Fanning the Flames

Jan, our daughter Sarah and I were at dinner with Lisa Boman Perot, a friend and former Metro member, who lives in College Station, Texas. While we were dining a fire actually started on the tablecloth of the table next to ours. Lisa saw it first and went into a sort of "mini panic" mode. She alerted us and started trying to locate and alert some of the restaurant help. I didn't see the fire, but I decided to get up and deal with it. I went to the table and I saw a circular flame in the tablecloth that had started from a single point candle flame! I simply wrapped up the tablecloth and snuffed out the fire!

I went back and sat down after that. We were all responding in our natural fashion to what had happened, but I felt I was hearing the voice of the Lord about it. First, I was kind of regretting putting out the flame! Then, I immediately had a vintage song in my spirit.

"Light the fire in my soul, fan the flames make me whole, Lord you now where I've been, so light the fire in my heart once again."

Aside from the smoke after I put out the fire, it was very pleasing to my spirit. I was amazed how the fire burned under control, spreading uniformly in all directions creating a circle of fire from a single point of origin!

I really think the Lord wants to start a fire that is not put out at Metro! It will emanate from the centrality of relationship with him and grow. It will be a fire of purity, passion, delight, and purpose.

So, anyway, I just want to be before the Lord, fanning the flames, asking him to send to us passion for living a pure and holy life before him, releasing healing power for His glory, and sending us prophetic knowledge concerning our place with Him. I think also that because the fire started around a friendship/family gathering that this will be done in the context of a body that is increasing in love and relationship. In short, I am now encouraged to be a fire starter, and instead of putting it out when it comes, fanning the flames!

-Mike Schmid

Songbird Restoration

A word for Metro given to Bill Parker, shared on Sunday, Feb 18, 2007 during morning worship.

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During worship I saw a lady worshiping and praising the Lord. I knew this lady and knew of her brokenness in life, issues in her heart, shame, weariness and need for healing from hurt in her life. She had gone through rough seasons. As she was worshiping, I saw this brilliance of the Lord come over her, and what came from shame became a garment of light, a garment of praise. It was just brilliant. As I saw this the Lord showed me that this woman represented Metro. The past seasons that we’ve gone through and the barren times even and just how we’ve gone through rough seasons … the Lord’s going to take our shame and where we’ve been and He’s going to begin to give us light and He’s going to give us a garment of praise, and hope, and peace.

Then that light I saw became a candelabra. It became a single candle at first and then it became many candles. The Lord said, “I’m going to restore the candle of the Lord to the nations for Metro.” I felt like that candle represented many things. I felt like the Lord said, “I’m going to make this a candlelight (which is prominence & favor) church again.” We have a purpose beyond just Metro in the city. We have a purpose to the nations.

As I was asking the Lord what that was, He showed me that He’s restoring the prophetic flow in our church. I saw a big stream coming down a mountain side. As this stream came down I intuitively knew that this was the stream in Revelation and Ezekiel or Isaiah which has life and healing in it. This stream flowed into a large pond or small lake in which the middle of the lake was a rock, right dead in the middle of that lake, and I felt that was Christ. He’s been put in the center of our church. Around the rock was almost like a pond. I felt like the Lord said, “I’m restoring also my presence. I’m restoring my presence to my church. Out of that presence, out of my presence I’m going to restore healing and deliverance in the church, the anointing of healing and I’m going to bring that to the nations.”

Then I felt like the Lord also showed me that as we’re doing worship on stage, “I’m also restoring the songbirds back to Metro.” I felt that’s the prophetic worship and that anointing to go deep into the Lord and come back out.

So I just wanted to share these things and hopefully that’ll encourage you.

Prophetic Proclamations

In the middle of the night, during a thunderstorm on May 7, 2005, Terri Sullivant was declaring these seven prophetic proclamations, which were then punctuated by the thunder. Her husband Michael woke up and realized that she was not awake, but was having a divine encouter. He wrote these proclamations down as she spoke them out and felt that these were being released over Metro. Here they are for your consideration:

1. Use the key to open the vault and get the treasures.
2. The ceiling has lifted off.
3. Worship is coming down like spring rain watering the earth.
4. Financial provision is coming, pennies from heaven.
5. Father's (or fathers?) coming like a tidal wave.
6. We will dance again above the clouds.
7. Sweet presence will wash away bitterness and enmity.