sign!” She also went on to say that this old woman had a nephew in a
neighboring village who had a serious blood disease and was not expected to
live. She then asked me a question, “Can Jesus heal from a distance?” I
assured her that He could. Then she asked me to pray with her for the healing
of this old woman’s nephew so Jesus could heal him.
I led the entire group of
servant leaders in a pray of faith to heal the dying nephew and to give the
woman the courage to go to her old neighbor in obedience to Jesus’ command to
her and say, “Old woman, in the Name of Jesus, get up and walk!” The entire
room erupted with shouts of praise to the Lord!
In 2005, on this same
occasion, the Lord spoke prophetically through me in the presence of these
Chinese servant leaders, “You are My mighty warriors who will conquer your
nation for My Kingdom.” Upon hearing this word from the Lord, all the leaders
began to shout and march in cadence like a regiment of soldiers and after I laid
hands upon them in blessing and prayer they left to return to the various
provinces from which they had come to begin the task to which God had called
them.
In 2005, I was teaching
the Scripture to Chinese servant leaders. A grandmother came toward me with her
granddaughter in her arms. The child was limp with a high fever and bleeding in
her bowels. The grandmother told me that Jesus instructed her to bring the
child to me and she would be healed. In faith, I laid my hands on the child and
anointed her with oil. I asked everyone present to extend their hands in prayer
for the healing of the child. The Lord heard our prayers, the fever instantly
left her body and she was miraculously healed. The grandmother left the room to
change the child’s diapers and then came running back into the room shouting,
“Hallelujah…Hallelujah… There is no blood in her stool… My granddaughter is
healed!” The room of servant leaders began to reverberate with shouts of
praises to God for the miraculous healing. Many others were also healed that
day as Luke 5:17 states, “The power of God was truly present to heal.”
In 2005, I was teaching
young Chinese believers in our hotel room, when one of the girls suddenly got
off the floor and came rushing toward me and fell at my feet where I was
seated. She cried out in Chinese, “God is in this place…I want to know this
Jesus…I want to know Him now!” I didn’t realize there was anyone in the room
who was not a believer. I turned to my Chinese co-workers inquiring about the
girl. They told me that she was not a security risk but rather one they called
“a seeker.” Since she could not understand English, I asked one of the Chinese
brothers to share Christ with her. What a marvelous confirmation of the
faithfulness of God’s Word and the power of His Holy Spirit to convict this girl
of her immediate need of Jesus!
In 2005, the Lord spoke
prophetically to me that I was to go to the Philippines for a gathering of
servant leaders in Manila. I was obedient to this word and the Lord blessed
mightily on this mission “restoring the hearts of the fathers to the sons and
the sons to the fathers,” as recorded in Malachi 4:5-6 and Luke 1:17, where the
Scripture speaks of this miraculous restoration in the last days.
In 2005, the Lord gave me
a prophetic word for the Philippine servant leaders, “Multiply My Church
throughout the Nations, one household at a time.” The Philippine servant
leaders received this word and committed themselves to obey the Lord and to
immediately begin to going to the 190 nations where twenty million Philippine
citizens now live, to preach the Gospel, establish new churches and equip saints
for the work of ministry.
In 2006, the Lord gave me
a prophetic revelation concerning calling His people out of the “Babylon” world
system that permeates all societies, governments and religions of this age. He
led me to such passages as Revelation 18:4, “Come out of her (Babylon), my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues…” And again the Lord directed me to a passage in Matthew 16:13-17 where
Jesus responded to Peter’s confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God,” by saying, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.” Jesus ministered to me that He will make His
ekklesia of these last days known by revelation of the Holy Spirit to all those
in whom His Spirit dwells.
This revelation of the ekklesia
would first come to those of the “first fruits,” that is to those who are called
out before others. These would be like pioneers or trailblazers who hear the
Spirit and “come out” to prepare the way for others.
The Lord led me to Ephesians
4:11-14 and gave me greater revelation to this passage where He gave to the Body
of Christ gifted “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who are
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
The Lord revealed that among
these “first fruits” were these Ephesians 4 gifted equippers and likened them to
someone going through a jungle cutting away the underbrush with a machete.
These would encounter snakes, spiders and vines that would bite, infect and
choke. Having encountered these obstacles as over-comers, these trailblazers
would then beckon others to “Follow as we follow Jesus…watch out for the snake
that strikes…the spider that bites and the vine that chokes…come on…its
alright…God is faithful…He will give you the grace and strength to walk as the
people of “the Way!”
Then the Lord revealed that
after the “first fruits” will come the “harvest,” which will be a great
ingathering of His remnant people who will hear the Holy Spirit and the prophets
say, “Come out of her (Babylon) My people.” The “first fruits” type servants
will welcome those of the “harvest” and encourage them to be built together unto
Him a holy habitation as the ekklesia of the living Christ for the closing of
the age.
Then there will be the final
“gleaning,” when those who are last to hear will be called out by the Holy
Spirit and the prophets. This will be the final opportunity to respond to God’s
call, “Come out of her (Babylon) My people
In 2006, the Lord also
revealed to me that He is purifying His Church today and that one of the primary
ways is through persecution. Just as God has allowed the persecution of His
Church in the Communist and Muslim nations, He will use persecution to purify
His Church in the Western world, including the United States.
This will primarily come after a
collapsing of the economies of the world that will bring global devastation and
turmoil.
This persecution has already
begun and will increasingly accelerate until His Church is purged of all the old
leaven so that “He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word, that He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.” Ephesians 5:26-27.
For those in the “Babylon”
system of the world economies, societies and religions, this will be a time of
terrible devastation, but to the “remnant” ekklesia, it will be a time of
opportunity, as an open door, to “preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the
world for a witness (martyr) unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Matthew 24:14
To the overcoming ekklesia,
Jesus says: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift
up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28.