Boiling in the Bronx.
http://comeandlive.com/blog/
November 22, 2011
A couple of months ago I received a message from my friend Sam who lives in the Bronx, one of NYC’s five boroughs. He was asking if I’d be interested in participating in their 2nd-annual Boiler Room at an old Reformed church in the Bronx. I was initially intrigued because I honestly had no idea what that meant. A quick glance on Google led me to the 24-7 Prayer site with more info on “Boiler Rooms.” Here’s what I found:
“In all honesty, the name Boiler Room began life as a working title for 24-7′s first intentional community, in Reading, UK. It was a nickname, and it stuck! It was a name harking back to the great and glorious days of steam, where boiler rooms powered vast machines and systems. In these places, fires were fueled night-and-day, pistons converting pressure into power, and eventually into heat and light for the community. It was only later that we discovered that C.H. Spurgeon, one of the greatest preaches of the late-nineteenth century, attributed the fruitfulness of his entire ministry to something he called ‘Boiler Rooms’. These were prayer meetings – often established in basements – that interceded while Spurgeon preached to crowds of thousands above their heads. Spurgeon considered them the power-source of his own ministry.”
Exciting. That’s what first came to mind. I’m a huge Spurgeon fan and attend a Reformed church. I also love what I’m seeing in the 24-7 Prayer movement. Combining all the above seemed like a match made in only One place. I eagerly agreed, not fully knowing what to anticipate.
Sammy.
Sam (“Sammy”) picked me up at LaGuardia and we instantly were dealing with the chaos known as NYC traffic. As many times as I’ve visited NYC I’ve never understood how people (other than experienced Taxi-cab drivers maybe) actually dealt with the simple task of driving. God bless them – they seem well-versed in the lines of personal communication, mostly those of horn-honking and shouting displeasure the instant traffic slows.
The “Boiler Room” was being hosted in a church that had been around for a long while. It was located in the heart of the Bronx. The meeting was scheduled to start at 7PM, but come to find out this is a mostly Puerto Rican culture we’re talking about, so 8 is the new 7. My heart is expectant. I’ve spent lots of quality time through-out the week and on the flight asking the Lord for His heart for the event. By 8PM, the room seemed to be slowly filling with maybe 70 or so attending. This meeting was described to me as 17 hours of non-stop prayer & worship. Going into it, I had no idea how I would stay cognizant, yet alone connected. God proved faithful. At 8PM the service starts with prayer. Not sure there is a better way to start a service, or the day, for that matter. Sammy had originally provided me with a rough schedule indicating that I would speak at 9PM and 9AM. As I’ve learned in my relationship with the Holy Spirit, timing is not my own and I ought not expect anything to the contrary. Instead of getting caught up on when I would take the stage, God led me into His presence, enjoying this wonderful opportunity to celebrate Jesus with brothers and sisters that I would be spending all eternity with.
Plaque on the Church wall.
By 11PM worship was going full-steam ahead and there was no indication of when I would be sharing. The crowd had more than doubled in size, with 200 or so attending. The time could be best described using two adjectives, “expressive” and “jubilant”. I was taken back to books I’ve read on revivals of centuries past. One of the common-denominators in God-sent revivals is the way in which a congregation steps into a united pursuit of Jesus, regardless of whether they are being led by a worship leader or pastor. The Spirit of God begins leading others to sing out songs, seemingly random passion-filled praying, shouts of rejoicing, etc. I witnessed this happening. Goose bumps. What a work God is doing all around the world. And here I am, in just one small congregation in the midst of a massive city, watching Jesus smile upon His children and their hungering after Him. Do you ever get the feeling like God is setting you up for something grand? Something that you may every now and again get a small taste of? In reality, He’s setting us all up for eternal Heaven, but He’s also setting us up for Heaven flowing through the hands and feet of God-fearing saints right here, right now. Press in! Don’t give up. Our time is too short to lose track of what God wants to accomplish. I have many dreams that have remained unfulfilled, mainly a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit on this generation that is undeniable even to the secular world perspective. But, here I am New York City, experiencing a trickling waterfall of God’s grace. Jesus makes all things New! New York City made New – That’s one thing Jesus showed me. When the Gospel takes center stage, entire cities are turned into bubbling expressions of the river of life. That is Biblical revival.
Sammy had told me I’d be speaking soon. Right around midnight he introduced me. I was amazed that a couple hundred people were willing to stay up so late on a Friday night. I’ve been asking the Lord to speak to me more through the Gift of “words of knowledge” – one of the nine gifts that I’m convinced we don’t see enough practical execution of in the body today. He was kind and through-out the day I would have random thoughts/words/feelings come to me that I would make a quick note of. They ranged from “tightness/arthritis of the knees” to “young boy diagnosed with ADHD suffering from learning disorders” and many in-between. I prayed for a while, shared a bit from Hebrews 12 and read the words I felt God had given me. There is no way to express the gifts of the Spirit without taking a risk. The risk is that I might be wrong. I may not have heard from God at all. Maybe I just made it all up? Despite the downfall, it’s worth the risk to see someone’s face brighten with the reality that God KNOWS their personal circumstance and wants to intervene. I had those stand who believed the words were directly aimed at them and/or were loosely relate-able. I’ve seen this happen on several occasions now. About 30+ rose to their feet. I asked everyone to gather around them, lay hands, and we spent a little time praying. Everyone who either wasn’t healed/restored/moved by God (or whom I hadn’t given a specific word to) was invited to receive more prayer in a very cold, but accommodating, side-room at the back of the church. We had a wonderful time and were able to pray with many who received instant healing or a relieving of emotional/spiritual weights. A grandmother brought us her grandson who was 9 or 10 – diagnosed with ADHD and suffered from learning disorders! I mean, at a normal church meeting of 200, the odds might be higher. But at a prayer meeting at midnight??? Ha, Thank you Father for the way You still naturally supernaturally speak to us.
I could write about the crazy God-encounter at 3:45AM with “Immanuel,” a bold street preacher in the Bronx or about how I fell asleep around 5:30AM under an old pew or about the very sleepy rendition of my story – shared with approx. 8 people at 7:30AM. But I’ve already gone way over my word limit. Most of you probably won’t even get this far. I know at some point I’ll write a book and that might make a fine occasion for me to just write and write and write.
Our Boiler Room was coming to an end when at around 10:30AM Saturday morning a group of about 25 remaining were getting ready to hit the streets to spread the Love. I shared a couple of brief testimonies of God’s hand at work out in public, like Stephanie, who we had met the day prior with a large brace on her right knee. She was refusing surgery and just hoping God might heal her. We “bumped” into her and she warmly welcomed our prayers. Sammy and I bent down, laid hands on her knee and commanded it to be made whole (Side note: for those of us uncertain about Authoritative praying, I encourage you to do a study of the Gospels and look for how many times Jesus/the disciples politely asked God to heal someone). Stephanie wasn’t experiencing pain or any issues while we were with her, meaning there was no way to test for progress/immediate healing but her face was ablaze with joy. We hugged, encouraged her and went on our way. I had spent a little time praying over a couple of elderly ladies earlier in the morning because, quite honestly, I was all prayed up and ready to see God touch someone. Both ladies had issues God had given me words for from the day before (Right hearing issues, Deteriorating eye-sight and Left knee pain). I prayed healing over both but did not see any immediate change. Praise God nonetheless just for the opportunity – only He knows how many times we pray for something and then are never around to see the answer!
Miracle.
The remaining “Boilers” did not have to go far as the same church was providing FREE Turkey (and trimmings) to local residents. There was a line 400 strong, with a whole slew of them in wheelchairs, walkers, canes, etc. If anything it reminded me of what I’ve felt over the past couple of years of really getting serious about Jesus and His power to heal ALL disease and illness. It’s an overwhelming thought when you say “yes” to Jesus and then walk out your door to be faced by the needs of the world. We’ve got to start somewhere! We began by praying over a pregnant woman who was experiencing severe pain in her legs. God instantly removed her pain and she was of course, shocked. We prayed over her pregnancy and family. She was a believer but had not been attending church. We encouraged her to make the change and join the local body. We prayed over a man who has been loosing his eyesight since he was a teenager. Though we did not see his vision 100% restored, he testified to being able to see the building across from us for what it was – bricks, windows, doors – none of which he could see prior to prayer. He was humbled and encouraged that we would pray for him. (Jesus – thank You for the love You have for all people. Thank you for those individuals loved by You that I/we have prayed for where we did not witness a miracle. For any of them that are still struggling with whatever ailment – please deliver them even today!)
By around Noon or so we were all talking/hanging out, when I noticed, “Mike”. I had seen him earlier in his wheelchair but had been praying for someone else. I’m always a little reserved/hesitant to pray for people in wheelchairs. My faith typically shrinks by the reality of “WHEELCHAIR” rather than the reality of “GOD”. Forgive us, Abba. I grabbed Sammy and we went over to Mike and asked what had happened. He shared the story of his return to the Bronx last December from a vacation out west. While in the cab ride back from the airport a large delivery truck had smashed into the cab. Both his legs were crushed from the knees down. The doctor did not anticipate salvaging his legs. Surgery was successful (praise God!) although he had not been able to use his legs at all since. They had just checked his legs two weeks prior and told him that his legs were in no condition to carry his body. Over the past year both legs had felt completely numb with no feeling whatsoever other than pain. I thanked him for sharing his story and asked if we could pray over his legs. He agreed (BTW – I’ve found MOST people will let you pray over them especially when you approach them in genuine compassion and ask them about their condition/problem/etc.) We began praying a short prayer commanding his legs to be made whole. Pain leave, muscles, bones, tendons be strengthened. Legs work and operate the way you were made to! Then I asked Mike what he was feeling. He said, “You know, it’s funny. It’s almost like someone shot electricity down my knee caps into my legs.” I asked if he normally felt these “shocks”. He responded that he had never in his life felt anything like them. Ha! It’s on! The first sign of an instant healing miracle is often something happening in a person’s body that is completely out of the ordinary (such as heat, cooling, electricity, buzzing). It’s not always the case that they feel something, but often they do. Either way, if you have a heart to see people healed, don’t let feelings dictate what you believe about God’s character and heart for others. Just because we don’t “feel” anything, doesn’t mean God isn’t actively at work.
We prayed a little while longer and I again asked Mike what he was feeling. His response? “Well, it’s like all the numbness that was there is just gone. And there’s only a little pain I feel in my left ankle.” We commanded pain to leave his ankle. Though I had never seen anyone get out of their wheelchair and walk/move without assistance, I’ve heard and seen enough of God’s movement to recognize what Jesus was doing. I asked Mike to try putting pressure on his legs. He did so while keeping all his weight on his arms. He sat back in the chair. “That actually felt really good.” Sweet! We then moved him to a more level area and asked if Sammy and I could lock arms on either side with him and just hold him up. He agreed. We must have stood there, arms locked, for nearly ten minutes. He even took a few baby steps! I looked away and felt the Lord speaking to me, “Chad, you’ve been asking me for miracles. You’ve been seeking My heart over the last couple of years in this area. I know. But I’ve had to mold your character in preparation for what you will see. Gifts and desires quickened apart from Character development will always result in pride and self-reliance. I don’t need proud men that claim to KNOW Me! I want humble men that recognize their need FOR Me!” I wept as quietly as I could. God just wrecked my heart. He was so right. I’ve been asking, wanting, believing for greater miracles – especially in public places – but over time I had lost my young expectant heart. In this conversation I knew Mike was going to walk unassisted and be completely healed. I just knew it.
I instructed Mike to stop looking at his legs and to just look up and around. It was a cool but absolutely beautiful Saturday afternoon. He said that everything had a certain glow to it. “The perspective from up here is so nice.” I took my arm out from under his and within a few minutes told Sammy to do the same. There he was, standing completely unassisted with 100% of his weight on his previously crushed legs. I felt this was a HUGE breakthrough in my personal ministry and also for many others who have been pursuing more from the Lord – I wanted to be able to accurately retell Mike’s story. My hope is that we might be able to put together a little video testimony as well.
Mike then surprised us by saying he was just going to walk. “My legs feel so good and so strong, I’m just going to go for it.” I quickly responded, “Do you want us to hold your hands or stand closer by you?” He was confident, “No, I’m fine.” He then took about 8 steps – completely unassisted, turned around, and walked back to his chair. He did this on 3 different occasions and then once while pushing his chair. We asked him how he felt. He said the only “issue” he was having was realizing the soreness in his legs just from all the walking/standing he had done for the first time in a year. “I could walk a thousand miles but my muscles need to catch up with my heart.” He even wanted to join us for lunch down a super steep flight of stairs in the church and we were the ones telling him just to take it easy and that we’d bring lunch up to him.
In the end, we probably spent a good 2hours hanging out with Mike. We learned a lot about him. We prayed over his life and the calling God has on it. We found out that he had once been a missionary in Hawaii and that he had really struggled with why God would take his legs away from him. He now said that he realized that maybe God had called him to be a missionary on the streets of the Bronx, being able to relate far better with the sick and hurting. We prayed God would give him a powerful healing ministry on the very streets he received a touch from the King.
The kindness of God as displayed in Mike Pardo.
I asked him how he would respond to some of my skeptic friends who don’t yet believe in God’s power to heal in the sense that he wasn’t running or jumping. As skeptics, myself formerly being one, it’s easy for us to look past the miracle and want more. It’s not enough that he could stand up on his own. Not enough that he could walk around on his own. This is what he said;
“You tell those friends that within a day or two I won’t have any need for this chair and that I’ll be walking all over town just fine. God has completely healed me and I have my legs back.”
Trust God. Believe His Word! Don’t give up. Do not quit. Keep praying for others. Keep praying for yourself.
I am beyond grateful for my time in the Bronx. Not just for the amazing worship, incredible prayer time or even for miracles themselves but for the reminder that Jesus is the same always and continues to work through anyone willing enough to trust Him. I’m convinced that God met us through the hours we spent before His throne. But I’m also convinced that He meets us even when we are only spending seconds before His throne. My heart is full and yet, in this Christian journey, fullness is relative to the one filling our cups. Can we ever receive too much Jesus in our lives? Too much Holy Spirit power and leading? Too much of God’s heart for others?
