by | Jul 31, 2024 | Living Proof Tent Crusades
Night three went to yet another level.
It is incredible to experience what God is doing in Wisconsin! These have been some of the best meetings I have ever been in.
Catherine and her band once again started the night off perfectly. I often tell people that Catherine is the right fit for these meetings because she has the same heart as Mario.
Her desire to see people saved, healed, and set free matches the desire I watch in Mario.
And the whole band is incredibly talented, God has prepared them for this precise moment in history.
Mario took the stage.
He wasted no time, immediately declared that this was a miracle service!
He said that is what makes us different from any other religion or organization in the world—that we are the only movement in the history of the world where the Founder attends every meeting, adding:
“He is here! And because of that all things are possible.”
Mario began by talking about pronouns. He read from Acts 16:
“Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day we came to Neapolis” (Acts 16:6-11 NKJV).
Mario pointed out how the pronouns referenced throughout these verses were “they” and “them”. He said if you put the question to deeply divided Christian leaders, “Who is the problem? They will never say the problem is they themselves, it is always “they” and “them” who are the problem.
In this passage, Paul did not know which direction to go, but when he got a vision of where to go he wrote, “immediately we“. The terms ‘they’ and ‘them’ were instantly replaced with ‘we’.
What turns a city of churches from ‘they’ and ‘them’, into ‘we’, is the most powerful thing there is. He pointed out the final verse where it says Paul arrived in Neapolis in one day. That trip normally takes two days of sailing. Just like when the wind of the Spirit of God fills our sails, a vision causes a unity that turns the ‘they’ and the ‘them’ into ‘we’, and whatever that common group decides to do together will sail before the wind of the Spirit.
Mario then told about a time he got a phone call from a radio station that wanted him to answer a ‘gotcha’ kind of question. There had been a hurricane in Florida and the host began by asking, “If God is love, why did Christians lose their homes along with sinners?” He intended to trap Mario, who started by asking God what he should say. God told him to say, “the foolish man built his house on the sand.” And Mario told God he didn’t want to say that, it would sound unloving. But God refused to give him more to say, until he said those very words.
So when Mario said, “the foolish man built his house on the sand” it immediately made the radio show host angry. Then God told Mario what to say next: “the wise man built his house on the rock.” Again Mario struggled with saying that, but God said the rest would only come if he said those words. So Mario said those two statements again, and again the host was not happy with the answer. Then God revealed the rest to Mario: Jesus said that storms are coming.
Mario said he did not become a Christian because it would mean the end of storms in his life. He became a Christian because storms are coming whether he was a Christian or not. And the way to make it through a storm is with Jesus, not without Him!
The passage says, the wise man built his house on the rock AND the storm came. The man’s wisdom did not prevent the storm. Some think the right politician will save America from destruction, but he cannot. He can only buy time for the Church to wake up, for the pastor’s to quit being divided, for all the entertainment to get out of the Church, and for revival to get in the Church. For us to quit being divided, quit being full of doubt, and get back in the Word of God and be refilled with the fire of Jesus.
Mario talked about how the largest empire on planet Earth was in place at the time of Jesus birth. At that time, the Roman Empire had the most power and control. Caesar Augustus sat at the top and he conducted a census, making the entire world return to their place of birth, just so he could tax them.
He said it’s easy to look at the powers of the world today and as the people of God, to feel insignificant and unable to make a difference. But Augustus Caesar made that decree to fulfill a prophecy from 500 years earlier in the Book of Micah, saying that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. So, the reason the whole world was taxed was to get Jospeh and Mary to Bethlehem.
Armies, weapons, even atomic weapons will not have the final say. The King of kings and Lord of lords will decide the fate of nations.
Mario looked at the people and told them their body is a building, that they are building something and only they know if it’s being built on sand or on rock.
Mario said Christianity is defined only by the Word of God, not by a change of attitude. You do not use Christ as positive thinking, you use Christ as death to self and being raised into new life.
Mario repeated the verse again, “Whoever hears the sayings of Christ and does not do them, is like a man who built his house on the sand. And the storm came.” He said again that the storm is coming. And you will not just go down alone, you will take people with you.
Mario spoke about hell and said the best proof that hell is real is found in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16a NKJV).
And he added that this verse is the best proof of the horrors of hell, because what reveals how bad something is the measures someone will go to keep you from that consequence. For God to give up His Son reveals how horrible hell is: that the Father had to send Jesus to die to save us from the horror of hell.
Then came the time when Mario had everyone close their eyes and compelled those who wanted to build on the rock in order to withstand the storm that is coming, to raise their hands, then to stand, and finally to come forward.
It was another great response.
Hundreds came forward, many with tears pouring down their face as they walked to the altar to surrender their life.
Mario prayed with them and then released them to be ministered to by our great team of volunteers.
I always enjoy walking out of the Tent and seeing the joy in the face of our volunteers as they wait for these new members of the family of God to walk out to them.
While they were being ministered to, we celebrated these new births with what has become the theme song, “Look What the Lord Has Done,” led by Catherine and her band.
Mario then told a story that had been told to him one day by Luis Palau. Luis told how one day the onslaught of criticism against Oral Roberts had become too much to bear, and Oral was in a depression, and he locked himself in his room and refused to speak with anyone. When Oral’s wife Evelyn learned that Billy Graham happened to be in the same town where Oral was, she asked him to speak with Oral.
When Billy met with Oral, he asked Oral to share his heart. Oral began by saying that everything people and the media were saying about Billy was positive, but everything they were saying about Oral was negative. He shared how discouraging it was to receive so much criticism and negativity, and to see Billy receive so much praise and encouragement.
Billy began to share with Oral how once when he was in a crusade in Africa and after the meeting, a mother ran up to Billy with her crippled child, thinking Billy was Oral. And Billy said it was devastating to feel unable to do anything to help her. Billy was aware that Oral was blessed to feel the power of God in his right hand, and Billy said that he would trade all the praise and accolades if he could feel the power of God move through his hand just once.
Mario then shared that there is a price to be paid for moving in the Spirit. And many ministers don’t do it simply because of the price. He shared that the ministers who move in true supernatural power are very frustrated because they always want more. To see more and to watch God do more.
He told the people to quit watching these online ministers who have never suffered personal sacrifice, nor have they died to self. He said they are arrogant entertainers and we need to quit following them.
Mario said God gave him a gift that answered the longing of his heart to one day see a meeting where every person is miraculously healed.
He said God pulled back the veil and he was allowed to see the mystery revealed. The Lord showed Mario the story in John that was the only time that, instead of someone being brought to Him, Jesus instead sought out the person to be healed. He read from John 6, the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda.
“When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”” (John 5:6 NKJV).
Mario then emphasized the part of the story that says Jesus knew that the man had already been in that condition a long time.” Adding, “God already knows how long you have been suffering. He knows how long you have been sick, in pain, and in need.”
Then he talked about how the man’s response was all the reasons why he has not been able to be healed. Either the water isn’t troubled, or the water is troubled and no one can lower him in time. And said this is what we’ve done to healing today. We made it complicated, horrible, unreachable, and contradictory.
The problem was the man himself. His heart and attitude. The thing that could be preventing your healing is your heart and attitude. This man was no longer living, he was simply existing and waiting for his healing.
Jesus asked the man if he really wanted to be healed. The man gave his religious excuses why it has not happened. He was resigned to the fact this was his life, and had developed a theology around why it was the case.
But Jesus broke his theology with the next statement, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.”
Then the atmosphere in the Tent suddenly shifted and Mario turned toward one section of the Tent and called out a woman. He told her this was the end of a lifetime of sickness. That she had been suffering since was a child. He told her she was being healed of so much he could not even recount it all. Her organs, her back, neck, feet, legs, stomach, and eyes. That there were 15 different conditions.
Next he pointed to another person in the middle section.
The power of God was so strong on this person they could barely stand as they convulsed under the power and glory of what God was doing. J
umping and dancing and shouting to God.
Heart, lungs, and pancreas all were being healed and restored.
Mario told the people he wanted to see how deep they wanted to go into the things of God and had them begin to pray in the Spirit. And as they did, Mario related that people were being healed and baptized in the Holy Spirit.
He then came back to the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda. He said before Jesus could heal the man of his sickness, he had to heal him of the power the pool had over him. This was a moment where the Old Testament was ending and the New Testament was beginning. Instead of an angel that troubled the water occasionally, it was now the river prophesied by Ezekiel that would flow.
Jesus essentially asked the man if he wanted a miracle or a method? Did he want to go through the process or be healed? God is too great to be bound by a formula.
He then shifted again and pointed to a woman near the back, and had her stand. A growth was vanishing, joints moving back into place, restored balance and breathing, healing for her ears, eyes, and heart.
Once again Mario returned to the scripture and said there were three things Jesus told the man to do: rise, take up his bed, and walk. He had the people repeat these three things.
He said, “Have you ever been in a plane during a storm, and when you finally break through the clouds it is shocking how quickly everything turns peaceful. And this is what Jesus was saying. Rise, come up to my level. Come out of your world and into my world.”
Suddenly Mario stopped and called out a man who was being touched and revealed that the man was being healed because God is going to use him. His spine was straightened and pain left his body.
The second part of the scripture is to take up his bed. In his paralysis, before he had been healed, Jesus commanded the man to do something that was truly impossible. To get out of what has become comfortable, to roll it up. And then to walk.
Mario pointed toward the back of the Tent and revealed that someone was being healed of heart disease. Then he had the people raise their hands and begin praying in the Spirit once again.
He pointed out two women with arthritis, both being healed. The one he had turn and begin to pray for another woman. This third woman was healed through her spinal cord and her ability to move was restored. The power of God went through her stomach and something was being burned out from her abdomen.
Next he had everyone who was battling diabetes and cancer to stand up, and people stood up all over the Tent. Then he had those near them lay hands on them and pray for them.
Next anyone suffering in their spine, legs, neck, or shoulder was told to stand. And they were healed as people laid hands on and prayed for them.
Then the woman who had been prayed for a few moments earlier began to make her way to the front. Practically running, jumping, and dancing. She was barely able to move before and now was dancing with great joy. She was moving her fingers, her arms, and her legs with no pain and no difficulty.
Then another woman in the middle, toward the back, was being restored in her body. Mario told her that she was an athlete who had a sports talent that had been attacked, but that talent was now restored as her ligaments and joints were being healed.
Then Mario had her lay hands on chest of the man next to her, and he was healed of heart disease.
It was such a night of incredible power and revelation. I can’t even imagine how God will finish this crusade tomorrow, on the final night. If you can be there, I would highly recommend it, if not then you should really watch the service online. You don’t want to miss it!
If you can come early, you should, because the Tent is full well before the start time, and we often begin the service as soon as it is full.
Oasis Church, 3445 Gateway Dr., Eau Claire, Wisconsin
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