Foundation Scripture: Luke 13 vs. 11-13 (Amplified) And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness). She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or to look upward. Vs. 12 And when Jesus saw her, He called (her to Him) and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity! Vs. 13 Then He laid (His) hands on her, and instantly she was made straight, and she recognized and thanked and praised God. There was something special about the touch of the Lord’s hands on this woman and the other people He healed and delivered. That “something” was the anointing. When Jesus touches someone’s life, it changes forever! Jesus can take someone who is completely down and out and totally transform them.No matter what you may be going through – Jesus cares! He loves you. He wants to touch and change you. Jesus can take what the world has despised and discarded and rejected and make something beautiful out of it. It does not matter what other people may think of you. It does not even matter what you think about yourself. If you place your life into His wonderful hands, His miracle-working hands, He can make something beautiful and worthwhile out of whatever you give Him. He can make something beautiful out of your life. Here is a poem that has blessed me greatly over the years and I pray that it will bless you, too.

Rodney Howard Browne talks about The Touch of the Master’s Hand‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while To auction off the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. “What am I bid for the old violin? Who’ll start the bidding for me? One dollar. One.Who’ll make it two?Two dollars.Who’ll make it three?” Going for three. . .but no,from a room far back A gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow. Wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening up its strings, He played a melody pure and sweet, as sweet as an angel sings. The auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”as he held it up with the bow. “One thousand, one, who’ll make it two?Two thousand, who’ll make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand twice, going and gone” said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, “We don’t quite understand What changed its worth.”Quick came the reply, “The touch of the Master’s hand.” Many a man, with life out of tune, battered and torn by sin, Is auctioned off to a thoughtless crowd, much like that old violin. A mess of pottage, a glass of wine, a game, and he travels on. He’s going once, he’s going twice, he’s going. . .he’s almost gone. Then the Master comes, and the thoughtless crowd can never quite understand The worth of a soul and the miracle that’s wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand. Author Unknown.

It was such a joy for my husband and I to watch the TriCities area Great Awakening. In 2003, the Lord began to stir our hearts and called us to the Kingsport/Tri City area. We believe this is the year that God will move us out! We sensed a real connection in the spirit with the people and what the Lord is doing through your Ministry! Thank you and continued blessings! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

In the summer of 1999, Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne went to New York City – in the summer of 2000 they went to Shreveport, Louisiana. The Lord spoke to Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne to come to Shreveport-Bossier with a huge soul-winning outreach, because churches in that area had sowed so much into Good News New York in the way of money, time, prayer and volunteers.

The following is what the Lord did….

The crusade, called Good News Shreveport-Bossier was held June 20-July 29, 2000. This was a city-wide event that touched thousands of people. 130 people were on the streets witnessing daily as anointed services were held each night at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum with Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

During that 6 week period, 200 tons of food were distributed and 1 million tickets with free admission to the Hirsch Coliseum were handed out. We had 1,000 volunteers. We mailed to 110,000 homes giving them an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We also knocked and called 110,000 homes giving them the same opportunity to receive Jesus. And the greatest part of all, we saw 59,247 people come to know the Lord through one-on-one evangelism and altar calls at the Coliseum.

The Vision of GNSB
1. Rent the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum for six weeks in the summer of 2000 and see 100,000 souls come to Christ.
2. Launch one of the biggest efforts in street evangelism with teams from all over the world. In an organized effort, these teams will evangelize Shreveport-Bossier and the Ark-La-Tex area having a lasting impact.
3. Contact 5,500 churches in a 100-mile radius of this area to invite their participation in the outreach.
4. Train 5,000 workers to fill the need for ushers, counselors, evangelism, follow-up and other areas of help.
5. Distribute Bibles, tracts, clothing and 200 tons of food to the needy.
6. See the Good News proclaimed throughout the city through every available means: radio, the world-wide-web, television, billboards, posters, word-of-mouth and handbills.
7. See Shreveport-Bossier and the Ark-La-Tex area shaken for Jesus.

Sheila, sclerosis of the liver, pneumonia, arm in sling, wreaked of alcohol, carrying a blanket, shuffling down sidewalk (doctors gave her 3 months to live). Accepted Christ, said I was an answer to prayer. Prayed for healing & restoration She said the love of God was in my eyes and she needed that. She asked me to share this love with her friend. She looked down the alley & didn’t see him. I told her where I’d be if she saw him. Boo F.

Testimony:
As I was preparing to come to Athens on yesterday, I had “accidently” had the opportunity and privilege to lead a former student of mine to Christ. I live 8 mi in the country, and this guy walked past my driveway, I was turning in. Long story short; I gave him a ride home and led him to the Lord in his driveway. It was as if the Lord was preparing me for the soul winning session today. I went to two nursing homes in the Atlanta area today with a team of four others. I led 20 people to the Lord Jesus today. I have never done anything like this in my life before! By the way I live 2 1/2 hrs. away from Athens. I had planned on coming at the 10:30 am session. The Lord had other plans- He woke me up at 4:00 am. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I said: “Ok Lord, I’m going to the early session at 9:00am”. I got here before 9:00, and that is a miracle in itself. Susan C.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to trust in God with our lives. The disciples asked Jesus in John 6:28 “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that YE BELIEVE on him whom he hath sent.” Our job as disciples is to believe. The Amplified Bible states that we should “cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger”. We have to have faith in order to please God, and our works that we do for Him in faith will be pleasing to Him. It is the “God kind of faith” that Jesus spoke about in Mark 11:22 that would allow us to cast mountains into the sea. So God Himself has given us this faith from Himself. We just have to put it into action by our own spoken words, which are a result of the overflow from our heart. When we totally trust God with our entire lives, and not just partially, but give Him our WHOLE heart, every part of it, leaving nothing out, then our lives suddenly become easier. Jesus never intended on us to carry the burdens that we so often carry. He said “take MY yoke upon you and learn from Me. My yoke is easy and MY burden is light”. We do that in FAITH. We have to trust Him with our lives.

Have you ever witnessed a miracle with your own eyes? Some would say that healing passed away with the last apostle. But the Bible says otherwise. “He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” says Isaiah regarding the coming Messiah. Jesus paid the price for our sicknesses and our diseases. On His back He bore the 39 stripes, all for our healing. If it’s not for today, then why does Hebrews declare that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever? The Word of God is true, and I’ve seen it in action. God said He would confirm His Word with SIGNS FOLLOWING. Just this week at the River Church there have been numerous healings. One person was blind in one eye, and now he can see! A Bible school student came here with no hearing in either ear, wearing 2 hearing aids, and now she hears with no aid! There is no doubt that Jesus walks among His people. Rodney Howard Browne preaches this healing power at his church, and all over the world. There are people getting healed all over America and other parts of the world. You too can be healed, just believe in the One who is the Healer, and He will touch your body with the anointing that destroys EVERY yoke of bondage! Jesus already paid the price.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to touch other people’s lives with the Holy Spirit. I was going soul winning in a retirement home on The Great Awakening Tour. I went to this man’s room and asked if I could pray for him. He said “but I’m Jewish”. I said that was okay. He was shocked that I would still pray for him. So I began to read the soulwinning script to him, and when I got to the part where we prayed “Dear Lord Jesus”, he told me he could not pray that prayer. I said “why not?”. “I don’t believe in Jesus.” Well, I told him that Jesus was a Jew, and that no one else had died for him on the Cross. I asked him what he had to lose, and so finally, he agreed. We began to pray the sinner’s prayer, and I asked Jesus to make Himself real to this man, and prove He was the Messiah. As we were praying, the Fire of God hit this man, and the Joy of the Lord overtook him. He was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak, and when he could finally say something, all he said was “Jesus IS real!” You see, it’s only our job to PREACH the Gospel. It’s God’s job to save the people and show Himself. We can never prove God to anyone, but He can certainly prove Himself. Just open your mouth and give Him the opportunity to touch someone’s life through you.

Am I hungry for God? We should ask ourselves that question daily. The Bible says “Blessed are those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matt. 5:6. If we stay hungry for God, then we will stay filled. But how do we continue to be hungry for God, when all these things are trying to interfere with that hunger? It is the hunger of the heart towards God that will take you places in God that you could never otherwise get to. Hunger propels you. But you must cultivate that hunger. You must first of all examine the things in your life that cause you to be hungry for more of Him, or that cause your hunger for Him to wane. In the natural, you eat what you crave, and you crave what you eat. If you eat junk food all the time, that’s what you crave. When you begin to feed your natural man with healthy foods that provide nutrition, then your body begins to crave those healthy foods. The same is with the spiritual. You feed your spirit with junk food, then that is all you will crave. When you begin to feed your spirit with the things of God, the Spirit of God, and the Presence of the Holy Spirit, soon you will find your spirit man craving godly things. When I was in a desperate time in my personal life, knowing that I would die if something didn’t change, it was the desperate hunger in my heart for more of God that drew me to Him, and He touched me so much as a response to the hunger in my heart. If it wasn’t for the desperate hunger I had in my heart, I would never have gotten that awesome encounter that forever changed my life. God is no respecter of persons, but He is a respecter of hunger. He responds to our hungry hearts. Start to cultivate your spiritual hunger for God, eliminate the things in your life that stop you from even being hungry. Examine your heart daily, and allow that hunger to be developed and cultivated.