Thirty-Year Anniversary of Mother's Day Outpouring

Canyon High School gym where God poured

out His Spirit thirty years ago on Mother's Day

Follow this link for a video and background to the

Jesus People and Third Wave Revivals.

This Mother’s Day is the 30-year anniversary of an outpouring of the Spirit that gave birth to a very powerful revival that went out to the nations and affected many lives, including my own.

Known by a few different monikers including “The Third Wave Revival” (named thus by missiologist and Fuller Seminary Professor Peter Wagner who includes it as one of the three most important outpourings in the Twentieth Century) it has also been called the “Vineyard Revival” and, though this may be a more popular term, I prefer Wagner’s term because the roots and the reach of the outpouring went way outside the bounds of the Vineyard movement.

Thirty years ago John Wimber, pastor of the then called Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda, had Lonnie Frisbee come share his testimony for a service which happened to be on Mother’s Day. Frisbee had previously been the instrumental evangelist in the Jesus People Revival, a movement which had given rise to the growth of Calvary Chapel churches—as well as being the leading evangelist at Calvary Costa Mesa, Frisbee had also actually led now well-known evangelist Greg Laurie to the Lord, discipled him, and started his church out in Riverside, now known as the mega church Harvest Christian Fellowship—though Frisbee never received much credit for all God did through him (follow this link for more on the Jesus People Revival and the Third Wave Revival.)

What ensued on that Mother’s Day has been the subject of multiple books (1), articles, research, documentaries, and even seminary discussions. Frisbee basically just shared his testimony, which was nothing unusual. What happened afterwards was what turned things on their head. Straight after his testimony, as Frisbee began to invite the Holy Spirit to move on this pretty straight-laced evangelical group, the Spirit of God began to be poured out in radical power. People who didn’t even believe in speaking in tongues began to speak in tongues; in fact as the Spirit moved on people and knocked some over to the ground, a dog pile of young people fell near the front inundated by the power of the Spirit, and one of them ended up on top of a microphone crying out in tongues over the amplification system which seemed to cause a reverberation of the Spirit’s power throughout the meeting. An all out radical outpouring of the Holy Ghost took over. Wimber, who had no idea what was happening, was completely perplexed and in his own words “fit to be tied.”

After such a wild service he was at first angry, but as he began to pray and examine the Bible, he came to the conclusion that “Lord, maybe this is from you.” In the middle of the night he received a call from Tom Stipe, a fellow Calvary Pastor who knew nothing of what had happened that day and had a word from God for him. Calling in the literal middle of the night Stipe told Wimber that he had been kept awake all night long with this word from God for him: “John, the Lord says ‘This is [of] Me.’ ” With the word from God confirming this was of the Lord and a fresh examination of the Scriptures, Wimber had what in the lingua of Fuller Theological Seminary, where he had previously taught, was now his very own experience, a complete paradigm shift, and went forward full force with what God had just done.

That Mother’s Day outpouring sparked a revival that continued on at full throttle. The church in Yorba Linda tripled in size over that very year and many, many people began to get saved, filled, healed, delivered as well as experiencing the outpouring and fullness of the Spirit in their own lives.

In time a team was assembled from the Yorba Linda church that went out to different nations with Wimber and Frisbee doing conferences on the subject of “The Power of God,” further spreading and widening the acclaim of this move of God.

This outpouring was made even more prominent by Wimber’s subsequent course at Fuller Seminary entitled “MC510 – Signs, Wonders, and Church Growth” which became the most popular course in the mainline evangelical seminary’s history.

Some people just don’t know a good thing when they have it, as Fuller eventually caved to those whining about people getting healed on campus, like when Prof. Peter Wagner got healed of high blood pressure during a class by Wimber. The view that prevailed was that a seminary should be a place for mere extracted thought and not practice and so Wimber was pushed out, but not without having had a huge impact on the place and those attending.

I was blessed to attend one of the last classes Wimber taught there with Wagner, which had been synthesized with some other issues to keep the basic course and idea going titled “Spiritual Issues and Church Growth.” The Signs and Wonders name was just too potent for some, so the name was dumbed down a bit, but the basic premise was the same: the Power of God as seen in the Bible is integral to the spread of God’s Kingdom on earth—why such a clearly biblical topic should be so difficult for some to stomach is still hard to figure out.

Like Dr. John White says in his book When the Spirit Comes with Power (another book that recorded these events): When one steps out to radically follow God he is usually met with scorn by those who hold to the status quo, later on however he is often given an honorary doctorate—usually posthumously—by those who finally realize the contribution he has made to the community of believers. Such is the case with figures like William Seymour who is only now, a century later, being recognized by publications like Christianity Today as one of the top ten most important Christian leaders in the Twentieth Century. Previous to this, Seymour received mostly the obligatory scorn from the larger Christian community for founding the Pentecostal Revival. Surely the same pattern is already starting to emerge for Frisbee and Wimber as even many who had no connection to this revival are looking back, documenting its events, and seeing the major contribution to the Body of Christ of these two as well as other players who played pivotal roles.

Political correctness ruling the day, Wimber’s Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda was eventually given the left foot of fellowship and asked to find itself a new name, not one with “Calvary Chapel” in it and so joined up with another former Calvary Chapel leader named Ken Gulliksen and his small group of churches called “The Vineyard.” Folk singer Bob Dylan was hanging around these fellowships back then and radical things continued to happen and spread as the Vineyard movement with Wimber taking the helm became a major force for renewal and revival over time.

Frisbee’s impact on both Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard has been mostly understated and underreported. His impact, however, in both these movements is huge and instrumental. (Click here for more info on Calvary Chapel history)

Wimber’s first ever “Power Encounter” took place when Frisbee ministered on that Mother’s Day service, according to Wimber’s own words in his book Power Evangelism. The fact that his four books Power Evangelism, Power Healing, Power Points, and Power Encounters as well as his conferences on “The Power of God” are all based and flow out of that seminal encounter, clearly demonstrates the enormous impact of Frisbee’s influence on Wimber’s subsequent thought and practice, thought and practice that had a huge impact on the body of Christ.

Nothing ever happens in a vacuum and the Third Wave/Vineyard Revival itself was actually rooted in the Jesus People Revival, which interestingly enough, has itself roots that tie back to the Pentecostals—both Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith were originally in the Pentecostal movement. Chuck Smith was originally a Foursquare Pentecostal Preacher and Frisbee originally came to Christ as a youth at a Pentecostal camp. John Wimber’s own spiritual roots are from the Quakers, itself an early radical revival movement that sprung up in England and the American Colonies but which later became mainstream, seemingly being led back to his true roots unaware.

Furthermore, one of the most interesting things I’ve noticed is how much the Third Wave/ Vineyard Revival as well as the Pentecostal Revival so closely resemble powerful historical revivals of the past: The Great Awakening as well as the Camp Meetings along with the English Revivals all experienced similar outpourings and manifestations which were duly noted by some of their leaders and participants, something I’ll expand on more at another time.

My Own Experience in Context

Bryan Marleaux in the tube.  (Photo © Surfshot)

Quiksilver Ad: Bryan Marleaux (2nd from right) and Mark "Smerk" Mangan (far right).

The unexpected outpouring of the Spirit way back on Mother’s Day in the high school gym where Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda (later to become Vineyard Anaheim) held its services, turned life upside down in a good way for many people, myself included.

I was dragged to one of its services by others, hoping to receive healing for an injured knee that was putting the brakes on my surfing/life-guarding/modeling career. I had been surfing the amateur circuits for years where contemporaries like Tom Curren and eventually Kelly Slater were making their mark, it was a wild time to be involved in such a sport (find out more about this time and experience by clicking here) definitely a season of great change in many aspects of society. I had been influenced to turn pro by my sponsor Quiksilver and shortly after I did, I had a massive knee injury while surfing, which brought my new venture to a complete halt. Having appeared recently in an advertisement in Surfing Magazine for Quiksilver, the pressure was on to get healed up and get back on track with things. And so it was that I went to this odd church up in Yorba Linda with the goal of getting my knee healed and moving on with my life, having no idea of the whitewater rapids I was about to be thrown into.

Like being thrown into a raging river, I entered into this weird gym with people holding their hands up in the air and singing what seemed like songs that never ended, all just connecting together for what seemed like forever.

Due to the lack of windows and air conditioning in the gym the place was about as hot as a Swedish sauna. I looked around as some were singing with hands raised, others were crying or laughing, and some had even fallen over or off their seats, while still others seemed to be muttering strange languages. All I could equate it with was a Shriners Circus I’d been to as a kid where my friend and I were the only ones without a disability and where I spent more time looking at everyone around me than at the performance itself.

Here I was in this church that met in a school gym sweating every ounce of fluid out of my body, listening to all this singing and mesmerized by people crying and laughing for no reason whatsoever.

Finally after all this endless singing the speaker John Wimber, did his best to ramble on in the unbearable heat for a while and finally wiped his sweaty face and said, “ You know, it’s really hot in here, let’s move on to some ministry.” And then got down to the reason I came and sent all those who wanted prayer for healing to a back room.

I was expecting some kind of mini miracle service in that back room but instead found a completely disorganized mess with what seemed like just regular people praying for one another. I was expecting someone in a three-piece suit to be throwing crutches in the air and proclaiming people healed but nothing really significant seemed to be happening here.

Bryan being prayed over by Lonnie Frisbee and Jill Austin.

Then a crazy hippie guy seemed to take charge of things—I remembered having seen him before at the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa church as well as at a small group one time where I also happened to be dragged to by some other people.

This small group I had gone to before had been another endless singing escapade, singing and singing all night long. I got bored at one point and started singing too rather than just looking around the room, just to make the time pass faster. All of a sudden something happened when I started singing, that same crazy hippie guy, who I later found out was Lonnie Frisbee from Calvary Chapel, came up behind me and placed his hands on me. Immediately something happened where I felt the warmth and love of God come over me just momentarily. I’d never experienced that before.

When the small group meeting ended I told some people outside what had happened, and their response to me was: “Don’t you know anything about the Holy Spirit? That was the Holy Spirit starting to come on you.”

I told them that the guy over there had prayed over me without even asking me or anything. Someone said, “Hey, that’s Lonnie Frisbee. Everywhere he goes radical things happen!”

Now, here a little later on, as I was in that back room of the gym at Calvary Yorba Linda just kind of looking around and thinking, “This is a big disappointment. This thing isn’t even organized.” And suddenly out of nowhere something began to happen to me, this heavy feeling of God’s presence just began to come over me. I suddenly began to feel an incredible sense of God’s presence multiplied exponentially a thousand times over, God and His glory were right there with and upon me. All at once I began to be overwhelmed by God’s manifest glory, and like those people I had watched mesmerized whom I thought were disabled and/or strange out in the gym, I was starting to cry and then laugh and then cry and then laugh and on and on for no visible reason whatsoever. His love and grace began to be downloaded from my head into my heart at light speed and it was overwhelming me. Waves of something like liquid love began to wash over and over me, again and again.

Next, Lonnie Frisbee, while standing on some wrestling mats, started pointing at me and praying over me and saying stuff over me; I didn’t know at that time that he was speaking prophetic words over me. He started yelling that the Spirit of God was moving powerfully now on this young guy here as he prayed over me. It was like being thrown into an ocean of God’s presence and suddenly, gloriously, drowning in His tangible mercy and grace. I became so overwhelmed I couldn’t stand up anymore and some people sat me down on some rolled up wrestling mats where they prayed for me as I continued to get hammered, being baptized in the Holy Spirit for the next three and a half to four hours at least.

When I finally opened my eyes from what seemed like an altered state of consciousness, the place that had been full was now almost empty. Without a doubt I had been in the presence of God in a major way. It was an encounter with God that would change my life forever.

Much like the people Paul encountered on the way to Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) who believed in Jesus but knew nothing of the Holy Spirit or His power, I had been in that same boat. Paul had immediately prayed for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit though they had limited knowledge, likewise God didn’t wait for me to take a course on the Holy Spirit before he filled me to overflowing. The gift came without any knowledge, effort, study or merit on my part whatsoever. Just like the Bible teaches, “You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, to…all who have been called by the Lord our God.” (Acts 2:38-39.) In my limited knowledge, I had the same experience as those Ephesians Paul prayed for, getting filled unaware and even speaking in tongues later while praying at home after this.

This was a life-changing event, my life was completely transformed at this point as I began to pray and read the Bible regularly, something I never had done much of before, and I also began to realize that God had a higher purpose and calling for me regarding serving Him and ministry versus just doing and pursuing my own thing.

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit like this brought a complete paradigm shift in my thinking regarding the reality of God’s love and presence and the reality of His call and purpose for my life, which soon began to be played out as I began to witness to others and even lead others to Christ and eventually even starting a Bible Study with those I’d led to Christ where we had our own Holy Ghost times. And so it was that I was led into ministry and became a witness of God’s grace, love, and power by God’s Spirit soon after being filled with the Holy Spirit just like Jesus says will happen. (Acts 1:8.)

God brought healing to my knee, though I still had to suffer through that cast and doing some weights to get rid of the atrophy for a while. It was a break in time that took me away from just going after my own pursuits. 

I was brought into the reality of God’s presence and love and grace in a way that I had never heard nor knew could happen and then was directed into God’s call and ministry all through the work and power of His Spirit.

Mine is just one of countless testimonies of so many whose lives were changed and impacted for good in this revival.

We were blessed to connect with Lonnie Frisbee later and as good friends learned many important lessons in that discipleship time.

The Third Wave/Vineyard Revival went on to spread out to many different parts of the country and different nations, bringing renewal and reviving many.

This is just one of many of God’s great outpourings throughout the centuries that traces itself all the way back to the Day of Pentecost recorded in the Book of Acts where Jesus’ words were fulfilled: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Video of Jesus People
Video of Bryan's Testimony

Footnotes:
(1) When the Spirit Comes With Power by John White; Power Evangelism by John Wimber; The Quest for the Radical Middle by Bill Jackson.

Good Friday and Easter Reflections

Listen to our Good Friday and Easter audio message

One of history's most dramatic trials played out as the the son of a carpenter stood before a son of the glorious Roman Empire. Pilate, stunned by what he was presented with when the very King of Glory stood before him on trial, still failed to see what true glory was really all about, and gave way for the Son of God to be crucified as a common criminal even though he himself declared three times that he was innocent of any charge:

• Pilate went out to the Jews and said "I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 18:38.)
• Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 19:4.)
• But Pilate answered "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."(John 19:6.)

How a Roman Governor whose word is as good as law could still allow someone, much less Jesus Christ famed for healing and helping the sick and downtrodden, to be crucified when he himself just declared three times unequivocally to be innocent of any charge, is one of history's great enigmas.

The answer to such perplexing enigmatic circumstances is found in Jesus' own words: "I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and to take it up again." (John 10:17-18)

Christ laid his life down that we might have forgiveness, redemption, and life. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). True redemption, mercy, and grace are found only in Him!

(For Further Reading: In this dramatic trial of Jesus before Pilate we see the perplexity of man's condition: Created in God's image but so bound to sin we must be redeemed from this fallen state, thus the cross was absolutely necessary for our salvation due to our utter depravity, but praise God Jesus has come and paid the price that we might be freed and have life --read more by clicking here.)

Remembering Harald Bredesen

• Check out our audio program on The Charismatic Renewal
• Also recommended is audio program on the Pentecostal Revival since they are closely connected to each other

Holy Ghost Harald Stories Video

It was about three years ago right around this time when a large group of people, including many well-known figures in Christendom, gathered at Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, to celebrate the life and passing of one of the more unique and significant figures in the Body of Christ in the twentieth century, Harald Bredesen.

Harald was one of the principal fathers of the Charismatic Renewal, along with Dennis Bennett. As the first proto-charismatic—he was an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church, a mainline and historic denomination, who received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and yet stayed within his denomination—he was instrumental in ushering in the Charismatic Renewal into the mainline denominations, as well as introducing that renewal even to places like the Ivy League colleges of Yale and Dartmouth. He humorously called the Yale students who got filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues “GlossoYalies.” He also reached and impacted many world leaders like Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Anwar Sadat, and led quite a number of well-known figures like Pat Boone and Dale Evan Rogers into the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Harald was someone who exemplified Romans 8:14: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” When I first met him, however, I thought he was more like the bumbling Maxwell Smart from the Get Smart TV series. As I waited to meet him in his office for the first time, I noticed telephones everywhere, and out on his patio I even found a phone hidden down in a small wooden compartment underneath the cement right by his Jacuzzi. I totally expected to find a phone in his shoe next, just like old Maxwell Smart. He always wanted to be available to minister to whoever might call needing a word or some prayer, even while relaxing in the Jacuzzi. I soon found out that, behind the wild and crazy character who ate in my ear while I talked to him on the phone—he was notorious for chomping away at his lunch or dinner while talking on the phone—there was a very wise individual who was always deftly paying attention to the Holy Spirit. While my wife and I were eating dinner with him during our first meeting, our faces ended up pretty much in our food as Harald suddenly started praying and God’s power fell upon us. We were overcome by the Spirit’s presence and we ended up getting a little bit more intimate with our dinner than expected as Harald suddenly began prophesying over us.

Here was a man who had paid the price behind the anointing, much like I wrote about in the previous blog with Jill Austin, and whose numerous antics and missteps sharpened him in the place to discern the voice and leading of the Lord in a dynamic way in his life. You can read about all that in his book Yes, Lord! (for more info click here), which chronicles the trials of those early formative years. At one of the lowest points in his early life, he found himself sitting in a little broken-down decrepit hostel, his only furniture being a broken old stool missing a leg and a bed full of bed bugs, sick and wondering if he was really hearing God right, he unknowingly found himself at a decisive point in his life, where he was going from seeking to fulfill God’s purposes in his life by way of his own power and flesh, to being yielded and led by the Holy Spirit and relying on God’s power instead.

His many years of learning to discern God’s leading gave him an uncanny way of knowing where some area of one’s life needed some breaking, reforming, and embracing of the Cross. I remember being in a shopping mall and Harald got going on a witnessing spree to the clerks and employees in Target; next he said, “Let’s go through the aisles praying out loud in tongues and see who God leads us to talk to.” This was fun and fine with me and we ended witnessing to some more people. All of a sudden however, with arms locked together, he pulled us out of Target and started making a beeline for another store. As we got closer I freaked: it was a surf shop, I was yelling inside my head go anywhere but in there, but he went straight in, praying at the top of his lungs in tongues to the shocked look of all inside. He had hit on the head an area in my life that needed a little deathblow. Growing up as a surfer and spending many years in the competitive surfing arena as well as being sponsored by different surf companies there was always that issue of wanting to look cool amongst your peers, and this was a needed deathblow to that pride. The Holy Spirit fell on me in power with the Scripture, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” (1 Cor. 1:27)

I’ve had many divine appointments involving surfing (read more here) and almost always it happens while listening to the Holy Spirit and doing something that would be considered foolish to the world’s eyes by His direction, but which leads to some miraculous encounter. He uses those willing to take risks, be foolish, and step out in faith, not worrying about one’s reputation but willing to be a vessel of His word and power. Harald was a great example of this. You can never learn to swim without jumping in the water and flailing around a bit. You’ve got to take that risk; like Peter, you’ve got to step out of the boat if you want to follow the Lord and walk out on the water! Peter got out of the boat and had that radical experience of walking on the water while all the other disciples just sat in the boat watching and he got to walk on the water twice as Jesus helped him when he faltered and sank and then walked him back to the boat. It was easy for the others to just sit in the boat and possibly even criticize, “Look he doubted! Now he’s sinking.” Armchair critics are a dime a dozen and the world and the church are full of them while only a small percentage of the Christian population even gets involved in the actual activity of the Kingdom.

It takes guts and faith, however, to step out and take a risk and be willing to be used by God; you’ve got to be willing to make mistakes and missteps, you can never make it to the goal if you don’t pick up the ball and run and that means risking falling on your face. Too many want to play it safe and sit in the comfort of the pew and let someone else step out and do the Kingdom stuff and unfortunately this status quo is all to often encouraged by the powers that be.

You can listen to many sermons but there’s nothing like that living sermon of stepping out to follow Christ, which presses you in to discern His voice. Over many years of trial and tribulation, Harald learned to discern the Lord’s voice in his life and he is a wonderful example of that important dynamic in a believer’s walk.

Scriptural Insight:

"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice.” 1Sam. 15:22

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God,” Romans 8:14

“If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” Gal. 5:18

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Gal. 5:25

The Great Awakening, the Puritans and their Roots in the Reformation

Check out our video on The Great Awakening

Maybe you had a chance to hear our recent program on Thanksgiving talking about America’s Christian roots that were born out of the Reformation in Germany, an event that spawned the Puritan movement out of England and which in turn was brought to the American Colonies and became the young country’s spiritual foundation (if you missed that one you can still hear it by clicking here).

As a follow-up to our Thanksgiving program, we wanted to touch on and share the video on one of the most radical revivals in American history and history in general: The Great Awakening.

This Revival spread Holy Ghost fire throughout the early American colonies with radical manifestations: people being slain in the Spirit, profuse weeping, and much holy laughter and mass conversions.

It changed the spiritual atmosphere and furthered America’s Christian heritage and foundations in a great way.

This incredible revival however, was born earlier on through the Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther and then sown spiritually by the Puritans and their longing for revival that later saw its fulfillment in The Great Awakening.

Interesting facts on the Puritans

The term Puritan was derived from their desire to purify the church from Roman Catholic errors and go back to New Testament standards and not a quest for personal purity, popular misunderstanding of their name notwithstanding. They sowed in tears and prayer hoping to see revival, which was later fulfilled through the Great Awakening. In fact one of the main preachers of the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards, was a direct descendant of Puritans.

They valued and longed to see these realities become widespread:

Conversion: They wanted to see people come into a real relationship with Christ and not just become religious, but be converted into a vital and living relationship with the Living Savior Jesus Christ.

Encounter: They were adamant that mere Bible knowledge and knowledge about God alone was not sufficient and by itself could lead to dangerous spiritual pride and arrogance. Though they held the former as of utmost importance, they were strong believers in the biblical example of the need for a real encounter with the living supernatural God and experiencing his real and living presence in one's life, Christ must fill the heart with His Spirit!! They were known as some of the first Protestant-Mystics.

Revival: They wanted to see a revival of true and living faith spread across the different lands they inhabited both in England and the American Colonies

They sowed in suffering, prayer, and tears many years, hoping to see these things become widespread realities in their old and new worlds of England and America's colonies. Their sowing in tears and suffering saw fulfillment in the later radical revival known as the Great Awakening that swept the American colonies with intense revival fire.

For more information on one of its main preachers you can watch this video on George Whitfield and the 18th Century Revivals:

Other little-known facts:

Contrary to popular misconception the Puritans were not negative about sex. In fact they were one of the first known groups to depart from the traditional Catholic view that sex was merely for procreation alone and really shouldn't be enjoyed but rather just endured for the sake of producing children. The Puritans declared that sex between a married husband and wife is a gift from God that should be enjoyed and indulged in regularly. Puritan families thus usually had hordes of children. They were however, adamantly against adultery and fornication.

The United States and the Americas (Latin America) might have had more of a French influence and flavor if not for what happened... French Huguenot Protestants fleeing persecution in France, much like the Protestant Puritans in the North from England, set up a colony in the southern area of what would be now known as Florida. It did not endure due to the fact that Spanish Catholics who saw them as heretics and were inspired by the ways of the Inquisition hunted them down and massacred every last man, woman, and child, wiping out the colony. The same exact thing happened to missionaries sent out by Protestant leader John Calvin (originially of France) to South America.

Shoulder Update--Victory in Christ

Praise God! 100% range of motion has returned to my injured shoulder which is one of the biggest battles, this after two medical professionals said I’d be lucky to get an 80% return at best, and this with no pain as well as beginning to get strength back. Orthopedic Specialist Doctor said there is no need for the surgery he was previously convinced I was going to need.

When you are in the middle of a dark tunnel and see no light at the end things can begin to feel awfully bleak. However, the Light of the World—Jesus—can break through in the darkest of situations and bring light, life, healing and hope and turn everything around.

Just two months ago I was in the middle of trying to recover from this major shoulder injury that occurred at the beginning of summer (what a bummer!), having dislocated my shoulder while skateboarding with my son, and things were not going so good.

The physical therapist was concerned that my full range of motion wasn’t returning, he had said I'd be lucky if I got back to 80%, and he was the second therapist to say that, I was in pain using ice packs and pain pills regularly and had no strength in my right arm. Then came the appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor who put me into a state of shock by preparing me for the fact that I was almost certainly going to have to have surgery in order to have a full recovery.

He immediately wanted to do an MRI which made me even more worried because everyone else I'd known who had any kind of injury like this had to fight like a dog at a kennel for the last piece of meat to get approved by their insurance for an MRI. The fact that he was so willing to do an MRI caused me more worry because he said, "You have all the signs of a rotator cuff tear which will need to be repaired by surgery but we have to check for sure and the only way to know is to do an MRI." (A two thousand dollar procedure that insurance companies resist approving like North Korea does tourist visas).

While going through all the energy-taxing processes of wrestling through all this, my prayer became like the blind man in the Gospels: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."

If there is one thing God is full of, it is mercy and grace. From Old to New Testament, we see the declaration again and again: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious,… abounding in love. (Psalm 103:8) “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion...when I was in great need, He saved me.” (Psalm 116:5-6)

At first I was frustrated that I had so much of a time gap to get another appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor and to get an MRI, but then it hit me that this would give me plenty of time to get lots of prayer for the Lord to heal it. There came with the process a lot of further learning about God's healing ways, something He always seems to want to keep teaching us as His children.

Having put out the word that I was wanting others to pray for me many sent messages and words that not only encouraged me but brought a lot of ministry too.

When I was younger and had a knee injury (link to blog) and went to seek prayer for healing for the first time in my life I was expecting some guy on a stage in a suit and tie to yell and jump around and come up and throw my crutches in the air and exclaim I was healed and then I could go out and run a marathon the next day. The healing process was different then than how I expected it to be, and this time around it was different too. In fact, in the middle of it all, I just happened to stumble upon a preacher from the East Coast on the radio who said: "God can heal and do His work in any way or process He chooses. It doesn't always have to happen in one moment—we have to be careful not to put Him in our little human boxes." God used this preacher to communicate about what he was doing and the way He as choosing to do His work.

I have actually experienced instances of immediate healing, like when I was having a severe stomach pain issue that went on for months and months years ago for which I received prayer one day, and I was healed and delivered instantly from that point on, while there have been other times when God's healing took more time and more than one prayer.

In this particular situation with my shoulder, it was a process that seemed like every time I got prayer it got better and then better and better, and certain words and moments of ministry including people praying through emails on the internet and at different churches fellowships and ministries would take it another step forward to where I just began to notice the pain being gone, my range of motion coming back, my strength returning, and my shoulder moving more normally again. There were definite moments when it was being ministered to significantly but equally important—and this is key to understand God's ways—He was using each instance to minister something deep to me spiritually and doing a healing process inside of me as well.

Furthermore, the Lord communicated to me that I needed to cooperate with what He was doing by being diligent with the exercises that I had been given by the therapists.

By the time I had got an MRI and gone to see the Ortho-Doctor again, after getting so much prayer, the signs I'd had showing a rotator cuff tear before had all dissipated; I had 100% range of motion (something that defied what the therapists had predicted) the pain was gone and my strength was coming back. The MRI results showed not even a single tear anywhere on my shoulder, and I didn't need the surgery that the Ortho-Doctor was so sure I was going to have to have last time he saw me.

During one of the times I was receiving ministry for this, I had a picture of Jesus sewing things back together and Him clearly saying that He was healing me. The MRI results showed that he has done just that—Praise God!

I am thankful for what God has done, especially watching others who've had to have this surgery, and man it looks and sounds like a hard thing to endure.

There is still recovery left in that I have three months of atrophy to recover from and the shoulder needs to be slowly restrengthened and some stiffness worked out after not being used regularly for a while; lifting light weights and eating lots of protein are part of the routine for a while, but having a license to eat all the steak, hamburgers, shakes and cakes I want ain't all that bad (ok I threw in the cake which isn't protein but ahh it's close enough.) Other regular exercises like swimming to keep things loose as well as surfing in some small waves on a longboard, which I am stoked to be starting to do again, are all part of the process for a full recovery for a while, none of which I'll be complaining about.

Rehabbing the shoulder in some small longboard waves. The unusually long Indian Summer with warm water, until just recently, has helped with the process since getting a wetsuit off and on can be a bit of a chore.

The big mountain has been crossed and Jesus carried me over by His grace and mercy and I give him all the praise and Glory for it. This is a victory in Christ for all those in the Body of Christ who prayed—THANK YOU. He has answered; thanks be to God in Christ in Jesus’ name!!! Praise the Lord!! Amen!!!

Psalm 103: Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

Now we just need to get our finances healed from all these medical expenses, thanks for all your help click here to contribute. Thanks.

(P.S. One of the lessons out of this is the importance of taking time to maintain physical health, otherwise all your time has to go to repair your physical health. We have a video on this topic that we'll put out there when finished with the re-editing process.)

God Works All Things for Good--Filled with the Holy Spirit and Fire

Lonnie Frisbee and Jill Austin (two heavy hitters in the
things of the Spirit) praying as the Holy Spirit falls
with fire and power over me some years ago.

Check out Bryan's Testimony Video above and

also click here to see a little bio on his surfing background

Trials aren’t fun, let’s get that straight right away here. They are just like the word implies, a time of testing and trying that brings suffering, stress, and often even confusion. We know however that as the Bible promises, God does work everything together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Trials can bring, in the end, maturity, perspective and even compassion for others who are also suffering, as well as many other things that can only be learned and brought forth through such hardship.

One doesn’t mine as much spiritual gold and the deep things of the kingdom in a seminary or Bible school as you do in God’s intensive school which could be called U.H.K. -- the University of Hard Knocks. You only need to think of Joseph in prison, Moses in exile, David as a refugee, Peter in prison, Paul in prison as well as beaten and sick, and of course Jesus who faced the cross, to understand that trials are often part of God’s plan to bring His children into deep places of revelation and purpose. Not to forget others like Job or the fact that two-thirds of the Psalms are laments and pleas for God’s help and intervention in the face of tribulation.

The idea that we would be exempt from the testing furnace of affliction really shows a lack of familiarity with the pages of Scripture. Jesus after all promised that in this world we would face tribulation.(John 16:33)

Trials come in many forms and can test us on many levels of our faith and trust in God. Be it financial or physical or both, or many other forms of testing, when in the middle of the dark tunnel the journey to the light at the end of it can seem impossibly long.

As bad as the pain is of an injury like say uh…a dislocated shoulder—what I’m personally enduring and recovering from at the moment—it is equally difficult to have your plans interrupted.

Someone said, it can be a bit disconcerting to know that God is still working on things in our lives long after we thought that chapter was finished. The reality we find instead is that the process goes on pretty much until as David says in the Psalms: “I will be satisfied when I awake with His [God’s] likeness.” (Ps. 17:15) If you didn’t figure that out, that means only once we are dead and go to heaven will God’s processing end in our lives here on earth. If you don’t continue to go through the processing, grinding mill, and refining fire—whatever term you’d like to attach to it—there is a good chance you’ve plateaued or drifted off into a place of trying to just be comfortable in your walk. Be forewarned He has ways of getting our attention.

This present trial and interruption of mine is not unlike others I’ve experienced before. Many years back, pre-marriage and ministry, I was a young Christian who got saved by “accidentally” listening to a black preacher on the radio and was later shanghaied through a divine appointment (get the whole story here-check out my surf bio) into going to a church. In the middle of pursuing a pro surfing career, modeling, and lifeguarding, life was dramatically and completely interrupted by a severe knee injury. In the matter of literally one mere second everything seemed to come crashing down around me like the World Trade Center.

Suddenly all the things that I’d trained and worked so hard for were decimated like wreckage on the freeway during a crash. In the passing of literally one mere moment I now had no job, no ability for a long time to pursue competitive surfing aspirations, nor to model—people hobbling around on crutches need not apply. In one fell swoop all forms of income, pursuits, and enjoyment were eliminated. The disappointment was further enhanced by the fact that I had been recently training with one of the coaches for the Olympic swim team at a local college who let me train with him to enhance paddling speed for surf contests and had garnered some victories and other strong results in surf contests recently, and had never been in such excellent physical shape in my life. Then, having it all come crashing down in one moment with a severe knee injury was a huge and crushing blow.

I may not have known a lot about the Kingdom and God at that point but one thing was clear about God that I did know—He was in the miracle and supernatural business. It didn’t take much to deduce this correctly from the Scripture I did know. All of a sudden, after previously resisting invitations from friends, I suddenly took interest in a fairly new church called Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda that I was told had supernatural things going on. They had recently had an outpouring of the Holy Spirit—though at that time I wasn’t sure what was meant by that—and were experiencing revival after Jesus People evangelist Lonnie Frisbee had ministered there.

It sure seemed different than I expected though when I got there, they met in a high school gym that was about as hot and made you sweat as much as a Swedish sauna. People were doing all kinds of weird things like lifting their hands in the air and I couldn't figure out what they were trying to reach or do, while others were crying and some laughing, some even fell over or off their seats. All I could equate it with was a Shriner’s Circus I’d been to as a kid where me and a friend had been made to go by his dad who said it would be a good experience for us; we were the only ones in the audience without a mental or physical disability and spent more time looking at everyone around us than at the circus performance itself.

Here I was in this weird church in a school gym sweating every ounce of fluid out of my body, watching people cry and laugh for no reason whatsoever, with their hands in the air and listening to this big heavy-set white-bearded dude on the stage drone on forever about who knows what—I couldn’t understand what he was saying—not a word of it. I was wondering where the miracles were. All I could see were reflections of the Shriner’s Circus—people around me laughing, crying, and some falling over for no known or obvious reason whatsoever. I thought, “Well, at least all these mentally challenged people have a funky church here where they can let it all hang out and be free, it was a good place for them. For me, I don’t know.”

Finally the bearded guy (John Wimber) wiped his sweaty face and said, “It’s really hot in here. Let’s move on to some ministry.” I was like, “Finally! I thought he’d never stop blabbing…is this where the miracles take place?”

He said everyone who wanted prayer to go into a back room. Along with a pretty good-sized crowd, I hobbled in my cast and crutches back there. I really wasn’t wanting to pray about anything, I just came for the miracle part and wanted to get out of there asap after that. Just get me a miracle here for my leg and I’ll be on my way, thank you and you can continue on with all your laughing, crying, and falling over stuff, all you want on your own.

I didn’t know what to expect, maybe a mini miracle service in this back room or something. “They may run out of seats,” I thought “so I better hurry up and get back in there” and started trying to hurry pushing my way in to get back there through the crowd. What happened next was so far outside my expectations it caught me off guard.

As I entered the room it was completely disorganized, there was no miracle service going on or any seeming organization to this thing at all. There was just a bunch of normal people praying for others and putting their hands on them which seemed kind of weird. One crazy looking hippie-type guy, who I later found out was the Jesus People revivalist named Lonnie Frisbee, was waving his arms around and yelling now and then about something, while standing on top of some school wrestling mats that were rolled up. I just stood there a bit perplexed with this whole scenario, looking around, and then mere moments before I could even process my thoughts, something happened.

Out of nowhere this heavy feeling came over me, I suddenly began to feel an incredible sense of God’s presence. Having been saved a few years back, there was already that awareness of God in my life. Suddenly now however, it was like that had been multiplied exponentially a thousand times over and God and His glory were right there with and upon me. All at once I began to be overwhelmed by God’s manifest presence right there upon me, and like those people I thought were disabled out in the gym, I was starting to cry and then laugh and then cry and then laugh and on and on for no visible reason whatsoever. His love and grace began to be downloaded from my head into my heart at light speed and it was overwhelming me. Waves of something like liquid love began to wash over and over me again and again.

Next, Lonnie Frisbee, the crazy hippie guy on the wrestling mats started pointing at me and praying over me and saying stuff over me; I didn’t know at that time that he was speaking prophetic words over me. He started yelling that the Spirit of God is moving powerfully now on this young guy here as he prayed over me. It was like being thrown into an ocean of God’s presence and suddenly, gloriously, drowning in his tangible mercy and grace. I became so overwhelmed I couldn’t stand up anymore and some people sat me down on some rolled up wrestling mats where they prayed for me and I continued to get hammered, being baptized in the Holy Spirit for the next three and a half to four hours at least.

When I finally opened my eyes from what seemed like an altered state of consciousness, the place which had been full was now almost empty. Without a doubt I had been in the presence of God in a major way. The last few people who were hanging around still praying for me said “Wow, God really filled your tank tonight. Boy you really got filled with the Holy Spirit.”

I was completely perplexed by their figures of speech, what tank? Filled with the what? I was totally naïve to these concepts and the “Christianese” language that surrounded them.

Much like the people Paul encountered on the way to Ephesus who believed in Jesus but knew nothing of the Holy Spirit or his power I was in that same boat. Paul had immediately prayed for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit though they had limited knowledge, likewise God didn’t wait for me to take a course on the Holy Spirit before he filled me to overflowing. The gift came without any knowledge, effort, study or merit on my part whatsoever. Just like the Bible teaches “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, to…all who have been called by the Lord our God.” Acts 2:38-39.

This was a life-changing event, my life took a complete change at this point as I began to pray and read the Bible regularly. I never had done much of that before, and I also began to realize that God had a higher purpose and calling for me regarding serving him and ministry versus just doing and pursuing my own thing.

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit like this brought me a complete paradigm shift regarding the reality of God’s love and presence and the reality of his call and purpose for my life, which soon began to be played out as I began to witness to others and even lead others to Christ and eventually started a Bible Study; I was pulled into ministry by God’s Spirit soon after being filled with the Holy Spirit.

God brought complete healing to my knee over time rather than bringing an instantaneous miracle; He knows best that I would have just returned to my own pursuits soon after if this is all that happened. He indeed works everything for good, I was brought into the reality of God’s presence and love and grace and directed into God’s call and ministry all through the filling of the Holy Spirit.

There is a reason that John the Baptist—who was the greatest of the Old Covenant prophets according to Jesus—declared only two things regarding the ministry of Christ: That he was the lamb of God who takes away sin and that He will baptize us in the Holy Spirit and fire.

I had already received the forgiveness of sins and now I was receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and definitely the fire was being poured upon me at this time in a life-changing way. It was a pivotal and seminal moment that brought great change and revealed God’s purpose and call. There is a reason it is so emphasized by John the Baptist, Jesus, as well as in the book of Acts by Luke and by Paul the Apostle, because the reality of God’s presence released in one’s life through the Holy Spirit brings one into a reality of God’s love and grace and purpose like nothing else can.

We are encouraged to ask, seek and knock for the Holy Spirit’s fullness and gifts (Luke 11:9-13) in our lives and walks with God. I encourage you to do the same.

Even in this present trial of mine God the Holy Spirit continues to take things to a deeper level as he heals things of the past and specifically is healing some undealt with grief and pain from the death of my younger brother while we were on the mission field traveling and ministering through 17 different countries last year at this time; it isn’t easy to process something like that while constantly traveling and ministering. Sometimes he slows us down to deepen and expand the well so it can hold more. This way, he can then pour more into us so that more can flow out through us as things continue on.

The Bible encourages us to ask, seek, and knock and press in to be filled with the Holy Spirit and lean in on Jesus in your trials and tribulations.