John the Baptist said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire ..." Matthew 3:11,12. Jesus attached an equally startling announcement to John’s message that certain "signs" would occur when believers "laid hands" on others. Mark 16:18. These two actions, Baptism in Spirit and\or fire, plus laying-on-hands, frequently unite into a single ministry. It is that point on which I wish to dwell.
Though I am now in my 57th year of ministry and wonderfully experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit--the first 27 years were spent in denial of the Spirit’s miraculous gifts. I Corinthians 2:4. Not only so, but I privately wished the Bible had not included some of those strange ideas. They did not fit my religious structure. Thankfully, that Scripture-rejecting attitude ended November 23, 1977, when a young Spirit-filled prisoner in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary laid-hands on me. Until that day I regarded "laying-on-of-hands" as being wholly ceremonial–important, yes--but devoid of impartation or spiritual power. In my 1949 Ordination there had been no mention of "stirring up the gift of God which is in you through the laying-on of my hands." II Timothy 1:6, or, believers being "filled with the Holy Spirit" through the laying-on-of-hands, Acts 8:17-18. "Signs and wonders" taking place by the laying-on-of-hands was totally foreign. Acts 5:12. Both I, the Church, and the Presbytery, were woefully ignorant of this truth. During that ceremony–wonderful as it was--I expected nothing to happen and nothing did.
My experience in the prison was vastly different. In that holy moment as the prisoner placed his hand on my head and quoted Ananias’ words to Saul of Tarsus, "The Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit," Acts 9:17, the effect was phenomenal. It exploded in me in incredible ways and permanently re-directed my life and ministry. In every aspect of my being I was radically changed. As if "scales" had fallen from my eyes I saw into a depth of Scripture unknown before. The Word opened as something alive and breathing. I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" and in such a state of Glory that for two full years I read no newspaper, watched no t.v., sang no secular song. Nor was there self-effort in it. Discipline was unnecessary. I was consumed with such love for Jesus that I wanted nothing to distract me from Him. What I read in the New Testament about believers experiencing "Joy unspeakable and full of Glory" had become true of me. I Peter 1:8.
At the time I could not have put a scriptural name on the experience but later realized this was the "Baptism in the Spirit" which Jesus promised. The day of the Ascension He told the disciples, "John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now ... you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Acts 1:5,8. In that awesome moment of being filled with the Spirit, I could not have told you whether I was "in the body or out of the body." II Corinthians 12:2. All I know is, "Heaven came down my soul to greet, Glory crowned the Mercy Seat," and I was caught away from the planet in rapture.
To my amazement there were more God-encounters to follow. Less than two months later, while asleep, January 13, 1978–with no forewarning--I experienced what I can only call a "baptism of fire." This occurred during a night-time vision in which I saw the Dove of the Holy Spirit light on my left wrist. Every detail of His features were incredibly distinct, brighter than a sun-burst. The instant He touched me I was struck with what seemed like ten million volts of lightening–so powerful that I thought I was dead. When I awoke my body was still jerking uncontrollably. The experience blasted me from ordinary ministry and relationship with the Lord into an indescribable glory and love for Jesus that has not faded 30 years later.
Skeptics can dismiss both encounters as they choose--I know only one thing:
They happened.
At the time, my Calvinistic background and that of my pastor friends provided no theological explanation for these experiences. I could not describe them--had no vocabulary or mental capacity to tell what had happened--and had I tried, would have expected no one to believe me. The inability to verbalize such encounters with God still handicaps what I write. In time the Holy Spirit began leading me to others with whom I shared the Penitentiary event and who related similar experiences to me. But it was years before I told anyone about the Dove-encounter and the effects of His electric-like explosion. I read how Dwight Moody cried out for God to "stay His hand." Had I been able to speak when the lightening struck me, I too would have begged for it to stop. Humanly speaking, the experience was unbearable. Today I am convinced by stories flooding out of China’s underground, 100,000,000-Christian revival--as well as accounts from the early Church--that my experience was common-place in history and should be a routine feature of the Kingdom of God.
Paul told the Roman Church that God made "the Gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." Romans 15:18-19. Paul equated his "fully preaching the gospel of Christ" to "mighty signs and wonders." The New Testament does not provide us with a list of the early Church’s miraculous manifestations .Instead, it merely tells us that they happened. And they happened in radical ways. A new convert having undergone such a "mighty sign and wonder" would not find himself inadequate before someone armed only with an argument.
During hands-on ministry today, I frequently see this same power exploding into the bodies of others, and at age 75, I have more Kingdom-motivation than I had at age 25. This is the most important feature of all: God never meant such works of His Spirit to terminate in us. He intends our bodies to be portable Temples of the Holy Spirit, freely moving about, impacting thousands more with holy fire.
Let me illustrate the on-going effects of this "fire" by the following letters. Most of these testimonies are from different Conferences when I spoke at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Canada. The first is by Dave Calyn, a camera-man at the Toronto Fellowship whose platform was nearly two feet above the floor and stationed in the congregation. His encounter with the Holy Spirit’s baptism of fire happened at the Pastors Conference, January, 2002. He writes:
"I came to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in mid-1999--have had many Christian experiences--but none changed me like the day Charles impacted my life with something so chaotically-beautiful that it literally blew me away ... I was so engrossed in staying on my camera I never heard much of his sermon. But I do remember something about his visiting a prison--and then, suddenly, God hit me like a bolt of lightning. It felt like someone stuck a cattle-prod into my belly and I literally flew off my platform backwards. I mean--I saw both my legs and feet in the air in front of me as I crashed to the floor. I lay there for a second before I audibly said, "What happened!?" I was in total shock.
Wherever Charles moved--and he moved all over--people were being blasted by the power of God. Every time I would shoot I saw crew members and others getting knocked down by the Holy Spirit. I grabbed my water-bottle and splashed it on my eyes and forehead ...Then I fell off my stand again, this time stumbling back and grabbing the pole behind me ... By this time the Director thought that I was a lost cause and as I replaced my headset, I heard him say, "Camera # 5, go help Dave." ...When cameraman # 5 got close to me he touched my elbow and we both fell to the floor. The Ministry Team member tried to catch him as I crashed down again with no one to help. There was a big bang and another wave of Heavenly Glory hit the audience ... By this time our hand-held cameraman had fallen down again and camera # 5 was not working. The Director was pleading with us to stay alert even though all of Heaven was breaking loose ... I don’t understand. I just conclude that "God uses the foolish things to confound the wise" and I was his fool that day. But, I love Him for it and give Jesus all the Glory. --- Dave Calyn, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.
"Dear Charles, ... You came to the row where I was sitting with folks from my church and when you touched my forehead the power of the Holy Spirit hit me like lightning striking a tree. A little while later you came back through our whole row. Once again, the power of the Holy Spirit hit me ... I felt if you had not stopped I would have died! ... I can’t thank you enough for your ministry in Toronto! I needed a power-encounter with the Living God!" --- Betty. Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania.
A brother in New York State writes: "Charles, I heard you speak at TACF in November, 2004, for the first time and again in Virginia Beach in February of 2005. In Toronto I had my first great encounter with the Holy Spirit. You preached and then were going to lay hands on everyone. To get things started you called all the ‘Bobs’ and ‘Marys’ up front. That is when I said to God, ‘Why didn’t he call any Johns?’ Next thing I know the wind of the Lord knocked me out–and I got up from the floor two and a half hours later. The woman who was sitting in the chair in front of me said she felt the wind come from you--go around her--and hit me. I was floored and I’ve never been the same! I can’t get enough of our Father ..." John Cowen, East Randolph United Methodist Church, western New York.
I had the privilege to meet Gary Oates several years ago when we were both speaking at a Conference in Toronto and he shared his testimony. In his book, Open My Eyes, Lord, Gary tells about ministering with Randy Clark in Brazil and the incredible move of the Holy Spirit taking place there. In the city of Manaus they preached in a 48,000 member church where the congregation fell under the power of God. Angels appeared to many. Rachael Stoppard told of her angelic encounter that parallels my description of a Baptism of Fire. Rachael said, "I glimpsed a huge angel standing behind me and suddenly fire was shooting out of him ... this fire shot from him into me starting at my head. It was like electric waves of fire in my head proceeding on down to my arms and to my legs. It was like wave after wave of this slowly pulsating through my body. I wanted to scream because I thought I was going to die as this fire went through me."
A friend, Lyn O’Keefe, tells about being simultaneously healed of severe head pain, filled with the Holy Spirit, and experiencing the "electricity". She wrote, "I was lying there praying, when instantly I felt an electric shock in my body. If I had been standing I would have fallen. The headache was gone! The next night the Holy Spirit came to my bedside and peace–unbelievable peace–flooded me. He took away all fear of death and from that night on I never feared death again (even though I had an on-going fear of dying)."
There are numerous other testimonies but my point is this: God intends that the church experience Holy Fire in its ministry. Christianity in America is dying from the lack of it. Millions of saved North Americans wrongly assume that they have had heard the full gospel message when they have not–proving that "None is so enslaved as he who falsely believes he is free." Being "born again" is the initiation into the Christian life; it is not the climax, nor is it the final grace-encounter with God. God intends our salvation experience to open the door to greater visitations with the Holy Spirit. Long after Paul’s meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road and being filled with the Holy Spirit in the Damascus Room, he said "I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord." II Corinthians 12:1. One of the promises given on the Day of Pentecost is "Your young men shall see visions; Your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:17. In fulfilling that promise God "makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire ‘" Hebrews 1:6-7. Pentecost was not the climax but the commencement.
Modern Christianity has cheated believers out of their great potential; it has cut their blossom when still a bud and denied them the glory of becoming a fully opened flower. Life in Christ is much, much more than the modern gospel has allowed. Blazing, unstoppable, out-of-control, New Testament Revival would immediately slam into North America like "lightening striking a tree" if the clergy would stop its’ prideful opposition to God and receive the Holy Spirit’s fullness.
Case in point: The Southern Baptist International Mission Board recently announced it would appoint no one to the foreign field who "spoke in tongues." With utter disregard to the inalterable "Covenant-nature" of the New Testament and turning its back on the Holy Spirit’s empowering gifts, the Mission Board has placed its opinion above that of the Apostle Paul who said, "Do not forbid to speak with tongues." I Corinthians 14:39. Immediately after the Board made its tragic announcement, Jerry Rankin, who has supervised Baptist overseas mission work with great success for more than a decade, told the Board he has been praying in tongues for the past thirty years. Hurray for Jerry! Now the Board faces a new dilemma: A Director who prays in tongues and Missionaries who can’t. The Board needs to talk to workers who come home from the field totally defeated because they tried to combat overwhelming demonic opposition with programs and no power.
Christianity in North America is dying from its’ own spiritual starvation. The Bible’s banquet table is spread before us but many refuse to believe its’ words or devour its Manna. An incredible baptism of power is available to all who dine. The choice is our’s. Authentic gospel preaching is still accompanied by authentic "signs and wonders." It has always been so. And will always be so. There is no exception to this rule. The Holy Spirit is still here. He has not left since Pentecost. If you want to see God honor the preaching of the Word with signs and wonders, ask Him for a "Baptism of Fire" and watch the fire blaze! Charles Carrin
R.T. Kendall’s five visits with Yasser Arafat climaxed with his gaining the attention of Israel’s highest ranking Rabbi, David Rosen, and the two jointly writing a book: The Christian And The Pharisee, which was presented to the public March 23rd, 2006, at a ceremony in London’s famed Westminster Abbey. Subtitled, Two Outspoken Religious Leaders Debate The Road To Heaven, the book contains a series of letters in which Dr. Kendall challenges the Rabbi to become a Christian and the Rabbi gives his reasons of refusal. The American edition will be published later this year by Times-Warner. Pray for its imminent success!
But there is a background to this story which most of the public will never know. My involvement with it began in a small water-front restaurant in Key Largo, Florida, June, 2002, when my prayer-partners, David Rhea and Don Vinson, joined me and others on a fishing trip in the Keys. These two men are prophetically gifted and have had great impact in my life. The final night I called R.T. and asked him to join us for dinner. Don and David were sitting across the table from the two of us when Don asked, "Brother R.T., where are you going next?" In a troubled-sounding voice R.T. answered " ...Israel." The reason for his concern was the chaotic conditions and numerous suicide-bombings that were taking place in Israel at the time. When R.T. said "Israel" the power of the Holy Spirit fell on Don and David so powerfully, physically vibrating them in such an obvious way, that each had to hold onto his chair to keep from falling to the floor.
Don looked back to R.T. and said, "Your trip is more significant that you realize and you are not going to Israel for the reason you think you are." Later, in the parking lot there was a second falling of the Spirit’s presence and a repeat of the shaking. Heavy rains had left the area flooded and for a moment it appeared that the two men would drop into the puddles. David received a strong unction that we should go to R.T. and Louise’s home the next morning for hands-on commissioning and prayer for his trip. We went to their house, prayed, came home, and R.T. soon left for Israel.
As soon as his plane landed in Tel Aviv God immediately took over. On his way from the Airport to Jerusalem, R.T. learned his cab-driver was Yasser Arafat’s cousin. To the driver’s amazement, R.T. explained that he had prayed for Yasser everyday for the previous 22 years. Little could either have imagined that by 6:00 p.m. the next day God would have R.T. sitting face to face with the man for whom he had spent so many years in prayer. More amazingly, the driver had nothing more to do with their historic meeting than in telling others about his conversation with the American preacher. But word reached the ears of Andrew White, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal envoy to the Middle East who was also in Jerusalem. Andrew had read R.T.’s book, Total Forgiveness, and knew his credentials as a true man of peace. His parents had studied at Westminster Chapel’s School of Theology under R.T.’s tutelage and a strong family appreciation had developed. When Andrew learned of R.T.’s interest in Arafat, he called to confirm his willingness to visit the Palestinian President. No one else in Israel could have made that arrangement. Andrew White alone had the trust of Israelis and Palestinians; he only possessed the political power and spiritual motivation to put the two men together. At the time when the White House had ordered barricades around the city of Ramallah and Arafat’s office--prohibiting everyone, including CNN and other media personnel from entering--God opened it to R.T.
What was intended to be a 20 minute visit with Yasser Arafat lasted nearly two hours as R.T. witnessed the truth to him of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, (all of which Moslem’s deny). R.T. later said, "I had more anointing in that hour and forty-five minutes with Yasser Arafat than in any sermon I ever preached." This daring discussion strangely initiated four more invitations from Arafat, one in which he and the entire Palestinian Cabinet sat with R.T. for a private viewing of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion Of The Christ.
The day Arafat collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, R.T. and Louise were in Israel at Arafat’s invitation to have lunch with him. Their visit never took place and a few days later the Palestinian President was dead. But the prophetic word that came through Don and David did not end that day. The full prophecy was that R.T. would impact the nation of Israel. This was a significant word--since he had been vigorously warned if he met with the Muslim leader he would destroy all hope of ever speaking to the Jewish people. R.T. had a choice: He could respond to fear or obey God. He chose to obey. Amazingly, the same day the door closed on Arafat, God opened a new one with Rabbi David Rosen. Now, with the publishing of their book, R.T. has an introduction to thousands of Jewish homes in Israel and around the world. Hallelujah!
What can you do to help? You can "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" by petitioning God in behalf of Jews and Palestinians. Do not pray for the peace of one without the other. Jesus died for both. Remember that Saul of Tarsus was once as great a terrorist as Arafat--but believers in Jerusalem and Damascus agonized in prayer in his behalf. Secondly, pray that God will continue to open significant doors before Dr. Kendall. Days before the capture of Saddam Hussein, R.T. stood before the Dictator’s Throne in Baghdad and proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God to that place. God’s hand is "stretched out upon all the nations" and "who shall turn it back?" Isaiah 14:26,27. What can you do? Pray! CC (To keep terms clear: Westminster Abbey is Anglican. Westminster Cathedral is Catholic. Westminster Chapel is Evangelical.)
SONS AND BROTHERS MEETING, 2006. Jack Taylor and I will host another "Sons In Ministry" meeting this year and announce plans as soon as possible. Please pray that we will find accommodation that meet our needs. For essential reasons we return this year to a "men only" event. Ladies, thank you for your understanding and faithful intercession.
