Ready for Rebuke

Over twenty years ago I made the first of what would be many trips to the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. My initial reaction wasn’t too favorable. Previously I hadn’t heard any sermons from Pastor John Kilpatrick or Evangelist Steve Hill and was taken aback by their in-your-face preaching styles. I would have preferred attending more renewal meetings in Toronto but the Lord kept sending me to Pensacola. Since then I have grown to appreciate the ministry that went forth from Brownsville Assembly of God. Their leadership’s passion for purity and holiness is greatly needed in our churches.

Once I posted on Facebook a link to a Steve Hill article warning against heretical teachings invading the church. A fellow minister responded to that with mocking comments. He wrote, “I always cringe when people/prophets/fruitcakes say they have a word of rebuke from the LAWd. He is the God of ALL ENCOURAGEMENT.” Ironically, I spent time with this minister in Pensacola the year before.

Yes, God wants to encourage His people. But Jesus Himself said in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” The dictionary defines rebuke as “express sharp disapproval or criticism of someone because of their behavior or actions.” Nobody likes to be rebuked. Yet it is sometimes necessary if we are to grow up spiritually. Proverbs 1:23 says, “Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.”

Because we live in the dispensation of grace, some Christians won’t give and/or receive correction. That’s why there are too many immature believers (and non-believers) sitting in church pews week after week. Hebrews 12:8 warns, “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” John Paul Jackson once said, “We are life long students of the ways of God; trouble starts when we think we have graduated.”

The Epistles contain many instructions to confront an erring believer…

“Those [elders] who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.” - 1 Timothy 5:20

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” - 2 Timothy 4:2

“This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” - Titus 1:13

“Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.” - Titus 2:15

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him’ - Hebrews 12:5

“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:11

Keep in mind the Lord brought correction to five of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. So if you want to fulfill His plan for your life, don’t tune out godly correction when it comes. Instead of shunning and unfriending people who care enough to point out where you’re missing it, be ready for and receive rebukes spoken in love.

“Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored.” – Proverbs 13:18

Looking Back @ Brownsville

Photo by Cathy Wood

Twenty years ago on Father’s Day, a powerful revival broke out in the Florida panhandle. Evangelist Steve Hill was a guest speaker at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola. Steve talked about God doing powerful things for him after visiting a church in England. He then offered to pray for people. The Spirit of God swept through the sanctuary. Pastor John Kilpatrick fell to the floor, unable to rise for about four hours. This sparked what became the longest-running revival in U. S. history. 

During the next five years, Steve Hill preached up to four nights a week as the Brownsville Revival attracted over 4 million visitors. People from all over the world waited in line for hours just to get a good seat. Those of you who went there should remember the security guard repeatedly telling people on his bullhorn “single file line” as they walked into the church. The intense altar calls resulted in over 200,000 decisions for Christ. This birthed the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry (BRSM) that sent out missionaries to various countries.

I started hearing about the Brownsville Revival in 1996 but didn’t make my first trip there until a year later. In September 1997 I flew down to Pensacola for a five-night stay and initially wasn’t fond of the confrontational preaching I heard. The previous two years I had gone to renewal meetings at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) where the ministry was more about the Father’s love and being healed from past hurts. The sermons at Brownsville challenged people to holiness and “getting the sin out.”

While I preferred the atmosphere at TACF, God repeatedly sent me back to Pensacola. During my second visit in January 1998, the Lord spoke to me about downsizing my personal belongings since I would be traveling more as a missionary. Later at the revival, I received a confirmation through a prophetic word spoken by Steve Hill. He exhorted us to “live unsettled” since the Lord “will return for a pilgrim people.” 

The first two times I flew to Pensacola, I stayed in motels. Doors then opened for me to stay in guest rooms at little or no cost. However, my love walk was frequently tested by hosts and roommates who mistreated me. That caused me to dread returning to Pensacola even though I got blessed at the revival meetings and enjoyed escaping the colder weather up north. Nevertheless, I obeyed the Lord when He directed me to make a temporary move there at the end of 2000. This time I did a lot more street evangelism. Despite the impact the revival had on the city, I was surprised to meet numerous people who hadn’t heard of it.

The last time I visited Brownsville Assembly of God was in November 2003. By then most of the key revival leaders were gone. John Kilpatrick resigned to focus on itinerant ministry. Steve Hill (who passed away last year) had returned to world evangelism and started up a church in the Dallas area. Worship leader Lindell Cooley founded a church in Nashville. BRSM President Michael Brown launched another school in Pensacola that later moved to North Carolina.

When the revival started cooling off, I became somewhat concerned. In 1993 Korean pastor David Yonggi Cho prophesied of a coming revival to Pensacola. Five years later, Dr. Cho announced from Brownsville’s pulpit the revival “would last until Jesus comes.” 

Then in July 2010, a move of God broke out at another church pastored by John Kilpatrick in Daphne, Alabama. The Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival was quickly moved to the Mobile Convention Center to accommodate increasing crowds. During one meeting I attended there, Paul Keith Davis mentioned that before the Brownsville Revival started, he was praying with a group of prophets and declared a revival would start in Pensacola and then move 50 miles away.

This morning Brownsville Assembly of God is hosting a 20th Anniversary reunion service. I’m sure many people there will reflect on past revival moments. However, a movement cannot become a monument. I heard Tommy Tenney say one time at the revival “...if Brownsville is the best God can ever do, we’re in trouble.” An even more powerful move of the Holy Spirit can descend upon Pensacola if God’s people there remain hungry for Him. 

As Michael Brown (who is speaking today at Brownsville) often says, “The best is yet to come!”

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” - John 14:12

In Remembrance: Steve Hill (1954-2014)

This past Monday I initially woke up just after midnight. Unable to fall back to sleep, I went online for a couple of hours. Through Facebook friends, I found out a well-known preacher went home to be with the Lord hours before. Steve Hill, best remembered as the evangelist God used to spark the Brownsville Revival, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 60 years old.

Born in Ankara, Turkey to a military family but raised in Alabama, Steve Hill got caught up in a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and crime. On October 28, 1975, Steve’s life changed when a Lutheran minister stopped by his house. Steve got born again not by going through the Four Spiritual Laws, the Romans Road, or some other popular witnessing method. The minister simply encouraged Steve to repeatedly call on the name of Jesus and was instantly delivered from drug addiction. Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

A few weeks later, Steve was arrested due to unlawful activities prior to his conversion. He was eventually probated to Teen Challenge, which prepared him for the ministry. Steve later spent several years on the mission field planting churches and conducting evangelistic crusades in various countries. All of that came to a halt on Father’s Day 1995 when Steve was the guest speaker at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. The rest is revival history.

The first time I listened to Steve Hill was in October 1997 during my initial visit to the Brownsville Revival. I hadn’t yet heard any of Steve’s sermons and was taken aback by his in-your-face preaching style. Eventually, I grew to appreciate Steve’s boldness and passion for souls. He always compelled sinners to run for the altar. Steve often extended altar calls whenever he perceived someone had one final opportunity to get right with God.

During my second trip to Pensacola in January 1998, the Lord spoke to me about downsizing my personal belongings since I would be traveling more as a missionary. Later at the revival, I received a confirmation through this prophetic word spoken by Steve…

“The Lord would say to everyone in this place – live unsettled! Don’t sink too deep into the soil of this earth. Keep your head up and your feet moving…loose yourself of any ties that bind. If you don’t loose yourself – I’ll help loose you! Prepare the way in your own heart and then help prepare the way in others…I will return for a pilgrim people.” 

For the next three years, I attended many more Brownsville Revival meetings as the Lord directed me to make temporary moves to Pensacola. Steve Hill prayed over me numerous times although I never got to talk with him personally. I briefly chatted with his wife one time after finding out she is a North Dakota native like me (Jeri Hill was born in Williston).

While most of Steve Hill’s messages were very serious, he occasionally displayed a sense of humor. I was at Brownsville when Steve preached one message called “Just the Facts” wherein the beginning, the worship leader played the old “Dragnet” theme. Steve then announced, “This is the city...Pensacola, Florida. I carry a Bible.” He often made clever use of visual aids while preaching.

Steve Hill ministered up to four nights a week at the Brownsville Revival during its first five years. Then in 2000, Steve relocated to Dallas and resumed worldwide evangelism outreaches. He later started Heartland World Ministries Church. During the last few years of his life, Steve was weakened by skin cancer but continued preaching the gospel mostly through video plus writing books and numerous articles.

Steve’s death surprised me. I thought he had recovered from his illness after watching him on Sid Roth’s “It’s Supernatural” program last year. In addition, Christian singer Carman also went through a recent cancer scare but experienced miraculous healing. Instead of questioning why Steve didn’t get healed, let’s rejoice in the fact that he’s now in heaven and will be joined there by multitudes touched by his ministry. 

Let’s also take to heart this tribute written by Dr. Michael Brown, the former president of the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry...

“May Steve Hill now be like a seed planted in the ground that dies, only to bring forth much lasting fruit. And may there be a supernatural multiplication of Spirit-anointed, Jesus-centered, revival-carrying, sin-hating evangelists raised up in his name and sent out to America and the nations.”

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 

- 2 Timothy 4:7