The Kingston Fire, New York Revival is still growing strong. If you want to find out more about what is going on, here is the link. to their calendar of events. What is awesome is that the Vineyard’s Pastor Vaughn Jarrold was in India this past week or so and the revival continued strong even in his absence. This revival is run by the Holy Spirit, not an individual pastor or leader. It is definitely a move of the Holy Spirit on the East Coast, one that many have been praying to happen for years. I urge you to come and give support to this move of God.
Saturday night I was able to attend when Steve Smith ministered. But before he ministered Pastor Vaughn spoke a bit about his trip to India, mid-way in his talk I realized I needed to be taking notes to share with you, so I will share what notes I have about what he taught – definitely a WORD IN SEASON for me, and I pray that it blesses you. I wish I had started taking notes sooner, won’t make that mistake again!
Pastor Vaughn began by sharing some about his trip to India, and how blessed it is to go out into the world and share the message of God. He also pointed out that the money we donate here in our country means so much to people in different countries, for a little of our money goes a long way in countries like India. He shared about a pastor in Orissa who has an orphanage that got destroyed by the locals, and this pastor was so thrilled when his congregation gave a donation of what would be the equivalent of $13 of our dollars – but for those Indians it represented sacrificial giving for they earn such small wages. Pastor Vaughn told his congregation that he took delight putting the equivalent of $613 US dollars in this pastor’s hands so that he had the complete funds to rebuild his orphanage. This pastor told Pastor Vaughn that “You need Orissa.” Pastor Vaughn has determined in his heart to go back to Orissa, even though it is a dangerous place for Christians, he and some of his congregation are going to go there and minister. What impressed Pastor Vaughn was how this man’s face glowed with the love of Jesus, even in the midst of terrible challenges and persecution, the love of Jesus was strong in this pastor.
Pastor Vaughn then talked about repentance and told us that we don’t repent from our sins to get saved, we repent toward God. There is a big difference in that. Our repentance is toward God and then God helps us to get free from our sins.
He then asked us, how do you take a bone away from a hungry dog? The dog is so hungry and won’t easily relinquish that dry bone. Pastor Vaughn said that we need to throw a steak to the dog, then the dog will let go of the bone and eat the steak.
Pastor Vaughn said blessings and life (steak) vs cursing and death (bone). Hmmm, what choice would you make? That’s how Christians get free. We Christians tend to chew on the bones of legalism and they keep us bound more than we realize. When we get the steak of real contact with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God, we can then let go of the bones of legalism and turn toward blessings and life.
He said that we began this process of cursing and death with Adam – Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Pastor Vaughn said that this passage made him think one day – Adam did not have a father and a mother. But the institution of marriage was established since Adam and Eve. It is the oldest institution in the world. Pastor Vaughn then talked about various characteristics that are important in a strong marriage.
Here is where I began to take notes in earnest:
Pastor Vaughn told us that no one has dominion over us, but that every problem in life is because someone wants to be in control. Before we got free from sin, we were slaves of sin. Now we are slaves of righteousness. We are still under the control of something – it is our choice what we want to control us – sin or God. The truth is that we want to find ourselves in the perfect will of God, for God’s purpose is to set us free. Free from our self-defeating controls, into God’s perfect freedom for us.
Pastor Vaughn gave us an illustration of how we are free no matter what our external circumstances look like. He invited one of his congregation members up and put this member’s head into an arm lock – where the person could not remove his head. Pastor Vaughn told us that this man knows that if he just waits it out at one point Pastor Vaughn will release his hold. But the man might be trapped for a time in the flesh, but Pastor Vaughn cannot control the spirit of the man and even though his head is trapped, his spirit is free.
Pastor Vaughn never had control over this man’s spirit. But then he shared that what controls our spirit is often our soul (mind, will, emotions). It is our soul that needs to get saved, and then as we permit our spirit to have more control over our lives we begin to get free from those soulish things of mind, will, and emotions.
YOU ARE A SERVANT TO WHATEVER YOU YIELD. Do you yield to your soul or to your spirit? The truth is that it is WE that have to yield. So many feel that it is somebody else that needs to let go of control, but really it is we that have to let go. We can be in situations looking for the other person to change and relinquish control, but no matter the situation the truth is that it is WE and WE alone that need to yield our control. NOBODY has dominion over our faith. No one can stop us from fulfilling the will of God in our life but ourselves. The Holy Spirit can’t take control unless you yield to the Holy Spirit.
So often when the Holy Spirit takes control we step out and do things that we ordinarily would not do, and sometimes it makes us feel stupid for we do things that we would not ordinarily do if we were in control. If we feel stupid – it means that we are more concerned about someone else’s opinion than God’s opinion.
Paul in Acts 26:12-18 speaks of his conversion: “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. (17) I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I nowb]’> who strengthens me.
Paul learned to be content no matter what state he was in, for he was IN CHRIST.
Then Pastor Vaughn spoke about Paul going to Macedonia. Acts 16:9-10 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Notice that when the Holy Spirit gave Paul the vision about the man of Macedonia, Paul IMMEDIATELY went. Pastor Vaughn pointed out that often when the Holy Spirit gives us a vision we want to lay out 6-7 fleeces, get the opinions of many leaders, seek confirmation, but we do not immediately do what God has told us to do.
Why can’t we yield to the Holy Spirit? By the time we finally decide to do something for God, we delay doing God’s will by not yielding to the Holy Spirit. We need to begin to learn how to do this in little things – for example, do we really need to debate raising our hands in worship? Or if asked to step forward to the front of the church to worship, and we resist? As we yield to the Holy Spirit, and the loving control God has for our lives we will begin to grow in trust and in the Spirit.
Pastor Vaughn mentioned the PET syndrome (something he taught the men of his church, he does not know what is similar for women).
P – Pride
E – Ego
T – Testosterone
Notice that at first Peter never left Jerusalem. He wanted to stay and preach to the Jews. It took Acts, Chapter 10 to change that. Peter had a vision of various unclean foods lowered in front of him and being instructed to rise and eat. Peter refused to do so until Acts 10:14-16 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
Peter was puzzling out what this vision could mean and then he received a visit from a servant from Cornelius, and then Peter traveled to Caesarea. He had never had the revelation until this time that the earth was the Lord’s.
So often Christians are stuck in a vision limited to where they are located - your community, your church, but you do not have a vision of the fact that we live in the WORLD, and that world is beyond our limited community.
Kingston is a microscope. But there is a big world out there needing God and God’s love. We need to expand our focus. Pastor Vaughn is telling his congregation that he wants their church to do more missions work and begin to reach out beyond the limited scope of just Kingston.
We are beginning in our country to begin to think of ourselves as poor, given the economic situation we are facing in our country. We are chewing on a financial bone, but God wants to throw us a steak. We are living lives as beggars choosing bones instead of trusting in God’s abundant provision. Don’t forget that God uses gold for blacktops. We need to not act like beggars holding onto our last Rupee. Trust in God.
Pastor Vaughn then went on to detail the many exciting revival events that will be occurring in the next few weeks. Please check out the link above to find dates and times in their calendar of events.
I was blessed so much by this teaching, and wanted to share it with you. I think that so much of our walk is really deciding who is in control, and slowly I am learning that by trusting God, who has my best interests at heart, and relinquishing control to God, that my life is more abundantly blessed. May your lives be blessed as well.
Heather
