MY 60th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

On Christmas Day 2009, I celebrated the 60th Anniversary of my Ordination to the Ministry, 1949-2009. To all of you who called, sent remembrances, prayed, or just thought of me, from the bottom of my heart I say “Thank You”! You helped make that wonderful memory a fresh reality.

HERE ARE QUOTES FROM SOME WHO WROTE

Jeff and Renee Sperry, Alabama: “How do you say ‘thank you’ to someone who has changed your life? First through Belmont Church, Nashville, and in other places as well. We were exposed to the miraculous works of God through you. Our lives have never been the same. May God grant you many more years!”

Tom and Anne Gaskings, Ohio: “We will never forget the time you laid hands on us and for the first time in our lives we knew what it was to be Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered. Our daughter Kim was healed of epilepsy after you prayed and laid-hands on her. Our daughter Tammy was healed of lupus. On and on, the blessings flowed. I will never forget how Laurie and I prayed in Nashville together in an upper room. I was changed because of her faith and love and prayer-power ...”

Steve Allen, Texas: “Please know that I have always honored you and loved you and now am privileged to congratulate you. You are one of the cherished ministers I know and have had the privilege to call my friend and mentor.”

Tom and Lois Rhea, Georgia: “ ... You’re one of the most loving persons I’ve ever met. I still see the passion you have to know the Lord more intimately every day. You’re an encouragement to me and you have been such a blessing to our family.”

Jim Campbell, Alabama, said: “As I have told you many times before, I owe you so much for speaking into my life. You were tough on me when I needed it. That is real love. When I was in ministry training six years ago I was asked to make a list of the five most influential people in my life. You were high on that list. It is with much pleasure that I congratulate you on 60 years in ministry. Your life accomplishments are astounding.”

Al and Peggy Fielding, Tennessee: “Congratulations on completing 60 years of ministry for our Lord! Thank you for coming into our lives on December 6, 1993, at Belmont Church in Nashville. Thank you for being our ‘Spiritual Dad’. We love you.”

Paul and Nuala O’Higgins (worldwide): “WOW! What a life. Overflowing with the anointing oil of His mercy. Widening the borders of His expanding Kingdom. We wish you all God’s best!”

Gary Folds, Florida: “Charles and Laurie, Just a note to congratulate the two of you on 60 years in Ministry. Charles, you have had a profound influence on me and the ministry to which God has called me. For that, I thank you. My times with you, Jack Taylor, and other great men of God have truly helped direct me in His paths of righteousness. I’m confident the greatest reward for your investment will come when we all get to heaven ...”

Carol Reed, Florida: “I join many others to celebrate and honor both of you for sixty years of ministry. You two are a wonderful gift from God to the Body of Christ. Thank you for all you are in God and for all you do in his Holy Name ... much gratitude for the price you have so willingly paid to serve the Lord faithfully, touching and changing countless lives for eternity!

Gene Edmonds, North Carolina: “You have been a blessing in my life for years through your News Letter. It is wonderful to know you have been serving God for 60 years and I know God will continue to bless others through you.”

Pastor Perry Comas, Boca Raton Florida, “Charles, There are moments in time when a younger generation honors the one who has gone before it–one who has led the way with a gracious and generous heart. We have seen the Holy Spirit’s anointing on you powerfully take men and women out of the wilderness, through the Jordan, and into the Land of Promise. I personally have met many who were locked into their theological wilderness who testified that the Fire and Love upon you moved them from that place to another in Christ!!! There are not many your age who have continued to hunger and thirst for the multi-dimensionality of the Spirit-led, filled, and empowered life. We honor you!”

Sergeant Larry Castelli, West Palm Beach Florida Police, SWAT Team “Papa Charles, Congratulations! 60 years of ordained ministry. I will never forget the first time we met. On May 23, 2008, at the request of a friend, I attended a Friday night service during your Sons In Ministry Conference, Boca Raton, Florida. I had never been to a full-gospel meeting before and had no idea what to expect. In the middle of your message you called me up for prayer. My Marine Corps training had taught me Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Poor, Performance and I was reluctant to come forward. However, the same Marine Corps training also taught me to Improvise, Adapt & Overcome. So I went forward. You laid hands on me and began to pray for me. I distinctly remember the electrical charge that came into my body and how hard my heart began to pound. I had no idea what was happening to me and I ended face-up on the floor. I experienced the most wonderful closeness with Jesus I had ever known. I now know I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Praise God! I remember telling you at the end of the meeting, ‘You have a friend for life, you’re never going to get rid of me.’ I remember the look on your face as you said to me, ‘I welcome the challenge’. You took me under your wing and I will always be at your side. I Love You Papa.”

David Rhea, Tennessee. “Dear Charles, It is such an honor and blessing that I cannot put into words that the Lord chose you to mentor me fatherly, spiritually, and educationally. You are a true Jephunneh, one who brought fathering, nurturing, compassion, with an understanding heart to so many over the years. You led in wisdom and hope, proclaiming Gods provision rather than yielding to earth’s situations. You had boldness to bring God’s Kingdom in all its fullness–regardless of what men thought. You live the words you speak. Wherever you go you preach Christ (whenever necessary you use words)! You told me, ‘Study like it all depends on you; preach like it all depends on God!! Don’t let the people pull you down; bring them up to where you are in God!!’ These words and many more are forever burned into my heart. I have treasured being with you and raising my hands to God on top of the snow-peaks of the Rockies, walking beside you through the giant redwoods of California, watching eagles fly in the beauty of Alaska, gliding on the waters of Florida, and everything in between. Being on my face before God from England to South and Central America and as you prayed for someone, hearing the words: ‘He’s all Your’s, Holy Spirit’, ‘She’s all Your’s’, and watching the Holy Spirit transform their lives. My greatest blessing came in 2004 when you and Laurie invited me on a cruise with your family. The first day onboard I went into the ship’s gym and standing there before me was the girl God had chosen to become my wife. We married the next year and are now the parents of a beautiful 2 year old son.

These memories will be with me forever. I stand with all of the many others who say; Charles Carrin shows the love of God as much as anyone I know!! Thank you so much for serving the Body of Christ for 60 years!!! I love you and honor you,”

Loren Wilson, Georgia, “It was 1948 when I first met you at a youth camp in Valdosta, Georgia. You were about 18 and I was 13. Soon after that I well remember that ‘young preacher boy’ in Miami being ordained to the ministry. It was quite a topic of conversation because of your young age. But Brother Fred Hartley, your pastor, was wise in seeing what God had placed in you that would bring fruit for many years to come. May I say that in a good way you were always a little different? You saw and felt things that others did not. There were occasions when you heard and heeded the Lord speaking while others did not even hear–and that was a long time before your baptism in the Spirit. I remember your telling one time how you were driving to meet someone when the Lord told you to pull over and wait for him and that he would soon come. Sure enough, he came by.

Your presence as pastor of Glazener Memorial Church in my hometown of Atlanta was an excitement and encouragement to many of us Primitive Baptists, especially the young people. I don’t remember when you left Atlanta but I think it was about 1970 when you came back to our Atlanta Church. And I remember that Wednesday night when our church phoned you in Florida with the message that we had just called you to be our pastor. You gave a very unusual response to the deacon who called. You said you were expecting the call and had stayed home from church that night to receive it. And you immediately accepted. You have no idea what that did for our little flock who were seated in that auditorium that night. ‘Signs and wonders’ are given to confirm the rhema word as well as the logos.

A few years later when the powerful ‘Charismatic’ renewal was sweeping our land you received a wonderful baptism in the Holy Spirit. But the best part of all was when in 1994 our church in Jacksonville, Florida, received a remarkable anointing of that same Spirit. I called you and asked if you could come up to Jax and help us. And come you did–coming many times, and you are still coming. You showed us from scripture and by example how the Holy Spirit ministers to God’s people, and how we can minister Him to each other ...”


MY YEARS IN A GLANCE

In 1947, I had a remarkable salvation experience in a little Primitive Baptist Church in Miami, Florida. On that day God came into my life in such a shattering way that I would never be the same. I quickly discovered that He, not me, would make the major decisions in my life. Even so, I did not anticipate that pastoral ministry was awaiting me. That announcement came early one morning in my senior year of High School. I was walking to the bus stop when a "vision" suddenly appeared before me. It was a living photo of myself preaching. The absolute certainty of its message was so terrifying that I froze in my tracks and began shaking. "I can't!," I said aloud, “No, Lord, please, I absolutely can't! Don’t make me do that!”

My ambition was to go to Central America as soon as I graduated from High School and become a botanist. I had already made contact with Dr. Charles Lancaster, Costa Rica’s leading botanical scientist. The two weeks that followed the vision were the most agonizing days I had ever known. At the end of that period I was in a state of mental collapse. God remained unrelenting. He would not change and in a short time I agreed to try. My surrender to the "call" was soon followed by a second life-changing vision in which God showed me He would supply all the help I needed.

My experience was secret; I told no one. In the early Spring I had a “word of knowledge” that I would preach my first sermon on Easter Sunday–one month away. That terrified me. Easter was the most important Sunday of the year. Nobody wanted to hear me. But the message was absolute, unchangeable. The month passed slowly and I grew more worried. I said nothing to my pastor and waited for him to approach me. For weeks that did not happen. Finally, on Thursday morning before Easter he came to my house, explained that the church believed God had called me to preach. They wanted to authenticate that call by “licensing” me to speak. If I agreed, the licensing would take place Easter Sunday morning and I would preach that night. I stared at him for a long time and said “no”. Fear overwhelmed me. After he left I felt as if my life, breath, everything, would be crushed out of my body. The night that followed was painfully long and I telephoned him early the next morning and submitted to the will of the church. Easter Sunday morning I was licensed and that evening, just as God had said, I preached my first sermon. My denomination taught nothing about visions or spiritual gifts. I could not have told you that my month-long message was a “word of knowledge”.

That summer I attended a Bible Conference in Indiana and on the way stopped in Atlanta, Georgia, were I visited Memorial Church. That Sunday was the concluding service of their summer revival. The pastor recognized me in the congregation and asked that I lead in prayer. Unknown to me, he had resigned the church and the congregation was earnestly seeking the Lord for a new shepherd. As I prayed, the Holy Spirit spoke a word of knowledge to four different women in the audience and said, "The young man praying is the one I have sent to be your next pastor." Without telling me what they had heard they arranged for me to return to Atlanta and preach for them.

When I went back God revealed with an incontestable word that I was to accept their call. In spite of my age and lack of experience, the church was willing to trust the Lord and walk by faith. My ministry and college career began at the same time. In spite of my mountainous inadequacies, we had eleven wonderful years together. In 1951 Laurie and I were married in that lovely building and it was here I baptized our daughter Cecile. Near the end of that pastorate I devoted two years to study at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Then, the Holy Spirit gave me another word of knowledge. He told me the name of the congregation where He was sending me. I knew where I was going five months before this next church knew who was coming. From there God brought us to Florida. At the end of this third pastorate I took a brief "sabbatical"–the only one of my career. We had no income and no savings–many meals consisted of a can of cheap salmon–but God’s provision was lavish. He moved us rent-free into an ocean-front estate in Gulf Stream, Florida. Today that house would command a selling price of $20,000,000. We had a private beach, pool, putting green, tennis court, rose garden, numerous amenities and no responsibilities. I devoted most of my time to writing but soon became eager to get back into full-time ministry. Early one morning the Holy Spirit gave me a new “word”. I was not to leave the house or grounds that day. The instruction was emphatic. About 8:15 in the evening I was in the living room looking at the ocean when the phone rang. Before I could move the Holy Spirit spoke again: "That is the Atlanta church calling. They want you to become their pastor. Tell them you'll go."

This eight-year pastorate in Atlanta was mixed with blessing and tragedy. In 1977 Laurie was in a horrendous automobile accident. Aspects of that wreck threw me into the most frenzied search for God I had ever known. Months later, after receiving hands-on ministry from a Spirit-filled inmate in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, I experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This encounter with Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8 was the most awesome-phenomenal-incredible experience of my life. There is no way to describe it–or its’ long-term effects.

Soon after that Laurie and I returned to Florida for a second ministry in Delray Beach. This time the Holy Spirit came in power. The church thrived, attendance exploded, I was happy, but the denomination was not. My teaching about spiritual gifts was rejected and my ordination cancelled. The fact that lives were being changed was not a concern to the denomination. There were times during that stress that I desperately wanted to leave Florida. God's instruction was an emphatic "No". Thankfully, I stayed and a new church, Grace Fellowship, was born. The denominational church soon disbanded and the property sold. This death was needless. Church fatalities occur because the Holy Spirit is shut out. Recently, at the invitation of the new owners of the property–a Baptist congregation–I returned and preached from my old pulpit. It was a happy day for them and me. “He who has begun a good work in us will perform it ...” Philippians 1:6.

Sixty years ago, in two life-changing visions the Holy Spirit assured me that His grace would supply my needs. He has been faithful to His word. In every major change I knew God's specific will for me. Not only so, but I fully expect to enjoy a Spirit-led, empowered ministry for the rest of my life. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I will know not the word of those who are puffed up but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:19-21. My identity is with the Kingdom. Many of you have asked about my future.

November 19th, this year, I will be 80 years old but I am more motivated now than I was at the beginning. I repeat: My identity is with the Kingdom of God. From the Kingdom comes the “power and the glory”.

Unless Jesus’ coming intervenes, on my 75th Anniversary I expect to be preaching the Kingdom message in “demonstration of the Spirit and power!” Join me! Charles

Grace Church, Our New Home After Leaving The Denomination



NO "SONS IN MINISTRY" MEETING IN 2010
I will not be conducting a Sons In Ministry meeting this year. Circumstances with many pastors make it impractical for them to attend. In the meantime, we pray, "Lord, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done!" Amen!

 

Charles Carrin