Steve Fish Ministries Blog

Stewards of the Flame of Revival

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 22:54:04 GMT

Yes, this is one of my favorite photos...

Yes, this is one of my favorite photos. I took it last night as I watched and desperately prayed for God to do everything He wanted to do in me while I was in Hughes Aud itorium. I know, it’s grainy and certainly won’t win any photo contests. But for me as a leader, it captures one of the big keys to what I saw unfold before my eyes these last few days at Asbury. I have many better pictures. However, this one brings me to tears and I have no desire whatsoever to try to process and clean it up.

If it weren’t for what is happening in this photo, there wouldn’t be an Asbury revival. This photo is the leaders in the corner trying to decide what the heck to do. Yes, it’s the wonderful problem we were actually created for as pastors and leaders. We were never created to lifeguard a nice, predictable resort pool. We were created to lead a raft of hungry adventurers through wild, raging, uncontrollable holy rapids.

Whether we call it an Asbury Revival, Awakening, or Outpouring… doesn’t really matter at this point. It would have been simply a wonderful 10am Asbury chapel service if it wasn’t for this photo. Someone embraced a small flame that begin to burn. Someone stewarded a small but exceedingly precious flame… a flame that began to consume well made plans and demolish comfort zones… a flame that has created a whole new realm of problems… beautiful, holy problems. … problems that remind us of those created by the unpredictable, explosive wind of the Spirit in the book of Acts.

Leader, you have stood and pastored through the pain, death and weirdness of the last three years. Now, something more mysterious, more contagious and infinitely more powerful has begun to spread. It didn’t begin in Wuhan. It began in a quaint Kentucky town called Wilmore.

An outpouring of sickness caused us to have to pivot, stand, persevere and press through like never before. What if it was all to prepare us for this moment? What if it was to prepare us to not simply pivot but to embrace a precious, holy flame? Certainly, we are not called to strive and to try to create fires. However, we are called to steward the small precious flame. And whatever you call this flame, it has begun to spread.

If one person has the spark of a testimony tomorrow, how can we not let that spark be released? If there is one person with the small flame of a broken prayer, how can we quench it? In a moment when flames are beginning to erupt all over our nation, how can we not toss a spark into the kindling to see if something might ignite? As we come together tomorrow, how can we not thank God for what has begun? How can we not cry out for the flame to spread? How can we not cry out for this flame to ignite again the fire of first love passion in our own hearts?

What if this is the beginning of the fire that will mark the next generation? What if this is the beginning of the fire that will mark your children and grandchildren? What if we are on the brink of an outpouring like the world has never seen before?

Leaders, we are stewards of this precious flame. We are stewards of this moment in history. We were created and called for such a time as this. #asburyrevival2023

Pizza, Precious Treasure, and the Coming Move of God

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 19:49:16 GMT

Movement leaders from around the world gathered together for the deeply spiritual act of eating pizza together. In this home setting you could feel the energy in the air. Seasoned leaders who had pastored and led revival movements for 50 years and young pastors just getting started in the journey. Something so beautiful happens when the generations converge!

I floated from conversation to conversation and from pepperoni to veggie to meat lovers as the evening progressed. Finally, I found myself surrounded by some amazing young leaders and as we began to sample the dessert table the questions began to flow and something incredibly profound begin to unfold.

One of the younger pastors interjected, “Tell us more about the revival move you experienced in the 90’s.” It’s hard to express the wild mixture of emotions I felt in this moment. Honor. I felt honored that someone would value and recognize the treasure of what I’ve seen God do in the past. Shock. Yes, shock. I was much older and farther down this road before I learned how to truly value the testimony of older generations. But now, a generation is rising up that is not only looking for the “new thing”. They know it’s about the double portion that comes from combination of the old and the new.

I’m thankful for the patience of leaders who surrounded me in my early days when I came in as the young leader all about the new thing. At times I had very little honor or value for the old or for the price paid by a previous generation to open up the highways I was freely enjoying.

As we began to reach the point where there was no more room in our stomachs for even the best of the desserts on the table, it happened. What do you call it? It’s that moment of connection when "the deep" of one generation begins to really connect with "the deep" in another generation. It's that moment when you know something precious is being imparted from generation to generation. That "something" no amount of money can buy. And it's not a one way thing. It's a two way highway of transference.

It's that moment where the sound of the testimony of one generation convergences with the sound of another generation and the "baby" in each generation leaps with the expectancy that greater things are about to be birthed than any of us have seen or imagined.

It's not a sound that says, "let's go back to 1981, 1993, or 2007." God forbid! No. An older generation is rising up that has no desire to try to squeeze a new generation into an old movement or wineskin. A older generation is rising up that will not resist or even simply tolerate the fresh move of God they will once again be captured by it.

An older generation is rising up that does not see themselves as lifeguards watching safely from the shore to correct the young crazy swimmers. No. A generation is rising up that is not here to watch and judge from sidelines but is ready to dive into the deep waters again with the younger generations. From the raging wild untamable currents of the precious river of the Spirit of God we will imperfectly and humbly together be overwhelmed and conquered by something neither generation can control. The waters of the old will converge with the waters of the new as something wild, crazy, and holy is conceived.

The host of the evening began to clean up. The conversation came to an end. We went our separate ways. We were not the same.

Pizza, precious treasure, and the convergence of the generations. Deep is calling to deep and the stirrings of a fresh move of God are being felt across the earth. I see and feel hunger like I haven't seen or felt in years. I feel the foundation, testimony and faith of the old and the untamed fury and fire of the new. Yes, count me in, Lord!.

The Power of Perspective

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 19:03:49 GMT

For three days in a row now, police cars have been surrounding the area of my favorite coffee shop. I could feel the tension building with me. I have to find out what is happening! My schedule had brought me to this area of town three days in a row and I was beginning to be very concerned. Thoughts were racing through my mind: “Something really bad must be going on.” “Everything is changing, this used to be such a great place.” “Maybe it is not even safe to work here today.”

The barista smiled as I ordered my triple espresso. A smile that said, “yes, I remember your order.” I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “What is going on with all of the police cars in the area?” As I said it, I was bracing for the news as the thoughts continued to echo within me: “Was someone killed?” “Have there been robberies?” I even wondered “Will she tell me what is really going on?” “Maybe she has been instructed to just say “everything is ok.”” (Yes, I have watched too many conspiracy theory shows).

“Some of the restaurants in the area have been serving free lunches to police officers and firemen this week,” she said. I went into momentary shock as my brain began to reboot. What had exploded in my mind as possibly the next Jack Ryan terrorist scenario was something completely different. It was actually something very good. What I had perceived as an emergency was not an emergency at all but was actually the emergence of honor and blessing in my city. My prayers for blessing and honor in my city were being answered and I had perceieved it as something bad.

Still in a daze, I began to walk away from counter and was immediately brought back to earth as the barista said, “don’t forget your sandwich.”

I sat down and with my new perspective and began to look out the window. Everything looked different now. The officers were not concerned and rushing to catch a criminal, they were hurrying to get a seat at lunch. Now I could see!

I saw 4 police officers exiting the restaurant across the street. They were carrying to-go bags from their free lunch at one of the highest priced upscale restaurants in the city. They are not tense! They are laughing and joking with each other as they head back to their cars.

As I continued to ponder this, I remembered that I had spoken to several people about the situation while I was still under the influence of the false perspective. “Had my well intentioned but misguided words about this situation effected others?” I quickly fired off a few texts to those I spoken to earlier when I was quite positive that the situation was a bad one. I didn’t want my words to leave them in the lower perspective when something very beautiful was actually taking place.

In a moment I was yanked out of the middle of a fearful, potentially dangerous situation and placed right in the middle of a peaceful, joyful, honor filled celebration of those who serve in my city.

Perspective... it is a powerful thing!

My Experience in the Fort Lauderdale Airport

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT

No, I wasn't in the Fort Lauderdale airport on the morning of January, 6 when a young man opened fire in the baggage claim area killing 5 people. However, I was in the airport a little over a month before that time. I remember the experience vividly. I recall the area we were in feeling old and outdated. I remember how little signage there was to guide us to rental car bus.

As we finally figured out the situation with the bus, I remember saying to my wife, "this feels like an airport in a third world country." As a frequent traveler who has been in around 60 different airports over the last 5 years, that was the not so brilliant comment I remember making during my short time in the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Several days after the shooting, I began to piece the experience together in my mind and I began to feel the gentle, but oh so powerful conviction of the Spirit within, as I meditated on my few moments in the airport. "I was there, and all I did was talk about how bad the airport was." "I don't remember even speaking one word of blessing or even a one sentence prayer for the airport or the city." There was not an ounce of condemnation, accusation or guilt in these thoughts, but an ever so clear awareness that I am called for something better, something higher, something heavenly.

The thoughts flooded through my mind, "What if I had even just said, "Bless this airport, Lord."?" "Bless this city, bless this airport for upgrade. Protect it, prosper it and establish the atmosphere of heaven in this place." "What if?"

In the past, I have seen the tremendous power even the smallest prayers or spoken blessings carry. God has given us the power to see individuals, cities, and nations changed. A one word blessing in Jesus' name can release tidal waves of heaven's transformational power.

One day I was driving through a fast food restaurant in my city. It was taking a long time to get my order and I could tell things were not going well for the restaurant. So, I simply said, "help them, Lord!"

Several weeks later, I returned to the restaurant and things were going amazingly well. They were waiting on me like it was a much fancier restaurant! As all of this was going on, I said, "Lord, what happened?" Immediately, He reminded me of my prayer several weeks earlier when the restaurant was struggling. "Help them, Lord." What if I had even prayed that prayer during my moments in the Fort Lauderdale airport?

What if? What if when I complain I'm immediately convicted to shift out of complain mode and into prayer mode?

What if in 2017 I convert every possible complaint into a prayer or a blessing? What if every believer made this shift in 2017?

What if we didn't complain about our government in 2017, but began to pray and bless instead?

What if we became great non-complainers and awesome blessers?

That is what I learned from my experience in the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Are you ready for heavenly interruptions?

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Recently, the Lord laid these things on my heart:

"We are entering into a season of divine interruption. Heaven is going to be violently breaking forth and many Kingdom opportunities are about to spring forth. Just as there have been interruptions from hell, Heaven is about to interrupt the earth. God is giving us a new sensitivity to be aware of the love explosions that are breaking forth.

He is going to be interrupting the cycle of our daily lives and our routines. He is even going to be interrupting and shaking things that are good, because there is more that He longs to give us. Heaven is so full of love right now and it’s going to be breaking forth. And this love will call us out of our normal patterns. It’s going to call us out of our routines. It’s going to call for sacrifice in the moment, but there is so much love that is about to be released. It is about to break out. It’s about to break out in individuals and there are going to be incredible opportunities in the midst of the shaking."

I also felt Him saying to "make sure that we are not so overwhelmed, disillusioned, afraid, and discouraged in the midst of the shaking that we miss what He is doing. He is going to give us eyes to see and grace to choose to enter into what heaven is releasing in those moments."

“There are going to be ‘waits’ that are actually ‘moves.’ There will be times when we are waiting and standing in line in the coming weeks that we will recognize that this is not really a “WAIT” but is actually a MOVE of God. We will recognize that it is not simply a moment to wait, but that there is something God is doing and someone that He is touching in the moment. That moment is not a “wait”, it is a Kingdom opportunity. So when something feels backed up and you are in "waiting mode", look for the “moving.”

There are going to be problems that actually turn out to be solutions. There are going to be problems that are actually Kingdom doors for solutions. The “problem” is actually an open door for God to break in and release the Kingdom."

So my prayer right now is “Lord, I receive Your interruptions to my comfortable routines. I welcome the shaking of heaven. I welcome the shaking of the mundane. I welcome the shaking of my routines in this season, so that what Heaven is pregnant with, will break forth on the earth. Thank you for eyes to see, ears to hear, and grace to step into these moments of incredible opportunity. Thank you for eyes to see beyond the WAIT and into the MOVE that is right in front of me.”

Why I Pray in Tongues

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMT

As the man went around the room, he laid hands on my first roommate. And my first roommate began to speak in tongues. Then, the man laid hands on my second roommate. He began to speak in tongues. Now, there was only one roommate in the room left to pray for - me!

I was a first year university student and God was doing many new and exciting things in my life. However, I had heard so many negative things about speaking in tongues. I had even heard that it was from the devil. I certainly did not want to give the devil any place in my life.

I had recently begun to study the topic in scripture and had discovered that the Bible was actually very positive about the benefits of this gift in prayer.

It was one of those moments that seemed to take place in slow motion as the man came around and laid his hands on my head. I’ll never forget the choice and the prayer I made in that moment. I didn’t say it out loud, but it was reverberating within me, “Lord, I want everything you have for me! I will no longer fear what people think of me. I want everything you have.”

Interestingly enough, I didn’t speak in tongues in that moment. However, I would never be the same. Something incredible had happened inside of me in that moment. God began to fill my life in a way that He never had before. My fears were gone! I now had a confidence and boldness that enabled me to share my faith with complete strangers. Where I had been empty a few moments before, my heart was now filled with song.

Years later, I can’t say how thankful I am for that moment. It was truly one of the most important moments of my life. It was a moment where I said “yes” to a whole new realm of this great adventure of knowing the Living God. It was a step out my comfort zone. It was a step out of living life in the natural and into a whole new place of the supernatural. … a step I have never regretted.

Several years later, at the end of a church meeting, a man laid his hands on me and said, “the Lord has given you a prayer language, speak!” In that moment, I spoke. I spoke in a language I had never learned and I knew it was from God. Now, over thirty years later I’m also very thankful for that moment and for a gift that has through the years helped me know God in a deeper way.

Everything God does is about our walking with Him and knowing Him in a deeper way. Speaking in tongues is not about having some sort of badge or even just a gift. It is about living in a new and deeper place of intimacy with God.

It is the one gift of the Spirit specifically designed to help you personally stay in touch with God all of the time. The Bible says it this way, “For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.” 1 Corinthians 14:2

When we come into relationship with God, our life becomes a never ending conversation with Him. You are involved in a conversation with God that will never end… even for all eternity. God wants to give you a gift that will help you in this conversation. He wants to give you a gift that will help you in moments when you feel strong and in those moments when you feel overwhelmed and have no idea what to pray.

One day I received a call from a man in the church whose wife had just had a baby. Immediately I could feel the fear as he said, "She has just had the baby, but she (the mother) is not doing well at all. They think she might die if something doesn’t change very quickly.”

I ran to my car and began to rush to the hospital. I felt so much fear that I was almost shaking. I didn’t know what to pray. My mind and my emotions were overtaken by the gravity of the situation. I began to pray out loud in tongues. As I prayed, the phrase, “She will not die but will live!” quickly popped into my mind. Within a few seconds, it was reverberating within me. “She will not die, but will live!”

The fear that was consuming me a few seconds ago had now completely melted away. I picked up my phone and called the husband and said, “She will not die, but will live!” And she lived!

Later, the husband shared with me that everything shifted when I called him and said, “she will not die, but will live!” A confidence came upon him in that moment and the entire situation began to shift for the good.

I honestly do not know that I would have been able to hear the Lord in that moment if I wasn’t praying in tongues. The gift of tongues is a gift that helps us bypass our minds in prayer. This can be extremely helpful anytime, but especially helpful in moments of intense emotional stress.

God wants to give you things to pray that your mind (as amazing as it may be) would never come up with! The bible says it like this: “for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.” 1 Corinthians 14:2 As you pray in tongues, you are going to speak mysteries! There are things God has been longing for us to pray. Even things that have never been prayed before in all of creation. There are things He has reserved for this moment in history. There are mysteries God wants to give us to pray. Mysteries that our natural minds would never be able to come up with. Praying in tongues helps us to speak and come into agreement with these mysteries.

Praying in tongues also strengthens you. The bible says, “One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:4. This verse is not saying we have to chose between the gift of tongues or the gift of prophecy. It is saying we get to do both! I pray in tongues privately to strengthen myself and out of that place of strength I get to prophesy and bless and encourage those around me.

When someone gives you a word of encouragement or prophecy you are strengthened and built up. Praying in tongues has the same effect, except that it is not based on having to receive a word externally. It helps you tap into a well of internal encouragement and strength in God. As you pray in tongues, you are personally strengthened. And that is good. In fact, that is really good!

One night a group from our church had been ministering in a town 3 hours away from us. We had a wonderful night of ministry and did not leave to head home until very late. As we left that night to drive home, I felt a challenge from the Holy Spirit to pray in tongues for the entire journey home. So as I drove home that night I prayed in tongues for almost 3 hours straight.

That next morning, after very little sleep I was shocked at how good I felt after spending most of the night praying in tongues. Praying in tongues strengthens us in ways we can’t even comprehend.

Praying in tongues won’t solve all your problems or fix all of your “issues”. It won’t suddenly make you a person of great character and maturity. It will simply help you stay in touch with an amazing, living, loving God who longs to transform you and the world around you. And for me, living and staying in touch with Him means everything.

What I saw in church today

Sat, 17 Oct 2015 00:00:00 GMT

What I saw in church today...
I saw my beautiful 92 year old friend, with three other friends..all heroes, in the prayer room praying before anyone else got there.
I saw my purple & blue hair teenage friends already up front waiting for worship to start.
I scooped up one of my favorite toddlers as his chubby little hand shot up in worship at the first sound of music, and his chubby little legs danced wildly.
I saw brave, beautiful women who are now free from abusive relation ships, some narrowly escaped death.
I saw young children worshipping unprompted,
Babies who were conceived in very difficult circumstances worshipping with their mamas,
"Millennials" leading us in worship,
A high school girl got baptized and tears streamed down her face as God sweetly loved on her,
Men on their knees pouring their hearts out to God, standing up with fresh grace & strength,
People lovingly praying for each other,
People laughing and enjoying each other,
The bass player lost in worship,
A married couple arm in arm who years before, as they literally threw things at each other, made the painful, beautiful decision to stay together,
Friends who are moving on from a marriage that didn't make it,
People whose lives were almost destroyed by addictions, now healthy & free,
People still struggling to find that freedom.
My beautiful friend who lost her husband to cancer even tho we prayed our hearts out,
The man who was healed of cancer happily helping people find seats,
People in need of a miracle today.
I saw it all there together.. sorrow, joy, hope, disappointment, faith, disillusionment, questions, beliefs, grief & gratefulness.
And there was God, taking it all in His arms.
I saw a real God loving on real people.
I saw real people loving on each other.
I'm a pastor & I didn't want to come to church today....I'm glad I did.