People of His Presence conference Report

Holy Spirit Power Encounter in Minnesota - By J Lee Grady

A troubled teenager interrupted a church service on Sunday and attacked a visiting preacher. The young man found Jesus—and the church will never be the same.

If anyone had told me a few weeks ago that revival would break out in rural Minnesota this March I probably would have shrugged with disbelief. The snow hasn't even melted there yet. Besides, Minnesotans are known for their Scandinavian reserve. This land dominated by Catholics and Lutherans is not famous for Pentecostal exuberance.

But God smashed cold Minnesota tradition this past weekend at Riverside Assembly of God, a growing church in the city of Hutchinson, an hour west of Minneapolis. He did it when a troubled teenager was delivered of a demon right in front of the congregation.

The miracle happened in the Sunday service on March 26 after a sermon by Jamie Galloway. When the 24-year-old evangelist finished praying for sick people in the congregation, a tall, red-faced teenager stood up in the back of the auditorium, yelled at Galloway and then lunged at him, screaming, “Stop doing this to these people! You have to stop!”

Recognizing that the young man was being manipulated by demons, Galloway began to address the spirits with authority while the rest of the stunned audience gasped. Pastor Max Myers—who has prayed for revival to hit this church since he came here 13 years ago—was sitting near me on the front row. We both bounded out of our seats to help subdue the guy in case he became more violent. Several other men joined us as we laid our hands on the young man and began praying.

Within a few minutes, the young man—whose name is Andrew—was sobbing on the carpet while Galloway rubbed his back. The devils were gone. After regaining composure, Andrew took the microphone, choked back tears and testified that he wanted to know Jesus but couldn't control his boiling anger.

Everyone in the place cheered, then they swarmed to the stage to give Andrew a hug. He walked out of that church a different person—all because he encountered the raw power of God. And for the next hour, members of Riverside Assembly forgot their Sunday afternoon routines and remained at the altar, dancing and rejoicing.

I watched as Myers walked to the side of the sanctuary and buried his head against the wall. He was thanking God that his church had just experienced New Testament reality.

“I used to say revival was coming; now I know it is here,” said a woman who sat on the front row at Riverside that morning.

Why did this miracle happen? And why don't more churches experience such dramatic, book of Acts-style power encounters?

One obvious reason is that Myers made a decision a long time ago to get out of the way. “Leaders have to be willing to give up control of the corporate environment,” he says.

Myers gave up more of that control last weekend when he invited Galloway to speak at Riverside's annual People of His Presence Conference.

With his shaved head, boyish grin and unpolished style, Galloway is an unlikely vessel to work miracles. Just a few years ago, he had drunk so much hard liquor that he burned a hole in his stomach. He was supernaturally healed, converted and then discipled by charismatic evangelist Randy Clark—who is best known for jump-starting the now-famous Toronto Blessing revival in 1994.

Galloway traveled as an intern with Clark for two years and now itinerates from his base in Nashville, Tenn. His rambling sermons are peppered with stories of angelic visitations, prophetic dreams and 20-something lingo (“Whoa, isn't Jesus awesome?”). But when he begins to prophesy over individuals in the audience or identify their illnesses and pray for healing, the atmosphere in the room becomes electric.

I felt the power surge in the room when Galloway was praying. It really was not surprising that the Holy Spirit's anointing agitated the dark spirits that tormented young Andrew. When God's power is unleashed in an uninhibited fashion, and we aren't apologizing for it (or trying to hide it behind a “seeker sensitive” façade), God can move however He wants to.

I hope this testimony will encourage you to let go of your religious control, ask for miracles and expect the unexpected.

J. Lee Grady is the editor of Charisma . He was a speaker at the People of His Presence Conference in Hutchinson, Minn., along with Jamie Galloway and Carole Baerg. You can view other articles by him at www.fireinmybones.com.

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