In the Furnace by Greater Grace World Outreach

In the Furnace

The late Carl H. Stevens Jr. was pastor of the Greater Grace World Outreach in Baltimore, Maryland, until 2005, and he also founded thriving ministries in Maine and Massachusetts. Pastor Stevens’ death in June 2008 marked the completion of a ministry that spanned four decades and included the establishment of Maryland Bible College and Seminary in Baltimore and the development of “The Grace Hour,” an Angel Award-winning radio talk show that is still heard on Christian stations throughout North America and via the Internet. This booklet was created from a message preached by Pastor Stevens. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version. Italics for emphasis are ours.

Grace Publications 6025 Moravia Park Drive BALTIMORE, MD 21206

Table Of contents Preface....................................................... 5 Introduction ............................................ 7 Chapter 1 ....................................................9 He Enlarged My Coast Chapter 2................................................... 12 More Blessings to Come Chapter 3................................................... 16 From Faith to Faith Afterword................................................ 21

FOREWARD Pastor Carl H. Stevens Jr. began a preaching ministry that spanned four decades in the 1950s. Through the years and by the grace of God, Pastor Stevens revealed a deep love for the Word of God, sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a great heart for people. To the glory of God, his ministry of investing and training men and women in the Bible has made an impact throughout North America and across the world. Pastor Stevens passed into eternity on June 3, 2008, from congestive heart failure. During his later years, Pastor faced struggled related to Alzheimer’s disease, hip and back pain, pneumonia, and heart troubles. Early in his ministry, Pastor Stevens was an active member of the Gideons and the Youth for Christ organizations in Maine. His prayerful habits to study and to evangelize helped him in the establishment of thriving churches in Maine, Massachusetts, and Maryland. He was also among the pioneers in Christian talk radio with the “Telephone Time” and “Grace Hour” programs. He has spent more than 40 years answering Bible questions and counseling those in need of help over the airwaves of North America and throughout the world via short-wave and

the Internet. This booklet represents a piece of the story from Pastor Stevens’ early ministry.

INTRODUCTION “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth man is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). The three Hebrew boys were placed in the fiery furnace, which was turned up seven times hotter than usual, because they would not bow down to the gods of Nebuchadnezzar. They confessed their mental attitude of faith: “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods…” (Daniel 3:17-18). Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego had a mental attitude of faith toward God. The fire did not change their attitude. The circumstances did not alter their faith. The trial did not put out the fire of the Holy Spirit in their souls. They discovered a fourth man with them in the furnace. The Son of God was revealed to them as Lord of the fiery trial. King Nebuchadnezzar could place them in the fire of affliction, but the Son of God was Lord over the affliction and revealed Himself in fellowship to their hearts of faith. Let us praise God! When we are placed in

a fiery furnace, the Son of God goes in with us, keeps us by His power (1 Peter 1:5), and brings us into a large place (Psalms 18:19, 66:12). We discover something new in a fellowship of deliverance in the trial appointed by God. There was no hurt upon the bodies of the Hebrew boys (Daniel 3:27), but a rich fellowship was in their souls in Jesus Christ. They were multiplied with the manifestation of the Son of God before the eyes of the evil king. God was glorified. He was seen by the king. The king looked into that furnace and saw actual deliverance by the fellowship of faith through love in a fiery trial with the Son of God. Though I be tried with fire, “I shall come forth as [pure] gold” (Job 23:10b), “…the trial of (our) faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire” (1 Peter 1:7). Therefore, in the course of every situation we give thanks, because it not only reveals to us the fourth man in our furnace of affliction, but also manifests a living Christ to those on the outside who put us in. They have to realize that they cannot confine us by affliction because our hearts are filled with eternal faith and eternal love in a fellowship of expansion.

Chapter One

HE ENLARGED MY COAST When I was last heard on WRYT radio, I was pastoring one of the fastest-growing churches in New England, one which started with 18 people and now had several hundred. I was in a ministry in which God saved many souls, healed many bodies, knitted together broken homes, set the captives of mental illness free, and taught us all how to have a faith that works by love and how to grow as the Body of Jesus Christ—the One New Man (Ephesians 2:15). At the altar on a Saturday at midnight, a few people upon returning from a rally banded together for prayer for the next day. God clearly showed me at that time that we would be going through a great external trial. In brokenness, I shared with those at the altar the words that God gave me. First, He said, “You will go through a great external trial. Then the ministry will experience a special blessing. Then you will go through an internal trial. After this, I will bless you with four times what your ministry has ever received in every way.” Please remember that at this time the boat was sailing without a storm in the ocean

of life. The wind was quiet, and the waves were calm. We were serving God with joy and resting on this voyage of life. There was not a single thing happening that would motivate that prophecy to come to us. It was a fresh, loving revelation from the hand of God. The next Wednesday night, while we were taping our television broadcast, the announcer dashed into the room saying he had received a telephone report that the church had burned down. We raced home, anxious to find out what had happened and how serious the fire was. The Body stood by and watched their new church, which they had worked so hard to build, go down in flames. They realized it was only a church building and that God had allowed it in His plan. They knew they were really the Church of Jesus Christ as are all members of the Body in the world. Nevertheless, it was by love that our hands had erected the structure. Even as the Body praised God for His faithfulness, there were tears and a fever of emotion among them as they watched much of the building being damaged by fire. I could not imagine how it had happened. It was determined that the fire was set by an arsonist who never has been brought to justice. This is the true story behind our Woolwich-Wiscasset Church. Satan, who is the father of all lies

(John 8:44) and the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), took advantage of this tragedy to accuse us and to lie about us through certain Christians who, themselves, have pharisaical spirits and evil hearts of unbelief. There have been many lies repeated about this fiery trial, but God has been faithful. We saw the Son of God in our trial, and He multiplied us through the furnace of affliction. Many lied and said we took the insurance money when we never took a penny from Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work for ourselves other than a necessary salary. The ministry continued to grow and be successful as we held services in Bath. The insurance money was used to rebuild the church, to purchase new pews and to redecorate the interior of the Wiscasset church. The church was left in excellent financial shape. The Body had grown from a handful of people, with no buildings of their own, to a solid ministry of the Gospel. Today they own several nice buildings and still enjoy a wonderful ministry of the grace of God. They are being blessed today and have a good attendance each Sunday and prayer meeting night.

Chapter Two

MORE BLESSINGS TO COME After that outward trial, the Body was knitted together in love, experienced maturity and growth together, continued to win souls, and manifested the love of God to one another in our many outreach ministries throughout the Northeast and the world. Then Satan struck again. The prophecy that God had given us was fulfilled! An internal conflict came involving only a handful of people. This was the first time in 13 years of ministry that I had ever experienced any kind of internal conflict in a church. You remember in the days of Nehemiah—first there was an outward attack and then there was in internal attack. This has always been the strategy of Satan and I suppose it will be until we all go home to be with Jesus. After much prayer and shaking hands with the leadership of the Woolwich-Wiscasset Church, we moved to South Berwick, into our new headquarters at that time. This was largely due to our need of room for 100 Bible School students who had come to our year-old school, the Northeast School of the Bible. We purchased property that had 84 rooms, a gymnasium, and a 12

chapel. God blessed us supernaturally! For this purchase, we had needed $36,000 immediately for a down payment. After praying on our knees, we thanked God for meeting that need and in less than two minutes, the money came in sacrificially from the band of Christians who had been on their knees. In a time at which it was very difficult to borrow money, God touched a banker’s heart and he loaned us the funds necessary to buy the property. We ministered daily on the “Telephone Time” radio program in Portland, Maine, for one full hour between 11 am and 12 Noon. We conducted TV programs on Channel 8 and Channel 7 in the New England area every Sunday morning. We also started midweek specials on prime time TV through which thousands have been touched, some saved and healed. From there, we started a bus ministry which developed, by the grace of God, into the largest Sunday school ministry in the entire state of Maine. All of this happened in a period of just a few months. The South Berwick Sunday School ministry reached nearly 1,000 in number, while service attendance grew and grew. God then opened up a vision for Christian Day School (Kindergarten to Grade 12) serving believers from all denominations all over New England. We purchased a beautiful 64-room es13

tablishment on 77 acres of land in Scarborough, Maine, right off of the Maine Turnpike. Once again, God supernaturally did â&#x20AC;&#x153;exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thinkâ&#x20AC;? (Ephesians 3:20) to make it possible for us to purchase these amazing facilities. We also started a Sunday afternoon service in the Scarborough area which was attended by hundreds, with many being saved and healed during each service. The services complement the believers in other churches because they build up the Body of Christ through the grace of God. The Northeast School of the Bible in its third year had grown to over 160 in its enrollment. In 1976, we renamed the Northeast School of the Bible to the Stevens School of the Bible, and moved to Lenox, Massachusetts, where we purchased an extensive campus which housed the 500 students enrolled. We have also been able to establish extension school programs through the use of videotapes; and we presently have over 300 students enrolled in that program. In moving to Lenox, we were able to establish a second Day School program, K-12, and at the present time we have 320 students enrolled in these schools. The Lord has given us sweet, Spirit-filled, loving students, who glorify and magnify the Living Christ as they express the purity of love in the simplicity of faith. God is using them to build up

the weak, win the lost, and heal the sick. They are preparing to go out on teams into all the world, preaching the Gospel. Our first class graduated in June of 1975. Many will go into all the world to share the living Christ. The schools also train students to be full-time counselors, youth workers, and Christian educators, as well as pastors and missionaries, in the great ministry that God has given us to fulfill.

Chapter Three

FROM FAITH TO FAITH While we were in Wiscasset, Maine, the Lord shared with me that we would be speaking on radio in Boston on “Telephone Time” daily. I could not imagine why this was said by the Lord in prophecy. I had worked with Clinton White and thanked God for his powerful and effective outreach in this unique program which God had given him. Why would God tell me that I would be on “Telephone Time,” when He had chosen him and given him such an outstanding ministry of grace? Two years later, in 1974, Clinton called me on the telephone at 1:00 AM, asking to meet with me at a nearby airport in Maine. He approached me and related what God had told him in prayer. He was to enlarge his coasts by going into an international ministry with the “Voice of Hope” on radio, through literature, and speaking in countries across the world. Clinton had asked God who was to replace him, and God began to show him the qualifications of the man. Then he said, “God told me you were that man, the only man that God wants to replace me on Telephone Time.” He asked me to pray about it and to let 16

him know what I felt was God’s leading in response to his action. The Body prayed together and God made it possible for us to purchase the time and step into “Telephone Time” daily. Once again, I sat in my office chair weeping because of the fulfillment of God’s words given to my heart two years prior to Clinton’s call. He had been faithful every step of the way and ordered my steps as He gave us a ministry 10 times over what it has ever been in the history of our calling. I realized that “Telephone Time” would complement our latest adventure—Operation Spikenard. Christians from all backgrounds would be encouraged to join one another in city-wide crusades with the middle walls and partitions broken down, honoring and complementing each Body. The purpose of Spikenard was to unite believers’ hearts together with the burden of Jesus Christ in the Spirit of life according to God’s Word to win the lost in each city as God enables us with house-to-house visitation and ministering on the streets and in the travel lanes. Our first city-wide crusade was held in Boston in June of 1974 and was greatly blessed by God as hundreds were saved, many healed, and hearts were transformed. The Body edified itself in love. Portland was the location of our next city-wide crusade and was equally effective with 500 to 600 people professing Christ 17

and others getting gloriously healed and delivered. Operation Spikenard planned numerous city-wide crusades in Providence, Rhode Island; New York City; Hartford, Connecticut; and Baltimore, Maryland. We went into the fiery trials, but we came out into a large place. We were in the furnace of afflictions, but we saw a fourth man in our furnace. We did not get hurt. We were blessed. Our capacity for love and compassion was deepened. Our understanding of others was increased with the tender compassion of Christ. Though we have been unworthy, He has blessed us by grace. Though we have failed Him at times, He has enlarged our coasts. The fourth man went with us in each furnace experience and brought us out whole and complete. Now we know Him better. We experience in a deeper way what it means to fellowship with His sufferings and be made conformable unto His death (Philippians 3:10). He comforted us in all our tribulations that we may comfort others in their afflictions (2 Corinthians 1:3). I am so thankful to our Lord and so grateful to the believers who stood with me and prayed and loved in each fiery trial. They manifested the heart of God, the character of grace, the nature of love, the life of true friendship. They revealed what a true family is all about when it is

redeemed by the Blood of Christ and occupied with His precious Person. We are looking forward to a continued fruitful ministry on “Telephone Time.” We believe God will continue to save many, heal the sick, pour oil out on those who are wounded, strengthen the weak, identify with the needy, express His heart to the lowly, and fellowship with all those who are hungry and thirsty for His righteousness. He has given us some specific promises. He will pour out His Spirit and perform miracle after miracle. God has continued to bless the ministry in an amazing way. As of January, 1978, we have “Telephone Time” programs in Portland, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts, Baltimore, Maryland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Toledo, Ohio; Tampa, Florida; and we are presently considering other major cities to establish “Telephone Time” programs. Through “team concept,” we have been able to send teams into the entire world. Many of them are graduates of the Stevens School of the Bible. We have sent teams to El Salvador, Finland, Holland, England, Sweden, Jersey, Japan, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and India; and in the states we have sent teams to California, Florida, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Chicago. In the New England area, we have full-time ministries in many different locations, including Rhode Island,

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. We have begun a church-building campaign in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where we believe God to raise up a tremendous ministry. During 1977, over 30,000 people professed Jesus Christ as their personal Savior through Lenox-based outreach programs. We have seen much as God has moved through the Ministry, and our expectation for the future is of Him. Please pray for us as we go on in this great divine enterprise. Our broadcast ministry, pastoral ministry, city-wide crusades, counseling ministry, and many speaking engagements keep me very busy, but I count it a privilege to share the grace of God. I will never cease to be broken with His love and faithfulness and thankful for the ministry He has given me. I would like to ask you to co-labor with me as you co-labor with God by praying faithfully and supporting this Ministry sacrificially as it glorifies God and complements the universal church of Christ.

AFTERWORD In 1987, the ministry moved to Maryland and became Greater Grace World Outreach. The diverse urban center located between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia proved a fruitful ground for more growth. Maryland Bible College and Seminary was founded and continued the training of pastors, missionaries, and servants to go into all the world. There are now GGWO churches in 60 countries in the world with 110 extension schools, orphanages, Christian day schools and other worksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all of which represent the wisdom of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work of grace.