T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE...

T’was the night before Pentecost and all through God’s House
All the people were praying, they were all crying out.
Expectancy hung in the heavenly air,
With assurance God’s Power soon would be there.

Have you ever asked yourself what the saints were thinking the night before Pentecost? They had just been through a major roller coaster ride with Jesus betrayed, beaten crucified and buried. Then on the third day rumors began to circulate that he was ALIVE. He then appeared over forty days to hundreds of people and then He ascended to heaven after telling them to wait in Jerusalem for Power.

They had no timeline and no specifics of how this would look. As far as they knew they could be waiting in Jerusalem for 10 days or 10 months. All they had was a PROMISE and that promise was enough.

Yet, I sometimes wonder, what would have happened if they had stopped praying on the night before Pentecost?

Golden Gate Outpouring began over fourteen weeks ago with a PROMISE. God spoke to me that if we would dedicate ourselves to seeking His Face and hosting His presence, that He would pour out His Spirit in our city and our region and give birth to a Revival Movement that would impact the nations. Throughout this time of waiting we have experienced a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit than I have seen in over thirty years of ministry in San Francisco. We have been joined by over a thousand different people and hundreds have experienced a sense of personal revival. We have witnessed scores of healings and deliverances. We have had many people give their lives to Jesus in our meetings and on the streets.

We are so grateful for all these wonderful blessings, yet the full promise remains unfulfilled. So we continue to wait in San Francisco for power and the FULLfillment of God’s promise to us. We encourage you to continue to stand with us for this outcome.

Consider making a commitment to come ONE NIGHT A WEEK for the next few months. We could use more participation on Thursday and Saturday nights. Let’s go for it!

PUZZLES AND PIECES: CELEBRATING KINGDOM DIVERSITY

One of my favorite holiday pastimes is doing jigsaw puzzles with my family. Every year, we average a half-dozen 1000 piece puzzles depicting everything from nature scenes to fantasy illustrations. Very few things are as rewarding to us than to fit the last few pieces into their places and see the full picture.

This reminds me of our journey over these last 12 weeks of outpouring. For over 80 nights now, we’ve been laying down different kinds of pieces into a massive puzzle. Some of these pieces have been put in place by everyone who’s been a part of GGO as the Holy Spirit leads us. Other pieces have been brought in by guest ministries from around the Body of Christ.

It’s a lot like a jigsaw puzzle. No one piece shows the whole picture. In fact, some pieces don’t look like they belong in the puzzle at all. Some seem to be the wrong shape or the wrong color, while others seem so fuzzy, you’d think they belonged in a different picture entirely. It’s only after they’re all fit together that you can see the unique contribution they made to the overall piece.

Some people have asked me why we’ve invited such a wide variety of guests from around the Body. We’ve had intercessors come such as Lou Engle and Cindy Jacobs, theologians like Jim Garlow, evangelistic strategists like Ed Silvoso and Chris Overstreet from Bethel Church. We’ve also enjoyed a wide range of prophetic ministers like Georgian Banov, Jill Austin and the Firestorm Teams. In fact, we’ve been blessed by over a dozen leaders with different backgrounds and emphases as they’ve joined us for the Golden Gate Outpouring. I don’t necessarily agree 100% with their theologies or methodologies, but I do agree fully with the Jesus they’re seeking to serve. More than this, I believe that each one of them has a piece of the GGO puzzle and when the final pieces are laid, the picture of Jesus will be complete.

As a holiday puzzle-doer, I would be remiss to allow my initial impression of any one piece to cause me to reject it entirely. In the same way, I encourage everyone involved with GGO to celebrate the diversity of the Kingdom of God. If you aren’t sure about the ideas or practices of any one minister, don’t let it bug you too much. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Embrace each piece of the puzzle, even if you’re not quite sure how it fits. God has promised us that He’s building a Revival Movement that will shake our region and bless the nations. Let’s continue to work together until each piece has found its place in the puzzle so the picture of Jesus can be fully revealed in the Bay Area.