19 minute read
WE WRESTLE WITH GOD
On the first weekend of March, Evangelist Nathan and the Shake The Nations Team traveled to Jalapa, Guatemala, for our first Gospel Campaign of the year. This was our first campaign in Guatemala, and our team was so expectant to see God pour out His Spirit.
Jalapa is more of a rural place, so the people who attended the meetings were extremely poor people. Many of them have no internet access, so they have never seen anything like the meetings we held. They were in wide-eyed wonder to see the move of God.
Walking into the outdoor stadium, we saw a mountain in the background with a cloud hovering over the summit. It felt like God was waiting for us. We were there before the people arrived, so we covered the arena in prayer as well as the over ninety buses that were bringing those in need of the Gospel. before; we knew He would do it again.
People started streaming through the entryway of the stadium when the musicians took the stage. There was such anticipation as to what God was about to do. Those on the Prayer Team who had been before had a concept of what it would be like, while those who were joining us for the first time weren’t sure, but the Holy Spirit came mightily during the worship. We expected to see our God move among the people, because He is faithful. He has done it so many times
When Evangelist Nathan got on the platform, the people received the unadulterated, unapologetic Gospel of Jesus Christ. The first night was important, because the campaign was broadcast throughout Guatemala. The nation has not had an evangelistic event like this in over thirty years, so they offered to broadcast the message of Jesus for free.
The TV spokesmen were planning on a three-minute interview with Nathan Marrow that quickly turned into twenty minutes. He kept making declarative statements like, “You are going to see salvations, miracles, and deliverances.”
They had no frame of reference for this. They had only heard Bible stories; they had never seen God work like this before. But when you walk by faith in what you have already seen the mighty hand of God do, you have a heart of expectation that pleases the Lord. That is the kind of faith that causes miracles to begin to happen.
As the Holy Spirit moved the hearts of the people with the message being preached, the front of the stage was flooded with people wanting salvation and the freedom that only comes through the name of Jesus Christ. It was an amazing sight to see. The main pastor who coordinated the event was lying on the stage, overwhelmed by the magnitude of how God was answering the prayers that he and his team had prayed. The TV spokesmen were in tears seeing what God was doing in their country.
Whenever God would begin to heal the crippled, as they testified of their healing, that miracle would begin to reproduce itself. Whenever someone would testify that God had healed a condition, all over the stadium, people would receive healing from the same condition, just like a spiritual ripple effect. We know that testimony throws the door open for God to do something again, but when you see it firsthand, it is life-changing!
The stories from the Prayer Team from the first night were remarkable. The excitement in their voices and the tears in their eyes as they recounted their hands being used by God for mighty miracles was a delight. This is one of the reasons we do what we do. We love to plow the ground of the nations and to awaken the Church from the inside out. We want to remind the Church of the power of the Gospel, which is Christ in the Church! We want to equip the Remnant to take it back to local communities all over the world.
The second night, it felt like we were living in the Gospels. Word got out about what was happening at the stadium through the television broadcast, so the curious came. As Evangelist Nathan was preaching that night, there was such a tangible sense of a spiritual hindrance. There was obviously a battle taking place. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Evangelist Nathan rebuked the power of witchcraft. As he did, people began to manifest demons. Deliverance rolled in all over the stadium, and the hindrance was broken because of the power of the name of Jesus. God truly demonstrated His authority in that place.
The people of Jalapa were so beautiful, yet they were desperate and their needs were great. Before the preaching was even over, the people started moving toward the front to encounter the Lord. We saw Him save, deliver, and heal all across the stadium.
Typically, the Prayer Team is able to move through the crowd and pray for people. This night, the crowd was so dense that they were not able to move around. We watched in amazement as the people figured out how to rotate around them. The healings, the changes in countenance, the people being touched by the love of the Father; this is the life of a Christian.
The Lord began to wake up the Church to rise up in power once again. Churches from all over Guatemala seemed to come alive to the fact that Christianity is not something that’s boring. It is exciting, interactive, and vibrant. When you see what God can do through the unity of the Church, it is so encouraging.
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We were honored to take the Gospel to Guatemala, and we are so grateful for all those who came together in prayer and financial support to make this campaign possible. We give God all the glory!
Megan Rotella is the Children’s Pastor of Church of His Presence in Daphne, Alabama. She recently was a part of our Gospel Campaign Prayer Team for Guatemala. Here’s what she had to say:
Iwas amazed at the amount of people that came up for salvation at the end. I’ve been in American church services, where a couple of people come up for salvation. People came rushing up to the front of the stadium, and I thought that was incredible! I also thought it was amazing to see the amount of people that just came up wanting healing. They were totally believing that they were coming up and getting something. They didn’t come half-heartedly.
I have never in my life seen as many demonic manifestations at one time! No one was praying for them or touching them. Evangelist Nathan got up from the front and said, “I bind the spirit of witchcraft,” and people just started to fall out all over the place. God was showing up and the people of Guatemala were getting delivered.
Being a part of this Gospel Campaign was different for me than being at the Bay Revival. In the Bay, I enjoyed being a spectator to the miracles and hearing the testimonies, but it was so much more fun to put my hands on it and no longer be a spectator. I was an active part of what was going on there. The presence of God was the same at both places. Everything God was doing was just the same as being in a Bay meeting. It just felt bigger for me because I got to be a part of it and I didn’t have to sit on the sidelines and watch.
I felt at home at the campaign because my heart is with the Bay. That’s where I first experienced the Holy Spirit. It was emotional because I got to be at the campaign with this team that I witnessed the Holy Spirit with. God brought this full circle for me.
I was sick for four years with debilitating leg pain. I was in a wheelchair, and in four years, I took 17,000 Ibuprofen pills. While we were in the altar in Guatemala, we came to this one lady who caught my attention. She needed prayer for leg pain. I wanted to pray for her because that meant something to me. I got down on the ground and I laid my hands on her feet. When I did, something rose up in me and I thought, “Oh no devil, you have no permission to be here. I have authority over this and you’re not staying!” The miracle happened immediately! I stood up and she said, “The pain is totally gone!”We rejoiced, and then I asked her how long she had been in pain. She said she had been in pain for four years, which is how long I had been in pain. When she said that, I immediately knew what a huge victory that was for her because I had experienced it myself.
to do something like this, I want to say to you, get out of spectator mode! I think it is easy to grow to the size of your environment.
There are certain fish that will only grow to the size of the tank you put them in. So, if you have a big aquarium, that fish can grow to be a foot long. But if you have a little fish tank, that fish will only be a few inches long, because it can only grow to the size of the tank that it is in.
I think it is easy for people involved in ministry to only grow to the size of their environment and then become comfortable. That was me. I was used to feeling comfortable in my environment. Then, I went to this Gospel Campaign, and I felt so small because I found a fish tank that was a lot bigger than I was used to being in. It was beyond my comfort zone. I found something that scared me at first. I’m used to praying with people to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and prophesying over people, but praying with people for healing was intimidating to me. I didn’t know that I had doubts that God could use me in that way.
If you’ve never gone on a campaign, you should go! If you have gone before, you should go again because there is room for growth. I’m going back! I love knowing that there is still opportunity for me to grow and for Jesus to show up.
It was January of 2011 in Mobile, Alabama. We were right in the middle of a mighty move of God that became known as the Bay Revival. We had been seeing powerful miracles every night of the revival, and thousands of souls were being swept into the Kingdom. Many nights, I led worship for over four hours as God let His glory be manifested in our midst. It was a season that was full of landmark moments for my life, where God did not just do something corporate, but He met with me in such a personal way that I was often unaware of those around me.
But that night in January was different. If I could be honest with you, I did not feel the presence of God within a mile of the place. I had done my best to lead worship, Pastor Kilpatrick was trying to lead well, and Evangelist Nathan had preached his heart out. I still felt nothing. I remember praying, “God, the revival has only been going on for six months. Are you done?”
Discouraged, I handed off to my assistant worship leader and simply walked to the side of the platform. Right then, I heard a loud scream from the back of the room. You see, there was a young lady there
who was deaf in one of her ears. In fact, she had a $36,000 surgery to install a cochlear implant, which only gave her a little bit of hearing.
On a night when I didn’t get my Pentecostal goosebumps, God reached down and opened that young lady’s ear and completely restored her hearing! Her doctors had to remove the implant, and they were astounded that she was hearing normally. Oh, praise God!
A couple of years later, Evangelist Nathan was ministering in California. He played the testimony video of the girl from Mobile receiving her hearing. As it turned out, in the California church, there was a young lady with a cochlear implant. When she heard the testimony, she decided that if God could do it in Mobile, he could do it in California. Right there in her seat with no one even praying for her, she was totally healed by the power of God!
to what God has done, you are throwing open the door of the supernatural and inviting God into your life to do it again!
This is the power of testimony. The Hebrew word for testimony has the basic meaning, “to do it again.” You must catch that revelation! Every time you testify
Revelation 19:10b says, “For the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy.” Many times, the way you close the gap between where you are now and the miracle you seek is your testimony. When you open your mouth and rehearse the wonders that God has done in your past, You are welcoming Him into your present and your future.
Take some time today and tell your story. As the old-time Pentecostals used to say, “The power is in the telling.”
God has desires for our lives! He wants us to live in the fullness of what Jesus paid for at the Cross.
Third John is a short letter from the Apostle John to a fellow Christian leader named Gaius. John is emphasizing the importance of truth, the source of joy, and what is God’s will. The word “pray” in our text is the Greek word “Euchomai,” which means, “To pray, will, and wish.” The Holy Spirit is revealing through this text what God desires for His people.
God’s desire is that the Body of Christ may prosper in all things and be in health, just as our soul prospers. We need to fully understand what true biblical prosperity means for the Body of Christ. The Greek word for prosperity used in third John is the word “Euodoo.” The definition of this word means to succeed in reaching, to help on the road, to have a prosperous journey.
I believe John’s desires for Gaius reflect the heart of God and His desires for our lives. God’s desire for the Church is that we enjoy our journey with Jesus in our faith, our family, and in our future.
In order to walk in the fullness of what God intended for your life, Jesus must be Lord of your life. The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Being saved implies not only being born again; but it also includes deliverance, healing, being made whole, protection, and being rescued in spirit, soul, and body. To be saved means we have eternal life, we have a new way of living, we have a new identity, and we are able to live the abundant life that Christ gives us. In order to appropriate the victory through Christ, we have to renew our minds and accept it by faith. We must renew our understanding through the Word of God (Romans 12:2).
The Kingdom manifests through God’s Word in your mouth. Speak the Word by faith to your sickness, to your depression, and to your oppression. The Father desires for you to walk in complete victory.
The Webster’s 1913 Dictionary defines the family as “The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.” However, this definition has changed and evolved over the years. The enemy knows that in order to paralyze society, he needs to break the family structure.
God’s desire for the family is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
We need to restore the family altar. Christ must be the head of the household, and fathers need to be a Christ-like example as the head of the family. Mothers need to nurture, guide, and love with the maternal instincts given by the Holy Spirit.
God’s desire is to cancel and obliterate every generational curse of divorce, hate, jealousy, strife, greed, and disunity in the family. Jesus will reverse every curse! Enjoy the journey and make the declaration from Joshua 24:15: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” God’s desire is for this generation to think about the future. He wants us to leave a legacy behind. This will depend on the intimate relationship we have with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible teaches us in Exodus 3:6 that our God is known as “… the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Our Creator is a generational God. He sees beyond our present generation, because the inheritance is not only for us, but for the generations to come.
We read about the secret of intimacy in Psalms 1:3: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”
We do not see how a tree feeds itself because the feeding comes from the root under the ground; however, we know a tree is being fed properly when we see it bear fruit. In order to secure a bright future for the next generation, we need to be like the tree planted by the rivers of water being fed from the secret place. We need to feed our spiritual roots from the river of God, which is the Holy Spirit.
The word for prosper in Psalms 1:3 is the Hebrew word “tsalach.” It means to break out, or to push forward. God’s desire is for our generation to push forward and leave a future full of the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to bring about the fulfilment of God’s desires for our lives, so that we can bring glory to His name!
at Ramp Conferences for over two years. During that time, I also served on The Ramp Church Worship Team. I have known since I was a child that I was called to full-time ministry; however, while I was connected to The Ramp, the Lord started to clarify the direction He wanted me to go.
Brittney Crews is the newest intern at Shake The Nations Ministries. We are excited to have her on the team, and we want to introduce you to her. Here is her story:
I was raised at Free Chapel under Pastor Jentezen Franklin. I was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was eight years old. I played basketball for The University of Georgia and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in biology. After graduating, I served under my father, Dr. Terry Crews, as Director of our two Wellness Centers in Georgia. My family and I were a part of The Ramp Ministry with Mrs. Karen Wheaton for over five years. We served as the Hospitality Team for guest speakers and singers
I began having multiple dreams and I received prophetic words from several ministers and key spiritual voices in my life. They all involved reaching the nations with the Gospel. I began asking the Lord for direction and clarity. In December of 2018, I heard the Lord say I was to step out and go fully into ministerial work. After praying, fasting, and talking to my family and several other ministers in my life, I felt complete peace about that transition.
I know God has been preparing me for such a time as this. My heart is to serve and to see souls saved. I believe God is going to bring revival and shake the world back to life!
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I moved to Apopka, Florida on January 16, 2020, and started my journey as a missionary to the nations! I am interning with Shake The Nations, which is a ministry that reaches thousands of souls around the world every day! It has been amazing! I went on my first Gospel Campaign to Belize with STN this past December. God completely healed a lady that was blind! There were people getting off their crutches and getting out of wheelchairs! God did so many miracles, lives were changed, and souls were saved! My heart beats for this very reason!
I will be traveling every month seeing God move in the lives of the people He loves so much! I am helping the ministry administratively and also traveling to churches. I want to encourage you that everything God has promised you He will bring to pass. I’m living proof! Don’t let the enemy tell you that it will never happen. God’s timing is perfect! Just put your trust in Him and He will lead you to where you need to be.
