One night, I saw two girls sleeping on the street and I heard Holy Spirit say go talk to them. I walked up and one of the girls hid a meth pipe. I asked if I could pray and told her that I see God answer prayers. She said she wanted to get off drugs. I shared the Gospel with her and she gave her life to Jesus. Her back also got healed as well. God then gave me words for her friend who began crying tears of joy and had an amazing encounter with Jesus. We kept in contact with the first girl and she  is now clean and sober.

One fun testimony, we were having dinner in a restaurant in Makassar, Indonesia and the pastor had back problems. We prayed in the restaurant and his leg grew out. The people working started asking what happened so I said Jesus was healing people and asked them if they had any pain in their bodies. They started running out to the street to get more people to pray for and soon we had a large crowd gather around us, as the power of God was on display. Back to back muslims were healed in the name of Jesus.

In the future, we have doors wide open to minister in different parts of Africa and Asia. One trip in the works is in Malaysia to help equip a school of supernatural ministry. We also have a vision to kick off Street Church again in our local area. The plan is to invest in a specific area for longer periods of time and hold a service near that area so that people we minister to can have a place to come and be discipled.

We want to say a special "Thank you" to all of you who have prayed for us and supported us. We couldn’t do what we do without you. Last year was incredible and filled with His glory. I believe this year is going to be even more incredible as we continue to lean into His presence and walk forward in His calling!

The theology of glory clouds, miracles, and strange manifestations are all tied to one thing, God’s manifest Presence. God is omnipresent, yes but through out the bible there are times when there is a manifestation of God’s presence that people can observe and experience. 

In the Old Testament, a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire lead the Israelites through the wilderness. This was the manifest presence of God, and when ever it lifted, the Israelites would follow it.



The Lord provided bread from heaven from His manifestation and also meat.



Exodus 16:7 And in the morning [d]you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”



Here you can see the concept of physical objects appearing throughout he cloud of glory. If the bread was from heaven, what about gemstones, gold, or oil manifesting?



This passage amazes me, the ground turned into Sapphire and there was an open vision of heaven. The glory of God manifests the realities of heaven.

Exodus 24:9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.

Moses had a deep relationship with God. He would enter the Tabernacle and God would speak to him in this cloud of glory and God considered it face to face as a man would speak to his friend. 



Exodus 33:10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.



I love how when Moses went out, Joshua was focused on staying in God’s manifest presence. 

I believe that is what qualified him to enter the promise land.

After this encounter, Moses asked God who He would send with them and God said, 



Exodus 33:14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”



I love Moses’ response,



Exodus 33:15 then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”



So this manifest presence of God or glory of God is what separated Israel from every other nation. After this Moses asked to see Gods glory and God made His goodness pass before him. God’s glory is God’s presence manifesting God’s goodness.

Exodus 33:19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 2

There are many more references to His glory in the Torah, but lets jump forward to Solomon.



Solomon dedicated his temple and held a tremendous sacrifice to the Lord. When all the worshipers became as one, God’s glory came as a cloud and it actually was so heavy the ministers could no longer minister. 



2 Chronicles 5:13 Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”

that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not [e]continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.



1 Kings 8: 10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

2 Then Solomon spoke:
“The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
13 I have surely built You an exalted house,
And a place for You to dwell in forever.”



These passages show a powerful example of the glory of the Lord coming through worship and sacrifice and being so heavy that ministers could no longer minister. Probably because the sheer power and magnitude of His presence caused them to be stuck on the floor.



There are many other references to the glory of the Lord in the Prophets, especially in Isaiah, One passage points to the new Jerusalem and talks about this glory abiding with us. 



Isaiah 4:5 Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.

And there are many promises of His glory. Isaiah 60:1 is one of my favorites.

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.



In the new Testament, the glory doesn’t disappear but it comes in an unexpected way. Jesus came and opened the heavens. He was the living House of God at “Bethel” where angels ascended and defended upon Him.

 He was the gateway between heaven and earth and through Him the realities of the Kingdom of heaven was made manifest.

John 1:51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”




Jesus does His first Miracle, turning water to wine.




John 2:11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.



Now we see that the glory of the Lord is in a person. Jesus is not only carrying this glory but also manifesting this glory through signs and wonders. 

Through out the book of John is a promise to see God’s glory, and Jesus told Mary and Martha that they would see God’s glory before He rose Lazarus from the dead in John 11:40.



At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed an amazing prayer for us. He prayed that we would be one in Him and each other and that His glory is given to us who believe.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 



Jesus is talking about us, the church, being filled with His glory and in a oneness with God and each other. This glory comes in worship and unity in the Holy Spirit.


Afterword, Jesus died on a cross, rose again, and then Pentecost happens. Winds blow, tongues of fire land on the disciples and they speak with new tongues, Peter who denied Christ out of fear now boldly preaches to the multitudes and thousands come to the Lord, but the crowd upon looking at them said they were drunk. 



Acts 2:13:15 
Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Peter responded,
“For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only [e]the third hour of the day.” 



So the first outpouring of the Spirit, resulted in them looking like they were drunk. Sometimes when God’s presence shows up, people do act drunk, or laugh because they experience extreme joy, or shake because the power of His majesty. In the Old Testament, people would fall down in fear at His Holy Presence, (Ezekiel 1:28, Daniel 10:7-8). How about when we have been made holy and righteous by the blood of the lamb and experience the fullness of Joy in His presence?

Sometimes the manifest presence of God can cause people to look a little drunk, but we are not to be filled with wine but with the Spirit through worship, similar to worshipers in Solomon’s temple.



Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [f]God.



Now if the glory of the Lord came with Solomon's temple, how much more us who are His Holy Temple, being built together to be a house for the Holy Spirit?



Ephesians 5:21 In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.



Now back to Acts. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter and John prays for a lame man who walks and they get beat for it, they respond by praying for God to do more miracles and more boldness to preach God’s word. The place was shaken and they were all filled. God’s manifest presence had a physical effect on the area.



Acts 4:31And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.



Weren’t they all filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? Yet they were filled again. You see the result of that prayer in the next chapter.



Acts 5:4
And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.



So there was such an anointing that even peters shadow was healing the sick. This was an increase of the glory of God, the manifestation of the Spirit on his life. 

Phillip carried this so much that when he entered a town demons would screech out in fear. 



Acts 8:6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city




The glory of God is now in believers and manifest when believers come together in true worship, love, and humility.

As believers, I believe Jesus’ prayer for His glory to be given to us is still valid and His presence changes everything. I personally have seen areas where God’s presence was poured out where crime rates dropped and there was an increase of receptivity to the Gospel. I have seen His glory cause demons to manifest and be cast out and incredible miracles happen with no one laying hands on them.

During the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, there was such a manifestation of this glory that fire trucks were called to put out the fire on top of the building. There was a cloud that would appear during the services and that was the birthplace of the Pentecostal and charismatic denominations around today. Same thing happened during the Indonesian revival when the Holy Spirit fell on a Church and many were baptized in the Holy Spirit, the end result was over 100,000 people converting to Jesus (Mel Tari - Like a Mighty Rising Wind). This happened in Brownsville, Toronto, Argentina, and Pensacola at the same time. It was this glory that drove the great awakening in the 1700’s and 1800’s.

This is so much bigger than a cloud, or gold dust, but this is about seeing and experiencing God’s manifest presence on the earth. This is about His Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. One day we will be in the fullness of it, but right now, it’s at hand, “Within Reach” 




- By Joshua Shaw

    I have seen many believers walk away from Church for many different reasons. Some have been hurt by abuses, others simply don’t want to submit to anyone. They say things like “Church isn’t a building” or “I am the Church.” Those statements are true in the right context, they are actually contradictory when used as an excuse to avoid Church.

It’s important to realize that Church is not a man made invention but God’s idea. Though there are no clear examples of how a service should be conducted, there are clear examples of a gathering together (1 Cor. 14:23) and an established leadership of pastors, teachers, deacons, elders, etc. (1 Timothy 3, James 5:14). Those in leadership are charged with and responsible to watch over the souls of believers in the Church (Hebrews 13:17) and are held to a greater accountability to God (James 3:1). The bible tells us to not forsake this gathering but continue in it (Hebrews 10:25).

The word Church in the Greek is Ekklesia, which means an assembly or a gathering of people called out for a purpose. The Church is an assembly of believers, called out of the world, and gathered together for the purpose of worshiping God and making Him known to the world. The bible also uses Church in a universal term referring to all who have been saved and redeemed.

All through the book of acts, you see the Church being the primary agent of change to the world. Individuals who caused massive change in the world such as Paul, Barnabas, Etc. were sent out and commissioned by the Church through the leading of the Spirit (Acts 13:2) and they always worked in the context of the Church by establishing churches and/or partnering with churches already planted (1 Cor. 3:6). The Church was key in organizing to prepare for a coming famine and sending aid (Acts 11:39). It was also seen providing the basic needs of the community (Acts 5:6). The Church was vital in the spread of God’s Kingdom and still is to this day. In Ephesians 4:11-12 we see that the 5-fold ministry roles were to equip believers for the work of ministry. This reveals that Believers would gather in Churches to be equipped to follow God and reveal Him to the world.

In the bible there are many metaphors describing the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the temple of God, ect. One thing important to realize is that the Church is not one person, and one person alone cannot claim to be the Church.

We all make up the body of Christ and are members of each other. If my pinky finger was cut off my hand and you wouldn’t point at my pinky saying, look there is his body. That would be some what true because my pinky is a part of my body but the pinky by it’s self is not my body. The word body points to all parts together as a whole. You cannot be independent from the body of Christ and function as the body of Christ. If the Church is the body of Christ, the way Jesus touches the world is through His body. A decapitated finger, will have little effect on the world around it, but a finger functioning with a hand, with the arm, with the shoulder, can make a huge impact the world around it.

We are the temple of God, individually yes, but also corporately. Individually we house the presence of God in our bodies, That is a profound reality, but there is another side where we are also being built together into a temple. What is a temple? It’s a place of worship, a place people go to meet God. According to Ephesians 2:19-21 each one of us is a piece of the temple and we are being built together to make Him a glorious temple. When we come together in unity to worship God and celebrate Him we are actually creating a space for the glory of God to dwell.

God's heart for unity among believers is seen clearly in John 17:20-26. Jesus prays that as He is one with the Father, we would be one with Him and with each other. This unity only comes from being joined together by the same Spirit and being lead by the same mind, His mind (1 Cor 12:13, 1 Cor. 2:13-16). Jesus also reveals in his prayer that through our oneness, the glory that God had given to Him, He is given to us. God giving the Church His glory shows that when we come together as one, we become the dwelling place of His glory and presence, and the revelation of His goodness to the world around us (Exodus 33). When the world sees the Church in the context of Jesus’ prayer, Believers together as one, carrying the manifest glory of God, the world will believe that the Father sent Jesus into the world.

If your a believer and are not connected to a local Church, I encourage you please pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to one. The body functions much better with all it’s members. You are an integral part of His body and you are precious and valuable. If you have been hurt in the past by leaders, pastors, or people who should have represented Jesus well, I apologize on behalf of the church, and ask that you would seek the Lord for a church that would accept you, love you, and help you grow in a greater maturity in Christ Jesus, our Lord.


Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

- Joshua Shaw

Jesus, the second Adam

Romans 5:15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

    God still loved us and longed for us. He longed for the relationship He created us for. God became a man in Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God was one with the Father. He is the express image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). He gave expression to what God is like. He was the Word, who in the beginning, He was with God and was God (John 1:1). The Word became flesh (John 1:14). When His disciples asked him to show them the Father, He said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him” (John 14:7). He didn’t just come to show reveal the true image of God, but restore the image of God in us. To bring us back to our created value.

    Sin separated us from God. It defiled us. Jesus came and was tempted at all points yet was without sin. He was perfect, spotless, without blemish. The glory of God revealed in a man. He was the fusion of heaven and earth, of God and man. He lived His life overthrowing the influence of the devil everywhere He went. He showed us what it looked like to be a man completely surrendered to God looked like. He showed us what dependence on God really was all about, an intimate relationship between Him and the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. His mission was to destroy all the works of the devil and restore humanity to Himself. He did that through one act of love.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

    Jesus was rejected and despised by men under the influence of the devil. He was crucified by the very people He came to save. On that cross, He became took upon Himself the sin of the world. He became the payment. He died humanities death that we live His life. He became our sin on the cross that we might become His righteousness. What a glorious trade off. My rags for His riches. On that cross, He paid the penalty of sin, disarming the devil from anything that he could accuse us of. That cross was the judgment of this world and the ruler of this world being cast out (John 12:31).

    Death couldn’t hold Him, He rose again disarming the principalities and powers of all authority. Through His death and resurrection, we are restored back into our original image and purpose. The relationship that Jesus modeled with the Father, is now ours. It’s our right as Children of God.

Image Restored

    When we believe on the name of His Son Jesus we become born again, a new creation, born of the Spirit of God. We receive a brand new identity! The old, distorted, sin torn image died and our lives are hidden in Christ (Col. 3:3). The sins and failures of the past are wiped clean and we are a new man created in righteous and holiness (Eph4:24). And through our restored relationship with Him, we discover who we really are. We get to put off the false image of who we were and live out who He made us to be. No longer independent of God, we are restored back into right relationship with Him. He now lives in us, and we in Him. Our identity is in the fusion of God and man.

    The Holy Spirit makes our hearts His home. We become the habitation of God (John 14:17). His Spirit gives life to our spirit. Our Spirit becomes one Spirit with Him and we become the dwelling place of God Himself (1 Cor. 6:14). The Holy Spirit God Himself living in us. He is presence of God here on earth, and we have the privilege as Children of God to host Him.

    When Jesus was in the flesh, He promised He would not leave us orphans, He would come to us through giving us the Spirit of truth (John 14:17-18). Not leaving us orphans is not leaving us without a Father. The Holy Spirit is how God Fathers us. He is very intentional with us and His goal is to form Christ in us and He empowers us to live out who we are in Him. Holy Spirit repairs the shattered mirror as we behold the glory of the Lord, Jesus! (2 Cor. 3:18).

Romans 8: 17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

    Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is vital for living out our identity in Him. In the Holy Spirit is the Kingdom of heaven, the divine influence, the rule and reign of Jesus! He teaches us who we are in Christ and gives us the power to walk it out. He also empowers us to overthrow the devils influence over this world. Learning to walk in a oneness with the Holy Spirit is the power behind everything in a believers life.

Deny Yourself

    Before we knew Christ, we established our own identity in the world independent of Him and our lives evolved around sin and self. This identity is not who we are, it may have traits of how God created us, but is a false image of who we really are. God created us to be His image on this earth. He created us as an expression of Himself filling our own uniqueness. He is the fulfillment for our truest hearts desires. As we live for Him, we die to self, and find ourselves in Him.

    When we come to Him, we must deny ourselves, meaning we no longer live for ourselves but for Him. Jesus said deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me (Luke 9:23). That doesn’t mean strip yourself of all your desires, hopes, and dreams. That means cut off every part of your life that is independent of God. Your identity if fused with His indwelling. You are no longer independent of God but one with Him (John 17:21). To fully embrace who we are created to be in Him, we must deny the false identity we’ve accumulated in the world from the fall.

How we see ourselves

    What we believe about God and what we believe about ourselves will paint everything we do especially the way we represent God to others. First, we must believe God is who He says He is, He is good and in Him there is no darkness. He loves us and is love Himself. He is a good Father. We also need to believe what He says about us to walk in our identity. We overcome the flesh by living in intimacy with God and believing who we are in Him.

    Before we come to the Lord, we have a lifetime of thinking like the devil. Our minds get cultivated by the enemy of God. We have mindsets that stem from demonic wisdom, sin habits, ways of thinking that produce doubt, and suspicion towards God. Our minds, independent from God will always fight against faith, but in Him, we have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:7 ; 1 Cor. 2:16) We really are a brand new creation. Our minds need renewed to the reality of that. We are to put on the created in righteousness and holiness, and put off the old who grows corrupt according to deceitful lust (Eph. 4:22-24).

    The flesh isn’t an internal nature that we can never overcome, but the unrenewed mind. We have become partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). We have been given His righteousness as a gift, and His Spirit to empower us to live it out. We are no longer slaves to sin. In Christ, we are no longer sinners, we can reckon ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11;22). If we believe we are still sinners, we will sin by faith, but if we believe what He says, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, we will live out of that place.

Prophetic Prayer meeting

    I’ve been a believer for 12 years now, but for the last 6 the Lord has taken me to a place of bring all in. After I went radical for Jesus I was invited to a dance and prophecy gathering. At this time, I was new to the prophetic.  There was a DJ, it was fun but something was missing. People were dancing and I had some encouraging conversations and made a goof of myself because I’m not a very good dancer. When the music stopped, I heard really loud in my heart to grab a bowl of water and wash everyone’s feet.

    At first I was like, no way. I was wrestling with the tension of obedience and rational thinking. I ignored the battle in my mind and went around and washed everyone’s feet. Right after that, the presence of God fell and everyone started getting visions. I started receiving really clear revelations over people I was praying over. Worship music started and I was worshiping, laying on the floor, crying because of God’s presence that was hitting me.

    Numbers mean something to me and the Lord uses numbers to speak to me a lot of times. I had a vision of a 6 and a 7 in the sky. That was how I viewed myself, a sinful man reaching out for righteousness. Those were the numbers I would have described myself as, a sinner saved by the grace of God. Then, I heard a booming no in my heart. It was loud and startling. Then the 6 and 7 got crossed out and I saw a 7 and an 8. Then I heard really loud in my heart, “You are not a sinner reaching out for righteousness, I made you righteous, now your reaching into eternity” That changed the way I viewed myself. That revelation has been growing in me ever since.   

Clear Conscience

    When we see ourselves as who we are in Him, it empowers us to have a clear conscience before Him. Many grow up believing that they are wicked and living in a constant struggle to do what’s right. But the truth is, God made us right. It’s activated by faith. The blood of Jesus is enough to perfect our conscience before Him (Heb. 9:14). When we have a clean conscience and a pure heart, we receive more from Him. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). As Adam and Even ran from God because of shame, we can run to Him because He made us righteous.

    With a clear conscience we can engage Him in deeper and deeper levels of intimacy. There is nothing separating us from Him! It was all paid for, we can now boldly enter the throne of grace. There is nothing separating us from Him anymore. We can have real fellowship with the living God! The foundation of the Christian life is an intimate relationship with God. As we grow deeper and deeper in intimacy with Him with a clear conscience, as His children, we are able to hear Him clearer for ourselves and others. Praise the Lord, thank you Jesus! May we continue to grow deeper and closer to You.


This is possibly the first chapter of a book I'm working on, give me some feedback.
Joshua Shaw