One of the chief questions asked when people read the dancing hand of God is, who were the golden candlestick? They played such an integral part in my ministry, and yet most people have never heard of them; or if they have, it’s a lot of strange bits of information, almost like hearing an urban legend or something. I can assure you, the golden candlestick was a real ministry, but they might have been legendary – I’ll leave it up to you to decide.
I felt the Lord impress upon me to compile all of their collective works – as many as we could find – there may be a few teachings floating around out there, but any missing pieces are more than likely nonexistent anymore – when my first book came out. I knew it would be important, not only to honor those of the golden candlestick, but to shed some light on their purpose to the body of Christ.
The last surviving original member of the golden candlestick was a lady named Dora; she was most likely in her late eighties, early nineties, when she came to my meetings in California for the last time before she went on to glory. As Dora walked up to me, she was short and stooped over from 70 some – odd years on her knees, worshiping the Lord – it was the only way she prayed. She anointing me with oil – a lot of oil; it ruined my suit, and I don’t think she cared in the slightest. Afterwards, she told me several key things. One of those was a commissioning to compile their works to share them with the next generation. Since there are no more founding members of the golden candlestick, the copyrights have expired with them as well, and the few people who are aware of the golden candlesticks works have taken the little bits they have; some posted on the Internet, some reprinted and offered free of charge, some for a small purchase price, and potentially mixed with other teachings. Because no one that I know of has all the teachings in one place – some are even excerpts of larger teachings – I wanted to put out an authorize collection of their works, as we know them, to give to posterity.
To my knowledge, by putting my collection together with kristeen and Wade bandelins collection, we have the only surviving complete set in existence. Most of these are mimeographed, some are nearly sixty or more years old, very difficult to read-they’re not going to last forever, so it was important to get these down all in one place. I am indebted to kristeen and wade, leaders of Shiloh Christian ministries in my hometown of idyllwild, California. Without their gracious assistance in lending these prized possessions to me, we wouldn’t have been able to compose the collection. The bandelins are highly educated, dedicated servants to that community, intent on extending a progressive move of God’s Spirit in a very difficult area that has long had strong ties to Satanism and the occult. The bandlens, too, have honored the golden candlestick, and it reflects in the ministry they have carved into that mountain. I honor them here for that, and urge you, if you’re ever in that area, to stop by the church and say hello for me. By the way, we are tithing proceeds from sale of this book to their ministry, so let’s bless them!
When we compiled all of the teachings, I came to the realization one book would not be enough to contain all the writings. So we decided to split it into 2 volumes. Now 3. So this is simply part 1, and the remaining works will follow just as quickly as we can get them transcribed. Coming soon.
Okay, so let’s try to shed some light on this group of ladies – and a few men – known as the golden candlestick before we dive into their works.
It is difficult to compose an exact timeline for the writings – they do not seem to be overly concerned about things like precious dates. Some of the writings do contain dates, but I found it nearly impossible to put them into exact chronological order. But here are a few things I do know:
The golden candlestick was started and led by Francis Metcalfe in the late thirties to early forties. She was the set – person, and everyone gathered around her, not really as equal; but in recognizing her gifting, they rallied around her ministry as an apostolic seer prophetess and thus entered into her vision. She drew together a group of women from Elm Bible Institute who were all feeling the Lord push them in the same direction. Namely, that they were to give up aspirations for a public ministry and to covenant with him in high praise and worship before his throne. In return, he would grant them unusual experiences of his presence, and through their directed intercession, birth many moves of God in the nations.
Some of these ladies had husbands, and a few men were a part of the fellowship, but it was primarily women who made up the bulk of the golden candlestick, many of whom remain single in order to dedicate themselves to this ministry. Francis had 3 children with her husband; 2 of which I knew, the white, Junior, and Jody. The daughter was actively involved in her mother’s ministry; the 2 the whites were not so intimately involved, although the white senior did lead a separate Bible study.
At its inception there were approximately 20 members – another 20 or so were invited to join soon after from life Bible college in Los Angeles, that Aimee Semple McPherson established, and some from other local ministry and church settings; at its height there were about 80 people involved in the ministry. Normally it average between 40 and 50 people. All members were by strict invitation only, and the golden candlestick meetings were not open to the public. Francis did travel little, and she did set up a few other harp in bowl ministries, primarily in South California. But her own group was always kept very private. The meetings were usually held 4, 5 or 6 days a week, from about 6 – 7 PM until one or 2 in the morning on average. There were periods when some meetings would go Day and Night, but as some members had families – including Francis, most were typically held in the evenings.
Quite realistically, these people covenanted together to form a private association, allowing themselves to the Lord’s worship and intercession. Similar to the lines of St. Francis of Assisi’s orders – from a purely Protestant form of evangelical, and later, Pentecostal worship, I mean, not as in the sense of Catholic nuns – but the cloistered element of maintaining worship before the Lord, and as being in covenant relationship together. I gathered this information directly from Francis on how she perceived their covenant relationship.
The group moved to Southern California – where they soon met the members from life and the other ministries – and Francis wanted to build a home that would have a sanctuary for the golden candlestick. She pulled out a map, and her fingers supernaturally fell on Ida Lee wide, California, what was to be my hometown growing up. Many of the jobs around Idyllwild were in the construction field, which is what many of the men did, as well as logging.
In 1948 they had a home build. The basement served as the sanctuary, and the ladies themselves laid the stones by hand. There was a stone fireplace central to the sanctuary, and the entire place was lavishly decorated in royal colors of purples, crimson’s and gold’s, as similar to the Old Testament Temple as they could make it. Many drapes and hangings all in deep kingly colors cover the walls. There was an altar where they gathered to take communion, and the main piece of decoration for the room was a golden menorah, from whence they took their name.
According to Revelation 5:8, the golden candlestick began what is now commonly referred to as a harp and bowl ministry on to the Lord. It was not just praise and worship, but intense intercession as the spirit directed. Was also during this time of the latter rain movement, that there worship, aided by the Holy Spirit, began to take on amazing new elements. At this time, they did not sing traditional hymns in their meetings; there worship was spontaneous and led entirely by the Spirit. Francis would strum a zither while everyone worshiped in tongues, and within minutes everyone was caught right up into the Spirit. A song of the Lord would come forth, given at that moment, with different members contributing to the verses and choruses – all in rhyme! Imagine that kind of coordination between 50 or more people, to sing an unwritten song with rhyme and meter before the Lord!
The songs of deliverance that came forth were just astounding. Powerful! Songs of the bridegroom to the bride, or vice a versa. One part would sing the Lord’s words, the other part would respond as the bride, extemporaneously in rhyme.
For Francis and the GC it was important to celebrate the feasts of the Old Testament, not out of a sense of compulsion to the law, but in reference to the foreshadowing of the Lord and his future bride. To them everything pointed to the centrality of Jesus, the fulfillment of the law, and his direct connection to his church. They recognize the revelation of Jesus in each of the feasts, and Rosh Hashanah was an important, vital day to them, leading up to Yom Kippur and into the feast of Tabernacles. They placed high significance on natural Israel.
In fact, for several years prior to its adoption as the official flag of Israel, Francis had flown the blue and white shield of David, stating that the Lord had shown the flag to her (the design had been created in the late 1880’s, but was not commonly known then.) When Israel was declared independent, she sent the design to the provisional council, who adopted the flag in 1948.
The golden candlestick was also a conduit for hundreds of thousands of dollars to be funneled into the kingdom. They followed after the pattern of George Muller in the support of his numerous orphanages and schools. They never petitioned people for money, relying solely on it coming in supernaturally as they praised it in. Because the money just flowed through their hands like water, the Lord entrusted great amounts to them which went out to support at one point in time 100 missionaries throughout the world. The ladies understood the importance of missions, primarily through their theological education in Elim and LIFE.
In all things, the revelation of the bride of Christ was foremost in their experiences and understanding. They maintained a strict Christocentricity in all their experiences – they were for the purpose of understanding the king more fully. Francis once told me, how you minister to the people on earth in love is what is important to the king above. The golden candlestick believed in evangelism as something of preeminence to ministry expression, bringing more of a bride to the king.
A lot of the following material came through transcendent experiences the golden candlestick had – I don’t know of another ministry that was blessed with the same level of rapture and translation, similar to the experiences of Elijah and Philip. When I say that members – often several at a time – were transported, I mean physically – they disappeared and were taken to another part of the world for evangelistic campaigns, sometimes for several days at a time. In these instances they were supernaturally sustained, either by the people they met or through the angelic host. Often the spirit would translate them to a country so that they might gain strategy on how to intercede for a particular district or region, how to combat hindrances to the gospel, etc. They would then bring back these reports so the whole group could pray together. In this way, great moves of God were birthed throughout many nations. All times of intercession were guided by the Holy Spirit as he brought to them seasons for specific burdens. They would simply wait upon the Lord in high praise and worship, and if the spirit didn’t lead them to intercede, they didn’t intercede – focusing solely on worshiping the king. The focus was more on worship in warfare, but they had active roles in both capacities.
On the earthly translations and rapture were separate from the translations to heaven, where many would return with sandals entwined with strange joules, vest like garments inset with 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel, headdresses arrayed in almost living colors, articles of clothing that would be stitched with gold thread – I mean the metal, not the color. These were regular occurrences what the ladies of gold. It is not much of a stretch to say they were as often in heaven as on earth. When Francis is speaking about seeing the stars, for example, she means from an element of rapture or even translation – not simply in the mind’s eye. These kinds of trend and send in encounters, although they grew in deeper expression and manifestation as the following material shows, were consistent and continuous for over 50 years, starting from day one when they gathered together.
I recall seeing a door in that sanctuary, beautifully molded, emanating a golden hue. I assume 1 people walked through it, it led to another part of the house. Many years later, when walking through the house in the daytime with Mary on Pickard – Francis his personal assistant, and the second the last original member alive besides Laura – I was stunned to realize the door was not there. It was explained to me that door was a special door to heaven. I didn’t bother asking further details – they wouldn’t have been provided anyway.
Had I known then what I know now, I would’ve asked to go along with them on these translations to other countries into the heavenly’s; however, Francis assured me at the time you’re not ready for that yet, Jim.
I share an excerpt from the dancing hand of God that highlights how I came to know Francis and the golden candlestick, but first, let me share some of the things I saw in the several meetings I attended.
The first thing about Francis, she was a very unnerving person. She had a mystical look about her, that she knew she was an earthbound, if that makes any sense. Rise were very penetrating and discerning. She could read you, but she wasn’t scary or ooky feeling, just unsettling.
As soon as everyone began singing in tongues, the power of God fell like a heavy, thick form. It was overwhelming. I could hear the people, but I couldn’t see them. Took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust enough to see the person next to me; those who were farther away could only be made out dimly.
The ceiling was concealed in a purple, swirling cloud – sometimes feathers were whirling inside the cloud. Out of the cloud, one could often hear the audible laughter of exultant children. It truly was an open heavens, a spiritual portal like a Jacob’s ladder. There were numerous times the 4 and 20 elders were a part of the worship. In just a consistent coming and going of the angelic host. When an angel was there, one could see them like they see a normal human being, fully manifested, no similitude – the outliner form of an angel. They would come to worship and share information with the group. Often they wore normal close. On one occasion I saw 2 men in street close, sitting in conversing with some of the ladies before the service. When the meeting was starting, these 2 stood up and gave hugs to the ladies, then walked past me and disappeared. Again, when I asked what that was all about, Francis told me, you’re not ready for that yet, Jim. Seems she told me that a lot!
There were fire lights – the only word I can use to describe them – which were angels dropping down from the cloud above to the floor below. When these firelight struck the ground, one could see the Angels feet appear out of the flames. It’s interesting how little details like that have stayed within me for almost 40 years now.
I recall once 3 ladies worshiping in an angelic tongue, whose faces and torsos were concealed behind the purplish cloud – all I could see were their arms and hands outstretched. Again I remember a powerful instance where the roomful of ladies was dancing before the Lord, caught up in the spirit, with their eyes completely shut, yet they never bumped into each other, being perfectly orchestrated by God.
When Francis would begin strumming that sister, heavenly instruments would be added to the orchestration: violence, French horns, harps, trumpets, other angelic voices, audibly, 2 or 3 octaves higher than the human voices.
Often thunderings crashed out of the cloud, and an arch Angel would make an audible declaration; things like, how great is the mercy of Jehovah: the I was, that I am, that I will be! Praise him! And we would. It was astonishing to hear.
There was a swirling fog of gold dust, a liquid cloud I could smear with my hand, and it would world and swirl. I could breathe it in and feel it cleansed me inside. Often breezes would waft into the room, each one bringing a different, unique on earthly fragrance, beautifully sweet nourishing.
All of these experiences, of course, pale on the printed page – there is no way I can give them do justice. Add to that these were all regular occurrences on a consistent ASIS, at every meeting, for over 50 years, and you’ll begin to get an idea just how remarkable this ministry was.
For those of you who read the dancing Hannah God, this will be a bit of a repeat, but it’s necessary for those of you who have not – why haven’t you? The following is an excerpt telling how I came to be connected to the golden candlestick:
I was 17. I’d come down from my home higher up the mountain into the town village to collect the mail. As I was leaving the post office, an elderly lady accosted me, just out of nowhere, materializing in front of me, waking this bony, crooked finger up in my face.
You’re the young man! She croaked.
Ice poured down my back. I looked around, bewildered. I thought to myself, oh, great! What have I done now? I can get away with anything in this dinky, little town! There was this strange feeling that emanated off of her – it unsettled me greatly.
Now, the town I lived in was one of the major centers for mysticism and the occult in Southern California. The hippies lived up in the woods, the transient backpackers hiking around, the seclusion of the area lent itself to the weirdos who wanted to escape the oppression of loss Angeles city living.
The town was a stronghold for the metaphysical sciences. And there were these really strange groups of people walk around the town in white robes and long hair. Don’t really know what they were all about. Oh, and it was a congregating point for the Hells Angels bikers, so you can imagine what that was like!
Spiritism and New Age philosophy were highly prevalent, as well as satanic ritualism. Supposedly this area was some vortex or nexus point of special power or some other junk – the point is, the force was strong with this town…
It wasn’t uncommon in that situation, living under the tyranny of the occult, the see and hear weird things. Sacrificed animals on the woods, people dressed like witches and warlocks who would walk by you with this far-off look in their eyes and proceed to prophesy over you, tell you what you are thinking, read your mail. You get the idea.
I was buffeted constantly by the demonic. There were times in my life that I had seen fully formed aberrations. They float in and disappear. You know, it’s interesting to note that not always is a demon ugly and grotesque. Some of these had the ability to appear quite beautiful. Hence, their ability to lure people into a false sense of peace. Still, they’d move chairs, open up drawers, throw out knives, forks and spoons, scratch on the walls, pound on the doors. It was a terribly vexing, frightening way to grow up.
Thankfully I never participated in the occult or got involved with the mystics – it was just the saving grace of God that kept me from involvement with that oppression. But living in that saturated environment has burned within me sensitivity to mysticism and the occult; something that is aided me throughout my ministry. I have a well-developed discernment when something is of a familiar spirit, versus a true manifestation of the Lord.
Yes, you’re the one. You’re the young man, this lady crooned, still waggling their crooked finger up at me. I was unnerved by her statement, but I didn’t get that same sense of looking this that I got from the witches and warlocks in the village. There was something different about her.
I remember sidestepping this woman, muttering something to the effect of, lady, you got the wrong guy. I hot footed it out of the post office, and thankfully the elderly woman didn’t follow me. I half expected that whole night for some phone call to my parents about some ancient prank I’d pulled on that lady’s flower garden or whatever. I Racking my brain, thinking, what did I do? I fell into a fitful sleep that night, tossing and turning, beating my pillow, with this in emblazoned image of that bony crooked, wrinkled finger wiggling under my chin. It’s you! You’re the young man!
Several days later, with that nagging image still tickling my mind, a friend in the Lord phoned me up, sing I should go over to such and such place at such and such address this evening. There are some great people there I’d like you to meet. So on her advice, I went.
Turns out this place was a house out in the sticks, old, brother, where is she sending me? I thought. I knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. When the door open, guess who was standing there, beckoning me to come in?
Yup. That little lady with the bony finger.
It figures…
Come in. We been expecting you.
Ha? Expecting me? But I screwed up my courage and followed her into the living room. There were about 2 dozen people – some men, mostly women – staggered around the place, looking at me expectantly. I had no idea what I walked into.
The lady – I found out later her name was Francis Metcalf – began to tell me what it was they were all doing here. I’ll put this in quotes, even though I don’t exactly remember the order of her words, but she did say all these things in the course of her explanation.
We call ourselves the golden candlestick, and there were about 45 or 50 of us in the beginning. Some of God home to be with Jesus now. 40 or more years ago, we were all students in seminary, preparing to go into our various ministries, when the Lord spoke to each of us and told us he had another plan for our lives. He told us that if we gave up all aspirations for public ministry and just continuously gathered together to worship him in the high praise and deep intercession ministry… What we would commonly turn today is the harp in bold ministry; see Revelation 5:8… That he would take care of our physical needs, and he would use our intercessions to birth tremendous moves of his power throughout the earth. So, since then, all these years, 4 5 nights a week, from 6 until whenever – sometimes one or 2 in the morning – we just gather here and worship the Lord. Some of us work, and the Lord has permitted thousands of dollars to flow through us into the kingdom, the support missionary works all over the world. We praise him, we worn the spirit against demonic powers, and we share strategies from heaven to people to further his goals. Were a chosen covenant group.
She said it so simply, just stating the facts.
While, was all I could stupidly offer in response.
Mrs. Metcalf nodded and continued. Several years ago, in a time of great intercession, one of us called out to the Lord – not in anger, but under his guidance – calling him to remember that we had sacrifice so much, that we had given up our own ministries for this calling. We were always praying for other people, other ministries, other issues; but in all this time, we’ve only asked one thing just for ourselves in return from him: that someone, a person from our hometown, would be sent forth into the world with a ministry that would inherit all of the prayers and supplications we have offered to him. That this person would enter into all the ministry expressions we gave up in order to minister to him – and anointing to open his heart to the world. We had a vision of a fireball rolling down our mountain and splashing into the world around us. That’s what we asked for: just one person to be that fireball.
Electricity sparked through my entire being as tears welled up in her eyes. She began to weep and stuck that finger out at me one more time.
Jim, she cried, you are that young man!
Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know, as she said these words, my knees slammed into the carpet, my face dropped into my hands, and I wept. This overpowering anointing smeared over me. I couldn’t move; I can speak. The humbleness of that moment is not something I am equipped to describe on the printed page. I have no words, and I am not artistic enough to tell you what was happening to me. This was the defining moment of my life. Everything that it happened to me had let me up to this one moment. It’s the most astonishing feeling in the world to know you are not worthy of such a calling; there is nothing in yourself that is good enough to receive such a grace gift. But here I was, crying like a child, while these men and women prayed over me, prophesying things I would do years and years later. Dreams and visions they had had for themselves that God would credit them for my works.
So now you know why I am the way I am. See, I can’t go back now. I can’t turn away from the supernatural. I don’t do this for me; I do it for the Lord and to honor the golden candlestick. They receive their continued treasure and reward for my actions here on earth. In a way, I entered into their ministries. You have no idea how truly humbling that is. I never want to be the cause for their sadness.
Francis passed away in the late seventies, and the ministry continued until about 1990 – ish when Dora passed away. As is the case with every human being who is truly born again, eventually we all go home to be with the Lord for good. But I think that the fruit of the golden candlesticks ministry continues on in our ministry. When the GCC’s to be, it became the acts group international – that’s an awesome and sobering thought; it’s a great heritage and a great responsibility.
Now, here’s an important note that I really want to drive home, a clarification of what AGI stands for. I believe there is a shocking and alarming sub movement in the charismatic, Pentecostal stream of Christianity that borders on a pseudo-spiritual, extra scriptural over emphasis of glory encounters that in some instances smack of heresy and almost take away from the simplicity and centrality of Jesus Christ. I was embarrassed of some of the things I saw on YouTube in the name of freedom and Jesus Christ. None of these experiences I saw promoted repentance, marriage fidelity, holiness, getting free from sin, etc. It’s like the people seek the encounters more than a seek Jesus, that makes sense. Look, please keep the next several paragraphs and contexts.
While you read these encounters of the GC, you most likely be surprised – and you should be! These are not the every day, normal encounters the typical born again, spirit filled Christian hands. Not everyone is called to be a seer. God made the human mind to deal with the everyday life of this world: we work, we eat, we raise our children, we pay our taxes and balancer checkbooks. Most of us do not see portals and doorways leading to heaven. Nor should we!
Remember the words of Jesus to Thomas; Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed – John 20:29.
There is a principle that Jesus put forth – the man who was all about signs, wonders and miracles, glory encounters, in his earthly ministry: no matter what you see or don’t see, believe in me; blessed are they who believe me just because of who I am, and what they experience by the Holy Spirit internally – not just what they see with their natural eyes.
Takes a great level of discernment that I feel is sadly lacking in the body of Christ as a whole to differentiate between what is a spirit inspired glory encounter and what is instigated by catering to the flesh, or even the demonic. Unfortunately, we are seeing some extreme mixtures in the charismatic church, and I don’t want the encounters contained in this book to be construed that everyone should have portals in their basements, or be translated to the cosmos. We can focus so much on seeing in the spirit, we get nothing accomplished on this earth.
In many people, let’s be honest, are not at a level of closeness and her relationship with Jesus Christ to be able to discern what is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit in many cases. It creates an embarrassment in the church, and niche pseudo-movements centered around the fleshly, flaky experience leaving little substance or change in the partakers lives. I suppose it sounds a little strong, but people know me, know my heart is to draw people closer in the relationship with the Lord, and out of that comes the signs, wonders and miracles, not the other way around.
Remember the golden candlestick was not a public ministry – these experiences were for this unique group of women – and men – based on a lifelong covenant Fellowship with the Lord and each other, centered around a seer prophetess leader who was specially called by God for these experiences.
AGI is a public ministry. And as such, even though it is an outgrowth of the golden candlestick, it is a very different vehicle and expression of Christ ministry to the world at large. Yes, we believe in signs, wonders and miracles – I write books about them! Yes, there are certain encounters – supernatural manifestations – that I believe are for the people; but if we never saw one glory expression, it would not negate our ministry’s prime focus: preaching Jesus Christ, him crucified, resurrected and ascended for the remission of sins, repentance leaning to salvation, Christlike character development based on sound doctrine, tenants of Christianity, teaching from the word, mixed with faith, and every encounter subject to to that word.
All we attempt to do is reproduce the works and ask the Lord during his earthly ministry – and the subsequent ministries of the early apostles. We strive for salvation – the greatest miracle; healing; deliverance from demonic oppression – those things that Jesus did while on the earth.
We are rooted in the centrality of Jesus, the redemptive works of the cross, the basic simplicity of the whole gospel message, holiness unto the Lord as a walk of life.
Of course the golden candlestick stood for all these things too. What I’m trying to show you is that even though some of these encounters you’re about to read our wild – the extension of the golden candlestick – that’s the acts group international – is hopefully, we pray, a refinement of those experiences that is given for the people at large. So I don’t expect to see reproductions in the same level of magnitude that Francis and her lady saw in the day-to-day activities of yours and mine Christian life. Yes, we all strive for a greater expression of Jesus’s power in our lives – don’t misunderstand; but it is unrealistic to suppose all of us will spend 6, 7 hours a day, 6 days a week, and I praise before the Lord in order to cultivate the closeness with Jesus required for him to entrust his people with those encounters. If and when encounters such as these do come, it is strictly by the instigation of the Holy Spirit, supported by the entire revelation of Scripture – I don’t mean simply chapter and verse – I mean the concepts and themes expressed by God and his word, with massive discernment required, which as I said above, is something generally lacking in the body at large. That’s not a fault finding statement; it is a fact I believe the vast majority of us agree with.
See, if we let our search for these encounters overtake our daily lives, these experiences can actually take us away from Jesus Christ, and they can serve as a detriment, not the blessing they were intended to be.
Let me suggest to you; worship Jesus for just who he is, not what he does for you, and as you are faithful to him and him alone, I’m convinced the Holy Spirit will break into the day-to-day activities of this life with greater supernatural encounters, visions and dreams, etc., as he wills, at least in some measure – even if you and I are never bodily transported to Zimbabwe, or wherever, to evangelize a village.
The acts group international emphasizes the practicality of service to the Lord Jesus Christ, honoring the simplicity of the gospel, calling people to repentance and a holy walk in to the Lord, and then out of that come supernatural experiences, but primarily for the purpose of cleansing the sick, raising the dead, seeing the captive set free and swept into the kingdom of God. I want the ministry the Lord has entrusted to me, growing out of the golden candlestick, the take the realities of those encounters they experienced and translate them into tangible works of Jesus in everyday believers – and disbelievers life: the person in need of inner healing, deliverance, salvation, a tumor to disappear, whatever the need may be; and if we get gold dust and purple clouds, then fine. What if not, will still, to the best of our human abilities, by God’s grace, be teaching a foundation in the Bible, preaching the whole counsel of God, and laying hands on the sick. I know that’s what Francis would want.
So we honor the golden candlestick and their experiences, but we emphasize the basics, and discernment against the reproach of false, extremely extra spiritual manifestations.
I’ve heard of some ministries trying to re-dig the well of the golden candlestick, or retrieve the mantle of anointing and authority they had. My opinion, that’s not really possible. They were a unique expression. Now that doesn’t mean that God will not birth something new, something fresh, along the lines of what Francis is ministry stood for – but even the ministry God’s given me, which is the direct extension of the golden candlestick, is not the same in expression and execution. We don’t see the same things they saw, but on the other side of the coin, they didn’t see the things we do see. That shows me there is progression in the body of Christ that builds on the foundation of the previous laborers. And, yes, there is an importance of honoring the past, of applying those previous principles – that’s the point of a book like this – again, don’t take any of this out of context. But I am convinced we are being further shaped, further sharpened, further refine. And I think Francis would like to know that, too!
As powerful as the experiences of the golden candlestick work, they by no means had all revelation. The group did not have a solid understanding of healing provision in the atonement work of the cross, found in the word of God. They had very little knowledge of deliverance. They lacked in-depth teaching and faith – keep in mind that came from the latter rain movement and the word of faith movement started later. Francis was often in another world, physically and metaphorically. She suffered from physical limitations, that I believe had her foundation in healing been greater develop – she would’ve been set free from them. This does not negate their work, their importance or other specific calling. But it does show that the golden candlestick was not perfect in their ministry expression or in their own personal lives. No one in, of course – but we have come a long way in the body since the forties.
I shared the above because I want to make it clear: I may not fully understand their experiences. Some are very revelatory, metaphorical, and I don’t 100% necessarily agree with everything presented in these works doctrinally. I believe some theological strengthening in some places was needed in their lives. And mine as well, so it’s not a critical statement. Still, I left their writings exactly as is – spelling errors, archaic phraseology, grammar problems, and the theological interpretations too. There are some politically incorrect statements in their – don’t forget they were writing from the standpoint of the forties and fifties. I’d say in the vast, vast majority of cases, my views represent their views – but not always, so it’s important to make that clear. I do wholeheartedly believe in this dove company as Francis would term it – a group of believers, as we approach the end time ministry of the Lord, who will be used by him and having greater supernatural rapture and translation experiences.
So, let me caution the reader, just because you and I have an experience these kinds of things recounted in their works, doesn’t mean they’re not real or correct. We should exercise extreme caution when judging the contents of their writings. We may not fully understand or even agree with the revelation brought out by the GC – but that is the nature of revelation originated through rapture and translation, it can be highly interpretive, but that doesn’t make it false. Again, every experience they had was to unveil more fully the King of glory, to lead them to the centrality of Christ in all expressions – that can never be wasted experiences!
The works are worth reading, studying and enjoying. They are encouraging, uplifting and they draw one to the Lord – which is the most important thing. They may not be the deepest material you ever read, but I trust in the Lord that you be blessed by their remarkable ministry – and knowing a little bit about it should even further increase that blessing.
Sean Boltz is a friend and colleague with a powerful ministry, who also has a unique calling in the realm of translation in rapture. He has had many encounters and being called to heaven, and he was sharing some of his testimonies of these glorious encounters when we first met at a conference. We were sizing each other up. He’d heard of me, I’ve heard of him, but we didn’t know each other at all. Sean had heard of the golden candlestick, but he was unaware of any connection I had with them.
So I’m listening to his testimony of one of his trips to heaven, of the great cloud of witnesses, and a particular room in heaven. He was talking about the 400 – 500 people on earth now were called periodically to go to heaven, and of the lady up there who was in charge of their group of people. He suddenly stops and turns to me and says something to the extent of:
James, that reminds me. Do you know who Francis Metcalf is? She told me that I was supposed to say hi to you, her spiritual son.
Imagine my shock. I was floored! I think that’s fitting for her to be in charge of the people on earth now being translated in rapture to heaven. And as you read this book, you’ll understand why.