"Although neglected in scholarly literature, the Latter Rain foreshadowed themes that emerged [in] the 1970s to the early 2000s.... Latter Rain participants - ousted by the Pentecostal denominations - became a diaspora of the Spirit" - The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism, 2014
don't miss a thing ...
scroll all the way to the bottom and see LARGE, hard-to-find photos of the Pembertons, Earl Lee, Mom Beall, and others!
Anxiety, and Depression, is going to be a trustworthy lifesaver for those who feel they are sinking under tormenting waves of fear, anxiety, and depression the way he was as a 35-year-old pastor decades ago.
But it's not just survival the book's offering - readers are shown who is the Light of Victory, how they can receive deliverance, and how they can live victoriously through any of life's battles.
Most readers acquainted with this blog and with the Latter Rain Movement will be aware that Pastor Green founded Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans in 1953 and pastored it for 57 years. It was for many years the largest church in the city. Today, it is known as LifeGate Church in Metairie, Louisiana and is pastored by his son, Michael.
Green, who is 94 and living in Texas, is one of the few remaining pioneers of the Latter Rain revival that began in 1948. Others include Hugh Layzell, Kayy Gordon, Ernest Gentile, Donald Murphy, and Anne Morrow [ UPDATE: since this item was posted, Brother Charles, Donald Murphy, and Hugh Layzell have gone to be with the Lord.]
He is still actively involved in ministry, preaching both in the United States and abroad (he even speaks in Light of Victory about his "next book"). And it's ministry that prompted the writing of this important book.
Green suffered terribly in 1961 when, out of nowhere, he was seized by inexplicable - and almost paralyzing - fear. For seven months, he slept little and was tormented by anxiety and depression. Initially, his only relief came in times of prayer and when he was preaching.
He writes, "What was happening to me seemed horrible at the time. Now I realize it led to great victory. It totally changed me as a person, and it changed my perspective on ministry."
Like one beggar telling another where he found bread, Green compassionately wants to minister to those who are suffering as he was. He knows firsthand the despair, loneliness, and loss of joy that day-after-day suffering brings. And he knows where complete freedom can be found. He knows how to ascend out of the darkness of such torment, and how to once again revel in light-filled living.
It's important to note that this suffering was not brought on by sin in Green's life. That may be how some wind up in deep anxiety (and they, too, can be helped by this book), but that was not true in his case.
Though he could not see it until after the seven-month ordeal, the causes were "my work ethic and my past teachings that brought condemnation into my life and ministry."
His work ethic would certainly have burned out most people. Even in childhood, he was as industrious as anyone I've heard about. When reading his full slate of activities as a student and later as a busy pastor, I was astounded.
Add to that grind the legalistic church teachings that provoked perfectionism in him, and you have a recipe for burnout that can leave a person vulnerable to the attack of the enemy of their soul.
The powerful deliverance that he experienced is told authentically - readers will be delighted to see how more than survival can be achieved; real healing and victory are available.
Instinctively, you know that Jesus has the remedy. But, not everyone knows how to help sufferers out of the darkness of despair into the healing, freeing light of God. Charles Green even admits that prior to his experience, he would tell folks, "Don't worry about it. Forget it, and just act as if it were not there. It will soon go away."
Sometimes it does; sometimes, tragically, it doesn't. Brother Green knows experientially how relief and healing can be grasped. He will take you step-by-step, showing you clearly and understandably - without psychological and theological jargon - where the light is. And even if you are not a sufferer, this material will show you how best to help those who are.
Click here to listen to Charles Green being interviewed about his book by Steve Strang and the late Dr. Steve Greene.
Light of Victory can be purchased from Amazon on Kindle or in paperback.
Charles Green is featured in three other posts on this blog:
Enjoy this well-produced video of Charles Green talking about revival - the Latter Rain revival in particular. This is no dry recitation of history, though - this is an anointed, faith-building 28 minutes that will increase your hunger for a genuine, heaven-sent revival in our time. Let it begin in your spirit today!
Charles Green founded Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans, Louisiana. He got involved in the Latter Rain revival in 1950 and subsequently traveled to over 50 countries preaching the Gospel.
Read more about Charles at these other articles on this website:
Kenneth Copeland and Charles Green at the celebration of Charles' 90th birthday held at Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas
The Latter Rain revival began over six decades ago and, as you might expect, there are not many of the early participants still alive.
Charles Green, who got involved in the revival in 1950, is alive and is very active in ministry still. He not only preaches in churches across the United States, but in 2016 had meetings scheduled in Kenya, Peru, and Brazil!
Green is best known for many years of pastoring the large Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans, Louisiana. He turned 90 in February and has been receiving much-deserved recognition from ministries like Charismanews.com and Eagle Mountain International Church, which was founded by Kenneth Copeland.
In March, Dr. Steve Greene wrote a tribute to Charles Green on the Charismanews.com website. Greene, who is the executive vice president of the Charisma Media group, entitled the article, "Take 5 Minutes to Save a Life for Eternity."
Greene tells how a single meeting with the veteran pastor changed his life, "I can't recall exactly what he said to me but I know it was a seed that grew in me until I was saved at the age of 19. I have never forgotten that one encounter with him. The only reason I cannot forget him is that he made such a significant spiritual deposit into my life. Why else would I remember one moment in time from 1971 with such clarity? I can only conclude that the meeting was a Spirit-led appointment."
Barbara and Charles
Thousands who have met Charles Green or heard him preach could say the same. He and his wife Barbara are widely known for their wisdom, kindness, and gifts of the Spirit.
The Greens also know about "Spirit-led appointments" - in fact, in 1950 they had a bumper crop of them.
"1950 was the 'watershed year' of my life," Charles says. "In February, I married Barbara. In April, I met Mom Beall in Beaumont, Texas. In July, I met Garlon and Modest Pemberton in Houston. In October, I met the great Prophet David Schoch in the St. Louis convention. In December, I met Peter and Patricia Beall Gruits in Houston when I spoke for the Pemberton's Christmas Banquet. Some year!"
Green, who lives about 40 minutes from Eagle Mountain International Church (EMIC), was honored there in a Sunday morning service in February. Copeland and EMIC pastor George Pearsons wanted to acknowledge Green's faithfulness and effectiveness over decades of ministry.
Copeland told how Green gave him the opportunity to minister at Word of Faith in New Orleans before he and his wife Gloria became the internationally famous ministers they are today.
It is also worth noting that while Copeland and Green can both be identified under the Pentecostal/Charismatic label, they come from different strains of that sector of Christianity. Copeland is a leader in the Word-Faith movement, and Green has his Latter Rain background.
But that the two would have close fellowship is no mystery to anyone that knows Green - he is a unifier. For instance, when he and John Gimenez and Emanuele Cannistraci founded the Network of Christian Ministries (NCM) in 1983 they made sure to extend a hand of fellowship to Copeland and had him speak at one the NCM conventions. The NCM membership also included men like Paul Paino (Calvary Ministries International), Dick Iverson (Ministers Fellowship International), Mel Davis (International Association of Ministries), Bob Weiner (Maranatha Campus Ministries), and Charles Simpson from the Shepherding/Discipleship movement.
Green's leadership and unifying impulse were also put to use in three other important organizations: Church Growth International (David Yonggi Cho), the board of regents of Oral Roberts University, and International Charismatic Bible Ministries (Oral Roberts).
He had yet another unifying role in the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization that was held in New Orleans in 1987. Pentecostal historian Vinson Synan documents the integral role Green played in the event's success in his book, An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit (pp. 98-99, 103).
It is hard when recounting the many endeavors of ministers like Charles Green to not sound as though one is unduly exalting a person. Green would be the very first person to recoil from such exaltation. But surely there is a place for acknowledging what the Lord has done through yielded vessels.
His tribute to the late James Lee Beall can be read on this blog here.
One of Charles' 2016 sermons can be seen in the video below. Be sure to not miss his interesting and faith-building vignette about the late Gwen Wilkerson (David Wilkerson's wife) that begins at the 14:00-minute mark.
Early in the Latter Rain Movement of 1948 a young minister from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was sent by his pastor to Beaumont, Texas to see for himself what was happening. That April 1950 trip resulted in the young minister - Charles E. Green - joining forces with the Bealls of Detroit, the Pembertons of Houston, Harry Hodge of Beaumont, and many other ministers involved in the Latter Rain Movement (including, of course, Green's pastor William Marshall).
James Beall (1951)
It also resulted in a lifelong friendship between Green and Mom Beall's son James. In the ensuing decades Green would have Beall speak many times at his June conventions in New Orleans (Word of Faith Temple, the church he founded in 1953). Likewise, Beall would often have Green as a guest speaker in Detroit for Bethesda Missionary Temple's Easter conventions which later became known as Spring Festivals. All told, Green preached in Bethesda's pulpit over 100 times in a five-decade span that began in 1954.
Besides being fellow ministers of the gospel that appreciated each other's ministry of the Word, the pair enjoyed a close personal friendship that included good-natured ribbing and teasing (in fact, I have it on good authority that Green and long-time Washington D. C. pastor John Meares once played a practical joke on Beall, laying a cat on his chest as he slept upright in a chair; Beall, who is said to have hated cats, woke up not a little flummoxed and flustered, which put Green and Meares in stitches with laughter). When vacationing together, Beall and Green, as well as their wives, could let their hair down, as the saying goes (once while in Vermont on a road trip together some time after Mom Beall's passing in 1979, the four of them - then middle-aged - enjoyed the wintry thrill of a good, old-fashioned snowball battle). [UPDATE 9/10/2018 - Charles Green's precious wife, Barbara, went to be with the Lord five years after James Beall on the exact same date.]
The Greens (1951)
Shortly after James Beall went to his eternal rest September 10, Charles Green included the following tribute to Beall in his Harvest Ministries to the World newsletter:
"Word has just come that our long-time and wonderful friend Dr. James Beall has gone home to be with the Lord.
"Barbara and I met James and Anne Beall in 1951. We have laughed together, cried together and vacationed together, but the times we have spent together in the house of God, both in Detroit and New Orleans have been times of joy beyond description. We have not only been friends, but we have counted the Beall family as part of our family.
"The ministry of James Beall blessed and strengthened our New Orleans Church in a marvelous and godly way. He has been highly intelligent with a great knowledge of the Word of God, presented in a clear, concise and witty fashion. We shall not see another like him. We will miss you Jim, and we will keep on loving your family!"
While Green no longer pastors the New Orleans church, he is very active in ministry. Based in Frisco, Texas, he speaks at churches in the United States as well as other places around the globe. His ministry website is Harvest Ministries to the World.
Faith Church flooded by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 did extensive damage to the Faith Church facility (Word of Faith Temple had been renamed, Faith Church). Charisma magazine carried a story about the damage on its website (the part of the link that pertains to Green's church is at the bottom of that link and is entitled, "Flooded Church Logs On"). The church, which has been under the leadership of Green's son Michael Green since 2001, is now known as The Lifegate and has two locations - LifeGate North is in Mandeville, Louisiana and LifeGate South meets in Metairie, Louisiana.
Ministry Today magazine covered the Greens' pastoral transition this way:
"Michael Green preached his first message in early March [2001] as the senior pastor of Faith Church in New Orleans, taking over for his father, Charles Green. Already co-pastor of the congregation, Green, 47, also had served as worship leader, soloist and speaker in the church started by his father in 1953.
"Married since 1984, Michael and wife, Linda, have two boys. Church officials said Charles Green, 76, stepped down as senior pastor to mentor other church leaders and lead the missions ministry. 'Dad will be doing a lot of foreign and home missions work,' Green said. 'He will be ministering to ministers, traveling and writing.'"
"Who would enjoy making a car trip from New York to California if all they had were hundreds of pieces of paper containing directions? Even if all the pieces contained correct information, it would be exasperating.
"Yet, that is analogous to the type of spiritual journey many have had to make - countless sermons, books, teachings and songs but no sense of how it all fits together.
"Veteran pastor Charles Green has attempted to provide a comprehensive 'map' of the Christian faith with his new book, The Revelation of God and His Word. Green first presents his teaching chronologically (the Old Testament scriptures), and then doctrinally (Jesus, His church, and its beliefs and practices).
"Most appreciated is Green's irenic tone: for example, when he says about himself: 'The author does not claim - nor does he believe - that his doctrine is the only way to heaven.'"
Michael Green leading worship at the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization in New Orleans in July 1987 (Jane Hansen Hoyt of Women's Aglow is in the background). Vinson Synan, writing in An Eyewitness Remembers a Century of the Holy Spirit, said, "Jamie Buckingham announced that this was 'probably the greatest gathering of Christian leaders ever assembled in the history of the United States of America.' The singing was joyous and enthusiastic. Hundreds of participants danced in the aisles as Michael Green and the music ministry led the worship. He said, 'We've taken a football arena and turned it into a tabernacle of prayer.' At one point, hundreds of children sang and danced as they circled the outer aisles holding banners from many nations of the world. One observer, Thomas Nickel, said of the scene: 'Thirty thousand, half Catholic; the other half denominational charismatics, Messianic Jews and old line Pentecostals, so blended together that it was impossible to determine to which category each belonged.'"
DIXIE CAMP MEETING - (from l to r) Modest Pemberton, Wayne Pemberton, M. D. "Mom" Beall, Garlon Pemberton
Garlon Pemberton was one of the most vibrant and unforgettable people involved in the Latter Rain Movement of 1948. When the movement started, he and his brothers Wayne and Modest were among the earliest ministers in the U. S. to fully embrace it.
They sponsored the Dixie Camp Meeting in 1951 that did much to spread the blessing and teachings of the young LRM. According to Dennis McClendon in the July 1, 1951 edition of the Houston Post:
"During the meetings that closed June 17, more than 400 ministers were in attendance. Missionary leaders came from every continent of the globe. Countries represented by delegates included Liberia, India, Canada, China, Australia, Peru and England, the Rev. Mr. [Modest] Pemberton said. The average nightly attendance under the oversized tents exceeded 2,000 persons. There were representatives from every state in the Union - more than 30,000 in all [a cumulative attendance figure for the two-week camp meeting]. 'We had made big plans but the Lord made them even bigger,' the minister said."
McClendon also wrote the following about the Pembertons and their wives:
"Three brothers, natives of Cameron, Texas, are at the energetic core of the World Wide Revival
Garlon & Modest
[Corporation]. The Reverend Modest S. Pemberton, who studied for several years to be a skin specialist, is assisted by an older brother, Wayne C. Pemberton, who had previously been in the oil leasing business.
"A younger brother, the Rev. Garlon L. Pemberton, completes the trio and holds the presidency of the World Wide Revival Corporation. He is a preacher of 12 years, who was once an amateur prize fighter and church-building contractor.
"The ministers are assisted by their wives in all phases of religious activity. Mrs. M. S. Pemberton directs musical programs, Mrs. W. C. Pemberton teaches Sunday school and Mrs. G. L. Pemberton plays the organ."
M. D. "Mom" Beall preached at the camp meeting, and the Pembertons gave this account in the August 1951 issue of the Latter Rain Evangel:
"Sister Beall of Bethesda Temple of Detroit was the principal speaker, speaking each evening at 7:45 P.M. Only God knows just what was accomplished in the meetings. The whole city of Houston was stirred, and people from all over the States, India, Australia, Africa, etc. were here for this glorious time of fellowship with God's people.....
"On Thursday the 14th of June, we saw something we had never seen in our Christian life before. Sister Beall had preached on 'A Lamb for an House,' and we saw approximately 400 men not counting the women and children, who were kneeling on the ground in the sawdust and shavings, weeping and pouring out their hearts to God. We are so sorry we did not have a picture made of this scene. People were healed, filled and delivered throughout the whole meeting. We shall never know until eternity just what was accomplished."
Garlon Pemberton remained close friends with Mom Beall for the rest of her life. In fact, he was one of the speakers at her memorial service in September 1977 (click here to hear Garlon's remarks; first, though, he is introduced by Mom Beall's eldest son, James Lee Beall). Her respect for Garlon was evident in a two-minute portion of one her sermons that can be heard be clicking here.
According to his funeral home obituary, during his 65-year ministry Garlon "started and pastored thirteen churches in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi."
The among the myriad people Brother Pemberton ministered to was the famous pastor, Anne Gimenez. She and her husband, the late John Gimenez, are best known for pastoring Rock Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but they also were among the leaders of the massive Washington for Jesus rally in April 1980.
In her autobiography, Born to Preach, Anne relates how Garlon prophesied about her call to minister was she was a teen in Texas. She writes,
"Although the 'presbyters' did not know me, I was called to the altar and Pastor Pemberton began to prophesy over me. The prophetic words were stunningly accurate, reflecting the deepest desires of my heart.
"'Yea, My child…thou art a chosen vessel, chosen all the days of thy life. Thou art a peculiar treasure, even in thy home thou art noted as such...
"'The Lord has reserved thee for this last revival…He has poured out His Spirit mightily on thee. Thou were chosen as a little girl, yea chosen all thy life…
"'The Lord doth lead thee and go before thee. Thou shalt walk in His footsteps and hear Him say, ‘This is the way. Walk ye therein…'".
Later in life he served as an associate pastor at Word of Faith Temple in New Orleans, Louisiana. That church was pastored by Charles E. Green. New York Times best-selling author Peter Jenkins attended that church for awhile and one chapter of his now out-of-print book The Road Unseen creates a representative 'snapshot' of the church and Garlon. Here is just a part of that chapter:
"We pulled into the parking lot of the Word of Faith, our church. The building was built out of cinderblocks painted white and the sanctuary was eight-sided. We'd heard our pastor, Reverend Charles Green, say many times that God had told him to buy the five acres the church was on when it was nothing but a dirt road and a swamp. Now it was some of the most valuable real estate in the entire city.
"Word of Faith was located about a half mile off the interstate right next to a sprawling shopping center called Lake Forest Mall and the Methodist Hospital. The Sunday night crowd was always smaller than Sunday morning's but usually there were at least six hundred folks at this service. Although it was a thirty-five mile drive one way, we felt it was more than worth it. We never left a service in which we hadn't been inspired by God and His Word....
Garlon
"I opened the door for Barbara and Rebekah and also held it for Garlon Pemberton. Garlon, an associate pastor, had grown up tough in Texas. The man had a square build, and his muscles and voice were filled with power. Before becoming a preacher he'd been a boxer, and he was so full of energy he could have sold the excess to the power company. Garlon was loved by everyone and must have been in his early sixties - although no one ever thought about how old he was."
Though Charles Green knew countless ministers, he unequivocally asserted, "No one knew the Bible better than Garlon did. No matter what subject came up he could refer you to several Scriptures by memory."
Garlon died at the age of 91 in July 2008, but his effervescent personality and blessed ministry are not forgotten (for instance, churches still sing his song, "Abraham's Blessings are Mine").
[UPDATE October 6, 2014 - His wife Marie 'Honey' Pemberton died on October 3 and her memorial service will be held tomorrow, October 7. Charles Green will officiate the service. Her funeral home obituary can be read here and she can be seen below in a one-minute video that was recorded a few years ago.]
(from l to r) James Lee Beall with Garlon & Marie Pemberton (This photo is the property of Cyndy Green Crider.)
The Latter Rain revival that began in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in February 1948 was refreshing and restorative. Pentecostal historian Vinson Synan explains,
The Pentecostal movement was at a low ebb in 1948, with a growing dryness and lack of charismatic gifts. Many who heard about the events in Canada believed that it was a new Azusa Street, with many healings, tongues and prophecies (emphasis mine; quote is from An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit).
Ernest Gentile
Ernest Gentile is a veteran author, pastor, and prophet (M. D. Beall referred to him as "a seer"), and summarizes well what is meant when we read about prophecy in the New Testament:
"Explained simply, prophecy occurs when a prophetically inspired person extends his or her faith like a spiritual antenna, receives some divine thoughts from God and then speaks them forth by the power of the Holy Spirit to an individual or group for the glory of God" (from Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today).
Gentile's book is a tremendous resource. In the book's foreward, the late C. Peter Wagner wrote, "Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy is one of a kind - a book that anyone who wants to be thoroughly informed about prophetic ministry today should read and digest. It is loaded with excellent research on biblical foundations, prophecy through Church history and the prophetic movement today."
Gentile, who co-pastors in New Mexico with his wife Anna, has also helpfully made available free of charge a 10-page compendium of prophecy references in the New Testament. That document can be accessed at this link.
"Local church prophecy springs from the same anointing and inspiration that causes a person to speak in tongues," Gentile writes in Your Sons & Daughters. "Fluency in personal, devotional 'spiritual language' greatly facilitates the ability to experience inspiration and speak with prophetic unction. Tongues and prophecy are closely allied and have an overlapping effect, since they are both inspired utterance."
Many Christians have been taught to be wary of the type of prophecy that was restored in the Latter Rain revival - the type that Gentile is talking about. Their teachers have told them that it is dangerous because, among other things, it is an attempt to add to God's Word, the Bible. In the following three-paragraph passage from Your Sons & Daughters, Gentile pastorally corrects this erroneous thinking,
I contend (here and throughout the book) that we should expect actual prophecy - that is, direct statements of God's immediate thoughts for a given situation and people, delivered under the impetus of the Holy Spirit. The prophetic anointing brings an electrifying, edifying effect not achievable with ordinary preaching and teaching.
Prophecy comes as a "now word," the present expression of a contemporary God who is truly present and concerned. The truths and principles of the Scripture suddenly focus on a specific audience at a specific place at a specific time. This was brought home to me when a teenage girl told me after a prophetic service in her Oklahoma City church, "Although I've gone to church, I never realized before that God was really that interested in me...."
Prophecy is not meant to replace or supersede the Bible, but when used properly it does make Bible truths more relatable by awakening people to realize God is interested in them, both now and in their future.
Charles Green speaking a Word
A prophecy I heard back in the mid-1970s in New Orleans, Louisiana illustrates perfectly what Gentile is saying. It was at a convention at Word of Faith Temple, pastored by Charles Green.
The prophecy was not a recitation of the events of Luke 5:1-11, but the prophecy's theme was based in that Biblical passage. With many pastors present in the large gathering, Green prophesied to the effect that: many ministers had toiled all night and were discouraged ... and wondered if they should give up their nets ... but the Word of the Lord was coming to them that they should launch out into the deep and let down their nets ... because the Lord was going to give them a great catch (I have not put any part of my greatly-abbreviated account of the prophecy in quotes, and have had to make use of ellipses because four decades later I cannot quote it verbatim, but its highlights, eloquence, and dynamism remain with me to this day - and, no doubt, also to any pastors who came to the convention discouraged but went home and experienced a "harvest" of souls).
In that prophecy, Pastor Green was not in any way adding to the Word of God, but the Spirit was inspiring him to link Luke 5 to the situation of discouraged pastors present. In effect, the same words that motivated Peter to "launch out into the deep [waters]" were now being used to motivate and re-energize a specific group of 20th-century pastors for their task.
Here are links to two more prophecies given by ministers with Latter Rain revival backgrounds (just as Gentile and Green have):
In addition to congregational prophecy, personal prophecy (as in I Timothy 4:14) was restored during the Latter Rain revival. Commenting on the initial Latter Rain outbreak at the church M. D. Beall pastored (Bethesda Missionary Temple), the pastor's daughter, Patricia Beall Gruits, wrote, "Although there had been a revival that began years earlier at Bethesda, this Sunday [December 5, 1948] marked the beginning of what would be known as a Latter Rain Revival - a revival marked by a new sound of worship and the laying on of hands with prophecy" (included in her mother's memoir, A Hand on My Shoulder).
Three examples of this type of prophecy, delivered in prophetic presbyteries, are included below:
Charles Green and David Schoch both delivered prophecies at Bible Temple in Portland, Oregon back in 1973 that dramatically underscore the validity and blessing of prophecy (today, Bible Temple is known as City Bible Church).
Dick Iverson was senior pastor of Bible Temple and president of Portland Bible College at the time and in his book, The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments, he recounts how Green had prophesied that Bible Temple should begin a much-needed building project. However, Iverson and his congregation did not seem to be able to get the project off the ground. The following lengthy quote from the book picks up the story where Schoch arrives and was prompted to give a follow-up prophecy to Green's.
David Schoch came to Bible Temple for our "prophetic assembly" in April, 1973, and one morning when he began to prophesy, his word was almost a rebuke to us. "Rise up and don't profane my word. Knock out these four walls and build as I said." Then he prophesied that we should go back and listen to what the Lord had already said to us.
Even as he spoke I thought to myself, "There's no way we can knock out these four walls." We had attempted to buy the remaining land behind us and to the side of us but it was not available. Now the Lord was saying to rise up and knock out the four walls.
Brother Schoch continued, "Even now the walls are falling." I thought to myself, "I sure hope you are in the Spirit, Brother Schoch, because there's no way we can build any more here." Also, I worried that what he'd said would bring confusion to the people who had supported my efforts to buy out in the suburbs.
The very same day of the prophecy, one of the Bible college students came to me and said, "You know, the home that joins our property in the back of the building?" I said, "Yes," knowing it quite well as that particular piece of property was critical if we were ever to build more in that neighborhood. The house was on a very large lot and I'd tried to buy it many times. However, since the owners hated the church, they had absolutely refused to sell.
"Well," the student went on, "last night something strange happened. We heard this loud crash like a car wreck and when we went outside to investigate, we discovered that the retaining wall on that property had fallen down."
The full length of that retaining wall which had stood in front of the house for probably fifty or sixty years had fallen over onto the sidewalk for no apparent reason. Suddenly I remembered the prophecy, "even now the walls are falling." And, of course, the prophet had spoken with no knowledge of what was going on outside.
I went back into the office and asked our administrator, Warren Steele, to write a check for ten thousand dollars. He looked at me with amazement and said we didn't have ten thousand dollars in the bank. I told him to write the check anyway and I would make sure it was covered. I knew the Holy Spirit had spoken to us and that God was doing something supernatural.
I walked over to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door. I'd talked to him many times in the past, and he'd always mocked the church while refusing to sell. This time, though, when he came to the door and I asked him again he agreed to sell. Of course, he wanted more than it was worth - fifty thousand - but I gave him the ten thousand as earnest money and within thirty days we'd raised the additional forty thousand from among the congregation. The wall falling down as confirmation of the prophetic word was a rather dramatic testimony as to what the Lord wanted us to do.
Brother Schoch had also prophesied that we were to go back and listen to what God had previously said, and, when we did go back to Charles Green's prophetic word we found it very interesting. The word of the Lord that came through Brother Green was that we were to rise and build for the Lord was going to make us a praise in the city. We then realized our searching for acreage outside the city limits had not been intended by the Lord. We were to be a praise in the city! So we committed ourselves to building where we were.
We immediately launched a fund raising project and began to buy up other properties in the general area, both for parking and for the Bible college. We also began to draw up plans for a new auditorium to seat fifteen hundred people (in The Journey: A Lifetime of Prophetic Moments).
Finally, in the videos below, David Cannistraci and Robert Morris give teachings on prophecy.
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