SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND -- It’s a place where German bombs hammered the steel industry and burned large buildings to the ground. That was a long time ago and while many of the buildings are still in ruins from those raids, the soul of Sheffield is in the same condition. Paul Mercy’s father pastored the great Cross Keys Church in Wales at the turn of the century. It was there that God dropped an abundance of His grace during a time of great renewal. Mercy’s Welsh blood still runs through his veins and his knowledge of revival is something few people have. Mercy has seen the miraculous. He was looking for a church one day in Sheffield and as he went to a place to buy a simple bolt for something that had broken, he uncovered a grand old lady on Ebenezer Street. It was an old Methodist Church that was built in 1820. In its great day more than 3,000 could be placed in the old building. It was a warehouse for the nuts and bolts and screws. Mercy like Eziekiel asked the question, "Can these old bones live? The answer came back with a resounding yes. Mercy’s friend, Cleddie Keith, had a dream about the old church. He saw it before it became a reality. "I saw store front windows, large store front windows. Is that what it looks like, Paul?" Sure enough a prophetic vision of the old Methodist Chapel was given to Cleddie Keith.

CAN THESE BONES LIVE ?

"My son-in-law, Peter, and I had looked all over Sheffield for a larger building. You could see this building from my office window, but we had no idea it was an abandon church. I don’t know how we missed it -- but there it was, ripe for the picking. As we walked in the door the old lady was in distress. You could smell the musty smell of metal as it was full of old screws and bolts." Mercy purchased the church and the project to reclaim its former glory began. Fresh green paint could be seen on the front door. Deep dark green carpet filled the floors and the old musty smell of metal had gone. It was a building ready for an outpouring and the witness of that Spirit would manifest itself on Sunday morning.

The America team led by Pastor Cleddie Keith came to the old building on Friday, October 25, for a series of three day meetings. As the group came early Friday morning to enter the building the expectant Spirit of the Holy Ghost could be felt as Dan McCollam led the assembled worship team from America. It was a place to which they invited the Holy Spirit, "Come, Let Us Worship Him, Come just as you are, Come and Praise His name." The grand old lady began to shine as hands reached up to embrace the Spirit that had flooded the old building. In the two trips I had made this year to this country, in September and October, I found out one thing, you just can’t get away from John Wesley’s foot steps. He had been everywhere in England during the 18th Century. You could sense and feel his presence in Old Ebenezer Methodist Church. The power of God was being restored and we would see His face before the three days of meetings were over. When you come to a place like England you know something will happen. In the last three trips to this area we have felt the change in attitude. The greatest change is the expectation that is in the people. Peter Wreford, Editor of Joy Magazine, and I were talking about the birth of revival. As Peter held his new born baby in his hands I looked at him and said, "You know Peter, editors who write about revival are prophetic. I can remember when my Nathan was born, he was born just before Pensacola exploded, and there you are with a baby." A man from Zaire, Africa, had been asked to speak by Cleddie Keith. In his broken English he said, "England is pregnant with revival and when it happens, its going to be a big, big baby -- so you must push." While people were laughing out loud I thought to myself, you just don’t know how close you are to the truth.

"The man who has had an experience is not at the mercy of a man with a doctrine."

Cleddie spoke on the first night at Ebenezer and one thing he said stood out, "The man who has had an experience is not at the mercy of a man with a doctrine." He was so true when he made that statement. He spoke about the church that has long term goals, and then he warned the church about being weary in well doing. He said it was the main killer of freshness. You can be working very hard towards a goal while your relationship with God dies a little each day. Intimacy with God is one of the most important ingredients of revival. God is teaching that to His people today and this is causing the church to move from impotency to fertility. It’s not a question about how many are being saved in the church, it’s a case of God moving back into His church to capture the believer’s heart and draw him closer. The by-product of this is new life. God wants to bring life to the church and new life will never come without an intimate walk with Jesus. Your not going to produce sons and daughters without intimacy. You will never produce life without nakedness; you must be stripped before God to bring an intimacy with God that brings new life. Naman was told that he could be made whole if he went to see the prophet in Israel, but Naman was offended when he went to see the prophet. He was offended even after the prophet told him to dip seven times in the Jordan. Naman thought the river back home would be better and then he was bothered by the fact that the prophet never came out to see him. Offense almost cost Naman his healing. God wants you to wait on Him and He wants you to be obedient so He can move in your life. Offense is the greatest killer of revival, if you can be offended then God will never trust you with all that He has for you. The way you perceive things is the way you will receive things. Some of us will never receive a thing because we have a skeptical look at other people, but even in God’s mercy He blesses these types of people. Isaiah was a man undone when he saw the Lord. He said, Woe is me, I am undone. This is the place to where we must come in the church. It is called repentance and it was no different during the time of the Lord than it is today. John the Baptist said, "Prepare to meet the Lord, repent." Repentance is the message of revival today. Jesus is coming and the message to the church is prepare to meet Him by casting your sins aside. The gospel is indifferent to name and to fame. The question most people should ask about their lives is, into what box has religion put you, and what will you do to find Jesus? You should be living in the vision God has given you, not listening to the lies of religion and the people who have no vision at all.

This was just the first night of revival and the power of God was flowing in Sheffield, England. A deep move of God happened during the altar service as the American team prayed and released the anointing along the altar rail. God was in the house and this was just the first day, this night.

During the day time services the next day God flowed through testimony and preaching but Saturday night Lazlo Bozoki, Hungary’s leading evangelist, spoke to the assembly in the old Ebenezer Church.

We had really been sensing and feeling God’s hand the last two days but on Sunday morning we would sense and feel His presence in a great way. Cleddie Keith once again preached on First Love. His message was about his wife, Gay Nell , and how they first met in Texas. God was in this sermon. Just before Cleddie Keith had come to England, Gay Nell ’s mother had died. The message was a parallel to the believer and how he feels and thinks about God. Cleddie, with a grin on his face, spoke about the chase -- how Gay Nell and he couldn’t stand to be away from each other. In many ways that is the way it is with a new Christian. At first God has blessed so much and the relationship is being established, but the serious part of Christianity begins to deal with not just relationship with God but also commitment to God.

Keith mentioned at the time he courted Gay Nell that he had a new 1967 Ford Mustang. It was his prized possession. "One day I looked at her sitting in the car, and I said, Oh, girl you’re beginning to look like you belong in that car." That’s when Cleddie put the brakes on the relationship, saying they had been going too fast and had better slow down. Keith even mentioned the fact that maybe it would be good if we saw other people and just be friends for the moment. The parallel to the Christian life is when God begins to get intimate with you and call for more of a commitment, that’s the time we begin to go away from Him. We need to make a firm commitment . Keith said as he drove away that day he began to think and then the next day he tried to call her. For the next few days she would not answer the phone. Cleddie really began to be miserable without the company of Gay Nell . Finally, unable to find her he began to look for her in earnest and when he finds her, he finds her crying. Cleddie then begins to tell her how much he really does love her. She replies, "I thought you wanted to see other people." Then Cleddie says, "I want to marry you." Gay Nell says back, "Give me a time and a date!" They were married soon after that but the illustration served a good purpose. God is a jealous God, He wants your time and He will not have anyone or anything stand in front of you. We must be intimate with God for He is the only one that counts.

A MOMENT WHEN GOD ENTERED THE CHURCH

As Cleddie was preaching and I was sitting on the front row of the church, a strange occurrence began to happen. At the time he was talking about his relationship with Gay Nell , the presence of God came down in the church and you could actually feel the divine love that surrounded Cleddie in the pulpit. It was a God moment and it was big. I felt as if we were on the edge of a complete explosion in the old building. If someone had made a move toward the altar at that time, we wouldn’t have been able to hold God back from the people. I have been in a lot of meetings but none like this one. All of a sudden as quickly as God had come into the church, He soon left. I began to ask the question? What was that all about? There was an altar service at the end but nothing like what we had experienced when Cleddie was in the pulpit. God came down in the service as if He were kissing His bride. I know God was pleased for what had gone on in the church for the last three days. England is on the edge of a tremendous revival. We could sense it and feel it this day in the church. I could sense and feel the same thing when I ministered to Elim ministers last month.