FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN 

KINGSPORT, TN — It was Rodney Howard-Browne who said that Kingsport, Tennessee would be a portal of revival. The Remnant has been to this beautiful part of Tennessee in the last two years and we have seen the glory of God revealed on several occasions. It’s almost as if God wanted to make a statement in these Tennessee Mountains. We know the people here, and we have watched God’s vision in them grow as each attempt to reveal His will here has come in degrees. When Rodney Howard-Browne came on May 5-6 to Kingsport, the glory of God fell in a morning service, and we were on the edge of witnessing the Holy Fire break out all over the entire city. Students of revival remember these events and times as time markers of what God can do when the people are in unity. A worship group was put together for the morning service, and as they sang the power of God oscillated in and out of the service to such a degree, that many people could literally feel His presence roll in. I find it difficult to describe a moment like this, but all who were in the building, including Rodney Howard-Browne, knew that God had pulled the cover off the top of the city and had looked in that day.

At this Hungry Preacher’s conference, revivalists came to the mountains again to see if God would honor them by His presence. You can find Restoration Church in an old theater building surrounded by antique stores in the old main street area of the town. Cleddie Keith said that the Indians must have laid out the street of Kingsport. And if you wanted to know where we were camping, you could just follow the smoke from our fires. As the first night of the conference began, Cleddie Keith took the evening service. It was a good marker for what God would do for the next three days. On Sunday night, the presence came in like a fog over the people. Cleddie spoke on the heart of those who seek God’s face, and about the people who know the importance of revival in the church. Heritage Fellowship has been in continuous revival since July of 1994 — while Cleddie is a pastor who seeks the fire, he is also one who knows how to sow into other areas of the country. Last year as Cleddie did a Catch the Fire Conference with Pat Robertson in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the power of God touched the 700 Club host in such a powerful way that he rolled back from the microphone under the glory of God. Make no mistake about Cleddie Keith, he carries something with him that you can’t put in a bottle, but it does a job in the places and the spaces that God opens for him.

This meeting was not about a personality, but The Personality did show up. The personality of the Holy Spirit moved through the people during the next four days, and we witnessed spectacles not many have ever seen. Pastor Cleddie moved with the Spirit like I’ve never witnessed. He simply followed what God was trying to do. If someone was rapping in the Holy Ghost, he would stand right next to him, jiving in the Spirit as well. If one was crying, his shoulder was to be leaned upon. The unity was exceptional. The messages, brilliant. Don Milam blew it up. We witnessed rows of people breaking out in Holy Laughter, and several people re-dedicated their lives to the Lord. Cleddie’s intentions were for all of us to come back to our first love. And, if you were sensitive, that’s what you did.

You see, many who travel to these conferences are not coming to just have a "touch to be touched", but these meetings are places where people

come who are dry. They thirst, and out of these meetings many life-changing decisions are made in ministry. Pastors regain their focus, intercessors, their first love. We all needed what was offered. And God gave in abundance.

Says Jerrell: Standing at the front of the church was a man, and Ron DePriest motioned for me to pray for him. I reached out and began to speak over this man, and the message spoken into his heart was that God was going to reveal Himself in his work. Direction was given to this man under a sovereign Spirit, and it didn’t matter that I was the one giving the message because it was what God wanted to accomplish in this man’s life. I looked at him and asked, Are you a pastor? He told me that he had withdrawn himself from ministry because of conflict. He also went on to say that people who he had been in revival with began to address him as pastor. He was just one individual that I prayed over. As I picked up my camera again and moved among the people, I saw the same thing happening to others who were ministering on stage. There were pastors, evangelists and people needing direction from the Lord. His purpose was to be seen among the people on several occasions this night. His Kingdom came.

On Monday night of the conference, many things happened that were directly orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. A spectacular series of events happened as minister after minister came forward. First, Cleddie Keith gave Pastor Keith Reid the microphone. Reid is a pastor in East Calhoun, Georgia who has had revival in his Church of God for several years. Reid lights it up perpetually as well. He is so full of God, and his eyes blaze like the sun. He’s one of those people you’re glad you’re for and not against. Reid mentioned to Cleddie that he had a vision of praying the healing power of Jesus over Pastor Bowman from Hardeeville, South Carolina. Charles Bowman was on his way to Indianapolis and happened to stop by the conference that night, so we know that God was at work. Cleddie showed Reid where Bowman was sitting, and the power of God fell. From that time on, the River came into the meeting as minister after minister brought forth word after word.

Says Kathryn: Listen, if you weren’t there, maybe you don’t understand what it is to be hungry for the Father’s Kingdom and the Father’s righteousness. I remember fasting for ten days several years ago to flush my system out. All I consumed during this time was a mixture of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. And, needless to say, at the end of my ten days I hungered. They told me to go slow after the fast… to maybe eat broth the first day, and then maybe a couple of slices of an orange the second. However, the day after my fast was church. And, that Sunday I went to a conference that ended with a scrumptious buffet. Exorbitantly, I hit the line several times. Yes, I ended up on my belly at home, barely having the strength to call one of my friends to rescue me. Thank God the phone was within reach. But, as Honeytree would say, Ain’t it grand to be a Christian, ain’t it grand?

You see, in the Spirit we can go whole hog… we can be filled to overflowing. We need not think of the severe repercussions that only come when one splurges in the flesh. God completes us. He doesn’t take away. In the Spirit, we can truly taste and see that the Lord is good, and then turn around and have another drink. It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, and it is our right to experience all God has to offer. Concurrently, it is our responsibility to believe that He is God, and a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him. And so, whenever you hear of an opportunity to be filled, BE YE FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT.

I am so impressed with the blend of ministers Cleddie presented at this Hungry Preacher’s Conference. Speaking of food, partaking of their ministry as a whole kind of reminded me of eating the blend of something desirable, something only an accomplished chef could offer. I feasted, absorbed, and captured something new in the Spirit… something relating to a knowledge of my destiny and what it means to come back to my first love.

Don Milam ministered, Pastor Cleddie, Keith Reed… all generals of the faith with spectacular messages and demonstrations of the Spirit in power.

Ivan Tate was also there, and it is his message I’d like to elaborate on in this story. Due to its length, I’ll make it a series. Cleddie Keith told us up front that this would be one of the most unforgettable nights of our lives, and he was right. Read on, and be a part of what God is doing today.

Ivan preached on how the Lord showed him to find his destiny. "Everyone of us that are here," he said, "have a destiny. God placed on your life something special and unique and powerful. Only one out of one thousand people ever reach their destiny or ever actually walk in their destiny. So, you and I don’t want to be in that group. We want to be that one person that stands before God and doesn’t have to have any excuses. We’re just able to say, Lord, I have no excuses. I poured myself totally out. I did what I was born to do. I fulfilled your call for my life and I finished this race with the best that I could have. I mean, I used all my potential. I used every talent you gave me. I used all my energy. I did everything that I know how to do. And so, I’m standing here and I did not hide behind anything. I did not make any excuses. I did with my life what You wanted me to do. How many of you want that to be your testimony?"

He said that one of the great things about life is that when you want an answer, God will give it to you. And, when he got saved at seventeen, he asked the Lord what he was supposed to do with his life. And God said, Well, I’m going to make you a preacher. Ivan responded, "Well, I think You picked the wrong person for that. You know, I’ve got a lot of mental problems, emotional problems, psychological problems… I’ve got stomach disorders, I’ve got all kinds of problems with getting in front of people, You know, it’s really a bad deal there…"

During their discussion, God began to show him something. He shared it with us. "A lot of us come to church over and over again, three times a week, and basically our life adds up to eating, sleeping, watching t.v., and going to work. And, unless you find your destiny, you’re always going to have problems emotionally with depression, marital problems, joy problems, peace problems, love problems, habit problems, morality problems… You’re going to live one life in front of church and just become a real good actor, and be able to just act like a Holy Ghost man, and act like a Holy Ghost woman, and then have a whole other life in secret when nobody else is watching, and you don’t want that to be your testimony either. You want to be able to be full of the Holy Ghost. Amen? Praise God."

Ivan asks us: how many of you would go buy a house for just one of the rooms? How many of you would go and say, You know, I don’t want to look at the whole house, I just need to look at the kitchen because that’s where I’m going to spend my whole time. So, I just want to see the kitchen. If it’s got a good kitchen, that’s all I care about. When buying a house, you also wouldn’t say, let me see just the bedroom. I want a giant bedroom with a king-sized bed. I want to be able to run around in there and chase my wife around… I want to have a lot of fun in there. You wouldn’t say, just let me see the bathroom, because I’m going to build a big Jacuzzi. I want the water to hit me. I want my muscles to be hit. I want to feel everything in there. Instead, you’d check out the whole house before you bought the house.

He told us that Christians are the only people that have God give them this incredible house full of all these rooms for them to discover, and they get in the first room and stay there forever. Says Ivan, "Just you coming to church isn’t going to make you fulfill your destiny. You’re going to have to go through the tour of the whole house that God has. Christianity is not cheap."

And, in the tour, the first door leads to the Salvation Room, John 3:16.

"You open the door, you walk in, and written all over the walls are all these scriptures and words that edify you and comfort you and make you feel good like, ‘You are not going to hell, Harry. Glory to God. You will not burn in the fires of hell. All your sins are forgiven. All your burdens are gone. All your troubles are over. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Everything is going to be alright. You are a new creature. Old things are passed away. Everything is brand new.’ And, you’re so happy that you’re saved. And you’re going, I’m saved!! Oh, my God!!! I’m saved!! And you’re telling everybody, I’m saved!! I love everything! I love my grandmother! I love my sister! I love my mother-in-law! And, everywhere you go, you’re happy. You’re just going around, I’m saved, saved, saved. You’re just freaked out. You’ve got joy."

"Three or four months pass," he says. "You wake up one day, and you realize all of a sudden: you know, I hate everybody. I hate everybody’s guts. I hate the preacher. I hate everybody in church. I hate my wife. I hate my mother-in-law. I mostly hate myself. I hate this whole thing. I am more miserable now than I’ve ever been in my life. And, that is because you’ve been in the room too long." Ivan says that you’ve gotta take the whole tour. Some Christians get in that salvation room and that’s it. He goes on, "Thirty years in that one room. Same sermons over and over with different titles. They have to become professional actors then. Because, they’re taught how to behave. And so they conform to the behavior outwardly. But, inwardly, they’re full of the devil. And so, you wake up one day and you hate everybody, and you realize, hey, I’m in worse shape now than I was when I was lost… and I’m saved. Don’t have any joy, peace, love… don’t got nothing. You look at your husband, and you say, well, I don’t want to go to church. He asks, why? Cause we already know what’s going to happen. How long it’s going to last… who’s going to sing the special… who’s going to take the offering… how much the offering’s going to be… when the service is going to end… so why go? Let’s just stay in bed."

He tells us that we have millions of Christians dying in Room 1... never fulfilling their destiny, and never becoming who they’re supposed to be. "And," Ivan remarks, "it’ll be the same with you, unless you take the whole tour."

Going on, he tells us, "So, you wake up hating everybody, wanting to kill your dog and cat, and you cry out to God, Is this all there is to Christianity? And you hear the little jangling of the keys in your pocket. And you realize you have another key. Maybe it goes to something. And it says key #2 and you walk over there to door #2 and it says ‘The Baptism in the Holy Ghost Room.’ You said, ‘I never heard of this room. What do you mean the baptism in the Holy Ghost room? What could be in there?’"

He tells us that in there is Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 19:1-3 and Mtt.3:11. You unlock the door and there’s fire shooting out of the walls and everything in that room is written in tongues. You walk in there and you can’t speak English anymore. The fire gets inside you. You have fire all over you. And something starts happening… and you start catching on fire. All that meanness starts leaving. All that ugliness starts leaving. All that depression starts leaving. Every time you start speaking in tongues, the fire comes. Your eyes are on fire. Your tongue is on fire. Fire is everywhere. The big black wall over there is all in music tongues. "So," he declares, "you’re like, something’s happening to me… I feel joy again, I feel peace again, and I feel happiness again. This is it!! This is what I’ve been looking for!! And, you’re just going around (he speaks in tongues). Everywhere, tongues. Big Mac, tongues. Wife, tongues. She’s running for her life… a strange man speaking another language is coming after her. You go to bed speaking in tongues, fire everywhere… you don’t look at people normally."

He tells us, sadly, that a few months go by and the tongues dry up. "You’re falling asleep now when you pray in tongues. You’re locked into two syllables. You had a river, but now you just got ne ne, ne ne, weenie, weenie, me me me me. Can’t pray an hour anymore. Can’t pray two hours. You fall asleep. It’s all boring. You’ve been in the room too long. You wanna find your destiny… you’ve gotta take the whole tour."

There’s more to come. Look for the completion of this message in an upcoming issue. Get out of your complacency, shake off the grave clothes, pursue