Rain is underappreciated in Ohio, even viewed with disdain, but for those suffering a drought, rain is the most precious resource on earth. In desert regions rain is considered “nice weather”. It is a priceless resource, needed to sustain life. A land with an abundance of rain, such as a rain forest, will always be teeming with plant and animal life. In an area devoid of rain, like a desert, life will be scarce.

In a land suffering a drought, life is slowly being withered away. The Church today has been in a Spiritual drought for many years, even decades. We just don’t have revival like we used to. Where are the all night prayer meetings? Why do we squirm around when a preacher goes past 9:00, yet spend hours watching TV or playing on the internet? Everyone is caught up in his/her own entertainment and we have forgotten God. The rain is coming, but we must first prepare our hearts to receive it. If a farmer knows rain is on its way, he will prepare his farmland to receive it. Likewise, we need to prepare our hearts to receive the End Time Revival rain that is on the horizon.
The reason we don’t have revival like we used to is because we have become spoiled. We want a fifteen minute pattycake sermon to tickle our ears and tell us what good little boys and girls we are, and congratulate ourselves for having “the Truth”. We don’t want to hear about sin, about self sacrifice, about crucifying our flesh and being led by the Spirit. No one wants to hear about fasting, earnest horn grabbing prayer, and turning off the TV and computer and just getting a hold of God. We want to get our little taste of God for the day on Sunday then head off to McDonald’s and hurry to make it home before “The Game” starts. The Israelites never received rain until they decided they were going to give God ALL of themselves, and quit following Baal(the latest fad of the time), and in the meantime, the people had begun to starve to death.
The Church is slowly starving to death, and it’s time we decided to give God ALL of us, so our hearts will be prepared to receive the rain!!!
Once we’ve made this decision, we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt the rain will be on its way. Even though Elijah’s servant said he saw nothing, Elijah refused to take no for an answer, and made him keep going back until he received what God had promised. We need to get to a point where when the doctor says we still have cancer, we say “Go again!”, when the banker says they’re foreclosing on our house, we say “Go again!”, when the devil says our kids are still lost, we say “Go again!”.
There is a down pour on the way, and when it comes it might just look like a little cloud at first, but when we see it we’ll know to say, “Get your umbrellas ready!” Umbrellas of course, for those who are made uncomfortable by the rain. It tends to do that to a lot of people, just like the Holy Ghost. The revival that is about to sweep this nation is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. The revival that began on the day of pentecost made people uncomfortable. The Azusa Street revival made people uncomfortable. Well I don’t want another Pentecost or another Azusa Street, I want a revival that’s twice as powerful as pentecost, twice as powerful as Azusa Street.
We need a downpour of the holy Ghost like we’ve never needed before, and I don’t much care whether or not it makes you uncomfortable. The way I shout, or dance, or speak in tongues might make you uncomfortable, just like the rain might make you uncomfortable. Well, for someone who’s just been through the worst drought of their life, when the downpour finally soaks them, they’re not gonna care much whether or not it makes you uncomfortable. If someone has been saved from drugs, alcohol, addiction, depression, or has been healed in their body, or has seen loved ones come to an altar of repentance, they’re gonna get happy! They’re gonna shout, they’re gonna dance, they’re gonna clap, they’re gonna speak in tongues, and they’re not gonna much care how uncomfortable their happiness makes you!
There are seeds that lie dormant in the desert for years, just waiting for that one good soaking rain to come along, and when it does, the desert blossoms with the most beautiful flowers and plants you’ve ever seen. Just like a desert, God’s people are full of gifts He has given them, but most of them are lying dormant waiting for the rain of revival to bring them to life, but when it does, you are going to see the Church do things you never thought possible! Preachers, singers, musicians, teachers, prayer warriors are going to discover the gifts God has given them because the soaking downpour of revival has caused their dormant seeds to bloom!
Miracles, signs, wonders, healings, prophecies, mass salvations are all within reach if we give God ALL of us, prepare our hearts to receive revival, and then enjoy a good soaking downpour and watch the dry desert known as the Church Blossom into the most beautiful landscape on the planet. SEND DOWN THE RAIN LORD, SEND DOWN THE RAIN!

Revival in the town square!  Dan Freeman and I will be holding a week long revival from Monday, August 15th @ 4:00 PM to Saturday, August 20th @ 6:00 PM at the Worthington Park Gazebo across from the Court House in Logan, Ohio. We are both former hard rock guitarists who now wield our “axes” in battle against the devil.   Christian rock with guitars galore, along with Dynamic Preaching and Anointed Singing. Everyone welcome regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof!  Come expecting a miracle and that’s exactly what you’ll get!  For directions or more information, post a comment or click here. 

We sincerely hope to see you there and may the Lord JESUS richly bless you!

REVIVAL WITH THE SLOAN FAMILY @ MIRACLE HILL FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT @ 7:00 PM, THEN SUNDAY-WEDNESDAY @ DEEPER LIFE SUNDAY @ 2:00 PM AND THE OTHER NIGHTS @ 7:00 PM

I recently preached a message concerning the latest attempts among much of what passes for the church to minimize, downplay, and belittle the Lord JESUS.  They want to belittle His Name, His Blood, and His Power in any way they can.

This is not by accident, but by design.  The adversary wishes to erase JESUS from the minds of the people of God, and he disguises himself as not only an angel of light, but as preachers of the gospel. 

Recently a video of  John Macarthur denigrating the Corinthian Church for speaking in tongues has popped up on youtube and has created quite a buzz.  He goes on to say that the Corinthians were speaking a “Satanic counterfeit” and “ecstatic pagan utterances”.  Even though Paul never once accused the Corinthians of anything of the sort, Macarthur’s hatred of the power of JESUS consumes him and causes him to blaspheme the Holy Ghost, saying that all who speak in tongues are simply making up “gobbledygook and gibberish”, or that they are controlled by Satan. 

Having been outraged by the sewage coming from this so-called preacher’s mouth, I did some research on John Macarthur, and sure enough, he goes on to denigrate the Blood of JESUS as well as His Power, claiming JESUS’ blood wasn’t important, that the shedding of blood simply refers to death, and so it is His death, not His Blood, that does the saving.  He washed us from our sins in His own death?  The saints have washed their robes in the death of the Lamb?  Sanctified unto the sprinkling of the death of JESUS?

This hatred of the Name, the Blood and the Power of JESUS is nothing new.  It has been going in full force since the Scribes and Pharisees of the 1st century all the way to today.  Persecution will always follow thopse who stand firm for JESUS.

My friends, keep proclaiming the NAME of JESUS, the BLOOD of JESUS, and the POWER of JESUS and your reward will be incomprehensible when you see JESUS, the One True and Eternal God face to face on Judgement Day.

May the Lord JESUS bless and keep you in His Name, His Blood, and His Power!

Right click on the links below and choose open in new window to view the video of my message “JESUS—The Name, The Blood, and the Power”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tENGbswnbf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd0iKHwadBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfLHgcbDjjo

  Hello Brothers and Sisters!  If the Lord wills, this will be the first of many messages He has laid on my heart to share with the Internet community.  I pray that you may receive encouragement and comfort from these messages, but also that they may challenge you to strive for a closer walk with Jesus.

  Let’s begin by examining a few passages of Scripture, starting with Genesis 1:26-27(KJV, of course) ”And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”  So we see clearly here that when God says “Let Us“, create man, in the very next verse it comes to pass.                                          

   Now let’s go to Genesis 11:6-8 “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.  Go to, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.”   Once again, the Lord declares His plans, and carries them out exactly as stated.  He never fails to live up to what He says He will do.  Men make promises all the time.  Some keep them, some don’t, but when God reveals His intentions, it is fact before it even takes place.        

   Now let’s jump to Mark 4:35-41  “And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.   And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.   And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  Jesus asks a very intriguing question after calming the storm.  “How is it that ye have no faith?”  No faith?  It is a perfectly logical reaction to think you stand a pretty good chance of dying when you’re in a ship full of water in the middle of a violent storm, right?  Under normal circumstances, yes.  However, you’ll notice in verse 35, two little words that change everything–“Let us”.  If they had only known that the same voice that said “Let us make man” and “Let us go down, and there confound their language” was the same voice that said previously “Let us pass over unto the other side”, they would have realized that there wasn’t a storm fierce enough, not a wind strong enough, not a wave high enough to keep those words from coming to pass.  When God has promised you something, just because a trial or a hardship happens to come up between the promise given and the promise fulfilled doesn’t diminish the fact that God’s Word is sure.  Let God be true and every man a liar.  If you’re waiting on the fulfillment of a promise God has given you, let me assure you that no trial, temptation, hardship or tragedy is big enough or powerful enough to thwart the plan God has for you.  As Christians, it’s time we recognized just what manner of man we have riding in our boat!  We’re so quick to give up, to assume that God has forgotten His promises just because a little wind and rain has interrupted our perfect day.  

  This reminds me of what happened a few weeks ago when I took my family to COSI in Columbus.  There was an exhibit there called “Face Your Fears”, in which different common fears were tested on visitors.  One was the fear of animals, in which different creepy crawlys were in terrariums above, connected to a tube which led to a chamber below.  Guests were asked to “face their fears” by putting their hand in the chamber.  The first terrarium contained a small snake, the second a scorpion, the third a hissing cockroach, and the fourth a tarantula.  My wife started with the snake chamber.  Cautiously putting her hand in, she felt nothing.  Makes sense, I thought, since one could imagine the lawsuit potential of letting guests come into contact with dangerous animals, and besides, you could see the snake crawling around up in the terrarium.  Coming to the second, and using a little less caution, she reached inside.  Still nothing.  The third was almost a nonchalant reach-in.  Nothing.  You couldn’t see the spider in the fourth terrarium, but by now it was seeming to be quite a lame exhibit, so my wife casually thrust her hand into the chamber, expecting the same result, and almost came out of her shoes.  She jumped back with a shriek!  After some prodding from her, I slowly and carefully reached into the chamber and felt….a plastic toy spider.  The trick is getting people used to feeling nothing in the chambers, and then the last one just being a little more interesting causes a wild reaction.  This is so true in everyday life.  A lot of people complain, but living in America, there is quite a bit going right in your life at any given moment.  After going through periods of great calm and receiving daily blessings from God, we become nonchalant and casually stroll through our day.  Then when the slightest trial, the tiniest bump in the road pops up, we react as if we’d just touched a giant spider in a dark hole.

    Just remember that whatever storm comes your way, if you’ve got that Carpenter from Galilee riding in the back of your boat, you are truly unsinkable.  Just give Him a little nudge and that storm will be a beautiful sunset before you know it.  If you haven’t taken Jesus into your ship, He’s waiting on the shore, asking to ride along with you.  In a world filled with lightning, thunder, wind and rain, He is the only One who can make your ship unsinkable.  Take Him along.  Let Him be your captain.  You never know how big the next storm may be, but if He climbs into your boat and says “Let us…….”, you can rest assured you’ll make it to the other side.

Now may the LORD Jesus Bless you and Keep you,
May the LORD Jesus make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you,  May the Lord Jesus lift up His countenance upon you, and Give you peace.  In the Name of Jesus Christ, the One True and Eternal God, both now and forever, Amen.

 

P.S.  If you would like more information about making Jesus the Lord of your life, please leave a comment.