Gifts of the Spirit: Faith, Healing, & Working of Miracles

Well, this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. It's a choice. And so I choose to worship him and I choose to praise him, not only when I get to church, but when I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was give God praise. And, and the last thing that we do before we go to sleep, we give God praise.

And thank you for the opportunity, Pastor Steph, and all of the pastoral staff here. Thank you, Pastor Trent, for. And Sister Robin, I think her name is, for leading us in worship tonight. Did I say the right name? Who?

Yeah, that's what I said right there. Thank her for.

All right. But of course, I, I think I'm thankful for a praying, godly wife and a wife that lists me and prays for me and, and just, I, I, I know she's praying right now, so let's jump in this and think, see what we can do. Would you open your Bibles to First Corinthians, the 12th chapter? We've been talking about spiritual gifts, so I want to just kind of go over these first Corinthians, the 12th chapter, and I'm going to start at the 26th verse says, if one member suffers, all the parts share in the suffering. If one member is honored, all rejoice with it.

It's the Amplified Bible. Now, you collectively are the body of Christ, and individually, you are members of it, each with his own special purpose and function. I want to read that again. Each with his own special purpose and function. Right.

The 20th verse says, so God has appointed and placed in the church for his own use. First, apostles chosen by Christ, second, prophets, those who foretell the future, those who speak new messages from God to the people. Thirdly, teachers, those who work miracles, and then those that with the gifts of healings, the helpers, the administrators and speakers in various kind of unknown tongues. 29th verse says, Are we all apostles? No.

Are they all prophets? No. Are all teachers? Well, yes and no. Are all workers of miracles?

They can be, I believe. Do all have the gifts of healing? No. Do all speak with tongues? No.

And yes, depending on where you go. Right. Do all interpret? No. And I had to read that like that because what I want to, I want to try to impress on you is no matter who you are, you have a place in the body of Christ.

And this the soon as you can find out what is my place. The body of Christ needs you. We're living in a day where everybody's arguing, everybody's fussing, everybody's Just going crazy. And I believe that the reason for the gifts of the Spirit is so that the church can be strengthened and that the world can see that we serve a mighty God.

Jesus left this gift, this gift. He came to fill us all. And all of us have a purpose. The problem with the American church is that as soon as some people what. What we perceive as a higher gift, sometimes we make them into idols.

But whether you're preaching or pray for the sick, or speak in tongues, interpret tongues, whatever part you play, I just. Over there. I made a mess over there. And thank you for all of my brothers and sisters who came to my rescue. I've been so nervous because I'm almost ready to graduate.

I remember standing here about three years, two and a half years ago, and terrified to go back to school after dropping out 50 years ago. And I was terrified. And I have friends in this church and family in this church has been a great encouragement to me. And so I'm about to graduate in two months. And that's exciting.

That's really exciting. But so I've been nervous, and I've been asking Pastor Steph if you have something, just go on. And. Because I have a lot of homework to do, I got three classes I'm trying to get through. And so I. I put my water cup here on the seat that fell over and it spilled water, and.

And I. I saw my brothers and sisters. First of all, my wife went out there, and I said, you got to sit down because I can't concentrate when you're trying to do this. And my brothers and sisters came to my aid, and it was. It was so miraculous because that's what the body of Christ supposed to do. The first scripture I read is, if one suffered, then we all suffer.

I believe that's one of the reasons why the enemy is causing so much confusion in our nation, because if it can tear up the church, then there's no unity and there's no miracles. A lot of places in Africa that I go, where they're reaching millions of people, they had these conferences where there's million. I mean, just as far as the eye can see. And one day I asked one of the pastors over there, I said, what do y' all pray for to have all of these people to come? Because I know it's not just one church.

I mean, as far as you can see, they stay out there for six or seven days. It's amazing. Here's what he said. We don't pray for revival over here. We pray for unity.

And if we could, if the American church can start praying for unity, you don't have to believe everything that I believe, but can we just be unified to say that God is God?

So I believe the reason for the spiritual gifts or whatever positions it is. He talks about the apostles or the heads of the church, and he put in the church administrators to be able to do everything to keep the church moving. All of these years, the church has been able to move because God has placed people in the church where it pleases him.

I love looking at the people that can play. Praise and worship. Pastor Trent, I think is amazing. I used to play long, long, long, long time ago. Amen.

For the 40 years I pastored, I was a praise and worship leader. I don't want to get near a piano. I don't want to get near an organ. I just enjoy somebody else. But the thing about it is he walks in that anointing and carries us to a place so that we can be ready to receive the Word.

And so what we need to understand is that's what the devil hates. So he talks about that. We spent the last month talking about the gifts of the Spirit. And, boy, my baby did a great job. She did a great.

Everybody did a great job, but my baby, you know, I was sitting here like a proud papa and, and, you know, tears in my eyes, said, I think that my legacy is in good hands. Amen. But it's important to know that everyone has a place. I believe that one of the reasons why, for the gifts of the Spirit is to bring others to Christ, to show the power of God in the body of Christ, to show his glory on earth. My assignment tonight is talk about miracles and healings.

And I read to you the scripture. I quoted your scripture, first Corinthians 12:18. But now God has placed the members, each one of them in the body just as he desires. And one of the things that I've noticed since being here, I believe that there's several people here. I don't know all of them, but there's some powerful people in here that has the ministry to pray for the sick.

And I believe that that's part of the need of the body of Christ. Now we need all spiritual gifts functioning in the church. Amen. Say Amen, somebody. We need all the gifts of the Spirit, and I believe that.

I just got back from Africa in October and all the miracles that we saw, the miracles, it was just. It was incredible. I was there for 14 days and the miracles that we saw and. And I was asking God As I was flying back to America, I said, God, how come we don't see those things in America? How come we don't see those things in American church?

And here's what the Lord. I believe the Lord spoke to me. He said, because in America, they use me as if everything else fell.

So they put me at the end. So that if this doesn't work and that doesn't work, if the doctors don't work, if programs don't work, if that don't work, then we'll call on God. But where I just got back from, I'm trying. Where I just got back from. Thank you.

I got one. Somebody to help me here. So, so, and so, but, but, but, but in the places that I've been that the only, the only hope is Jesus is Jesus or death. And, and you sense the miracles. And some of those miracles I'm hopefully going to talk about tonight.

I want to do. I want to try to accomplish a few things. Number one, I want to talk to prepare to operate in these gifts. So I want to talk about preparation. Then the second thing, revelation.

I mean, then I want to talk about preparation and I want to talk about manifestation. Number one, preparation is important. To operate in, whatever your gift is, you must have a revelation of what God has called you to do. Most times you can find out your passion through your pain.

It's amazing. The people, even people that's been saved for years, you ask them, what is your gift? What is the thing that God has called you to? And even a lot of Christians who's been saved for years, they always say, I don't know. One of the best ways to start looking for what you're called to do is look at your pain, look at your trauma, look at things you face in your life.

That's the best. And so maybe that's not for you, but for me. That's how I found out what the things that I operate in, the things that we operate in. It came through our traumas.

It came through traumas and pain and misery and the things we went through as children and, and the things that we went through as adults and the mistakes that we made and all the things that God has brought us through, that's how we found out the passions that we operate in. I was looking at the list and so many of these things, I've been, I've operated in them not because I'm special, but I'm going to talk to you about how that happened. I believe that when you choose, when you choose to release your Pain, I believe it turns into purpose. If you choose to babysit your pain, it turns into bitterness.

Can I try it one more time? So if you choose to hold onto your pain, if you choose to hold onto your trauma, if you choose to hold onto the things that happen to you and the guilt and whatever like that, you, you will end up bitter. And the reason why God has blessed Tony and Denise hall is because all the stuff that we've been through, all the pain that we've been through, all the trauma and all the crazy stuff that we've been through, we decided that we was going to give it to God and use it for his glory. Hallelujah. So revelation is important.

Revelation is important because you will find out what God wants to use, how he wants to use the things that's in your life. One of my favorite scriptures and we're going to Texas when I graduate. We're going to Texas for about a month and I'm going to start writing another book. And this book is going to be about our real life story. For 40 years I've traveled and I preach about the sanitized version of things that we've been through.

The sanitized version, it tells you what happened, but most times it doesn't give you the backstage of what happened. All of the crazy things that was happening, while things were happening, and to talk about how we got the victory, how did we end up who we are today. It's the backstory that tells you how we got to where we are today. It's the backstory that tell you how God has used us. Two troubled kids.

If you ever want to see a miracle, you looking at a miracle right here when you see Tony and Denise Hall. So I'm going to go and one of the main scriptures I'm going to be using is Romans 8:28, which I am convinced that most people really don't like this scripture because it's hard to grasp this picture, this scripture. Romans 8:28. Here's what Romans 8:28 says. He assures every believer that God's sovereignty.

I'm sorry, he says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the call according to his purpose. Few scriptures down from there. It talks about how he forms us into his image. How does he do it through the things that we suffered. And so he promised every believer those that love him.

No matter what you've been through, if you will give your life to me and take your pain and misery and trust me with It. I'll make it work for your good. Oh, my God. Today, oh, my God. Today when I look, I'm glad for longevity, Sister Janet, because what longevity has shown me, I've been saved long enough to know how all of the stuff that I've been through is working for me.

Oh, my God. Hallelujah. You say, but what about this? I don't know about your this, but I can tell you that all things have worked together for good in our lives. All the things I wish I had time and I don't have time to tell you, but those of you that know a part of my story, I mean, I'm gonna get to do a deep dive because most of the people that the stories are about, all of them are dead now.

And so I feel comfortable with writing because every time I write a book, I get blowback. Why did you say that? How come you ain't let that go? I said, that's my story, man. Let me go.

It's my story. And so I'm going to write a book, start, and then I'm going to get it edited next year. And then 2027, watch this. The couple that they said wouldn't last six months, the mistakes we made getting her pregnant, troubled kids, high school dropouts, our pastor said, our parents said, oh, it's not going to last more than six months. In 2027, if the Lord let us live, we'll be celebrating 50 years of marriage.

How have you done it? Because we understand that all things, not some things, not just the kind of clean things, but we understand that all things work together, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, it works together for good. And so revelation is important. The sooner that you can find out what God has called you to do, the better it is. I remember as a 9 years old kid, as a 9 year old kid, my mother died when I was 7.

Very traumatic situation for me because I was supposed to be in the car with her, fell asleep, ended up dying in the car. So I felt guilt even from the age of 7 years old. If I could have been there, I could have woke my mother up. So I carried that guilt to my adulthood. But I can remember.

And as I was working on this message, I remember at nine years old, I went to Chapel Hill Baptist Church. Say, bless the Baptist, Come on. Say bless the Baptist. Come on. I don't hear y' all say bless the Baptist.

So and in our church, you didn't say anything, you didn't lift your hands, you didn't say amen you didn't get emotional, it was a great church. But you, you didn't do anything. I mean, you, you just sat there, you came in there and sat yourself down, heard some good singing, heard some good preaching. They made a little altar call and then you went home. But on the 1st of every month, we would have communion and right after our pastor would give us communion, then you would come to the altar, he would call the family altar and we went to a church.

It was about 300 people. So at that time that was like a megachurch. It was a real big church at that time. And so I remember as a nine year old coming, I would be the first one out of my seat and there was a little stand that he would stand by and he would pray over the congregation and I would go, I'd be right there under his feet and I was just crying my little eyes out and my family would laugh at me. But now as I look back, the hand of God was on me then, even when I end up in drugs, even when I end up in gangs, even when I end up in alcohol, every now and then I could just feel the hand of God on me.

Hallelujah. So. And so preparation, I mean revelation is important. I've seen different seasons and different things that happen in my life that make me who I am and give me the anointing that I have today. Little girl, her name was Elizabeth.

I was probably 13, 12 or 13, and she was probably 11. And so she would come over to my house on her little bike. And so we had a basement, of course, and we'd be down at the bottom of the steps trying to kiss. Can you imagine a 13 year old and 11 years old. It's not like today, it's not like a perverted thing like it would be.

But anyway, so one day I reach out, she came to my house, I reached out to touch her arm and she starts screaming. She ran up the steps and ran out the house. And when I stopped her and tried to find out what did I do? She said, my father just raped me. Her mother was out of town, left her home with her perverted father.

And I can't tell you the nights that I laid in my bed imagining what could be happening with Elizabeth. And 50 years later I got in touch with her and she had to end up taking care of her father that raped her. And that is how that developed a sense of wanting to see people that are bound, set free. And if you, those of you that have a passion, you look at your passion where it came from. And you would say it's probably attached to a situation.

Hallelujah. So revelation is important. Why do I do what I do? Why have God called me to do what I've done? Then the second part is preparation.

Preparation is very important because whatever your call is, and I'm going to get to healing in a second, I'm just trying to build my case. Whatever your call is, preparation is so important, because in the preparation mode is where the enemy can destroy you most and destroy your ministry and set you up for failure in the stages of preparation. So in preparation, it's very important. And as far as the ministry of healing and miracles, one of the greatest things that people that are gifted, no matter how, what gift you're in, whatever gift, special gift you have, your greatest battle would be pride.

And I believe in the spiritual gifts. Talking about miracles, if God uses you to pray for somebody and God heals him, always give the credit to God. Don't take the credit yourself, and don't allow people to say how great you are. Always give God praise. It reminds me of a story we had.

Did a healing crusade. Me and my wife did a healing crusade. Our name was kind of going all over the place. And we did a healing crusade in a place called Pearland, Texas. Place was jam packed with people.

Probably 1500 people there, something like that. And so we walked in, we're trying to get in the aisles, Everything is full. And a lady pulled on me. I recognized her from that church, but I really didn't know her name. And so she says, please pray for me.

Please pray for me. She was in a wheelchair. I said, I promise you, when I get out there and we start, I'll have somebody to bring it to me and I'll pray for you. She said, okay. So as I'm up there and we're ministering to people, and then my wife went over, and there's a lady that was bent over in a wheelchair, and she had cancer in her back.

Hallelujah. And so while I'm just kind of leading the people in worship and stuff like that, my wife, I can hear her voice over there praying for this lady. And as she's praying for this lady, the lady began to straighten up. God gave that woman a new back right there. And of course, then faith filled the room.

So as I'm praying for people, the pastor comes over to me and says, please don't say nothing in the microphone, but this lady's been in the hospital for like a month. And they sent her home and told her, she has only a matter of hours before she's gonna die. And so she came right here from the hospital. So, of course, kind of jolted me. She said.

He said, but don't say anything in the microphone. So I told them to bring her up. And so they brought her up on stage. And of course she was very emotional. But I said, listen, you have to fight right now.

Listen. God is touched by tears, but he's not moved by tears. Oh, that was really good right there. Let me see. I said, God is touched by your tears, but if you go, it's going to take faith to move God.

You can be emotional all you want to, but let me tell you something. When you got to fight that demon and devil, you got to stop crying long enough till you say, in the name of Jesus, I declare healing in Jesus name, name. So I began to minister to the woman. I began to have her make a declaration that I shall live and not die. Declare the works of the Lord.

So when she began to say that, she began to gain strength and she jumped out that wheelchair and began to run around the stage. And of course, it just, it just, it just. Then we start having all kind of miracles in the place. But, but, but after that, I said, now. I said, now, Mother, because I couldn't remember her name.

I said, you have to begin to make that declaration that you shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. She went and got the paper from the doctor. They did a bunch of tests and they said the cancer is gone. And so, you know, it was amazing and stuff like that. And so she.

But every few months she would show up at our church, like two and a half hours away. And whenever she'd get a cold, whenever she'd get any kind of sickness, she'd make her husband drag her, like two and a half hours to our church for me to pray for her. And I said, listen, sis, the miracle is not in me. The miracle is in him. And the reason why I tell that story is because when God begins to elevate you on whatever your gift is, pride will set in.

If you're not careful. It's not you. It's all about him. I went back to Texas a few years afterwards and I saw her husband. He was really skinny and poor.

And I said. I said, where's your wife at? He says, when she could not get in touch with you, she lost faith and died.

Miracles are for today. But never take credit for what God uses you to do. All glory has to go to God and never Let people put the pressure on you. That is you. It's all about him.

And I've seen so many people with a gift of praying for people that are sick. And miracles, they begin because pride will set up in your heart. And before you know it, it's that secret thing that you'll never say out of your mouth, but that pride will begin to build up, and that seed of pride will begin to build up in you. And before you know it, your ministry is dead. And what has kept us all of these years is we don't take any credit when somebody is healed, and we don't take any blame when they're not healed.

Amen. I said amen. So we have to understand that the ministry of miracles is for today. It's for today. But here's the greatest miracle.

Talking about the difference in healings and miracles. Let me throw this in so in preparation, because every one of you can be a miracle.

I think the greatest miracle is not seeing somebody raised from the dead. The greatest miracle is not seeing somebody get up out the wheelchair. The greatest miracle is not for somebody to be healed of cancer. And we've seen all that. The miracle is not somebody's eyes being open.

We did a crusade up in West Texas, and I used to wear long zoot suits. Y' all probably don't know about zoot suits down here, but I used to wear long zoot suits and loud zoot suits. Amen. Loud. I'm a middle child, so come on here.

I'm a middle child, so I used to. I didn't just wear. I wore loud blue suits. I wore the zoo suits come way down here. You know, I wanted to be cool.

Amen. That's when I was young, anyway. So we're up in West Texas, and we're. We have this. This healing crusade going on.

And so there was a woman that God showed me over on the right side. And first of all, what happened was we had just got to that church. We had never been there before. They just flew us in. We go and sit down, and as I'm sitting on the front row, the pastor gets up and starts.

He leads the church into worship. That's how he starts the church. And the Lord speaks to me and says, I want to heal tonight. And I said, yes, God. He said, no, no, no.

I want to heal right now. I said, okay, Jesus. I ain't never been to this church out here in West Texas. He said, no, I want to heal right now. And I just kept saying, yes, God.

He said, listen, if you Want to see miracles tonight, you have to obey. Get up right now. Go up on that stage. I want to do miracles right now. So I went up on stage, standing behind the pastor.

He's singing with a microphone in his hand and his eyes are closed. And as he's backing up, he runs into me. Now again, I didn't really know them. They heard about me. And so I said, pastor, the Lord wants to do miracles right now.

He gave me the microphone. So I began to talk about miracles and whatever like that. And so as I'm talking about miracles, I see a lady on my right hand side. So I go over to the stage. The altar is jam packed.

And so I want to speak over her. And so I didn't see the woman standing right there, who was blind, with a cane. I didn't see her standing there. And as I'm reaching over to touch this other lady, my coat just kind of went over her face. And all of a sudden I heard screaming.

And it kind of startled me, this woman. God healed her eyes.

He healed her eyes.

Born blind, she was an older woman. God healed her eyes. She saw for the first time in that night in that miracle service. And when those kind of things happen, you have to really keep your heart, that it's a Jesus thing. Say amen.

And those are days of preparation. Those are days of preparation to see what you would do. And the last thing about preparation, here it is. There's a cost. There's a cost that whatever you're called to do, there's a price that you have to pay.

And the reason why I am convinced that more people are not operating in their call center, Janet, is because they're not willing to pay the price. They want the easy way out. I asked Pastor Trent one time, would you teach me how to play a guitar? He said, sure. I haven't called him.

You know why? Because I want to pay that price.

Can I just be honest with y'? All? You know, I don't want. I want to learn how to play the. I want to learn how to play the guitar, but I don't want to pay the price.

And what I'm finding is the reason why I believe that the church world suffers is because people are not willing to pay the price. Because whatever you're called to do, there's a price that you have to pay. And most people don't want to pay the price. I was several years ago, I was in Indiana in a big crusade. And so I was on my way.

I was leaving, going. I just got back From Africa, went there for that thing. And so I was getting ready after there. I was going to leave and go to the Philippines. So a young couple came up to me.

He's probably 30, and says, Is your wife going with you to the Philippines? I said, well, no, she's not able to go this time. He says, but the Lord spoke to me today and told me to sow into your life so your wife can go. Well, that was a blessing. So let's get the pastor in here, because I don't want to leave here.

Pastor said, you took money from my people. So I got the pastor in there and said, this young man said this. He said, he's a solid young man. If he says something, he feels like God said it, then you can trust him. I said, okay.

So I said, well, I appreciate it, whatever like that. And so we're just kind of happy about that. He says, but there's one other things that God spoke to me that I'm to ask you to do. And I said, what is that? He says, I really feel like the Lord wants you to lay your hands on me.

And the anointing and him and his little wife. And the anointing that you and your wife flow in, I believe that me and my husband is going to flow in that type of anointing. And I said, are you sure? He said, yeah. I said, where your little wife?

He bring his little wife in there. I said, your husband said that the Lord spoke to him that I am to lay my hands on you. And the anointing that me and my wife flows in, you're gonna. He said, oh, yeah. I said, well, listen, here's what you do.

Go home this afternoon and really ask God, is that what you want? So they went home, came back tonight. I'm ministering or whatever like that. And so I'm exhausted, of course. I'm about to close, and I noticed them over in the right side, and I said, oh, my.

I forgot about that. So I call them up and I say to him, are you sure that this is what God wants me to do? He said, well, I'm positive. I said, okay, stand right here. So I said, lord, let them lose everything they got and let them be hated and rejected and let them lose homes and cars and money and be rejected by their family.

He said, wait. He stopped me right there. He said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And I opened my side. I said, what?

He said, no, I don't want that. I want this. And I said, young man, in order to get this, you have to get that. Because there's a price to pay for whatever greatness God is going to call you to do. But the only question, you don't have to be super intelligent, but you do have to be willing to pay the price.

And everybody in this room that has greatness, they pay the price in preparation. So then the last one is manifestation. I believe that the reason why God wants to do miracles and the reason why I said a minute ago that the greatest miracle is not people being healed. The greatest miracle is a person being born again and walk through the born again experience to get ready for heaven.

Not just come to the altar, get prayer, accept Christ, and then go back out here and nobody grabbed them and walk with them through the Christian experience to walk in greatness. I'm so glad that in all of these years, this year, 48 years, me and my wife had people that we were young. When I was 15, March 28, 1973, when I gave my life to Christ, there was somebody that was attached to me to teach me stuff that impacted my life. Because anybody that's healed of cancer or sickness or whatever like that is still gonna die.

The greatest miracle is when a soul is saved and they're ready to go to heaven. And that's something that all of us can do, something that all of us can do. And I believe that one of the reasons why God is doing all of these miracles and bringing back the Spirit gives to the church. I remember as a young man, the church that we came up in. The church will be high praise, and all of a sudden everything will stop and it become a hush and tongues will go forth, an interpretation, and people will get saved and give their life to Christ.

I believe those days are going to come back because all of the craziness, confusion in this.

But manifestation is important because what God wants to do is two. I believe what he wants to do is two things. Number one, he wants to strengthen the church. That's the reason why a local church is very important. One of the things that I'm noticing with a lot of people now is they, oh, I don't need church.

I am the church. Wait a minute. You may think that you're the church, but you need the church. You need community. You need somebody to say, listen, you're messing up.

You need somebody to say, where were you at? I didn't see you for two Sundays. You need somebody to say, are you okay? You need somebody to say that when you're struggling. Come on, girl, get up.

Come on, boy, get up. You can get through this. You can get through this. But here's what the devil is using. Including in my family, I have a sister who is really anointed, but she has bought into the lie that she don't need church.

And she told me that this preacher, she lives in Dallas, this preacher in Houston is her pastor.

And so y' all can pray for me. Because I shouldn't have told her this.

So that when you're in trouble and you discourage. Instead of calling me, call a preacher in Houston.

I shouldn't have said that. Lord, forgive me for saying that. But it's a spirit of this age where people don't think they need the local church. Let me tell you why you need the local church. You need the local church.

Because if God is going to use you, the atmosphere that you put yourself in will get you prepared for where God has taken you to.

I noticed. I've been to Africa many times, but I noticed that this time when I went, I came to the altar and the elders and everybody prayed over me. The miracles seemed. Seemed easier. The preach was easier, because atmosphere is important.

Don't let the devil make you sit at home feeling sorry for yourself. I don't care if you're weary. I don't care if you're discouraged. Get to the house of God. Because one of the reasons for the spiritual gifts, I believe, is to strengthen the church.

Number two. Number two. To show his glory to the world. I have a spiritual son. So.

So we were several years ago, probably 15 years ago, maybe whatever, 10 years ago, some. And so I was very exhausted as a pastor. And so I. I said, we need to get away, go somewhere. So we chose Orlando to go to. And so I was gonna only stay for seven days.

So one of my spiritual sons called me, says, papa, he says, the Lord spoke to me this morning and said that when you get rested, he has a word for you. So don't let it be just the seven days you think, but as soon as you're rested, God has a word for you. Me and my wife were so exhausted. Soon as we got to Orlando, we went to the emergency room. We were just.

We were just really out of it. And so after about six days, I stopped feeling better. On the seventh day, I woke up and said, man, I feel great. I feel strengthened. But there's only one problem.

I forgot some underclothes. I forgot my underclothes at home. So I said, well, we need to go over to JCPenney's and get some underclothes for me. So we get to JCPenney's. And when I go on vacation, I don't want to talk to nobody about.

I never tell people I'm a pastor. I never. I just. Listen, I'm a teacher. Leave me alone.

I don't want. I don't want to counsel anybody or nothing like that.

It's just me. So I get to. We get to J.C. penney's, and I get my stuff, and my wife is looking at other things, of course, right? And so this young Pakistani guy, he's the cashier, and he says, sir, how are you? I said, well, I'm doing good.

He says, where's your zip code? I gave my zip code. Oh, you're not from here? No, I'm not from here. Oh, where you from?

North Carolina. So what do you know in North Carolina? I said, well, I'm a teacher. Amen. He said, okay.

So he rang it up, took the money. So when he took. When he took the money and he gave me the bag, he says, well, can you stand right here for a second? I'm like, what do you want? What you want?

So he waited on other people. And then when he got done with the people, he says, I don't know who you are, but the Lord spoke to me today and said, and he gave me a scripture. I said, what does he say? He said, look it up. So I looked it up and.

And. And. And he gave me a scripture. He's gonna broaden my borders, whatever, like that. I said, okay, well, thank you.

And he says, can I have breakfast with you tomorrow? And I'm like, oh, no, man. My wife said, you go. I'm not going with. So I said, well, we'll go to McDonald's, because if we go to McDonald's, it's kind of an in and out thing.

We ain't gonna be sitting up there all day. So we get to McDonald's, and here's what he says. He says, yesterday morning, me and my wife has been fasting and praying, and the Lord spoke to me yesterday and said, tomorrow, I'm gonna send you your father.

Now, this guy's from Pakistan. So I was kind of intrigued. So we started building relationship. And so a long story short, he ended up in Columbus, Ohio, at Rod Parsley's place. And so he.

We prayed. We always prayed for the underground church in Pakistan. So he started going to Pakistan and going to that underground church where there's only a few people to now this thousands of people that's given their life to Christ. So last year, when I was in Ohio, I said, son, how. How is it so many Muslims are coming to Christ?

He said, well, what happens is when they get sick and when their loved ones are very sick, they bring them to me to pray for and God heals them and they start believing in Jesus Christ. I believe that one of the main reason why God wants to do something in the ministry of healing and miracles is to show this world how powerful our God is. It's not to build up a man, it's to build up God. And so now every three months, he goes to Pakistan and they have some churches over there. That's unbelievable.

And he's asked me a few times ago, but I'm too scared. Amen. I shouldn't have confessed that, but it's the truth. And so I believe that. I believe that.

But. But all of this is tied to walking in your call. I believe that. I believe that what we're going to see in these last days, in these crazy times, I believe that we're going to see such supernatural miracles that's going to happen in this place, that the world is going to see that God is doing something in North Carolina. And I've been saying this for 20 years.

I've been saying this one thing for 20 years.

That type of revival is not going to start in the pulpit.

That type of revival is going to start in the pews and in the chairs. That means that God has his hand on you. And as you begin to go and start doing what God has called you to do, I believe that miracles will pop up. The miracle of, of. Of finances.

Some of you are gifted in finances. I mean, you're gifted. God has blessed you and brought you from nothing. And, and, and he's given you a gift, man. Why don't you pray for others that's struggling?

Some of you been through divorce, through that horrible thing. And instead of hiding, why don't you find somebody who's been through what you've been through? Say, come on, it's the God that brought me out. He can bring you out. Some of you has been through cancer, diabetes, sickness and disease.

Why don't you, instead of hiding, say God, if you can do it for me, you can do it for somebody else.

I talked to you a few minutes ago, and then I'm finished with this. The young girl, Elizabeth, who was raped by her father.

As I grew up and we lost contact, I drew such a passion for that. Everywhere I've been in the world, everywhere that I've been, including where I just came from, I have a night to Pray for people that's been through molestation. I have such a passion for that being that my pastor tried to molest me. I have a. I have a passion for that. And so people always ask me, aren't you a little timid of sharing your testimony?

Why should I be ashamed of sharing my testimony? I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The reason why, me and my wife, now that we're retired, we counsel and we coach married couples all over the country. The reason why is because we shouldn't have the marriage that we have today. Nothing but the grace of God.

She didn't see great marriages. I didn't see great marriages. We have nothing that we could look on, say, I want to be like that. It was God that brought us through when they sang Amazing Grace on Sunday. That's the reason why God has blessed us.

That's the reason why God brought us out. That's the reason why God has done the things he's done in our life because of his amazing grace. And I believe that in this room, I think about the Monday and the Tuesday prayer for men, Monday prayer for women. There's an atmosphere here that you have to stay here because once God starts using you. I've seen this over and over again.

When God begins to use you, I see so many people say, I'm going to go find somewhere else because they're not using me there. Let me tell you something. The gift that God places on your life is God who will bring you to the people that you need to touch.

This gift of miracles and healing that's on our lives. Everywhere we go, everywhere we go, we just run into people that need prayer. My wife drugged me to YMCA two weeks ago. And when I say drug me, she actually, yeah, come on, brother. You getting out here and walk.

Let me just walk down the driveway and come. No, you coming to. And we're gonna walk around this lap 26 times. 26. Are you trying to kill me?

I know our life insurance is paid up, but my God, you trying to get mad at her. So we're walking around that. We walk around this track. It's just me and her up there. We just walking around.

And I'm trying to stand by the wall so I can hold on in case I fall or something like that. And she's talking and I'm trying to keep up with her and stuff like that. So this older lady comes out and she's. Instead of walking the way we're walking, she walks the opposite way. This is our life.

This is Tony, Denise Light. So she's not saying anything to us. We're not saying anything to her. I'm trying to keep up. How many laps is that?

And then she stops. Now I'm sitting way over here. My wife is sit standing over here and she meets this little lady and she's from Kannapolis and blah, blah, blah. And I'm not really listening and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so the woman says, you know what, I have dementia, but I have some kind of sickness.

And here's what my wife say. Can we pray for you? Why don't you go pray for the lady? So we end up praying for that lady. Everywhere we go, there's always somebody to pray for.

Always somebody to minister to. Your greatest mirror, your greatest ministry is not in this building. This is the atmosphere, the place that you go get charged up in order to go out and do what God has called you to do.

Last, last story. Can I give you one more story? And then I'm finished. So we love cruising. Anybody like the cruising here?

We love cruising. And so a few years ago, probably three years ago, two or three years ago. So we love going to Barcelona, Spain, and go to Rome and go to all these places. And so my, my spiritual son called me, said, now, Papa, when you get to Rome, you need to make sure you're in a group because they will rob you over there. So we get off the boat, we're riding this 90 minute ride over to the, to the Vatican.

And so I don't know anybody on the bus. Matter of fact, we were the only brother and sister on the bus. Amen.

Ain't no black Catholic. Anyway, so anyway, y' all didn't hear me say it. This. Y' all see my hearing aids, they don't let me. So, so, and I'm sleep, I'm sleep.

And then I think about what, what, what. My spiritual son told me, you got to find somebody that will, that will go with you, you know, so you don't get robbed. So this guy sitting next to me, I said, hey, my name is Tony Hall. And he's telling me what his name is. I don't remember what it is.

See, this is my wife Denise. He meets her, his wife, and then her sister was with him. So I said, can we hang out with y'? All? Oh, yeah, sure.

They're from Boston or somewhere. And so we get out, we kind of walk around chit chatting, just kind of like chat. So we get over to where we're about to take the tour of the Vatican. And so the lady, the guide says, where are you from and what do you do? So everybody's talking about, I'm this, I'm this, I'm this and this.

So when they came to us, my wife says, well, I'm a teacher. And I said, well, I'm a motivational speaker.

Don't judge me. Don't judge me. Come on, don't judge me. So this guy behind me says, you're not a motivational speaker. You're a preacher.

You can see it on you. Dang, man. So. So, okay, well, whatever. And so we go in the Vatican and we're walking around, and so the guy says to me, father, my sister is dying of cancer at home.

Would you offer a prayer for her? I said, okay. So when we. I said, as soon as we get back to the boat, we'll get together and we'll pray for your sister. So we get back to the boat.

Of course, I forget, you know, we go to dinner, chilling out, whatever like that. So the. The boat, when it's on the water all day, I thought, oh, my God, I forgot to call that couple. So let's call them and go up there and pray for them. So we call them up.

They're really glad, oh, Father, come to our room, or whatever like that. So I get up to his room. And so they said, well, yeah, she's in such. She has terminal cancer and they're not giving her time to live. So I said, well, I'm going to pray for you, but let me tell you a story.

And I began to tell them about this lady who God raised from the dead, that we pray for her that had terminal cancer. And they're sitting on pins and needles because they're not church people or nothing like that. They never been to a church like this. Amen. Because they kept calling me Father one plus one.

So I'm telling them this story about how God just touched that lady who had cancer. And they're just sitting at the edge of my seat. And so I said, that is the Jesus that we're going to pray for, because Jesus can heal her. So as I'm over talking to them, and of course, I'm not talking like this in my preacher voice. I'm talking very light because I want to drive them crazy because I have a preacher voice.

And then I have a. I don't want to offend your voice. And I'm just talking about this, so. And right behind me, I hear my wife Saying, come on, come on. You can receive it right now. Come on.

And I can't really concentrate on what I'm doing here, but I hear her saying, come on, you can receive this right now. Next thing I know, this guy who's never been to church like this, never heard whether to be a Holy Spirit. This dude's breaking and start speaking in tongues and lifting his hands and worshiping God.

That is the ministry that God has given you. That is not only for the church house, but it's for the world. And God wants to show his glory in you by using you to show the real Jesus. So the miracles is leading people to others, leading others to Christ, and then walking them through. I thank God for Gail Davis.

When my wife was a little pretty thing, 17 years old, went to the church, Give her house. Give her life to Christ. Gail Davis, she called. Where you at? Get the church, girl.

Come on. Get to church. I don't feel like coming. Yeah, but you go. Come.

Come on. And now we're changing the world. And if God did it for me and didn't do it for you, then he's not a fear of God. But you can't sit in under this type of anointing on a Wednesday night. The crowd of you that come, there's no way that God has something for you to do.

Stand on your feet. I'm finished. Whoo. Hallelujah.

So here's what I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to give it back to Pastor Steph. Thank you, Pastor Steph. Hopefully it makes sense. That's all I can say. I want to pray that whatever your gift is, whatever your gifting is, that you begin to walk in the revelation of it and pay the price in order to be great.

Because in these last days, we don't need mediocre people. We need strong people. Not perfect, but strong.

Not perfect, but strong. So I want to pray. If you feel like God has his hand on you, I want you to just lift your hands. That's all I want to pray for. Hallelujah.

Thank you. All these hands going up. God has something special for you. He has his hand on you. Don't go by what you see right now.

Go by seeking out God. God. What do you want me to do? What did you call me for? What is the purpose of my life?

I know that all things work together for good, all things for those that are called according to his purpose. Tony and Denise hall is not special, but we are the call according to his purpose. And the places that we go to all over this world is because we're not qualified. But we are the called according to his purpose. Purpose.

And there has to be a yes in your spirit. You gotta stop fighting. You gotta stop fighting. You gotta say yes, God. There has to be a yes in your spirit.

Father, I thank you right now for the yes. I thank you for the call according to your purpose. To our purpose. I thank you for whatever things that we've been through, all the things that we've been through in life, all the things you brought us through. If you can bring us through, you can bring us then through.

I thank you, God, for every storm. I thank you for every challenge. I thank you God, for the people that we met, the places that we've been. I thank you for every poor day. I thank you for everything that we lost.

I thank you for every discouraging time, all the rejection that we face. I thank you for every day because we've been able to see your glory. The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So I pray for my brothers and sisters that they will know who they are and begin to do what you call them to do. In Jesus name.

Would you just lay hands with somebody next to you? Catch somebody hand next to you? Would you pray? Would you just pray for them right now? God, speak to their hearts.

Speak to them, God. Speak to them. Speak to Discourage. I feel discouragement in this room. I feel discouragement.

I feel depression. I've come against the chain of depression. I come against every satanic stroll. Come against every satanic stronghold. Everything that holds you back, everything that holds you down, every bit of trauma, loneliness and rejection, broken homes, broken lives.

God, you can put it back together through my brothers and my sisters that's here that they can change their generation. For the glory and power of God, we give you thanks and praise for it. In Jesus name, amen. Would you clap your hands and give Jesus a hand prayer?