Brother Mead's Testimony Of Pentecost

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This is the testimony of Brother S. J. Mead's salvation, as reported in the Azusa Street Mission newsletter on November of 1906.

We are asked by many dear ones about our Pentecost, etc. It is beautiful, simple and full of comfort. I went to the meetings when I first heard of the manifestations of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, healing of the body, etc. I was not surprised, For we had been praying and expecting something of this kind to arouse God's people to the reality of the Word of God, And the truth of God's Emanuel. While seeking the closer walk with God in Africa, the Spirit seemed to fall on us, revealing Jesus so real to our souls; a burden seemed to be on my heart, in writing and in conversation, I could but say, Jesus is real.

The first night at the meetings, My heart went out for the baptism. I went forward to be prayed for, and hands were laid on me, then prayer was made, but I might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I continued praying and fasting, and hope and much comfort.

What evening, in complete abnegation of self, It was revealed to me that the same power and persecutions that were in the beginning were now to be repeated for the perfecting of the Church. Would I choose it? My heart cried out, oh yes Lord, With your smile. And my soul was flooded with divine love; And I commence to speak as I would sing a new song.

It was entirely different from the way Mrs. Mead received her baptism. I was as conscious as I am at this moment, but my heart was full of praises and thanksgiving. I see now to have conception of the mighty efficacy of blood of Christ, and His omnipresence and Spirit, as never before.

Many ask, "Do you think these tongues will be used in a foreign field?" As for myself I cannot say. My God is able, this I know. The Pentecost or baptism of Divine love, That would enable a missionary to say to the poor Africans, as the Spirit did through Peter and John, to the poor cripple at the gate of the Temple, "silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk," with Mark a grand epoch in the history of foreign missions. I believe God is about to repeat many of the miracles and wonders wrought in the early history of the church.

Signed, S. J. Mead.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Receiving The Holy Ghost

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here's a personal testimony by G.A. Cook, that he wrote to the Azusa Street Mission. It was published in their newsletter in November of 1906. 

I dropped into the meetings on Azusa Street sometime in April, having heard that some people were speaking in tongues, as they did on the day of Pentecost. Although I had been trying to preach Pentecost for five years, but speaking of tongues was as strange to me as though it had never been mentioned in God's word. At first the meeting seemed a very tame affair to me, as I had been along the line of much fleshly demonstration and noise. As I was indoctrinated in the second blessing being the baptism of the Holy Ghost, I branded the teaching as heretical, not going to the meetings for some time.

In the meantime, Pentecost came to the place, And many began to speak in tongues. I now begin to attend regularly. In fact, I could not stay away. My heart began to break up, And soon I was going from one person to another, asking them to forgive me for harsh words and criticism. God so melted my heart that I would cry at my work or riding on a streetcar. How the dear Lord began to teach me that What I needed was his loving, tender Spirit, and that power with God meant deep humility in our dealings with our fellow creatures.

I now began to go to the altar and earnestly seek for the Lord to have His way with me. The Holy Ghost showed me that I must be clay in New Potter's hands, an empty vessel before the Lord. I laid aside all doctrine, All preconceived ideas and teachings and became absolutely empty. The Holy Ghost now settled down on me, And I could feel the power going through me like electric needles. The Spirit taught me that I must not resist the power but give way and become lit as a piece of cloth. When I did this, I fell under the power, And God began to mold me and teach me what it meant to be really surrendered to Him.  I was laid out under the power five times before Pentecost really came. Each time I would come out from under the power, I would feel so sweet and clean, as though I had been run through a washing machine.

I now had come to the place where I was completely submitted to the whole will of God. I have been seeking about five weeks, and on a Saturday morning I awoke and stretch my arms toward heaven and ask God to fill me with the Holy Ghost. My arms began to tremble, And soon I was shaking violently by a great power, And it seemed as though a large pipe was fitted over my neck, my head apparently being off. I was now filled with the Holy Ghost.

Words cannot describe the power I felt. The nearest description that I could be given would be the action of a pump under terrific pressure, filling me with oil. I could feel the filling in my toes and all parts of my body which seemed to me to swell until I thought I would burst. I do not know how long this continued but it seemed to me a long time. The pressure was now removed and my soul and spirit seem to leave the body and float in the air just above. My body seemed hard and metallic like iron. This was in delay the baptism into the death of Christ.

It was now time for me to arise and go to work, so I got up without speaking in tongues. I believe I would have spoken in tongues then, if I had remained in the hands of the Lord long enough. About thirty hours afterwards, while sitting in the meeting on Azusa Street, I felt my throat and tongue begin to move, without any effort on my part. Soon I began to stutter and then out came a distinct language which I could hardly restrain. I talked and laughed with joy far into the night. Praise His name for such a wonderful experience of power and love and joy. 

Signed, G. A. Cook.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Whisperings Of The Comforter

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This is a testimony written by Mary Perkins, but she wrote to the Azusa Street Mission in November of 1906. The story was published in their newsletter.

The Lord had been given me this passage, Burning it into my soul for months, "The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, fair one, and come away." Cant. 2:13.

I would always get so blest when the Lord would give it to me. Finally I said, Lord, What does it mean? And immediately the thoughts came into my mind, "why the fig tree in the Bible represents the Jews and the vines represent the ones who are the branches of the vine, Jesus. The Jews are beginning together at Jerusalem and beginning to show life. And the tender grapes on the vines giving a good smell means that the bride is making herself ready, showing that His coming is near. The vines are laden with fruit and begin to give a sweet smell, ripening for His coming."

At another time, this kept coming to me, "fear not, For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine." Isa. 62:4. It would come with such sweetness and power that finally I said, Lord, What is my name? He said, "Hepz-ibah, my delight" Isa. 62:4.

Again the Lord gave me this verse, "Thine head upon day is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple. The King is held in the chambers." I asked the Lord what that meant. Immediately it was given to me, "Thy head like Carmel, That is red under the Blood; And the hair of thine head as purple, means that you belong to the royal family. The king is held in galleries, That is in the little cells of the brain of my head as well as in my heart."

One evening I went to the restaurant for supper, And I sat there and had commenced my meal, when someone touched me on the shoulder. I looked around, but did not see anyone, so I turned around and commenced the eating again. Then something said, "You have not given thanks for your food or ask him to bless it."

Signed, Mrs. Mary P. Perkins.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

River Of Living Water

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This is a story recorded by William J Seymour, in his newsletter, published by the Azusa Street Mission, in November 1906.

In the 4th chapter of John, the words come, "Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that say it to thee Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him and He would have given the living water." Praise God for the living waters today that flow freely, For it comes from God to every hungry and thirsty heart. Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, That's the Scripture hath said, Out of his inmost being shall flow rivers of living waters." Then we are able to go in the mighty name of Jesus to the ends of the earth and water dry places, deserts in solitary places, until these parched, sad, lonely hearts are made to rejoice in the God of their salvation. We want the rivers today. Hallelujah! Glory to God in the highest!

In Jesus Christ we get forgiveness of sin, And we get sanctification of our spirit, soul, and body, And upon that we get the gift of the Holy Ghost that Jesus promised to his disciples, The promise of the Father. All this we get through the atonement. Hallelujah!

The prophet said that he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, we're chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. So we get healing, health, salvation, joy, life- Everything in Jesus. Glory to God!

There are many wells today, but they are dry. There are many hungry souls today that are empty. But let us come to Jesus and take Him at His word and we will find wells of salvation, and be able to draw waters out of the well of salvation, For Jesus is that well.

At this time Jesus was weary from a long journey, and He said on the well in Samaria, and a woman came to draw water. He asked her for a drink. She answered, "how is it that thou being a Jew askest drink of me who am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans?" Jesus said, "if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given the living water."

O, how sweet it is to see Jesus, The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, My great sacrifice that God had given to a lost, dying, and benighted world, sitting on the well and talking with the woman; so gentle, so meek, and so kind that it gave her an appetite to talk further with Him, until He got into her secret and uncovered her life. Then she was pricked in her heart, confess your sins and received pardon, cleansing from fornication and adultery, was washed from stain and guilt of sin and was made a child of God, and above all, received the well of salvation in her heart. It was so sweet and joyful and good.

Her heart was so filled with love that she felt she could take in a whole lost world. So she ran away with a well on salvation and left the old water pot on the well. How true it is in this day, when we get the baptism with the Holy Spirit, we have something to tell, and it is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleans it from all sin. The baptism with the Holy Ghost gives us power to testify to a risen, resurrected Savior. Are affections are in Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. How I worship Him today! How I praise him for the all cleansing blood!

Jesus' promises are true and sure. The woman said to Him, after He had uncovered her secret, "Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet." Yes, He was a prophet. He was that great profit that Moses said the Lord would raise up. He is here today. Will we be taught of that prophet? Will we hear Him? Let us accept Him in all his fullness.

He said, "He that believeth on me, The works that I do shall he do also, And greater works that these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father." These disciples to whom He was speaking, had been saved, sanctified, anointed with the Holy Spirit, Their hearts had been open to understand the Scriptures, And yet Jesus said, "Tarry ye, In the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high." "John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." So the same commission comes to us. We find that they are obeyed his commission and were all filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, And Peter standing up, said, "this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel."

Dear loved ones, we preach the same sermon. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, And your old man shall dream dreams; And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, And they shall prophesy. The promise is unto you, And to your children, and to all that are afar off, Even as many as the Lord our God shall call." That means until now and to last until Jesus comes.

There are so many people today like the woman. They are controlled by the fathers. Our salvation is not in some father or human instrument. It is sad to see people so blinded, worshiping the creature more than the Creator. Listen to what the woman said, "our fathers worshiped in this mountain, And you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men out to worship." So many people today are worshiping in the mountains, big churches, stone and frame buildings. But Jesus teaches that salvation is not in these stone structures- not in the mountains- not in the hills, but in God. For God is a Spirit. 

Jesus said unto her, "Woman, Believe Me, The hour cometh and is now is, when he shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father." So many people today are controlled by men. There's salvation reaches out no further than the boundary line of human creeds, but praise God for freedom in the Spirit. There are depths and heights and breadths that we can reach through the power of the blessed Spirit. "Eye have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him.

The Jews were the religious leaders at the time, And people had no more light upon salvation than the Jews gave them. The Jews were God's chosen people to evangelize the world. He had entrusted them to give all nations the true knowledge of God, but they went into traditions and doctrines of men, And we're blinded and in the dark. Jesus came as the light of the world, And He is that Light. "If we walk in the Light as he is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." Let us honor the Spirit, for Jesus has sent Him to teach in to lead us into all truth.

Above all, let us honor the blood of Jesus Christ every moment of our lives, And we will be sweet in our souls. We will be able to talk of this common salvation to everyone that we meet. God will let his anointing rest upon us and telling them of this precious truth. This truth belongs to God. We have no right to tax anyone for the truth, because God has entrusted us with it to tell it. Freely we receive, freely we give. So the gospel is to be preached freely, And God will bless it and spread it Himself, And we have experienced that He does, we have found Him true to His promise all the way. We have tried Him and proved Him. His promises are sure.

Signed, William J. Seymour.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Love Sets You Free

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This is two separate testimonies that was recorded and printed by the Azusa Street Mission, In Los Angeles, California, in their newsletter in November of1906.

The First One

A sister who had been healed and baptized with the Holy Ghost related the following vision, "Two days ago the power of God came over me and He said. 'whatsoever ye asked in my name believing, ye shall receive.' I said 'give wisdom to speak to the people,' immediately I was in a great hall with tables spread all about, And the Lord was the waiter, and I saw His beautiful, smiling face.

He spoke to me and said, 'I have called my friends and they did not come, therefore go out and ask everyone you find to come to the wedding.' as I looked around to see something beautiful, The scene changed and I was in a hospital and saw poor creatures dying, looking like skeletons. I thought my call was to the hospital and telephone to know when it was open for visitors, but the Lord revealed to me that it meant all those who are sick in their souls."

The Second One

"He took me into his banqueting house, And the banner over me was love." A brother says the Lord gave him a vision of the banqueting house. He passed under the great arches. Each one had a name upon it. The first was love, then there was joy, peace, And among the others he saw, "Independence." He asked what that meant. The answer was, "Is it not wonderful to be free?" Dear saints, this is one of the sweetest arches in the banqueting house. This bondage to love sets me perfectly free.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

A Pillow Full Of Feathers

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This is a story I received from Sister Dana Klein. It is an old story and the author is unknown.

A Pillow Full of Feathers: I have had preachers share this as their own when I shared in pulpits. It is not my work either, I found it here and read it around thirty years ago but here is the article I recently found:


In a small town somewhere in Eastern Europe lived a nice man with a nasty problem: he talked too much about other people. He could not help himself. Whenever he heard a story about somebody he knew, and sometimes about somebody he did not know, he just had to tell it to his friends. Since he was in business, he heard quite a lot of rumors and stories. He loved the attention he got, and was delighted when they laughed because of the way he told his “anecdotes,” which he sometimes embellished with little details he invented to make them funnier and juicier. Other than that, he was really a pleasant, goodhearted man.

He kind of knew it was wrong, but . . . it was too tempting, and in any case, most of what he told had really happened, didn’t it? Many of his stories were just innocent and entertaining, weren’t they?

One day he found out something really weird (but true) about another businessman in town. Of course he felt compelled to share what he knew with his colleagues, who told it to their friends, who told it to people they knew, who told it to their wives, who spoke with their friends and their neighbors. It went around town, till the unhappy businessman who was the main character in the story heard it. He ran to the rabbi of the town, and wailed and complained that he was ruined! Nobody would like to deal with him after this. His good name and his reputation were gone with the wind.

Now this rabbi knew his customers, so to speak, and he decided to summon the man who loved to tell stories. If he was not the one who started them, he might at least know who did.

When the nice man with the nasty problem heard from the rabbi how devastated his colleague was, he felt truly sorry. He honestly had not considered it such a big deal to tell this story, because it was true; the rabbi could check it out if he wanted. The rabbi sighed.

“True, not true, that really makes no difference! You just cannot tell stories about people. This is all lashon hara, slander, and it’s like murder—you kill a person’s reputation.” He said a lot more, and the man who started the rumor now felt really bad and sorry. “What can I do to make it undone?” he sobbed. “I will do anything you say!”

The rabbi looked at him. “Do you have any feather pillows in your house?” “Rabbi, I am not poor; I have a whole bunch of them. But what do you want me to do, sell them?”

“No, just bring me one.”

The man was mystified, but he returned a bit later to the rabbi’s study with a nice fluffy pillow under his arm. The rabbi opened the window and handed him a knife. “Cut it open!”

“But Rabbi, here in your study? It will make a mess!”

“Do as I say!”

And the man cut the pillow. A cloud of feathers came out. They landed on the chairs and on the bookcase, on the clock, on the cat which jumped after them. They floated over the table and into the teacups, on the rabbi and on the man with the knife, and a lot of them flew out of the window in a big swirling, whirling trail.

The rabbi waited ten minutes. Then he ordered the man: “Now bring me back all the feathers, and stuff them back in your pillow. All of them, mind you. Not one may be missing!”

The man stared at the rabbi in disbelief. “That is impossible, Rabbi. The ones here is the room I might get, most of them, but the ones that flew out of the window are gone. Rabbi, I can’t do that, you know it!”

“Yes,” said the rabbi and nodded gravely, “that is how it is: once a rumor, a gossipy story, a ‘secret,’ leaves your mouth, you do not know where it ends up. It flies on the wings of the wind, and you can never get it back!”

He ordered the man to deeply apologize to the person about whom he had spread the rumor; that is difficult and painful, but it was the least he could do. He ordered him to apologize to the people to whom he had told the story, making them accomplices in the nasty lashon hara game, and he ordered him to diligently study the laws concerning lashon hara every day for a year, and then come back to him.

That is what the man did. And not only did he study about lashon hara, he talked about the importance of guarding your tongue to all his friends and colleagues. And in the end he became a nice man who overcame a nasty problem.

By Shoshannah Brombacher

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Pentecost In Denver

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This was a testimony of Thomas Hezmalhalch, and sent to William Seymour, in Los Angeles, California, at the Azusa Street Mission. He published this in his newsletter and November of 1906.

What I received on that memorial Sunday night in Los Angeles has never left me for one moment and last night in particular at the meeting, did the Holy Ghost magnify the simple Gospel of our Lord and demonstration and power, until about twenty-five crowded the altar and got definite experiences of justification, sanctification, baptism with the Holy Ghost, in healing. 

One dear old man, who because of his back, could not straighten up nor stoop down without severe pain, was instantly healed, got up and showed the people how the dear Lord had healed him. He stood as straight as a young man, stooped down, And touch the floor with his hands without a bit of pain. Then he knelt down and said, "I want the baptism with the Holy Ghost," And Glory to God, he got it, and there was great joy.

Dear Brother Seymour, God surely sent me here. These dear, hungry people, when they learned I came from the meeting at Los Angeles, received me with open arms. They gave me the evening, And during the meeting, They embraced me in our joy in the Lord knew no bounds. One dear brother from Los Angeles picked me up and held me as if I were a child. This is but the beginning of a work here such as we knew in Los Angeles. This people have been praying that God would send someone to teach them and give them light and wisdom,  And they believe God has answered their prayers, hence their great joy. I feel the need of your prayers. I never saw in all my travels a people so hungry for the truth.

Dear brother G. F. Fink, The brother in charge, was coming to Los Angeles to Azusa Street to learn and get a better understanding of the baptism with the Holy Ghost. While I was talking to the people last night, He arose and embraced me crying, I love you, I love you, my brother. Surely God has sent you to us; And the people wept for joy, and shouted praises unto God. These people here were sent on fire by the Holy Ghost through Brother Johnson and the two sisters who passed through here, And it is marvelous how the Holy Ghost has led them.  You little know how the people have been praying for you and the meetings in Los Angeles in the midst of their own struggles. Give my love in Jesus to all the saints.

Signed, Thomas Hezmalhalch

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary