When I wrote the last Special Bulletin we were still wondering how long this present visitation of the Lord would last. Since then it has become obvious that this is much bigger than we were first seeing, and there is no end in sight. The breakout at Heritage is not only continuing, but is getting stronger. What we have spent most of our life praying for is now happening. What is breaking out now is bigger than us and is spreading across the land. This has all the signs of being the beginning of one of the greatest moves of God ever in America.
From the first day of our church here, we prayed for the Lord to build a place where He would not just visit, but where He would dwell and stay. Now we are beginning to feel that this is more than just a visitation, and the manifestation of His presence we are now experiencing has a feeling of permanence to it. Bob Jones is adamant that what happens this June and July will be much greater. The Lord has also shown us that He will be our rest, and we are to keep the meetings going at Heritage right through July when we normally take a sabbatical month. We are making major adjustments in many of our plans, but this is what we have lived for. The Lord is moving again with great power, doing wonders, and His people are waking up from their slumber to pack up and move with the cloud.
We have had extraordinary breakouts, breakthroughs, or visitations in the past, but this one is different. The kind and number of supernatural manifestations that are happening exceeds anything we have experienced before. We may have witnessed more miracles in the last four weeks than we have in the last twenty years, and we have seen many over those years. So where is this leading?
Without question, we are now well into the days of miracles and wonders. The Lord is not just breaking out in our "breakout" meetings, but in almost every setting where we get together, even business meetings! There is a great sense of the presence of the Lord, that at anytime something remarkable can happen, and it often does. True Christianity is the greatest adventure and the most exciting life that one can have, and this is it. I wake up wondering what miracles I will hear about today, or what wonders I will see. At times, it is like an electric charge in the air.
Though it has happened in the past, now it is not at all unusual but expected to hear about such worship breaking out in the chapel for one of our schools which cannot be stopped, so classes are stopped. It is becoming normal to hear about a miracle taking place during a manager's meeting or to hear reports of remarkable things through our students or people at the mall. It is like the Book of Acts again. Everyone now seems to be walking around in awe and wonder at the things God is doing, expecting to hear of remarkable things.
It is also not uncommon for me or the other leaders of the ministry to be the last to hear about some of it. We have not given up our responsibility as overseers, but more often than not, we are not leading nearly as much as just trying to keep up. That may scare some leaders, but our team loves it. We are not micro managers and when the people are doing the work of the ministry, when the Lord can use anyone to work through, it means we have done our job as equippers. It is also clear that the work of the Lord is being done through so many that the burden is not on us, making it much more likely that this can go on indefinitely and not burn out.
One of the great blessings to me is watching the youth walking in such power in signs and wonders and with such wisdom and maturity. Even though I think we have some of the best teachers in our K-12 school, this is beyond what anyone could have done to prepare them. Some of these young ones were not in good shape spiritually just a few weeks ago, but now they are praying for the sick and casting out demons like seasoned spiritual warriors. The children really are for signs and wonders. It is like they were made just for this.
With most of the extraordinary miracles we have experienced, no one seems to even know who prayed for them or when they happened; it seems that no one really even cares. This is allowing the Lord to get the attention and the credit. We all know that the Lord is the only one who can heal or deliver, but too often we like to give too much of the credit to people, which puts a weight on them no human can carry. We have dozens of people on the ministry teams every night, but almost every night the presence of the Lord is so strong people just reach out and touch Him and are healed with no one laying hands on them. This, too, has been a prayer for many years now—that we could have the greatest worship, the greatest preaching, anointing for prophetic ministry, and the greatest facilities, but that no one would leave talking about these; they would leave talking about the Lord. The anointing on everything is going up, but the glory of the Lord overshadows everything.
We are still trying to understand and digest many things, but it is quite clear that this is the beginning of a great move of God in America—possibly the greatest ever. It will soon be breaking out in Europe too, if it hasn't already. After decades of watching the great moves of God sweep through Asia, Africa, South and Central America, it is now our turn. America and Europe have been desperate for revival, and it is now here.
Even as strong as what is going on now, we are still in the first stages of it, and not only will it grow even stronger, but it will grow wider. Revival is the reviving of the church, and no question the church needs reviving, but this will go past revival. We are experiencing the first stages of what many have been foreseeing for over twenty years—a Great Awakening greater than any previous Great Awakening. Though revivals will usually result in salvations, the main focus of revival is to awaken the church so that she will proclaim the gospel to the lost, but not only that, so that she will go on to maturity. As the church goes on to maturity, her light will shine more and more into the darkness. Not only will people be saved, but regions, and even whole nations will be changed. The Great Commission is to make disciples of nations, not just individuals, and we are about to see nations wanting to learn the ways of the Lord and becoming true disciples.
Does that mean such things as prayer being allowed in public schools again? I think this is going beyond that. There will be no keeping prayer out of schools or any place else. It is true that you can mark the beginning of a terrible erosion of morality in America from the time when prayer was removed from schools and the subsequent attempt to remove all mention of God from every public place. As we see in Revelation 3, the Lord will even stand outside of His own church and must be invited in. If we ask Him to leave, He will, and America has done that to a large degree over the last few decades. This is about to change. The church in America is awakening, is going to beg the Lord to come back, and He is coming.
I was shown that there will be an undeniable testimony of miracles and healings in every community in America. The knowledge of the Lord is going to cover our nation. It is only just beginning, but it has begun. It will now grow and spread. The Lord is obviously moving again in a very powerful way. When the cloud moves it is time for us to pack up and move with Him, which is obviously what many Christians are already doing.
A big part of what He is now doing is with healing and miracles. That is the Lord's nature. Wherever He went when He walked the earth, miracles and healing followed. He is still the same today as He was then, only He is doing it through His body now. However, as this move matures, it will go beyond an emphasis on what He is doing to who He is. That does not mean He will stop doing what He does, but the Lord Himself is far more amazing and interesting than His works. Just as the first century church met daily in the temple to hear the apostles teaching, we can expect a hunger to know the Lord to propel a desire for teaching to new levels. Multitudes of Christians are about to return to their first love. The hunger to know Him is going to create an insatiable desire to know Him better and to be equipped to do His will.
I saw faith become a fist that punched a hole through an overcast of clouds. This was the demonic oppression over America. As the holes opened up, angels started pouring through them. The bigger the holes were, the more angels that were coming through them. They were carrying the resources of heaven that included everything we needed. Heaven is about to invade earth. This is going to cause a great distinction to develop between those who know and serve the Lord, and those who do not.
Todd Bentley did punch a hole through the darkness over Lakeland, and heaven has been pouring through the hole, and it is getting bigger. What is happening in Lakeland is stirring up the faith of many more. The "faith barometer" has begun to rise all over the body of Christ. Now many others are reaching up to do the same thing. The sizes of the holes are dependent on the size of our faith. I pray that what is happening in Lakeland keeps going and keeps growing, but what is now being released will go on regardless of how long the revival goes on in Lakeland. A fire has been started that is already too big to stop.
The emails and other communications I am now receiving about the great things God is doing has multiplied in the last few weeks. People cannot contain the excitement when God moves. That is the greatest source of evangelism. I have repeatedly asked large groups of Christians at conferences how many came to the Lord through revivals, crusades, evangelistic campaigns, or Christian television. Combined, it is almost always less than 5 percent of the people, and often it is as little as 2 percent. When I ask how many came to the Lord through the witness of a friend or relative, the other 95 percent or more respond. An encouraged church is the most powerful evangelistic force in the world, and the encouragement level of the church is rising dramatically again as the Lord is obviously on the move.
I have been in some very extraordinary visitations and moves of God, but I do not think I have ever seen anything quite like what we are experiencing right now. If it was to stop now it would still be historic. However, it is not stopping, but still building momentum. It is almost scary to think of how awesome this is becoming.
There are many practical things we need to consider as this all unfolds. Over the next few weeks I will share much of what I have learned from studying revivals and moves of God for more than thirty-five years. There is much we can learn from those who have been through such things that will help us now. I do believe this began with honoring the fathers, and the greatest honor we can give to the spiritual fathers and mothers is to heed their message. This Special Bulletin was written for the most part to answer the question that I am frequently asked: Is the breakout still going on here at Heritage? It is, and we would be very glad for you to come and experience it.
We have "Revival Rates" for rooms at the Heritage Grand to make them as affordable as possible. We also have weekly and monthly rates that are even lower. Check our website for details, or call 1-800-542-0278. If you are on your way to Lakeland from the Northeast or Midwest, we make a great halfway point, either coming or going, and we would love for you to stop by, pick up some fire, or spread some.
