The United States of America

Chapter 16

Jesus told the Churches in Rev. 3 over and over,

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

The Lord said in Amos 3:7,

" The Lord GOD will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets."

Jesus said in John 14:26,

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

For some 1900 years the Church, as a whole, has taught that when the last apostle died the baptism of the Holy Spirit cease to be available! That only the apostles could lay hands on someone in order for them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, in the late 18th century and the early 19th century there was a great move of God and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon many ministers. For example, (Taken from Wikipedia)

The Azusa Street Revival was a historic revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. This started on April 9, 1906 and continued until roughly 1915. On the night of April 9, 1906, Seymour and seven men were waiting on God on Bonnie Brae Street, "when suddenly, as though hit by a bolt of lightning, they were knocked from their chairs to the floor" and the other seven men began to speak in tongues and shout out loud praising God. The news quickly spread; the city was stirred; crowds gathered; and a few days later Seymour himself received the Holy Spirit; services were moved outside to accommodate the crowds who came from all around; people fell down under the power of God as they approached; people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and the sick were healed and sinners received salvation.

To further accommodate the crowds, an old dilapidated, two-story frame building at 312 Azusa Street in the industrial section of the city was secured. This building, originally built for an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, had more recently been used as a livery stable, storage building and tenement house.

In this humble Azusa Street mission, a continuous three-year revival occurred and became known around the world. Stanley H. Frodsham, in his book, With Signs Following, quotes an eye-witness description of the scene: The revival was characterized by spiritual experiences accompanied with testimonies of physical healing miracles, worship services, and speaking in tongues. The participants were criticized by some secular media and Christian theologians for behaviors considered to be outrageous and unorthodox, especially at the time. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century.

Then along came William M. Branham in 1933 and started out by holding his revival meetings in his tent.

Branham is known for his role in the healing revivals that occurred in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, and most participants in the movement regarded him as its initiator. Christian writer John Crowder described the period of revivals as "the most extensive public display of miraculous power in modern history". Some, like Christian author and counter cult activist Hank Hanegraaff, rejected the entire healing revival as a hoax and condemned the evangelical and Charismatic movements as cults. Divine healing is a tradition and belief that was historically held by a majority of Christians but it became increasingly associated with Evangelical Protestantism. The fascination of most of American Christianity with divine healing played a significant role in the popularity and inter-denominational nature of the revival movement

Branham held massive inter-denominational meetings, from which came reports of hundreds of miracles. Historian David Harrell described Branham and Oral Roberts as the two giants of the movement and called Branham its "unlikely leader."

After holding a very successful revival meeting in Shreveport during mid-1947, Branham began assembling an evangelical team that stayed with him for most of the revival period. The first addition to the team was Jack Moore and Young Brown, who periodically assisted him in managing his meetings. Following the Shreveport meetings, Branham held a series of meetings in San Antonio, Phoenix, and at various locations in California.

Moore invited his friend Gordon Lindsay to join the campaign team, which he did beginning at a meeting in Sacramento, California, in late 1947. Lindsay was a successful publicist and manager for Branham, and played a key role in helping him gain national and international recognition. In 1948, Branham and Lindsay founded Voice of Healing magazine, which was originally aimed at reporting Branham's healing campaigns. Lindsay was impressed with Branham's focus on humility and unity, and was instrumental in helping him gain acceptance among Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal groups by expanding his revival meetings beyond the United Pentecostal Church to include all of the major Pentecostal groups.

I have met some of the people that witness these events. I met the driver for William Branham and I asked him if he ever saw anyone that went forward for healing not get healed when William Branham prayed for them. He said he never saw anyone not get healed.

I talked with a good friend of mine who lives in Detroit, Michigan, Glen Mize, and he said he saw all kinds of miracles happen even gold fillings in people's mouths. If I remember correctly, he said that a woman was preaching somewhere in Illinois and everyone in the whole county got saved, even those who were not in the service.

Next Gordon Lindsey,

James Gordon Lindsay was born and raised in an atmosphere of healing and Pentecostal experience. He was born in Zion City, Illinois, on June 18, 1906. His parents were Thomas Lindsay and Effie (Ramsey) Lindsay. They were followers of John Alexander Dowie, a famous healing evangelist. When the city went bankrupt, after the fall of Dowie, the Lindsay family moved to a Christian community in California, led by Pisgah Finis E. Yoakum, and then to Portland, Oregon. He was converted during a meeting led by Charles Fox Parham, the initiator of the Pentecostal movement in Topeka, Kansas. He then developed a relationship with John G. Lake, who started the Divine Healing Mission in Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Lindsay traveled with Lake in the campaigns of California and the southern states. Then he became a pastor of a Foursquare Gospel church in California, but returned to Oregon, where he married Freda Schimpf.

Lindsay's own work began to move in the direction of missions. He began sponsoring missions programs in several foreign countries and started a radio ministry. During 1956 he conducted a Winning the Nations Crusade, sending teams of ministers all around the world. The Voice of Healing magazine changed names briefly to World-Wide Revival in 1968 before the final change to Christ for the Nations. One of Lindsay's last visions before his death was a bible training institute in Dallas, Texas. Christ For The Nations Institute began in 1970 and has trained thousands of students from around the world.

Lindsay was a prolific writer, publishing over 250 volumes of historical and doctrinal books on the healing revival movement. His ministry came to a halt with his sudden death on April 1, 1973. Lindsay died unexpectedly in a time of worship in the Institute. He was 66.

Freda Lindsay, his wife, diligently continued his dream of founding apostolic churches, developing ministers and supporting many students. She remained active as the President of CFNI until she retired in her 90s. "Mom" Lindsay died in her home on March 26, 2010, at the age of 95 on "Gordon Lindsay Day," a day the institute had designated to remember and honor the legacy of the founder.

His son, Dennis Lindsay, is the current president of CFNI and continues the work that his parents started.

Christ for the Nations, Inc. has five main facets: a national church program; a national literature work; a Jewish mission in Israel; national and international Bible training schools; and a prayer and tape ministry.

I could go on and share about many others. I was privileged to meet Oral Roberts in Atlanta, Georgia at Earl Paulk's pastor's convention. I never met Gordon Lindsay, but I did meet his wife, Freda Lindsay and son Dennis. In 1981, I went to South Africa with Dennis and some of the Christ For the Nation's group. We were also in Berlin at the Jesus in '81 Festival with Demos Shakarion, Pat Boon and others.

A good friend of mine, Benny Skinner, who was a part of this movement used to come to our church and preach for me and he would sit for hours and tell me stories of the healings that took place in these meetings.

As great as this outpouring in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's was it is little compared to what the Lord has in store when He pours out His Spirit on all flesh as prophesied in Joel and Acts. Listen, our God is an awesome God and with Him nothing is impossible to accomplish. Today there is almost a church on every corner but when this happens all of them will not be able to hold the people being saved.

The darkness that is coming on the world and the United States is getting darker and darker, however, we are the light of the world and we will shine because the Lord takes His residence inside of us! Guess what? Light dispels darkness because darkness has no power over light! God raised this country up to be a beacon to the world and out of this nation the Gospel will spread over the rest of the world as the waters cover the seas. The Lord said in Hab. 2:14,

"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

In Deut. 19:15 the Lord said,

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." 

I know that there will be Christians who read this and will deny that anything like this could ever happen. Perhaps one of the writings of the great Apostle Paul could help you to understand the movement of the Spirit of the Lord. In 1Cor. 12:11 Paul was talking about the gifts (or manifestations) of the Holy Spirit and said,

"But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

The Lord said in Isaiah 60:22,

"The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly."

The church I attended when I was young scoffed at Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. I was in class as a teenager and I asked our teacher this, "If we believe that we are the only true church then why don't we attend the Billy Graham's crusades and go to the front when the invitation is given and pray with those who come forward for salvation and teach them the truth?"

The point I want to make is that just because you haven't seen or attended any of these meetings doesn't mean that those who testify about the miracles that occurred are lying about it.

This move of God that is coming upon all flesh will include you and you won't be able to deny that it is what the Lord is doing! When you hear or see this happening you should rejoice and be glad and praise His Holy Name.