Ministry Update: Fall-Winter 2025

We recently returned from a two-month mission trip to Europe where we ministered in three different countries. We are thankful for the opportunity to minister in Europe once again after having experienced a hiatus due to the pandemic, as well as some other factors, including our son Patrick getting married last year. 

 

Europe 

We ministered in the countries of England, Germany, and France, along with visiting some historical sites and other places along the way where we shot some videos on different aspects of Christian History.

Running Before We Hit the Ground 

The Lord was already at work while we were on our way to Europe. We had divine appointments with 2 different Uber drivers when our flights were rerouted by the airline. What looked like a hassle turned into divinely orchestrated opportunities of witnessing to, and praying for, two different drivers who had to get us to and from rerouted situations: Our first flight out of the OC was delayed messing up our connection, so the airline sent us up to LAX for a different flight and had a driver get us up there. 

We ended up sharing the Gospel with the driver and then praying for him on the way to LAX and when we landed in London, we had a driver who was from Kosovo. When we told him that we had been to Kosovo on a mission trip before—he was surprised since not many people go there—and we ended up witnessing to him and praying for him too! The Lord worked out the rerouting for good!

England 

We ministered in London at Ark of God Church with Pastor Daudet and the Holy Spirit’s presence was evident as both of us took turns preaching, and then as we prayed for people, the Lord brought an outpouring, with many experiencing a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, as well as having a few people receive and recommit themselves to Christ! 

The pastor himself also got deeply ministered to, and greatly encouraged—I felt led at the end of the message to share about how some of the leaders who ministered in the Argentine revival had to sow and sow and sow, as well as suffer with extremely small beginnings, (we know that drill too!) for many, many years and some for some decades, before the Lord brought forth a harvest—the pastor took to the microphone afterwards to share how much that had ministered to him and touched his life.

We were also blessed to receive some powerful prophetic words of encouragement ourselves from some of the prophetic people who were there at that particular meeting in London! Hallelujah!

 

Germany

Our time in Germany included continually ministering, regularly in some capacity, for around nine days straight. We ministered at two different Sunday services at Giessen International Church with Pastors Helmuth and Adriana as well as preaching at Frankfurt International Church with Pastors Tony and Sarah. We were also teaching at a number of different meetings during the week in Giessen, doing 6 meetings altogether, this along with meeting with different people, and sharing and praying with them. We also were able to get to visit some nearby historical sites that involved the Reformation and filmed some historical videos while there as well.

 

The Holy Spirit moved powerfully as we ministered in each and every meeting bringing many into a fresh experience and encounter with God, filling, empowering, renewing, and healing, as well as having some who rededicated themselves to Christ or received Christ for the first time, which included a young man who had come fairly recently from Iran that happened to get unexpectedly and radically touched by God’s power and was overcome by the presence of the Lord and he ended up giving his life to Christ! Hallelujah! We received numerous testimonies from other people of how their hearts were filled, healed, transformed, and renewed!

 

The Church in Giessen is next to an International University, so many of those coming are new to the church and many are fairly new believers. A youth meeting where we ministered and led some worship at, had a number of testimonies come forth about the Lord bringing a deep infilling and healing to many hearts. In fact, one young lady shared how she got a revelation from the Holy Spirit that she needed to forgive her father who had been absent from her life…she had never thought of this before…which brought forth a release of freedom! Praise the Lord! There was also a young French lady who had just arrived there in town right as we began to minister that got powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit when we prayed for her! Glory!

 

It was also a blessing to share in some meetings about Martin Luther and The Reformation, especially while in the land of The Reformation. This included sharing how Martin Luther experienced and then taught about God’s grace so profoundly, as well as saying “that we need to be continually baptized in the Holy Spirit—the rest of our lives—so we don’t get pulled back into the world or unbelief.” (Quote from Martin Luther.) We had numerous people tell us they were blessed and encouraged, saying they don’t hear about this subject as much as you’d expect in Germany. Back in 2017 when we were in Wittenberg, Germany for the 500-year anniversary of The Reformation, we got the sense that the Holy Spirit was stirring up something in our hearts in regard to Germany. It’s a blessing to have begun to experience the revelation the Lord was giving us back then.

 

France 

 

The Lord’s power was demonstrated in our weakness in France in the towns of Tours and Marcon. We had an exceptionally powerful move of the Holy Spirit while ministering in Tours, where we ministered in two different church services. The Holy Spirit filled, empowered, renewed, and brought some healing too at both Ciel Ouvert with Pastor Alpha and CDLR with Pastors Pete and Gwyneth. 

 

A powerful outpouring spontaneously took place on some kids in the morning church service. There were about 8 kids aged about 6-13 that were touched mightily by the Holy Spirit with tears streaming down their faces and hands lifted as they were overcome by the Lord’s presence! It was a glorious demonstration of the verse “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9.

 

We had experienced a lot of Spiritual Warfare coming into France and I got almost no sleep the night before preaching in two different meetings, along with interpretation challenges in the early meeting. I was feeling the weakness of the physical body …. When we were just praying for some people after the message and then out of nowhere a kid by us started getting touched by the Holy Spirit. I began specifically praying for him and it just accelerated, then other kids came up and we started praying for them and it just began to multiply and eventually turned into a powerful outpouring on the kids as more came up and joined in and quite a number got powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

We had a powerful move of the Holy Spirit in the later meeting in the other church too! We know it is all by the grace of God whose power is perfected in our weakness… I was tired and laden down from the lack of sleep but the Lord went above and beyond in our weakest moment, all by His grace and power! Lonnie Frisbee used to experience children getting touched by the Holy Spirit in some meetings now and then. He talked about what a miraculous thing it is; we have been stoked to experience it now and then too! It seems to happen sometimes when you least expect it!

 

Speaking of Lonnie Frisbee, we shared later in the week in Marcon, ministering with the fellowship pastored there by the Gotte’s, sharing about the Jesus People Revival and Lonnie Frisbee. We had a blessed prayer time afterwards with the Holy Spirit moving amongst us and touching and filling and ministering to most of those who came as we prayed with the people some of whom were actually touched by that Jesus People Revival back in the day themselves! 

 

We had a blessed time of fellowship with the Gotte’s afterwards sharing about how the Holy Spirit has been leading us lately and brought us back to Europe and kept it on our radar screen even when we didn’t get a chance to go there for a little while!

 

Spiritual Warfare - Victories in the Midst of Battles

 

We experienced some spiritual warfare as we ministered and traveled which happens when the Lord is working and moving. However, the Lord turned difficult situations into victories more than once. 

 

When we first flew into France after ministering in England, we had a difficult flight on a rough low budget airline. Blank expressions were the usual response to the most basic questions! Then we had to run about two miles to get to the boarding gate, after enduring miles of road works and traffic on the way to the airport in England and had not had a chance to get food nor had eaten much that day.  

 

We landed in France starved… only to find everything closed. Our stomachs were growling but nothing was available. We checked into the place we were staying and nothing was available there either. We figured it was going to be a long hungry night… then the heater broke in our room. 

 

We called the front desk to have it fixed. The guy they sent asked if we needed anything else and we asked if there was any way to get something to eat. He said, No, everything is closed. But then he thought for a moment and said, Well, let me actually check something out for you and come back. He came back with some food he was able to wrestle up, yay! The wild thing was he said, This is my gift to you, there is no charge. “Every good gift comes from above…” Friends who live in France said that this is extremely unusual in itself, but especially there in France! It was clearly a sign of the Lord’s care and provision in the midst of difficulty! Hallelujah!

 

It happened again when we drove into France from Germany after ministering. We needed to stay somewhere as it was too far to our destination.  We booked a place but when we arrived the door to get into the hotel was locked… we tried and tried calling the number provided but got no answer. We weren’t sure what to do other than pray. After about 40 minutes stuck outside praying in the cold a couple showed up who were staying there and let us in the locked front door, then they also helped us find the little package for our reservation that was sitting right there with the key to the room… it was a mystery what had happened to the hotel manager…? 

 

The next morning, the manager of the hotel showed up and asked why we didn’t call her… we explained that we tried calling the number numerous times… she looked at the number on our phone and it was the right number. She said she always comes over right away when late arrivals come and call her and she lets them in… she said this was a complete mystery that she for sure should have gotten the calls… there was no logical explanation as to why she didn’t get any of our calls? We knew it was spiritual warfare hitting when we were tired and right in between ministering in Germany and France.

 

The Lord turned it around for a blessing, though, as she felt bad that we had to wait out in the cold and gave us a free breakfast… which was pretty expensive … and was another little miracle! 

We’ve had incidents in hotels in the past in France where they did absolutely nothing in response to a problem so we were glad how the Lord intervened and turned these things around for good.

 

A Little R & R

 

Constantly moving and sleeping in unfamiliar conditions, along with long hours traveling, along with the spiritual warfare that inevitably hits, taxes the body and soul. We have learned from those who went before us to take breaks and get some R & R to avoid burning out. We got a chance to get down to the coast for a few days to get in a few activities including a little bit of surfing! Taking time to get refreshed, renews the body and soul. It also opens doors at times to witness and share Christ with people who may never darken the door of a church.

 

New Videos 

 

We were able to shoot, edit, and upload a couple videos even as we traveled including on the subjects of “Martin Luther at the Wartburg Castle” and one on location in Plymouth, England on “The Mayflower Pilgrims” who made the first permanent Colony in the New World. Check them out on YouTube at the Grace World Mission page: www.youtube.com/graceworldmission

 

Quick Review

 

We were also blessed to minister in Colorado, Salinas, San Diego, and Orange County, amongst other places last year, as well as doing a number of online meetings, along with experiencing numerous divine appointments. You can read more about those blessed ministry times and moments here:

https://gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2024/07/ministry-update-spring-summer-2024.html

 

We always appreciate all your prayers and support.

Blessings to you in Jesus’ Name!

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

 

 

Grace World Mission—

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/graceworldmission 

Donate online: www.graceworldmission.org/contact_us.htm

Merry Christmas 2024

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, that will be for all the people.”    Luke 2:10

This was the message to the humble Shepherds out in the fields when Christ was born. 

 

The first thing to notice is that the angel tells them to not be afraid. There are over a hundred verses in the Bible telling us not to fear. The Gospel message is one of life and peace to those who receive it, and not one of dread, nor fear, nor terror.

 

Furthermore, the message is one of good news and of great joy. Christ our Savior came to bear our sins and pay the price, once for all, that we might have eternal life. This is indeed good news for He took on our burden, paid fully for our sin, and ransomed us at the cross on Calvary! Through faith in Christ by His amazing grace we have life everlasting and have life in the here and now more abundantly.

We pray that you may experience that abundance of Christ’s joy, peace, and life this Christmas. 

 

Much love and blessings!

Bryan and Mercedes

 

P.S. We just returned from a two-month mission trip in Europe and will have a full update in the New Year. Above are a few pictures from places in and nearby where we ministered, as well as a couple of frame grabs from our most recent videos that we filmed while on the trip. You can watch the videos at our Grace World Mission page on YouTube. 

The Mayflower Pilgrims

Mayflower Pilgrims

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/ehXwF_eXHqY

We have been ministering in Europe recently and one of the places where we ministered was in England. We also had a chance to visit the coast before our next ministry commitments in Germany and France. 

We were blessed to stop by the coastal town of Plymouth, made famous because it was from that very place that the Pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower in 1620 to the New World.

After a harrowing journey of several weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean, where they experienced heavy storms and horrible seasickness, they finally made landfall off the coast of Cape Cod in a place they named Plymouth, after the town where they had sailed from in England.

It was a rough journey for those on board, most of who were believers influenced by the Reformation, known as Puritans. Many of this particular group of Puritans were Separatist Puritans who didn’t feel reform could be achieved from within the establishment Church.

They were greatly influenced by Puritan preachers in England who were emphasizing the Great Commission and thus felt the need to help spread and establish the Gospel of Christ in other parts of the world, particularly in the New World.

Because of this, they were willing to endure the suffering that came with the journey and life in the New World, and thus sustained in this first permanent colony. Other colonies had been attempted before them, such as Jamestown, but most people froze or starved to death and those previous colonies fell apart. 

The Mayflower Pilgrims’ Colony became the first permanent colony and thus the reason they are looked back upon as important spiritual pioneers of what would become America. 

These were Christian believers who, influenced by the Reformation, sought to extend the Gospel into the New World, as well as the freedom to worship as they desired. Furthermore, they had good relations with the Native People for many decades and many scholars say that this lasted for at least 80 years. 

These first Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower declared in their Compact that they had undertaken this journey, “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith.”

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, let us be thankful for the willingness and sacrifice of these believers to risk their very lives in order to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom, thus laying a rich spiritual foundation that later helped give birth to the United States of America. 

Other videos on this topic:

• Plymouth's Pilgrims and their Christian Faith
• Martin Luther and the Reformation
• The Great Awakening 
• The Reformation and Revival and America's Roots

Ministering in the Land of the Reformation

Luther at the Wartburg

Video link: https://youtu.be/rOVMh-VSSMU

Happy Reformation Day!

October 31 is the Anniversary of the Reformation, and it just so happens that we have been ministering here in Germany this past week and have had a blessed time as the Holy Spirit has been moving powerfully during the meetings we’ve been doing. (We have a little update at the end of this.)

It has also been a blessing to be sharing in some of our messages about Martin Luther and the Reformation, in the very land where the Reformation actually began and took place. Luther had an amazing encounter with the grace of God that is so central to the message of the Gospel. God’s grace is life-changing and it is inspiring to see how it worked through history. Quite a few people here in Germany have been coming up to us and telling us how they don’t hear about this subject often enough.

 

We got to visit some towns and cities along the way with connections to Martin Luther and the Reformation that are listed below with some interesting facts about them. (If you’d like to get a basic overview of the Reformation, click here.)

 

The Wartburg Castle: This is where Luther was hidden after the Diet of Worms, keeping him alive from Catholic assassins out seeking to take his life. After the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther was declared a heretic, and it was open season on Luther-hunting for anyone who would want to take him out. Luther’s Elector Prince “Frederik the Wise” had come into the fold and was convinced that Luther was doing nothing wrong but rather was just teaching the truth from the New Testament. He thus arranged to have Luther kidnapped and hidden in the Wartburg Castle to be kept alive and to help further the Reformation. Though he experienced serious spiritual warfare, his time at the Wartburg ended up being providential, as it was there that Luther translated the New Testament into the common German tongue from the original Greek language. This had a huge impact, as it gave people direct access to the Word of God, it furthered the Reformation, and it also codified the German language into a comprehensive whole, promoting literacy and education in the general population. Check out our new short video filmed on location at the Wartburg:

 

Eisenach: Right near the Warburg is the town of Eisenach where Luther spent his youth and attended school. There is a Martin Luther Museum as well as a Johann Sebastian Bach Museum because he lived there too. Bach was heavily influenced by the Reformation and the life story of Martin Luther. (Check out this short video we made on Luther and Bach.)

 

Heidelberg: After Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses, he gave a disputation at Heidelberg, where he explained and expounded on the doctrine of justification by faith through grace alone in the New Testament. Remarkedly, he said that he must rely on the Holy Spirit completely to lead him into all truth so as to be able to teach this effectively and correctly. Hearing his clear biblical teachings won him followers there, including Martin Bucer who became a stalwart leader of the Reformation and became pastor of the Reformed Church in Strasbourg. 

Strasbourg: This city used to be part of Germany and today it is in France. It was a free city and a refuge for many persecuted Protestants. The Reformation in France amongst the Huguenots had heavy persecution break out against it, and many fled to safety to Strasbourg, amongst other places. Amongst those fleeing who came to Strasbourg was a theologian named John Calvin, who Martin Bucer would go on to mentor. Calvin would move on to Geneva from there.

 

Marburg: Roughly 20 minutes away from where we were ministering in the town of Giessen is the town of Marburg, Germany. It’s connected to the Reformation through the Marburg Colloquy, which was when a group of the main Reformers was asked by the Landgrave Phillip to join together for discussions on the Reformation including Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and Martin Bucer.

 

Here's a little update on our recent ministry in Germany:

We ministered at two different church services this past Sunday in Giessen and Frankfurt, as well as preaching the Sunday before that in Giessen also. We have also been teaching at a number of different meetings during the week in Giessen, doing six meetings altogether. The Holy Spirit has been bringing many into a fresh experience and encounter with God, filling, renewing, empowering, healing, as well as having some who rededicated themselves to Christ and received Christ for the first time, including a young man who was from Iran that got radically touched by God’s power and was overcome and gave his life to Christ! Hallelujah!

 

Praise the Lord, it’s been a blessing to see the Lord moving like this and also get to experience these Reformation places!

Ministry Update: Spring-Summer 2024

We have been blessed to experience the Holy Spirit moving amongst us as we have been ministering. Here are a few highlights from what the Lord has been doing: 

 

Salinas

 

We ministered recently up near the Bay Area in the city of Salinas at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Salinas is a very historic town with deep roots in California’s development and is the home of writer John Steinbeck as well as one of the main centers of farming and agriculture for the state.

 

We had a blessed time ministering together at the Vineyard Church with our friend Dave who was baptized in the Holy Spirit some years ago through our ministry when we were ministering in Hawaii. Dave had a dream later on, about us coming up to minister in Salinas afterwards. We have been going there off and on since then and have been blessed to see many get filled, set free and healed over the years through the power of God. 

 

In this recent meeting at the Vineyard, we were already experiencing the Lord’s presence moving amongst us after preaching and sharing but then it turned into a more radical ministry time when a prophecy came forth about the Lord bringing a fresh outpouring… I called everyone forward and pressed into the word and the fire of God just poured out with a fresh empowering with many ending up on the floor receiving for some time, praise the Lord! 

 

We also had a divine appointment later on where we ended up ministering to a friend of Dave’s whom the Lord touched powerfully as we prayed for him, he had recently yielded to Christ after experiencing some trials. The Lord ministered to him as we prayed for him and was renewed and encouraged. 

 

We have had some ups and downs over the years with some leaders in that area who were less than excited about the work of the Holy Spirit happening through us. Nevertheless, on this trip Dave took us to visit a pastor with whom we had preached at his church long ago, which back at that time was not so open to the work of the Holy Spirit... However, the pastor has come around all these years later and is preaching the same message at his church now that we preached back then … sometimes you plant a seed thinking nothing came of it… yet it sprouts and grows all these years later, thank you Jesus!

 

It was also a blessing while in the area to get out to take in some of the awesome views out on the nearby Monterey Peninsula.

 

Orange County

 

We were blessed to join the newlyweds Patrick and Emily at a small fellowship where they lead worship in Orange County doing the worship with them as well praying for some people at the meeting when they were sharing the message together that evening. We prayed and ministered to some different people who got ministered to by the Lord’s power and it turned out that one of the people we ended up praying for was an old friend from the Anaheim Vineyard from years back. Was an awesome time praying for her as well as catching up after all these years. She wrote us later to tell us about how powerfully and personally she was deeply ministered to when we prayed for her, thank you Lord!

 

Patrick and Emily also joined us as we ministered in Orange County at a Hispanic service. We had a powerful move of the Holy Spirit at Centro Cristiano Esperanza after preaching on the righteousness that God credits to us by faith in Christ and how He gives us the Holy Spirit freely through faith by grace as well! We were glad to have Patrick and Emily there helping us pray for people! We had an awesome outpouring of the Holy Spirit that touched many who were there, including a couple of young girls who were about 10 to 11 years old that were filled very powerfully with the Holy Spirit with many manifestations of God’s power while tears streamed down their little faces! Many others who were there were also filled, empowered, and refreshed by the Lord’s presence, as well as a couple of people who also surrendered their hearts to Christ! Hallelujah!

 

Online: Meri’s Meeting on St Patrick & Lonnie Frisbee 

 

We ministered at an online meeting with our friend Meri whose Zoom meetings have grown to be quite sizable with many people online from different parts of the country. 

 

We shared about St Patrick and his evangelistic ministry in Ireland where he preached the Gospel as a missionary, having returned to Ireland due to a vision from the Lord, after being held captive there previously as a slave after he was taken by force from Roman Britain as a teenager. The Lord worked through his situation and led him to come back to Ireland bringing the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

You can check out our video that has more of the story of the Real St Patrick at the Grace World Mission page on YouTube. We also shared about Lonnie Frisbee and what is called “incarnational missionary outreach” which is a missiology term to describe how, by having the same culture, clothing, style, etc., Lonnie Frisbee was able to relate and reach out to the hippies effectively during the Jesus People Revival, which was recently portrayed in the Jesus Revolution film. 

You can check out some of our videos that have more of that story on our channel: www.youtube.com/graceworldmission as well as all of the other videos we mention in this update.

 

Speaking of Lonnie Frisbee, we’ve been involved in some different Home Meetings in different areas over the years, sometimes called Prayer Fests, sometimes not official Prayer Fests but doing the same thing—which is gathering some people together to pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit—amongst other things. We had an especially blessed home meeting in Carlsbad recently hosted by our friend Lauren, the Holy Spirit unexpectedly showed up in the early part of the meeting! We were just beginning…just talking with some of the people there about Lonnie Frisbee and the Mother’s Day Outpouring when the Holy Spirit took over and began moving way before we expected and we spent the rest of the night praying for each other as the Lord moved by the power of His Spirit! It was a powerfully renewing time! We have a piece we did on Lonnie Frisbee and the Mother’s Day Outpouring that you can check out on our Grace Notes blog.

 

Colorado and More Encounters Via St Patrick’s Day

 

Speaking of St Patrick, we had a wild divine appointment and encounter as we stepped out in faith recently. I was discerning that the Lord was leading us to head out to Colorado. However, we had nothing planned nor set up ministry-wise, but we felt the Holy Spirit leading us out that way for something of that nature…so we loaded up our vehicle and started driving out in that direction, making some stops on the way. 

 

One of the places we felt led to stop through on the way was Death Valley. There, we encountered an unusual prophetic sign at Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Badwater is an ancient dried-up lakebed. However, it was filled with water at that time when we stopped there! Hurricane Hilary (a Cat. 4 hurricane) came ashore last year in Southern California as a Tropical Storm and then stalled over Death Valley filling up the Badwater Basin with water while wreaking havoc on the national park which had to close for 3 months afterwards. While we were there and taking in the unusual phenomenon of this ancient dried-up lakebed filled with water at that time, the Lord gave me this Scripture:  Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs up, Do you not know it? Indeed, I put a way in the wilderness, In a desolate place—floods. Isaiah 43:19 (Literal Translation) You can check out a video about this visit  on our YouTube page.

 

So, we ventured on after that, buoyed by that sign from the Lord—it's not always easy stepping out on faith when you don’t know what the plan is. We continued on towards Colorado, which is quite a long drive, and as we crossed the border into Colorado, we got a phone call from a friend we have ministered with over the years, inviting us to come to his church shortly after that and minister. We let him know, Hey, we're already on our way.

 

We ended up ministering on their special “Mission Sunday Service” which also happened to be on Saint Patrick's Day! The Lord had a plan…we just had to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow! We shared about the missionary work of the real St. Patrick and also about how the Holy Spirit works in empowering us as believers to make us witnesses for Christ. There was a group of young men who were there who were baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit with some very powerful manifestations and gifts of the Holy Spirit flowing forth. We also ministered while we were in Colorado at the YWAM base in Denver with our friend Rosko. We shared about some of our own missionary adventures and then moved into equipping young people for an upcoming missionary trip praying over them for the empowering of the Holy Spirit as well.

 

We had some divine appointments in the mountains while we were skiing afterwards where we ended up using the story of the real St Patrick as a bridge to share the Gospel with some different people. One of those situations was quite remarkable: After a long day in the mountains where we both skied and rode bikes afterwards, we were quite hungry…to put it mildly…but places to eat were already closed when we got back, so we were praying what to do. We stopped at a bench to take a breather in this little mountain village and we found a boxed-up package of food from an Irish restaurant nearby. This food had been obviously forgotten. We waited quite a while and no one was around… the village had become quite a ghost town at this hour. We prayed and waited and got the confirmation that “the Lord had provided.” The order had not been touched nor had been opened up. After waiting for some time and realizing no one was ever coming back for it, we finally had ourselves a nice Irish dinner …divinely provided.

 

Then the next day we had some leftover Irish Stew from that food and we were beginning to eat some in a little hotel we we're staying in. A service worker there was quite helpful in assisting us with getting it heated up and even giving us some bread to go with it. We ended up witnessing to her and once again using Saint Patrick as a bridge to share the Gospel and it turned out—that of all the wild things happening with all this already—that her name was Patricia! Wow! So, we were witnessing to her using St Patrick as a bridge for sharing the Gospel while eating supernaturally provided Irish Stew while witnessing to a person with that same namesake! Wow again! We prayed for her and the Lord touched her heart! Along with experiencing a unique divine appointment and a unique form of provision, amongst other things, the Lord was really putting an exclamation point on the way the story of the real Saint Patrick can be used as a bridge in sharing the Gospel!

 

Holy Ghost Ski Stories 

 

We have recently completed some new videos. One in particular shares some more wild “Holy Ghost Ski Stories” that we’ve experienced in the mountains where we have had divine appointments and encounters, including leading people to the Lord, and praying for others who were radically touched by the Lord! 

 

Check out this video as well as other new videos like “The Holy Spirit’s leading towards ministry in Canada” on our YouTube page.

 

Anniversary and Beyond 

 

We are also thankful to be celebrating 32 years of marriage, having just had our anniversary. It was also just a year ago that our son Patrick got married, so we have a lot to be thankful for!

 

The Lord has continued to do a profound and deep work of healing and restoration in our lives—passing milestones often brings up things from the past—not always easy to confront things you grew up with that caused pain but praise God, the Lord has the healing balm in His merciful hands that He pours out through the Holy Spirit, hallelujah!

 

Historical Perspective 

 

There has been a systematic indoctrination going on in many of our nation’s campuses for a long time… Decades ago I experienced the extreme bias in secular universities of leftist professors who don’t teach but rather try and indoctrinate, and things have only become worse with this these days.

 

What a difference when I went to Fuller Theological Seminary, where actual learning was encouraged along with dialogue. I didn’t have to agree with every last thing or else have the professors attempt a public humiliation…There was allowance for freedom in thought and actual learning. While there, I found that there was also access to a wide range of resources they had to offer in their huge library, especially on historical topics.

 

We have been working to put those insights into action and inform and teach on the rich Christian History that led up to and involved so much of Western history, as well as America’s founding, which we have garnered through our own studies as well as during our Christian educational backgrounds.

 

This is something that has by and large been omitted from a lot of the teaching going on in many public schools these days. Moreover, we have also brought a unique “Spirit-filled” perspective to the topics, which is not normally found when these topics are taught or shared.

 

We have a wide variety of subjects ranging from the Reformation to revivals, to historical ministers and missionaries, and more. Videos and audio programs can be accessed on: YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes, and other services, as well as music we’ve produced on: Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and YouTube, as well as books that have had stories from our ministry published in them listed on our web page at www.graceworldmission.org

 

We greatly appreciate your prayers and support as we work to do our part to share the blessings we’ve experienced through our rich Christian heritage, as well as minister the fullness of the Kingdom of God to others.

 

Many blessings to you and may the Lord pour back to you pressed down, shaken together, and running over!

 

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/graceworldmission

Happy Easter: He Is Risen!

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/lnRtYkUfdaI?si=lntFiJFMIHwZQ-7s

Praise God! Jesus died on the cross and rose again victorious over sin and death! "God credits righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:23-25 NIV) He died to give us eternal life through simply believing upon Him as our Savior and Lord and He also gives us his Holy Spirit freely! 

Road Adventures: Signs, Wonders and Resurrection

We were venturing out on the road recently, and just headed out seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit. We knew that the Lord had something He was leading us to… but we weren’t sure what yet. On the way, after being on the road for a bit and stopping for some adventures, with nothing set up, the Lord suddenly opened the door to minister in Colorado, which we responded with: “Well, we are in range to make it over there so we will be there!”

 

We had a powerful move of the Holy Spirit in Colorado Springs at Iglesia Arbol de Vida on Missionary Sunday which we just happened to be there on that date—where we shared about some historical missionaries and we also had a bunch of teenagers, as well as others, getting filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit! Then in Denver at the YWAM Base, we shared about some of our own missionary adventures and prayed over those getting ready to depart on a mission trip themselves, all of it planned by the Holy Spirit…we just had to follow the Lord’s plan as it unfolded!

 

One of the adventures we felt led to take on the way was to go through Death Valley.

 

Death Valley Days

 

Death Valley is the lowest point in North America, as well as having the hottest recorded temperature on earth, and as we went through, we came upon an unusual phenomenon there at a place called Badwater Basin: This ancient dry basin, once a lake in ages past, was presently filled with water!

 

As we pondered this highly unusual phenomenon, the Holy Spirit fell on me with this verse: “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19) And the Literal International Translation for this same verse reads: “Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs up, Do you not know it? Indeed, I put a way in a wilderness, In a desolate place—floods.”

 

Badwater Basin filled with water!

The reason behind this unusual occurrence was due to another rare event that took place some months back: when the first tropical storm to land in Southern California in 84 years, the remnants of Hurricane Hilary—originally a category 4 Hurricane—came ashore in Southern California. After dumping a truckload of rain in Southern California, the tropical storm blew out into the desert and stalled over Death Valley, dumping a whole year’s worth of rain in just one day. Death Valley was heavily flooded, and many parts experienced a lot of damage, causing it to be closed for repairs for months afterward, the longest closure in its history.

 

It was wild to see such a dry desert place like Badwater filled with all that water! In fact, we have visited here together a number of times over the years, and it has always been 100 percent bone dry… never even so much as a drop in it…it was so surreal to see it full of water! We felt it was a sign from the Lord of what His plans are to come, for His word declares:

 

“This is what God says will happen in the last days:I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.Your young men will see visions.Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women,I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth below…  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:16-21

 

We were blessed to be friends as well as be mentored by two people who were used to reach unlikely groups that many saw as resistant: one was Harald Bredesen who led many people, such as mainline believers who had formerly rejected and resisted the work of the Holy Spirit, into the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as well as lead many people to Christ. The other one was Lonnie Frisbee, who was also used by God to reach an unlikely group, far-out hippies, who most of society, as well as the body of Christ, had written off, and he led them into salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit as well. 

 

The Water of Life

 

There is an implication in the above-mentioned verse from Acts 2:16-21 that as the days become more last, we shall see more of the work of the Holy Spirit! Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as living water, we cannot live without water in the natural, and we need the living water in our spiritual lives as well.

 

When Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again, He made the way for our salvation, as well as for His Spirit to be in and with us. His disciples were indwelt with the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) right after His resurrection, and all who receive Christ are also automatically indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19). Even though His disciples were indwelt, they also needed the empowering of the Holy Spirit. This took place on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out in power.

 

Billy Graham, one of America's greatest evangelists, said we need to understand that Paul made a command in Ephesians 5:17 that we are to seek to be regularly filled with the Holy Spirit, on an ongoing basis. The Reformer Martin Luther also said: “You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit for the rest of your life, on an ongoing basis, lest we fall back to the world and unbelief.” We need to be like the wise virgins who kept their lamps full of oil and burning. Christ holds out an open offer to freely receive of His Spirit, all we have to do is ask.

 

The Cross Has Made the Way

 

Jesus went to the cross and paid the price for our redemption, a price I could not pay, one you could not pay, He paid it once for all! He also gives the Holy Spirit freely just as he gives salvation freely. There is, however, a barrier that must be overcome in the human mind and human way of thinking. Everything has to be paid for in this fallen world: you have to pay for gasoline, you gotta pay for your car, gotta pay your bills, gotta pay this and that and the other thing, pay pay pay pay! However, God gives us salvation and His blessings freely. 

 

This is thus something that is antithetical to the human mind and thus the word of God must be dwelt upon to let the Holy Spirit bring revelation so we can grasp this truth. Human teaching that does not line up with the Word of God and His grace only muddies the water and makes it difficult for people to receive. Trying to earn His blessings often becomes a barrier to being able to freely receive.

 

No matter how good a life one might live, nor how many good works one might do, no matter how much one may fast, or pray, or seek to do good works… it can never be sufficient in itself nor supersede the work Christ has already done for us. There is only one sacrifice that is sufficient, and Jesus made it for us when He, as God's spotless, unblemished, lamb of God, who was without sin or stain, laid his life down freely for us on the cross, to redeem us. Jesus went to the cross and died for us because we cannot do it for ourselves; we cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps or be good enough, and we can never do enough good works. We are sinners who need a redeemer and redemption. 

 

Praise God Jesus is the redeemer who wrought that redemption on the cross, and through simple faith in Him alone He freely gives us that redemption, as well as by that same grace gives us His blessings.

 

The Bible says: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” Romans 8:32. God, in offering up His own Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, has already given us the best. Thus, by that same grace, He will give us His blessings when we ask in faith and humbly rely on His grace.

 

Understanding Christ’s Payment and Redemption 

 

Paul in his most systematic and comprehensive epistle, lays out clearly in Romans 3:21 – 25 Christ’s payment for us:

 

“But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe. In fact, there is no difference,  because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

 

Righteousness only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. 

The Bible says righteousness is credited to us when we believe upon and receive Christ. We cannot create a righteousness of our own to recommend ourselves to God as justification. 

God justifies us Himself through the sacrifice of His son on the cross and through faith in that sacrifice and receiving it by grace. Jesus offered himself up as God's once for all sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

 

It is apart from the law: Paul uses the law and works often interchangeably, and is saying no attempts to keep the law on your own, nor seeking to be without sin on one’s own terms, can ever suffice, we must look to Christ alone as our redemption.

 

Paul goes on to say “all have sinned” and as he states earlier in Romans 3:10: “There is no one righteous, no not even one.”  One cannot make themselves righteous through their works, law-keeping, prayers or fasting. All have sinned therefore they must find redemption outside of themselves. As Paul, a man who was a Pharisee and religious person, yet whose heart was dark, realized when he encountered Christ: all his religious works and religiosity were a pile of dung and worthless (Philippians 3:1-9).

 

Paul is emphatic in his teaching: “It is by grace we are saved, through faith, it is the gift of God, not by our works, so no one can boast!” Ephesians 2:8-10

 

It is by grace, and grace alone, meaning unmerited favor is given us through faith, thus it is not by our works, not by our striving, nor our good lives, but by God’s grace through Christ’s redemption are we saved and by that alone. We are called to do good works of course as believers, but those good works do not merit salvation, they should be a result of knowing and walking with the Lord and being led by His Spirit.

 

The Subtle Deception of Familiarity 

 

Some will no doubt say: Well, I'm familiar with all this, this is nothing new. And in their zeal to find some fringe new secret revelation, they go off into the weeds and soon they don't see the forest for the trees. As Luther declared: We can never know, understand, teach enough, preach enough, on this great truth of Christ’s great redemption for us. Its depths can never be fully mined. 

 

We must therefore as the Scripture says: Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And let his Word and his Spirit continually open our eyes more clearly unto the magnificence of all He has done for us through His death and resurrection.

 

The Holy Spirit and God’s Peace

 

Romans 5 says: Now that we understand this justification that comes by faith through grace, we have peace with God. Though we may have trials, tribulations, difficulties and spiritual warfare in this life, we must understand that we have a relationship with God that is solid, secure, and nothing can separate us if we are in Christ. 

 

Peace with God is the longing of every human heart: Though people may not understand it, it is what they are longing for, it is what the heart seeks. Praise God, we have it through Jesus Christ, who paid the full price when He died on the cross for us and rose again to give us life. Not only that, but Romans 5 goes on to say that He gives us the Holy Spirit, and it is in the infinitive form when he says “gives” meaning He has, He does, He will! We need to learn to live in and walk in the Spirit. The Scripture declares that the Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing.

 

Times of Refreshing

 

There are epochs in history where the Holy Spirit is poured out corporately in great measure. Personally you can always have as much as you want,  all you need to do is ask and believe and receive: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13) In these corporate outpourings, however, there is typically a heightened understanding of the great redemption of Christ, His work on the cross, and the righteousness that comes by faith. This is something that has been altogether missing in many modern attempts people have had to whip up a revival on their own.

 

The Reformation was a return to a focus on Christ and his work on the cross for us and His grace given freely to all who believe: A return to the righteousness that comes FROM God and is by grace! This became the foundation for the revivals that followed in its wake: in England, in the early American colonies, and on and on!

 

George Whitfield, known as the Grand Itinerant, who was one of the main leaders of the mass revival in the early American Colonies known as the Great Awakening, regularly preached on: “The righteousness that comes from God.” As Nathan Hale came into a meeting Whitfield was about to preach in, he walked into the Holy Spirit’s atmosphere and was touched by the presence of God and a word came to him: “Are you trying to create a righteousness of your own by your own works?” He was convicted and surrendered his life to Christ and was born again on the spot without a word even having been preached yet.

 

We are told that the Lord will bring times of refreshing. We thus must turn and fix our eyes on Jesus who did it all for us on the cross. It is Him, Jesus Christ, whom we are to glorify and lift up, Christ whom we exalt! 

 

As we celebrate Easter, let us fix our eyes on Jesus and receive freely the abundance of his Spirit, letting Him pour out on us, bringing refreshing, renewal, and filling every dry empty place in our hearts and making them full! Hallelujah, He is Risen!

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