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Today, I’ll share some of the dozens of miracles I’ve seen God do in the last few weeks. The miracle stories give some context to my position that church services as we know them systematically quench the Holy Spirit. Why would someone who loves Jesus, loves the church, and regularly experiences so many miracles usually avoid religious programs? Why are these miracles happening mostly outside of church services or in spite of them but rarely because of them?

I have a full-time job and work on Sundays and sometimes at night. I have a family with a wife and two daughters who are jealous for my attention. Maybe as you hear about these things the Lord did in a three-week period of time, you’ll understand why I don’t have time or energy for sitting through religious programs!

We Have No Authority to Deviate From God’s Commands Which Allow The Whole Body of Christ to Function!

In recent months, I wrote about “When church programs quench the Holy Spirit,” and I made a case that “You can have revival if you want it!” I made an even more detailed YouTube video about how church services quench the Holy Spirit and hinder Christian maturity. The Holy Spirit keeps deepening my understanding of these topics.

The standard paradigms for “Church services” and leadership clearly disobey the Bible’s instructions for how the church should function, and they systematically quench the Holy Spirit. I made a case that God is rich in grace, generous, doesn’t withhold anything good, and wants revival more than we do. The problem is not that God is failing to send revival but that the church systematically quenches the Holy Spirit.

Scripture’s instructions for a Christian meeting require allowing everyone to speak. The Holy Spirit chooses to manifest God’s grace through every member of Christ’s body, through what are commonly called “spiritual gifts.” I prefer to call them “grace-manifestations,” as the Greek text does. Five of those grace manifestations are explicitly speaking, and the other four also usually require speaking and understanding to operate. If the Holy Spirit desires to manifest God’s grace through all, a program that doesn’t allow all to speak quenches the Holy Spirit.

Multiple one-another commands involve everyone speaking. Teach and instruct one another, encourage one another, exhort one another, confess your sins to one another, and more. In First Corinthians 12 and 14, Paul says the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the common good, no member can say to another, “I don’t need you,” you can all prophesy one by one, and each one has a hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue, or interpretation! If one person is sitting and another receives a revelation, the first person speaking should sit down so they can allow two or three people to prophesy, and the others should test what they say, which necessitates dialogue.

Then, Paul quotes the Corinthians and rebukes them for trying to silence women. Women are included in the previous instructions “all” and “each one.” Paul gave instructions for women that prophesied in chapter 11. The Corinthians claimed that the law said, “Women should be silent,” but it says no such thing! Paul’s response to any attempt to limit the functioning of any member of Christ’s body was the following:

1st Corinthians 14:36-38 (NIV) Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.

This order is the Lord’s command, not a mere suggestion! The church is not even supposed to acknowledge a person who ignores God’s command allowing all to speak in a Christian meeting! This reveals that we need radical paradigm shifts regarding the order of Christian meetings and the roles of leaders! Christians say they want revival, a new Pentecost. Yet, everybody prophesied on the day of Pentecost! Most who say they want revival don’t want to change how they operate to allow everybody to prophesy!

Crying Out To The Lord Over The Unwillingness To Change!

When I started ministering healing twenty years ago, I would pray for people after or before the church service. Then, I started receiving words of knowledge. Three churches would regularly allow me a few minutes to speak from the front and share words of knowledge for healing. Many miracles happened before or after the church services and through words of knowledge during them.

The pastor would often allow someone to speak if they felt they had a word from the Lord. That was more than most churches would do! Still, the programs did not encourage or allow the level of participation that scripture commands. For many years, I have seen the Holy Spirit’s move with power outside of religious programs to the point that I feel that almost any environment is more conducive to the Holy Spirit’s move than a typical church service. I can pray for people, prophesy, and share God’s word more easily almost anywhere but as a spectator in a church service!

Frustrated by the lack of biblical fellowship and discipleship in a city full of churches, I began the Open Heaven meetings. For the first several weeks, we had 20 or so people. We experienced the Open Heaven we teach about: prophecies, healing miracles, and deliverance. People who’d never seen Jesus do a miracle through their hands before experienced it for the first time.

But some people got offended when a Christian girl manifested a demon because they thought that wasn’t possible. Then two of our key girls who were only here on vacation went home, and we had a much smaller group for several months. Still, we usually experienced more in these meetings than I’d seen in many big church services with hundreds of people. But by the end of last year, our people increasingly said, “I’m busy this week. Something came up,” until we were no longer meeting weekly. They said they would start again in February, but again, every week, it just didn’t work out for some reason. We still haven’t had a meeting this year!

I don’t believe in attempting to manipulate people to come. They are free! However, I felt frustrated with the lack of any context that allows us to minister to each other and simply open the Bible together, read it, and talk about what it says! That is far more edifying than most sermons! Yet many Christians simply don’t value the Holy Spirit’s work or the context that facilitates it.

I have seen the Lord do so much and it seems like I’m constantly struggling against the religious programs. Miracles happen one after another, people weep as God does what only he can do, but it’s nearly always in spite of religious programs, not because of them. Many churches here have home groups, but they operate like miniature church services. I’m used to seeing dozens of healing miracles at recovery houses, but several times when I’ve gone with groups that had leaders who didn’t yet know me, I had to be very assertive to pray for people and share words of knowledge despite the religious programs.

Many Christians who have seen the Holy Spirit’s work regularly demonstrate that they have other priorities. They don’t have time in their programs for what the Holy Spirit wants to do, and they don’t receive the people Jesus sends with his grace, but then they beg God to send revival! I’ve seen repeatedly that when a mighty work of the Holy Spirit is right under their noses, they don’t even care! I would love to receive ministry in the Holy Spirit’s power through other Christians, but that has very rarely happened in Brazil! I was weeping and crying out to the Lord about this situation late at night on February 11th.

Wait On The Lord Together!

As I was praying about this, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, “Wait on me together. If the church can’t quiet themselves and wait on the Lord together, the church thinks it doesn’t need the Holy Spirit.”

That word of the Lord didn’t directly answer the issue I was praying about, but it increased my understanding even more. This was what the Lord wanted me to promote. I thought of many scriptures about waiting on the Lord, of how in Acts 13 the church was ministering to the Lord and the Holy Spirit said to appoint Saul and Barnabus, and how many revivals were preceded by a group of people waiting on the Lord.

If we are simply acting to do something in human ability, or speaking with human words, it is as if we think we don’t need the Holy Spirit. Do you want to do your own thing, or yield to the Holy Spirit and let him do his? Do you want to speak with your own words, or yield to the Holy Spirit and let him speak his. Do you know that you can do nothing apart from him?

Personally, if I feel like I acted or spoke on my own without it being empowered by the Holy Spirit, it brings me to the place of tears and brokenness before the Lord. I don’t know how anybody can be satisfied thinking they can live the Christian life or do church without the Holy Spirit’s help!

When we walk in God’s glory, we aren’t satisfied with mere human words or human effort. We don’t want to do or say what He isn’t doing and saying! Waiting on the Lord is an expression of humility, faith, and dependency. Being led by the Holy Spirit is not only about acting and speaking, but it is also about knowing when to shut up and be still as the Lord is acting and speaking through someone else!

If we are led by the Holy Spirit, all can speak and all can participate. But we don’t just speak to say something or act to do something. We wait on the Lord, then speak and act as he leads us! The place of glory is total dependence on the Holy Spirit!

More Miracles Outside The Programs!

Right after I received this word from the Lord, one local church I’m involved with announced they are beginning “House to House” discipleship meetings! That was certainly a positive development! They previously had various groups such as a men’s group, women’s group, couple’s group, etc. I had taught at the couple’s group and several times at the men’s group. However, the men’s group grew and became much more like a miniature church program. I would still go when they had a BBQ, a more informal atmosphere that facilitated the Holy Spirit’s ministry. People were healed, delivered, and even fell out on the concrete as we prayed for them at BBQs!

You mean a BBQ is more conducive to the Holy Spirit’s work than a typical church service? Yes! The reason the Bible gives for the early church’s gatherings was “to break bread,” not to listen to a sermon. The Lord’s Supper was part of a full communal meal, and Jesus and the early church leaders taught with dialogue, not monologues. The Bible’s instructions require dialogue.

Of course, much more of a paradigm shift is still needed, but meeting in small groups in houses is a step in the right direction. I attended one small group with only three other young men that Tuesday night. Before the meeting even started, I said, “It’s really good we are doing this,” and talked about the Biblical necessity of participation in a Christian meeting.” The leader understood and he taught but gave everybody the opportunity to speak. The meeting was about to close, but I spoke up and shared about the word God gave me. “Wait on me together.” I asked if they would like to take five minutes to wait on the Lord before closing.

They agreed, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I saw a vision of a problem in the leader’s digestive system. Then, I received a prophecy for another young guy. When we finished, I asked, the leader confirmed the digestive problem, and the Lord healed him. Then, I shared the prophecy with the young guy. We all prayed together for the one other person, and he said he was nearly falling over as we prayed for him!

On the 13th, I went to the Casa da Paz Recovery House. We went shopping and spent 2000 reais (about 350 dollars) for a car loaded with food, and then I spoke at the chapel after we arrived. I talked about the Lord’s word, “Wait on me together.” We all waited on the Lord for five minutes, and I invited anybody who wanted to share to speak. I felt heat come on my right knee as we waited, and a man responded and was healed. Several other people received prayer and were healed, including a man who could no longer find his hernia after we prayed. Just recently, two ladies’ intestinal hernias had also closed at a ladies’ recovery house. They felt movement and pulling as we prayed, and then they could no longer feel pain or find the hernias.

Various other people were healed. One man wept as we prayed for his daughter, who was not present but had diabetes, and we felt God’s glory so strongly. Two transgender guys wearing dresses had recently entered the recovery house. One requested prayer for a migraine, but I also had a vision of God burning an infection out of his liver. (Probably hepatitis) I prayed and asked what he felt. He felt heat on his head and liver, right where I’d seen the vision, and the pain left. I told him about the vision and said, “Go and get tested for that disease again. It’s gone.” I prayed, but also got several people to “help me.”

On February 15th, I went with a group to a men’s recovery house at 2 PM. I had been there one time before with a new group, but the first time it was very difficult to pray for people effectively because of the group’s religious program. This time, we had an interval when we were waiting, and I started praying for people. Several people received miracles and were set free from pain, feeling God’s glory tangibly. Once again, a guy who had an intestinal hernia received prayer, felt it pulling as we prayed, and then could no longer find it!

I was getting a ride home, but my ride stopped at a ladies’ recovery house that I’ve been to before on the way. It was an informal stop with nothing planned or programmed, but I started praying for people. I prayed for two of the ladies in recovery and they felt God’s fire come on their hands, then they prayed for a whole line of other ladies for about an hour! I pitched in but also just let them pray at times. Women received healing miracles one after another. Another lady had a hernia and felt it moving and then could no longer find it as she received prayer. A second lady felt the hernia pulling together and the pain leave, and it felt smaller when she touched it. We believed God was continuing to work on it. A lady sobbed as she felt God’s glory moving and healing her uterus. Only one lady left that line with any pain. I also gave a prophecy to one of the women, and it hit the mark. Some others felt evil spirits leave them.

We saw a greater move of the Holy Spirit through two ladies in drug and alcohol recovery in an hour than I see through most pastors in a typical church service! I went from there to a prayer meeting, but it was mostly people isolated from each other in a dark room with music, no real communion or communication to edify each other, so I skipped much of it and went to a restaurant because I’d been so busy praying for people that I hadn’t eaten.

Then I got a message from a friend saying that revival broke out at a small Assemblies of God church, and they were all going. It was already about 10 pm, and I went there. This church had a meeting about a week before that, and nobody wanted to leave. Since then, they were there every night, often until early in the morning.

I had been saying, “Revival starts with participation and ends with programs.” I arrived at the small church where my friends were, and sure enough, people were scattered everywhere, inside and outside the sanctuary, praying and ministering to each other. It was not a church service! The pastor prophesied to me about ministering in the United States. I got home at about 1:30 am.

That Tuesday night, I went to another home group. They had asked me to come. The paradigm still needs to change, but it’s an improvement. When the program ended and snack time came, I started praying for people. Everyone who had pain felt it leave. People felt God’s glory tangibly and wept, received deliverance, feeling light after prayer.

On Wednesday, I went to Casa de Paz at night again. Thank God, they had a participatory meeting with various people from churches and in recovery speaking and sharing! I shared for about ten minutes, then prayed for people after. Those who received prayer were healed or blessed. I shared a prophecy with a missionary who was visiting, and then prayed for a lady who was a pastor. I took her hand, thanked Jesus, and her knee was healed! I’m so grateful to the Lord every time this happens!

Someone gave me a ride and dropped me off a few blocks from my house, and I walked by the church that was beginning home meetings. It was open, so I walked in and found people snacking after a leader’s meeting. I stayed there for a time of communion and learned that one of the pastors, who I’d prayed for repeatedly for over a year, just got tested and they found no tumors or cysts! He still had some pain, so we prayed again. He had suffered many tumors or cysts in his body and many people all around, including his wife, had been healed. We’d prayed repeatedly with some improvement and manifestation of God’s power various times, but he still had trouble and we persevered. Now they were gone. Don’t give up or get discouraged!

On February 23rd, our Mova-se group went to a hospital. Only three other people besides me showed up, and we brought ground beef and bread to share a free snack. The first hospital didn’t allow us to enter, but they allowed us to minister and share food outside. The nurses came out and received prayer and a snack. A few of them were healed, and one who had a hernia could no longer find it or feel pain after we prayed. Other bystanders received the snack and were healed too. I ran after a lady because I had a vision of pain on the right side of her lower back. I asked and she confirmed it was true and started crying. The Lord healed her.

We still had plenty of food, so we found a public hospital nearby and started sharing our snack there. I raised my voice and told everyone we have a free snack and also we pray for people and God heals them. Miracles happened one after another outside as people received food and prayer. Then we learned that this hospital let anybody who wanted to pray walk through the whole hospital. We went from one room to another inside the hospital, with miracles happening everywhere. Nurses were also healed. We met brothers and sisters in Christ and prayed for them, God’s fire came on them, I prophesied over one lady as God’s glory inundated her. I lost track of how many miracles happened. Someone who was healed invited me to preach, and I’ll go there on March 30th. If I get an invitation to preach on a Sunday, I take off work and then go and get everybody involved! We are looking forward to seeing what God does there!

When we were done at the hospitals, I went to the last half-hour of another mission group’s barbecue. I ate some meat and started praying for people. Various people were healed or felt God’s fire come on their hands as we prayed for them, then they prayed for others and they were healed. Instead of me just praying for everyone, I prayed for God’s fire to come on people, then instructed them on praying for others.

At the end of the BBQ, a lot of food was left over so they decided to take it to homeless people. Multiple homeless people received healing miracles, and I gave away several New Testaments to people who didn’t have Bibles. Two transvestites were healed from serious pain. I got home at almost 2 AM.

On February 28th, I wanted to go to the Metamorphose rescue mission to bring donations and pray for people. I tried to arrange my work schedule to leave earlier, but I couldn’t. Someone with a car was going to help me, but that fell through last minute, as it often does! It was 1 PM, and I was considering waiting until the next week and spending time with my daughters instead, but I felt the Lord said, “Go now.” I called them and someone there had a car and was able to help me get the supplies.

They were so excited for the help. It was an answer to their prayers that morning, right on time. They needed many cleaning supplies, especially due to all the elderly people they were caring for. We also bought toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and cooking oil. I went shopping with a huge tattooed guy who had biceps the size of melons. It was a lot of fun, and the tattooed giant was thanking the Lord and singing hymns the whole way! We contributed 800 reais (about 140 dollars) to the purchase.

They had a celebration when we arrived with the supplies! I spent several hours praying for people there, and many received healing. As I was leaving, the Lord gave me a prophecy for one man about restoring what was lost through sin and prospering him in business. He confirmed that he had been a business person before, but he lost it due to addiction!

On Friday March 1st, I went to a “revival night” meeting at the church of some friends. I don’t usually attend such events, but I figured many people would be there who I wanted to see. The pastor preached about begging God to open heaven. Then I found out that they were having a big Carnival outreach the next day! I hadn’t known about that, so it was worth going to the meeting to find out about it. But after the revival night, I told the pastor who preached, “I’d like to talk to you about revival some time.”

The next day, we went on outreach. We had people from other churches and a large YWAM group as well, about 100 people. Some of my other missions in a similar party context had been quite difficult. Those types of missions usually had lots of drugs and sex, many transvestites, open demon worship, and loud music that made it difficult to talk. In my previous experiences, it had been hard to find people who were open to prayer.

Yet I believe it’s important to get outside of our comfort zone so we can grow. I was teamed with a young friend and two girls I’d never met. This Carnival mission was much easier than I expected. A guy came up because he recognized me from a recovery house, and he was there with his family who were selling alcohol. I thought I had a word of knowledge about chronic pain for a woman. She said she didn’t have pain but her lesbian partner did. The Lord healed her. We prayed for the whole extended family. Then I met another family, prayed for a guy who said he had emotional trauma and physical pain, and the Lord healed him. I invited the father to help me pray for his wife and daughter. His wife received healing, and everyone in the family felt shivers go through them as we prayed.

What? You invite partying, drinking, smoking, unbelievers to help you pray? Yes! Why not? Isn’t it good to get them praying and teach them to put their trust in the Lord? When a guy is there with his wife, daughter, or girlfriend, this is a great way to include him so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable with a strange guy holding his wife’s hand! I just hold her hand and he puts his hand on her back, belly, or head, wherever she needs healing. I get non-Christians to pray with me all the time! Sometimes it’s easier than getting Christians who are addicted to spectator Christianity to pray!

My friends were talking to a mother and her daughter nearby. I walked up and said, “Hey, I want to show you something.” I had them hold their hands out, palms up. Then I told them to relax as I held my hand over theirs. In a few moments, they were feeling God’s power flow.

I asked them, “Do you know what that is?” They didn’t. I said, “That’s God’s glory,” and then explained the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus. They hadn’t even known I was there to talk about Jesus until I explained what they were feeling! They talked quite a while with my friends. At the end, the guy whose back was healed in the other family came over and prayed a salvation prayer.

We also shared the gospel with others, and others were healed. At the end, one of our girls had pain in her leg and the other a headache. I had the girl with pain in her leg hold out her hands. I prayed, she felt God’s glory come on her hands tangibly, and I instructed her to pray for her friend. Her friend was healed and they were thrilled! Then I prayed for God’s glory to come on her friend’s hands, her friend prayed for her, and her leg was healed! All the missionaries met at the end. We prayed for all the missionaries who needed healing and about a dozen received miracles. Then, others came for prayer and received prophecy and impartation.

We went out to eat, and I had a conversation with the pastor who’d preached on revival the previous night. I shared my perspective on revival and what it has produced in my life. I shared that heaven is open because Jesus’ body was torn for us, that asking God to open heaven or descend is a prayer of unbelief, and that the problem is not that God doesn’t send revival, but that the church quenches the Holy Spirit.

He was quite polite and open to listening. He partly understood some of what I was saying, but I think he still mostly didn’t get it. I talked about the need for participation and how the church at large needs reformation if we are going to experience revival. I said, “I love your church, and I thank God for how you’re sending missionaries. What I’m talking about isn’t related to just your church, but reformation needed in the church as a whole.” I emphasized how the Bible requires participation and letting everyone speak, and when we don’t have that, we quench the Holy Spirit.

Later, I sent him some voice messages with specific stories illustrating how Christians had a great move of the Holy Spirit right under their noses and were missing it simply because they lacked expectation due to believing heaven is closed, and they failed to honor or partner with the Holy Spirit. I shared some specific suggestions about facilitating the functioning of the body of Christ, especially in their home groups. The ones I’d visited operate very much like miniature church services!

I had found out on Wednesday that a guy from one of the churches was now homeless and hungry, so I sent him a little money to eat a meal and then followed up with him later. A couple who were themselves in need took him into their home. They were going to church that Sunday, but nearly giving up on Christian fellowship because of various hurts. I only had classes starting at 2 pm on Sunday, so I spent the morning with my wife and kids. Then I walked over to the church as the service was finishing to meet them.

As the church service ended, I saw a lady leaving and had a vision of a problem in her hip. I followed her out and talked to her when we got away from the loud music. She confirmed it was true, and I said, “Jesus is healing you now.” God healed her hip. Then, I was talking with a friend, and we approached a lady who had fibromyalgia and pain in her arm. We prayed, and the pain she was feeling left.

I met my friend and the couple he was staying with, and we spent 120 reais (about 21 dollars) of our mission’s budget to get some things like eggs, chicken, and ground beef for them to eat. I believe they are getting back on their feet and won’t need that help again, but they were in a situation of acute need. I prayed for the husband and his back was healed. He was shocked and thrilled. Then I had him pray for his wife, and God healed her! After thanking the Lord together, I rushed back home to work!

Why Is This Happening Everywhere But In Church Services?

That was an overview of what I saw the Lord do in just under three weeks, from February 12th to March 2nd! It would be too much to even share the details! To me, it’s obvious the hospital, drug and alcohol recovery houses, a street full of homeless people, a BBQ, and even a pagan party full of drugs and ungodliness were all more welcoming to a move of the Holy Spirit than most church services I’ve sat through have been!

I know it’s hard for many people to see that as clearly as I do, and it often takes time for paradigms to shift! It took years for me to begin to see this so clearly. Now it’s obvious. I feel it’s important to be gracious and patient with people who can’t see it yet, but still to challenge them.

If the church isn’t stewarding the grace given it, then how will it ever handle full-blown revival? All of these things we’ve seen outside the church could happen in the church if it would let go of programs in which one person speaks and all the others listen.

Many people around me have seen the miracles outside the church. If they really wanted revival, they would value that enough to have me share God’s grace with them in the church! God sends people! I don’t want to be the only one speaking, but I do want to be one of the people who speaks and share the grace God has given me with the body of Christ.

How many times have I spoken for five minutes at a recovery house, had everybody pray for each other, and everybody or nearly everybody was healed? I’ve seen the same, speaking a little longer, at churches in different states. I wouldn’t charge a thing to share in the same way at the local church here. I would expect hundreds of people to be healed as they ministered to one another. The church could have that! But they don’t, simply because it’s not what they value! How many times have people learned to minister healing with us on the streets but not in church services? There is very little expectation, room made, or honor, for anybody other than the leaders to speak. They lack the Holy Spirit’s move to the extent that they think they don’t need it!

If you want revival, it’s simple. Make Jesus’s priorities your priorities. Stop thinking you can do church without the Holy Spirit’s help. Wait on the Lord. Honor the whole body of Christ by receiving what the Holy Spirit has to give you through each member. When you ask for revival, receive those the Lord sends! Submit to the Holy Spirit even when it means letting go of your traditions!