Kingdom Stealth: Growing in the Anointing

  New radical ministries are emerging: pub evangelism, missions 2.0, single calling, en masse pre-evangelism and invading the secular media. The Holy Spirit is inspiring these as well as the avalanche of itinerant ministry, school revivals, 24/7 prayer and prophetic dream-led ministry. Each of these, I have had the privilege to help pioneer in my own life. They are rarely spoken about and so I hope this story will help to reveal their potential. This testimony book only has a few pages concerning my salvation as I felt the Lord wanted me to focus on urging  people to step out courageously in these new callings. The Kingdom Stealth strategy, which incorporates many of these, is phenomenal to transform nations.

God loves to use testimonies to reveal his glorious ways. Half of the bible is stories. From creation and the Patriarchs, Moses and the Exodus, the History of Israel, to the life, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus and the experiences of the early church Apostles, we read powerful testimonies. We should also read testimony books of God’s people in recent times (or get Alexa to read them for us while we are driving!)

There is a danger in testifying crossing over into boasting. There is also a danger of dismissing a genuine humble testimony, misinterpreting good motives, as if it was boasting. We have treasure in earthen vessels (2Co 4:7) which means God’s glory in silly, frail people. I hope you will see the hand of the only worthy One in all I share. Our part is essential but insignificant compared to His.

I see my life, so far, as a primary school boy winning

a few egg and spoon races. Such boys do not ‘deserve’ the prizes they win at primary school; only the love of their parents puts value into them coming first in such otherwise meaningless ‘achievements’. I have won a few races but before GOD these are just a little boy pleasing his Daddy.

Regarding the cover and inside photos, I don’t care if my face comes or not in any mass-media. However, I care intensely if the word of God, through one of his children, dismantles lies to multitudes of people! Part of the ‘Kingdom Stealth’ strategy is to maximize this phenomenon. 

I have included my struggles and failures so that you may learn from them and avoid some of the traps which I fell into. It is tempting to only give the good parts of our testimony after salvation but, risking embarrassment and people looking down on me, I have included some of my big mistakes and weaknesses so that it’s clear that the jar is really made of clay.

Although most of this book is testimony, I have explained the biblical bases for some of the radical emphasis I have had in my ministry, especially the areas somewhat neglected by most Christians.

Four Levels Of The Anointing

An apostolic leader in the church I was attending taught on the four levels of the anointing from Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 47:1-5). Through this  the Lord showed me how each of the first three levels mapped perfectly onto the first three stages of my ministry.

For me these levels paralleled the increase in the number of people I was able to reach each year in the ministry:

Such a clear systematic increase in effectiveness and numbers should not mask the real underlining trend: a huge increase in the anointing at each stage. And I felt the Lord whisper to me that I was about to enter the fourth level and that I was to prepare and pursue this. I was so excited and wept through the whole service. My life made sense and so did the steady increase in influence and anointing that I had experienced in each season. I have divided this book up into these four sections.

Num 12.6 (NIV) “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”

As we grow in God, the increase in gifting or numbers reached, does not necessarily evoke pride or inherit credit. Moses led a nation of millions and yet was the humblest person on earth. Cain had a small ministry: gardening and yet in anger killed his brother whose animal offering was more favourable to God. The root of this anger that led to murder, was being jealous of his brother and the pride in his own significance. A guy in a tiny family had great pride. Moses over a massive nation had great humility. Size does not determine importance or automatically denote pride, but only indicates God’s purpose. 

One of the most common questions asked to people moving in the power of God is: “How come you see so many miracles in your life?” This is a good question but rarely is there enough time to give an adequate answer. Testimony books give great insight into the steps God used to train and release powerful ministries and they lay out a much more thorough answer to this question. Getting to move in signs and wonders is certainly not simple. If it were, there would not be 66 books in the bible! However, one answer is: ‘The Anointing’. We need to understand that the anointing comes in levels and we must pursue an ever-higher level. 

John 3:34 (NLT) “…He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.”

Jesus was granted unlimited anointing implying that everyone else has a limited measure. In the same way, we are given a measure of faith and a level of grace. (Rom 12:3, Act 4:33)

2Co 3:18 (NIV) “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

As we pass different tests, endure different seasons, and overcome various problems the anointing increases in our lives. As we struggle, sometimes for years, to conquer sin and overcome our weaknesses and various bondages, the glory increases. There is no quick, easy way. It is the very fight in these areas that qualify us for more anointing. As we grow, our capacity to handle or carry more of this anointing, increases and so it is an ‘ever increasing glory’. Each time we transition to do a new ministry, we are given a new increase in the anointing. How much anointing do you have? I hope that you will be inspired to pursue God for more and more through this testimony book.

Conversely, years of grieving the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) causes God to lower our level of anointing and loose our fire and effectiveness. Remember Samson: the Lord had left him. Even David prayed about this not happening in his life:

Psa 51:11 (NKJV) “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” 

Some people say this is O.T. theology. However, Psalm 51 is one of the most N.T. prophetic psalms! Especially the verse before and after this verse:

Psa 51:10,12 (NIV) “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

David asks for a pure heart and a new, willing, steadfast spirit.  He testifies that he had previously had a joyful salvation experience which he wanted back again. In the previous verses he describes his conviction of sin, the Lord’s forgiveness and his desire for truth in his inner being. This is a clear description of the new creation reality. Just like Elijah and Moses experienced signs and wonders by God’s grace before the Cross and Resurrection, David (and others) had a born-again experience including  a ‘new spirit’ re-‘created’ in him. So this is a Psalm pointing towards N.T. realities, therefore confirming the reality of the possibility of losing some of our anointing. If we harden our hearts to allow ongoing negative, low-level living, we may be cast away from God’s presence and have some of his Holy Spirit taken away from us! Anyone who has been around for a while in Christian circles can confirm this has happened to many! I hope that your life will be the opposite.

There are many things that determine how effective and powerful our ministries and lives will be, like our faith level, God’s grace level, and how much authority we have. Other factors are the levels each of the fruits of the Spirit are in our lives: patience; self-control; endurance; boldness; peace; and love. There is no shortcut or quick, easy way to lots of miracles and anointing just like there is no quick way to get rich. People are fooled by internet scams on quick methods to get lots of money. If their video says ‘It’s easy!’ you instantly know that it’s deception.

Some people say healing and miracles are ‘only’ by faith ignoring all the other aspects of what the bible teaches. Faith does play a crucial part but so does the anointing. Understanding the level of anointing is critical to understanding why healings often do not occur and why some people have many amazing, spiritual encounters and others do not.

Luk 5:17 (NKJV) “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching… the power of the Lord was present to heal…”

Some times and in some people there is a powerful anointing to heal, other times and in other people there is not.

People object and say that no one is given a ‘baby Holy Spirit’. However, Elisha asked for and was given double the anointing of Elijah and twice as many miracles were recorded in his scriptural testimony compared to Elijah’s. (Elisha did approximately 30 compared to Elijah’s 15.) This also shows the primary ingredient for miracle ministry is the anointing and it comes in different measures. Elijah did not have a ‘baby Holy Spirit’ but did have only half as much ‘anointing’ as Elisha (2 Kings 2:9). How God the Holy Spirit is inside us in levels is a mystery, but that he comes in levels is clearly revealed in these scriptures.

Jesus announced that the ‘Spirit of the Lord’ was upon him because the Father had anointed him so that he could preach powerfully, set the captives free, open blind eyes and bring deliverance to the oppressed (Luke 4:18). He knew why he could heal. It was because of the anointing. He went into his 40 day fast full of the Spirit (Luke 4:1) but came out in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14).  Clearly a spiritual change occurred in him through his fasting. Though the Holy Spirit is God and does not change, the manner and intensity with which God entrusts us with this anointing does change; for example through fasting. It is an over simplification of the scriptures to say that since we have the Holy Spirit we have unlimited power, always available to do miracles and it’s only our unbelief that stops this.

The bible says we must keep being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). The Apostles in Acts were filled in chapter two and again in chapter four (v31). That implies they were fully or partially emptied in between. We discharge through ministry and leak through grieving the Spirit. As soon as you begin to feel dry, tell God that you are thirsty and ask for the living water. It’s God’s command to be full or keep getting refilled.

However, this variation is not the ‘level’ of anointing I am speaking of in this introduction. Just like the day and night cycle of time is completely different to the cycle of the four annual seasons, the ongoing filling and leaking cycle is different to the step by step increase in our level of anointing which Ezekiel saw in his vision. David, Elijah and Peter all had major ups and downs in their lives leading to short term cycles in power.  We also see that Paul had a much stronger anointing compared to John the Baptist and that Moses had a much higher level compared to Gideon! This is the graph of what our lives should look like in terms of the anointing:

(There will not necessarily be only four stages.)

We need to be aware of how ‘full’ we are. However, we should not only be passionate to make sure we are regularly ‘topping up’ through worship and prayer but also passionate to seek for higher levels of the anointing through decades of faithfulness and fruitfulness in ministry assignments, victory over sin and growth in wisdom and stature.

As well as character, we need to honour and discern the level of anointing in believers when we make appointments and choose who gets to preach. It does not depend on whether the person gives a lot to the church or whether they are a minority so we can tick a diversity box. It is not whether it would be ‘nice’ to give them the opportunity so that they feel included in the church. It is primarily how anointed they are and how much people will be impacted and strengthened through their ministry. That should be one of our main filters.

Anointed preaching: imparts spiritual life and intimacy with the Lord; causes our congregation to live more passionate for the Lord over the next week; inspires humility and love; and motivates people to discuss and study the bible. Unanointed preaching is boring, ineffective, keeps believers in spiritual immaturity and does not lead to many deliverances. Anointed preaching leads to miracles, conviction and repentance.

Powerful preaching makes people glad, sad or mad. After my first preach in the Anglican church which supported my Indian missionary work, the pastor told me he had never had so many people say how powerful the sermon was nor so many people complain about it!

The anointed message encourages and feeds so it makes people glad. It convicts and changes so it makes people sad in the Spirit leading to healthy sanctification. It also upsets the proud, devastating the egos of the people who live casually for the Lord. but are comforted by living up to their own limited standards of spirituality and morality. The sharp double edge sword raises the standard to radical lifestyle, shattering the egos of compromised, proud people. Instead of reacting with healthy, spiritual mourning, they get angry. They feel it is the preacher who is to be blamed for their feelings of condemnation. Even if the preacher is crying in love, and is gentle and encouraging, they feel condemned because of their own shattered pride.

When this happened in India, the pastor would tell me who had left the church due to my message, agreeing that the person’s life was not right and there was nothing wrong with the message. In the west, pastors have inappropriately responded to those who are ‘mad’ and have backed off from fiery preaching. Instead they water down the message to make it ‘nice’, ‘loving’ and inoffensive.  However, the bible repeatedly reminds us that Jesus is actually the ‘Rock of Offense’. Selah, pause and ponder (1 Pet 2:8). People are very used to mildly anointed messages that don’t get much reaction. Pastors are nervous when they get a few angry members complaining. Leaders should be bold and stand with the Word! It’s OK if some are offended. Jesus is the same yesterday and today: he’s still the Rock of Offense. At the same time, preachers must have no anger in their emotions, otherwise they will be the source of condemnation, not the word.

We all get to hear ‘boring’ messages sometimes and the best way to make it better is to pray for a long time for the service. This contributes to the corporate anointing and simultaneously prepares our hearts for God to speak, even through an ‘unanointed’ preacher!

In an important passage where Jesus was encouraging people to pray, the single prayer request he used in his teaching was to pray for the anointing. We can summarise the first thirteen verses of Luke chapter 11 as follows:

‘Lord teach us to pray… “Knock on heaven’s door and seek God for your requests. If sleepy people give good gifts when you keep asking, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask … persistently?” ’

This is one of Jesus’ primary instructions on prayer and he gives the crucial thing we should pray for: the Holy Spirit, that is the anointing.

Lord we ask for more of your Spirit, help us to grow throughout our lives in the anointing!

Kingdom Stealth

This book is also about the One who is above all, who has all authority over the earth, who is the Lord of Lords: Jesus the Son of God. He can do anything in any nation according to his will, when ‘little Davids’ step out in faith and especially when they use the wisdom of ‘Kingdom Stealth’. You may be wondering what this title means. You will find out soon!

Describing my mission in India, I often use two terms which I wish to clarify. ‘En-masse’ is a French expression adopted in English, meaning ‘large scale’, ‘reaching a huge number’ or ‘all encompassing’ paralleling Jesus’ injunction to be salt and light to the whole ‘earth’ or ‘world’. ‘Pre-evangelism’ is the term I am adopting to describe the beginning of the gospel, the seed sowing, the style of John the Baptist or Jesus’ sermon on the mount, which introduces the kingdom of God or message of salvation to the lost.

As a young believer I devoured testimony books of powerful men and women of God who did amazing things and saw incredible results. I hope that this book will also inspire a generation to pursue God day and night and do great exploits.

See Shop for more information on this book (of which the above is the introduction chapter).