The Albuquerque Fire Pit

And Other Divinely Granted Visitations That Changed My Life Forever

 Visited by an Angel. Slain in the Spirit for Three Days & A Personal Visitation of Jesus.

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Updated  February, 2010 by John Hamel

Televangelists. Who needed them? Certainly not me. I didn't like them and I didn't mind saying so.  I especially didn't like that one who was always raising big money for one reason or another.  To make matters worse, his wife had really big hair.  People in Boston didn't look like that.  She cried all the time, too, mascara running down her face like Niagara Falls.  "They need all that money to keep her supplied with false eyelashes, mascara and hairspray," I thought to myself.  I was spiritually dead and ruled by selfish, human pride. Therefore, I had no need for either one of them.  That is, until my former wife and I became far more involved with drugs and alcohol than we had been previously.  Pride, drugs and alcohol are a deadly combination and not exactly the prescription for success. I was about to discover the high cost of traveling life’s low road.

Everything started falling apart.  My wife took the babies and left me.  I was in a state of shock. My heart was completely broken.  I was devastated. To make matters even worse, I then lost a business I had worked so hard to build.  Five of my friends, including one of my suppliers, had recently died using the same bad drugs I was using.  Why I didn’t die, too, I couldn’t understand.  I was scared.  I knew I needed the kind of help that only God could give.

Three years prior to this I had given God my word that I would serve Him in exchange for His help during a crisis, but I did not do so.  At that time, my former wife was giving birth to our daughter and serious complications developed.  A nurse came to me in the Father’s waiting room and said, “Mr. Hamel, I don’t know whether you believe in God or not but if you do, I would suggest that you pray.  There’s a great possibility that you are going to lose both your wife and your baby tonight and you’ll want to be prepared for that.”  Stoically she turned away and walked out of the room leaving me standing there alone.  Fear hit me like a Tsunami wave.

I dropped to my knees that night and cried out with my very best emergency prayer, “Oh, God, if You’ll let them live, I’ll give you my life.  I’ll do anything You want me to do.  I’ll give you my life if only You’ll let them live.”  Although I did not know enough about the Bible at that time to pray to God in Jesus’ Name, He had great mercy on me.  Shortly after that prayer of committal from my heart, my newborn daughter, Kristin, was wheeled out to me in an incubator.  She was lying face down on her belly.  As I looked down upon her she pushed herself up with her arms, lifted her head and turned to look up at me.  Her eyes were wide open as she looked directly into mine.  

The nurse exclaimed, “Oh, my God, in all my years of nursing I’ve never seen a brand new baby do something like that.  She’s pushing herself up and looking right at you. Oh, my God!”  It was rather astounding even to me.  To this day I believe the Spirit of God moved upon my newborn daughter supernaturally enabling her to do such a thing. He was confirming to me that it was Him indeed Who had intervened in response to my emergency prayer of commitment.

Although I kept in mind what I had promised God for the next three years, I was unable to fulfill my promise to Him.  I simply did not know how one went about giving their life to God.  In fear, frustration and anxiety we continued using drugs and alcohol. 

Now here we were once again, three years later, desperately needing His help. 

Would He help us again?  Even after I did not keep my word to Him? I remembered how my Dad had told me about a big prayer that God had answered for him years earlier, too.  My Dad wasn’t exactly the personification of all that is patient, good and kind.  I mean, I loved him in spite of himself, but he was one exceptionally hard and cruel taskmaster.  Although years later I would lead him to salvation in Christ, I would rather have been raised by Godzilla!  At least Godzilla was kind to and protective of Baby Godzilla!  Yet, God answered my Dad’s prayer.  So, I thought something like, “Maybe, just maybe, God will help me, too.  I guess it all depends on how angry He is with me.” 

I realize now that I was unfairly judging God by my earthly father’s anger and cruelty. Plus, the Denomination I grew up in taught us about a God Who could get pretty angry.  I figured surely He must be pretty ticked off at me because of the drugs and all.  But I had to find out for sure.  It came to my remembrance how when I was 17 years old, standing alone in front of the corner store, lighting a cigarette, I heard a voice.  A voice that said, “I love you.”  I always wondered if that was the Voice of God.  Certainly the words “I love you” didn’t go with what my Denomination had taught me.  But, maybe they were wrong.

Now, three years after my hospital emergency prayer, in the spring of 1981, my wife had taken the children and left. We both needed to be free from drug and alcohol addiction.  I was desperate.  To whom could I turn to tell me what God was really like?  The money-raising Televangelist and his crying wife with the mascara problem and the Texas-sized hair were the only ones who came to mind.  I felt like a hypocrite but decided to give them a try. Desperately flipping channels, my blood system full of drugs, I finally found them.  The Preacher’s face appeared on the television screen and he immediately began speaking to me, directly.  I was shocked as he answered the very reasoning of my heart. 

“If you’re a drug addict and you think God’s mad at you, YOU ARE WRONG,” he declared.  “God loves you.  If you’ll ask Him, in the Name of Jesus, He’ll set you free from your drug addiction.”  I fell to my knees and began to sob.  I cried, “God, if that’s true and You’ll set me free, I’ll serve You for the rest of my life. I give you my word. I’ll serve you with the rest of my life.” 

Do you know what happened after I prayed that sincere prayer from my broken heart?  Nothing! Absolutely nothing at all.  Maybe the Televangelist didn’t know what he was talking about after all.  Maybe God was just sick and tired of me and really, I couldn’t blame Him.  He had already given me one chance and I squandered that.  I didn’t deserve another.

My First Angelic Visitation

Soon after praying that prayer, I lay down on the sofa, covering up with a blanket, so discouraged and full of despair.  The drugs and alcohol affected my circulation so severely that my feet and hands were constantly cold.  I was an emaciated wreck.  Approximately one hundred and twenty pounds on a five foot eleven frame.  My fingernails were bitten and bloodied.  I had been literally surviving on chocolate-covered donuts and beer.  I felt that I would die of rejection and loneliness lying there, locked in my home for days all alone. 

Suddenly, from behind me, someone softly laid a hand upon my head.  This wasn’t just any hand.  This was a giant hand that absolutely startled me.  As a boy I would ride the train into Boston Garden to watch “Professional” wrestling matches.  I once saw Killer Kowalski take on Andre the Giant in a “Death Match.”  I thought Andre had the biggest hands in the world until this hand came upon my head.  I turned to see who had slipped into my my locked house, coming up behind me.  No one was there.  I jumped up and went through every room and every closet, looking to see who was hiding and playing games with me.  I frantically checked every door and every window.  They were all locked.  I was alone.  I must have imagined it.

Lying back down on the sofa that giant hand rested upon my head again ever so gently.  I jumped up, repeating the entire search process.  Once again I was convinced that I was indeed alone and that my tormented mind was simply playing tricks on me.  After all, drugs, alcohol and a steady diet of chocolate-covered donuts can produce imaginary experiences. 

For the third time I lay on the sofa.  As soon as I settled down, the giant hand was placed gently on my head again.  It was so large that it easily reached both my ears and my forehead.  This time there was no getting up.  Something began to “pour” out of that hand.  Some sort of warm, liquid substance began to pour into me through my head.  It felt like hot honey was being poured into me.  I was paralyzed but not with fear.  It was as if I was being paralyzed with love -- hot liquid love.   Down into my cold fingers it flowed so peacefully.  Down into my cold, cold toes it slowly went.  I was being overwhelmed by some sort of hot, liquid love that poured into my body through a giant, invisible hand on top of my head.  I lay there basking in this love that I had never experienced before when suddenly I lost consciousness.

What happened next, I do not know.  I didn’t wake up until NEARLY THREE FULL DAYS LATER.  I realized that during that entire time I had not changed positions.  Neither had I dreamed.  Every bodily function had shut down entirely.  Some may struggle with this but I am convinced that I was not even breathing. 

Years later I discovered how Sister Maria Woodworth-Etter had a similar experience while preaching in St. Louis, Missouri, around the turn of the century.  She was preaching in a tent meeting when the power of God came upon her.  She had her hand up and her mouth open, about to say something, when suddenly she froze in place.  She stayed in that position for three full days and nights, neither moving nor uttering a word.  All of her bodily functions ceased as well, including breathing.  Grown men attempted to move her from her frozen position and were unable to do so.  She was literally locked in place as a testimony to the Power of God. (Ezekiel 33:22; Acts 2:43)  

Over 150,000 people filed by to witness this astounding sign, wonder and miracle of God.  At the end of three days and nights she began breathing and moving, PICKING UP HER SERMON EXACTLY WHERE SHE HAD LEFT OFF.  The St. Louis newspapers covered the story.  Her life story can be found on the Internet & FaceBook simply by searching her name. The 1924 photo below is of Sister Woodworth-Etter.

As I slowly regained consciousness that third day, I became sharply aware of one thing.  I HAD BEEN SET FREE FROM ALL DESIRE FOR DRUGS OR ALCOHOL. The desire that was always there when I woke up each morning was gone.  I was free from fear.  Anger and unforgiveness were noticeably missing, as well.  God had forgiven me and delivered me.  How could I not now forgive those who had hurt me?  I felt brand new on the inside.  I remember showering after this supernatural 3-day "slain in the Spirit" experience and thinking to myself, “I don’t know why I’m doing this.  I feel like I couldn’t possibly be any cleaner.”  I soon discovered that this was because the Bible said I had become a “New Creation in Christ” when I called upon His Name. (2 Corinthians 5:17)    I picked up an old beat up Bible and started reading it voraciously.  Preaching and teaching it, too.  I haven’t put it down nearly thirty years later. 

The Televangelist and his wife were right and I was wrong.  God wasn't mad at me.  Now I knew it was Him Who said "I love you" that day in front of the grocery store while I was lighting a cigarette.  It actually troubles some people that I would say God told me He loved me while I was smoking a cigarette.  They don’t understand the Bible says that Jesus came because God so loved the world, smokers and non-smokers alike. (John 3:16)  Besides, nobody ever went to Hell for smoking cigarettes.  People go to Hell for rejecting redemption in Christ.  Now, I haven’t smoked a cigarette for twenty-six years, but God loved me as much when I was smoking as He does now that I don’t.   

As a result of my spectacular conversion experience and uneducated zeal most of my family and friends said, "Man, Hamel's really lost it, now."  They were right, too.  I lost my old, weak, destructive life and found a brand new powerful one in Jesus. When everyone else walked out on me, He walked in.  I was and still am unashamed of Him.  I love Him now more than ever.  

Sadly, my former wife informed me that she would have nothing to do with Jesus as I had come to know Him.  Offering to come back if I would renounce my new found relationship with Jesus, I was forced to decline.  “That was our problem to begin with,” I explained.  “Christ was never the focal point of our relationship or our family. I could never go back to doing things without Him again.”  So, she chose her way and I chose God’s way, hoping and praying that she would change.  She did not.  That’s what an encounter with the God of Creation will do to human beings.  It will harden you or it will soften you, but one way or another you’ll never be the same.

Sure, early on in my walk with the Lord Satan tried to tempt me with drugs and alcohol again. He  just doesn't give up that easy. However, those old ways just had no lasting attraction any more.  No power either.  They were counterfeits, substitutes for what I had been looking for all my life.  Love.  God’s Love.  The Love that poured into me that morning through the giant hand placed so gently upon my head three times before I fell unconscious for nearly three full days.  Talk about “falling” in Love!  I soon discovered my three day experience was Biblical, indeed. Many people in the Bible had similar experiences when touched by the hand of God. (Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 2:1,2; Daniel 10:8,9; Matthew 17:1-6; Matthew 28:1-4; John 18:1-8; Acts 9:6; Acts 26:14, etc.)

Having had multiple Angelic visitations since that day, I have discovered to whom that giant hand belonged.  It belonged to God’s Angel.  My Angel.  One of the Angels that was assigned to me at birth. (Matthew 18:10)  The Angels of God are giant creatures indeed.  The ones that have appeared to me over the past nearly thirty years stand on average ten to twelve feet tall.  Even taller.  Their hands are the size of the hand that was placed on my head three times that day.  It was my Angel’s hand. The tangible anointing of God was transferred to me by the laying on of the Angel's hand and I literally fell under the power of God for nearly three full days.

My First Visitation of Jesus as He  Commissioned Me 

Within 24 hours of regaining consciousness from having been "slain in the Spirit" for those three days, I received the first of what has been multiple visitations of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In an open vision He came to me out of a literal, cloud-like whirlwind which suddenly appeared, spinning before me as I was on my knees.  Two white winged Angels, dressed in white, pushed the whirlwind cloud wide open from its spinning center point, like sliding doors, and Jesus came out of the whirlwind appearing right before me. The entire scene was very similar to the whirlwind and Angels described in Ezekiel's commissioning in Ezekiel chapters one through three, which I had never read before this visitation. I did not even know the book of Ezekiel existed. At that time Jesus stood before me and personally commissioned and anointed me, through an impartation from His right hand, to the Ministry Offices to which I am called. 

Of course, it has taken decades to develop into those Offices.  (I will spend the rest of my life doing so.) No one starts out in the Offices to which they are called.  It takes tremendous discipline, endurance, faithfulness, prayer and study to properly develop in any of the 5-Fold Ministry Offices of Ephesians 4:8-11.  Tremendous persecution also accompanies some of those Offices, one in particular.  However, Jesus Himself did personally commission me to those Offices at the time of this Divinely-granted visitation. 

Having done so, Jesus and the two Angels then went back into the whirlwind from where they had come, Jesus first. The Angels then closed the opening in the spinning cloud behind them, like sliding doors, disappearing into it and the whirlwind dissipated before my eyes.  I was left kneeling there, stunned and all alone. I began to know things supernaturally from that very day. For years I never shared this visitation with anyone. I was concerned they might not believe or understand me. I have grown past that. Jesus visited me that day and personally anointed me to help people, not to fear what they might think, say or do. (Ezekiel 2:5-7, 3:8,9)

You will also read later in this testimony how in 1984, Almighty God Himself, not Jesus, quoted Ezekiel 3:18 to me, word for word, also from Ezekiel's commissioning.  At that time I was in an Albuquerque, New Mexico hotel room when He rebuked me by His authoritative voice because I had not been fully yielding to Christ's prior appearance and commissioning.

Also, later in 1984, I was caught up in a trance in Las Vegas, Nevada and found myself once again in the presence of Jesus as He gave me personal insight, correction and direction concerning His will for my attending Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You can read about that in the article, "The Word of Wisdom" at the JHM Bible Study Centre. 

This was not to be the last time I would find myself suddenly in the presence of the Master. On the homepage of this web site you will find the article, "Great Spiritual Awakening Is Returning to America."  It is the account of my February 28, 2004, 45-minute Divinely-granted visitation of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit, revealing the coming Revival/Awakening to me in fascinating detail. I was praying in the Holy Spirit with my wife, in a Vermont motel room, when Jesus suddenly caught me up in the Spirit. I found myself suspended in the Heavenlies, standing right beside Him, from a vantage point just above the earth as the Awakening began to unfold beneath us. I watched in amazement as it began in New England, spreading across America and moving to the nations of the world! I witnessed multiple millions of hurting, confused, penitent human beings coming to Jesus just in the Northeastern United States alone. 

 Yet Another Divine Appointment

Approximately nine months had now passed since being so gently, yet so powerfully touched by the Angel's giant hand and being called and personally commissioned thru a Divinely granted appearance of Jesus.  Now another Divine appointment awaited me.  I was sitting in a restaurant one morning, discreetly reading my Bible.  A young man wearing cowboy boots and holding a cowboy hat approached me and said, “Hello.  I see you’re reading the Bible.  Are you a Christian?”  I told him that I was, indeed.  He said his name was Michael and that he was a “Charismatic Catholic.”  He invited me to dinner at his girlfriend's house and a Godly friendship quickly developed. 

Michael gave me a box of cassette tapes.  They were by a Minister whom I had been listening to on the radio.  His name was Dr. Kenneth Copeland. Michael’s girlfriend and soon to be wife, Barbara, also gave me my very first Christian book.  It was “The Ministry of A Prophet” by Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin.  Soon I was also to encounter the Ministry of Dr. Lester Sumrall.  Little did I realize then how the combined Ministries of these three great men of faith would impact me for the rest of my life.  They became “Spiritual Fathers” to me.  Sometimes when telling the story of how God has used these three men to bring me up in the Faith, I refer to it as “Three Men and A Baby.”

One night during one of my regular visits, Michael and Barbara were playing their guitars and singing to the Lord.  Michael began to softly speak in a strange language.  I stopped him and asked, “What is that?  What is that language you are speaking?”  He answered, “It’s Tongues.  It’s a gift.  Ask God and He’ll give it to you.”  “But what is it?” I insisted.  Michael repeated, “It’s Tongues.  It’s a gift.  Ask God and He’ll give it to you.”  He returned to playing his guitar and speaking in that strange language. 

Something “went off” on the inside of me at that moment.  I could no longer sit still.  Whatever this “gift” was, if it was of God, I was determined to have it.  Jumping up and grabbing my jacket, I headed out into the crisp winter night.  All the way home I repeated these words, “God, if that’s from You, I’ve got to have it.”  Over and over I repeated those words, hurrying home through the moonlit snow.  I had a special prayer place in the attic.  I just knew when I got there God would give His special “gift” to me.

Pushing the attic door open, a literal, soundless, explosion of white light enveloped me as I stepped inside.  It was a white that was whiter than the whitest of all earthly whites.  The Apostle Paul referred to this explosion of white light as being “above the brightness of the sun” when describing his Damascus road encounter with it. (Acts 26:13)  How accurate!  The light of God’s Glory is above the brightness of ten thousand suns! I was literally blinded by it.

I was knocked me to my knees.  Enveloped in this shining light from Heaven, I fell on my face praying profusely in other tongues.  It seemed as if I had fallen into a Heavenly blast furnace.  How long I stayed enveloped in that supernatural light, praying in other tongues, I do not know.  My next recollection was waking up the next morning in my bed not knowing how I got there.  I had received the “Baptism with the Holy Spirit” as evidenced by the speaking in other tongues, in a very dramatic way, even as I had been saved, delivered and commissioned in a very dramatic way nine months earlier. (Acts 2:1-4; 19:6)  This was the “gift” that my friend, Michael, was referring to.  A gift that would prove invaluable to me from that night on.  To tell you the truth I have been praying in other tongues on a daily basis for nearly thirty years now - extensively.

Babies Live and Babies Learn

I had been Born Again when I prayed with the Televangelist. 

I had been miraculously delivered from the bondage of drugs, alcohol and fear by an angel of God laying his hand upon my head three times. As a result, I was slain in the Spirit for nearly three full days.  

I had received a personal visitation of Jesus Christ and His two angels and was commissioned to the Ministry thru an impartation from His right hand. 

I had been supernaturally and dramatically enveloped in the Glory of God and baptized with the Holy Spirit in an experience quite similar to the Apostle Paul's on the Road to Damascus. (Acts 9:1-18)

However, I was still just a baby Believer with practically no knowledge of God’s Word other than what I was picking up during my reading times. I was in desperate need of proper New Testament teaching. All I had was a few Kenneth Copeland tapes and that one Kenneth Hagin book on the Ministry of the Prophet. 

That being the case, I wrongly took a job that was not God’s perfect will for me.  That job was driving semi-trucks for a Hollywood Production company.  I now found myself touring America with popular Rock ’n’ Roll bands and Hollywood/Las Vegas-based entertainers.  I had no idea at that time how wrong this job was for me. 

I would drive between major American cities listening to my Kenneth Copeland teaching tapes and praying in other tongues.  Upon arrival at each destination, I’d back my semi-truck up to the staging area to be unloaded for the type of entertainment that is definitely not pleasing to the Lord.  I simply did not know any better.

One evening I was in Texas working with a very popular Mo Town entertainer.  I was sitting in the special employee section in front of the stage.  This man suddenly stopped singing and began “preaching” as the music continued.  As he stood there dressed in silk pajamas, to my shock, he began to explain how performing certain sexual acts while praying in the Name of Jesus could actually bring physical healing to the sick.  The moment those shocking, demented words came out of his mouth, I heard an authoritative voice say to me, “He’ll be dead in two months because of the very words of his mouth.” 

Startled, I looked all around to see who had spoken that to me.  With the exception of another employee and his two guests a distance down in front of me and to my left, there was no one else in this reserved section.  I knew that no one in that entire area could have possibly spoken those words to me so clearly above the sound system.  I thought about what that authoritative voice said for a moment and then got up to leave the auditorium.  I was shocked that this entertainer believed such a thing.  His Dad was a Minister.   I was further shocked that he’d stand up and speak it in front of thousands.

Two months later, back home in Las Vegas, I walked up to a newspaper display and looked at a headline.  It read, “(Entertainer’s name) Shot Dead By Father.”  My mind raced immediately back to that night when I was with him in Austin, Texas when that authoritative voice the Holy Sprit said to me, “He’ll be dead in two months because of the very words of his mouth.”  I was now shocked by the accuracy of those words. 

Still, I didn’t realize how wrong it was for me to play a supportive role in the entertainment industry.  Neither did I understand that the authoritative voice is one of the ways that God can speak to New Testament Believers. (Acts 9:4; 10:13,15)  However, I was about to learn in a very spectacular and most convincing way.

The Voice of Authority Speaks Again

Soon after this I had my semi-truck parked out front just prior to another short tour with a different entertainer.  It was loaded with lighting, staging, costumes, instruments, sound system, etc.  I was to drive from my base of operation in Las Vegas to Albuquerque, New Mexico on behalf of "one of the biggest names in the business.”  Before heading out I decided to pray, asking the Lord to bless my trip.  As I stood in the living room praying, that authoritative voice spoke to me again, saying,  “Don’t go.”  I literally jumped off the floor.  I looked around to see who had come in.  Of course, no one was there.  I searched the entire house to see who was tampering with my mind.  No one was there.  I was alone.  Certainly God wasn’t telling me to not go.  He understood that the truck was loaded and I had no choice. 

I continued praying.  As soon as I began to speak, that voice spoke to me again, audibly.  At least to me it seemed audible.  I know now that it was coming out of my own Born Again human spirit.  It repeated with tremendous authority, “Don’t go.”  I knew then it must be the Voice of God warning me to not take this trip to Albuquerque. 

I took an extra moment to explain to God the situation I was in.  I told Him whom I was working for.  I explained how the truck was loaded with hi-tech equipment, costumes and hardware.  I also explained that it was too late for me to back out.  There was no one else to take the truck to Albuquerque in time for “the show”. 

Having straightened that out with God, I proceeded to climb up into the cab of my tractor-trailer and drive to Albuquerque.  I was confident God understood.  Besides, it was quite possible that I had imagined that voice that told me not to go.   Both times. 

Every mile I drove was another mile driven out of the revealed will of God.  I suddenly began to feel sick physically.  Nausea and slight dizziness began to overtake me.  The further I drove the sicker I became.  Further and further I drove on heading for Albuquerque.  Sicker and sicker I became as well.  I discovered that by listening to my Kenneth Copeland tapes through headphones, the nausea and dizziness would subside to where I could continue to drive.  The Anointing on the Word of God would override the sickness as long as I kept the headphones on.  When I took them off at truck stops, etc., the dizziness and nausea would literally overwhelm me.  Although I couldn’t walk, I could actually drive my semi-truck as long as I kept God’s Word going into my spirit through my ears. (Proverbs 4:20-22)

Finally arriving in Albuquerque, I half-climbed, half-fell out of the cab of my truck.  I staggered into the high-dollar hotel lobby looking like a drunken man.  I was so dizzy and so nauseous that I literally slid along the hotel corridor walls in order to reach my room.  Stumbling into my room, falling onto the bed with the room spinning all around me, I lost consciousness and went immediately into the following  dream.

A Revelation of Accountability

In the dream I was standing on the huge outdoor stage just prior to “the show” in Albuquerque.  I was looking out across the massive outdoor arena.  The crowd was beginning to filter in from the parking areas.  As I stood on that platform wearing my flashy navy blue “roadie” jacket, I was feeling rather proud of myself.  “After all,” I thought, “this show couldn’t have come together without me.  I brought the lighting, the sound system, the instruments, the costumes, risers and everything else necessary to make this possible today.  If I hadn’t brought all this high dollar equipment in my flashy high dollar semi-truck there would be no show.  THIS WOULDN’T BE HAPPENING IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME.”

As I stood on that platform eight to ten feet above the crowd, I could hear voices.  Someone asked, “Who’s that standing on the stage?  Is he with the show?”  Someone else asked, “I wonder if he knows (entertainer’s name)?”  My chest was swollen with pride.  I was feeling pretty heady knowing that I had “backstage access” to such a popular venue. 

I continued to deliberately stand on the stage where I could be easily seen.  I was enjoying the attention knowing that people were looking at me, wondering who I might be.  The crowd began to swell and the sound of multitudes of voices grew much louder.  Soon there would be multiple thousands of people filling the outdoor arena.  I could clearly hear laughter and enthusiasm in their voices.

Suddenly people began to rush for the few remaining seats in front of the stage.  People began to push and shove frantically.  The massive crowd pushing from the rear was forcing the people in front forward.  The sounds of laughter and enthusiasm began to change to cries of fear and terror.  Soon they were screaming in absolute horror.  Thousands of people in the back kept pushing, pushing for the remaining front seats.  They didn’t seem to realize that they were crushing and hurting the people in front of them.  It was similar to a stampede at a European Soccer Tournament. The screams of agony and terror intensified. 

During all of this I was only focusing on the people who were pushing and shoving from the rear.  When I finally looked down at the crowd directly in front of the stage, I was horrified by what I observed.  The people in front of me, being shoved from behind, were helplessly falling.  Only they weren’t just falling to the ground.  They were falling into a massive pit of fire that had somehow opened in front of the stage.  The pit was as long as the stage.  It was also so wide that it was virtually impossible for the people being pushed to jump across to save themselves.  They just kept falling and tumbling into the fire pit. 

Up from the black smoky pit came tremendous heat with flames of orange, red and yellow.  Innocent people were falling and tumbling into it.  I looked into the faces of some of them as they went to their eternal destiny.  They just kept falling and falling into that massive fire pit as I stood there watching. 

Then my own prideful, ignorant words came back to me as I watched those precious souls perishing, one after another.  “THIS WOULDN’T BE HAPPENING IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME.”  “THIS WOULDN’T BE HAPPENING IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME.”  I was completely overcome with horror realizing this human destruction was all my fault.  These dear people were perishing for all of Eternity because I was cooperating with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16)  

This was entirely my fault and I stood on that knowing it.  Screaming, terrified human beings were being mercilessly pushed into this fire pit against their wills.  And I was to blame.  The screams of horror sickened me, breaking my heart when suddenly I woke up.

The Voice of Authority Speaks Yet Again

I sat bolt upright on my hotel room bed.  I was in a literal cold sweat.  Before I could even begin to evaluate the horror of what I had just witnessed, I heard that voice of authority once again.  It was the very same voice that had spoken earlier, demanding, “Don’t go.”  “Don’t go.”  This time it spoke with even greater authority.  Tremendous authority.  It seemed to roar as a mighty waterfall. That’s the only way I know to describe it.  It was the Voice of the Most High God.  He said …

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; BUT HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THINE HAND.”

This was a verse of Scripture from the Bible.  A VERSE I HAD NEVER READ OR EVEN HEARD BEFORE.  I was hearing it supernaturally for the very first time.  Months after this experience, I discovered this verse was in Ezekiel 3:18 while reading along in my Bible during a Dr. Frederick K. C. Price television broadcast.  

As I sat there on that bed, that verse ringing in my spirit, I realized that my life had just been forever changed.  The Spirit of God had both SHOWN and TOLD me that He would hold me personally accountable for every human being who ended up suffering tragedy, prematurely dying and even ending up in Hell, because I was playing with the devil for a big paycheck instead of obeying His personal commission to reach them.  He had just revealed to me that He would hold me personally accountable for everyone whom I refused to speak to on His behalf, saved or unsaved, big names, little names or no names.  

From the dog house to the penthouse, when He tells me to warn someone, I now know I must.  From the outhouse to the White House, I will obey Him. Otherwise, their blood will be on my hands if they end up being judged and I will be judged for that.  I call this "My Ezekiel Mandate."  

I have experienced great rejection, ridicule, misunderstanding and persecution as I have obeyed Him these nearly 30 years. Particularly from those who lack clear, Biblical knowledge of the Prophet's Office. Better that than answering to Him for the fear of man, disobedience and rebellion when it comes my time to stand before Him. 

Supernatural Confirmation of My Ezekiel Mandate

Thirty-one times since that day, He has sent me to privately tell individuals they were either going to face tragedy, or  die prematurely, if they did not repent for open sin, secret sin or disobedience to His call. Only two additional times has this occurred in  public services. This is because ninety percent of the Prophet's Ministry occurs not in public but in private, even as in the Bible. (2 Kings 5:21-27; John 4:1-19, etc.) The Holy Spirit has great respect and consideration for human beings even when they are in sin.

Many of the thirty-three individuals I have been sent to are Ministers of the Gospel.  Sadly, they seem to be amongst the most prideful, stubborn and even fearful when it comes to repenting, particularly when a certain type of sin and evil spirits are involved. 

Ten of those thirty-three have now died prematurely and needlessly, some surprisingly quickly, just as the Lord told me to tell them.  Four of them died precisely within the exact timeframe the Lord had given me for them.  Even I have been astounded and  heartbroken by the accuracy of these warnings time and again. Any of these ten deaths could have been easily avoided through simle repentance.

Ten more have experienced heartbreaking, unnecessary tragedies, exactly as the Lord told me to tell them, because in their pride they refused to repent. Oftentimes their immediate family members have suffered terribly, even their children dying, because in their pride and rebellion they left the door open for Satan to come against their family.  Any of these ten tragedies could have been easily avoided through simple repentance.

Of the remaining thirteen, only three have wisely and quickly judged themselves and wholeheartedly repented thus avoiding having to be judged. (1 Corinthians 11:30-32). That's the whole idea behind this aspect of the Prophet's office. It is never intended to condemn. It is always intended to help people and to keep them from hurting themselves or their families. It is intended to encourage them to repent and get back under the Lord's umbrella of covenant protection.

Ten others are still stubbornly resisting the Lord's gracious warnings and are pending. Many of those are Word of Faith Ministers. Based upon the supernatural accuracy of the previous twenty-three warnings, these too will suffer unnecessarily, and soon, if they refuse to simply repent. 

Other times, apart from the above mentioned thirty-three, the Lord has revealed to me individuals who were going to die or suffer tragedies, even telling me why, sometimes exactly when. But He did not instruct me to go to them. Take for instance the popular Mo Town entertainer whom the Lord said would be "dead in two months." He did not tell me to go to him. If He had done so I would have. I had access to him.

This has even happened while I was preaching or teaching from the pulpit.  The Lord would show me a particular person who was either going to die or suffer a tragedy but He did not tell me to speak to them. I was simply to pray that they and their families would be prepared for what they would soon experience. 

To date not one of these Divinely-granted revelations has been wrong. Not one! My heart grieves at the accuracy of these revelations. 

I do not rejoice as being "super spiritual" because of these revelations. How often I have told the Lord in anger and in tears, "I would prefer to not know these things, Sir. Please. I do not ever again want to tell someone they are going die. I would rather die myself." 

The majority of these individuals have slandered and/or persecuted me relentlessly for my obedience to speak to them on God's behalf, particularly the Ministers. Sadly, they seem to believe their only option is to destroy my credibility in case I should tell others what the Lord told me to tell them. This is an extremely childish reaction and one that always and only compounds their problem. Killing His messenger is never the solution when one is under the microscope of the Most High God. (2 Kings 1:1-17; Acts 13:1-12)

Sometimes it is the hardest thing in the world knowing these things about others, especially when they mock you and will not listen. Particularly when Jesus Himself has appeared to you and personally given this commission.  You know you are hearing clearly from Him but the one you are sent to is either so prideful, dull or disobedient they blow it off and continue in rebellion. They stubbornly race down the pike, headed straight for judgment, through the unfailing Laws of Sowing and Reaping. (Galatians 6:7,8)

After twenty-nine years of developing in this type of ministry, I find the most common mistake made by people who are soon to be judged is this. They ALMOST ALWAYS misinterpret much time given to repent as an unwillingness on God's part to allow them to be judged. (Read that again.) They wrongly believe, after much mercy and patience are shown by the Lord, "If it hasn't happened by now, it isn't going to happen." I have witnessed this repeatedly. Particularly with Ministers.  Particularly highly successful Ministers. And I have been sent to a few.  The greater the level of success, the greater the level of resistance to the Lord's warning! What an indictment! 

One Tulsa-based woman Evangelist died at precisely the time God told me she would, "in five years," for lying about miracles in her and her husband's Ministry and for refusing to walk in love. It was impossible to get this woman, her family or her Ministry associates to understand judgment was coming if she and her husband refused to repent. I was an "insignificant-no-name." They wrongly believed that, based on past worldwide evangelistic crusades for the Lord, judgment could never happen in their case.  Regardless, they ended up paying the ultimate price for pride and disobedience to God's Word. Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity was shocked by her premature death!  

This well-known woman Minister battled cancer for five years as a result of her deception and disobedience. Over that five-year period I would hear her testify on Christian TV that she was "healed."  Each time I would hear that I would tell my wife, "She is not healed and she will not be healed unless she repents for rejecting God's Word of truth and obedience. The Lord said she will be dead in five years." 

Five years and two months after the Lord told me, "(name withheld) will be dead now in five years," she died a terrible death of cancer. Some heralded her death as "a great home-going." But there was nothing great about the way she went home at all. She died tragically for lying about miracles to make herself look important. She died tragically for refusing to walk in love towards her family, employees, friends and associates. 

Even to this day this woman's family and their Ministry staff refuse to believe that she died prematurely for lying about miracles and not walking in love, not because "God called her home." In a 2007 Charisma Magazine interview, her husband, daughter and staff members continued their sad history of lying by greatly exaggerating crowd sizes in their Ministry's past overseas crusades, amongst other things. In that interview crowds that once numbered ten to twenty thousand in their own earlier publications have suddenly swollen to "one quarter to one half million in each crusade." It seems that where they once counted heads, they have now gone back and included fingers and toes. Obviously this is one heart-breaking effort to brighten what they refer to as their family "legacy." 

Another Minister I was sent to multiple times over the past 20 years, and who was very closely connected in life and Ministry to the above-mentioned Evangelist, even preaching her funeral, died very recently. He pastored a church of 17,000 people in Oklahoma. In 1990 when I initially spoke to him a word of pending judgment in a certain situation, he actually laughed aloud and told me, "God isn't going to judge anyone for anything."  He then very rudely dismissed me from his office, but not before throwing an angry little fit because I had dared to respectfully, yet boldly, confront him on the Lord's behalf.

I left his office at his insistence  that day and he embarked upon a sad journey of twenty years of cancer bouts coming and going against his body. He left the door to his life wide open by refusing to repent and do as the Lord had instructed. He never could seem to get the victory over those cancer bouts because obedience, and obedience alone, sets the stage for miraculous intervention.  Occasionally, at the Lord's leading, I would remind him of his need to repent. 

In the Fall of 2009, nearly twenty years after my initial confrontation with him that day in his Tulsa office, this Pastor was diagnosed with an extremely deadly form of cancer. I moved immediately and respectfully, per the Lord's instruction, reminding him again of his need to judge himself in two specific areas. I assured him, from the written Word of God and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he would live and not die if only he would put down human pride and the fear of man and simply repent in the areas the Lord had me to address with him. I also told him, by the Spirit of the Lord,  that he would "die quickly now" if he chose to stubbornly continue to drag his feet and not repent and take care of his business with God "immediately." I also reminded him of my love and respect for him and his ministry. 

This was to be his final warning, at least from me. Once again I was rejected and dismissed as a "nut case" and a "False Prophet." This kind of stiff-hearted rejection comes with the territory, particularly when dealing with foolish human pride on God's behalf. (Ezekiel 2:1-7) Especially when you are "a nobody."

Prayer teams were activated literally on a global scale for this Pastor. I, myself, was asked to pray for his healing by many who did not know my private, long term "behind the scenes" involvement in his life. Of course I did so. Only I did not pray for his healing. I continued to pray that he would recognize the severity of his situation now and repent like Hezekiah. (Isaiah 38:1-6) Then healing would simply come. (Proverbs 28:13) 

Regardless, within seven short weeks of his diagnosis and the Lord's gracious final reminder of his need to repent "immediately," this much-loved man of God went to Heaven suddenly and prematurely. No amount of prayer by any number of people can ever serve as a substitute for repentance - for anyone - big or small! 

Like the Prophet Samuel whose heart broke over the rebellion of King Saul, my heart broke that this beloved Pastor disqualified himself from receiving God's promise of healing and longevity through stubborn pride. (1 Samuel 15:11)  I loved him even as others loved him.  I'm so sorry that he refused to recognize that God gave me a job to do.  Had I disobeyed God, I, too, would pay a penalty for  my rebellion.

The Pastor wrongfully refused to believe his illness was connected to the pride, un-confessed sin and disobedience in his life. In His great mercy God gave him twenty years of warnings to repent, plus an additional, loving, final warning. For twenty years this Pastor continued to ignore me as God's messenger, dug in his heels and squandered every merciful warning. He  refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and died in the prime of his life and Ministry. He has now left his loved ones, congregation and worldwide Ministry friends confused and questioning the Word, the goodness and the integrity of a God Who is not guilty. This was a man who preached the Doctrine of Divine Healing all around the Globe!

Immediately after this Pastor's traveling on to Heaven, I spoke with a friend who trusted greatly in his Ministry and was very disillusioned.  He had opened a Boston newspaper and read of this sad event.  He was now questioning why this could happen to someone who strongly preached that it's always God's will to heal.  His faith in God's Word was shaken. His faith in God Himself was wavering.  He simply could not understand why God did not heal this Pastor whom he had loved, trusted and supported. Once I was able to explain to him what I am sharing in this testimony, he began to settle down and regain his composure.  

As I explained how I was personally and privately used of the Lord in an attempt to bring this Minister to repentance for twenty years, although unsuccessfully, this man's confidence in God and His Word was immediately restored. As I shared some of the details of my reaching out to the Pastor, he saw that God was not guilty at all in the matter of the Pastor's premature death. He said to me, "It really blesses me to hear this. As saddened as I am by the Minister's passing, I am thankful to hear that God reached out to him and tried to help him over such a long period of time.  I am so glad to hear that God is not at fault here.  I am glad to hear that it is God's will to heal and to prosper. I am glad to know that I can still continue to trust God's Word for my own needs to be met."

As I thought on my friend's confusion and near loss of faith in God's Word, I was strengthened in my resolve to share with others how God is not guilty in the premature death of this well known Pastor.  I became even more determined to share with everyone whose faith in God's Word was shaken by his death how God personally used me to reach out to him in multiple ways that only he, my wife and I know. I explained to the Pastor in my final communication with him just weeks before his passing that if he chose to die in place of repenting, I would take every opportunity to share with all affected persons how he chose disobedience over obedience even at the expense of those who completely trusted in his ministry.  I asked him, "Why should people question God's faithfulness and goodness because of your rebellion?"  

Although I have kept my encounters with this Pastor private for twenty years I am no longer silent. People deserve to know that God is faithful and His Word is true. Presently, I am responding honestly to the questions of many all around America concerning the premature death of this Word of Faith Pastor. I am telling them all the same thing - God is not guilty in the death of this Pastor. The Pastor was guilty of pride, stubbornness and disobedience. God is never guilty when His promises go unfulfilled. Never! I have preached to people for decades, "If you hear of a tragedy happening to John Hamel question John Hamel, not God and not His Word!"

It would be wrong for me to sit back while the faith of so many is destroyed out of fear that some would persecute or shun me for my truthfulness. Anyone with even limited discernment can see that I am not trying to destroy the reputation of the beloved Pastor. I tried to protect him for twenty years and that was no easy task! I am now serving to restore the faith of the thousands, such as my friend, who have been negatively impacted and potentially turned back from the Word of Faith message by the stubborn Pastor's unnecessary, tragic death. 

Let it be known to the reader that God did not take the Pastor's life, no matter who says God allows some to live long while others are "destined" to die early. Where is that in the Bible?  My Bible promises long life for ALL who set their love upon Him, obey and believe. (Psalm 91:16) God does not afflict. (Job 37:23,23) God is the Blesser, not the Curser! (John 10:10) He tried to keep the Pastor from this tragedy by having me address him a number of times over a twenty year period. Who knows who else was sent to him? 

Rev. James Robison went to Rev. Jim Bakker multiple times, in private, before Brother Bakker's fall from grace in 1985. He said he would tell Brother Bakker, "I don't know what it is, but the Lord keeps telling me there is something you need to repent of before you have to be judged." Brother Bakker continued to deny any wrong doing. After over a year of these private warnings, Brother Bakker's sins finally found him out - publicly. Rev. Robison was hearing clearly from the Lord. The Lord, in His great love and mercy, was trying to save Rev. Bakker tremendous loss, shame and humiliation, as well as saving the Body of Christ great heartache and confusion.

Like Brother Bakker, the Tulsa Pastor did this to himself by tampering with the Laws of Sowing and Reaping and resisting the Lord's warnings over a twenty year period! Although not an evil man, a man with an obvious call of God, and a man whom I love and once greatly respected, he refused to judge himself according to the Word of God and found himself being judged by the Word of God. (Proverbs 26:2; Isaiah 26:9; Jeremiah 2:19; 1 Corinthians 11:30-32; Galatians 6:7,8)

How sad that a Word of Faith Pastor in his position would look me in the eye and so openly express to me his lack of willingness to believe that Jesus would allow someone to be judged in their sin.  How sad that such a well-known leader who taught repentance rejected Jesus' teaching on repentance as it applied to him. Equally as sad is the fact that this Pastor rejected the Holy Spirit's sending me to him because I am not a "big name" or a "known" Minister. Now, in the prime of his earthly life, he has arrived in Heaven prematurely, his work here on earth incomplete. How much more he would have achieved had he chosen to repent and remain!

Like the Tulsa Pastor, many Word of Faith Ministers need to repent in this area.  Many Word of Faith Ministers reject words of pending judgment because they say it is not "positive" and therefore does not "fit" with the message of "faith."  However, I cannot think of anything more "positive" than God giving someone another chance to live when they are headed for premature death because of un-confessed sin! 

Many Word of Faith leaders have become prideful and try to tell God through whom He can and cannot talk to them.  Like Judas, they have hardened their hearts to Jesus' teaching as it applies to them, opening themselves up to demonic deception and control. (Luke 22:3) They refuse to believe that Jesus would ever allow them to be judged because of their "importance."

Possibly they are unaware that thirty-one times, in Matthew, Mark and Luke alone, the Prophet Jesus used the word "woe" in pronouncing judgment on the Pharisees, on the Scribes, upon cities and upon men in general for their sinfulness. Not to mention Peter's and Paul's extensive teachings on  Godly discipline and judgment in their Epistles. It appears that far too many Ministers do not know or do not care that Christ is the Lord of Justice and Judgment as much as He is the Lord of Love and Mercy. 

Someone might be reading this and thinking, "Hamel, you make mistakes, too. Who are you to go to these people and correct them?"  Very good question and one I asked the Lord myself. His response to me? "I needed someone who ALWAYS repents when they are wrong to go to some who NEVER repent when they are wrong."

It is not uncommon for God to reveal to a Prophet something that is going to occur so the Prophet can warn those involved. In the days of the Voice of Healing, the Holy Spirit told Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin to warn popular Evangelist Jack Coe that he was not going to live much longer if he didn't judge himself in three areas.  Those three areas were the unethical way Rev. Coe handled his finances, his refusal to walk in love towards other Ministers and his lack of self-control in his eating habits. Brother Hagin, in his youthfulness and inexperience, did not warn Rev. Coe.  Three and a half years later, Evangelist Jack Coe died prematurely, at thirty five years of age, even as the Lord said he would.  Obvious to me, at least, Brother regretted his disobedience for the rest of his life. 

In January of 1964 the Holy Spirit gave Brother Hagin another Word of Wisdom. This time it was a warning concerning Rev. William Branham. The Lord said, "At the end of '65, he who now stands in the forefront of the Healing Ministry as a Prophet will be taken out of the way.  He'll make a false step and Satan shall destroy his life, but his spirit will be saved, and his works will follow him. Ere '66 shall come, he shall be gone." Rev. Gordon Lindsay tried to warn Rev. Branham, according to Brother Hagin's word, that he was going to die if he did not repent and get back into the perfect will of God for his life.  Brother Branham ignored the repeated warnings.  Just days before 1965 ended and 1966 began, Brother Branham died tragically even as the Lord had shown Brother Hagin. The Lord later told Brother Hagin, "I had to permit him to be removed because of the damage he was causing the Body of Christ."  

Dr Hagin has also said that during years of itinerate ministry he would often stay in the homes of church members where he was holding services. While staying with these families the Lord would frequently reveal to Dr Hagin that tragedy or even death was coming to them. This was either to bring them to repentance or to prepare them for the inevitable.  I, myself, have had this happen occasionally. 

You will recall I told you earlier in the chapter, "My First Visitation of Jesus as He Commissioned Me," that Jesus Himself personally appeared to me in the spring of 1981 commissioning me to this Ministry. From that point on I began to occasionally see into the spirit realm as well as knowing things about others supernaturally, as the Holy Spirit willed. However, these manifestations increased in my life and Ministry, particularly the Word of Wisdom, as a direct result of Dr Kenneth E. Hagin laying his hands upon me one evening in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1994. There was a supernatural impartation to increase in my Office that began that very night.

The Holy Spirit does indeed foretell coming events through the Word of Wisdom  in the Prophet's Office to privately warn when someone is going to die or experience tragedy because of disobedience. Occasionally this can even happen publicly. Either way, judgment can always be avoided through repentance. That is the whole idea1

Understanding the Ministry of a True New Testament Prophet

Of course, giving individuals prophetic words of warning is not the primary job of the Prophet. It's only a small part of his ministry. This is where many self-proclaimed, unlearned Prophets get into trouble. They seem to think that all a Prophet does is to go around prophesying blessing, cursing or guidance over people. Usually this is because they do not understand the difference between the Old Testament Prophet's ministry and the New Testament Prophet's ministry.

The New Testament Prophet, like the Apostle, is first and foremost a Teacher and/or a Preacher of God's Word. A Prophet is both a Teacher and a Reformer. A Prophet also often teaches and preaches by inspiration of the moment, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, not solely from prepared notes. (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 14:3) Any "Prophet" who is not an apt Teacher or Preacher is not a Prophet. All Prophets in the New Testament were excellent Teachers or Preachers. Although the Apostle Paul was both an Apostle and a Prophet, he always put his preaching and teaching first. (1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11) 

Many false Prophets do not even bother to prepare themselves as Teachers or Preachers. They simply step to the podium and the "show" begins. They may use a verse of two from the Bible to appear to be Scripturally based, but from that point on it's usually "a dog and pony show," "smoke and mirrors" and yielding to evil spirits who know things about people. In the Bible these are called "familiar spirits." (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; 1 Samuel 28:7-9 ) Almost always the subject is soon turned to money and material posessions as the false Prophet attempts to fill his or her coffers at the expense of God's uneducated children.)

A Prophet rarely gives guidance or direction to the New Testament believer because, unlike the people of the Old Testament, the New Testament believer has the Holy Spirit living within to guide them  directly. (Romans 8:14,16; 1John 2:20,27)  

A Prophet is a Seer who sees into the spirit realm as God wills, through the Gift of Discerning of Spirits. He/she has insight into both God's Word and even people's lives as God wills. The Prophet also has foresight concerning future events, such as my 2004 vision of coming Spiritual Awakening. This would not be generalized foresight as is the case with many false Prophets who "predict' things that anyone can see are coming.  The true New Testament Prophet has specific, often detailed, foresight concerning future events that would not have been known otherwise. (Acts 11:27-30; 21:10-14)   

A Prophet operates consistently in the three Revelation Gifts of the Holy Spirit plus the simple Gift of Prophecy. (2Corinthians 12:1) 

Any "Prophet" who does not have these Scriptural confirmations is not a Prophet at all.  He would be a false Prophet.  This does not always mean he is evil.  It just means he is not a true, New Testament Prophet.

I am simply sharing some of my experiences with prophetic words of warning that confirm my 1981 personal commissioning by Jesus and my 1983 Albuquerque hotel room visitation, to help the reader better understand this one aspect of the Prophet's Ministry. So don't be fooled by self-proclaimed "Prophets" who wrongly go around just prophesying blessing, cursing or guidance over people, yet have none of the above confirmations in consistent manifestation. Particularly when they are looking for money, "registration fees" or material goods in order to prophesy over individuals or groups. 

Many false Prophets actually advertise that they will be prophesying over the Body during their services. This, too, is dangerous because the Gifts of the Spirit operate only as God wills, not as man wills or advertises. (1 Corinthians 12:11)  Man is not the Head of the Church, Jesus is. (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Colossians 1:18)   Man isn't running things in the Church, the Holy Spirit is. What if it is not the will of the Holy Spirit for His Gifts to operate in those meetings, and the people come expecting the "Prophet" to perform?  This is when false Prophets begin yielding to familiar and wrong spirits, fabricating and conjuring things up, getting people into deep deception. 

Plus, as I said earlier, in the Bible ninety percent of the Prophet's ministry to individuals occurs in private, not in public services. (2 Kings 5:21-27; John 4:1-19) It is wrong for "Prophets" to advertise and promise that supernatural things will be occurring. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a circus. The Church is to bring Glory to God, not fame and fortune to man.  I believe in the message of Biblical prosperity, but never at the expense of God's Word or His Glory.

One group based out of a large mid-western city is notorious for all of the above mistakes, wreaking havoc upon the Body. This same group has had serious sexual problems within their top leadership, their founding leader offering to prophesy over women in the privacy of his office only if they would first "disrobe before the Lord."  Many women have acknowledged having done so. Another of their key "Prophets" has a confessed, forty-year history of sodomy. By submitting themselves to these false Prophets, many believers have opened themselves up to demon powers. 

Prophets are to build up and edify the Body, not tear down, destroy, take advantage, humiliate or put on a show.

Whenever God has given me a word of warning for someone, He has always told me to assure them they could escape judgment by repenting for their sin. (Isaiah 38:1-6; 1 Corinthians 11:30-32) This is exactly how He would lead Ezekiel to speak on His behalf. God would always have Ezekiel tell the people to meet the conditions of grace and they would live. If they refused, they would die and it would be their own fault, not God's. (Ezekiel 3:18-21) God is a good God. (Psalm 145:8,9)

Also, whenever I have received a vision, dream or prophetic word for someone, I was never seeking them. The Gifts of the Spirit occur spontaneously only as the Spirit wills. It is unscriptural and dangerous to seek any kind of spiritual experiences. The one who does so will be accommodated by Satan. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)  

See the book by Dr Kenneth E. Hagin, "He Gave Gifts Unto Men. A Biblical Perspective of Apostles, Prophets and Pastors" for a greater understanding of the Office of the Prophet.  

Back To The Fire Pit Dream

Now, let's go back to my waking up from the Fire Pit dream in Albuquerque. I knew that very moment, sitting on that bed, I was all through with the way the world does things.  I gave God my word that I would never again tamper with precious, eternal human lives for pride or money.  Never again would I let pride or fear keep me from obeying Him when it came to someone’s eternal destiny.  From then on when I stood on a stage or a platform it would be in humility, to boldly preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  From then on when He sent me to speak to someone, one on one, or to rooms full of people, I would not fear rejection, what they could do to me through persecution or what they might think of me.  I would go with their best interest in mind, not my own, no matter how big or small they might be! 

I got on the telephone immediately from my high dollar hotel room.  I informed the tour manager that he was going to have to find someone else to bring that semi-truck back to Las Vegas. I was unwilling to ever drive that truck again.  I got on an airplane that day and flew back to Las Vegas.  I was going to find a Pastor and a Church where I could learn everything possible about teaching and preaching the Gospel.   

During the flight home I became increasingly better physically.  The symptoms of nausea, dizziness and sickness steadily subsided.  It seemed that every mile I flew was another mile flown back into the will of God.  I just kept getting better and better physically.  By the time that plane landed at McCarran Int’l Airport in Las Vegas, I had been completely and supernaturally healed of all sickness.  Absolutely every physical symptom of sickness was gone and I was completely restored.  What a relief it was to be back in the revealed will of God.

The curse of disobedience had been supernaturally reversed.  Finally, I had gotten the message.  NO MORE FEAR. NO MORE COMPROMISE!  

Counterfeit Opportunity Knocks … Hard!

Soon after returning home I received a phone call from the entertainer’s manager for whom I had been working.  He was placing the call on behalf of the entertainer who wanted me to come back to work.  Only this time he didn’t want me to just drive his semi-trucks.  He wanted me to manage that aspect of his operation.  No more driving for me.   All I had to do was to make sure that the trucks and drivers were where they had to be, when they had to be there.  I expressed my appreciation for their confidence in me.   However, in obedience to the revealed will of God, I respectfully declined his offer. 

Turning the pressure up a bit, his Manager said, in essence, “John, I don’t think you realize what you’re refusing.  Money is no problem here.  We will supply you with everything you need to keep this equipment available to us.  (Entertainer’s name) is offering to set you up with a trucking business to facilitate him.  Once you’re in with him, other contracts will become available to you as well.  This can turn into other things for you.  We’re talking about a lot of money for you, John. I don't think you know what you're doing refusing this offer” 

Again, I expressed my appreciation; only this time I told him why I would not be able to accept his generous offer.  I told him how the Lord had dealt with me strongly and that I was obediently going in another direction.  I told him that I was now focusing on a Bible education to prepare me for Ministry.  Although bowled over by my non-acceptance of such a lucrative, “once-in-a-lifetime” offer, he reluctantly accepted my decision. 

I soon received excellent training for the Ministry directly under Dr. Hagin at his Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The Lord then set me in the Office of the Pastor for over two decades.  This was to help me to understand firsthand the challenges and difficulties Pastors endure on behalf of their congregations.  Certainly this has prepared me to be more sensitive to other Pastors as I serve them through the Ministry Offices in which I also now stand.

Over twenty-five years after having refused my former employer’s “once-in-a-lifetime” offer, I am still faithfully walking out my decision.  I will obey the Almighty, preaching and teaching His Word until He calls me home to be with Him.  The high dollar trucking business I refused will come back to me in the form of trucks for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No act of obedience to the Most High God ever goes un-rewarded. Obedience always sets the stage for the miraculous!

The laying on of the angel's hand three times, falling under the power of God for nearly three full days, Jesus Christ personally appearing with two majestic, powerful angels and commissioning me to the work of the Ministry, a dramatic, supernatural Holy Spirit Baptism, the Albuquerque Fire Pit revelation and the Authoritative Voice of God that accompanied it have indeed changed my life forever.   

Great Spiritual Awakening is on the horizon. Jesus Christ caught me up for forty-five minutes in 2004 while in Vermont and showed it to me. He is coming soon.  Every hour for saving souls is crucial.  There’s just no time for looking back. 

A Word of Caution about Supernatural Guidance

Throughout this testimony I referred to the authoritative voice of God, dreams, visions, trances, etc.  Although these are ways that God can guide Believers today, they are not the primary way.  God guides Believers today primarily through the Written Word of God and through the Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit. Even Prophets are to be primarily led by the Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

However, there are times when the Written Word of God does not address a specific situation.  For example, if you needed to know whether or not it was God’s will for you to relocate to another city, you simply will not find Scripture telling you whether or not to do so.  Therefore, you should make your decision and tell the Lord about it.  Then give Him a few days to let you know whether you have made the right decision or not. 

If you have “peace” about the relocation down in your spirit and it’s for legal and moral purposes, God is telling you “Yes.”  If you have “unrest” about the relocation, then God is telling you “No.”  A simpler way to say this is, “If your gut is telling you YES, God is telling you YES.  If your gut instinct is telling you NO, God is telling you NO.”  God’s peace is His “Yes.”  Unrest is His “No.”  Going against this form of guidance will result in disappointment or tragedy every time. 

This is the primary way that God guides ALL Believers when there is no Scripture telling them what to do.  This can be seen in the following verses of Scripture.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

This verse of Scripture could also read just as easily, “The sons and the daughters of God are led by the Spirit of God.”  It does not say, “The sons and the daughters of God are led by the Authoritative Voice of God.”  Although the Authoritative Voice is one way God can guide, IT IS NOT THE PRIMARY WAY.  Here’s a verse from the Amplified Bible that will help you.

“And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds ...]” (Colossians 3:15, Amplified Bible)

Here the Apostle Paul teaches that Believers are to let “peace” act as an “umpire” concerning all questions that they have.  Everyone knows what an umpire does.  An umpire lets the players know whether they are “safe” or “out.”  The Holy Spirit is the Inner Umpire if one is Born Again.  The Believer makes a decision as to what to do.  Then they give the Inner Umpire enough time to let them know whether they are “safe” or “out.”  He’ll do this through “peace” or “unrest” deep down inside.  Some call this “intuition” or “gut instinct.”

Although I have been led at times by voices, visions and Angels, these are not the primary ways He guides me daily.  Primarily, I am led by the “peace” or “unrest” of the Inner Umpire.  This is the primary way He guides all Believers. No one in the Bible was ever praying to hear a voice, to see a vision or to be visited by an Angel when it happened to them.  God alone determines when these types of guidance are necessary.  I encourage those who have read this testimony to not insist on voices, visions or Angels.  I never have. I never will.  If you do, Satan just might accommodate you. 

Stay safe with the Inner Umpire’s “peace” or “unrest.”  If you need anything more than that, you can trust our Heavenly Father to get it to you!  

Don’t miss His SUPERNATURAL inward “peace” or “unrest” by insisting upon more SPECTACULAR forms of New Testament guidance.  Guidance doesn’t have to be spectacular for it to be supernatural.

For much more detailed teaching on the subject of Supernatural Biblical Guidance, visit our Faith Building Bible Study Centre.  Once there, click on "Guidance."  JHM 2010