HOME | INFO | ARTICLES | LINKS | MULTIMEDIA | ABOUT US
GUESTBOOK | CONTACT | SEARCH | PRAYER REQUESTS
|
Note concerning the following article: When I first started to write articles for my website back in 1995, I had the bad habit of forgetting to attach dates to when the articles were written. I guess I never imagined I'd still be writing about this stuff more than 10 years later or that anyone would have an interest. Though I can't recall the month, I'm guessing the following was written probably somewhere around mid 1999, reflecting back on the 4 years of events prior. I apologize for the lack of date info. Please also note that there are some follow-up comments at the close of this article. So, everyone wants to know, "what's a Prayer Shack? How did it start?" Well, here's the whole history (this entire document has been copied from the old site). People drive by my house all the time and see the big, hand-painted sign on the side of the building (it's still hangin' there) and you can see the question marks written all over their faces. Several have come up to the door and asked when the church service starts. Some have even walked right up and just asked for prayer! Others just want to know, "what in the world is a Prayer Shack?" I often get a chuckle out of some of the questions people ask in their curiosity. I've also suffered a little criticism too by people who have never even once visited (or talked to me one on one) but have "heard things" or just made "assumptions." So, if you've got a curious itch to know what's up too, that's great, because this is the place to find out! Welcome friend to the Official Prayer Shack Web Site!!! The Prayer Shack began as an interdenominational gathering of believers in Jesus Christ whose heart's cry was simply to grow closer to the Lord and be led by His Spirit. Our lives have all been deeply affected by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit and His working through a wonderful move of God many may be familiar with as the "renewal movement" (some have also labeled this the "laughing revival" and the "Toronto Blessing"). Whatever title some people attribute it to, all I know is that God deeply touched my life by His Spirit in late 1994 when I opened my heart to Him in a pursuit of greater intimacy with the Lord, and He revived a passion in my heart to run after Him, to obey His will and study His Word. None of us immediately present at the Shack (that I'm aware of) had ever even been to Toronto at that time so it would be inappropriate, in my opinion, to attribute what happened in my home solely to some external phenomenon. I believe that which transpired was a sovereign move of God upon willing vessels. The "renewal" ignited a fresh focus upon the person of Jesus and a greater understanding of the fact that God deeply loves His children and desires intimate relationship with them (not mere religion). For me and some of my closest friends, however, the "renewal" was never about a "movement" though and we never liked to focus on that (though it was the popular phraseology at the time). Just as a side note here, I realize that some people (including myself at times) have used the term "revival" in connection with the "Toronto Blessing," and this is, in one sense, may be considered an accurate description (because I believe God has revived people through this "move"), although in another sense, use of the term "revival" in connection with this movement has caused some criticism and misunderstanding. Let me just briefly explain and then I will continue with my story. A lot of Christians, when they hear the term "revival" they think of some of the great revivals throughout history. Some of the major trademarks of these revivals have been great repentance from sin and large numbers of people being saved. It is often argued that, according to this understanding of "revival," the renewal movement cannot possibly be considered a revival because mass salvations and weeping and repentance are not the primary themes. Now, while I would personally argue this point to some extent because I know for a fact that literally thousands have been saved by the Lord through His work in the midst of this movement and I have watched people fall to their knees in deep, heart-wrenching repentance over sin, I do understand this argument from critics. In part, I agree with them because I am praying for the kind of revival they are talking about; massive numbers of people falling to their knees in repentance and giving their lives to Jesus. Renewal does appear to have mostly affected the Church rather than the secular world. A lot of the critics also see a focus on strange manifestations rather than purely the person of Jesus and they have a legitimate concern here. For if what transpires from this movement turns out to be nothing more than spiritual hype, oddball phenomenon and the seeking of wild emotional experiences, then it has proved itself (in all likelihood) not to be a pure move of God. But I contend and boldly suggest that there is far more going on than mere "manifestations", though in every move of God, there is always the problem of flesh since God is dealing with humanity (some flesh is to be expected). I have seen and experienced a wonderful move of God's Spirit in my life and in others around me. I have witnessed a powerful realignment of focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and a hunger for the Word and a distaste for any distraction that would lead away from Him. While some may have slipped off the track, many have their sights straight-on-target and are racing towards the heart of God and that blesses and excites me for I don't want mere religion, I want Jesus. Renewal, in my opinion, predominantly affected the Church... I think this is true. Because of this I can also understand some of the critics contention over whether or not this move can be classified as a "revival" (in the sense of a predominent manifestation of lost souls coming into the kingdom of God). But the reason why I believe that "revival" is also an appropriate term is because God certainly caused a "reviving" to transpire in the hearts of His children. Obviously I am using the term "revival" here in the sense that it would mean "to revive" or "to bring back to life, what was alive once before but died out or began to die out." For example, I have been saved since a very young age, and I have loved and served the Lord for many years, and I don't devalue or discredit my Christian experience up to the point when the "renewal" arrived. But in late 1994 when God touched my heart in such a special way in this little church in Walla Walla, WA, it was like all the joy and excitement of my salvation experience came to life again. In a moment God began to revive and re-kindle the flame in my heart with a fresh excitement and zeal and a renewed desire for Him and His Word. In this sense, true revival began in my life and it has not stopped since! I don't equate what God did through the renewal with my salvation experience, but what He did is revive the rememberance and realization of that experience and how He changed my life by His grace and in a moment turned my life from darkness to His light! This is significant because I believe renewal can move to revival in the more commonly understood sense of the word (lost souls coming to Jesus). For God is changing lives, the testimony of His goodness is sure to spread. If it doesn't then I would question if a person really encountered the Master at all. And if churches merely become caught up in the subject of wild experience and manifestations alone (trying to capitalize on the excitement and even program it because of the apparent results it produces) and lose focus on Christ, then we will know who "got it" and who missed what God was intending to do in men's hearts. Again, my heart in this is not to glorify experience. My heart is to glorify the Lord Jesus. If He is not the center then we must ask what is at the center? Is it man? Is it experience? Is it organization? What? Now, back to the story... The Prayer Shack is but a small, run down looking, little house on the east side of town (surrounded by farmland, horses and cows), but the presence of the Lord is manifesting here in wonderful ways and lives are being changed for the glory of God! Revival is happening in the hearts of those who are desperate and hungry for more of God. It is so exciting! But before we come to the story of how the Shack started, there's a bit of background leading up to it that you ought to know about. It all began in early 1995 when God poured out His spirit upon the lives of three single guys living together in this small, shack-like house. That was me (Dave Y.), John D. (now married to an awesome woman named Susie and they live in Scotland), and Curtis who has also since moved out and is engaged to be married. Everything started when I picked up John from the airport one night as he had just returned from a 6-month “mission” trip to Scotland (working in a church there). When John got off the plane he was smiling and so happy. It was clear to me something had happened to him while in Scotland. As our conversation began he told me that was engaged to be married, so I thought, "ahh! This must be why he’s so joyful tonight." ;) Then John began to tell me and my roommate (flat-mate as they say in Scotland) Curtis about this wonderful move of God’s Spirit that was happening among some of the churches where he lived. As we all got in my car and started to drive to the house, John continued with the stories of all the great things he had been experiencing; people getting saved, healed, set free, just awesome things! Whole services in church where people would do nothing but sing and worship and pray for each other. That was all real cool (REEEEALLY COOL), but when John began to break out in boisterous laughter as he mentioned the goodness of the Lord, I was a little confused. I mean, some general laughter as a mark of excitement about the Lord was not strange to me, but soon he was laughing so hard I thought, "this is getting a little ridiculous!" But John just went on all the more about how wonderful Jesus was. It was like, the more He talked about Jesus, the "thicker" it got in the car. What got thicker you ask? Well, I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but it was like a cloud of God’s glory. I knew that the Spirit of the Lord was present in a uniquely manifested way but this manifestation of His presence was just totally new to me. The laughter thing wasn't so bad but then, on occasion, John would get these jerks and then he'd laugh. I had never seen this stuff before and, needless to say, it seemed a bit odd. I realize more now what God was up to that night; He was stretching me and beginning to move me out of my comfortable zone. I had no idea how religious and prideful I had become over the years growing up in church-world. God wanted to breakthrough and touch my heart with His heart. He wanted our relationship to become more real than it had been. He was drawing close to me, desiring to pour out His love on me, desiring to speak to me, desiring to become the most intimate part of my whole life. It was to mean me letting go of my control and letting Him have control of my heart. It's hard to let go of your control. It’s hard to trust what your mind can't understand (and this was beyond my present ability to understand - it just looked weird to me, though I trusted John as a friend and a brother whom I knew had a heart after the Lord). But I could sense that, somehow, God was in this. What made this so hard was the fact that He was showing Himself to me in a way that was not comfortable to my natural way of thinking (the religiously-proper way for God to interact with His people - ugh). I was beginning to see my arrogance in thinking I could actually understand the mind of God. He was about to shake up my world. Something in me knew it but I didn’t know how. It’s funny how us Christians are so sure of our theology and we push it on everyone else without mercy. We break up friendships and sacrifice unity among our brothers and sisters in Jesus because we think that we know everything about God. Well, let me just tell you this, for the record, WE DON’T HAVE A CLUE! God is so much bigger than our little brains could hope to imagine and they would probably pop if we could experience just 1% of the intensity of the fullness of God’s glory. We know, by the Scriptures, that it is possible only by faith. I have discovered that much of this renewal movement is about stretching our faith levels. Reaching out and trusting God more than we have before. Allowing Him to take center stage in our hearts. The more we release our own faith, the more we discover the joy of His faithfulness. The more we reach out in faith, the more it releases God to move in our lives and use us for His glory. Well, to make a long story shorter, John kept talking about how he believed that God's Spirit was going to be released in a new way right here in our own church. I thought, "man, I hope it doesn't look like what you look like right now John; shaking, laughing, making funny noises." There was probably even a little thought in the back of my head that said, "yeah, and I’ll never act like a fool either." God must have been smiling at me thinking about how He was going to turn things upside-down for me then. Well, it just so happened that John and I worked together then and I had to put up with his laughter fits and weird manifestations from time to time during the day. It seemed he always had a word from the Lord too. He'd walk into the back room at work and lay hands on me while I was at my desk and he’d start praying for me. It made me kind of uncomfortable but I allowed it. Little by little God was softening my heart and drawing me to His. I was getting hungrier and hungrier for a touch from Him. In other words I saw (beyond the manifestations) that John was engaged in a full-on intimate relationship with His Heavenly Father. Jesus had taken center stage in his heart and Jesus had become all that mattered to him. In a world where we get so distracted with the business of the week and where we only alot one day a week (Sunday morning) to spend a couple of hours ministering to the Lord, this was a unique thing to see. John was "connected" every day, all day, and every night. He wouldn't shut up about the Lord. ;) Church was quite a sight after John’s return as well. Everything was pretty normal, everything but John (he..he..he). We’d all be singing and worshiping and John had his hands in the air, then his feet, then he was laughing again, shouting, acting like a kid in the presence of the Lord. It made several people uncomfortable (including some of the leaders). Instead of sitting in the chair during the sermon, John laid in the isle and just lifted his hands in the air. He jerked once in a while, shouted with a "hooooooooo JESUS!" Sometimes he'd laugh. I never sat real close to John in those services (hehe). I kept my distance. It looked weird to me and I didn't want to be the one that got kicked out of service, but deep inside I was hungry for what John had experienced. I watched him intently throughout the service and each day when I was around him. I saw that this was no joke with him, John was serious. He was captivated by Jesus. He was in love and the whole world could have ended that day and John would have still been laughing. It was so obvious that John's experience was so much deeper than just a few funny looking manifestations (what most people, including myself at first, get hung up on). God had totally aprehended John and John was being consumed with a fresh, burning fire for the intimate presence of Jesus. Real fruit of the Spirit was manifesting from his life. That told me, something real and something GOD is going on here! Time progressed and John started bringing friends over to the house. Some of these guys he had just met. Some didn't even know the Lord. John would start sharing the Lord with them and in a matter of moments everyone would be laid out on the floor because of the intensity of the power and sense of the Lord's presence that had filled the room! Now, when a non-believer hits the deck (without a catcher mind you) and then testifies that he wants to meet Jesus, something more is going on here than charismatic hype. Day after day I saw hard evidence that God was doing a REAL work. I remember many times I would come home and John and his guests would be, at one moment, talking. I would walk into the bathroom or something and when I came out everyone was on the floor. Some started laughing, others trembled, and some just laid or sat still in silence. But I noticed that people's hearts were changing as they were touched by God in this way. Some who had never had any exposure to Christianity were just so blown away that God would make Himself so real to them and pour out His love on them, a sinner, in such a wonderful way. Some got saved. Some got healed. Some got right again with God. Some just got rid of their depression upon getting bolted with a blast of holy joy from heaven. I didn’t understand it but I knew, that I knew it was God! Whatever kinds of crazy things some Christians get themselves into I knew this was not crazy (even though its surface appearance was odd at times). This was a God thing. I was sure of that! I had been seeing the fruit for weeks now. John kept laughing about how God was still gonna really get me and crack off that religious shell. I laughed back in fun but didn’t have much of a response. John was never pushy with me, but he wasn't shy either about encouraging me. I know he prayed a lot for me back then. I remember so often I used to walk through his room (because you had to to get to the bathroom) and he would be sprawled out on the floor praying for sometimes hours! It actually used to irritate me because he was right in front of the door and I always had to either step over him or make him move. Grrrr... he..he..he... Then some of the pastors went to Toronto, Canada for some special services at a church called Toronto Airport Vineyard. They went to "check this thing out." Apparently their lives were so powerfully touched by God that Pastor Matt, of Calvary Church in Walla Walla, couldn't’ wait to have a church service so one was instantly planned for that Monday night. Everyone was talking about driving to Walla Walla to go but I was still hesitant. I called my friend, Nick Shupe, who is the missions pastor of our church here in Tri-Cities. I called him because I knew he had been one of the pastors that went with the group to Toronto and I trusted him, as we were very close buds (were, and still are; he’s an awesome bro and I love him to pieces). I knew that if something about all this was flaky and phony, or a work of the devil, Nick would not be involved at all. He is one of the most spiritually intense, kick the devil’s butt kind of guys I’ve ever met. He doesn’t mess around! He is very serious about the things of God. Nick told me his story of what happened in Toronto and how he also struggled with everything at first. But then he shared how God broke through to his heart and changed his life. He told me about the power of God laying him out on the floor and feeling what seemed like electricity jolting through his body as he was prayed for. During that time he had a powerful, intimate encounter with the presence of Jesus. Nick encouraged me to go to the service and just trust God with my heart. So, I went. Pastor Matt began to share what God did in his heart when he went to Toronto. He began to weep and cry as he spoke about how much his love for Jesus had increased. He also was repenting for sin. I'd been aquatinted with Matt for probably 3 years or so and I had never seen him cry and be so openly emotional concerning his relationship with the Lord. It seemed evident that his life must have been changed by the power of God. I sat in my chair so hungry for God to touch me and I started praying that God would reach out and touch me too. I wanted to be closer to Jesus and I wanted to know Him more intimately than I ever had before. I began repenting of sin and telling the Lord how sorry I was that, for so long, I had allowed other things to become more important in my life than Him. FINALLY, ministry time came and I literally ran to the front for prayer. Nick was there on the ministry team so I headed right for him. He started to pray. My religious, charismatic upbringing taught me that I should just start praying in tongues. So off I started, "Shambalambambalabababalaba," etc. (What? Yes, that's exactly what I sound like... hahaha) Nick stopped praying for a moment, looked at me and said, "Dave, just shut up and let God do His work." I was a bit taken back by Nick's abrupt comment. I'd never had a charismatic minister tell a charismatic to quit praying in tongues (let alone tell me to shut up - but Nick and I were close enough that he could get away with this - haha). Anyway, I did what he said. Nick briefly explained that God wanted to pour out His love and blessing on me all because of grace. God was showing me that it wasn't my fancy praying that moved his heart to touch mine. It was simply His great love for me and the sincere response of me heart to His. It was totally grace. I didn’t have to earn this. It’s something I should have known. Scripture is very clear about the grace of God, yet us Christians still so often try to merit God’s blessing. Nick resumed praying. Then I felt this bubbling up inside. All I could think of in that moment was Jesus' love for me. I pictured myself holding Him tightly and Him giving me a big bear hug. The bubbling up continued until I just couldn’t hold in anymore. I started to laugh like crazy. Moments later I hit the floor face first and kept right on laughing. I probably laughed for 20 minutes and it hurt I laughed so hard but it was oh, so wonderful! My first love for Jesus was returning... this was the first major crack in my religious shell (as I saw things anyway). The next day I came to work with a big scab on my head from rubbing my head across the carpet while laughing the night before. It was pretty funny, and even funnier trying to explain the story. Now, I know some people would immediately challenge me here by saying, "oh God wouldn't have caused this kind of mutilation of your body." Sigh... Give me a break. Lighten up will ya? ;) As I just said, this was funny to me. It tickled me to think about it. I knew that the scab was there because I didn't have sense enough to get up off the floor, I was too preoccupied laughing with joy because I knew the Lord was answering my prayer... and really had been for a long time leading up to this moment. It was just taking my stubborn head time for it to sink in. This was a visible sign of that to me and it just blessed me in a unique way. I don't say that God scraped up my head ok? I didn't care if it looked funny to anyone else. I was in a new place in my relationship with God. A place I had never been before. It was wonderful! It was not a place I could control or manipulate. I couldn't explain it with human intellect. I couldn't boast that I got there because I did something. It was just all grace, all GOD! Faith began to take on a whole new understanding in my life. Not like the faith that some of those guys on religious TV talk about (a faith they basically see as a magic formula to get what you want from God), but a faith that is comprised of pure intimacy with Jesus; that operates because of God's grace. It is something almost that cannot be described, but I can tell you that the Scriptures (the Bible) suddenly came alive to me. It was no longer difficult to pick up my Bible and find time to read it. It was pure joy now! I buried my head in the Book and read it for hours! I studied and studied and studied and it was amazing. It was like I could feel God's presence right there, ministering to me as I read His words! It was awesome! Suddenly I was hooked on Jesus! It was like I just got saved all over again. I wanted to follow God with all my heart and wouldn't stop for nothing or no one! I still won't! It's been 4 years (at the time I'm writing this) since that night and God has taken me through a process of changes and I know there are more to come. Each day I see how much more like Christ I need to become and how much yet I am not. Every day is not all laughs and not just full of wild manifestations. I still have struggles and the Lord still deals with areas of my heart that need to change, but there is a fresh joy and a hunger for His presence that I carry in me like I’ve never had before. Destiny, purpose and vision are burning inside! I just want God to make me in to all He wants me to be for His glory. I know the cost is my flesh (that has to die). I still have too much pride I know. I still do things that I don't want to do. But day by day Jesus is changing me and it's all a work of His grace! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's a sometimes difficult, but wonderful adventure! I love the Lord so much. So, that basically described my introduction to the whole "renewal" thing. Curtis had a struggle at first too but God totally blasted him with a heavenly jolt too! He went from a cussing, angry, prideful guy that had to be dragged to church on Sunday, to a guy so "drunk" in love with Jesus that we all had to work at keeping up with him. He started sharing Jesus with his work-mates and sometimes the power of God would so overwhelm him that "strange" things would happen at work. One time he was having a bad day, ended up getting mad at his boss and was ready to cuss him out. As he opened his mouth to curse his boss, the Spirit of the Lord began to move on Curt and instead of cursing he started to shout in tongues. Curtis looked as surprised as his boss when his boss said, "what the hell was all that?!!" Curtis began to laugh, "I don’t know, but it sure wasn't cussing!" He just kept telling the guys about how awesome the Lord was. All of us were changing inside. God was messin' us up good, for His glory. God woke us up and got our attention; that He wanted to be a greater part of our lives than we had ever allowed Him before. The focus never became the "movement" or the "manifestations," though all of those things were a part of what was transpiring, but our focus was being aligned completely on God and God only. Critics of this revival just can't seem to get past the manifestations. (I might also add that, sadly, some people who are part of the revival - at least in the sense of attending "revival meetings" - are equally more concerned about manifestations than they are about Jesus. They get caught up more in the hype of experience than they do the pursuit of Jesus. Manifestations alone are nothing. They should never become the focus.) They sadly miss the whole point, and because of that they just plain miss out! Even though the whole Bible is full of examples of manifestations that followed the moving of God's Spirit, yet religious people today are so shocked by what they see now, and it doesn't seem to matter to them if people are being saved, healed and falling in love with Jesus. Because of their religious tradition and their pride, they make themselves blind to the good things that God is doing by His Spirit. THEY'RE LOOKING MERELY AT SURFACE THINGS AND LOSING SIGHT OF JESUS HIMSELF. I can say that because I understand how uncomfortable some of the manifestations that transpire in this move can make you feel initially (and I don't suggest that all of them are necessarily, in every case, "of God"). But God is in the business of obliterating our comfort zones! Our comfort zones keep us from growing in the Lord and from exercising our faith to its fullest potential. It keeps us from fulfilling our destiny in God because we won’t move when He says, "MOVE!" We just whine, complain and make excuses for why we can't do what He tells us to do. This revival is an awakening to the Church, to come alive, stop playing religious games, believe God and obey His voice. If we will, great joy and blessing will follow us! We serve an awesome God! Full of glory, love and power! And the world will see the light of a city set upon a hill. A true manifestation of REAL Christianity; a people who manifest the character of Jesus. John, Curtis and myself had determined that no matter what the skeptics, critics and mockers said of us, we were going to serve God. So together we committed to re-dedicate our lives and home to Jesus and embark on the radical pursuit of the heart of God and intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were installing new carpet in the living room (where we had already started meeting together with friends for prayer). The power of God fell on us in our house (an by "fell on us" I simply mean that the Lord manifested His presence in an incredible way) and we all were "laid out" on the floor by the Holy Spirit! We laughed and laughed and then laughed some more (which made it take a little longer than usual to install carpet - haha - but what a great time we had). God then began speaking to our hearts that He was desiring to do a new thing in our lives and home because we had opened out hearts to allow Him. Later that day our friend Gus Wheeler came over to pray with us. He brought the prophetic word of the Lord that was also confirmation to what each of us had been hearing the Lord speak to our hearts, that God wanted to open the doors of our home to more people than just our regular circle of Christian friends. I grabbed some card paper and quickly fashioned a sign to hang in the window. It said, "Prayer Shack." The sign still hangs there. We anointed the walls, ceiling and floor with oil (basically intending to make a symbolic act of consecrating our house for the Lord's use) and then all of us joined hands to pray in the kitchen that night and dedicate the house to the Lord for His use. We then grabbed a loaf of bread and some grape juice and had communion together. When the grape juice was poured and we finished drinking, we just started to worship when BAM!!! All four of us fell backwards to the floor and none of us knew what hit us. It had begun! I know this sounds radical but it really happened. Already we could sense a change had transpired in the dedication. This house no longer belonged to me or anyone else, it was God's house! Not in the sense of meaning "the literal place where He lives" or in the sense of "a temple" (for it is His people that are His temple and no building) but in the sense that He was free to use us and this place would be a meeting place for anyone who wanted to just have space to get away from things to pray and worship God. Gus and I got up and began to do a sort of "Jericho march" around the house (as Gus felt prompted of the Lord to do so and complete the dedication). By about the 5th time around you could literally hear demons screaming on the exterior of the property line, as if they had just been officially evicted. It tripped me out. Following the 7th round I looked up and had an impression that there were four HUGE angels, one on each corner of the property. Whoooaaaah man! Intense!!!  In the weeks, months and years that have followed that night, what God has consistently done in our midst is nothing less than awesome! He always shows up to bless His children and deal bountifully in their lives. Many nights have been met with such a blast of spiritual intensity that it can be most difficult to describe. I can recall times when the power and presence of the Lord has been so strongly sensed in the room that we would just dance and worship and pray literally ALL NIGHT LONG and not tire! Many times my roommates and I would be awakened in the middle of night by the Lord and find ourselves overcome by the sweet presence of Jesus.  I remember laughing so hard one night when I awoke to the sound of John falling out of his bed shaking and laughing because God was ministering to him EVEN IN HIS SLEEP! Once that happened, you couldn't just go back to bed, you had to stay up then and pray... Maybe even crank up the worship music (some of our favorites being Lisa Bevill, Margaret Becker, World Wide Message Tribe, Delirious, Iona, and Jars of Clay) and just spend hours dancing in the Lord's presence until the mornin' light! God always manifests His presence as His people purpose to seek Him with all their hearts. This is what has been so awesome to experience; just the joy of being in the presence of Jesus, loving on Him and letting His love penetrate, soak and saturate our lives.I want to reiterate again the fact that God's outpouring in my life and home has nothing to do with the location or the title we've given to the meetings. God is eager to touch any soul who hungers and thirsts for righteousness and intimacy with Him. I guess in this one respect we were a bit at odds with the terminology popular in the Toronto crowd. A common teaching was that you had to go someplace to get this touch from God and it could only come through someone who had already had it imparted to them. We didn't really follow that kind of logic. We believed that God could touch ANYONE who simply has a hungry heart for Him. His Word promises that IF YOU SEEK HIM, YOU WILL FIND HIM and He gives GOOD THINGS to those who ask(Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:9-13)!!! If you desire His presence to be made manifest in your life, if you hunger and thirst after righteousness, if you pursue His heart with a passion and allow yourself to become desperate for God, HE WILL MEET YOU IN A POWERFUL, DYNAMIC, LIFE CHANGING WAY!!! Jesus loves you so much friend! It has been an adventure like you would not believe! God has done and still is doing so many incredible things. These have been the best, most intense, life changing days of my life. Of course we are still human and go through difficult times just like everyone else. Sometimes we blow it and find ourselves, once again, in need of the awesome grace of God, but our heart is to continue advancing the kingdom of God; to walk in His statutes and follow all His ways. Since experiencing this outpouring of God's Spirit in renewal, my life has been changed. Many of my perspectives are different. Some are still transforming. But my heart is fixed on one goal, to know Jesus closer than I ever have before. I want to become so in love with Him that it just spills over on to every person I meet. Yes, it's true I have quite a distance to travel yet on that road, but day by day, through each circumstance of life, God is working His change in my life. I want to be all He has called me to be. I want to follow where He leads, do what He says, and be the best I can be for Him. We've been having weekly "prayer meetings" in my home, going on 4 years now and there's no plan to stop it yet. As long as God keeps "showin' up" (if you will allow the term) and working in our hearts, we'll be there to meet Him and let Him do whatever He wants with us. He is awesome! He is the reason for it all! All praise, glory and honor goes to His holy name alone!!! Jesus is wonderful!!! Ok, so now you know that we're Christians, we pray and that our heart is to be sold out to Jesus, but I still hear some of you saying, "but what's the Prayer Shack? Is it a church? Is it a Bible study? Is it a home cell group? A fellowship hour? What is it? What do you do there?" Well, we are not a church or an "organized ministry" per say, though ministry definitely transpires in each gathering (and of course our prayer is that God will minister to you by His Spirit as your browse through the pages of this web site). We are not a closed, isolated group, or some strange cult, practicing secret rituals in a barn house on the outskirts of town as some may have suspected (and believe me, some have suspected things like that). We are just ordinary people who love Jesus with all our hearts and we want to continue to mature and grow stronger in our relationship with God. So instead of spending our weeknights in front of the "tube," just wasting time, we're taking time to spend in fellowship with our Lord; just enjoying being in His presence, loving Him, worshiping Him and listening for His voice, praying, singing, dancing, reading His Word and just following the lead of His Spirit wherever He desires to take us. It's a total blast! It's the ultimate adventure of life! God is definitely more fun than watching TV! A whole lot of people are starting to really begin to discover that reality… yup, even some of us Christians who say we've known God for years; we're finding that we need so much more of Him in our lives. I, for one, know that… and I am so desperate to be closer to Jesus than I have ever been before! He's that real people! He's that awesome! And while my house happened to attribute the nickname of Prayer Shack as we continued to meet, really, my place is nothing special. God can do what He's done in my home anywhere! Even right in that room where you sit reading this! He is no respecter of persons and doesn't play favorites. All that is required is a heart that is willing to allow the Spirit of God to have His way in it. That's it. We didn't ask God to do what He did in our home (my home I guess I should say now since I'm the only one still actually living there). I can't tell you that because we prayed and fasted for 40 days and cried out for a move of God, He came. I have nothing I can brag about to say God did it here because....... All I can say is God did I and I am so blessed that He did. I praise Him for His love and mercy. God is radically cool man! He is the best! Definitely NOT boring at all! And whoever thought that knowing God could never be fun or exciting, well… they thought wrong! Someone lied to them! Religion, for sure, is boring, dead and lifeless (God doesn't even like it), but God is alive and kickin' my friend (kickin’ the devil)! He is awesome! To know Jesus and have relationship with Him is the ultimate, most satisfying joy of life possible! Unfortunately, the media, Hollywood and, yes, even the Church has often painted a pretty dismal, unattractive, less than exciting (and sometimes depressing) picture of what real Christianity is all about. Sadly, many well known televangelists have shown the world a Jesus who cares more about their pocket books than their hearts. It's a lie! God doesn't care about you giving Him all your money. God loves you! God loves you PERIOD! And God loved the world; so much so that He gave His own life for it! Like an unknown stranger who sacrifices his own life by jumping in front of a train to push someone else in danger (who didn't even know him) out of the way, Jesus died on a cross to save mankind from having to spend eternity forever in torment for their sin, and forever separated from Him. Men rejected Jesus; they didn't understand who He was or why He came. But His ultimate sacrifice of love brought the gift of eternal life to all who would accept it! Not only that, His gift brings joy and fulfillment NOW! HERE! IN THIS LIFE! TODAY!!! No matter what you've done, God grace covers it! You can never earn it! It's free and it's yours, no questions asked! But it is the answer to all of your questions! The perfect, sinless blood He shed paid the price (IN FULL) for your freedom and mine! Nothing you or anyone can try to do is more powerful or more intense than that awesome, incomprehensible, unconditional love! Think about that for a moment; GOD DIED FOR YOU! Whoah man! Even better though, He didn't stay dead! All them other dudes (you know; Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, Joseph Smith, Dave Koresh, etc.) they're all still eatin' dust in their graves (and not one of them gave their lives to pay for the sins of all mankind; not one of them could because not one of them was perfect). And just like I said, they're all still dead! But not Jesus! His tomb's empty! That's fact! He got up, kicked the devil (who hates you and was counting on you having to spend all eternity in hell with him), kicked him right in the face, crushed him under His feet and rendered him powerless to touch your soul! God's love is nothing less that intense! He desires to pour out that same intensity of love upon you! In fact, He already has made the provision for it to happen; you just have to receive it! This is the purpose of this web site, to let you know that GOD LOVES YA SOOOOO MUCH!!! God wants to make you so full of His Spirit, so full of His love, so full of His joy, that some people might even think your crazy! But guess what? You're not gonna care! Others might even say you look a little drunk. You will be! Drunk in love with Jesus! Drunk with the Wine of His Spirit. I really don't care what religious people think about me now. I'm a serious Christian who loves to party in the Lord and loves to do some serious drinkin’ (if you know what I mean). I like to boogie too man! Dance my brains out! Now, if using words like that to describe my relationship with Jesus bug ya, well… I think what you need is good, strong drink too…he..he! A drink of that New Wine of the Spirit; the touch of the presence of God in your life; the Living Water of Life that only comes from Jesus Christ! He wants to fill you with it and cause it to overflow with such great measure in your life that it splashes over on to every one you come in contact with! This Wine is not wine as you suppose, it's the New Wine of the Holy Ghost! It has power to change your heart, your life, your marriage, your relationships with people… IT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING! It can do that because it is God's presence in your life! If you only let Jesus fill your heart with this water of life, this New Wine of the Holy Spirit, you'll be so drunk on His life that you'll not believe you ever settled for anything less! Believe me friend, it's that good! Every thing the devil has is a counterfeit of what is true and real. The world gets drunk on wine that leaves you with a hangover, liver damage, less brain cells and sometimes it will kill you! God's Wine is stronger that anything you've ever tasted! The hangover is joy and a changed heart. It brings life, peace, fulfillment and purpose for the future. It washes away loneliness and depression forever, not just for one night. It breaks down your inhibitions to loosen you up so you can feel free to be who you are in God and share His love with others. This Wine makes you stronger, healthier, freer than you've ever imagined possible! It brings healing and miracles to your life and to the life of those you share it with. Jesus Himself said that if you ever drink of this water, you will never thirst again! Anyway, this is what the Shack's all about; JESUS!!! Just letting Him have His way in our lives. Currently there is no schedule for when we meet. We just meet every chance we can. Anyone is welcome to show up and seek God with us. Some powerful, anointed worship music often plays on the stereo system as we just set our minds on Jesus and wait for His Spirit to move upon our hearts and speak to us. If you feel like singing, then sing. If ya feel like dancing, then dance. Feel like laughing for joy? Go ahead! If God is dealing with your heart in a serious, quiet way, then just let Him do it. If you want to intercede and pray, go for it man! If He stirs your heart to read some scriptures or maybe you just need someone else to pray with you/for you… we're all here to love Jesus and love each other and seek out the heart of God. We want to touch the Throne of Glory and walk in obedience to the call of God. There's no format, no religious order, no hymnal, no sermons, no structure of man whatsoever; JUST JESUS! That's all! That's enough! Some of the other comments people have made about the Shack are usually about the non-traditional atmosphere of the "meetings." I hate to even call them "meetings" because that word generally, at least to my thinking, implies some sort of religious structure or human order, and here there really is none. The only "meeting" happening is the one with God. I guess sometimes it can be hard for people to get the traditional image of a "normal church gathering" out of their minds when they visit. And that's where I have to reiterate again that this is not a church and it's not a church meeting or any other ordinary, traditional type of religious gathering. It's just people getting together with a united purpose to seek the heart of God. I think that's probably where some of the more critical comments and questions have derived from; because of peoples' individual and preconceived suppositions and expectations. When you walk into the main room of my home, you'll find yourself surrounded by a wild little display of spinning, and stationary colored lights. A beaded curtain hangs from the door, colorful paintings depicting revival themes cover the walls, and there are little signs posted all over the ceiling that quote encouraging phrases and scriptures. Strobe lights, spot lights, party lights, a few candles, and even a big disco mirror ball spin and flash in harmony with the worship music blasting on the stereo. There's no furniture, only a few large pillows scattered across the carpet floor. Kind of makes some people think they are having a flash back from the late 60s or something…he..he.. Well, the "peace, love" part it right still. Except that now it's "peace, love and Jesus" man! Grrrooooovy! Oh yes, and we're definitely getting' high; high on God's awesome love! 'Cause after all, there's no high like the Most High (as my good buddy Stan Gorman used to preach)!!! I guess some people think it's weird and radical or something to spend hours just "hanging out" with Jesus. You should hear some of the criticisms I've received over the last 4 years since we started meeting for prayer and worship. It's funny how even so many Christians don't seem to have a problem with checking out an R rated flick at the movie house once in a while or perhaps they might even enjoy having a casual drink now and then (and that's fine with me if it's fine with them, I'm not their judge... I enjoy the micro brew now and then too), but siting around waiting on God, praying, worshiping and just enjoying being in His presence is somehow waaaaay out there? I have to laugh... but if I dare do that (If I dare laugh), then I'm really in for it because there's this nasty little rumor going around various religious circles that laughter is of the devil. Have you heard that one? Since when is JOY an attribute of the devil? My friend it is not! I'm not saying it is impossible for there to be demonic, counterfeit manifestations - but what I have been describing to you has nothing to do with the glorification of flesh, let alone the devil. I am talking about joy in walking with Jesus. That is not demonic fruit. I know there are web sites around that are preaching against these types of things. They claim it to be emotionalism or sometimes even demonic. They totally miss the focus which is always relationship with Jesus. They totally ignore the true life testimonies of people whose lives have been changed by God. I've seen people receive a powerful touch from God and get free of things like drugs, alcoholism, smoking. I've seen others healed of diseases, even depression, panic attacks, anger and many other things. You see, sometimes, when the presence of the Lord comes upon someone they might be so overcome with the Joy of the Lord, the love of Jesus and the work He is doing in their heart that all they can help but do is laugh, or shout, maybe even shake, tremble or sing, because He is so wonderful and He's changing their heart. What transpires on the exterior may not always make sense to the natural mind, but so what. God is dealing in hearts and who is a man to judge by mere appearance what may or may not be transpiring in a person's heart. The Shack is all about revival happening! It is happening! No man will stop it! Even though he may try. Have you ever been so excited about something that you began to laugh, sing or even dance a little? That's not so strange is it? Someone shows you affection and you smile or maybe laugh because it makes you happy and it feels good to your heart. People win a little bit of money on a stupid game show and go ballistic! They shake and jump, laugh, scream, sometimes they even cry. But somehow there is this foolish notion that God does not actuate that magnitude of excitement. In this move of God we are experiencing, sometimes you might see a person shake, laugh, scream, dance, or any number of other manifestations. The religious mind will tell you that God would never cause people to behave like that, especially in church. On the contrary I dare say that when a person grabs the power line of the Holy Ghost things are gonna get shaken up a bit. When God's in the house and when we give Him total control of our lives, when we yield our heart to Him and when we become desperate and hungry for His presence in our lives, we should expect the unexpected because who can know the mind of the Lord? Only a proud man thinks he does. The Bible makes clear to us that the natural mind cannot understand the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians chapter 2 - read it). Furthermore God's ways and His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), so it is mere pride and foolishness that could dare think otherwise. God is bigger, smarter, and more awesome than our finite human brains could ever hope to figure out. What I feel like saying to the critics of revival and those who are just a little too religious yet is, "C'mon people, lighten up! Quit trying to fit God in your little matchboxes! He don't fit in there anyway, let me just tell ya that now and save you the effort." Believe it or not God is fun! He's a loving, joyful and wonderful person! He's awesome! The Bible says that Jesus Himself was anointed with the oil of gladdness! Just what do you suppose that means? If you're not so sure yet, that's ok friend, but I dare you to find out! God has done so many wonderful and amazing things! It has been quite a ride so far, but I’m looking forward to the future! I know God has awesome things in store if we will but only yield to Him and obey! I pray this story of revival touched your heart. It can happen to you as well my friend. All you have to be is hungry for God. All you have to do is want Him! Don't seek an emotional experience or a manifestation. Don't even worry about that stuff. It may never happen. SO WHAT? Just purpose to seek Him and He will speak to you and His Spirit will lead you. If you have questions or need prayer, please don’t hesitate to write me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. May you be totally blessed of God my friend! May His Spirit rest upon you even now! Enjoy the rest of the site. Have a wonderful day!!! by Dave - 2005 (and some added comments from 2007) I would like to add some final comments with regard to the previous article. Back when I wrote this I had no idea that a day would come when God would call me to leave the organization I attended, let alone "organized religion" itself. I have often read over what transpired back in the mid to late 90's and find myself still in amazement over the process of changes God brought me through. As I even acknowleged back then, I knew that not everything that transpired was "of God" but probably a fair amount flesh (my own included). Part of the reason for keeping this article up is to remind me of some that and where I came from and where God has since brought me to. When I was a teenager, shortly before I made the decision to move out to Tri-Cities (where I live currently), I remember well the night I laid out on my bed, weeping and telling the Lord that I didn't care what He wanted to do with my life; I would go anywhere and do anything, so long as I could simply know Him intimately. In all my life experiences thus far, that one goal has kept me grounded. That doesn't mean I have never missed the mark... I have plenty of times (in fact, some of the embarassing influences I gave myself to over my years spent in the institutional church and even through the "renewal" movement remind me of that)... but the underlying passion to know Him close has kept my focus on Him (and His Word) and has made me less susceptable to follow things merely for the sake of some kind of self gratification. This was, in fact, what bothered me as I watched the excitement over renewal begin to die down. It became obvious how many people were sustained by the experiences and the weekly expectation of lively meetings. Eventually, working up the flesh became exhausting and boring and rather that humble themselves and admit they had lost sight of Jesus, they made excuses; "Oh, this season of revival is now over and God is bringing us into a new thing." Garbage!!! I don't buy it now and I didn't buy it then either. I watched as people jumped from one program to another; trying to satisfy their thirst for a new experience. What God (I believe) intended for good, men made an idol of. Thankfully, not everyone fell to this deception. In fact, I still believe God accomplished a powerful work through that period of history - even though man added much of his own "works" to it. For even though many tried to program revival services and leaders took advantage of the hype and used it to exert influence and control over bodies of people, even for the purpose of cheating them out of their money, God brought all of the things to the surface and those whose heart were purely fixed on Him, were not caught in the delusion! They stayed fixed on Christ, their eyes opened to the truth, and they remain in passionate pursuit of the Lord. Some of you just caught that I used the word "delusion". It was no accident. I do feel that there was a delusion that transpired in many respects during that season of the "renewal movement". It's a humbling thing to acknowledge that, since I was myself blind to it at the time. I am glad that the Lord brought me through and opened my eyes through it so that I could look back and realize, with all sincerity and humility, that I am just as susceptible to error as anyone else. It is that reality that helps remind me that even some of the people I encounter today that are steeped in religion and error are, quite often, not much different from myself. I have to remind myself to be merciful as God is merciful because God has been so merciful to me, over and over again. He knows what He's up to in a person's life and what it takes to draw them to Himself and free them from all the chains that bind them. I have often marveled at the Scripture (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11) where it says, "For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned." I will not say here that renewal was "the" strong delusion spoken of in this passage; however, it is curious to me how God says that He Himself will send delusion and deception to divide the truth seekers from those who love not the truth. Could it be, I wonder, that renewal was one such delusion? For certainly there are many who ran full on into even greater deception (even through this very movement itself), but there were also many who awoke to an increased love for God's truth and a passion to run even harder after Him. These have not camped on the mountain of experience, but continue to follow Him wherever He leads. Could it be that, on occasion, what men refer to as "revivals" are even "delusions" in some respect, sent by God to test the hearts of men and realign their focus on Him only. Motives are revealed and some grab wholly onto Him, while others show their infidelity. If this is what happened in renewal, then I praise God all the more for bringing it to pass. Today we have preachers that look for these opportunites to make something of themselves and their ministries, even through such movements. They have witnessed how excitement over the supernatural makes people susceptable to follow other leaders. It should be no surprise to us that Jesus and the apostles prophesied of a day coming when people would run after false prophets and messiahs and believe lying signs and wonders. God has indeed sent the real thing and the counterfeits often soon follow (sometimes even appearing at the same moment as the true). I think rather than sit around and wonder whether this movement or that movement was "of God" or not, we ought to not even get distracted with such petty concerns. Our focus must stay forever fixed on Him. Where are we at at this present moment and time? We all have flesh and we all fail at times. But let our motives be tried by His fire so that those who are true and believe His Truth will be manifest apart from those who seek for themselves only. May God continue to draw us closer to His heart and keep us in His Truth. God bless you! Recently (January of 2007), I read an amazing letter by one of the prominent institutional church pastors in Toronto who promoted the "Toronto Blessing" heavily - along with all of its doctrinal oddities. In the letter he humbly repents for the errors he helped to propagate and gets bluntly honest in admitting a most uncomfortable truth he feels the Lord revealed to him; that much of what transpired through this movement may have actually been more "demonic" than it was "God-ordained". I discovered this letter a very long time after posting my comments (above) about my suspicions of the renewal movement being a kind of delusion and so this struck me as significant. For those of you interested, I invite you to read this. I do not share this to discredit any of the very wonderful things I know God did in so many people's lives during this time, but to allow a full and honest examination as well and not be timid about recognizing that there were many concepts that were harmful to our understanding of truth and alignment with pure Christian doctrine. God bless you! :) A Toronto Pastor Repents by Paul Gowdy |