by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

I’ve been diving into community at Destiny House for over four years now where God sends incredible people into my life for a season but then many return to their home countries after the season is over. At times it’s heartbreaking because I have come to love these with my whole heart and then they leave. I always have a choice. I can fully engage, be all in, enjoy every moment and be fully present during the time we are together. Or, I can live guarded, protected, and pull back because they are going to leave anyway. I can choose to realize that God has intersected our lives for such a time as this and that there are keys of destiny hidden inside of us for each other. Or, I can remain in relationship with them at an arm’s distance so they can’t access my heart and then I won’t have to feel pain when they leave. This would be a very sad story if I chose the latter. The abundant life Jesus died for us to have in John 10:10 is full of joy and sorrow, tears and miracles.

It’s important to be all in and fully engaged with the people God has surrounded us with in each present season. It’s not wise to pull back just before someone moves away because of fear they will be gone forever and the relationship will end. This action will sabotage great treasures that might still need to be discovered in the present with that person.

God has destined us to live and be fully alive in each and every season of life. With all of the incredible people coming and going in our lives, I want to share something that one of my spiritual father’s, Bob Fulton, taught me that will help in this transition. Being the surfer that I am, he explained it to me this way.

Imagine you are sitting at a lifeguard tower and there are people playing in the sand and in the water just in front of your tower. These are the ones God has brought into your life for such a time as this. It is important to be present with these in the moment. Some of these will stay in your life forever and that is a beautiful thing, but some also will be there only for a season and then they will move on. That is also something to celebrate and thank God for the gift of that season of time together.

Looking to the left up the beach, you can see people playing in the water and you can’t wait to do life with them. However, they are not in front of your lifeguard tower and it’s not time to give them your full attention yet. Eventually, the current will bring them to you and then you can dive in together. When they arrive, some of these will stay with you for a season and some for life. It is all worth celebrating.

Then there are those who enjoy the beach in front of your lifeguard tower who go out swimming and the current takes them to the right and further down the beach. They no longer play in front of your lifeguard tower. They have now moved on. As you look down the beach, your heart swells with so many memories. It’s a bittersweet moment but you realize this is their path. You try your best to celebrate the moments and memories you’ve had with them. You do your best to let go and trust them to God because you know if you don’t, you won’t be able to be fully present for the ones God has positioned right in front of you for the this new season.

It’s important to celebrate and thank God for every moment you have with the people you love and also to live open handedly, fully surrendering these gifts to Him. He is their Father and loves them even more than you do. He will provide other spiritual mothers, fathers, and friends, down the beach in front of other lifeguard towers. Some may even come back later on in life and visit you again, recounting memories of old.

Every moment is worth living wholeheartedly. Every season is something to celebrate no matter how short or long it may be. Every relationship is a gift from God.

Celebrate those God has positioned in front of you for such a time as this. You will never have the same dynamics and synergy of people together like what’s in front of you today. Some may transition out of your daily life but as we live wholeheartedly, pieces of our heart will carry on within each other far and wide. May God give you the grace to dive in with those He’s brought to you now. May you have a fresh perspective to celebrate, bless, and live wholeheartedly until the end of each season, thanking God for the gift of life and friendship He has brought into your life today.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. and author of Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution

Can thousands of people gathered together for one purpose shift a generation into the next Great Awakening? What if the date and location of this gathering tapped into one of the deepest wells of revival we’ve experienced over the last century?

On April 9, 2016, which was also the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival, our generation was inaugurated into a new era. Lou Engle and TheCall, in partnership with Bethel Church in Redding, California, hosted over 60,000 people in an event called Azusa Now. People from all around the world gathered together in the rain at the Los Angeles Coliseum to make the name of Jesus famous once again. The day was filled with worship, prayer, healing, miracles, prophetic acts, and signs and wonders. During the week preceding this event, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, Circuit Riders, Youth With A Mission, Iris Global, and many other ministries sent out armies of Jesus lovers to flood L.A. with the love and power of God. Deaf ears were opened, people got up out of wheelchairs, many were welcomed into the family of God, and signs and wonders were released.

Because of the prophetic words and impossibilities connected to the Azusa Now story, it is important to pay attention. This was not just another Christian worship event. Deep wells of the Azusa Street Revival (1906), which birthed over half a billion Christians and has spread to nearly every country in the world over the past century, were accessed on Saturday. At Azusa Now, many different streams of Christianity came together in unity for one purpose. Profound reconciliation occurred. Worship filled the stadium. Ripple effects that will impact the world and eternity will result from what was poured out at Azusa Now.

We Walk by Faith Not Sight

Something powerful and profound happened at Azusa Now whether we see and understand it now or not. Many stepped out in great faith to see God’s kingdom come to this generation. If all of this was done and only one person got saved or healed, it would have been worth it. What if that one person will later become the next D.L. Moody or Billy Graham we may never know. However, we do know that many entered into God’s kingdom and many others were restored, healed, and set free that day. We don’t know how many lives these ones will touch in the future but these will be the inheritance of what was poured out at Azusa Now.

In the evening session at Azusa Now, evangelist Daniel Kolenda shared how God marked him at TheCall D.C. over ten years ago. He was impregnated with a hunger and passion to see souls saved. He’s since brought thousands into the kingdom of God. The impact of what was released when he attended TheCall D.C. might not have become visible the next week or even the next year, but something significant happened that later contributed to the momentum of hundreds of thousands being led to the Lord. Whether we see profound results today or in the next ten years from what happened at Azusa Now, we said yes to what God asked of us. That is something to celebrate. We need to trust Him with the results as we continue to dive even deeper into His presence.

Healing on the Streets

When I was doing my Ph.D. on revival history while living in England, I helped my church set up Healing on the Streets in the city square where many youth gathered. We set up chairs in the middle of the square and put up a flag that said Healing. Anyone walking by who wanted prayer would sit in a chair and we would pray for him or her right out in the open. We did this every month and saw many miracles take place: legs grew, depression lifted, cigarettes disappeared, and people even grew taller. However, there’s one story I want to share that will help demonstrate the unseen impact Azusa Now will have in the future.

One time when we were out on the streets, we met a teenager named Ben. He had been hit by a car and his leg was in a cast. He was a rough looking kid but had allowed us to pray for him. As our team laid hands and prayed for him in the middle of the town square, the presence of God fell on him powerfully. However, when he left, he hobbled away, still on crutches with no visible sign of healing. Did we fail? Did we not have enough faith to bring him into his healing? I think not. I believe that every Holy Spirit-led act of faith is something to celebrate. Our job is to obey God. He is in charge of the results.

The next month we went back to the same spot and saw Ben running out to greet us. He shared how a week after we prayed, he was totally healed and even went out jogging!!! We hadn’t seen the effects in the moment we prayed, but God was working behind the scenes. Furthermore, one year after Ben got healed, we were all drinking coffee in a Starbucks and sharing testimonies after our ministry time on the streets. I noticed the Holy Spirit was doing something in Ben so I asked him what was going on. His grandmother had just passed away and he heard her favorite song come on which made him emotional. We prayed for him right there in the Starbucks and he began to weep. Then he said to me, “Jen, I never told you this before but a year ago when you all prayed for me, I had so much anger and rage inside of me that I was going to beat someone up that day. After you all prayed for me, that anger left and I have never been the same.” We found this out one year later!

We don’t always know or see the results of stepping out in faith, worshipping in unity, or doing prophetic acts led by the Spirit, however, in due time, these will surface. Azusa Now may or may not have been what we all imagined. We may have seen incredible miracles and salvations or we may not have seen what we were hoping for. However, something powerful was released either way that will impact generations. We must be content knowing that heaven is celebrating us each and every time we step out in faith to follow the leading of the Spirit. Yes, many people got saved, healed, and delivered which is incredible. However, Azusa Now was just the beginning of more to come.

The Rudder of Our Ship Has Shifted

The prophetic act of thousands of people worshipping together in one place, in one city, and on the anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival synergized and shifted us into a new era. What we did that day is like shifting the direction of a rudder on a large ship. Our generation may or may not recognize the radical change and the momentum that will carry on for generations from now from what was released at Azusa Now. However, even the slightest of changes on a rudder will re-direct the course of that ship. Over time, that ship will arrive at a completely different destination.

We are now going in a new direction, even if ever so slightly. This change will take us to a greater reality than any could ever have hoped, dreamed, or imagined. The New Jesus Revolution has already begun. Sometimes this happens in the smallest of ways. Never underestimate the power of Jesus working even in one small shift, one great decision made, or one person saved. Remember and record what happened in your life on Saturday April 9, 2016 and celebrate each seed of hope that was released. This is only the beginning. These seeds will one day grow and emerge into giants as they are saturated by more of the Holy Spirit.

I close by quoting a song by Bob Dylan. I encourage you to imagine God singing it over you and our generation:

“The storms are raging on the rolling seas

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

You ain’t seen nothing like Me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn’t do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

To make you feel My love”

God has already gone to the ends of the earth to make you feel His love when He sent His Son Jesus. I pray that in this new era, your eyes are opened more than ever before to see and to receive a fresh revelation of the Father’s great love. I pray that you become a target for His blessing, favor, and presence. May your heart increase in capacity to be able to receive the great love God is pouring out and to overflow it to others. May you be apprehended by God’s extravagant and unceasing love like never before. Hang on tight, we’re in for the wildest ride of our lives! 

*See book Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution by Jennifer A. Miskov with Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson, and Lou Engle to learn more about the Azusa Street Revival and the new move of God in our day.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD and author of Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution with Heidi Baker, Lou Engle, and Bill Johnson

Remember what life is like today because after Saturday, everything changes. At the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival to be held at the Coliseum in Los Angeles April 9, 2016, we take our first steps into a new era. The Call Azusa, where over 100,000 people will gather for one purpose, to worship Jesus and make His name great, will shift us into the next Great Awakening and a New Jesus Revolution. The name of Jesus will be celebrated once again. Being a Christian will be the coolest thing one can do. People will experience and receive Jesus for the gift He truly is without all the excess and baggage people place on Him.

Where two or three are gathered, God hears and acts on their behalf (Matthew 18:19). When the disciples and their friends were gathered together in unity to wait upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit fell mightily (Acts 2). When a handful of passionate saints met in a little home on Bonnie Brae Street April 9, 1906 for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit in their time, God crashed in and birthed a movement that is still having ripple effects to this day, over 100 years later. The flame that was ignited that day has brought more than half a billion people to Jesus and has spread the gospel to nearly every country in the world.

It only takes a few people to start a fire.

So if God poured out His Spirit in a powerful way through His twelve disciples and the others gathered on the day of Pentecost and also through those at Bonnie Brae Street, what might happen when not just a small handful of people gather for one purpose, but 100,000?  The prophetic act alone of worshipping in Spirit and truth with 100,000 other believers is sure to have ripple effects for eternity that will long surpass Saturday. God is awakening this generation once again.

The gathering at the Coliseum this weekend is no small thing. Make no mistake. Azusa Now will be something we will tell our grandkids and great grandkids about years from now. It will mark the beginning of a new era.

Do whatever you have to get there or to watch on live streaming. This is a once in the lifetime opportunity to be a part of something greater than we could ever dream of.

In June 1906, just months after the fire at Azusa Street was ignited, participant Frank Bartleman wrote the following:

Opportunity once passed, is lost forever. There is a time when the tide is sweeping by our door. We may then plunge in and be carried to glorious blessing, success and victory. To stand shivering on the bank, timid, or paralyzed with stupor, at such a time, is to miss all, and most miserably fail, both for time and for eternity. Oh, our responsibility! The mighty tide of God’s grace and favor is even now sweeping by us, in its prayer-directed course…It is time to ‘get together,’ and plunge in, individually and collectively. We are baptized ‘in one Spirit, into one body,’ - I Cor. 12:13. Let us lay aside all carnal contentions and divisions, that separate us from each other and from God. If we are of His body, we are ‘one body.’ The opportunity of a lifetime, of centuries, is at our door, to be eternally gained or lost. There is no time to hesitate. Act quickly, lest another take thy crown. Oh, church of Christ, awake! Be baptized with power. Then fly to rescue others. And to meet your Lord.

May a New Jesus Revolution emerge where the name of Jesus becomes famous once again and where being in love with Him is our one desire.

*Excerpts and inspiration from new book Ignite Azusa available here. See also Heidi Baker, Lou Engle, and Bill Johnson in video clip below where Lou also releases a blessing in the very end over Ignite Azusa.

*The following is an excerpt of Lou Engle from new book Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution by Jennifer A. Miskov also including Heidi Baker and Bill Johnson. This excerpt is followed by a prayer of impartation by Lou over all who read.

A few years back, I visited Carrie Judd Montgomery’s healing home in Oakland, California, called the Home of Peace. When I was at this historic revival well, the host showed me the guest book from 1908 with an entry by Azusa Street Revival participant Frank Bartleman. Although I have never met Bartleman, he has always been like a spiritual father for me because of his deep passion for intercession to see revival. I feel he is up there in the great cloud of witnesses encouraging me on in these days. I discovered that he wrote out his own modified version of Isaiah 59:16 in the guest book: “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercession.” I felt the Lord say to me, “Let San Francisco and California have an intercessor right now.” Not long after, my team and I decided to spend our forty-day fast for TheCall Berkeley at the Home of Peace in 2014.

Just as Bartleman interceded before the birth of the Azusa Street Revival because he could sense a historic shift, so I believe that we are also at a tipping point in our generation. It will be important to draw from the well at Azusa Street to gain insights on how we can better partner with what God wants to do in our day and go even further. When California seeks God like they sought for gold in the early days, God’s glory will return.

I pray for each one reading Ignite Azusa that you would have encounters and open heaven visitations. I pray for revival days to explode and that God would restore the breech, and repair the fallen down walls and city streets’ dwellings. I pray that God would pour out His Spirit like He did during Lonnie Frisbee’s time and that there would be another wave of revival in California, a new Jesus Movement. I pray that each one reading this book would have an encounter with God that will set the next stage of history in California, in America, and beyond.

Thirty-one years ago I read a book called Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman. It imparted fire into my being. A book can shift your life and can shift history. My friend Jen Miskov just wrote a book called Ignite Azusa. We believe this little book will light fires and prepare a people for another great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So receive this book and as we put our blessing on this book, I want to pray you that you would receive an Impartation of a spirit of revival as you read it. I pray right now that the spirit that was on Azusa, that was on William J. Seymour and on Frank Bartleman would be released on those who read. Even now create hunger in their souls, desire and make them instruments of revival. In the name of Jesus, I bless you. Amen.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. excerpt taken from Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution (2016)

The Bonnie Brae House in Los Angeles is the place where the catalytic fire for the Azusa Street Revival was first ignited. In those early meetings at the Asberry house on Bonnie Brae Street, there were only about fifteen people including children, many of them coming from Julia Hutchins’ mission. Even though William J. Seymour had yet to receive the “evidence” of speaking in tongues, he continued to teach about it. On April 9, 1906, just before leaving for the prayer meeting, Seymour's friend Edward Lee began to speak in tongues after he laid hands on and prayed for him. After this, Lee, Seymour, and the others walked the couple blocks up the street to the Asberry home on Bonnie Brae Street for the 7:30 p.m. prayer meeting.

There, a handful of African-American saints gathered together because they wanted to encounter God in a greater measure. They had a song, a few prayers, and several testimonies released. Seymour shared the testimony of how Lee spoke in tongues less than two hours before. He then began to preach from Acts 2:4:

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

Then something happened that they had all been waiting and longing for. God crashed into that meeting like never before and someone started to speak in tongues. Several others got baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues as well. Ruth Asberry’s cousin Jennie Evans Moore, who lived across the street, was resting on a stool, when she suddenly fell to the ground and began to speak in tongues. She is known as one of the first women in Los Angeles to speak in tongues during this time.

She recalled that it felt like a vessel broke inside of her and water “surged” through her entire being. When this rush came to her lips, she spoke in six different languages that she had seen earlier in a vision. These tongues were each interpreted in English. Following this release, Jennie, who had never played the piano before, walked over to the piano and played it under the anointing while singing in tongues. She recounted the story in an article called “Music from Heaven” in the Azusa Mission’s newspaper called The Apostolic Faith:

For years before this wonderful experience came to us, we as a family, were seeking to know the fulnes of God, and He was filling us with His presence until we could hardly contain the power… On April 9, 1906, I was praising the Lord from the depths of my heart at home, and when the evening came and we attended the meeting the power of God fell and I was baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire, with the evidence of speaking in tongues…As I thought thereon and looked to God, it seemed as if a vessel broke within me and water surged up through my being, which when it reached my mouth came out in a torrent of speech in the languages which God had given me…I sang under the power of the Spirit in many languages, the interpretation both words and music which I had never before heard, and in the home where the meeting was being held, the Spirit led me to the piano, where I played and sang under inspiration, although I had not learned to play.

-Jennie Moore, The Apostolic Faith 1:8 (312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, CA: May, 1907), 3.

A few days later on April 12, 1906, Seymour spoke in tongues for the first time after tarrying with a white brother and not giving up until he “came through” at nearly four o’clock in the morning.

Crowds of both black and white people from Smale’s First New Testament Church, Hutchins’ mission, and other Holiness groups in the area came to the house on Bonnie Brae Street to see and partake in what God was doing. At one point, the house swelled with people so much that the front porch caved in. No one was injured, but they realized that they had outgrown the house and it was time to get a larger place. Within a week, they moved to a vacant building at 312 Azusa Street, which used to be a Methodist Episcopal church before it had been damaged by a fire.

*The above is an excerpt from new book Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution with the following authors, Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. (Destiny House), Heidi Baker, Ph.D. (Iris Global), Lou Engle (TheCall), and Bill Johnson (Bethel Church in Redding, California) who partner together in Ignite Azusa to inspire courage to step into the momentum set before us today. They will also be in Los Angeles April 9, 2016 for the 110 anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival at the AzusaNow gathering. We are believing for a new Jesus Revolution in our day. Join us at The Call Azusa (thecall.com). Order your copies of Ignite Azusa HERE.  Also receive powerful impartation from the above authors on this video here: 

Ignite Azusa

Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

We are on the verge of one of the greatest awakenings of all time. Many have prophesied about a new move of God on the horizon that far surpasses any we have ever seen. Our generation is pregnant with birthing a new Jesus Revolution and we have been given the incredible opportunity to step into something truly special in our day.

The Azusa Street Revival is not just something that happened over a hundred years ago, it prophesies into our future of what God wants to pour out in an even greater measure today. There is great momentum for us to step into that was initiated in the Azusa Street Revival, a move of God that has brought more people to Jesus than in previous centuries combined. Lessons and keys for our destiny are embedded in their story. We can access these to unlock even greater realms of God’s glory in our day. The fire from Azusa is still burning and available today.

The Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909) was a significant spiritual awakening that played a crucial role in the emergence of Pentecostalism and the rapid growth of Christianity around the globe. On November 16, 1905, just months before the revival was sparked in California, an intercessor in Los Angeles named Frank Bartleman felt a stirring similar to what many of us might be feeling today. He said, 

The current of revival is sweeping by our door. Will we cast ourselves on its mighty bosom and ride to glorious victory? A year of life at this time, with its wonderful possibilities for God, is worth a hundred years of ordinary life. “Pentecost” is knocking at our doors. The revival for our country is no longer a question. Slowly but surely the tide has been rising until in the very near future we believe for a deluge of salvation that will sweep all before it. Wales will not long stand alone in this glorious triumph for our Christ. The spirit of reviving is coming upon us, driven by the breath of God, the Holy Ghost. The clouds are gathering rapidly, big with a mighty rain, whose precipitation lingers but a little.

Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances, whose names will be emblazoned on Heaven’s eternal page of fame. The Spirit is brooding over our land again as at creation’s dawn, and the fiat of God goes forth. “Let there be light.” Brother, sister, if we all believed God can you realize what would happen? Many of us here are living for nothing else. A volume of believing prayer is ascending to the throne night and day. Los Angeles, Southern California, and the whole continent shall surely find itself ere long in the throes of a mighty revival, by the Spirit and power of God.[1]

Can you feel the stirring deep within your spirit? If we really believed God, can you realize what might happen? Many of us today are sensing the intensity and weight of what God is about to pour out in all the earth. We are indeed on the verge of the greatest revival we have ever seen. The momentum of those who have gone before us is great.

As you dive into the Azusa story, I declare that the weak be made strong, the hidden unveiled, the broken-hearted restored and made whole, and the wounded healed. I call forth the heroes to arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances. As you read Ignite Azusa, I pray that the Holy Spirit will ignite you with the fire of God like never before.

God, do it again in our day and even more. Whatever it looks like, we don’t care, just as long as we have more of You. Release the keys of intimacy and destiny that You want to deposit into our generation. Overshadow us and cause us to burn for You with a flame that will never go out. We are Yours forever, Lord. Mark us for your glory. We say yes to You, no matter what the cost.

*The above is an excerpt from new book Ignite Azusa: Positioning for a New Jesus Revolution with the following authors:

Heidi Baker, Ph.D. (Iris Global), Lou Engle (TheCall), and Bill Johnson (Bethel Church in Redding, California) partner together in Ignite Azusa to inspire courage to step into the momentum set before us today. They will also be in Los Angeles April 9, 2016 for the 110 anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival at the AzusaNow gathering. We are believing for a new Jesus Revolution in our day. Join us at The Call Azusa (thecall.com).

Jennifer A. Miskov has a Ph.D. in Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies from the University of Birmingham, U.K. She is the founding director of Destiny House, a ministry that cultivates communities of worshippers who do life together and who launch people into their destinies from a place of intimacy with God and connection with family. She currently teaches revival history classes at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and facilitates Writing in the Glory workshops at various places. Jen loves to lead people into life changing encounters with Jesus through her writing, teaching, and ministry. Order your copies of Ignite Azusa HERE

[1] Frank Bartleman, How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles: As it Was in the Beginning. 2nd edition (Los Angeles, CA: Frank Bartleman, originally April 1925), 39 and now printed by Christian Classic Ethereal Library (Grand Rapids, MI). This book is accessible for free: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bartleman/los.pdf.  

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

When I reflect on all that God has done in 2015 and I look around and see the incredible treasures of people He has surrounded me with, I feel so undone by His lavish love. Thank you for being a part of the Destiny House family's journey, it has made all the difference.

I want to share an activation below that has helped me process and find the gold from this past year as well as dream for the new year ahead. I pray that the Holy Spirit launches you into a greater measure of your destiny as you go along with me on this journey of giving thanks and of dreaming for the future.

Reflecting & Finding the Gold in 2015

What were some of your highlights of 2015 that you are most thankful for? Write out at least 5. 

For example, in Destiny House a few of our highlights were:

• Cultivating an atmosphere of worship during the birth of baby Fenna in Destiny House
• Starting our non-profit
• Times of extended worship where the glory was so thick that bodies were on the floor for hours
• Launching Elisha’s Room, a guys community house in conjunction with Destiny House
• Hosting and worshiping alongside the Destiny Kids (5th graders from Bethel Church)
• Powerful treasures from around the world coming to live at Destiny House
• Surf trips!

How have you grown in 2015?

What lessons, revelations, gold nuggets from making it through hard things has He taught you that you can carry with you into the future?

Before moving onto the next activation, I encourage you take some time thanking God for all He has done for you in 2015.

Testimony

We are soon going to write out some goals, but first let me share a testimony of what God did in my life when I did this activity 10 years ago as quoted in Writing in the Glory:

“In 2006, I was a manager and trainer for Starbucks Coffee, and I had the opportunity to go to a leadership training class. One of our activities was to write out a list of goals and dreams. One of the goals I wrote was that I wanted to “write a book about revolutionaries/revivals.” Years later during the summer of 2012, the Holy Spirit opened doors for me to work on a book project with Bill Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. This started as a summer job to help him do research for a book about defining moments of revival leaders. It later developed into a two-year project where I actually got paid to help write a book with one of my heroes of the faith. It astonishes me how good God is. He had given me the desire to write the book six years before I actually started writing it. Then, when it was finally time to start it, He paired me with someone who carried the same heart for revival history. As we seek God first (see Matthew 6:33), He consistently goes above and beyond our wildest dreams.”

This book called Defining Moments that I supported Bill Johnson comes out January 14, 2016. Dreams come true but they begin somewhere. I am praying that when you do the activation below, that the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and open your eyes to see dreams that God has planted in your heart that are awaiting to emerge.

Dreaming with God for an Incredible 2016

Now, write out a list of 20 things that are you dreaming for in 2016. The bigger and more impossible the better. Be as specific as you can. These dreams and goals can be in various areas such as relationally, financially, physically, spiritually, adventure, destiny, etc. 

Positioning for Alignment

Who are a few of the people God is highlighting for you to run with more intentionally and deeply in 2016? What can you do invest in these relationships in the new year?

Living Fearlessly

If you knew that you couldn’t fail and that no matter how messy, embarrassing, shameful, awkward it got, you would always be loved, what risks would you take this year? What areas would you step out and try?

Surrender

Now, I encourage you to surrender and trust God with all the dreams, desires, relationships He has placed in your heart and ask Him to water these with the Holy Spirit and cause them to emerge and grow in His perfect timing. Cover these dreams and desires in prayer and in His presence.

Thanks for all your prayers and support for our Destiny House family. We are so thankful for you in our lives. Blessing each of you with an incredible ending to 2015 filled with His goodness, favor, and love. I declare that 2016 will be full of hope, promises fulfilled, and exceedingly abundantly above all you could ask, hope, dream, or imagine in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:20). 

With love from Jen and the Destiny House family

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

What if our generation is pregnant with birthing the next Great Awakening and The Call Azusa on April 9, 2016 is a tipping point? If this might really be the case, what would it look like if this unified Body of Christ assembling in Los Angeles for the 110th anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival knew the depths of God’s history there to be able to draw from and tap into the power of the testimony? What kind of focused prayers and greater signs, wonders, miracles, and stewardship of the awakening might take place because of this investment?

Now is our time arise and shine. Today is the day to dive in and not look back, to remain focused on Jesus, to immediately respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and to lean into the Father’s heart. Now is our moment as a generation to shine.

As a generation, we have been given a great opportunity to shift the culture of what the next 100 years and more can look like. What if once this billion soul harvest is released, the new believers immediately get welcomed into the family of God, are discipled and activated in signs and wonders all coming from a place of intimacy with Jesus? What if people are knit together in covenant relationships with the family of God who will encourage and cover them as they follow the leading of the Spirit even into dangerous places? We have such an awesome opportunity to create a culture of family, love, intimacy, and power to welcome the new Christians into. What are we going to do with the responsibility God has entrusted us with?

We were born for such a time as this. God has called and equipped us to stand together with one another. He has promised to be with us always.

To position yourself to step into what God has for us in our day, I encourage you to receive impartation from the Welsh Revival (1904-1905) video above. This revival preceded and was an important catalyst for the Azusa Street Revival (1906). The ladies of Destiny House watched this video during one of our Monday night family times and after it ended, we waited on the Lord. The presence of God was thick in the room. After some silence, prayer broke out, then I could hear weeping. Bodies covered the floor. A couple of the ladies were so rocked by God's presence after watching this that they never made it back home that night but lay there encountering God deep into the night. I pray the same refining fire falls upon you as you watch.

Be also encouraged by an exhortation by Azusa Street Revival participant Frank Bartleman written in June 1906, just months after the the Azusa Street Revival broke out:

“Opportunity once passed, is lost forever. There is a time when the tide is sweeping by our door. We may then plunge in and be carried to glorious blessing, success and victory. To stand shivering on the bank, timid, or paralyzed with stupor, at such a time, is to miss all, and most miserably fail, both for time and for eternity. Oh, our responsibility! The mighty tide of God’s grace and favor is even now sweeping by us, in its prayer-directed course.

There is a river (of salvation) the streams whereof make glad the city of God. - Ps. 46:4. It is time to ‘get together,’ and plunge in, individually and collectively. We are baptized ‘in one Spirit, into one body,’ - I Cor. 12:13. Let us lay aside all carnal contentions and divisions, that separate us from each other and from God. If we are of His body, we are ‘one body.’ The opportunity of a lifetime, of centuries, is at our door, to be eternally gained or lost. There is no time to hesitate. Act quickly, lest another take thy crown. Oh, church of Christ, awake! Be baptized with power. Then fly to rescue others. And to meet your Lord.” 

To learn more about the Azusa Street Revival check out Spirit Flood: Rebirth of Spirit Baptism for the 21st Century (In light of the Azusa Street Revival) and to be catalyzed to write literature that will set this world aflame with the love and fire of God check out Writing in the Glory. Join us at Destiny House Redding Friday mornings 8-10am for worship, prayer, and testimonies. Many blessings and fire!

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

The Azusa Street Revival was catalytic and played a significant part in the expansion of the Pentecostal movement around the world. This revival was marked by a hunger to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. People from around the world flocked to Los Angeles to be a part of this great move of God and to receive impartation to take back to their nations. They, like many in the early church in Acts (see Acts 2), waited on the Lord until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and also spoke in tongues. This all-consuming encounter with God drew people into a revival that swept across the world.

I have been struck lately by Matthew 3:11-12 where John the Baptist said,

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and He will clear the threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

While Azusa Street was marked with a Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I believe that the next great move of God will be marked with a BAPTISM OF FIRE. Fire purifies, refines, sanctifies, and makes holy. It causes all the dross to dissipate and only the gold to emerge. Asking for the baptism of fire strips off any enemy of the cross of Christ, even good things that are distractions. There’s no greater way to be surrendered than when we are willing to ask God to send His fire over every detail of our lives, relationships, dreams, thoughts, and ask Him to burn away anything that is not from Him for this season. When we realize the price He has paid for us (see Romans 8:32), we will be willing to become living sacrifices (see Romans 12:1) and we will continue to lay our lives on the altar to burn for Him continually. It says in Leviticus 6:8-13,

The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

What would happen if we lived in a baptism of fire daily? What does it look like to be a burning one in this generation?

There is more for each one of us today. I believe God is asking us to call out for the fire of God to come and consume anything that might get in the way of all He wants to do in our lives. I encourage you right now to ask for the fire of God to fall upon you and for this fire to burn away any bitterness, unforgiveness, double-mindedness, offense, fear, shame, insecurity, disappointment, hopeless, or discouragement. Ask God to search your heart to see if there is anything holding you back from all that He has. Wait on Him for a few minutes.

As the Holy Spirit brings up people and situations, today go and be reconciled. If someone has an offense against you, go and make amends quickly. Give no foothold for the devil in this time of great awakening that’s coming. Always remember that our battle is never against flesh and blood (see Ephesians 6:10-18) and that you have authority in Christ to tear down every stronghold or enemy of God that tries to oppose you (see Romans 8:31). Stay deeply connected and knit together with the Body of Christ in this season, for they will also be your armor bearers. When the fire falls and the pruning begins and you feel the pain of things leaving in your life that you were once comfortable with, ask for even more fire. He wants to purify us so we are prepared to carry what He is about to pour out across the earth. He is looking for pure and holy vessels that He can possess and fill with His Holy Spirit and with fire. I encourage you to pray the following prayer outloud:

God, I ask right now for a fresh baptism of fire over my life. Let your fire fall on every single detail of my life. Burn away anything and everything that is not in line with You in Jesus’ name. Purify with fire all of my relationships, thoughts, dreams, desires, and situations. Burn away anything that is contrary to your nature or that will hold me back from all that You want to do in and through my life in this season. I surrender all and ask for the fire of consecration to come and set me apart as a burning one for You. Let my love for You be marked by purity, holiness, and a burning passion. Fill and possess me with Your Holy Spirit and with fire. I am all Yours. My life is in Your hands. Have Your way in my life today whatever it looks like and no matter the cost, all for Your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

*I encourage you to get involved in The Call Azusa to take part in re-digging this well of revival at Azusa Street to bring American back to God in our day.

*To learn more about the Azusa Street Revival and Baptism of the Holy Spirit for today see Spirit Flood: Rebirth of Spirit Baptism for the 21st Century in Light of the Azusa Street Revival and the Life of Carrie Judd Montgomery)

*To read about an encounter when fire fell on the sacrifice in a ministry school totally consecrated to God, see A Time of New Birth: Consecration with Rees Howells and the Welsh Revival

I wrote this when I lived in England sometime around 2010 and wanted to re-release it because it is always good to be reminded of such a relentless and all consuming love freely accessible to us today. Be blessed with a fresh baptism of the Father's love...

This is a picture of my friend Craig holding his newborn baby who came into the world just 5 days before this shot was taken. For me this is such a beautiful reminder for Christmas on two different levels. First, it reminds me how Jesus obediently chose to leave the perfect union He had with the Father for the sole purpose of living a life He knew would be filled with suffering. Regardless of the risks He would have to take, Jesus chose to come, not as the victorious King, but rather as a completely vulnerable and dependent baby.  He did this because of such an intense and amazing love for each one of us.

Can you believe that someone would knowingly engage in a life that would be filled with suffering all because of the joy that would one day be set before Him? This joy of knowing us and loving us was greater than the pain (Hebrews 12). I am awe struck at Jesus’ relentless passion and pursuit of our hearts at any cost, in fact, at all costs. Such perfect love pursues us today, even when we feel lonely and rejected and unwanted. Let us remember the extreme and ultimate journey Jesus embarked on in our behalf, for the purpose of knowing us and inviting us into the immense measure of love found in Him.

On the other level, this picture also reminds me of God the Father’s love. It is easy to see that in the father’s eyes, his son can do no wrong. He is loved perfectly exactly how he is. Not only did God the Father send His son as a baby into this world, but He did it so that we could have relationship with Him. And the beautiful thing is, just as my friend Craig is adoring his baby, so God the Father adores us, exactly as we are. We don’t have to do a thing to earn His love. We don’t have to be good enough, pure enough, righteous enough, or do enough good works, but He loves us just exactly the way we are here and now, today in this moment. And the beautiful thing is, this will never change. I know many of us already know these facts but I also understand that sometimes it is the hardest thing to simply receive this great big love.

Let us take even 5 minutes today to stop and picture ourselves as the child in the Father’s arms and simply receive the acceptance, delight, and joy that emanates from His face onto us, His beloved children. May the Holy Spirit still our lives and open our hearts to receive an increased measure of the Father’s love. May each one of us be blessed this Christmas season and be reminded of the intense, persistent, and passionate love that has been demonstrated on our behalf.

For those hungrier still, there is another gift that is also freely available to those who want to open and receive it…Check out "A New kind of Christmas Present"to learn more.

Much love and peace to each of you during this season,

Jen