The Word of the
Lord came.
On
19 December 1996 I went down on my knees in prayer and immediately I was in the
spirit. I know this realm because I have entered it often, in prayer, or in
worship, or in study and meditation, or walking down paths or malls with my
Lord.
Immediately
the voice of My Lord said,
“The Lord will sovereignly move to make His
people know His majesty and his holiness. There will be a sign in the heavens,
by unseasonable weather and by a bright light in the dark sky, a sign that God
has chosen to do a great work in this place.
“When you see these things, it
will cause you to bow down and surrender to the sovereign acts of the Lord.”
The
very next day the Cape Times Newspaper had a photograph of lightning striking
the control tower at the Cape Town International airport, and the caption read,
“Unseasonable thunder storm puts airport out of commission for two hours.”
That
got my attention. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather.
I
wrote this down and gave it to the pastor of the church we were part of, and we
waited to see the move. Yes, there was a small move of God in the church, but
not what I expected from the prophetic word. I started praying into it.
A
few weeks later there were runaway forest fires in the Helderberg valley behind
Somerset West, the town where we were living. The smoke was so thick in the
town that you could smell it in everything. One of those days the Cape Times
had a front page colour photo of the sun trying to shine like an orange orb through
the brown smoke which darkened the whole sky.
That
day the caption said, “2000 firemen fail to control fires due to unseasonable
winds.” A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather
I
took that as encouragement to continue praying.
Our move to the
Cape for Revival
It
was the beginning of our second year in Cape Town. We had arrived in January
’96. Obedient to the word of Our Lord, I had handed over my leadership of the
Zoé Christian Fellowship church in Florida, near Johannesburg, in November
1995. I had founded and pastored that prophetic church for thirteen years. I
appointed two of my young friends, Andrew as pastor, and Nick as assistant
pastor. They had walked with me for nearly seven years from their early youth
and had grown from youth leadership to eldership within our more senior elders’
team, and then into five-fold ministry.
For
three years Our Lord had been speaking to me about a transition for revival. I
knew we would be moving on from Zoé but, being cautious to test these things, I
left it “on the shelf” for the Lord to guide our steps. On our return from our
holiday in the South Cape in January 1995, we drove from Plettenburg Bay over
the hills through the Tsitsikama forest and saw the sunrise over the eastern
horizon; then I heard the Lord say, “You will not return this way again.” And I
knew that ’95 would be different.
It
was during middle of that year that I received the clear impression that we
should move to Cape Town to be part of the coming revival prophesied to start
there. Many visions and prophecies have foretold that the fires of revival
would start in the Cape and spread through the country. It was time to give up
the leadership of the church and we moved to the Cape to be part of the coming
revival.
A move to be in
His will
And
so, after a year in Somerset West we moved across to Fish Hoek to be nearer the
church we attended. With these signs in the heavens I was encouraged to believe
the Word of the Lord, and living on the west mountainside in the Fish Hoek
valley became a haven for us in the difficult transition we would go through.
In moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town we had paid a price of losing our home
and financial resources. In March 1998 I would lose the job that I had taken to
support us, and be thrust back into starting a business from scratch. And,
eventually, in a few years, I would leave the international ministry team and
network of churches that I had walked with for ten years.
In
the Fish Hoek valley I began to see a phenomenon in the sky that I had not seen
before. Every evening I would walk my dog before going to bed. One night in the
sky I saw a halo around the moon. Somehow, there was a phenomenon in the air
over the valley and the light was caught on the moisture in the air. The halo
touched the mountains over Clovelly on the one side of the valley, and on the
other side it touched Elsie’s Peak Mountain. I asked people if they had seen
this before, and no-one had seen such a thing. This was the first of many times
that I saw this phenomenon – a halo around the moon that seemed to nearly touch
the earth. Even after we moved to Capri, to the north-west, overlooking the
Noordhoek valley, I was encouraged several times by that sign in the sky, of a
halo around the moon. I had come to see that this was a frequent encouragement
as I finished my day with a prayer walk in the night, and many times saw this bright
light in a dark sky.
Just living for
Jesus makes war on the enemy
By
now I realized that I was in a position of warfare by prayer and, with the
lessons I had learned, I focused my prayer on the sixteen towns around the deep
South Peninsula of Cape Town, asking for Our Lord to raise up houses of His
presence in each town- where He would manifest His presence – in our homes and
in His churches. I was impressed by Isaiah 4 v 5, that the Lord wants to cover
our homes and our gatherings with His glory. He wanted no other covering on His
people. I realized that just being in Fish Hoek, just by living here, I was an
offence to Satan’s kingdom, and I prayed for His covering to manifest upon His
people, to make their homes to be houses of His presence. All I had to do was
to live here, pray for revival and serve God’s purposes in the things He gave
me to do.
By
2000 I had withdrawn from the international ministry team and my involvement in
the churches in that network. I felt that the Lord restrained me not to start a
church publically so that I could avoid causing any strife or competition with
my old friends in the ministry. Nevertheless we found that the Lord gave us a
new group of friends that met together in a covenant hearted community that
went on for about nine years.
Over
the years I kept praying that Our Lord would raise up houses of His presence in
the 16 towns from Muizenberg to Fish Hoek, to Simons Town, around to
Scarborough, and to Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Hout Bay. And from year to year, I
kept seeing the signs in the heavens which encouraged me to believe for revival
in the deep South Cape Peninsula.
Angelic warfare
Early
in 2008 our friend Jeremy had a vision of rain falling throughout the Fish Hoek
and Noordhoek Valley into the hearts of the saints, followed by a vision of
fire falling to stir up the saints & to spread like wildfire. We agreed to
lay our hearts on the altar.
As
a group we became concerned about the lack of victory as we began to intercede
for a friend who was facing death due to a threatening pregnancy condition. Several
of us went into travailing intercession – with groanings and praying in the
spirit, as Holy Spirit helped us in praying through until we had a release of
peace in our hearts.
The
next morning there was a thunder storm around the Fish Hoek and Noordhoek area
with lightning striking the sea on the Atlantic side and on the False Bay
side, but there was no rain. This storm started at about 3 a.m. and our friend
Joni was woken up by it, saw that there was no rain and she sms’d me, “What
does it mean?” It was not the time for storms or rain –it was unseasonable.
The
lightning carried on until after lunch that day, over the sea on both side of
the peninsula, without rain in Fish Hoek, but I saw that there was rain over
the Tygerberg Mountains. And there I saw that a fire had started on the
Tygerberg mountain – probably lit by the lightning. A bright light in a dark sky,
with unseasonable weather.
I
asked the Lord about it and He showed me Psalm 18 where I understood He had
released angelic warfare in response to prayer:
Ps 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my
voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the
foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and
devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down with
darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He
flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place; His
canopy around Him was dark waters and thick
clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him, His thick
clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the
foe, lightnings in abundance, and He
vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the
foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of
the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me
out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from
those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
I
believe that the Lord had dispatched angels to war on our behalf and we would
see the results later. That day the Lord showed Vaughan that there were two
spirits of death attacking our friend, and her husband had only to rebuke them
in Jesus Name and they would leave. When he followed this advice she recovered
dramatically and soon came home!
And,
once again, the fire on the Tygerberg Mountain, was a “Bright light, in a dark sky,
with unseasonable weather!” And I continued to pray for revival in the
South Peninsula.
Houses of His
presence
During
this time we began to have manifestation of Our Lord’s presence in several of
our homes. Nicole was put down on the floor by Holy Spirit’s power. As she lay
there she felt her limbs being manipulated and she began to be filled with the Spirit’s
presence. At first she felt it was so painful, but she said, “More Lord. More
Lord!” as she yielded to whatever He may want.
Then
she had a vision of Our Lord Jesus standing over her, and He reached down and
started to feed her, putting living bread into her mouth, she felt strengthened
and after a long time under His ministry to her, she was a changed woman. I can
honestly say that she came to our group the next weekend and shared from the
truth that we are sons of God by faith with clear revelation that matched any
apostolic ministry that I have heard on the subject.
On
another occasion Marian was overcome by Holy Spirit’s presence and she was put
down on the floor in her kitchen while baking. Her new baby was a few months
old while she was on the floor for over half an hour. In that experience her
spiritual sensitivity was so refreshed that she received visions that came to
pass within days.
But
the most remarkable was what happened at Brent & Joni’s house. That was the
home our house church was meeting in on Sundays. One day Dawn was in the bank
queue when Joni phoned her and said,
“The
glory of the Lord is in in my kitchen like a mist!”
Dawn
said, “I’m coming to see!”
On
the way she phoned Shirley and told her about it. Shirley said she was coming
too!
When
they got there, they came into the room and felt the powerful presence and
peace of the Lord immediately and basked in His glory! The Lord had shown that
he wants to manifest in our homes and make them houses of His presence!
My baptism of
fire.
In
2009 my wife Dawn was invited by her friend Christa from Johannesburg to go to
a healing conference in Durban. It was for three days and I knew little about
it, but I decided to take leave and go along to enjoy some fellowship there.
What
a wonderful surprise it was. Randy Clark and the Global Awakening team were
there, with Surprise Sithole from the Iris Ministry team, which is led by Heidi
and Rolland Baker. From the very beginning I felt the presence of the Lord, and
at the end of the first day I went forward for prayer and, without anyone
touching me, I fell down under Holy Spirit’s power and shook for over 45
minutes.
I
have experienced anointings of power before, and I have rarely fallen under the
power of God, because I have learned to yield my spirit to be strengthened as
well as to be obedient to Holy Spirit’s anointing and flow with His leading for
healing. The Lord has done mighty miracles through me over the years, including
raising two paralyzed people, healing near-blind eyes, cancer, back and limb
joint problems, asthma and respiratory problems, miscarriages, barrenness,
deafness, heart problems, doing many demonic deliverances and raising a child
from death.
So
I was familiar with Holy Spirit’s anointing of power for healing and miracles.
But this was different.
It
felt like an angel had taken hold of my right bicep and was squeezing it so
that my arm, which was half under my head, was shaking my whole body. I
couldn’t get up but I was wholly conscious and saying “Yes Lord,” over and
over.
Without
going into all of the detail of that experience and what I heard from My Lord,
that experience was the beginning of revival for me. From that day, I
experience the tongues of fire on the crown of my head every time I think or
talk about the Lord, or about His Word, or what He is doing. That anointing
grew on my head when I meditated in the morning, or when I worshipped alone or
in the corporate gatherings and the anointing of fire came with an overflow
that affected many people. It feels like a little gas fire, which bubbles and
tickles my scalp! I went to the hairdresser and asked her to check if there was
anything wrong with my scalp and she said there was nothing.
Torch bearers to
light the fires
We
started another meeting at our own home on Sunday evenings and people came from
around the district to receive that anointing of fire. That idea began when Jacques
and Karin came to visit. As we talked about my baptism of fire, Jacques said
that he felt like a hot towel had been put across his shoulders. He felt it was
a new mantle for anointing for service. As he said that Karin felt the fire on
her and her spirit went into intercession as she was overcome by the Lord’s
presence. We met with some friends the following weekend and that began a
season of experiences in the new anointing. People came and received the fire
and it changed their work places, they impacted the people that they met, and
each week the testimonies were amazing!
One
thing that happened to me was that I began to feel angels with me, sitting on
my right and my left. When I was having my time of fellowship with the Lord
early in the morning they were there. When I was driving to work and
worshipping with the music in the car they were there. When I walked up Saint Georges
Mall for my prayer walks at lunch time, they were there.
On
one occasion the angel on my left took my hand to lead me around the corner
where I hadn’t planned to go. So I went with it. I said, “Holy Spirit, this is
weird! Please teach me how to do this.” And since then I have been learning new
things in this new release in the spirit.
Wherever
we went, this manifestation of fire would come, when we prayed for people for
healing or just for blessing, the fire would come on them. Some amazing miracles
happened at that time:
·
A
lady with a degenerative spine was healed – after
the x-rays showed that two vertebrae had degenerated.
·
A
champion sky diver had twelve vertebrae injured when he collided with the
tail-plane of the aircraft as his emergency parachute opened on exit. His sternum
was broken and his kidneys collapsed. After prayer that there would be no
paralysis, no complications and no after effects, he was sent home without an
operation after only 5 days on pain killing medication which he came off after
one week!
·
A
farmer’s tomato crop was severely affected by cold weather in January. The
tomato vines were full of fruit but it was not ripening for harvest. We went to
walk through the tunnels to pray and then went to have coffee. After coffee we
walked through the tunnels to see the tomatoes changing colour and in on hour
we helped reap over 100 kg of tomatoes!
Extending the
territory
And
then in January 2010 we had another sign in the heavens. My friend Mark had had
a vision in November 2009, of a tsunami wave coming around Cape Point into
False Bay that was sweeping across Mitchells Plain until it brings revival in
Cape Town. We prayed into this and the Lord gave me that scripture in Zech
9:10, “and His dominion shall be from
coast to coast, And from the river to the ends of the earth.” In January
there was a heavy cloud covering the whole Table Mountain range from Signal
Hill to Muizenberg. It was very unusual for that time of the year.
When
Mark saw it he was in Rondebosch and was fascinated by the cloud because it
came across the whole view of the mountain from North to South, and there were
two levels of cloud. He felt compelled to take photographs from north to south
and as he did, he saw that there was a purple trumpet pointing down from the
higher cloud down to the earth, and in the photographs it was in the same
physical place as he moved the camera from right to left. A bright light in a dark sky,
with unseasonable weather.
When
he sent the photograph to me I received another photo which was published, I
believe, in the local newspaper in Mossel Bay. Someone had captured a similar
happening over the Mossel Bay area and that photo is attached below. In the
mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established…. a scriptural
principle of prophetic confirmation.
And
so I started to pray for Cape Town, from the False Bay Coast to the Atlantic
coast and from the Salt River to Cape Point. The territory He put on my heart
was for more than just the deep South Peninsula! But then the Lord had
something totally new for us to experience.
The Angelic
hosts of the Lord
Jacques
and Karin asked us to come to their house to pray for an “open heaven” so that
they could have their visitors experience the power of the Spirit. Whatever we
think about this concept of an open heaven, this was our experience:
We
went with Brent and Joni to Jacques and Karin’s house to pray. We started with
some worship and we went into the presence of the Lord quite quickly. After a
time of high worship, Holy Spirit led us to be quiet, and Jacques was on his
face on the floor. When we were quiet, he looked up and said,
“I
have just seen a vision. I saw a ladder like Jacob’s ladder coming into this room
out of heaven, and angels were coming down, hundreds and hundreds of angels.
But they were not going back up.”
I
said, “The angels come down when the Lord sends them with an assignment. They
only return when they have completed their assignment.”
“Jacques,
the Lord has given your request even before we prayed for it. He has given you
an open heaven.”
Then
I began to play on the guitar with a military rhythm, and I got a spirit song
which was about the Lord commissioning His angels and deploying them to different
locations, duties and tasks. We carried on in worship for a short time until
our hearts were released and we were sure that the Lord had said all that He
wanted to tell us. Then we went home.
The
next morning, (Saturday), I switched on my mobile phone at about 8:30 and saw
that I had an early text message from Jacques – he said he’d seen hundreds of angels on
the mountain tops around the Fish Hoek Valley.
They
were lining the mountains from Chapman’s Peak to Clovelly, and from Fish Hoek
to Ocean View and to Kommetjie. We didn’t understand what they had come for, but
we know that they came to enforce the Word of the Lord on behalf of his people
who are praying for His Kingdom to come. Since then I have had more angelic
encounters in these last four years than in thirty years of ministry!
A Word of
direction from the Lord
The
following week I went to meet Jeff Kidwell, the Pastor of the Bay Community
Church in Muizenberg. I told him the report about the angels of the Lord, and
he said that two intercessors had told him that they had seen angels on
Muizenberg Mountain that week! He also told me that on old friend, Janet Bran,
would be ministering at the Bay the following Sunday. We decided to go to the
meeting.
When
I got there we kept seats for Jacques and Karin. When they arrived, Jacques
told me that he had seen about twenty angels on the roof of the building as he
came in. That night the worship was amazing. It was our first time at the Bay,
and it was great to experience such high worship. In the middle of it, I heard
a musical sound which didn't come from the band. (Dawn and I have been musicians
since our teens and have played in many worship and gospel bands.} I opened my
eyes to see where the sound was coming from, and it was a sound that came from
heaven. Someone had a vision of two angels going around the room pouring oil
out down the walls of the room. There was a release of prophetic words in the
worship and it was so uplifting to be in a place where the move of the Holy
Spirit was so welcome.
That
night Janet didn't recognize Dawn and me, because we hadn't seen her for twenty
years, but we had often had her come to Zoe Christian Fellowship to minister.
Nevertheless, she gave us a prophetic word that
encouraged us and confirmed what Our Lord was about to do in our lives.
The gist of it was that the Lord would bring us into new alliances and release; new recognition and connections. There would be lots of flying from place to place and the Lord would give me a new authority. The way that this word has unfolded in our lives is the story for another article, but how amazing it is to be walking in the favour of the Lord who has begun to restore all things that were lost!
The gist of it was that the Lord would bring us into new alliances and release; new recognition and connections. There would be lots of flying from place to place and the Lord would give me a new authority. The way that this word has unfolded in our lives is the story for another article, but how amazing it is to be walking in the favour of the Lord who has begun to restore all things that were lost!
The
next step was that within a few months we joined the Bay Community Church and
have served there for several years now. And we continue to pray for revival in
Cape Town.
Preparing for
Revival
The
last two great signs in the heavens were quite a new thing.
On
14 December 2011, I was driving over the Constantiaberg Mountain pass called Ou
Kaapse Weg, on my way to work. I usually travel around Chapman’s Peak to work, (the route of the Argus Cycle Tour), but somehow by mistake took the wrong road, and when I was turning onto the top
of the pass I was caught in a rain storm. Then I saw it, the widest rainbow I
have seen, reaching from the telecoms mast on Constantiaberg, and reaching
over into the Valley over Muizenberg. As I came over the top the hard rain
passed behind me, and as I looked in the mirror I saw two rainbows behind me
and there was one in front of me! The Cape area is supposed to be a winter
rainfall zone. Rain like this shouldn’t come in summer. But there I was,
looking at three rainbows in a cloudy sky. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable
weather.
And
since we have moved into fellowship at the Bay we can see signs of revival fire
have started with exciting prospects of a wave of revival about to break out in
many ways!
Our
Lord has convinced me that the revival will come on two levels:
- · The revival of the saints at grass roots level will bring a new baptism of the fire of His Love. This is what I experienced in Durban, a new love for My Lord, and a love for His people and for the lost, and the ongoing anointing of fire for service.
- · The revival of the five-fold ministry who will be anointed with the Love of Our Father to bring His Word so that people will say – “This is the Father speaking!” And they will bear the authority of His Love.
There
is evidence over these four years that more and more Christians in Cape Town
are hungry for more of Jesus! The worship is reaching greater heights of
intimacy and there is revelation of Jesus and the Father’s love being given to
the psalmists and the ministers. Our Lord is preparing His people with
sensitivity to the Spirit. The spiritual senses of God’s people are being
activated and their hearts are developing a hunger for the revealed mysteries
of the Word of the Lord.
This
is like a bubble that is reaching its maximum size before it bursts to release the
spray of new anointing over many people. It is like a tsunami wave that is
being released and is on its way to cover the area. It is like a fire that will
start as Holy Spirit breathes life into every hungry soul and they catch the
fire of God’s love and power for this move of the Lord.
The most recent
sign in the heavens
Over
the last few years, My Lord has been prompting me not only to ask for the City
of Cape Town to have revival, but to ask for the Nation of South Africa. It started
when he said,
“Why limit this to the Cape? Pray for His dominion to be from the Indian
Ocean coast to the Atlantic Ocean Cost and from the Limpopo to the ends of the continent!”
As
I began to ask this I waited for Him to confirm some of these things.
I
had been praying for the vision of God’s heart which Habakkuk 2:14 shows us: “For the
earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters
cover the sea.”
Then
I felt led to pray from Colossians 4: 3, 4 “that
God would open to us a door for the
word, to speak the mystery of Christ….. and make HIM manifest, as I ought.”
Already
that has started to come to pass.
But
then I was led to add this prayer for the saints to my requests, from 2 Thess
1:11, 12 “we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of
this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of
faith with power,
that the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you (might
be glorified*) in Him, according to the
grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (* my interpretation of it!)
And
I started to pray for the increased territory.
I
now travel on air flights to Port Elizabeth, or Johannesburg, or to the
Northern Cape from Cape Town as much as two or three times a month. This is a
part-fulfillment of the word of the Lord to me through Janet.
On
one of my trips on 7 November 2013, I picked up a copy of the Times Newspaper
in Johannesburg and, on Page 7 I saw a photograph of the sun with a halo around
it. The caption said:
“The
halo around the sun phenomenon is scientifically known as a parhelion, from the
Greek word meaning ‘beside the sun’.”
I
have never seen this phenomenon before. But when I saw this it encouraged me to
believe that the Lord wants me to continue praying for revival to flood not
only the Cape Town area, but the whole of our nation. At that time I began to discover that many new churches are springing up around Johannesburg, and I particularly became aware of those in the West Rand area of Johannesburg - my old home city of Roodepoort. Several of these churches are experiencing exciting experiences of God's power and Holy Spirit's presence working with them. I believe that my prayers were simply synchronising with the prayers of many Christians praying for God to move in that city, and Our Lord is answering the call of our hearts!
This is the time
– The word of the Lord came to me again and He said:
They
will be taught by the Lord to bring victory and honour to people.
They
will lead people from destitution to destiny.
They will raise up mighty men and
women of God.
This
is the time for the generation of David – whose people the Lord has been
seeking for –
Who
will worship him in spirit and in truth,
Whose hearts are
running after their Lord,
Men
and women who have hearts wholly devoted to God,
These shall do all
His will in their generation.
They
shall receive abundant, overflowing grace and they shall show fresh holiness
again.
They
shall reign as kings under the authority of the King of Kings,
With humility, peace, justice and
righteousness, And
obedience to the Most High God.
The
glory of the lord Jesus Christ will be upon them,
And the dominion of
His Kingdom will be made known again.
The
David generation’s worship of the Lord will cause His presence to come upon the
Christians’ houses.
The
people of God will be so alive in their spirits that all restrictions to their
spiritual senses will fade.
The ears and eyes of His people
will be opened
And the mysteries of
the Kingdom will be made clear to them.
The
obedience of the saints will cause Christ’s dominion and power to increase in
their lives.
The mighty acts of the Lord will
become the mighty acts of His people
as they come to know
Him better and learn to know His ways.
The
churches will be the embassies of the Kingdom where the mercy and grace of the
King are present,
Where the mission and ministry of
His people will change the culture around them.
The
Generation of David will have such a lifestyle of worship with all that they
do.
Everything they do
will be an act of worship, doing it as unto the Lord.
They
shall worship the Lord with such devoted obedience.
They will re-establish
the Tabernacle of David.
The
nations will come to worship the Lord.
They will carry the presence of
the King into their towns and cities.
They
will manifest the dominion of the Lord as King in the earth.
They will bring in the
season of peace and divine wisdom for this generation.
And
the unbelievers will see the salvation of Our God and hear the Song of the King
from His people again, wherever they go in the nation.
The Generation of David is
arising now, in these days.
I
am passionate about this because the Church of Jesus Christ is the top item on
God’s agenda in heaven!
I
want to be part of this, don’t you too?
Let’s
join our hearts to keep praying in faith as the tsunami wave grows
and
the fire of His Love flows!
