Showing posts with label Carrie Judd Montgomery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carrie Judd Montgomery. Show all posts

2/06/2012

Life on Wings: The Forgotten Life and Theology of Carrie Judd Montgomery

Want to learn how to live effectively through revivals, be inspired by a healing revivalist who impacted the Divine Healing movement and early Pentecostalism, or learn what it was like to be a woman in ministry 100 years ago? 

Learn all about Carrie Judd Montgomery's inspiring legacy and get your copy of Life on Wings for $20 today! (USA orders only, all other international, please go through Amazon). All proceeds of book go towards the Destiny Healing Home that is based off of Carrie's healing home model.  


This book comes from 4 years of my PhD research. Here is an overview: Over the years, Christian historiography has overlooked Carrie Judd Montgomery’s (1858-1946) significant contribution to both the Divine Healing movement and Pentecostalism. Since the extent of her effect within both movements as a whole has been greatly unexamined, the purpose of this book is to recover her forgotten life and theology and to discover her impact. 

Montgomery’s healing account in 1879 and her early literature acted as a “Tipping Point” within American Evangelicalism to turn Christians from believing that it was good to suffer unto God, to them believing that God wanted to heal. Her healing homes were also among some of the earliest in the country. These things in addition to her early contribution to the formation of the doctrine of healing in the atonement make Montgomery one of the most influential people in the American Divine Healing movement. She additionally influenced early Pentecostalism. Following her 1908 tongues experience, Montgomery spread Pentecostal themes throughout her networks. She introduced many significant leaders to healing and the Pentecostal Spirit baptism who later built and expanded the movement in profound ways.

An analysis of Montgomery’s writings from 1880-1920, reveal that the prayer of faith in James 5 and healing in the atonement were two of the major foundations in her theology of healing. The implications of these lived out in relation to suffering and the gift of healing demonstrate that neither one of these was really necessary since healing was already available in the finished work of Christ to those who appropriated it.

An analysis of her Pentecostal pneumatology  (study of the Holy Spirit) shows that Montgomery actively pursued the fullness of the Spirit, also at times referred to as “Spirit baptism,” both before and after her own 1908 tongues experience. While the manifestation of tongues enhanced her spirituality, added a new flavor to her ministry, and caused to her re-interpret past experiences through a Pentecostal perspective, it did not produce any major shifts within her theology of healing. In light of her experiences with the Spirit throughout the years, a proposed redefinition of the Pentecostal Spirit baptism is presented. 

In conclusion, Montgomery’s approach to the newer manifestations of the Spirit and her relentless pursuit of the “fullness of the Spirit” however that looked in her generation can similarly inform present day approaches to revival and inspire Christians from all traditions to dive into the fullness of the Spirit available today.   

Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: CPT Press (March 21, 2012)  
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1935931296  
ISBN-13: 978-1935931294  
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches 
    For discounts on bulk orders please email me at JenMiskov@silvertogold.com with the quantity. See also first intro book on Carrie's life: Spirit Flood: Rebirth of Spirit Baptism for the 21st Century in light of the Azusa Street Revival and the life of Carrie Judd Montgomery.

    Listen to Carrie's sermon that inspired the title of this book...





    10/10/2011

    Carrie's involvement with the Slum Sisters (Salvation Army)

    by Jennifer A. Miskov


    In the spring of 1892, while on a visit to back to New York, Carrie Judd Montgomery participated with the Salvation Army in their ministry in the slums. In conjunction with Mrs. Ballington Booth, a small group of women who became known as the “Slum Sisters,” put aside their nice Salvation Army clothes and dressed in a humbler manner so that they could be more approachable to reach those on the streets. 

    This ministry started in 1886 when two women moved into two “tiny rooms” in one of the most “degraded” places in the city so that they could be with the people they were trying to reach.[1] William Booth remarked that some of the women who did this work were those “who have not been afraid to exchange the comfort of a West End drawing-room for service among the vilest of the vile, and a residence in small and fetid rooms whose walls were infested with vermin.”[2] 

    Carrie saw that these workers wanted to set about their “mission of love in the most quiet and unobtrusive manner, until they had worked their way into the confidence of the people around them.”[3] They helped the sick, fed the poor, cleansed the homes of the “Slummers,” cared for babies, and helped people find work. They also visited the “saloons and low dives” three times a week to talk to people about salvation and invite them to their Gospel meetings. They had services the other three nights of the week as well.[4]
               
    One Saturday night while still in New York, during one of the peak times of “sinful revelry” in the saloons, Carrie accompanied these “slum sisters” in their outreach to the girls on the streets. Carrie recalled that “for three hours we tramped in and out of saloons and houses of ill-resort, preaching the Gospel, as far as was possible…” Carrie had some previous experience of doing similar work but noticed that the act of wearing simpler attire made her more approachable to the people than before. Through her visit to the slums of New York City, she learned that many of the girls were tricked into this kind of lifestyle, forced into prostitution one way or another. She believed that many times the sins done against them were greater than the sins they committed.[5]
                 
    These bold Salvation Army women went into the saloons and sang hymns and shared with the people there. To have the courage to preach on the streets as well as sing hymns in saloons was a brave thing to do, especially as a woman. While Quakers and some Methodists gave women some freedom to preach, Evangelicalism as a whole had not arrived at that place of equality for men and women.[6] Carrie took extreme steps to see people converted to Christianity regardless of the social or religious trends in her day. The time spent with the “Slum Sisters” was eye opening for Carrie and caused her to initiate a similar work in her home city on her return. 

    When she returned back to the West Coast, Carrie capitalized on the fact that Salvation Army women could “go unprotected into any of the saloons and dives.”[7] She recounted a story to her readers of her Saturday night outing to the saloons and “evils lurking” in San Francisco. She was accompanied by a young girl captain in the Salvation Army. Beginning their night at 9:30pm and dressed in their Army uniforms, they went out to the bars filled with men who just got their pay checks and wanted to spend it all on alcohol. 

    Carrie Judd Montgomery later on in the 1890s in the traditional Salvation Army Uniform. Special thanks and copyright permission come from the Salvation Army for the use of this photo.


    Their way to get into the saloons was through selling the Army’s magazine called the War Cry; Carrie also gave out her healing tracts. They went to dance halls and talked with young girls whom they found out their mothers had no clue where they were. After the saloons, they walked down dark alleys to give out more of the tracts. They collected several names and numbers so they could meet up with the people during the daytime a few days later. They finished their street ministry and returned home at 2am. 

    Carrie, then about 34 years old, wrote that “with sore heart and weary feet, and yet with a consciousness that I had been ‘about my Father’s business,’ I reached our abiding place and found that my dear husband had not retired to rest, but had long been on his knees, asking the Lord to mightily use His little, weak messengers, and to fill them with the glorious power of the Holy Ghost.”[8]
               
     I'm inspired by this story, are you??? 


     ©Jennifer A. Miskov (feel free to quote as long as you correctly reference and link back to this article)

    [1] Possibly Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Webb were the two who started this ministry initially in London.
    [2] General William Booth, Chapter 5, Section 1 entitled “A Slum Crusade- Our Slum Sisters” in In Darkest England and the Way Out, 1890 1st edition (London: The Salvation Army, 1890). In this same section are two first hand accounts from journalists who spent time with the slum sisters and report first hand their experience of what it was like and the conditions surrounding their life in the slums. Also in “Darkest England,” in an address delivered by General Booth in San Francisco December 17, 1894 and reported by Cecilia Decker in Triumphs of Faith 15:2 (Feb 1895) and TF 15:3 (March 1895), he told some stories of these “slum angels” as well as some graphic stories of the poor ones the Salvation Army rescued.
    [3]Carrie Judd Montgomery, “Salvation Army Work in the New York Slums,” Triumphs of Faith 12:5 (May 1892), 108. At the time when Carrie wrote this, there was then 22 Slum Sisters involved in the ministry as well as a Rescue Home being built to help the girls get off of the streets.
    [4] Booth, Chapter 5, Section 1 entitled “A Slum Crusade- Our Slum Sisters.”
    [5] Carrie Judd Montgomery, “Salvation Army Work in the New York Slums,” TF 12:5 (May 1892), 108-109.
    [6] David Bebbington,  A History of Evangelicalism: People, Movements and Ideas in the English-Speaking World, vol. 3 in The Dominance of Evangelicalism: The Age of Spurgeon and Moody (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2005), 225.
    [7] “Wealthy Warriors: A Rich Salvationist and His Famous Wife,” The Illustrated Buffalo Press, May 8, 1892, p. 4.
    [8] Carrie Judd Montgomery, “Through the Darkest San Francisco” TF 12:10 (Oct 1892), 220.

    9/20/2011

    Thirsty for the Living Waters?

    Living Water
    By the Editor (Carrie Judd Montgomery)
    Triumphs of Faith 7:3 (March 1887)

    “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.”

    If you are thirsting for God, yea, for the living God, then this promise is for you. You need not be discouraged because of your thirst, but rather you may be encouraged, because the blessing is only held out to “him that is thirsty.” The invitation reads, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” and again in the same chapter we find the definite promise, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

    Thus, you see, dear thirsting soul, that you need not longer thirst, for there is the sound of abundance of water, of which you may freely partake.

    The Lord Jesus had pronounced those blessed who thirst after righteousness, and He has allowed to come to you the utter dissatisfaction with all human springs, in order that you may seek after living water to satisfy your thirsty soul. You have indeed proved that those who drink from earthly wells shall thirst again, and now you are ready to hear the voice of Jesus as He calls, “If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

    Shall not your response be, “Lord, give me this water, that I thirst not?” Then shall you not only be filled yourself, but streams of living water shall flow forth from your heart, to refresh and bless other thirsty lives. And that we might not be left in any doubt as to what was meant by this water of life, it is recorded, “This spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive.” The invitation is given in a very broad sense, so you cannot be left out. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” You need not, must not bring money or price for the gift of God cannot be bought, and the one called is “he that hath no money.” So you cannot be too needy to come. The more needy you are, the more right you have to this invitation.

    The needy ones are especially mentioned in Isa. 41: 17, 18, “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues faileth for thirst, I the Lord, will hear them, I the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” Even when “their tongues fail for thirst,” when they can no longer make a cry or a moan, yet the Lord hears them. And why does He notice so quickly our failing lips and parched spirits? Ah, have you forgotten that scene on Calvary, when the crucified One said with failing tongue, “I thirst”? And in the prophetic record we read the moan of agony, “I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”

    The blessed Saviour thirsted that we might not thirst, and therefore He waits to pour floods of living water - the fullness of His lifegiving spirit, upon all who are fainting and longing for Him. The rock has already been smitten, and we have only now to “speak unto the rock” to bring forth the waters of life. - (Num. 20:8).

    God grant, dear reader, that you may constantly drink that “spiritual drink,” even as it is recorded of God’s ancient people, “they drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them (margin) and that Rock was Christ.”

    “They thirsted not when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow out of the Rock for them; He clave the Rock also, and the water gushed out.”

    see also her "Floods of Living Water Freely Available" article.

    7/23/2011

    Hungering for the fulness of the Spirit! Interview with Heidi Baker



    Interview with Heidi Baker, in regards to Revival History, Hunger for the Spirit, and Carrie Judd Montgomery.
    See also article on my journey where I intersected Heidi Baker when I was researching Carrie Judd Montgomery.

    6/05/2011

    Entering Into Clouds of Glory by Carrie Judd Montgomery

    This excerpt comes directly from Carrie's autobiography Under His Wings (1936) from a chapter entitled “Ocean Depths of Blessing, and Further Service." 
    This account happened sometime in the later 1800s when Carrie was likely in her 20s.

    “As I went on with the Lord I felt an unspeakable hunger springing up within me for more of God. I hardly knew how to pray, but would sometimes turn to my Heavenly Father and say to Him, ‘What dost Thou want?” ; because it seemed to me it was more His desire to obtain full possession of me than my desire for Himself. Previously I have spoken of the great blessing I received when I was healed, and my consciousness that the Holy Spirit had come to abide with me. Now, it seemed that He was longing to get full control of me and to fill the temple although I scarcely knew how to put this into words. 

    While still feeling this great hunger after more of God, I heard of Christian people farther East who had had a great anointing from the Lord and my heart cried out for fellowship with these dear people. I heard much about one sister who lived a very victorious life, and who was much used of God in His work. The Christian woman [this was likely Mary H. Mossman] had a Home in New Jersey, where she entertained those who were waiting on the Lord for a deeper spiritual life and for healing of the body. I got in touch with her and made arrangements to go to her for a little stay. I well remember how my hunger seemed to deepen more and more even while I was on the train journeying from Buffalo to this sister’s place of residence. 

    When I arrived at the Home I was met in the most affectionate and motherly way by this dear saint, who informed me, after she had given me her welcome, that the evening meal was just about ready. My reply to her was as follows: 

    ‘Oh, I do not want anything to eat; I want God.’ 

    She had herself, been led into depths and heights of spiritual blessing, so she thoroughly sympathized with me in the desire which I thus expressed. She left me alone in the upper room waiting on God, while she looked after some household duties, and then she returned to me. We knelt quietly together and I do not remember that there was much, if any, audible prayer by either of us, but the presence of the Lord became more and more manifest as we continued our worship together. 

    All at once I experienced a blessing that is difficult to put into words. It seemed as though God manifested Himself in a cloud of Heavenly dew which descended gently upon my head and entered into my being, taking full possession of me. At the same time a sweet, restful feeling almost overpowered me so that my own strength somewhat left me and I leaned over and rested my head upon this sister’s shoulder. No words were given me, but the dear one by my side seemed to be so one with me that she fully understood the cloud of glory into which I was entering, for His presence seemed to surround me, and at the same time to fill me. 

    After a little while something called my friend away from my side, and I lay down upon a bed in the room, still feeling the wonderful presence of the Lord and silently adoring Him. While waiting on the Lord a few more days in this hallowed Home, the manifestation of the Lord’s presence about me, and within me, became still more glorious until my whole being seemed to be filled with ‘rivers of living water’ and Jesus Himself revealed as the One among ten thousand, the Lily of the Valley. 

    I was so conscious that my body, as well as my soul, became so hallowed with the Lord’s presence that I was made to realize as never before that I was indeed a temple of the Holy Ghost. The Life of God came even into my tongue; not that my tongue moved, but I could feel the moving of God’s life distinctly through that member of my body. I was held silent in adoration of the glorious Being who was thus revealed to me, conscious of great joy in his immediate presence, and especially delighting in the thought of entire yieldedness to His perfect will…

    On my way home on the train I had occasion to speak to a lady about her soul and great anointing was upon me as I talked to her, such as I had never experienced before. When I reached my home I quietly confided to my dear mother my joyful experience, and she praised God with me. The power of God continued to rest upon me in my meetings so that it was told me by one of my friends that it was quite noticeable to others who attended the meetings that I had received an anointing which they had never discerned in me before. The Word of God became more and more precious and it was opened to me increasingly as I expounded it to others.”

    This account of Carrie hungering after more of God and getting overwhelmed in His glory happened early on in her life. To see another one of her God encounters that happened in 1908 where she also spoke in tongues, see Spirit Flood book, her  “Life on Wings: The Possibilities of Pentecost”, or listen to a recording of the article here



    5/05/2011

    Healing Accounts of how Carrie Judd Montgomery's story continues to inspire today

    A few recent stories of how Carrie Judd Montgomery's healing account has touched people today!


    Open the Door

    Open the door, let in the air;
    The winds are sweet and the    
       flowers are fair.
    Joy is abroad in the world today;
    If our door is wide, it may come
       this way.
                     Open the door!

    Open the door, let in the sun;
    He hath a smile for every one;
    He hath made the raindrops of 
       gold and gems;
    He may change our tears to 
       diadems.
                    Open the door!

    Open the door of the soul; let in
    Strong, pure thoughts which 
       shall banish sin.
    They will grow and bloom with   
        a grace divine
    And their fruit shall be sweeter than that of the vine.
                    Open the door!

    Open the door to the heart; let in
    Sympathy sweet for stranger and kin;
    It will make the halls of the heart so fair
    That angels may enter unaware.
                Open the door!

    -Anonymous reprint from British Weekly taken from Carrie Judd Montgomery's periodical Triumphs of Faith 27:3 March 1907.

    5/04/2011

    Being Led by the Spirit for Night Prayers, R.A. Torrey

    This appeared in Carrie Judd Montgomery's periodical, Triumphs of Faith 27:4, in April 1907 and is very inspiring. It has moved me to try one of these night prayers. Enjoy and may it also stir you as well!   

    Extracts from “How to Pray” by R.A. Torrey 
                “If, then, we would pray aright, the first thing that we should do is see to it- that we really get an audience with God, that we really get into His very presence. Before a word of petition is offered, we should have the definite and vivid consciousness that we are talking to God, and should believe that he is listening to our petition and is going to grant the thing that we ask of Him. This is only possible by the Holy Spirit’s power, so we should look to the Holy Spirit to lead us into the presence of God and should not be hasty in words until he has actually brought us there.

                One night a very active Christian man dropped into a little prayer meeting that I was leading. Before we knelt to pray, I said something like the above, telling all the friends to be sure before they prayed, and while they were praying, that they really were in God’s presence, that they had the thought of Him definitely in mind, and to be more taken up with Him than with their petition. A few days after, I met this same gentleman and he said that this simple thought was entirely new to him, that it had made prayer an entirely new experience to him. 

                If then we would pray aright, these two little words must sink deep into our hearts, ‘unto God.’

    With Fasting
                If we would pray with power, we should pray with fasting. This of course does not mean that should fast every time we pray; but there are times of emergency or special crisis in work or in individual lives, when men of downright earnestness will withdraw themselves even from the gratification of natural appetites that would be perfectly proper under other circumstances, that they may give themselves up wholly to prayer. There is a peculiar power in such prayer. Every great crisis in life and work should be met in that way. There is nothing pleasing to God in our giving up in a purely Pharisaic and legal way things which are pleasant, but there is power in that downright earnestness and determination to obtain in prayer the things of which we sorely feel our need, that leads us to put away everything, even things in themselves most right and necessary, that we may set our faces to find God, and obtain blessing from Him.

    All Night in Prayer
                In the 6th chapter of Luke in the 12th verse, we get further light upon the right time to pray. We read ‘And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.’

                Here we see Jesus praying in the night, spending the entire night in prayer. Of course we have no reason to suppose that this was the constant practice of our Lord, nor do we even know how common this practice was, but there were certainly times when the whole night was given up to prayer. Here, too, we do well to follow in the footsteps of the Master.

                Of course there is a way of setting apart nights of prayer in which there is no profit; it is pure legalism. But the abuse of this practice is no reason for neglecting it altogether. One ought not to say, ‘I am going to spend a whole night in prayer,’ with the thought that there is any merit that will win God’s favour in such an exercise; that is legalism. But we oftentimes do well to say, I am going to set apart this night for meeting God, ad obtaining His blessing and power; and if necessary, and if He so leads me, I will give the whole night to prayer.’ Oftentimes we will have prayed things through long before the night has passed and we can retire and find more refreshing and invigorating sleep than if we had not spent the time in prayer. At other times God doubtless will keep us in communion with Himself away into the morning and when he foes this in His infinite grace blessed indeed are these hours of night prayer!

                Nights of prayer to God are followed by days of power with men. In the night hours the world is hushed in slumber, and we can easily be alone with God and have undisturbed communion with Him. If we set apart the whole night for prayer, there will be no hurry, there will be time for our own hearts to become quiet before God, there will be time for the whole mind to be brought under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there will be plenty of time to pray things through. A night of prayer should be put entirely under God’s control. We should lay down no rules as to how long we will pray or as to what we shall pray about, but be ready to wait upon God for a short time or a long time as He may lead, and to be led out in one direction or another as He may see fit.”

    See also Carrie's poem on Being Led by the Spirit.

               

    3/04/2011

    The Carrie Judd Montgomery Project

    This project exists to help recover Carrie's somewhat lost and forgotten voice in hopes of inspiring a new generation with wisdom from one who went before and ended well. This is a faith project and fully dependent upon God to provide for every opportunity. If God is stirring you, there are many different ways you can get involved. Listed below are only a few.

    PROMOTERS
    -forward and re-post Carrie's writings through your various social networks. See her FB page
    -Talk to your networks to see who might be able to help distribute Spirit Flood through their channels. I can provide discount price for bulk orders.
    -Help provide opportunities for me to share Carrie's story with leaders or groups who would be blessed
    -get her story out through your own creative expressions

    PRAYER TEAM/ PROPHETIC COMMUNITY
    -intercessors who want to know what the needs and happenings of this project is so that they prayers can be offered and share any words they receive from God in relation to this.

    PROVIDERS
    We have several projects lined up for any who feel led to invest financially, with their time, or talents...
    -biography and other book projects
    -videos in relation to Carrie
    -recovering and publishing more materials and compilations of her original writings
    -online initiatives/website/etc
    -traveling for speaking engagements
    the more resources we have and people willing to invest their time and talents, the more we can do to recover her forgotten voice. Right now this project will be focused for 2011-2012 to see if we can promote Carrie's story enough to cause the "tipping point"



    There are tons of other ways to be involved. Please pray about what your role in this important project might be for this season and email me what is on your heart in relation to this. See Spirit Flood Ministries for more info or Email me at JenMiskov@silvertogold.com to join the team or be involved helping raise Carrie Judd Montgomery from the "dead."

    1/16/2011

    Filled Even When Feel Empty

    MINISTRY
    By the Editor: Carrie F. Judd (Montgomery)
    Triumphs of Faith 2:11 (Nov. 1882)

    To obtain great spiritual blessings for ourselves we must pour out our souls for others. There is a form of spiritual selfishness which keeps us so conscious of our own needs that, in seeking spiritual supplies for ourselves, we become almost oblivious of the needs of others, and forget the apostle’s injunction, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”- (1 Cor.10:24).
                We often feel justified in this selfishness by the argument that we cannot help others without first being filled ourselves. While in one sense this is true, yet as those who walk by faith and not by sight, we must take by faith our position in Christ, claiming that He is to us each moment all we need, for in Him are “hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” and then out of His abundant wealth which we thus claim because He has given Himself to us, we must by faith dispense to others. God tells us in His Word that if we draw out our soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall our light rise in obscurity and our darkness be a the noon-day. - (Isa. 58:10).
                Human wisdom would tell us first to fill ourselves before we try to fill others; Divine wisdom takes her stand as already filled, by faith in Christ’s fullness, and realizes that as she gives to others of this hidden wealth it shall be made manifest. The promise goes on, “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of waters, whose waters fail not.”- (Isa. 58:11). Guided, as, by faith in our Guide, we guide others; satisfied, as, by faith, we satisfy the afflicted souls around us; made fat, as we give of Christ’s overflowing fullness to those who seem even less needy than ourselves, until at last we are no longer conscious of receiving the former, and latter rains moderately, but our souls become like watered gardens and like springs of never-failing water. Filled continually, as by faith we pour out continually. Beloved, let us in all our service, in the ministry of prayer as well as in work or exhortation, be like the Son of Man Who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Then shall we stand with Him, our great High Priest, in our office of royal Priesthood, “consecrated for evermore.”

    To read how this article inspired my own contemplations surrounding Isaiah 58 and breakthrough living see Needing a Breakthrough? 
    Article transcribed by Jennifer Miskov and kept in its original form. ©Jennifer Miskov
    Please feel free to share link to this article.

    12/02/2010

    Smith Wigglesworth shares about a blind man being healed

    Carrie Judd Montgomery and Smith Wigglesworth were friends ever since she met him on her missionary journey to England in 1909. From then on their lives intersected and Wigglesworth felt led by the Spirit to come to California to be a pat of Carrie’s 1914 World-Wide Pentecostal Camp Meetings where he gave several messages. Additionally through the years, he visited her at her Home of Peace in Oakland as well as spoke at several of her meetings. Below is Carrie’s impression of Wigglesworth’s ministry at that time followed by one of the messages he gave while speaking at one of her meetings in Oakland. He speaks of an account of a blind man being healing in one of his meetings.

    “Mr. Smith Wigglesworth” by Carrie Judd Montgomery
    “Our dear Brother, Mr. S. Wigglesworth from England, has been holding meetings during the month of August at Glad Tidings Hall,1536 Ellis Street, San Francisco. We have also had the pleasure of having him with us for two of our Monday meetings in Oakland. Our Brother’s addresses are full of the power of the Holy Spirit, and those who listen to him are getting a very blessed view of what Full Salvation means for spirit, soul and body.
                Brother Wigglesworth was with us at our World-Wide Camp Meeting at Cazadero, in 1914. He was then a great blessing to many. Since then, however, we feel that his own experience has been greatly enriched and that he comes with a deeper and fuller message than before. He will hold meetings probably in Victoria Hall, and also at Bethel Temple, Los Angeles, Calif. Dates for these meetings, however, have not yet been announced. Our Brother has a distinct ministry for the body as well as a most precious spiritual message.”
    Carrie Judd Montgomery, “Notes by the Editor, Triumphs of Faith 42:8 (Aug 1922), 190-191.

    “Filled with God” by Smith Wigglesworth
    (Extract from an address delivered at Mrs. Montgomery’s Monday Meeting. Danish Hall, Oakland, CA)
     I want to read to you, in the beginning, the second chapter of Hebrews. Now, this, like every other Scripture, is all very important for us. You could scarcely, at the beginning, pick any special Scripture out of this we have read, it is all so full of truth, it means so much to us, and we must understand that God, in these times, wants to bring us into perfect life, that we need never, under any circumstances, go outside of His Word for anything.
                Some people only come with a very small thought concerning God’s fulness, and a lot of people are satisfied with a thimbleful and you can just imagine God saying, “O, if they only knew how much they could take away!” Other people come with a larger vessel, and they go away satisfied, but you can feel how
    much God is longing for us to have such a desire for more, such a longing as only God Himself can satisfy. I suppose you women would have a good idea of what I mean from the illustration of a screaming child being taken about from one to another, but never satisfied till it gets to the bosom of its Mother. You will find that there is no peace, no help, no source of strength, no power, no life, nothing can satisfy the cry of the child of God but the Word of God. God has a special way of satisfying the cry of His children. He is waiting to open to us the windows of Heaven until He has so moved in the depths of our hearts that everything unlike Himself has been destroyed. There need no one in this place go away dry, dry. God wants you to be filled. My brother, my sister, God wants you today to be like a watered garden, filled with the fragrance of His own heavenly joy, till you know at last you have touched immensity. The Son of God came for no other purpose than to lift and lift, and mould and fashion and remould, until we are just after His mind.
                I know that the dry ground can have floods, and may God save me from ever wanting anything less than a flood. I will not stoop for small things when I have such a big God. Thorough the blood of Christ’s atonement we may have riches and riches. We need the warming atmosphere of the Spirit’s power to bring us closer and closer until nothing but God can satisfy, and then we may have some idea of what God has
    left after we have taken all that we can. It is only like a sparrow taking a drink of the ocean and then looking around and saying, “What a vast ocean! What a lot more I could have taken if I had only had room!”
                You may have sometimes things you can use, and not know it. Don’t you know that you could be dying of thirst right in a river of plenty? There was once a vessel in the mouth of the Amazon river. They thought they were still in the ocean, and they went dying of thirst, some of then nearly mad. They saw a ship and asked if they would give them some water, for some of them were dying of thirst, and they replied,
    “Dip your bucket right over; you are in the mouth of the river.” There are any amount of people today in the midst of a great river of life, but they are dying of thirst, because they do not dip down and take it. Dear brother, you may have the Word, but you need an awakened spirit. The Word is not alive until it is moved
    upon by the Spirit of God, and in the right sense it becomes Spirit and life when it is touched by His hand alone.
                O beloved, there is a stream that maketh glad the city of God. There is a stream of life that makes everything move. There is a touch of divine life and likeness through the Word of God that comes nowhere else. There is a death which has no life in it; and there is a death-likeness with Christ which is full of life.
                O beloved, there is no such thing as an end to God’s beginnings. But we must be in it; we must know it. It is not a touch; it is not a breath; it is the Almighty God; it is a Person; it is the Holy One dwelling in the temple not made with hands. O beloved, He touches and it is done. He is the same God over all, rich unto all who call upon Him. Pentecost is the last thing that God has to touch the earth with.The baptism is the last thing; if you do not get this you are living in a weak and impoverished condition which is no good to yourself or anybody else. May God move us on to a place where there is no measure to this fulness that He wants to give us. God exalted Jesus and gave Him a Name above every name. You notice that everything has been put under Him. It is about eight years since I was in Oakland and in that time I have seen thousands and thousands healed by the power of God. Last year in Sweden, the last five months of the year, we had over 7,000 people saved by the power of God. The tide is rolling in; let us see to it today that we get right out into the tide, for it will bear you. The bosom of God’s love is the center of all things. Get your eyes off yourself; lift them up high and see the Lord, for in the Lord there is everlasting strength.
                If you went to see a doctor, the more you told him, the more he would know, but when you come
    to Doctor Jesus, He knows all from the beginning, and He never gives you the wrong medicine. I went to see one today, and someone said, “‘Here is a person who has been poisoned through and through by a doctor giving him the wrong medicine”. Jesus sends His healing power and brings His restoring grace, and so there is nothing to fear. The only thing that is wrong is your wrong conception of the mightiness of His
    redemption.
                He was wounded that He might be touched with a feeling of your infirmities. He took your flesh and
    laid it upon the cross that He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage. You will find that almost all the ailments that you are heir to come on Satanic lines, and they must be deal with as Satanic; they must be
    cast out. Do not listen to what Satan says to you, for the devil is a liar from the beginning. If people would only listen to the truth of God they would find out they were over the devil, over all Satanic forces; they  would realize that every evil spirit was subject to them; they would find out that they were always in the place of triumph, and they would “reign in life” by King Jesus.
                Never live in a less place than where God has called you to, and He has called you up on high to
    live with Him. God has designed that everything shall be subject to man. Through Christ He has given you power over all the power of the enemy. He has wrought out your eternal redemption.
                I was finishing a meeting one day in Switzerland. And when we had finished the meeting and
    had ministered to all the sick, we went out to see some people. Two boys came to us and said that there was a blind man present at the meeting this afternoon, who had heard all the words of the preacher, and said he was surprised that he had not been prayed for. They went on to say this blind man had heard so much that he would not leave that place until he could see. I said, “This is positively unique. God will do
    something today for that man.”
                We got to the place. This blind man said he never had seen; he was born blind, but because of
    the word preached in the afternoon he was not going home until he could see. If ever I have joy it is when I have a lot of people who will not be satisfied until they get all they have come for. With great joy I anointed him that day and laid hands on his eyes, and then immediately God opened his eyes. It was very strange how he acted. There were some electric lights. First he counted them; then he counted us. O, the ecstatic pleasure that every moment was created in that man because of his sight! It made us all feel like weeping and dancing and shouting. Then he pulled out his watch, and said that for years he had been feeling the watch for the time, by the raised figures, but now he could look at it and tell us the time. Then, looking as
    if he was awakened from some deep sleep, or some long, strange dream, he awakened to the fact that he had never seen the face of his father and mother, and he went to the door and rushed out. At night he was the first in the meeting. All the people knew him as the blind man, and I had to give him a long time to talk
    about his new sight.
                Beloved, I wonder how much you want to take away today. You could not carry it if it was substance, but there is something about the grace and the power and the blessings of God that can be carried, no matter how big they are. O, what a Saviour; what a place we are in, by grace, that He may come in to commune with us. He is willing to say to every heart, “Peace, be still”, and, to every weak body, “Be strong”.
                Are you going half way; or are you going right to the end! Be not today deceived by Satan, but believe in God.

    Smith Wigglesworth, “Filled with God,” Triumphs of Faith 42:8 (Aug 1922).
    Both of these articles were transcribed by Jennifer Miskov and kept in their original form. ©Jennifer Miskov
    Please feel free to share this article with others and pass it on.

    If you want to read Carrie’s personal account of her miraculous healing and also her Spirit baptism experience see Life on Wings: The Possibilities of Pentecost.
    Or to read a short bio about Carrie’s life go here.

    12/01/2010

    Led by the Spirit: a poem by Carrie Judd Montgomery

    "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans 8:14

    "Oh, what blessed freedom,
    Led by Christ alone!
    Through His precious leading
    Cares and griefs have flown.

    Led by Love unerring,
    Led by Grace Divine,
    Brightly in my spirit
    Doth His beauty shine.

    Led, but never driven,
    By His Spirit  dear,
    All my path is restful,
    Every step made clear.

    Never need of planning,
    For He has the care;
    His the goal I'm reaching,
    His to lead me there.

    Led by God's own Spirit,
    Can I ask for more?
    And when life is ended,
    On the other shore-

    There the Lamb shall lead me,
    By the fountains sweet;
    Led by him forever,
    Bliss shall be complete."


    Poem by Carrie Judd Montgomery, taken from her Heart Whisperings published in1897 and transcribed by Jen Miskov ©. Feel free to share this link with others.

    11/21/2010

    CJM poster

    Double click poster to expand. This poster received 1st place for the College of Arts and Law at the University of Birmingham, UK poster conference 2010. Note that it was written in a way to introduce this research to other academics outside my field of study. This is copyrighted by Jennifer Miskov. Please contact me if interested in using this for any teachings.

                                                       

    9/20/2010

    Walking in our Destiny in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

    Some notes and audio for talk at Aliso Viejo Vineyard, CA Sept. 19, 2010....Special thanks to Ted and Ginger for sharing what a life of living by faith looks like and also for Kent Larson for being so gracious for inviting me into his life and ministry there.


    Are there any promises that God has spoken to you in the past but have yet to be fulfilled?

    Revolutionary Perspectives:
    Carrie Judd Montgomery was led by the Spirit, discerned what God had spoken to her in the midst of conflicting voices around her, and she acted in faith. To read the account I talk about go here.

    Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 13) believed in the promise, wholly followed after God regardless of their surrounding circumstances, had a right perspective of God and chose to remember His faithfulness, and they were not afraid to fight for what they believed in (or they were, but they chose to trust God anyway!).


    There's always a battle before entering into the Promised Land for our lives. Note that THIS IS NOT A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, BUT A FIGHT FOR ABUNDANCE.

    It's safe and comfortable in the silver, in the desert, but God has destined us for the GOLD, to dwell in the Promised Land. Conversely, when we don't walk in God's destiny for our lives, it's easy to get drawn back into our old life (Galatians 5:16).
    Are there any necessary battles that you are avoiding or running from? Are your eyes on God and His promises or on the obstacles before you? What steps of faith can you begin to take today to move closer to the destiny God is calling you to?
    "You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey...into the Land of Canaan (The Promised Land)"...See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess this land which has been promised (Deut 1:6-8). "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added to you (Matt. 6:33)."


    "GOLD is our destiny...so Why settle for silver when we're meant for Gold?" I pray that the unique promises God has put deep within our hearts would be stirred up once again and that He would give us the courage to step out in faith towards those things this very day. Amen.

    8/19/2010

    Spirit Flood talk: Baptism of the Holy Spirit, present day healing accounts, John Wimber, and Carrie Judd Montgomery

    This is a talk in relation to the themes in Spirit Flood given August 18, 2010 at Anaheim Vineyard homegroup in California. You can also download it here. Special thanks to Dave McNutt for the invitation. Azusa Street Revival History. Healing account of Carrie Judd Montgomery. John Wimber. Anaheim Vineyard. Bethel, Redding. Healing of leg at Kris Valloton's house while in line to go to the bathroom! Healing at an academic conference. Healing on the Streets, Birmingham, UK. Spirit Baptism, gift of tongues, Spirit Flood!

    Carrie Judd Montgomery and also John Wimber's experience with the Holy Spirit are mentioned. Quotes from John Wimber are taken from his Power Evangelism and the other quote is taken from Spirit Flood by me where Carrie Judd is also quoted from her 1912 article entitled "The Possibilities of Pentecost." Her full article can be found here if interested. Be blessed and be flooded and baptized afresh with the Spirit this day!


    4/16/2010

    Press Release for SPIRIT FLOOD

    This conversation about re-discovering what Spirit baptism looks like for today will cause you to cry out for more than just “fillings” of the Spirit. As Carrie Judd Montgomery once recalled, before her Spirit baptism she had “tiny streams,” but not “rivers of living water.”
    The time of breaking the dam has now come.

    Even if you have already once experienced the flooding of the Spirit, the rivers of living water are freely available today in new measures to all who ask.

    SPIRIT FLOOD is a fusion of PhD research on revivals, a short biography on the most influential woman in the Divine Healing Movement, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and reflections from present day active ministers from around the globe who are hungry to see more of the Spirit’s outpouring for this generation. The essay included here looks at the significance that Spirit baptism played in early Pentecostal history during the Azusa Street Revival and how that emphasis may have declined. By looking at Carrie Judd Montgomery’s experience of Spirit baptism, possible ways that Spirit baptism can re-emerge and be translated into the 21st Century are presented.

    SPECS:
    • Paperback: 64 pages
    • Publisher: Silver to Gold
    • Language: English
    • ISBN-10: 0984237011
    • ISBN-13: 978-0984237012
    • Product Dimensions: 6x9 inches
    • Retail Price: $9.99/ £7.00
    • Author: Jennifer A. Miskov with Bonnie Inkster and Rosie. McNeil
    You can order directly on the right hand-side of this page under the Spirit Flood's cover icon.



    USA: Adjust quantity at check out or add Silver to Gold below






    1/01/2010

    Faith in the Midst of the Credit Crunch

    Shortly after publishing her first book, Carrie Judd Montgomery continued to receive a flood of letters from sick people who were interested in learning about Divine Healing. Carrie and her brother Charlie both had the same idea that she should publish a monthly magazine on the subject. Her brother offered to give her $50.00 as a tithe to help her get set up. After speaking with a well intentioned Methodist elder she knew who discouraged her from the project, she continued “to wait on God about this matter.”
    To read the rest of article and see how Carrie decided to see beyond her natural circumstances go HERE

    7/03/2009

    New Links to Original Writings of Carrie Judd Montgomery

    I just added some links on the right hand side for anyone interested in reading some of Carrie Judd Montgomery's actual writings. I have found them rich in spiritual insights and very inspiring, they are filled with the Holy Spirit and can speak to us today. I also one of my favorite articles written by CJM following this post. Hope you enjoy and would love to hear your thoughts or discussion.
    Blessings,Jen


    "If there seems to be even the slightest shadow between my blessed Saviour and myself, I stop everything until it is removed and the fulness of joy is restored, and the brightness of His face shines upon me again. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and if I have not this fulness of joy, which comes from perfect communion through obedience, I have nothing with which I can help other souls.

    It is better to tarry day after day if need be, waiting upon Him rather than to try to do the Master's work while His joy is somewhat dimmed."

    Excerpt from Triumphs of Faith 36:11 November 1916