In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…
The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen His glory, the glory He has as the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1 & 1:14
Hallelujah, the Word became flesh! He who was, and is, fully God, became fully man, to reach out to us.
Born in a manger to signify He will meet us in even our most humble and broken situations and conditions and dying on a cross to take our sin and give us eternal life through that grace by faith.
His grace is immeasurable, and He gives it free for the asking, and that grace heals and frees us when we receive it.
The Truth, who is the answer to the inner longing of the human heart, is seen lying in the feed box of a manger, veiled to the world but revealed to those whose hearts open up by faith.
The Living Word gives life and that more abundantly! We pray that abundant life, grace, and peace, touches you this Christmas!
Merry Christmas and may God’s richest blessings be with you in the New Year!
We have been blessed to be experiencing the presence of the Lord moving amongst us in power as we have been ministering in various places recently!
Canada Mission Trip
We recently returned from a month-long mission trip ministering in Canada.
We had a blessed time celebrating the 10-Year Anniversary at the House of Shiloh, one of the churches we have been connected with in Victoria, B.C., Canada.
Pastor Dan invited us to share at their anniversary service, and we realized after he invited us that it was also our 10-year anniversary of ministering in Canada!
We shared about how the Lord brought us up to Canada through divine guidance and intervention and connected us with them through a series of divine appointments.
We continued ministering in different meetings throughout the island after that initial ministry at the anniversary service, including some midweek meetings and other services.
While doing different meetings in the Victoria area, we experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit move in an awesome way! We did some house meetings on a Native Land Reservation where we experienced an unusual outpouring in a particular meeting. It was quite unexpected as it was a very hot day, and the heat was overwhelming inside the small mobile home we were to meet in, so we moved the meeting outdoors in front of the place.
There were a lot of distractions outside: acorns were falling out of the trees and pelting people, people were walking by and gawking, so it took a long time to get around to sharing, but as we shared some Holy Ghost stories and then finally began to pray over others in the meeting, the Holy Spirit fell in unexpected power, and holy laughter ripped across the meeting and people began falling over. It was completely unexpected after all the distractions, and it ended up being one of the most powerful meetings in the Victoria area the whole time: His power is made perfect in our weakness! Sometimes when we're least expecting it, the Lord shows up in the most powerful way! We had some powerful testimonies we received, including some people who said: No ministers ever make me cry, but I couldn't stop feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit the whole time! Hallelujah!
We also joined up with our friends Lance and Sarah, joining in on the guitar to do some worship with them and outreach in the town of Duncan a few times where they meet out in an open-air venue and minister to various communities in the town. We shared and gave some words of encouragement and prayed for lots of people in those areas and saw some people get significantly ministered to, including a couple who just came out from the east coast of Canada and had a powerful encounter with the Lord when we prayed for them!
We also had an awesome time ministering up island in Port Hardy Christian Fellowship where we did a number of meetings, as well as joining in on the guitar for some of the worship. Port Hardy is an isolated little port town up at the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, “going out to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit was pouring out in all of the consecutive meetings that we did up there and we received lots of testimonies of people blessed and ministered to and lives touched and transformed:
In fact, a woman from a First Nations Tribe who got saved and set free when we were ministering there last year shared with us how she reads the Bible every day now and goes to church meetings regularly now too. It was so great to hear about fruit that sustains and remains like that!
A woman named Alex got hit by the Holy Spirit Friday night and said she has never felt anything like that in her life: she felt electricity volts from the top of her head to the tips of her feet and shared how she felt renewed and on fire for the Lord now! She had just started coming to this church a couple of weeks ago. She was being courted by Jehovah’s Witnesses just recently but now she knows after this—her eyes have been opened—that she has found her true tribe and her family.
Michael had an experience with God Sunday night and got saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit then too! Michael said the power of God hit him and he had tears and snot running down his face. He felt weak in the knees and could not stand. Eventually he managed to sit on the stage, but he said he could feel something happening on the inside of him that he couldn't explain. He shared how he now has hope for the first time in a long time.
Michael came to Tuesday night prayer afterwards and brought his girlfriend who is finding God again, after struggling with a very legalistic abusive past, because of what happened with Michael. He had anger issues and she shared how God is taking all that out of him.
There was also a fisherman who we prayed for and ministered to who surrendered his life to Christ at the very end of the last meeting. He said he was tired of resisting the Lord and surrendered his heart fully to God as we prayed for him … many tears streamed down his face as we prayed, not the thing you see every day with a tough fisherman like that! Reminded us of fishermen way down south of the other border that we experienced the same thing with some years back!
“Thanks so much for all you gave and deposited here!” wrote Pastor George.
It was also great to get out to the coast and get in a little Canadian cold-water surf! We got some fun surf with great sunny conditions in Tofino, which is Canada’s surf central destination with a number of spots to surf—we’ve had many witnessing opportunities there over the years! Also got to have a fun adventure with friends Laurie and Jodi who took us out from Port Hardy roughly 50 km in their heavy-duty truck on dirt roads out to the Island’s Northern Coast to San Josef Bay where we got in some awesome scenery and hiking, as well as a bit of surfing too in the wild and stormy conditions up there!
Back in the day we learned from our friend Lonnie Frisbee, who shared the good, the bad, and the ugly with us when we were with him for 3 1/2 years of discipleship: Learn to incorporate fun with your mission and ministry work and that way you can avoid burnout! Take your time and pace yourself and smell the roses too. He attributed burnout as one of the things that made him stumble along the way. However, the Lord picked him up and got him back on track again with full power flowing to the very end! We are regularly seeking the Lord to continue to incorporate that wisdom!
PrayerFests and House Meetings
We have done some Prayerfest-type meetings and House meetings recently in some different places:
We had a blessed one in Hemet with our old friends Jeff and Jeanette. We had a powerful refreshing time praying for one another just as we returned from Canada, which was a good way to refill our tanks after ministering and giving out on a long mission trip.
Some other missionary friends also got refreshed as well, and the wife shared afterwards that she woke up energized and praying in the Spirit the day after the meeting! They were also stoked to hear us share about Harald Bredesen, one of Jeff’s and our mutual mentors, who was a Lutheran that got filled with the Holy Spirit and became a founder and leader in the Charismatic Renewal. Unbeknownst to us, the missionary couple were going to be ministering in a Lutheran Church that very next week!
We have had other Prayerfest type meetings also, working together with our friend Lauren down on the coast in Encinitas. The Holy Spirit touched and ministered to pretty much everyone that came including ourselves, who also got some refreshing!
We were also recently sharing and ministering in Costa Mesa at a House Church Meeting with our friend John Ruttkay, who was also a mutual friend of Lonnie’s. John invited our son Patrick and Emily and me to do the worship there and we also got to see old friends like Stan, Diane and Jacob Frisbee. We were also blessed to get out to see a C.S. Lewis play recently together with John, Patrick, and Emily too after a board meeting, which was just amazing…the play was sold out with a line around the block to get in!
Speaking of Costa Mesa, it was a fun time recently sharing about the early days of the Jesus People Revival in the very church where Chuck Smith first opened the doors to Lonnie Frisbee. We shared how Lonnie not only evangelized the Hippies, which eventually led to a wave of Hippies getting saved, but how he also regularly led others into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, equipping and empowering others to minister and reach out with the Gospel as well. This was actually one of the underlying factors and keys of the Jesus People Revival that reproduced others to reach out and minister as well, and similarly in the Vineyard movement proceeding on afterwards too. We have a few different videos on Lonnie and the Jesus People Revival, which you can check out at this link: https://www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html
We also shared about the Reformation on an online meeting which had over 100 people on the call with our friend Meri. We also published a new video and blog on the Reformation as well as a new blog we did on America’s Roots in the English Reformation at Thanksgiving time. These are great resources to aid in understanding the history of America’s development, as it covers the Reformation’s trajectory of unleashing renewal and revival, which eventually led to the coming of the Pilgrims and the birthing of America. (You can check it out at this link: https://gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2023/11/americas-founding-and-its-ties-to.html)
We encourage you to like and share these videos and blogs with others as it helps in spreading the important history of our roots, especially in the light of recent statements like this by a Christian education group:
Misinformation about America’s founding is spreading across our country like wildfire. Unfortunately, that is true in the public education system as well. But America is an exceptional nation, and every citizen should know about its unique history…which is steeped in and influenced by the Christian faith…
Our recent videos on “Martin Luther’s Revelation: Foundation For Revival” and “The Reformation and Revival and America’s Roots” give important and unique perspectives of the Christian faith’s influence on this nation’s founding and development, which are important reflections during this season. You can check them out at this link: https://youtu.be/9ROTGU2dWfc or by going to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@graceworldmission.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We celebrated a little extra this year with a “Friendsgiving” our friend Lauren put together that turned into something of another “Prayerfest” which turned into a time of us leading some worship and praying for one another! It was a blessed time!
We pray the Lord’s richest blessings be with you in Jesus’ Name!
We greatly appreciate all your prayers and support!
Not too long ago, the bones of the English King Richard III were found and dug up under a Walmart in Leicestershire, England. That they should be found under a Walmart—an American superstore—is ironically prophetic as it ties into a historical shift that eventually brought the coming forth of a new nation called America.
It was Richard the III’s demise and defeat at Leicestershire that led to the rise of the Tudors and Henry VII taking the throne. In turn, he would father the notorious King Henry VIII, who would usher in radical changes that would alter the course of history. All this, over time, would eventually lead to the birth of America.
To understand all of this in context, it is necessary to first understand a little of the English Reformation:
The stark reality was that King Henry VIII wanted out of his marriage, as he had been betrothed at only 13 years of age to his dead brother's widow. When his older brother died, tradition had required him to take Catherine of Aragon, his older brother’s bride, as his own.
King Henry VIII
However, Henry had been studying to be a priest, and he became convinced while reading the Book of Leviticus, that his marriage to Catherine was improper according to the Scriptures.
Henry demanded a divorce but was refused by the Pope. Charles the V, King of Spain and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, was related to Catherine of Aragon, and the Pope didn’t want to upset him.
When he did not get his way, Henry chose to break away from the Catholic Church. He used the Reformation as his basis to do so, but Henry actually had no real interest himself in reform at all. While Henry's act may have brought a break from Rome to the forefront of the scene, this is hardly the whole picture of what was taking place under the radar.
There was actually an undercurrent of reform that was already moving through England.
Cambridge University, in fact, had so much Reformation discussion and thought going through it that it was being called “Little Wittenberg” as well as “little Germany.” These reform-minded ideas, which were coming across the Channel from Martin Luther, Germany, were being heavily adopted there in Cambridge as well as beginning to spread in many other places around the British Isles and throughout Europe.
While Henry may have used the idea of Reform and the Reformation for his own ends, the winds were already blowing in that direction. When he opened the door, he found out that it couldn't be so easily shut.
The Rise of the Puritan Movement
Reform was in the air and new movements like the Puritans eventually began to arise. The name Puritan was a pejorative that originally had sprung from a desire to purify the church from unbiblical ideas adopted in Medieval Catholicism. The Puritans wanted a full Reformation, so the milder Anglican reforms that were put in place over time were falling short of what they had hoped for. As time passed, the Puritans continued to increase in numbers as well as prominence, even garnering seats in Parliament.
Cambridge University
Things went back and forth in England with cataclysmic swings: Edward, who was Henry’s only male heir and was raised by Protestant tutors, took things in a more Protestant direction once he became king, but had a short reign because of his ill health and early death.
Bloody Mary, Henry's daughter with Catherine of Aragon, had ascended to the throne when Edward died. Full of bitterness and rage, Mary killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 Protestant Christians, imprisoning and persecuting countless more during her reign as she sought to purge England of Reformation influences. This included the execution of Thomas Cramner, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had embraced the Bible and salvation by grace, and was taking reforms in that direction until he was deposed and later killed.
Then came Elizabeth, Henry VIII’s daughter with second wife Anne Boleyn, who was raised by Protestant tutors that taught her the New Testament, causing her to embrace reform once she took the throne.
Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother was a Protestant and known to keep a contraband copy of the Tyndale Bible that she faithfully read, secretly hiding it from the King. Some have speculated that this could have been the actual reason behind her demise when she was set up by Catholic spies and was subsequently executed.
After Bloody Mary’s short chaotic reign, Queen Elizabeth’s forty-year reign brought forth in England a time of prosperity, general stability, growth, and expansion like never before.
During her reign, the Spanish Armada, which was on its way to invade England and force it back into Catholicism, was miraculously defeated at sea by a sudden and miraculous shift in the direction of the wind at one of the most crucial points in the battle. This thrusted England into the forefront as a major world power.
Elizabeth, however, never married and thus had no heir to carry on her legacy. A new king was sought and found in James VI of Scotland, who was crowned King James I of England.
Many Puritans hoped King James would embrace full reform, the kind the Puritans idealized. The fact that he was from Scotland and raised Protestant, and that Scotland had had its own Reformation with John Knox as one of its principal leaders, gave some hope to that idea.
King James, however, was quite the unusual fellow: he sputtered and slobbered when he spoke, had his own theological ideas, and didn't have much tolerance for Puritans. He was a bit paranoid of his kingship being threatened and viewed the Puritans with suspicion, fearful of their increasing numbers and power.
Some time after taking the throne, the Puritans presented King James with a “Millenary Petition,” meaning one thousand Puritan leaders had signed it, requesting more reforms.
All the requests presented by the Puritans were flatly denied by the king, and instead many suffered persecution. But there was one request King James would “authorize,” and one only: an official translation of the Bible.
William Tyndale had made a translation of the entire New Testament as well as a substantial portion of the Old Testament, when he was hunted down and killed for his effort. His Bibles had been smuggled into England for some time and were embraced and read by many throughout the land. Coverdale had made a few revisions later resulting in what was called the Geneva Bible. These illegal Bibles were hugely popular but remained as contraband.
Tower of London
The Puritans now wanted an Authorized Version of the Bible that would be fully legal. The scholars assembled by King James used Tyndale’s version as their basis and thus, according to David Daniell, scholar from Oxford, nine-tenths of the New Testament and much of the Old Testament in the King James Bible was actually Tyndale’s work. In reality, according to David Daniell, “It was Tyndale who gave us our English Bible.”
With the exception of a new Authorized Version of the Bible, things were not getting better for the Puritans in jolly ole England. Eventually, some chose to leave as the persecution and difficulties continued for Puritans in England. After an unsuccessful attempt to settle in Holland, a group of Puritans, including Puritans of a more radical bent called Separatists, made a go for the New World. They would venture to cross the raging sea seeking a free place to worship as they saw fit.
They were taking a huge risk as they sailed across the Atlantic upon the Mayflower and founded Plymouth, the first colony to endure and sustain in North America. Other colonies, like Jamestown, had been attempted before them but had failed as most everyone had died of starvation or exposure to the freezing weather.
The pilgrims made a Compact upon the Mayflower before coming ashore that their endeavor should be: “For the glory of God and the Advancement of the Christian faith...” The centrality of spreading the Gospel was rooted in the very foundation of the nation as it all began.
Furthermore, contrary to popular revisionism and according to numerous sources, including the History Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first settlers had good relations with the Native Peoples for several decades. In fact, it was the Native Peoples who actually helped them survive that first grueling winter.
More English Puritans would continue to come across the ocean in their wake as well, and with them came their trusted copies of the King James Bible. The Puritan preachers in England were inspiring their followers to come across the sea in obedience to the Great Commission and plant the Gospel in the New World. They thus laid a foundation of faith and promise in the New World.
In fact, historian Sydney Ahlstrom points out that it is quite the anomaly that the early North American colonies should be made up of so many English Puritans, when the New World had been first discovered by the Spanish. Furthermore, the French, the Dutch, and many others were here before, but it was the English Puritans inspired by the Great Commission, who comprised the majority of the early North American colonies, giving them a specific foundation of Reformation-influenced faith.
Furthermore, by the time independence came around, seventy-five percent of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Puritan stock. In fact, Benjamin Franklin himself was baptized in a Puritan church in the city of Boston.
The strong foundation of faith was absolutely part of the beginnings of this country's origins, as God shed His grace upon the land. As the old hymn declares: “His Grace has led us safe thus far and Grace will lead us on.”
Luther first experienced that grace via the Word of God and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit fill you today and fill your heart with Thanksgiving to God for the awesome blessing of giving us grace through His Son Jesus Christ!
Postscript:
We encourage you to “like” and “share” this blog and the following videos with others, helping spread the important history of our roots, especially in the light of recent statements like this by a Christian Education group: “Misinformation about our America’s founding is spreading across our country like wildfire. Unfortunately, that is true in the public education system as well. But America is an exceptional nation and every citizen should know about its unique history…which is steeped in, and influenced by, the Christian Faith…”
Martin Luther experienced a revelation from the Holy Spirit about the grace of God that sent forth far reaching waves of reform, renewal, and revival, creating a ripple effect that would have great impact through the nations and history. In fact, the Reformation became the foundation for the revivals that followed in its wake.
From Law Student to Monk
Luther had originally been studying to become a lawyer. However, he had a near-death experience on the way to law school one day: He got caught in a thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning struck the ground right next to him knocking him down, and in terror he cried out to Saint Anne, the patron saint of the miners (as his father was a miner) vowing that he would become a monk if he survived.
Having survived the storm, he entered the monastery and became a Catholic monk seeking to find peace with God. However, he was soon bogged down and struggling with all the rituals imposed upon him within the Catholic structure. These rituals didn’t bring forth the peace with God he sought but rather served only to drive him further away from God,
He sought to earnestly follow the Catholic teaching that says: Each and every sin ever committed must be remembered and confessed to a priest in order to be forgiven. In obedience to these teachings, Luther would rack his memory and confess his sins hours and hours a day. After leaving the confessional, he would often remember something he’d done as a child and return for more confessing.
The leader of the monastery grew so tired of his coming so often to the confessional he finally blew up at him, “Why don’t you go out and commit some real sins and come back when you actually have something worth confessing.”
Seeking to find a way to distract him and redirect his attention, and frankly get him out of the monastery for being such a bother, the leader of the monastery decided to have Luther go and study the Bible at Wittenberg.
This, however, was not the norm for monks, priests, nor any of the clergy, except some of the highest Catholic theologians who were permitted to read the Bible and interpret it. In fact, the Catholic Church had forbidden common people from even possessing a Bible at the Synod of Toulouse in 1229. Furthermore, the Catholic Church only allowed the Bible to be in Latin—a long dead language even then that very few could understand.
As pointed out by David Daniell: The Bible might have well been in Chinese for all the good it did forcing it to be kept only in Latin. Very, very few could read Latin, and this included the vast majority of the clergy. Instead of the Scriptures the church substituted a book called “The Little Hours of Mary” promoting the cult of the Virgin and her worship.
Because Luther had studied law, he wouldn’t have to begin by learning Latin first. He was moved from Eisleben to Wittenberg, Germany and began to read the Bible and study Paul’s Epistles in the New Testament.
He subsequently began wrestling with Paul’s words about justification especially in the book of Romans. After some time wrestling and contemplating it, he finally had the light break forth and received revelation from the Holy Spirit as he gained understanding of Jesus’ full payment for sin on the cross.
He understood after a long period of struggle that Jesus had paid the price for our sin on the cross, and simply through faith in Christ we are justified and put right with God through His grace, the grace that comes through faith in Christ’s atonement.
Indeed, Paul communicates about: A Righteousness that comes from God and is by faith and through God’s grace we are justified. (Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-23)
Luther finally understood that all his sin was paid for “once for all” by Christ when he took our sins on the cross. Once one repents and receives Christ there is no need to remember each and every sin and confess it to a priest, just believe upon Jesus. Luther spoke of how he was born again when he finally understood this.
A Revelation That Reverberated
This rediscovery of this central truth of the New Testament and teaching of Jesus and the Apostles (John: 1:12, 3:16, 6:29, Romans 3:21, Ephesians 2:8-10) had far reaching implications and brought forth waves of renewal, reform, and revival, causing a ripple effect throughout the nations and history.
This revelation caused Luther to challenge some of the teachings and practices that the Catholic Church was engaging in, especially when indulgences began to be sold in his region—basically the selling of forgiveness to reduce time in purgatory—by a priest named Tetzel.
Luther drew up some Theses, his intention however was only to debate with some of the other theologians.
Before he knew it though he was in the middle of a conflagration, as unbeknownst to him some students had taken Luther’s Theses that he’d nailed to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg on October 31st 1517—which marks the beginning of the Reformation—and reprinted and distributed them widely. As they went out it caused a widespread “Ja wohl” by many who had grown tired of the errors and abuses in Catholicism.
This reverberation spread to where even the Pope down in Italy eventually got wind of it and reacted: “Who is this drunken German?! I’ll have this heretic burned at the stake within two weeks!” An onslaught of reaction by the powers that be sought to silence Luther who, having been touched in the heart by the grace of God, was of no mind to back down now.
The accusations against someone who would dare challenge the established religious system—especially against a system that was producing large amounts of money —flew fast and furious at Luther.
Didier Erasmus, a well-known reform-minded professor, jested that Luther’s “sin”was to dare touch the money-making system of the church and dare challenge the authority of the pope who saw himself as some type of king now.
As Luther was railed against, he actually grew bolder and spoke and wrote out more, which was touching many and causing him quite a following.
The religious system was not tolerant of any dissent and sought ways to silence him—as they had done to all those who had sought reform and a return to Biblical principles in the past—usually with a formal condemnation labeling them a heretic and then burning them at the stake.
Jan Hus had sought a similar return to Biblical teaching a century earlier and was condemned and burned at the stake for it. However, right before his death, he prophesied of another reformer being raised up in 100 years who they would not be able to burn: It was one hundred years later when Luther experienced his revelation of the grace of Jesus Christ while reading Romans, which set the Reformation in motion.
Attempts to Silence Luther
As Luther had already garnered a following, with some even in higher positions agreeing with him, there was a cautionary approach in dealing with him lest the public revolt.
Thus, a debate with one of their staunch theologians was proffered. Luther would debate Johan Eck, who the Catholic leaders thought would make quick work of Luther and then begin the process afterwards of condemning him as a notorious heretic.
However, Luther stood up to Eck in the debate and proved to be an equal match. Eck thus resorted to calling Luther a Wycliffite and a Hussite, two men who had earlier attempted to bring reform and a return to Biblical foundations and were condemned for it.
During a break in the debate, Luther went to the library to make a quick study of Hus and Wycliff and came back declaring: I am a Wycliffite and a Hussite for they were not wrong and were wrongly condemned. Quite the bold statement for someone who would not want to be condemned and burned himself.
By and large the debate backfired, and Luther only grew more renowned. He displayed a fluency in the Scriptures and a boldness that was clearly coming from on high; it wasn't his natural inclination.
In time Luther was called to answer before a Diet—a type of trial—in the city of Worms. Luther was called before a panel that included even the emperor himself, who was the most powerful person in the world at that time, to be examined regarding his teachings. Having been assured he would be able to discuss his views, he came willingly. Yet when he was called before the Diet, he was only given the option to recant all his teaching or face the consequences, which would mean being labeled a heretic and executed.
Luther was sweating profusely while being examined, but in the end refused to recant and took his stand saying: “My conscience is captive to the word of God, to go against conscience and the word is neither right nor safe, I cannot and will not recant anything. Here I stand, so help me God.” The room erupted, some with outrage, others cheering Luther on with bravos, as he walked out. Some of those on the panel dropped out and refused to condemn Luther, saying he was only returning to the Bible. However, a rump of the panel decided to condemn him and have him arrested the next day.
During the night however, divine intervention took place and the peasants’ Bundschuh was placarded on the building. This was the sign of the Peasants’ Revolt and signaled that if Luther was arrested there would be riots by the peasants throughout the region. The Diet was thrown into a panic and decided it would be better to arrest him quietly after he returned home. He'd surely never make it home, however, since Catholic fanatics—keepers of the Inquisition—would be waiting to assassinate him on the way.
Divine Intervention Again
The Elector Prince of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, had been persuaded Luther was doing nothing wrong and was only seeking to return to the church's original Biblical foundations. Frederick set up a ruse and had his knights secretly kidnap Luther as soon as he began his journey back. They surrounded him and with much screaming, yelling, and cussing, made a big show of grabbing him while secretly whisking him away, having riders all take off in different directions, as he was snuck off to be hidden at an old, abandoned castle in Eisenach called the Wartburg.
For nearly a year Luther was hidden away at the Wartburg, where while stuck hiding out, he worked on a translation of the New Testament into the common German tongue. Luther’s German Translation of the Bible became one of the biggest boons and blessings spreading the Gospel and the Reformation throughout Germany and into other nations.
The word had spread about how Luther had taken a stance for the truth at the Diet of Worms, and he had become a hero to many Germans as time had passed and he was only more popular. There was no chance now of being able to apprehend him without widespread uprisings after this. This one they were not able to burn, fulfilling Jan Hus’s prophecy he had made as he was about to be executed for trying to bring about reform as well a hundred years earlier.
The Reformation Spreads to England
One of the places to eventually get impacted, amongst many others, was England and the British Isles.
Luther’s teaching began to cross the channel from Germany into England and began to be regularly discussed and debated, especially at the University in Cambridge.
The White Horse Inn, a pub on campus, became a central location for discussions about the teachings of the New Testament and about Christ’s payment for sin being received by faith versus the Catholic Church’s teachings on rituals, masses, holy water, confession, the papacy, etc.
Amongst some of the early adopters of a return to the roots of New Testament Christianity influenced by Luther were Thomas Cramner, who would become a reforming Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as William Tyndale.
Tyndale transferred from Oxford to Cambridge because Oxford was resistant to reform and held a prohibition against the Bible being translated into the English language—this became a stain on Oxford’s historical legacy—standing against one of the greatest contributions to the English language and culture in history.
Tyndale had in mind to do just that and translate the Bible into common English. He was a Catholic priest who had also a l experienced a personal conversion to Christ like Luther. He’d also come to understand that it was faith in Christ alone through His grace that salvation is received. Tyndale knew that if people could read the New Testament for themselves, they could see that simple faith in Christ alone is all that was necessary for salvation.
Tyndale writes: “Repent and Believe the gospel...and begin life anew! And his Spirit shall dwell in thee and be strong in thee and his promises shall be given thee at the last…and all things forgiven for Christ’s blood’s sake…Commit yourself to Him without respect either of thy good deeds or thy bad, repentance and belief is all! Works count for nothing in Christ’s blood!”
He thus saw the need for the Bible to be made accessible to the common person. This required it to be translated into the English language. The Catholic Church opposed translations into vernacular languages and only allowed the Bible to be in Latin—a language that had been long dead even then. Against persecution, oppression, and misunderstanding, Tyndale set out to make a translation from the original Greek into English. Erasmus had recently assembled and published the original Greek version of the New Testament into a whole manuscript, making it available and taking the control out of the hands of the Catholic Church.
Tyndale, like Luther, used Erasmus’s Greek manuscript to begin translating the New Testament into English. Soon persecution ramped up and he eventually left England and met with Luther in Germany. Luther’s German translation was another blessing and helped Tyndale finish his New Testament translation. Tyndale printed the first editions of his New Testament in Germany, at Cologne, and had them smuggled as pocket Bibles into England. They were popular amongst the people but opposed by the Catholic clergy and his Bibles were even rounded up and burned by the Bishop in London.
Tyndale’s Bible and the Spread of the Gospel
The Bible being accessible eventually spread movements of faith and reform through the land and eventually gave rise to further spread of the Gospel and the rise of renewal and revival movements.
Amongst them were the Puritans in England which, according to historian Sydney Alhstrom were a revival movement that sought a return to the Christianity found in the New Testament. They also taught that believers need to experience Christ in their lives and should receive His grace in their hearts, as head knowledge by itself alone is insufficient.
They were increasingly marginalized in England. A group of Separatist Puritans eventually left seeking freedom to worship as they desired. Sailing across the sea on the Mayflower and arrived on the shores of America in 1620. They started the first colony that would sustain and last and grow into a continued movement of Puritans coming across the sea, in the process creating the early Christian fabric of America.
That first colony that landed in Plymouth was dedicated to the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. In time, many revivals that were connected to that still-reverberating revelation from Luther and the Reformation, would be spawned in the New World. Though there may be some differences in theology and ideas with different individual groups over time, that core remained the same: It is by grace you are saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. And God freely gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask and believe and will fill to overflowing those who call upon him.
Some of the Movements and Revivals that followed in the wake of the Reformation:
John Wesley and the Methodist revivals: Wesley was converted during a reading of Luther’s Preface to his Commentary on Romans: https://youtu.be/Hh4m6oSKvyM
Harald Bredesen and the Charismatic renewal: A Lutheran who becomes Spirit-filled and shares his experience with other Lutherans and other mainline denominational believers: https://youtu.be/K7Xciiw2ebI
Lonnie Frisbeeand the Jesus people Revival: It was a Reformational type of return to the priesthood of all believers and the simplicity of the New Testament and God's grace to save whosoever calls upon him, even Hippies (!) that brought forth one of the biggest modern revivals: https://youtu.be/0OgfmU13sPI
Celebrating the marriage of Patrick and Emily. Now aka Mr. and Mrs Marleaux
We are excited to have just experienced an amazing life event as our son Patrick got married! It was such an awesome time celebrating with friends and family as Patrick and his beautiful bride Emily came together in the union of marriage at their wedding!
We also had such a fun-filled week leading up to the big day, getting in some surfing and beach time and other activities with them and some others as the time drew near.
We are stoked that Emily is a strong believer and that they both are leading worship together! In fact, there is an important story behind this that is about perseverance which I think is important to share, which I also shared at the wedding:
We were on a trip years back when Patrick had just begun his teens. We had a rental car since ours was in the shop, which had satellite radio in it. We were driving along when a long set of Gospel music and Hymns sung by Elvis came on.
I began worshiping along which brought me into the presence of the Lord. I unexpectedly got a word of knowledge that Patrick would someday lead worship, which took me by surprise. It caused me to remember that some years before this, Mercedes and I were leading worship at Pearl Chapel on the Central California Coast, when Patrick who was just 9 years old, spontaneously came up on the platform to the microphone and started singing with us. I knew it was something prophetic…then came this word while driving which confirmed it (you can see it in this video: https://youtu.be/MGH8Vpnp_tI)
Then the trials began! I had been teaching him guitar already. After the word came I began to try teaching him about doing worship and some worship songs. It couldn’t have gone more opposite than I expected.
Those early teens are also when some of that typical teenage rebelliousness starts flaring up. I was tempted to just forget it because he would just go, “ahh worship stuff is so boring… this is dullsville...” and he just wanted to do riffs and leads on the guitar and just ignore what I was teaching him.
I actually tried to work with his interests and incorporate riffs and leads into teaching and still slip in worship stuff but the resistance to the worship parts continued. He was quite stubborn about it and I was tempted to give up many times, but the Lord just kept showing me to persevere and that it would come to fruition…in His time.
Well, I had another word of knowledge about two years ago that Patrick was supposed to come to a meeting we were going to in Orange County with some missionary friends.
He decided to come and that is where he unexpectedly met Emily.
They began going to some House Church meetings together, where he encountered some guys his age doing worship and his attitude started changing. Then, an opportunity came for him and Emily to lead worship together themselves at a small House Church … they stepped through that door and are still doing it! Patrick actually apologized later for some of that earlier teenage stubbornness, praise God!
The Lord fulfilled the word in His time…it just took some perseverance…around 7 years worth or so. I was rejoicing when I watched him show a visiting friend recently all the worship songs he has learned.
We as believers may sometimes get a word, or a vision, or something of that nature for ourselves, or something like that for a son or daughter, and maybe it’s not fulfilled right away, maybe it takes a long, long time, and even gets to a point that it seems it will never happen…however, perseverance is emphasized as a needed factor in the Kingdom of God: from Abraham all the way through to the Apostle Paul, perseverance was required to fulfill the call!
Then, sometimes when it’s fulfilled, it happens in a way we didn’t expect at all. But as we walk on in the Kingdom, we see that His grace and mercy never fades nor diminishes….even if His higher ways are sometimes mysterious and not understood right away…Praise the Lord!
Patrick and Emily got to enjoy a beautiful honeymoon and are now beginning their newly joined union and lives together. And we are catching our breath after all that activity of the last few months leading up to the wedding. It was an especially busy time as the wedding rolled up and took place while plenty of other ministry was going on as well.
Ministry Update
Here are some highlights from recent ministry:
Ministering the Baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday @ CCSC
We had just been preaching up north in Salinas at the Vineyard Church there, right before Patrick and Emily’s big day. We were ministering with our friend Dave E. and were sharing and reflecting on: The Mother’s Day Outpouring at what was then called Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda. It later became The Anaheim Vineyard and we shared how Lonnie Frisbee had ministered there on Mother’s Day and the outpouring that followed when Lonnie began praying for the Holy Spirit to come over the congregation. We experienced a very powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit ourselves in Salinas as we shared about that and then ministered with many being filled, empowered, and renewed, including some who had awesome breakthroughs with being filled and touched in a fresh way by the Holy Spirit’s power! In fact, a woman who had been wanting to receive the gift of tongues for years got her breakthrough when she got prayed for! Others received healing, and testimonies came of those who were set free from depression and discouragement and others shared of important encounters and personal revelations that buoyed their faith. Hallelujah!
We had a fun time on Pentecost Sunday and their night of worship at Calvary Chapel San Clemente as they played some of that worship from back in the Jesus People Revival and I followed up by sharing about some adventures back in the Jesus People Revival and how I ended up at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Mercedes shared about the times we had learning and being organically discipled by Lonnie Frisbee. It was an awesome time of worship, sharing, and praying for others for the filling of the Holy Spirit whose presence was with us as we ministered! We have also done some Afterglows with them in recent months as well!
We were blessed to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones while ministering recently in the Santa Barbara area at Mission Isla Vista. We had a blessed time sharing and praying for people. The Holy Spirit filled, empowered, and renewed so many who were there, we also heard about some healings that happened too. We were told it was the most people they have had respond for prayer there and it was one of the most powerful times we’ve had ministering there, hallelujah! We also got to enjoy a few things in the area including a little biking and some firing waves at Rincon on the way out of town that suddenly had an unexpected late season swell just show up. An unusual encounter with a famous pro surfer from the area encouraged us to get out there even if it was a little crowded. In fact, Mercedes was stoked that she got to surf and experience the famous point break herself for the first time!
We had a powerful time ministering at Centro Cristiano Esperanza in Orange County and we were blessed to have Patrick and Emily join us to help pray for people there as well. This led to many people getting ministered to in a powerful way, many were filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit as well as a few who received Christ along with some who who rededicated their lives to the Lord! The power and glory of the Lord was amongst us as we ministered!
We’ve continued ministering in various regions including the border areas sharing the Gospel and praying for others and have also had some powerful divine appointments. As the Jesus Revolution movie came out, it has sparked fresh interest about experiences with that revival and with Lonnie Frisbee, which we have been sharing about. You can check out an article we did which was actually picked up by an International Renewal publication as well as a video we’ve done here: https://www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html
With our friends Jeff and Jeannette and other friends at PrayerFest.
We were also blessed to do a PrayerFest out in Hemet with our friends Jeff and Jeanette. It had been a little while, due to Covid and schedule issues, that we were able to get all together. We were reminded that it was the 15-year anniversary since the first one we had done together with them, and in that time over the years, we’ve seen numerous blessings and breakthroughs including healings and people coming to Christ. In fact, we were reminded by a friend who was visiting that night and told us how his son had gotten touched and empowered by the Holy Spirit and then healed of celiac disease at one of the PrayerFest meetings, as well as a woman who had her knee healed, as well as many others who have received healings as well as the filling of the Holy Spirit, praise the Lord!
In fact, the main focus at these meetings has been leading people into “the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” We have been blessed to see many who are not necessarily Charismatic nor Pentecostal but rather have backgrounds like Baptist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, etc, come into the Fullness and Baptism of the Holy Spirit and be empowered with the gifts in these meetings in awesome ways, Praise the Lord!
We are glad to be continuing on with the legacy of our old friend and another mentor, Harald Bredesen, who was a Lutheran that got filled with the Holy Spirit and subsequently led many others in the Body of Christ who were not Charismatic/Pentecostal in background to come into the baptism of the Holy Spirit in that powerful Charismatic Renewal, which Harald helped birth and lead.
It is an important need in the Body of Christ: I recall a friend who shared how he was worshiping at one of the biggest mega churches in the country and out of nowhere he began speaking in tongues. He was subsequently escorted from his seat and shown the door, and then kicked out of the church! His story gives insight into the desperate need in the Body of Christ for clear teaching and ministry on the empowering and baptism of the Holy Spirit that is sound evangelically and taught in a way that can be received without the pitfalls of extremism. We have been blessed to minister over the years to unexpected groups which are not normally open to the empowering and baptism of the Holy Spirit and see many get filled and blessed by the fullness of the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!
Acts 1:5: “For John truly baptized with water, but in a few days hence you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit!
Ministering and praying for people in Santa Barbar at IVC
We greatly appreciate your prayers and support! As you may know the whole deal with us as parents that are helping pay for the Honeymoon, the Rehearsal Dinner, and for many other things Patrick needed for the wedding really add up, so we greatly appreciate any extra support you can give to help us out with that at this time, thanks so much!
We praise God and thank you for your prayers and support!
We are so appreciative and give thanks in Jesus’ Name!
Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux
