20th Century Outpourings of the Holy Spirit and the Healing of Cultural Divides

Direct link: https://youtu.be/pfjTusDGJA0?si=0F-tGo3BI1ALp_DX

We filmed a new video with our friend Dave which discusses three major movements of the Holy Spirit in the 20th century.

There were three principal movements that had an emphasis on the empowering of the Holy Spirit in the 20th century: the Pentecostal movement, the Charismatic Renewal, and the Third Wave.

Some of the positive aspects that accompanied these movements included: a powerful increase in evangelism, an acceleration in missionary activity, and growth of Christian communities and churches.
But there was also another positive aspect that accompanied these outpourings that I want to touch on in this article.

Healing the Divide 

There was a healing of the serious divide that had permeated the American culture during the time of these different movements. To those who were willing to receive what the Lord was doing, walls of division were brought down within their ranks.

In the mid-1800’s, America was so divided over the slavery issue that it actually had a civil war. Unfortunately, many forget today that people fought and died, giving up their own lives, to abolish slavery. 
That being said, there was still quite a divide after the Civil War, and Jim Crow laws kept the divided situation at hand, especially in the South, where black people were kept in separate situations.

Then in the early 1900’s, the very man God raised up to lead the Pentecostal Revival was actually a child of slaves that had been emancipated, something we don’t often hear about. 

William Seymour, who ended up becoming the principal leader of the Pentecostal Revival at Azusa Street in Los Angeles, was black as well as blind in one eye. Another leader of the revival was Lucy Farrow who was also black as well as a woman preacher. She became known as the Queen of the Pentecostal Movement for her gifting in leading so many into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It says in 1 Corinthians 1:27: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”

 

William Seymour definitely fit that bill in the context of his time, as did Lucy Farrow, as did Lonnie Frisbee later in the Jesus People/Third Wave Revival.

 

The Color Line Erased 
During the Azusa Street Revival

 

The book Azusa Street shares how black as well as white and Hispanic believers, all worshipped together at these meetings, and it specifically points out that the color line was erased. These believers were forerunners experiencing healing of cultural divisions, leading the way a half century before the Civil Rights movement ever even appeared.

 

In fact, there were those who came to the revival and testified of having to repent of racial biases, having been convicted by the Holy Spirit when they encountered the atmosphere in the revival.

 

In fact, a prominent preacher named Gaston Cashwell said he received a crucifying of his racial prejudice at Azusa Street. He then had the black people there pray for him and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Afterwards, he did a tour of the South, leading many there into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as well, and helping expand the Pentecostal movement amongst the churches and new Pentecostal denominations. 

 

In fact, as Pentecostal churches spread throughout the South, black, white, and Hispanic people, as well as others, worshipped together regularly in those churches, defying Jim Crow laws.

 

In the Director’s Cut of the movie The Apostle, Robert Duvall explains that this was one of the aspects he was seeking to portray in this film, in addition to other themes: There in the Jim Crow South, there was racial harmony and unity amongst the Pentecostal and Holiness fellowships. Duvall also wanted to portray the fact of how God often uses people who are quite flawed to carry out His purposes.

 

The Jesus People 

 

Likewise, Lonnie Frisbee often shared with us how in the Jesus People Revival, there were “John Birchers,” a very right-wing group that supported Vietnam, who regularly locked arms in worship services together with long-haired Hippies who had been part of the anti-Vietnam War protests in that era.

 

There had been a very heavy and serious divide that plagued the nation as the war carried on, and anti-war protests were raging throughout the country. 

 

Things got so bad that four protestors were shot dead during a protest in Ohio. This, along with the political assassinations and divisive things that also took place in that era, horribly divided the country. That division first began to experience healing by the believers within the Revival.

 

One conservative commentator friend who was not a part of the revival, but closely observed its positive effect, stated: “If it wasn't for the Jesus People Revival, I don't know if this nation would have survived.”

 

 

In Other History

 

Likewise, Charles Finney, who was mostly known for his powerful preaching of the Gospel and the revival surrounding his ministry that took off during the Second Great Awakening in the 1800’s, also opposed slavery and preached that there needed to be an end to this vile practice.

 

Similarly, John Wesley, who was a revivalist in England in the 1700’s, known for his tireless ministry of preaching up and down the British Isles  as well as the signs and wonders that accompanied it, also encouraged and supported William Wilberforce, who was a member of the English Parliament, to bring an end to slavery in the UK. The abolition of slavery was actually accomplished by Wilberforce—who was a strong Christian—through his tireless efforts, which took place more than 30 years before the abolition of slavery in America.

 

The Open Secret

 

One of the open secrets not regularly discussed about the Jesus People Revival was that Lonnie Frisbee and others like Fred Waugh, from the very beginning, were regularly taking new converts and leading them into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which included praying for their healing, inner healing, deliverance, and moving them on to discipleship.

 

This propelled the movement and replicated it into other areas, but also further washed away divides in the blood of Christ. There were many whom we have known personally that came out of the Jesus People/Third Wave Revival, who ended up working with the poor and homeless, refugees, AIDS patients, and so on.

 

What can heal those things that plague us? Only the Blood of Jesus and the power of His Holy Spirit! Revive us again, oh Lord!

 

However, we don't need to wait for a mass revival to be personally revived! Just invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, empower you, baptize you, and ask Him to wash away every dark thing that is not of Christ in your life. He will surely renew you and you will have your own personal revival.

 

And if you haven’t made a decision and don't know Christ, invite Him into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior and repent of your sins, and then move on to inviting the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you.

 

I want to quote a few well-known Christian leaders that are not regularly thought of as Charismatic or Pentecostal, and their encouragement to seek the filling and empowering of the Holy Spirit in each of our own lives personally:

 

Martin Luther, leader of the Reformation—

 

… Look to the kindness and grace of Christ… Call upon him… Pour out your heart before him and say …here is an empty vessel that needs to be filled! Fill me, oh Lord!  I am weak,  strengthen me, I am cold in love, warm me and make me burn… I am a sinner but thou art righteous …. But by faith you credit me with your righteousness… increase my faith and trust!

 

You need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit the rest of your lives regularly and continually lest you fall back into the world and unbelief.
(Both quotes excerpted from Luther’s Sermons, Vols. 3 & 4)

 

Billy Graham, one of America’s greatest evangelists—

 

Rely constantly on the Holy Spirit, remembering that Christ dwells in you through the Holy Spirit (if you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord). Do not ask Him to help as you would a servant. Ask Him to come in and do it all. Tell him how weak, helpless, unstable, and unreliable you are. Stand aside and let Him take over all the decisions of your life… Let go of all those inner tensions and complexes and rely completely on Him.

 

The Bible commands us to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) Seeking to be filled is not an option, but a command to be obeyed…! And something that is to be continual and ongoing!

(Excerpted from the book  Peace with God  by Billy Graham)

 

Chuck Smith, founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Churches and a Jesus People leader:

 

I am convinced that the greatest need in the church today is a renewal of teaching on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Only then will you and I be empowered to go into the world as effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. The only hope for our nation today is a spiritual awakening that begins in the church with a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit upon the lives and hearts of the saints of God. And that takes the epi, the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

(From: Living Water: The Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life p. 282 by Chuck Smith.)

 

In the revivals mentioned above, there was a heightened awareness and revelation of one’s weakness and the utter and complete need for God’s grace and power before the outpourings took place. And thus, this is something we must not forget or resist, but rather, come before the Lord in humility and learn to rely on HIS grace and power, instead of self!

 

A Reflection on Charlie Kirk

 

It is hard when something like this happens, this young leader so tragically shot down in this way. 

 

However, the Bible says God can work everything together for good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

 

It is impressive and amazing to see so many people, young and old, coming together in prayer and worship throughout the nation and the world in response! The memorial event was quite impressive with all the worship and so much sharing of the Gospel! Lord, let it spread into a full revival!

 

Revival has healed this nation before, and we now need it again.

 

Have your own personal revival first by asking the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you personally, and seek to walk in the Holy Spirit and pass it on to others. As that old Jesus People song says: “It only takes a spark to get a fire going … You spread His love to everyone, You want to pass it on.”

 

America has been a land of Revival… and there were Revivals as well as the Reformation that spread throughout the world that also touched the founding of America. 

 

Lord revive us again in Jesus’ name!

 

Much love and blessings,

Bryan and Mercedes

 

To learn more on these topics, below is a list of video and audio programs we’ve done on different historical revivals:

 

▪️From the Reformation to America 

▪️The Hernhutt Revival 

▪️The Mayflower Pilgrims

▪️The Great Awakening 

▪️John Wesley 

▪️George Whitfield 

▪️The Cain Ridge Revival and Camp Meetings 

▪️Charles Finney’s Conversion and Baptism in the Holy Spirit 

▪️The Pentecostal Revival

▪️Harald Bredesen and the Charismatic Renewal 

▪️Lonnie Frisbee and the Jesus People and Third Wave Revival 

▪️New Video: Overview of the 3 Major Movements focused on the Empowering of the Holy Spirit in the 20^th Century 

Ministry Update: Spring - Summer 2025

 

We are thankful to have been ministering in some different places and events in the past few months.

Canada 🇨🇦 

It was a blessing to get to visit and minister in Canada once again. We ministered at both the South and then the North end of Vancouver Island.

We did a lot of ministry way up on the Northern end of Vancouver Island, which is a gateway to those heading up to Alaska. We were doing some ministry, for the first time for us, amongst the indigenous peoples from the Kwakiutl Tribe at Fort Rupert.

Fort Rupert had the first known inhabitants of the island many thousands of years ago. We were told that they haven’t been that open to Caucasian people, but thanks to friends Lance and Sarah who set things up, we were welcomed, and the Lord gave us favor. 

Grand Chief Dave shared he was hungry for the Holy Spirit to move and that there were those, including in his family, who had become dried out and in need of renewal in their walks with Christ. We were stoked to experience the Holy Spirit moving amongst us powerfully as we ministered, and especially touching, filling and renewing, members from the Grand Chief’s family.

The Grand Chief and his mother, who is 93 years old, both encountered God’s presence in a major way in our first meeting. The Holy Spirit came upon him and his mother in a radical way and they, as well as others, spent a long time on the floor having been inundated under the presence of the Lord. They were there receiving and being filled with the living water which was renewing their hearts! His niece got powerfully filled in the next meeting we were doing and shared afterwards how she had been feeling so dry and really needed this touch from God as the tears were streaming down her face.

Then later I had a divine appointment when we were on the reserve visiting and helping out with some things. I felt the Holy Spirit’s leading that there was someone that needed ministering to. I ran into the niece whom we had prayed for the night before and began talking with her. 

She began to explain how her mother was so in need of ministry and renewal and while talking in the community kitchen, her mother unexpectedly showed up. We shared that we had just been talking about her and said we would like to pray for her. I went and got Mercedes and brought her over and we began to pray for her right there in the kitchen and the power of God came down on her in a very radical way and she began to weep heavily with many tears as God’s presence touched her deeply, then later the Lord began to fill her with joy, and she began to laugh and have burdens lifted off of her. It was a very powerful divine appointment. 

I was also able to share and witness and plant some seeds with others around the reserve and the surrounding area. It was also interesting to hear some stories Grand Chief shared of missionaries in the early 20th century—not too long ago really—who worked to translate the Bible into their Kwakiutl language!

We also ministered in Port Hardy later at The Bridge Christian Fellowship with Pastor George and his wife Karen, which is not too far from Fort Rupert. We were stoked to experience the Lord’s renewing presence filling, and empowering, and bringing healing, and had a few people rededicate their lives to Christ as well. The Holy Spirit moved powerfully amongst us the whole time with a radiant renewing presence that was so refreshing and just releasing healing and new life. Was also stoked to be part of the worship team in both situations in both Fort Rupert and Port Hardy, as well as leading some worship too earlier down in Victoria at a home meeting.

We were in the South of the island as well, ministering in the Victoria area. We were speaking at The House of Shiloh about the “Mothers Day Holy Spirit Outpouring” which took place back when Lonnie Frisbee (Jesus Revolution movie) ministered back at the then Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda, which was later to become the Anaheim Vineyard. 

We were stoked to have the Holy Spirit‘s presence moving amongst us and release “healing, deliverance, strength, and power”—as one friend put it who was at the meetings—as we ministered together at the House of Shiloh. So many were ministered to and touched and renewed and a few people experienced the Baptism and Empowering of the Holy Spirit for the first time in their lives at this service, including a young man who was very powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing. 

We also did some other home meetings during the week where we led worship as well as experienced the Holy Spirit pouring out healing and freedom.

The Mother’s Day Outpouring was actually connected to the Jesus People Revival since Lonnie Frisbee was one of the principal evangelists of the Jesus People Revival. It has come to be understood as a historic outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Fuller Seminary Professor Peter Wagner called it an integral part of the “Third Wave Revival”—meaning there were 3 main outpourings in the 20th century that had an emphasis on the Baptism/Empowering of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5): The Pentecostal Revival, The Charismatic Renewal, and The Third Wave Revival. (There is a list at the end of this newsletter, including a new video we've done as well on those 20th Century Outpourings.)

We also had a couple of other divine appointments along the way in Canada with some people we met: One was with a Filipino guy we met that we witnessed to and prayed for! Another guy lost some cold-weather gloves that we found and caught up to him and shared that the Lord was watching over him and sent us to him to give him that message…he was very touched! PTL!

We also got a nice little break in along the coast in between things where Mercedes and I were able to get in some Canadian surfing and hiking etc. in the beautiful natural surroundings, as well as enjoying a little time in the Columbia Icefields area when we arrived in the country.

 

California Dreamin’ Conference 

We had some blessed meetings we spoke and ministered at in Costa Mesa at the “California Dreamin’“ conference, held at the original church where Lonnie Frisbee began to minister with Chuck Smith in the inception of the Jesus People Revival, as featured in the “Jesus Revolution” movie.

Mercedes and I were blessed to share about the significant revivals of the 20th century and how they were connected to California, including as we just referenced, the Pentecostal Revival, the Charismatic Renewal, and the Third Wave Revival. 

 

Salinas 

We had a blessed time ministering together as well as hanging out with our friend David Estrella at the Vineyard in Salinas with Pastor Dave and his wife Renee where we shared about the move of the Holy Spirit in different aspects of history, as well as the filling of the Holy Spirit Dave experienced when Mercedes and I ministered at Surfing the Nations (STN) in Hawaii some years ago. It was when we were ministering there at STN that David got filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the first time in his life after having grown up and gone to church his whole life.

The Holy Spirit moved amongst us as we ministered at the Vineyard and poured out His loving and healing presence over those who were there, including a young lady who wasn’t even gonna come to the meeting that night, but just showed up at the last moment because of a stress issue and got radically touched by the Lord!

We also got to enjoy taking a little time to enjoy some of the area and do some fun things in that scenic region. 

 

Orange and Dana Point

 

We were blessed to minister in the Orange area at Centro Cristiano Esperanza where we experienced the Holy Spirit filling many of the young people including touching some very young teenagers. 

We also joined Patrick and Emily as they led worship at OC Rock Church in South Orange County. We were the support team in the worship and praying for people, as they both taught from the Bible at that service.

We also shared about the Jesus People Revival and the real St. Patrick on a Zoom meeting recently as well. We also have a new video about a “Holy Ghost Ski Story” that involves ministry we were led to by the Holy Spirit that involved us sharing about the real St. Patrick on St. Patrick’s day as a way to share the Gospel We have continued ministering as well in other places and in other venues including some blessed meetings in San Diego we just did that our friend Lauren set up which had some blessed worship we all did together and some breakthroughs for those we prayed for! 

 

Anniversary 

We are thankful to be celebrating 33 years of marriage this summer, and we were stoked to finally get a chance to get a little time up in the mountains together to take time to celebrate that important milestone. We praise God for His grace, mercy, and are so grateful for the Holy Spirit’s presence that has blessed us and carried us through all these years.

 

We are so grateful for your ongoing prayers and support!

God Bless!

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

New videos on YouTube which can be found on the Grace World Mission page:

www.youtube.com/graceworldmission

• Wind Wind…music video and brief teaching on the Holy Spirit
• Holy Ghost Ski Stories…sharing about some traveling divine appointments
• Light of the Lighthouse…music video with pictures from our recent Canada mission trip
• NEW VIDEO and ARTICLE: 20th Century Outpourings of the Holy Spirit and the Healing of Cultural Divides

 

Other videos mentioned in newsletter which can be found on the Grace World Mission page: www.youtube.com/graceworldmission

• Testimony of Dave Estrella getting filled with the Holy Spirit when we were ministering at STN
• Video on Lonnie and his impact on Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard
• Video Interview about Lonnie Frisbee

Articles mentioned in newsletter:

• Mother’s Day Outpouring article: gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2020/05/40th-anniversary-of-mothers-day.html
• Lonnie Frisbee and the Jesus People Revival, (article was published by an international renewal publication, has since been expanded): www.graceworldmission.org/Jesus_ppl_revival.html

Ministry Update: Winter 2021

We recently ministered with Centro Cristiano Esperanza in Orange County sharing a message of hope on the grace given to us through faith in Christ and His power that is available for our lives today. It was a blessed time and the presence of the Holy Spirit was very refreshing. 

We also just had a divine appointment recently when we were driving home and it was getting late, so we stopped at a motel for the night. When leaving the next morning, I forgot something in the room and had to go back. A male service worker had already begun taking care of the room. I started talking for a few minutes and as we spoke I felt led to ask if he needed prayer for anything. It turned out his good friend had just died and had the funeral coming up the next day and so he would actually really appreciate some prayer! He went on to say that he had been a believer for some years but had some ups and downs and his friend passing away had really shook him up. I spoke to him about God’s mercy and love and then prayed for him and he was clearly ministered to in a significant way. He shared afterwards that he was greatly encouraged by this divine appointment and thanked me for stepping out in faith to ask if he needed prayer! Hallelujah! 

Reflections 

 

As we have entered fully into the new decade, it causes us to reflect on the grace that the Lord has blessed us with to be able to minister in different places around the world over the last few decades, including: Latvia, Romania, Kosovo, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Argentina, Ghana, West Africa, and in the US: all over California, as well as in Arizona, Oregon, Montana, Colorado and Hawaii.

We are thankful for God’s grace to minister through us and have been blessed to experience many receive Christ, get filled with the Holy Spirit, and receive healing and deliverance. It is a blessing to see lives impacted by the Kingdom of God in these different places as we have ministered over the years. We are thankful for the different divine appointments we have experienced along the way as well. 

 

Books We’ve Been Published In 

 

We have also been blessed to have some Holy Ghost Stories published in some different books over the years, including: 

• Stories From the Front Lines: Power Evangelism In Today’s World by Jane Rumph. Tells about some Holy Ghost healing stories and wild divine appointments we have had in Mexico. 

• Signs and Wonders in America Today by Jane Rumph. Miracles taking place while we are ministering in the Bay Area. 

• Divine Intervention: True Stories of Heaven Invading Earth by Julia Loren. A radical Holy Ghost surfing miracle and divine appointment on the coast of Israel. 

• Kernels of Hope: Real People, Real Stories by Bob and Gail Kaku. The divine appointment sequel to the Israel story but this Holy Ghost surfing miracle is on the Coast of Spain where a divine appointment took place with some guys who just turned out to be friends of the surfer from Israel! 

• Not By Might Nor By Power: The Great Commission (Book Two) by Lonnie Frisbee with Roger Sachs. Shares about Lonnie’s influence on us as well as a story of Bryan getting filled with the Holy Spirit. 

• Not By Might Nor By Power: Set Free (Book Three) by Lonnie Frisbee with Roger Sachs. Shares stories from a mission trip to Colorado with Lonnie (interestingly enough, much spiritual warfare was experienced in the Colorado trips mentioned) and a wild encounter while hiking in Tahquitz Canyon in Palm Springs, amongst some other things. 

If you’re interested in one of the books we’ll get you a copy for a donation of whatever you can afford—typical suggested donation is $15 per book. These are also all available at Amazon.com. 

Audio and Video Programs 

We have also been able to create a host of different audio and video programs that are available on different formats and platforms. They have covered lots of different topics, including those from Christian History such as the Reformation to Revivals to Biographies on Revivalists and Reformers as well as Divine Appointment Stories and Mission Adventures and many other topics. 

The programs on historical Christian figures are amongst our more popular topics on different sites. I see now more than ever the dire need for programs like ours that tell the history that has largely been ignored by secular institutions. Moreover, our programs do it from a uniquely Spirit-filled perspective which is something that is greatly lacking in this arena. For example, our recent program we put out on Charles Finney talked about his powerful Baptism in the Holy Spirit, others who’ve done programs on Finney have omitted this important aspect of his life and ministry, not even mentioning it at all. 

Here is an endorsement of our ministry (link: https://youtu.be/TYtTLR5K_pY) from a historical figure himself, Harald Bredesen, one of the fathers of the Charismatic Renewal, and some of what he had to say in his endorsement of our ministry: 

Of all the ministries I’ve worked with, there is none that I have the greatest confidence in the purity of the motivation and the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who gave birth to it than Grace World Mission, led by its founders, Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux...I’ve seen the sacrifice; I’ve seen the zeal; I’ve seen the Spirit-ledness…and I am so happy to be a part of it—I hope you will be and will support it as well... I’m sure He’ll bless you for it.  

We greatly appreciate your prayers and support! 

God bless! 

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

Charles Finney's Conversion and Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Our recent ministry update includes a few recent divine appointments, as well as an account of a recent outpouring where the Holy Spirit moved powerfully. We also have a link in our update to a powerful historical podcast we recorded on Charles Finney’s Conversion and Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is one of our latest uploads to our SoundCloud page and offers fairly easy access for listening on demand.

A Little About Charles Grandison Finney

Charles Finney was a powerfully used evangelist and minister in America in the early part of the 1800’s. He also ministered in England. In fact, he is considered to be the forerunner to those who did mass evangelistic campaigns later like D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Reinhard Bonnke.

Like Martin Luther, Finney also studied law, however it was after becoming a lawyer that Finney went on to experience a dramatic conversion and soon after a very powerful baptism in the Holy Spirit…which he says “took place before he even knew what that was.”

His baptism/filling of  the Holy Spirit also touched several other people right as it took place and included some manifestations that have been seen in many different revivals, such as profuse weeping, holy laughter, and God’s overwhelming presence!

Finney is in many respects a product of the Reformation; similar to Martin Luther he received a revelation by the Holy Spirit regarding the grace of God. Finney was given a revelation from his experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit that: “Justification by faith through grace is a present reality and something to be received now.” Not just something to hope for at the end. This was the effect of the Reformation as it fanned out through history, it brought forth evangelism.

Our friend Harald Bredesen, a Lutheran that got filled with the Holy Spirit himself and who also recaptured that original Lutheran revelation of "justification by grace" via the filling of the Holy Spirit, said when he witnessed to others: The problem with religion versus the Gospel, is that religiosity often leaves one stuck in limbo not knowing if you will be hung or acquitted on the Day of Judgement, hoping the rituals one did will be enough, which they never can be. The Bible however makes it clear that the Gospel saves and brings forth eternal security: salvation was brought forth on the cross through Christ and all you need to do is receive Christ as Savior and Lord. Then you have peace with God having been justified by His grace through faith (Romans 5:1-3).

Finney took that revelation he received into the harvest fields. And while Luther’s revelation resulted in the Reformation, Finney’s revelation resulted in pioneering campaigns of evangelism. Though they may have differences in some respects regarding the way they looked at things, the truth they received by revelation of the Holy Spirit about God’s grace brought great impact.

Finney also worked tirelessly to bring an end to what he called “the vile sin of slavery.” Many other believers like him worked hard to do the same in this respect as well. It is important to learn about historical figures like Charles Finney, a Holy Spirit-filled warrior who battled for souls, as well as to free those in slavery.

His conversion and filling of the Holy Spirit is an extraordinary power encounter. Check it out, I’m sure you’ll get a renewing touch of the Holy Ghost by just listening to that powerful Baptism in the Holy Spirit that Finney experienced!

Here’s the link to our podcast on Charles Grandison Finney: https://soundcloud.com/graceworldmission/finneys-conversion

The Need for Programs Like This

After graduating from Fuller Theological Seminary, and while ministering in different situations, I began to see the need to share certain aspects of Christian History, a lot of which was rarely covered in general and basically flatly ignored, particularly by secular universities. (I attended a few of those before my graduate studies at Fuller and they were biased against, and edited out, much of the Christian History of the US and other places then, and have only gotten worse now!)

The many contributions made by Christians like Finney—who was quite a well known and popular figure during his time—are often purposely ignored in the secular school system today. This is especially pronounced in the secular universities, with the modern zeitgeist that willingly embraces a collective historical amnesia and biased slant. One of the axioms of Stalinism and Marxism was: If we rewrite history then we can control the people.  We can see this happening today throughout the land.

Learning about believers like Finney helps to give us perspective and is a step in seeing beyond the historical revisionism of our day. 

We have put out lots of different programs, including those on historical Christian figures, which are amongst some our own more popular topics on some sites. I see now more than ever the dire need for programs like ours that tell the history that has largely been, and is being, ignored by secular institutions. Moreover, our programs do it from a uniquely Spirit-filled perspective. We appreciate your prayers and your prayerful consideration towards financially contributing to us in this seriously needed work!

Here is an endorsement of our ministry from a historical figure himself, Harald Bredesen, a Lutheran that got filled with the Holy Spirit who was one of the fathers of the Charismatic Renewal, and some of what he had to say in his endorsement of our ministry: 

"Of all the ministries I’ve worked with, there is none that I have the greatest confidence in the purity of the motivation and the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who gave birth to it than Grace World Mission, led by its founders, Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux...I’ve seen the sacrifice; I’ve seen the zeal; I’ve seen the Spirit-ledness…and I am so happy to be a part of it—I hope you will be and will support it...I’m sure He’ll bless you for it."

God Bless!
Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux

Grace World Mission—Useful Links
Email: gracewm@flash.net
Website: www.graceworldmission.org
Donate Online: www.graceworldmission.org/contact_us.htm
Blog Grace Notes: gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com
Blog Reflections from the Road: reflectionsftroad.blogspot.com
Podcast: Grace Alone on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/graceworldmission
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/graceworldmission