A Vision of Chicago

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            A Vision of Chicago

                                      by Michael Edds

While in a worship service at a church in a suburb of Chicago, I experienced something very unusual. While the worship team and choir ministered in song, the Holy Spirit came upon me in quite a powerful way. The following encapsulates that experience: " Suddenly, it seemed that I was above Chicago looking down on the city and the lake. I saw an angelic army moving in and taking formation out in Lake Michigan. It was massing in units. The angelic army was arrayed in brilliant white. It was facing Chicago in a semi - circle out in the lake. There was a commanding officer over this entire army. He had been assigned by and given orders from God concerning the city. Behind this army was a cloud burst pouring rain down into the lake. This heavenly army had been given a directive to march into Chicago. As the army moved forward, the cloud burst followed it. God spoke to me that He is giving Chicago a last mercy call through a great city-wide spiritual awakening. God always offers mercy before judgment falls. The heavens have bent down and poured down God's Spirit and grace on Chicago in generations past.  The Great Revival of 1876 with Dwight L. Moody and the Chicago Visitation of 1913 with Maria Woodworth-Etter are great examples of God's mercy being extended to this great city.  May God's people in Chicago repent, fast and pray for a great spiritual awakening to burst forth in the city before judgment comes. This may be Chicago's last call!

The Great Chicago Visitation of 1913 and Prophecy

"The Great Chicago Visitation of 1913 and Prophecy"
by Michael Edds

The ancient prophet once cried out, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!” That cry has been echoed all down through the generations of those who have hungered for the manifestation of the presence of the living God. Throughout the history of the church, God has rent the heavens and intervened on behalf of His people. The Great Chicago Visitation of 1913 was such a time. It was one of the most powerful visitations of divine presence that this city has ever experienced.

Maria Woodworth-Etter, a well-known evangelist, had been invited to hold a series of meetings at the Stone Church, located at 37Th and Indiana, beginning on July 2, 1913. Posters had been placed throughout the city to advertise the meeting. The services were to last until the end of July. This was a time of divine appointment for the city of Chicago; God rent the heavens and came down!! Scenes from the days of the Early Church began to occur at Stone Church. Word began to spread throughout Chicago of miraculous healings, deliverance from demonic possession, conversions, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happening in these meetings. Advertisement was no longer necessary!
Incredible healings were reported. A woman, who had been blind 15 years and had never seen her children, was instantly healed. A paralyzed man, whose joints were ossified, could not move any limb or his head, had to be fed with a spoon, and could barely speak, was prayed for. For eight years, he suffered the confines of this prison of infirmity. Sister Woodworth-Etter commanded him in the name of Jesus to rise and walk. The power of God fell on him. He jumped from his wheel chair, ran down the isle of the church and a half a block down the street. Many followed him outside and waved their hats in the air yelling, “Hurrah for Jesus.” He ran back into the church and shouted praises to God. A young woman, who had lost total hearing in one ear and was losing hearing in the second ear, came for prayer. She was instantly healed. During one song service, four crippled people were healed and began to walk without the use of canes or crutches.
Word spread throughout the city of the miraculous intervention of God. Thousands came on trolleys, buggies, and trains, while many walked. Some came from hundreds of miles away. 1200 to 1500 packed into Stone Church each night. The basement was filled and many stood out on the street. Street meetings were held to accommodate them. Three services were held on Sundays. No services were scheduled for Saturdays so that the ministers could have a day of rest. However, some came on Saturdays and were met by Christians who prayed for them. A crippled woman, not knowing that services were not held on Saturdays, came on the trolley. She got off and hobbled down the street to the church. A German woman met her at the church and informed that no services had been scheduled for Saturdays. However, she invited the crippled woman to come into the church and she and others would pray for her. As soon as the woman walked into the church, she was instantly healed. A father traveled from Oklahoma bringing his two daughters with him. One could not use her limbs nor talk. The other was born deaf and dumb. Both were instantly healed. One of the girls wept and laughed when she heard singing for the first time in her life.

God had rent the heavens and come down into Chicago. Thousands were healed, incredible miracles occurred; multitudes were saved, and thousands were filled with the Holy Spirit. The meeting, which was scheduled to last for a month, lasted for six months. Sister Woodworth-Etter and believers dug a deep well of revival.

The Chicago Visitation possessed several remarkable characteristics:
1. The success of the work was not due to preaching of profound theological doctrine and differences. Instead, the Gospel was presented in its simplicity. The people were drawn by the manifestation of the presence and power of God.
2. There was extraordinary unity among Christians. Denominational lines vanished. Christians from all backgrounds joined in the work. Great harmony prevailed among believers. Controversy was not tolerated and was absent. It was a “strife-free zone.”
3. Worship was in its purest form. Entertainment and obvious display of talent did not exist. Music, singing and praise were to glorify God and Him only.
4. The entire Body of Christ was involved in ministry. Laying - on of hands was not regulated to the evangelist or pastor. People ministered to one another.
5. Ministers and members from all denominations were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
6. A prophetic word was given the last night of this six-month long meeting.
As Christians prayed around the altar, Sister Woodworth-Etter and others gave the following powerful prophecy and divine promise for the future........
“We are not yet up to the fullness of the Former Rain and that when the Latter Rain comes, it will far exceed anything we have seen!”

Frank Bartleman, the chronicler of the Azusa Street Awakening of 1907, once wrote, “In order to understand what God is going to do, we must understand what He once did.” It is imperative that we study and understand these “old wells of revival.” We need to understand the divine dynamics of these moves of God. We need to know the promises that God has made in the past, which will impact us in our day.

God has ways of reminding His people of His promises. In 1999, before I had any knowledge of the Chicago Visitation of 1913, I had a dream. In the dream, I was standing with a small group of believers in the basement of Stone Church. A pastor friend of mine asked us to form a circle and offer up “pure praise and worship” to God. I looked around and saw many, many rooms filled with hospital beds containing the sick. In these beds were people suffering from a diversity of illnesses and infirmities. Caring for them was an elderly head nurse. As we began to worship and praise God, the nurse left the sick and came and joined in the worship. As the worship continued, I saw all of the sick rise from their hospital beds. They were instantly healed and came to join in the worship! I awoke from my dream. Now, ten years later I understand the meaning of the dream. The same things that occurred in the Visitation of 1913 will happen again. Pure worship and praise will ascend unto God. The blind will see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the dumb will talk. Healing and miracles will flow again throughout this great city. God IS going to reopen this “old well of revival” in Chicago! Why, because He promised that He would and that it will far exceed the Visitation of 1913!

What is our responsibility in the reopening of this old well of revival? Second Chronicles 7:14 gives us that needed direction, “If My people who are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and pray, seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND HEAL THEIR LAND.” It is time to come clean with God, to be honest about our wicked ways and repent. As Joshua
told the Israelites the day before crossing the Jordan River into the promised land, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” May we heed that call today!!

A Prophetic Word For Chicago

 

 A Prophetic Word For Chicago 
by Michael Edds

In the year 2000, God spoke to me that He was going to reopen the "old wells" of revival throughout this nation and around the world. The purpose of the Coming Great Awakening is to restore total truth to the church and to give the world one last invitation of mercy before divine judgment falls upon a perverse generation.

In 2004, the Lord gave me a vivid, terrifying dream concerning Chicago. In the dream, I was with a group of dedicated Christians in a suite of rooms in the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago. The group had been entrusted with the protection of a three year old child called "the child of destiny." I looked out the window and saw a huge black dragon circling the Sears Tower. The dragon had the head of a wolf and was covered with black fur. It was very long and had the shape and tail similar to a serpent. The dragon was searching for this special child to kill it. In the Tower, the guardians of the child were busy securing the windows and doors to protect the child. I found one window unlocked and exclaimed, "Someone has forgotten to lock this. We must make sure that this building is secured and that we leave no opening for the dragon to get in!" As I locked the window, I looked out and saw that the dragon had landed upon the ground below. To my amazement, a door opened up on the side of the dragon. What appeared to be soldiers started throwing out bodies of Christian men. These men had been killed by the dragon. There were 57 bodies. Suddenly, the top of the dragon's head opened up like the hood of a car except it was hinged on the front and not the back of the head. Out came three men. The inside of the head was a vast control panel. I remarked, "This dragon is not a living creature at all. It is a machine controlled by men." I then turned to the group guarding the small child and said, "The dragon is coming to kill this child. We must stand boldly and fight to the death to protect this child of destiny." Each one gathered around the child with weapons drawn and were energized with a determination to stop the dragon. I awakened.

For sometime I pondered this dream. Then the Lord revealed its meaning.

Chicago has been an "old well" or "seedbed" of revival. Moody, Aimee Simple McPherson, John G. Lake, Dowie, Amanda Berry Smith, William Durham, and so many other great revivalists have strong connections to Chicago. Prayer meetings and revivals have burst forth from Chicago and swept around the world. God has done great things in and through this city.

However, Chicago has a divine destiny that is yet to be fulfilled. This "old well of revival" is to about to be opened again. The dragon is the controlling spirit or the "Prince" of Chicago. The three men represent the political, religious, and financial structure that has controlled this great city for generations. This demonic structure has fought to block God's divine plan for this city for decades. The 57 bodies thrown from the side of the dragon are 57 attempts and messengers that God has sent to bring Chicago into this final destiny. However, they have been either been stopped or destroyed by this evil power structure in Chicago. The child of destiny is God's final attempt to fulfill His divine plan for this city of 9 million. It was birthed in 2001. God has chosen an elite corps of Christian warriors in this city to wage spiritual warfare to defeat the satanic power structure and to ensure that this final move of God and His last mercy call to Chicago come to pass. The hour of destiny has arrived for the Windy City.