"brownsville Revival"
![](https://test.greglancaster.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GLM-banner-harvest-background-1.jpg)
The greg lancaster show, live from the glory zone
FOCUS
CHANGING THE WORLD BY CHANGING MINDS & HEARTS
ROMANS 12:1-2
OUR GLOBAL IMPACT
Alone with God…
In His solitary place, Jesus finds the courage to follow God’s will and not His own; to speak God’s words and not His own; to do God’s work and not His own. He reminds us constantly: “By Myself, I can do nothing…for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me. John 5:30. And again “The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work.” John 14:10. It is in this solitary place where Jesus enters into intimacy with the Father, thus His ministry is born.
SIGN-UP FOR GREG LANCASTER’S NEWSLETTER
Connecting directly could not be more important today with so many forms of communication being challenged or prevented. To show our appreciation for signing up for our Newsletter we have a FREE GIFT that we would like to send to you by email to say thank you!
![](https://test.greglancaster.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/scripture-1.png)
Know God
Realize That You Are A Sinner.
No matter how good a life we try to live, we still fall miserably short of being a perfect person. That is because we are all sinners. Sin simply means that we can’t measure up to God’s perfect standard of righteousness. The Bible says, “No one is good—not even one.” We cannot become who we are supposed to be without Jesus Christ
About
Greg Lancaster was blessed to have ministered with Pastor John Kilpatrick and experience the Glory of God as the Holy Spirit blessed him and a multitude of others from around the world at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida.
He currently serves as the senior pastor of Vine Fellowship Network. With over thirty years [since 1991] of ministry, his ministry includes the founding of the Next Step Outback, VFNtv & the Daily VFNRadio Program and The Torch that has reached around the world with Hope and Truth that is grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He founded Vine Fellowship Network, (VFN) a network of related churches, ministers, and believers; helping to encourage and establish churches and connects to ministers who feel called to relate to him. His passion comes out of his personal abiding relationship with Jesus Christ, which Jesus spoke of in John 15:5, from which was birthed a desire to lead others to have their own abiding relationship.
His hope is to continue leading as many as he can to Jesus and their own personal abiding relationship with Jesus through his online training at iAbide.org and through all his ministry efforts. For it is all about Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith!
![](https://test.greglancaster.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/greglancster-bio-image.jpeg)
Keep In Touch
Subscribe to The Newsletter and we’ll send you a FREE gift today as our Thank You!
The Lord has prophetically revealed that “It’s going to be the 1970’s again”. This was the decade when God mightily poured out His Spirit in America, that is known today as The Jesus Movement! People were coming to Christ in the crowds hundreds at a time. People were so hungry for God and they were responding to the powerful move and presence of the Holy Spirit. During this powerful move of God, Pastor Chuck Smith, of Calvary Chapel, was so hungry for the Holy Spirit and was just excited to watch and see how Holy Spirit was moving amongst the young people in his midst. As Chuck Smith’s daughter shares her favorite quote of her father, “I didn’t want to direct the Holy Spirit. I just wanted to find out how the Holy Spirit was moving and get in the boat and move with Him.” Holy Spirit was doing so many wonderful and awesome things in these moments.
The daily awareness and dependency upon Holy Spirit was one of the hallmark characteristics of the Brownsville Revival that occurred in Pensacola Florida in 1995. Every day people hoped that the Lord would come again, yet nobody knew if it was going to carry on for another day. Suddenly, the Lord would move again and everyone that was gathered was greatly encouraged that God was continually moving powerfully.
When you remember the culture of the 1970’s, many of the young people were against “the man”. They were burning their draft cards and rebelling against all things government. Suddenly, God pours His Spirit upon the young people who are rebelling against culture. If we don’t pay attention to how Holy Spirit is moving, we can become offended by God. Sometimes the very ones who have hurt us the most, whether that be our children, or possibly a co-worker, could be the very one that God decides to touch mightily with His presence. We can’t get in the way of God, or presume how He is going to move.
Darrel Mansfield, from the Darrel Mansfield band, was powerfully touched by God, and his transformation in Christ immediately took over the lyrics of the songs that he wrote. Other band members Raul Reese, Mike Macintosh, and Greg Laurie, were powerfully touched by the Lord and birthed beautiful ministries for the Lord because of those encounters with Jesus. As Mansfield describes, “we didn’t know the Prince of Peace. We didn’t know the Author of Love. We didn’t know the Creator. We didn’t know the Great I am, the First and the Last who would become the Almighty. But Chuck Smith did, and he was gonna teach us.” What is additionally encouraging, as Mansfield continues, is how Chuck Smith taught these men about the Lord, “[Chuck Smith taught Michael Macintosh, Raul Reese, and Greg Laurie…we were hungry, hungry for the truth, and he gave us the truth. And we were able to take those Biblical truths and put them into songs and go out into the highways and byways, and bring in the sheep.” The Lord was changing the music that was being sung, and reaching the hearts of thousands of young hippies. So many feel they have to suddenly leave the very place where God has found them in order to pastor. Where were you when God called you? Invite God into that place in your life and watch what He does. Continue to play your instrument for God, whatever that might be. If you’re in a political position when the Lord finds you, or in business, don’t leave the place where God has allowed you to be, begin to do everything differently as the Lord leads you. Carry out your relationships differently.
We can’t get offended at those who the Lord decides to draw to Himself and transform for His glory. We can’t be offended when we see the Holy Spirit moving. In the 1970’s Jesus Movement, one of those young hippies who the culture had marginalized was Lonnie Frisbee. What was so powerful in that moment, was that Lonnie soon met Chuck Smith and the crowds coming to Jesus soon followed. As Chuck Smith shares, “That is where we began to see this great influx, that is where we began our first communal house…at one time we had over one hundred Christian communal houses.” What was beautiful about Chuck Smith was that he was totally okay with being behind the scenes, simply watching how the Holy Spirit was moving through others. Another man shares, “the center for the youth was Lonnie, and Chuck was always kind of in the background. We knew he was the pastor of the Church…He would just allow the Spirit to move and if the Spirit was moving through Lonnie, and Lonnie was ministering, and the people were responding to Lonnie’s teaching, Chuck would just sit back and watch.” Its very important that we acknowledge and recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity.
Regardless of who people are that are touched by God, we need those close relationships of accountability that will see past our gifts and talents and ask us those difficult questions. We need people who genuinely care about us and ask us “how are you doing?” amidst all the crowds and spotlights. Just because God might be using us in our lives, doesn’t mean that we don’t need accountability in our lives. Everyone of us is the same. Why would any of us want to live life alone? We all need love and attention, close relationships with others to walk out this thing called life. We don’t have to be a part of every moment in what is happening. If God decides to move through our lives for a moment, what a miracle. Don’t think that you are a failure because you didn’t play every part. We must remove all the offense in our lives, and humble ourselves. All of us can get offended. If we don’t identify offense and get it out of our lives, it will divide us from God and our destiny. This is what John Bevere writes about in his book “Bait of Satan”. Now is the time for each of us to prepare the soil of our hearts in preparation for this mighty coming outpouring of God’s presence!
TGLS 020822
‘You Could Almost Say, Mary Had a Little Lamb & People Would Get Saved’ Bill Johnson| The Jesus Movement Part 5
A sovereign move of God! It is so exciting to be in the moment as we are on the precipice of what God is about to do. “It’s going to be the 1970’s again”, is what the Lord told Greg Lancaster. THINK ABOUT THAT! When you think about the 1970’s. One of the things that might come to mind about the 1970’s might be the tall orange shag carpeting that was so long you had to actually use a carpet rake on it, in your home! But more importantly is, GOD DID SOME AMAZING THINGS! A sovereign move of God referred to as The Jesus Revolution swept the nation of America mightily. Amidst the backdrop of tragic things taking place in America at that time, and around the world, God moved mightily upon thousands of souls. The Lord wrecked the Church as it was. I mean wrecked it in a good way! It was as if the Church was stuck where it was. BUT GOD! As Bill Johnson, of Bethel, Redding California, speaking about The Jesus Movement, the presence of God was so known in the nation, “you could say Mary had a little lamb”, (which is taken from a children’s poem) and people were getting saved! That is what it’s like to have a divine move of God! This move of God was so powerful that even Time Magazine dedicated their front cover to acknowledging God is real with an article titled “The Jesus Revolution”. That is so powerful! God is going to bring about a sovereign move of His presence AGAIN!
During those days, it was as if the spirit of death was upon the people, with no hope to live, and Jesus Christ saved them and healed them. Greg was shown, by the Lord in a dream, that people are feeling the same way today, that death is upon them and they need a miracle from God to live. God’s glory is coming. The Hand of God can touch you RIGHT NOW and deliver you from that and encounter you with His Life! Greg was shown in this dream from the Lord, that the harvest of souls (people) is going to come so fast that we have to be prepared. If not, we are going to miss it. Many missed it in the 1970’s. How do we get ready? Get out of your head and focus on the Kingdom of God. God’s plan is totally outside the confines of the limitations of one nation. Greg said, he doesn’t mean not be a good citizen in your nation. We as Christians should be a bright light to our nation, but there is more. This is so incredibly exciting. We can’t just simply do the daily things today then, and not be shocked if we miss God. Prepare yourself for this awesome move of God.
As Time Magazine recalls what was happening in the 1970’s, “There is a revival of religion everywhere—except in the church.” History tells us that old moves of God often reject the new moves of God; behold the Lord is doing a new thing. If religion would actually embrace what the Spirit of God is doing, mighty things would take place. Unfortunately, many rejected this sovereign move of God. Why is it that you are doing what you are doing in your life right now? Do you have room for God? For His Harvest? Can God interrupt your schedule and your life with His plans? The Jesus Movement was messy, and what God is about to do is going to be messy, “it’s going to be in the streets” Paster John Kilpatrick says, as he was shown by the Lord. Think about it, speaking about the 1970’s Jesus movement, people were coming off of drugs. People were facing court hearings for the consequences of how they had been living their lives. They have suffered from the aftermath of what they once celebrated sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. Many rejected these people referred to as the hippies. They were lost. They were coming out of the world. People were literally coming out of insane asylums when the Power of God encountered them. We must set in our minds and hearts that we are going to embrace the presence of God right now. Just because it’s messy doesn’t mean it’s God though. We must know the thoughts, the voice and the heart of God. Greg reminds us of a series he taught on God’s Secret Wisdom. Discerning the Thoughts of God to help you better know which is the God Thing that is taking place. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His heart. God loves every human being on the face of the Earth and He gave His life for them. How can we not ask God for His heart for them; the lost? This is the moment that we can decide in our hearts to be in the epicenter of what God is doing. As Dr. Michael Brown has said, “if you want to be a part of what God is doing, find out what He is doing and dive in”.
In the 1970’s, a powerful and mighty move of God swept America, and the nations of the world. It is now known as The Jesus Movement. What is so important to remember is that this powerful move of God was mainly made up of youth in their twenties, and teenagers! John Wimber, of the Vineyard Churches , was another one of those that God used to lead many to Christ, including many of those referred to as hippies.
The Barna Group did a study of the State of the Church, involving every generation, those who were born before 1946, and every generation up to the Gen Z generation, born between 1999 and 2015. When you look at this study, there is an undeniable shift in the decline of the Church in the year of 2012. What was taking place in the year 2012? The Obama Presidency.
Looking at this graph is an undeniable visualization of how the Church has been impacted during these years. 2012 was a bad year for the Church in America. It was then, starting in 2012, many in every age demographic in America began to walk away from church; away from God. One of the alarming findings that Barna Group reveals in this study is that “…Many young people’s faith…appears to fade as people move further away from their parents.” WOW! If your parents love God, serve God, and worship God together, moving away from them is not a wise decision. Many people make a decision to move based on a job opportunity. For the idea of making more money, they will move to a new city, to be around people they’ve never met, places they’ve never been, not even know if God has a church family for them there, FOR A JOB! Putting a job ahead of God is never a good decision. If you want to keep your faith, do everything in your ability to keep your faith. If you decide to move somewhere, is there a pastor who hears from the Lord that you can put your family under? The most important thing you can do for yourself and your family is to find a Bible believing God fearing,pastor that can hear from the Lord and to raise your family under them. Those who put their jobs, i.e., money first, above God and their family, end up not having either.
God is about to do something mighty. When God is on the verge of doing something mighty, some people start doing really weird things, that is out of the norm for them, and end up making rash decisions which leads them away from what God is about to do. Moments before the Brownsville Revival started, some people, those who you thought were leaders and serious about God, suddenly left, and missed God. Pastor John Kilpatrick says, “Satan doesn’t attack your past, he always attacks your future.” Pastor Kilpatrick speaks on this in a message he titled Satan’s Crowbar. What these people who left Brownsville, prior to Revival, didn’t understand, satan was attacking their future which was to be in, and a part of the Glory move of God, a Revival that would shake America and the world. You want to hold on in these crucial moments. Especially in times of crisis, what you don’t want to do is to make a decision that will take you away from God. Truth of the matter is, deciding to move from where you are, based only on a job, can take you away from where God wants you to be.
We need to be mindful of every generation, knowing that the youth and teenagers were touched mightily in the Jesus Movement we need to be mindful that God is going to do it again and not miss what He is going to do! During this movement in the 1970’s, John Bisagno recalls the concerns he had about rigid religion missing the young people that were hungry for the Lord. “All I know is that kids are turning on to Jesus. My concern is that the stale, traditional churches will reject these kids and miss the most genuine revival of our lifetime.” This coming move of God is going to come so quickly, we believe, that you may find yourself in a place of leadership because you’ve already spent time with the Lord, and have actually READ the Bible. As John Ruttkay shares, “So many people were getting saved in the Jesus movement, if you read the Old Testament and the New Testament, you were now the leader.” Well, what about the elders? They had those covered too. John Ruttkay explains, ‘So many people were getting saved in the Jesus movement, someone would say they actually read the Book of Revelation? You did? Someone would ask. Then you are an elder.” Let that sink in for a moment. Are you ready? That is powerful! That is what God did and we’re going to see what they saw in the 70’s again! So many people weren’t ready for what God did. Don’t let this coming move of God take you by surprise. Amidst God doing mighty things, even the people who were approaching this move of God with apprehension couldn’t deny the reality of its impact. Ronald Knox was converted, from his reported disdain for the enthusiasm of those in The Jesus Movement, to one who embraced their enthusiasm, on his journey interviewing these people that were consumed with a love and hunger for God. Knox said, “Enthusiasm may not be the only virtue but, God knows, apathy is none at all.”
Lonnie Frisbee was one of those people that got powerfully touched by God. People thought he was unreachable since he was another one of those hippies, amongst many others in the 1970s that were also hippies. What they didn’t know is that, in a matter of moments, God would touch Frisbee so powerfully that he would be sharing the Gospel to people who don’t know the Lord, and leading them to Christ with powerful, anointed messages! In an unforgettable moment, from actual footage in the 1970’s, Frisbee recounts the story of the fall of man, bringing to light how Adam and Eve’s feeble attempts to cover up their nakedness applies to all of us today, in our lives. “God had to give them two animals to cover their nakedness. And if you think that you’re going to cover your own sin, by your works, you’re sadly mistaken. You can sew those leaves together as much as you want, but they still won’t cover enough. And you’ll still be ashamed.” As Frisbee continues to share the Good News of the Gospel, with every heart and ear listening attentively, he describes the reality of why Jesus Christ came to the Earth. “So, the Bible says, without the shedding of blood, is there no remission of sin
. Jesus Christ willingly went to the Cross, and He died. He gave His life. He says, ‘no man takes my life from me. I lay it down.’ And at that time, Jesus Christ became a sin sacrifice for you, and you, and all of us here tonight.” This is so incredibly powerful as this is always the now word for each of us, to know that Jesus Christ laid down His life, for your life, and for all of our lives. As Frisbee continues to share the love of God, he reminds everyone present, and everyone listening to his words, not to miss the voice of God in this moment. “Though your sin is the blackest sin in the whole world, though you even killed somebody, or broke up a family, you did anything, all that has been accounted for by His Son Jesus Christ. So, don’t reject Him now as He speaks to your heart.” As Frisbee highlights the reality that the love of Jesus Christ is knocking on every one of our hearts, asking to know if we will invite Him in, He invites people to say yes to Jesus. “I want you to confess Him. I want you to receive Him. It’s hard. But, it’s gonna get harder because darkness is coming, more, and more, and more.” When Frisbee asks those who want to receive Christ into their hearts, to stand and come up to the front, people can be seen instantly getting up out of their seats, responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. What an awesome and powerful moment!
In the 1970’s, it was a hippie that was powerfully touched by God. Imagine that someone who was leading an ANTIFA rally today, can be preaching the Gospel tomorrow! Why? Because Jesus loves them and can save them too and use them just like He used Lonnie. Would you see Jesus in that moment, or would your own limitations keep you from jumping into what God was doing right in front of you? There were no mighty coliseums required in order to reach souls for Jesus. There was no internet, social media, or even e-mails, it was just a heart on fire for God talking directly to people. This is what the Gospel is all about. It’s not about our fancy, polished words, it’s about the power of the Gospel. As Hebrews 4:12 reveals, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We can’t add to the Word of God. Just share what Jesus said, and let the power of His Word impact hearts. Just like Lonnie Frisbee was baptizing people in the California coastal, Pacific Ocean waters in the 1970’s, it is these same waters that Pastor Jack Hibbs, of Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, California, recently led many to follow Jesus Christ in water baptisms in 2021. This is immensely powerful. What God did in the 1970’s, it is still happening today!
It is these moments and realities that stir our faith for expectation of God to do something in our generation. It’s so important that we don’t get focused on the negative news of the world and its own 24-hour news cycle. Instead, focus on believing God doing something so mighty that it can’t help but get onto and into the lives of others that will glorify Jesus! If you want to be a part of what God is about to do, prepare yourself NOW! Get your mind set on His Kingdom, His voice, and His heart. Be willing to stop whatever is on your schedule in order to love those that God is drawing to Himself! THIS IS THAT! GET, GET, GET, GET READY!
TGLS 110221
In the 1970’s, a powerful and mighty move of God swept America, and the nations of the world. It is now known as The Jesus Movement. What is so important to remember is that this powerful move of God was mainly made up of youth in their twenties, and teenagers! John Wimber was another one of those that God used to lead so many to Christ, as it seemed as though it was overnight that his fellowship was suddenly comprised of more than half being teenagers. It’s important that we do not count anyone out but that we consider every generation. The Barna Group did a study of the State of Church, involving every generation, those who were born before 1946, and every generation up to the Gen Z generation, born between 1999 and 2015. When you look at this study, there is an undeniable shift in the decline of the Church at the year of 2012. What was taking place in the year 2012? The Obama Presidency.
Looking at this graph is undeniable visualization of how the Church has been impacted during these years. 2012 was a bad year for the Church in America. One of the alarming findings that Barna Group reveals in this study is that “…Many young people’s faith…appears to fade as people move further away from their parents.” WOW! If your parents love God, serve God, worship God together, moving away from that is not a wise decision. So many people make a decision to move base on a job opportunity. For the idea of making more money, they will move to a new city, to be around people they’ve never met, FOR A JOB! Putting a job ahead of God is never a good decision. If you want to keep your faith, do everything in your ability to keep your faith. If you decide to move somewhere, is there a pastor somewhere, who hears from the Lord, to put your family under?
God is about to do something mightily. When God is on the verge of doing something mighty, people start getting really weird, and making sudden rash decisions. Moments before the Brownsville Revival started, people suddenly left, and missed God. You want to hold on in these crucial moments. Especially in times of crisis, what you don’t want to do is to make a decision that will take you away from God. Truth of the matter is, making a decision based on a job can take you away from where God wants you to be.
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
From the moment that Steve and Jeri gave their lives to the Lord, they gave everything they had to give their Yes to Jesus, up until it was Steve’s last day on this Earth. For decades, Steve Hill was an evangelist who gave every breath to reaching the lost, he even preached at his own funeral. Jeri recalled how quickly Steve’s funeral was setup, “he passed on a Sunday and everything was planned by that Friday and it was done very, very quickly”. Jeri reminded Steve that there would be lost people at this funeral, “if you don’t have something prepared at your funeral, I’ll pick something from one of your messages”. And that is just what they did. When people were gathered together, remembering the life of someone who gave it all for Jesus, Steve was sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and the reality that eternity waits us all. Steve Hill quotes Jim Elliot who said, “when it comes time to die, make sure that’s all you have to do”.
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
In a recent conversation, Jeri and Greg talk about the testimonies of the Lord and how the Lord is going to pour out His Spirit in a mighty way again. As Greg shares, the Lord has shown him the nations coming to the Gulf Coast, “The Glory Zone”. “Brownsville was small compared to what I saw”. People who are famous in their nations, were coming to the Gulf Coast just to operate a camera, capturing the Glory of God, willing to do the work of ministry.
As Jeri shares, she’s beginning to see that take place as she is involved with Christ For All Nations. Under the leadership of Daniel Kolenda, Boot Camp Evangelism is raising up Evangelists to go out to the nations. Jeri is involved in this ministry as well as one of their Evangelism Coaches. Daniel Kolenda is launching Nations Church in Orlando, FL. If you are in the Orlando area, it’s time to get connected. Jesus Image with Michael Koulianos is also reaching the nations for Jesus Christ with the Good News of the Gospel reaching out evangelizing. As Jeri explains, “they are letting Holy Spirit overtake them”. She continues, “when you let Holy Spirit overtake you, its letting Him change your mind, because we get our opinions from the world, and so if we get so full of the Word of God it’s changing our mind, it’s changing our will to God’s will, and it’s changing our emotion so that we are not depressed, cast down, beaten up, and discouraged…” This is how we are able to recognize what God is speaking, and how He is leading, “but we are all emotionally in tune with what God wants to do. He wants to be in charge of our mind, our will, and our emotions, our spirit man, and be victorious over the flesh.” Jeri continues to talk about how her relationship with the Lord has changed and developed the more she walks with the Lord, “I’ve been serving Him for 45 years now and it only gets more intense and more exciting. There’s nothing like it in this world.” This is our only moment in time to do something for our Lord and King. This is our only opportunity to do something for God. It’s time to get in and to get involved in what God is doing. Jeri also talks about the ministry that she is involved in, Ryan’s Hope, named after her son who passed away. This ministry is directed towards helping men of all ages needing help in restoration.
This is the beauty of living a life dedicated to the Lord. Even after Steve Hill has gone to be with the Lord, there is still fruit multiplying for the Lord as people are continuing to be touched and reached. Steve has now gone on to be with his First Love, and Jeri continues to serve her First Love. This is our moment to do the same and live a sold-out life knowing that at any moment, our next breath, can be in eternity.
Image courtesy of Bruce Rolff/Shutterstock.com
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x8lxAA0FF0[/embedyt]
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
In a recent conversation, Jeri Hill talks about the life of transition that her and Steve lived following the Lord in those beginning days of the Brownsville Revival. “In that first year we moved nine times because we didn’t know how long we were going to be there”. They were following the lead of the Holy Spirit, until five years later, in 1999, they decided to leave Pensacola. “The only reason we felt led to leave Brownsville is because there were less sinners coming.” All the while during those five years of the Brownsville Revival, Steve was receiving invitations from around the world for him to come preach in their nation, “we cannot all go to Brownsville, please come to us”. After leaving Pensacola, FL, Steve and Jeri travel to Japan to share the Gospel.
It was during an event in Japan that Jeri felt the Holy Spirit suddenly impress upon her, “go outside and evangelize right now”. After grabbing an interpreter, she was handing out Gospel tracks and inviting people to the even that was about to start in 45 mins. Her and her interpreter run out of tracks and Jeri tells the interpreter to go get more tracks. “All of a sudden I’m doubling over weeping and wailing for the people of Japan. I am bawling my eyes out wailing an saying ‘the people of Japan need Jesus! the people of Japan need Jesus!’ and I am wailing…” Suddenly Jeri is approached by someone in their ministry team who recognized Jeri and tells Jeri that the girl with him is a pastor’s daughter who wants to leave and doesn’t believe in what Steve is doing in their city means anything. She confronted this young girl and boldly declared, “the devil has you right where he wants you, he wants you to leave, he does not want you to believe that he’s real, and the devil is dancing, he’s pleased, he’s so happy that you are about to leaving.” But Jeri didn’t stop there, “if you have even a little mustard seed of faith, you get back in there and listen to my husband preach”. The girl ended up walking away, and suddenly the burden of the Holy Spirit lifted. During the message, Steve called Jeri up to be alongside him praying for the pastors. It was while Jeri was on the platform that she felt a tap on her shoulder, and it was the young man and girl who told Jeri that she gave her heart to Jesus! So many people miss those promptings of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t pay attention to how the Holy Spirit is leading us, we can miss Him. As Jeri shares, “that’s what it’s all about. My job was to be interceding and praying and believing…”
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
In a recent conversation, Jeri talks about how when her and Steve where evangelizing in South America, they were laboring day and night. This was long before Brownsville was on anybody’s grid. Evangelizing during the day, church services during the night. A lot of people don’t understand “the work” of ministry, they just think it just happens. As Jeri explains, “it’s a matter of stepping out, opening your mouth, handing the track, praying with them, whatever they would allow you to do, you just did it.” Steve and Jeri immersed themselves into the culture as they both were able to speak Spanish after moving to Costa Rica and living with a family, asking them to teach them, and correct them regarding their Spanish.
So many people are afraid of just “getting out there”, afraid that they will make a mistake or say something wrong. Jeri recalls one of her first encounters after only be saved for two months, she was in the city amongst the people handing out tracks. A man comes up to her and says, “okay, just don’t give me a track. Tell me what it means to you…for forty-five minutes I shared my testimony with him and what God had done in my life. He took the track that I had and said, ‘thank you’, and he walked away.” Jeri thought there was more to do wanting to know if she could have prayed for him. That next Monday, in a Teen Challenge meeting, people were standing up and sharing testimonies. One man who gave his testimony stood up, who turned out to be same man that Jeri had just shared her testimony to. After telling all those who were listening about the young girl that he had met, and that he wanted to know what the track meant to her, he took the track and walked away. As he was walking away, he told the crowd what he said to the Lord, “God, I want what she has”, and he gave his heart to Jesus as he was walking away. As he was finishing his testimony in the Teen Challenge meeting, he pointed at Jeri, “that’s the girl right there, would you stand up”. Jeri was shocked, “it works”, she told herself. As Jeri plainly says, “we’re supposed to have a passion for God, and a burden for people.”
Revelation 12:11 declares, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”. There is power in the simple truth of sharing your stories of what God has done in your life with other people. If you’re dead in Christ, you’re not worried about yourself. Your yes to God matters so much to God. There are so many people want to give their everything to God, but they totally feel held back because their spouse is not following the Lord. Jeri talks about how powerful your witness is when you are committed. “God is powerful to keep a marriage together, even when they aren’t seeing eye to eye. So, God doesn’t want them to give up on that person, because they are just as important to God as going out and doing something else for God.” Even too, when children come along in a family, that may change how ministry looks, but it doesn’t have to stop ministry. Jeri continues, “in the beginning I took Ryan out on one hip.” When the Brownsville Revival started, Steve and Jeri had a three-week-old baby, “so I would be back in the nursing room quite a bit, but the whole time I was so on Steve’s page because I wanted to see people get right with God, so even if it was Steve doing it, or if it was me doing it, it was being done”.
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
In a recent conversation, Jeri talks about how the Lord brought the two of them together when they were in Bible School under David Wilkerson. They recall a time when Steve talked about those unforgettable days and how they submitted themselves to godly leadership. “Gwen Wilkerson, David Wilkerson’s wife, came to me and said, ‘Jeri, you may be making the biggest mistake of your life. Jeri may not be the girl for you’”. That wasn’t what Steve wanted to hear. Steve continues, “you know what that caused me to do? PRAY! PRAY! Instead of living in orbit, I got my feet back on solid ground and got on my face. ‘Jesus I’m infatuated with this girl. Get this out of me and speak to me. Speak to me Jesus, I don’t want to make a mistake.” Steve had to know, and asked the Lord, “IS THIS YOU OR NOT? IF IT’S YOU THEN YOU GUIDE EVERY STEP.” This is so important to think about and remember. Steve continues to describe how so many people would not receive that kind of leadership in their lives. “Some of you would never put up with anything like this because you’re snots, you’re stuck up…there’s people that will not receive a word of counsel from nobody.”
After Steve and Jeri decided to move forward in their relationship and date, the direction they received from their leadership was that they could spend 15 minutes a week with each other. Specifically, “you can spend 15 minutes with her but don’t touch her”. So, Steve asked, “can I shake her hand?” “No” was the response he got”. Steve continues, “I happened to get around godly counsel. They told me to behave myself.” For those who would rebel against godly leadership and counsel like this, Steve says, “friend I want to tell you where you’re going. You’re going down the wrong path. With an attitude like that, you ain’t going to make it nowhere with Jesus cause He’s put authorities in your life.” When the time came for Steve to ask Jeri to marry her, he still didn’t know what her hand felt like, or even had a ring to give her.
On one of their short walks together, Steve knew this was the day to ask. But his time was running short, he only had 15 minutes with Jeri. “Jeri, will you marry me?” “How can I say no?” A long drawn out “moooooo” came bellowing out from one of the neighboring cows in the nearby pasture. That was confirmation. 15 minutes was up. “Well, see you later. She goes walking off one way. I mean this is the girl I’m gonna marry. Not even a handshake.” Steve continues to point out what happened during that season of their lives. “We fell in love with each other, not in lust… It’s hard to get to know a girl in the back seat of a car with the windows steamed up and a bunch of heavy panting going on. You’re not going to get very intimate in your spirit with a woman like that and you’re gonna end up marrying the girl AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HER!” This is where having godly counsel in your life can guide you to make wise decisions. “So I got around wise counsel that was so contrary to the world’s counsel.” What would the world’s counsel have said? “The world would say ‘shack up with her for a few months man before you marry her’. The world would say, ‘make sure you got some type of marriage agreement before you ever get into this thing.’ It’s a whole lot different with Jesus”. Many people don’t start with God’s values in views or with godly counsel leading the way. It’s hard to unmake a wrong beginning. You got to go back to the start.
Jeri recalls those memorable moments as well as she talks about during those days at Bible School under David Wilkerson, she used to clean the Wilkerson’s home. One day, David Wilkerson asked for a volunteer to clean his car. Steve raised his hand and was cleaning the car. Steve shared with David, “I’m interested in Jeri Larson.” David responded, “you’re getting the best girl on the ranch”. As Jeri explains, “it was growing in my heart, this love for Steve, and I did not want anybody”. Up to this point in her life, Jeri had only experienced dysfunctional relationships and had only planned to be sold out for Jesus and not have any man in her life. “And so for two months I was binding the enemy with this emotion that was happening in my heart. Every time I saw Steve, my heart was beating out of my chest.” Jeri continues to describe how she was fighting, what she thought, was distractions from the enemy, “I would get up three o’clock in the morning and pray till five, binding the enemy that was distracting me in my relationship with Jesus Christ…God was putting it there but I was fighting it.” She even went to her advisor to ask for prayer because her prayers weren’t working. The advisor wanted to know what they were praying about. “Well, somebody is distracting me. My emotions are distracted when I see one of the guys and I need victory over this, and I need a prayer partner. Please help me pray for victory.” After 45 minutes of her advisor insisting on wanting to know who it was, she didn’t say and ended up leaving.
Later in the day, Jeri is approached by Steve in the lunchroom and she is just appalled that he would approach her. GET AWAY FROM ME was what she felt belting out of her spirit towards him. Steve knew something was wrong and followed after Jeri as she walked away. “Jeri! What is going on?” She replied, “nothing God can’t handle.” Steve insisted, “Well tell me what’s going on and I’ll pray for you.” Without missing a beat, Jeri retorted, “you don’t need to know what it is to pray”. Steve immediately went into his prayer closet to pray for Jeri and the Lord spoke to Steve, “she’s fighting love for you”. Come to find out, Steve was waking up at three in the morning, praying to the Lord with hands raised, until five in the morning, thanking God that the Lord was bringing him and Jeri together. Days later Steve and Jeri see each other in the office and Steve says to Jeri, “[the staff] know about us”. As Jeri hears this, she has her own internal dialogue with the Lord, “God, I was praying for deliverance from this. Do I not have a say in my life? Immediately God said to me, ‘No. You don’t have a say. Your say has to be yes.’” So many people can completely understand and empathize with Jeri’s perspective.
So many people have been hurt and wounded by relationships. We can be whole people, in Christ, without needing a relationship with a spouse in order to feel whole. Thinking about her marriage with Steve, Jeri says, “I think what really played a part in how our marriage went, is in Bible School, they told us ‘to give 100% and don’t expect anything in return. If you expect something, you’re going to be disappointed, and if you give 100%, as unto the Lord and you’re doing it unto God, you will receive so much satisfaction in doing it as unto the Lord and not create drama.” Our spouses can never fulfill our lives where only Jesus can be. Jeri continues, “I didn’t look for Steve to fulfill me. I looked to God to fulfill me and use me.” This is what was so beautiful between them in their marriage because they never defined each other by what wasn’t given, or by what couldn’t be given at the time. Jeri continues to point out the decision she made every time Steve walked into the door.
Rewinding the journey back to story of being surrounded by cows and being asked by Steve to marry him, Jeri talks about she wanted to serve the Lord with all that she had, but she knew the decision of marriage was important. “You used to be a heroin addict. I used to be a drug addict and we were lost. If you think for one minute that you are going to go back into drugs, tell me today. Because even though I love you, I don’t want to marry you.” Steve responded to her, “I am going to live for God all the days of my life.” That’s all she needed to hear. As she clapped her hands, she said, “okay let’s do it”. Moments before Jeri was about to walk down the aisle in her wedding, wearing her wedding dress, someone asked her if she was nervous. She kicked off her shoes, twirled and said, “No, I’m excited!”, and then proceeded to put her shoes back on and walked down the aisle.
Father’s Day 1995 The Lord Himself did a mighty work when He poured out His presence in Pensacola Florida during the Brownsville Revival that resulted in the nations being reached with mighty testimonies of His Glory and many coming to Salvation through Jesus Christ. Steve Hill was the Evangelist who labored alongside Pastor John Kilpatrick night after night as thousands of souls repented for their sins and wept in the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. Jeri, Steve’s wife was also there night after night responding to the call to grow ever closer to the Lord.
In a recent conversation Jeri Hill talks about the importance of praying for the lost with a broken heart weeping before the Lord. Steve and Jeri continually kept the verse of Psalm 126:6 before them, “Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” They continually lived their lives with a focus on reaching the lost with the love of Jesus Christ. As Jeri recalls, “going to church every single night, it wasn’t just at Brownsville. We were in church services evangelized. And that’s how we planted every single Church: we evangelized, went out on the streets, told people about Jesus and planted a church by evangelizing.” It’s important to be people focused and to notice those that the Lord has placed right next to us. As Greg describes, “the person next to you is an opportunity, they’re not a problem”.
Jeri recalls one particular teenager that she had witnessed to. “Every single day for six months I witness to this young lady…and I told her that Jesus loved her and had a plan for her life. She was an Argentine Revolutionist. She didn’t want to hear it and for six months she rejected it.” Jeri didn’t let that response stop her. “I began to fast for her, and I wept for her and sometimes I would cry…everyday I wept and wept and wept”. Jeri details how something changed after six months and in a conversation with this young lady that was challenging Jeri, Jeri slammed her hand down on the table, which was a glass table declared boldly, “I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe He died for you and I believe that He has a plan for you and you have to give your life to Jesus Christ.” By this point Jeri was screaming these words at her. This young lady took a couple steps back and simply said, “okay, I believe you now”. This young lady becomes the first female missionary to go to Cameroon, Africa and preaches everywhere she goes. She ended up moving back to the United States and shared with Jeri, “you taught me how to do this. You did it for me, I can do it for somebody else”. Jeri continues to point out how important is not to miss those moments. “You do not know what is going on in a person’s life and what they’ve been crying out. It’s just what we say to people, God is working behind the scenes in people’s lives. He might be giving them dreams. He might be giving them vision of things. He might be speaking to them in audible voices…but what we don’t know what God is doing behind the scenes.”
Greg describes a similar journey when he himself was in the middle of the Brownsville Revival also running a business of his own. He would run his plastics company and leave work everyday, heading to the Brownsville Revival, and tell one of his employees, “God loves you and has a plan for your life”. Day after day the same words. Even after inviting this employee to Revival over and over, this employee would always respond with a kind “no thank you”. Until one day, Greg offers, “If I pay you, will you come?” That was all he needed. This man ended up witnessing what Greg had been trying to share with him all these times, and encountered the love of God, the power of God, and he gave his life to Jesus Christ that very day.
Steve Hill did the same thing each and every day sharing about the love of God, the power of God in his memorable messages. As Jeri describes, “Steve had to prepare a message every single day. He’d get up at eight o’clock in the morning, go over to the office and have a message done, and ready for that evening by two o’clock in the afternoon. Everyday”. Contrary to belief, Steve had never used props before in his messages until he started preaching at the Brownsville Revival. Steve had a powerful message that he would also share with people who been coming to the Brownsville Revival, “don’t come in and hog the sanctuary, leave room for the sinner, go out and evangelize, don’t come every single night we need room for the sinners that are coming”.
What else is additionally important to recognize about the Brownsville Revival is not only how many lives were touched, but also the many lives that were touched during that time that are still faithfully serving the Lord. As Jeri describes, “the other second thing that is the most important is the fruit that remains and is producing fruit…it’s not supposed to stop, we have to pass it on”. As Steve got older, he ended up getting cancer. Not even cancer could stop Steve from bearing good fruit for the Lord. Jeri continues, “during that time he was doing videos for the online school of evangelism because he wanted to leave behind something that would help people to grow in producing more fruit after he was gone”. One of Steve’s last videos was conversation with Peter Wagner talking to the nations.
When you look at the lives of Steve and Jeri, you can clearly see that there is no fear of how people will respond. As Jeri says, “I don’t care what people think about me”. Jeri also shares that “Steve always wanted to be murdered for Jesus”. People may be surprised to know that people came to the Brownsville Revival with weapons hoping to kill someone on the platform. When somebody comes to Jeri’s front door of her house, she isn’t afraid to answer the door. “I don’t run away. There is somebody that is coming to my door that needs to hear about Jesus…they can not walk out the door without me talking about the love of my life.” Jeri also talks about how she uses the many different props from Steve’s past messages from the Brownsville Revival that are displayed around her house that she uses to bring up Jesus to those that visit her home. We can do this very same thing and put things that represent what God has done in our lives around our homes for the purpose of bringing up Jesus to them and telling them that Jesus loves them and has a plan for their lives.
Image courtesy of fizkes/Shutterstock.com