By Henry Hastings
Bride Ministries International —Equipping the Body of Christ
I want to invite our guest speaker today. We don’t often have guest speakers at Bride Ministries Church that aren’t from the house, but our guest speaker today, Henry Hastings, and he’s here with his wife, Amanda.
Why don’t you guys stand up? They became quick friends shortly before our advance last year. They have definitely supported us. And they are now diving in headfirst.
I mean, truly, their whole lives are being defined by their calling against human trafficking. And they are now the senior leaders of an organization called Justice Reigns. They have pastoral experience in their background. I think Henry’s been in ministry now for 40 years. And yeah, he is in town.
We recorded a podcast yesterday about some of their operations overseas. And Henry, why don’t you just come on up. We’re very excited to let him share some things with us today. He has an amazing testimony in the process of releasing a book soon, but I’m not going to steal any of his thunder. Henry Hastings, welcome to Bride Ministries Church, friend. We’re looking forward to what the Lord has put on your heart today. I’ll be back next week.
All right. Wow, this is a real treat, a real treat. Since my beautiful bride was already introduced, I think I’ll… I wouldn’t actually be here without her, believe it or not.
I haven’t stood in a pulpit in a church and preached since 2011. The last time I preached in Houston, I was candidating for a church that’s located across the street from the Galleria. It was called Baraka Church. Have any of you heard of it? A few.
I was ordained by that pastor in 1997, and I was asked to candidate for his pulpit. And I came to Houston and I preached in that church for five days, two successive messages each night, and then on Sunday and crescendoed with a communion service.
And I really sensed that the pulpit search committee was going to choose me and I would have to move from Atlanta to Houston.
And it came down to one vote from a man who lived in Katy. And so the pulpit went to the pastor’s son. And he’s a good guy. In that church’s constitution states that anyone practicing the temporary gifts of the Spirit is subject to immediate dismissal.
And so today, Dan asked me to preach on Breaking free from the religious spirit. I know something about that spirit because I was influenced with that spirit. I marched to the drumbeat of that spirit, and I completely operated in that spirit.
I think Dan’s already mentioned Justice Reigns, which is our anti-trafficking ministry to rescue and restore and redeem. And you can go to justicereigns.org to see that. We also have a men’s ministry called Shoot, Move, Communicate. You can learn more about it at smctribe.com.
And I never thought when I resigned my commission as a major in the Army Special Forces, I was a Green Beret, and I resigned my commission on May 22, 2001.
I never thought I would have anything to do with the military again, or would any tactical experience or operational planning experience, I would use any of it in my life. Because I was going into pastoral ministry.
I was in pastoral ministry. And the Lord gave me a mandate in 2023 to restore biblical masculinity to the church by raising up modern day Minutemen in the natural and spiritual realms.
And so, it is a tactical shooting men’s retreat. And we have trained over 100 men at a combat shooting facility that has only been available to tier one operators.
So DEVGRU or SEAL Team 6, your Army CCT, your Air Force CCT guys, PJs, your para-rescue guys, and your ODAs, your Army Special Forces teams.
And so, Tier 1 operators go to the school and a civilian has not set foot on it. And yet with the favor of God and the mandate he gave me, that’s where we’ve been training.
So, what is a religious spirit? What is it? What is it? Before we get into that, I have a couple questions to kind of see where we’re going here. This could go a number of ways.
We could go down some alleyways and things like that during this time, but the first question I would ask you guys, I’m kind of getting a temperature in the house, is how many of you are sinners saved by grace? Okay. All right.
How many of you have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a separate and distinct work of God after your salvation. Okay.
And how many of you pray in the Spirit or in tongues? Okay. All right.
That lets me know what’s going on. That’s good. Okay.
No, I can tell that Dan and Christian have done a really good job here. This is really good. There’s always work to do, for sure.
So, the word religion or religious actually appears in two passages. If you search it in the English, you’re going to find it in Acts 17, 22-23, and Paul talks about this. He enters Athens and he’s going through the city, and he sees all these monuments and these altars that are erected to all these different gods.
And when he gets there, he says that he perceives that they’re religious because they had erected an altar to the unknown God.
And then Paul says, I’ve come here to preach that God that you do not know to you.
And so, he used the term threskos in the Greek, translated religious, because of something they did. Something they did to connect to a spiritual entity.
They had gods for everything in Athens. But there was one God they thought that was unknown, and so they built an altar to worship that God.
And Paul used it to preach Jesus to them. In James 1.26, the word’s used two times. First, it’s religion and then religious. I’ve got a preacher in the crowd.
And what happens is it’s if any man’s, if any man cannot bridle his tongue, his religion is worthless.
And so, in both of these cases, we see that there’s an emphasis on performance, on things we see with the natural eye, things we can tangibly do or observe outwardly in the natural realm.
And so Thracekos, when we go a little deeper, we see it was used in Hellenistic Greek.
Now, the period of the Hellenistic Greek writers was 323 through 31 BC, so obviously before the birth of Jesus.
And it was used for a person devoted to cultic practice, emphasizing outward religious observance, rituals, ceremonies, and visible acts of worship.
And then the history of the Word continued with the classical writers, or before that, with the classical writers, 500 to 323, applied to followers who scrupulously fulfilled the requirements of their gods, while Hellenistic Jews employed it for those meticulous about temple or synagogue duties.
So, again, It is an emphasis on things that we can actually do. When we take a look at these passages, Jesus tells the religious leaders, you search the Scriptures.
I mean, they were well-versed in the Hebrew Bible, what we call the Tanakh, the Torah, the Nevi’im, the Ketuvim, the law and the prophets, wisdom literature. They were well-versed in the Scriptures. They searched them. They studied them. They memorized Torah from the time they were little boys.
And yet you refused to come to Me. They were blinded.
See, often pastors who emphasize the Word of God, alive and powerful, and you just need more of it. You need to get more of the Bible, and you need to read more of your Bible. And then you might experience freedom, you see.
Pastors who emphasize that to the exclusion of the Spirit and the freedom and all the things that the death, burial, and resurrection of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, the righteous, secured on the cross.
They operate under a religious spirit. That’s how you can know the Bible and still just miss it like I did.
I was one of these men. Woe to you, whitewash tombstones. Why is he calling them that? Because they wore clothing. And as people looked upon them, what they wore, their priestly vestments and everything, they thought, my gosh, these men are so holy because of what they wear.
And yet Jesus says, you look great on the outside, but on the inside, you’re full of what? Dead men’s bones. Wow.
And then 2 Timothy 3:5, Paul’s letter to Timothy refers to men having a form of godliness but denying its power.
So, what is a religious spirit? Before I define it, I need to tell you how I know. And I told you a little bit about that, but I really was a modern-day Pharisee.
I had memorized scripture. I had a salvation experience where at 27 years old, after accomplishing my childhood dream of becoming a Green Beret, I was totally empty.
And I cried out to heaven, and I said, God, there has to be more to life. You must be out there. I’ve been to Yosemite. I’ve seen Half Dome and El Cap and all these beautiful places. I believe you exist.
There must be more, otherwise life’s not worth living. I mean, to go from 10 years old when you see a picture of a Green Beret operating in Vietnam and liberating the oppressed, fighting against communism and say, that’s what I want to do, and nothing got in your way. And then at 27 years old, 17 years later, you actually become a Green Beret, but you’re empty. Whoa.
And God used that to start drawing me to His Son because no one can come to the Son unless the Father draws him.
It’s like they just throw out this net in the spirit realm and you’re caught in it like a fish and you’re fighting and you’re like, and finally you get drawn to this encounter with Jesus.
And it was the Scripture that the Holy Spirit used to convict me of my sin, and that I was headed for an eternal lake of fire, and I got on my knees in my room.
I was full of conviction, things that I had forgotten I had done from 10 years old, all the way through everything. I was like, God, I’m trusting in you because you died on the cross for me. You shed your blood for me. And there’s no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.
And I gave my life to him that day. I trusted in him alone. And I walked out of that room, and I never saw the world in the same light again. And here I’m 27 years old. I am on fire for Jesus. And I was like, I know I’m saved. Praise Jesus. Yeah.
So, three years later, I met Dallas Theological Seminary, just north of here. Five years later, I get a master’s in theology. I’m rolling in Greek. I’m rolling in Hebrew. I get ordained at this church in Houston. And I preached against the gifts of the Spirit. I railed on the charismatic church. I attributed tongues to either emotional outbursts or demons.
That’s grievous to the Spirit of God. I’m grieving the Spirit of God, but I’m fueled by a religious spirit, and I believe I am right.
See, I had agreed with lies that brought me to that, and now I’m preaching against the very power that I need. And I was living a compromised life. I struggled with bondage on occasion. I ended up getting married.
I was not walking in righteousness because I believed I was a sinner saved by grace. My faith in the fact that I was a sinner was producing sin in my life because I didn’t really know who I was in Christ.
And everybody that’s why we sin. I was the Romans 7: 14 through 25. Romans 7: 14, the very things I wished I were doing, I’m not doing. And the things that I don’t want to be doing, I’m doing, oh wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? The Romans 7 man needs deliverance. He needs deliverance.
And I challenge you that the man in Romans 6 is not the man in Romans 7. It’s impossible. Because the man in Romans 6 has been set free from sin, and sin no longer has dominion over him. And he’s died to sin. And so just that little tweak is so critical.
For 27 years of my Christian life, I’m a sinner saved by grace. And when I fell into sin, it was like, well, I’m going to 1 John 1.:9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness.
So, when I fell into sin, like sexual immorality, what did I do? I confessed it and I believed what the Word says. And then I’d have a period of Okay, I’m doing good.
But then I would fall again and fall again. And that’s why I have not been in a pulpit since 2011.
Yeah. I fell into sin as an ordained minister, I committed adultery. I went through a horrific divorce. I resigned from the church because the Lord spoke to me. Yes, even a cessationist minister, I mean, I was like John MacArthur on steroids. And he’s with the Lord.
But even a cessationist minister can be put on a course to collide with God. So that’s why I know, what a religious spirit is.
So, let’s look at the definition. Where the Spirit is an entity. We’ll go there in a minute.
Mindset and or condition where people have a form of godliness without power. Whoa, just think about that. Without power that would have fruit of victory over sin. in your life.
Do you know what Galatians 5:16 says? Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Now, we’ve all heard that. We’re like, Wow, that’s really cool. But did you know when the Greek, will not fulfill, is in the subjunctive mood? I know that’s all Greek to all of us, right?
But the construction, ume, plus the subjunctive, is called the subjunctive of emphatic negation, and it rules out even the possibility of fulfilling the desires of the flesh when you walk by the Spirit.
I think I’d want to know what walking by the Spirit is and learn how to walk by the Spirit, right? Come on.
Because it means that we can walk as Jesus walked. You see, He modeled the same life and the intimacy that we are designed as sons to experience with the Father.
So, a condition where people have a form of godliness without power, where tradition replaces truth and performance replaces relationship.
It appeals to the flesh, the natural mind. Works righteousness, what I mean by that, I’m righteous because of what I do. That’s works righteousness.
We’re not righteous because of what we do. See? We do what we do because we were made righteous.
See, religion says that I need to do something to be blessed. So, I’m going to bless to receive blessing. Okay?
If you read the book of Ephesians, six chapters, the first three chapters don’t even have one command for you to do anything. There’s nothing. There’s no command. There’s no, hey, you need to do this.
It’s all about what God did for you in grace and who He is.
And then it says, imitate God. Love your wife as Christ loved the church. All of the things to do are after you’ve woken up to who you now are as a new creation in Christ, where you’re seated as a trans-dimensional being filled with the Holy Spirit, operating in the power and authority of Christ on earth, fulfilling your dominion mandate.
So, a religious spirit is a demonic entity, a network of influence that will replace intimacy with your Father. And performance and control is what it’s replaced with.
It uses truth in distorted form to keep you bound. Creates legalistic systems that feel righteous but lack life and freedom in Christ. It appeals to our own understanding when we’re told not to rely on our own understanding. It leads us into performance-based Christianity and draws attention to self and what we can do to earn blessing from God.
And I’ve mentioned we bless because we’ve already been blessed. See, God sets us up under the new covenant and He gives you everything up front. Everything.
Do you know why you’re in church on a Sunday and not a Saturday? which was considered the Sabbath, which is when everybody gathered. Think about this for a minute.
Under the Old Covenant, you worked in order to be blessed, and you needed rest from your work. But in the New Covenant, God gives you everything up front for what you need for the week. And what day of the week is this? on the Hebrew calendar. It’s the first day of the week. You’re supposed to get your grace up front, see, until you already have something to give for the week.
And so, you come, and you receive blessing upon blessing, and then you give out what you have. See the difference in operating under an old covenant and a new covenant? It’s completely even.
Even The prophet, which a lot of us don’t even understand in the church today, but there are prophets and apostles walking around.
And you happen to have one pastoring your church, which is really cool. Yeah. And I used to preach that there were no longer any apostles or prophets. Isn’t that crazy?
I mean, do you think it’s coincidence that an apostle asked me to speak in the church that he’s shepherding? I mean, God just has a sense of humor.
You know, and we’re singing this song and the Lord, and I are just laughing. Oh, look what you have done, Lord. Look what you have done. Look what you have done.
So, Let’s talk about breaking free. Let’s talk about breaking free. I had heard that Charles Stanley, a good Baptist preacher, went through a divorce and he went up to the mountains of North Georgia to get direction from God because his church wanted him to resign.
First Baptist Atlanta. And so, I was being haunted by demons. And I knew Ephesians 6: 12, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against these principalities and powers and spiritual forces of wickedness and all of this.
I knew that passage, but the two demons that would show up when I would put my head on the bed and try to go to sleep and start dragging me down this cavernous place, I didn’t want to hit bottom, so I could not sleep. I would wake up.
And these things were like they had legit black skin. Completely human form. But their eyes, they looked like Siamese cats. and one would take one arm and one would take another arm and they would just plunge me down into this like dark shaft and all I could see is this thing closing in like this that I just had this fear of falling. It was so real.
And I would wake up and I’m like, oh my God, what is going on? And I couldn’t break free from the sin I had entangled myself with. I couldn’t do it. I tried so hard.
But I had to break agreement with lies. I had to… There were soul ties and spiritual things that had knitted me in the spiritual realm that I did not know how to break free from. I needed deliverance.
And I was sitting around going, well, Christians can’t be demon-possessed. They can only be influenced because they have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit and darkness cannot have fellowship with one another.
Man, I remember baptizing A Christian with Amanda. And it was during the pandemic, and the Lord said, don’t forsake assembling together of yourselves.
I’m like, oh, okay, well, we are stewarding this group, facilitating this new believer group at this mega church that God told us to go to.
And here we are, and all of a sudden, I’m like, all right, yeah. And they shut down during the pandemic. And the Lord says, don’t forsake assembling. We’re like, all right.
So, we wrote the group and said, hey, your baptismal graduation is going to be on March 30th down at Pirates Cove at the beach.
And by the way, here’s two articles on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you want to read them, why don’t you come to the baptism?
Okay, nine people showed up. And then about four months later, we’re baptizing people at Huntington Beach.
The first Friday night, there were 300 people there. The next Friday night, there were 800 people there. And the following Friday night, there were 1,200 people there.
And the cops are threatening to arrest us. along with others if we don’t all go home. And the first night this kid, he accepts Jesus, and he comes out in the water and he’s a believer and we ask him to go down in the water and he purposes to go down in the water and his body jumps out.
I’m like, what in the heck just happened? And I said, what’s going on? He goes, I don’t know. I went to get in the water so you could baptize me, and my body didn’t want to go.
I had just had deliverance training because I was going to go on a mission trip to Brazil that got canceled on 3:16, so March 16th. And so, I was like, well, the only thing I need to do is say, get out in Jesus’ name.
So, I looked at him and I’m like, go to your knees in Jesus’ name. Boom, like his body just plopped down. And so, we baptize him, and we bring him up out of the water and this kid starts flailing.
I mean, his head’s going and his body’s doing this. And I’m like, well, okay, time to use that phrase.
Get out in Jesus’ name. And he just goes, whoop. Slow motion, body starts fading down like it has no strength. I’m holding him up like this. I’m like, oh, I guess it needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So, Amanda starts praying over him in the spirit and I’m like, Lord Jesus, fill him in the name of Jesus.
And all of a sudden you could feel his whole chest cavity. He starts praising God. All right. And I go home and I’m like, okay, why do the demons not like water?
What’s going on here? Like, they don’t like water. Like, that’s really weird. Like, I thought baptism was just a symbol. Whoa!
Do you understand there’s transactions in the spirit realm when you go underwater?
You can check with your apostle pastor on this or the apostle who’s pastoring you on this. But honestly, search the Scriptures. Colossians 2: 11 through 13. I love the New Living Translation here.
It actually says that when you got baptized, your sin nature was circumcised. Wait a minute. Circumcised? You’re circumcised?
Well, wait a minute. I don’t remember when I got circumcised when I was a baby, but I’m pretty sure I can’t find that and go sew it back on. Right?
I mean, can you imagine? Gentlemen, you’re like, yeah, I got circumcised too. It’s against my will, but you know what? I don’t even know where that thing is. And I know you’re not going to, like, wear it around your neck on a chain. Oh my gosh. Like, are you kidding me?
I don’t have a sin nature anymore. Wait a minute. I mean, that’s crazy. And then, the theologian in me is like, well, wait a minute now. Well, that means that you can’t sin. No, actually, wait a minute.
Adam in the garden did not have a sin nature when he sinned. Whoa. Are you telling me there’s been a restoration to what happened before the fall? Oh! Oh wait, I mean, are you kidding me?
Like I don’t have to have a sin nature to sin. So, it’s not that I’m able not to sin, it’s actually, it’s not that I’m not able to, it’s that I’m able not to by walking by the Spirit in a revelation of my identity. And that’s why identity is so key.
You must know who you are and the authority you have been given to walk in victory over sin and to exercise authority over demons.
And I’m telling you, they know if you know if you have that authority. They know. Yeah, this one knows he doesn’t have the authority, so let’s make sure he runs out of the house naked and beaten.
Yeah, that’d be kind of fun. No, you see what I’m saying. Yeah. Identity is everything. Everything. And then when you start depending upon the Spirit and you learn the ways with the Spirit, Romans 8: 16, do you not know that those who are led by the Spirit are sons?
But sons in the Greek isn’t an immature son, it’s a huios. It’s one who’s learned the Spirit’s ways with Him. Through trial and error, obviously, right? You got to step out.
You got to skin your knees a little bit. So how did I break free from the religious spirit? Well, I kept, I wouldn’t let go of God.
And I go up into the mountain because Charles Stanley went up there. And God spoke to him, and he was a Baptist, so he can speak to me too.
And God told him not to worry about it and put it to a vote to his congregation. They voted him for remain as pastor.
So, I was like, God, I know you can speak to me. And I get up into the mountains. And I had a rental cabin up there as a cessationist.
And I went up there and it was rented and I’m like, no. And I go to the rental office and they’re like, here’s a cabin up on a mountain Rd. and you can go on that one.
It’s a fire break and it’s rocky and you might not get up there. The weather’s been really bad, but oh, I got a four-wheel drive.
I’m good to go. So, I go up there and I get in the hot tub and I start confessing my sin to God. I’m like, God, I have so messed everything up. I’m so sorry. I have committed adultery. I have deceived people. I have, I mean, just like, and in the midst of that, have you ever seen a car getting picked up out of a junkyard by a magnet? You ever seen that? Yeah. Power of God shows up.
I get picked up out of the hot tub. It’s 34 degrees out, guys. I mean, it’s on the brink of freezing. I’m in nothing but a pair of running shorts in the mountains of North Georgia, north of Unicoi, in basically Unicoi State Park, north of Helen.
And I am compelled down a gravel Rd. in bare feet. to put one foot in front of the other, and I cannot control where I’m going. The Lord put me in a trance.
Part of my book is about that, that’s coming out unredacted. It’ll be a couple months. But right before I came out of the trance, which was 6 1/2 hours long, 6 1/2 hours, 33, 34 degree weather, bare feet, nothing, get out of a hot tub.
You want to talk about hypothermia? I didn’t even feel how cold I was while I was in the trance. I didn’t even think God did stuff like that today. Okay? I’m just this cessationist, right? This stuff isn’t for today.
This is all demonic. Yeah. And so right before I come out of the trance, I’m in the middle of a mountain Rd. standing there, two-lane mountain highway, and the Lord says to me, clear as the bell, Henry. I mean, I’m telling you, when the Lord says your name to you, oh, it just undoes stuff.
I mean, you’re like, oh my gosh, I mean, it just resonates somewhere like so deep. And he said to me, Henry, the Sermon on the Mount is for today.
And I had preached for years, it wasn’t for today. And it was irrelevant until Jesus showed up.
And then he said, all the gifts of my Spirit are for today. And by the way, there are apostles and prophets walking around.
Yeah. So, I go back to Atlanta thinking I’ve lost my mind. I still haven’t broken free from sin, but God met me in the middle of my mess. And yes, he can meet you in the middle of yours.
Because Adam in the middle of his mess in the garden, before he even received the garments of sacrifice that the Lord made in the garden for him, heard the voice of the Lord. And he spoke to him.
So, through the course of events, I wind up in a place that I would never been caught dead in, a charismatic church. Yeah.
And who happens to be there but Amanda. Yes, Amanda. And she had been waiting for her husband to show up for seven years. And the Lord had told her that he would be a pastor.
But obviously, I was much more than she bargained for. Yeah. I mean, really?
And so, I show up in this Charismatic Church and God had me experience every single thing that was not for today. Everything.
I walk into the church my very first night, Friday night, prophetic night. Oh, Lord Jesus. Oh, look at all you have done.
And I hear the contemporary Christian music going on, and I’m like, oh, no. Because we were like, Bible hymns and hymnals and Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. Not that those are bad. I love them still to this day, right? Come on. There’s even one that one of the Wesley brothers wrote, Charles. And it’s, how can it be? that my God should stay for me. I mean, those are just powerful, Spirit-led hymns.
But I hear this contemporary music, and I had read this book about why I left the contemporary Christian movement and all this stuff, and I’m like, oh, this stuff, Lord, what am I doing?
And then I’m like, well, I got to go. And so, I go inside, and all of a sudden I walk in, and A woman is on stage, which I was like before, no, you can’t have that. Women keep silent in church, man. They’re not pastors and proud. No, And she’s the worship leader.
I’m like, oh God, what is going on? And I open the door and rays of light come out of her mouth. And I’m like, my God, I’m not on drugs. What’s going on?
And these rays of light shoot right at me in the auditorium, go right to the floor, and they pick up these pieces of glass, and they’re dangling in front of my face, and they form a heart and go into my chest.
And I’m like, what is going on in this place? It’s real. I’m serious. And I was seeing in the Spirit. I was thinking that I’d never seen in the Spirit before, and I’m seeing in the Spirit, and I’m like, this is crazy.
Oh my gosh, I’m telling you. So, I had, that was my first vision. And then all these things started happening, and I signed up for an inner healing appointment.
And I went in inner healing, and I had this another vision, but it was closed, and I shot up into heaven.
And I’m sure the person doing the Sozo on me was like, this is crazy. What’s going on here? And Jesus, I mean, oh my gosh, this lion shows up. It’s crazy. It’s all in the book. I can’t, I’ll go too long today.
But man, the collision was required to break free from the religious spirit, right?
So, pray for people to collide with God. Yeah. And then the shift. Everything that I said wasn’t for today, I actually experienced.
Prophetic words with pinpoint accuracy. I had a brain tumor that I had been diagnosed with back in 2009. It’s now 2012. I show up to this church.
Every year I had to get an MRI because if my brain tumor grew to a certain size, they were going to surgically remove it. And the doctor told me, dude, you can go blind.
He didn’t say dude, but I’m from California, so I say dude. But anyway, so He’s like, you could go blind. I’m like, yeah, that’s not good. I’ll get my MRI every year.
So, all of a sudden I’m in this church and it’s like healing service on Friday night during the announcements.
You know, like if Cody were to get up here and she’s like, we’re going to have a baptism. And hey, baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And I’m like, yeah, I know where that baptism is. She goes, wow, I’m standing on it. I’m like, yeah, there’s got to be some things in here you pull up. But healing service. What is that? Is that for today?
And so, my MRI was scheduled. I mean, we’re talking every year I would make an MRI. It was scheduled for Wednesday and the healing service was on Friday. And after looking at, you know, getting the announcement on Sunday, I’m like, well, I guess I’m going to reschedule my appointment for the following week.
So, I called the lab and I’m like, hey, can you guys push my appointment into next week on Wednesday? And they’re like, sure, yeah, we have an opening at the same time. And I’m like, oh, that’s awesome, great.
So, I go to the healing service. And the guy ministering was giving words of knowledge for healing and mine didn’t get called out.
And then the pastor got up and he said, I just really sense there’s angels releasing healing in the winds right now in this auditorium.
And if your condition hasn’t been called out, just grab it. And I just remember doing this. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just was like, yeah, I received that. Yeah. And I went forward for prayer, and I didn’t fall over, and I didn’t have an encounter with God. Nothing happened as far as I knew.
And I went home, and I was driving home, and I was like, well, Jesus, you know what? You gave the command for that son to be healed, and he didn’t have to be there, so you just got to give the command from heaven. And I’m okay with that too.
I still didn’t feel anything, and I’m still in this thing. I mean, there was a waft of air, that hit me. There was. And I’m like looking around, where’s the air vent, you know? Really, right?
By the way, for some reason, I don’t know where this is going today. Hopefully we’re not like Paul and you fall asleep and fall out of your chair. I’m just kidding.
But If for some reason I lay hands on you, please don’t give me a courtesy fall. Right? Yeah, come on. We got to cut that crap in the charismatic church, right? Come on.
We want the real thing. You don’t have to be pushed over, right? Come on. So, all of a sudden, I go home, and everything happens. It’s great. It’s Friday night. Sunday night, I go back to church. Or Friday night prophetic.
Sunday night here, we go to that. And my doctor calls me. And he’s like, Henry? And his name was Dr. Brown. Yeah, what’s up? He’s like, I need to talk to you. Mike, what’s going on? He said, well, I have combed through your MRI with the tech and my partner, and we can’t find your brain tumor. Is that not cool? Wow. I mean, that’s just crazy, right? I mean, without human hands. Yeah, the Lord’s like, look, without human hands. He’s like,
I’ll do a circumcision in that baptismal water for you too. Without hands. It’s so cool. And isn’t he amazing? I had committed a sin that under the law, the penalty was death. Don’t tell me. The Lord’s mercies aren’t new every day. And great is His faithfulness. And do you think that I deserved to be remarried? The actual word, if you really want to just go by the word, because of what I did, I did not have the right to remarry. Do you know that?
This is not relationship. Because do you know what mercy is? Mercy is God withholding that which you deserve. I’m telling you; I am a witness and a testimony to the goodness of God in the land of the living.
So, for me, I began to experience things and then one day I realized I had to break agreement with lies, which is one way to start your journey on breaking free from the religious spirit.
You must renounce the lies that you believed. So, I made an appointment with one of the men on the board of the church that I was the pastor of. And I met with him, and I opened my Bible to 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. And I told him that I had changed my mind.
And he said, you believe that these gifts are for today. And I’m like, I do. I was wrong and I repent. I had to repent.
And repentance doesn’t mean to say you’re sorry. It involves confession of sin, and I understand in the Greek means a change of mind. I get that. I get it.
But there is the fruit of repentance. The fruit of repentance. And the fact that I had changed my mind produced fruit for me to go tell a member of the board that I was wrong. And will you forgive me for teaching that? Will you forgive me?
And I walked out, and I went down his back porch. There were no fences there, but the minute I walked out of that house, I walked down the stairs to his back porch. And the minute I hit this, Boom!
I started speaking in tongues uncontrollably. I’m not joking. I was shouting in tongues and running through this yard of a Jewish rabbi with all his kids in it.
And I’m like making a beeline for the house I was living in. And I get there, and I fall on my knees and I’m praying in tongues, and I can’t Stop it. And I’m like, oh my gosh.
And then my mind realizes I’m praying in tongues, and I start laughing hysterically. I’m like, wow, this is really crazy. Yeah.
So, repentance, stepping out of agreement with the lies, and not letting go of God, pursuing God, simple obedience to the promptings, of the Holy Spirit.
One day during worship, there was a sound booth in the back like this, but there was a pony wall around it, like one of those walls that’s about yay high. And there were this flag, and it was rolled up on it. And man, in this church, it was crazy, guys. I mean, the worship was unhinged. The closest thing I’ve seen to this kind of worship was at the Bride Tribe Advance down at the Galleria. Okay? I’m just telling you. Yeah. And I walked, I mean, during worship, it was just like, kind of like, hey, do what you want to do. I mean, there were people walking around during worship, you know, on the outskirts of the church. And I initially was like, what are these people doing? Like, They’re not standing in the pew and they, what are they doing? And pretty soon I realized over time, as I matured in the things of the Spirit, these people were like interceding and they were praying and they were declaring things. I mean, what Dan did up here in morning prayer, how many of you guys were up morning prayer here today? How many of you? All right, listen to me. Please, well, listen to the Spirit if this resonates with you as truth, okay? Picture 20 dans walking around in the back of the church during worship, praying like he prayed during the morning prayer. I mean, serious, you think there’s things that are happening in the spirit realm? But do you know why he’s up here doing that? Because for those of you who come, you start to listen to how it’s done and you see how the sword is wielded and the spirit and the authority that you have in realms and dimensions as a trans-dimensional being, a son of God filled with a spirit, exercising your dominion in heaven and on earth. I mean, I stayed in the apartment and I’m sitting up there and I’m kind of like listening to Dan through the crack of what he was talking about, the order at Melchizedek for those who serve in the church. And I’m like, oh man, this is deep, this is good, this is solid. I’m like, man, if I knew Dan was teaching and I were here, I’d be like, man, I’m just going to go sit where everybody gets ready to serve at the church because, man, I mean, this place is a well, you guys. Drink up. but the promptings of the Spirit. Yeah. So there’s this flag rolled up, and now mind you, I walked into this church with like a blazer and, Johnston Murphy shoes and a pair of slacks and I was like serious and a tie and after the first week I lost the tie and I’m judging worship and the Lord said, sit down and zip it. And I was like, yeah, yes sir. Same voice in the mountain, sit down and zip it. I’m like, I know what that means. So I sit down. And that’s where I started judging worship and he said, don’t judge. But during worship, people are walking around. There’s a lady with a, you know, you ever seen the like, honor guards in parades, and they have those belts with the big pole. And it’s like, this lady had one of those in the church with this. Dude, the thing was 10 feet high, and it just said Jesus on it. And she’s walking around the church like this. And there’s people dancing with flags everywhere. There was a gal who was a ballet dancer. She was just dancing up here, like full-blown, like pirouettes and all his stuff. I mean, I’m telling you, I was like, I am in a circus when I walked in there, right? So here I am, three weeks in, right? And I’m just starting to experience the things of the Spirit, and there’s a flag on the pony wall by the sound booth, and I happen to just walk back, you know, because there’s freedom in the house, because the Spirit’s there, right? Yeah. So I walk back and I’m looking at this flag and it’s rolled up on the thing and I’m looking at everything going on in the same voice, in the mountains, that told me to sit down and zip it. You know what he said? He said, he said, Dance for me. Yeah. He did. He did. He said, Dance for me. And I sat there and I struggled with that for… Lord God, don’t you know I wanted to be a theologian and… Like that’s why I took the academic ministry track and I spent all that time learning Greek and Hebrew and now you’re wanting me to dance with a flag? You see, I was about to lose the fear of man real fast. Yeah. I mean, look what you have done. Yeah. And so I’m like, oh my gosh, okay, God, all right. So I sheepishly start to approach the platform, and I’m hoping someone claims this flag before I get there. I grab the flag, and I stand in the back, you know. And I’m like doing this with it. It’s on a little wood dowel, and I’m like doing this. I look like a kid in a Fourth of July parade standing on the sidelines, my gosh. And then he said, Dance for me. I was like, What? And then he said, Down front, like David before the altar. Lord, I know that passage. I’m not taking my clothes off. Oh. He actually was in a Lenin ephod. He didn’t expose himself. That was another issue. But yeah. And I’m like, you’re kidding me. And so I walked down front amidst the ballerina over here. People with flags and intercessors walking all over the place and crazy stuff happening, seeing things I’ve never seen before with these eyes. And I just kind of like start doing this a little bit, and this a little bit. And I’m up there and I’m like, Lord, I feel like a total fool, a fool. Like this is insane. I go down the next week and he says, down front again, Henry. And I’m like, oh my gosh, Lord, I do nothing. I walk down, you know, and I’m like, I’m like this, you know. And I finally go to my face on the floor, you know, and I’m having, you’ve seen people have moments down front at altar calls. Okay, I’m like that, I’m like this, I’m like, I’m like this, and I’m like, God, I just feel like a total idiot. I’m like, what am I doing up here? My God, are you kidding me? And I feel this hand on my back. It’s a hand, a human hand. And I hear these words. The Lord told me to make these for you, and I have anointed them with the oil of Sharon. I’m like, okay. And I look down. I have not, I’m serious, I have not danced with these flags since 2012. They’ve been in a box this whole time. This is the first time I’m bringing them out. You know what I’m saying? This is 1, the Alpha and the Omega. I didn’t know anything about colors and what they meant. Purple, the royalty of my great God and King, my Savior, my friend, the only begotten of the Father. And then the other one, oh boy. I think this is the right way. Yeah. The Spirit of God. And this color blue stands for the mountain of religion. The church, the bride. And there were wooden dowels in them and I’m telling you, it was like I had these, I looked at them, and I got up off the ground, and I just started. I just started just waving. I was like, I don’t know a church that would tolerate the dancing I was doing up front. They had multiple pastors on staff, but I clipped one of the pastors in the nose with the flag, the end of the dowel. And I mean, it was off the charts. It was just off the chain. And I mean, I just, I danced like a wild man. And it was what it was. It was the Lord’s way. of breaking the religious spirit off of me. Thanks, brother. So you can have right theology, the right language and even the right behavior on the outside, but you’re still lacking. Freedom and power. Freedom over sin. Jesus did not come to start a system. He came to restore access to the Father and he came with power. not just teaching. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is. And if Christ has set you free, you’re free. Yeah. I’m going to fast forward through some slides because I want to show you something. And I was going to talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. and how critical the baptism with the Holy Spirit is. I am telling you, it made all the difference in my life. I was lacking power. And when I received that, I now had power for service. And I now experienced walking in the fullness of my calling. And sin no longer has dominion over me. That was not an instantaneous thing. It was a process. But I really encourage you to get with that service. Because Peter said in Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins in the name of Jesus, or be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And we know the gift of the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father, because Jesus talks to the disciples in Acts chapter 1. And he says, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, will receive power. Now, I’m going to do one thing if I’ve got 5 minutes. Okay. In Acts chapter 8, Philip goes down to Samaria to preach Jesus, and it says in verse 5, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them, the Christ or Messiah. But when they believed Philip in verse 12 as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. This is where a majority of the church is in the United States of America. They have believed in Jesus, they have forgiveness of sin, they have eternal life. and they have gone into those baptismal waters. Some have believed, yeah, it’s merely symbolic, et cetera. That’s fine, but let it be done according to your faith. Oh, whoa. And then verse 16, now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. So just because they believed in Jesus and were baptized in water does not mean that they have received the Holy Spirit. This is here in the Word. And that does not mean that you have not been regenerated, though. Deep things, those who are pastoring you will teach you. Because they had not received the Spirit, because he had not fallen on any of them. But they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. I was taught, well, laying hands on someone was just a symbol. It’s A cultural manner. I don’t think so. That’s why Dan and Christian got up at the bride advance like, hey, don’t be laying hands on our kids if you’re from out of town. We don’t want to have to deal with any spirits in our house. Come on. But if you look at these passages, There’s an impartation in Acts 18 to receive the Holy Spirit from someone who has already received it. In Hebrews 6.2, it says it’s an elementary teaching. Elementary, like this is basic. And then in both of Paul’s epistles to Timothy, we see that you can actually receive a spiritual gift or gifts from it. Whoa, you mean You didn’t receive all you were going to get the moment you were saved? There’s more. Isn’t that cool? So I want to encourage you to go after that with them, to go after that with them. And one last thing. No. We’re going to wait. You know the Lord, he’s so funny. During worship, he’s like, make sure you cross out that apple with a bite out of it. And I was like, whoa. And then I started thinking about things and it was like, yeah, we’re just canceling that. curse that came as a result of that with the cross and what was accomplished on it, right? Come on. So, yeah. You’ve got a service coming up where people have opportunity to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And you guys are starting to fast this week. And I’m telling you, fast, secure things in the spirit realm that will manifest in this realm tangibly. And I encourage you to get on board with that because you’ll become more sensitive to things in the spirit realm. And I just want to thank you so much for just following the Lord’s lead. And if there are any of you that feel like you’re dealing with, you’re stuck, you know, in habitual sin and you’re not walking in the freedom that Christ purchased for you on the cross, if you are lacking power in your life, Just find me after service. Find me after service. And my wife and I will pray for you. But I know that you are in such good hands with Dan and Christian. You really are. You really are. So thank you for having me today. May the Lord bless every single one of you in a pursuit of things that may not be yet, but as you declare them to come to pass, things that have not yet come to pass will come to pass for you.