Fire From Heaven

I first experienced fire coming down from heaven at a TD Jakes meeting. I felt I had been baptized in fire. 

This caused other fires. I preached the gospel in public school to my 3rd grade class I was teaching with all of them standing up to confess their faith in Christ. I laid bare the choice between the Bible and the state before my principal (she's a Christian) in public before a room full of district and city dignitaries. Later, the principal said this experience changed her life, but at the time she had the police escort me off campus. As a result of all this, a head pastor of a very large church in Los Angeles took me under his wing—he said I was like his son— but rejected me because he could not contain me. I said what I saw. Undiplomatically.

I clung to God’s word during that time like I never had. God has ordained a path for each believer to get through the sea of troubles that surround. There is only one way through and it’s by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony when we do not love our lives to the point of death.  

 Under the circumstances, I could only act as I had. This is what crazy people think and say. It’s like trying to do what is necessary to maintain or bring back equilibrium to life. The key to get through is to cling only to God’s word. I picture it as getting through the eye of a needle; the only thing that makes it through is the believer and his or her faith.

The battle was against thoughts that could destroy me. I chose to hold only to God’s word. This created or revealed the path through the hell I was experiencing. I preached the gospel on the streets of L.A. to gang members and drug addicts, homeless and destitute. I came through unscathed. 

[As a quick aside, my second experience with fire coming down from heaven was very different, which I may describe in another post. I'll just say that my first and second experiences may be compared an outer scorecard and an inner scorecard (reference Warren Buffet).]

So, what was going on with me? I never had the same experience again. All I can say was that it was like I was living in the end times in the book of Revelation. It was at this time I began to walk through unseen doors which is how the Lord led me in to a variety of churches to meet many pastors, the kind with their own entourage. For example, this is the time I met Jim Bakker after his release from prison (and his son), hung out with Matthew Barnett of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, and met many others you would have heard of. 

This I believe is how the Lord leads us in safe paths in these last days; only by walking with Christ will God open those doors we need opened to do His will and complete His purpose for us. 

Please don’t think I’m implying that all must or will have the same experience. We all, however, must cling to God’s word exclusively. It could be that I was such a jerk that I had to go through what I have while others who are already faithful don't have to. I can't say, but I do know that Christ says in Scripture that the call to the faithful is to remain so. Others, like me maybe, have to go through a more uncomfortable refining process. 

Disaster is the consequence of our own way of thinking (Jeremiah 6:19), the “fraud” of Jeremiah 6:13. Paul also calls fraud the thinking that what we do, our living up to holy rules, determines our salvation.

Salvation is always only by grace. 

The roaring seas (Jeremiah 6:20) are the enemies, the obstacles sent against those set in their own thinking and refuse to listen to what Jesus has to say to them. 

On the other hand, the voice of Messiah brings with it all we need to love and serve God with all our hearts. All good things come from Him from above, and His goodness to us is everlasting. 

Hallelujah, for His salvation is full of joy and glory!