Our Guest Rodney Howard-Brown
Sid: Now my guest is someone that many of you have heard of I’ve interviewed him several times in the past, Rodney Howard-Brown. I haven’t been in touch with him as much as I would have like to over the years, but Rodney never said this to me but I have noticed that he has been the catalyst for the 4 greatest moves of God in modern times. We did a little research Rodney and we found out that the great revivals in modern days were at the Toronto Airport Church, Brownsville in Pensacola, Florida, the Smithton Revival, and then bumped to England Holy Trinity Brompton Church; we found that you are traced to all of them. That is… that’s an amazing revelation because I mean I’m not stretching anything. You definitely had a transfer of anointing for every one of these revivals.
Rodney: Well, you know I don’t think I tell me don’t blame me for everything.
Sid: (Laughing)
Rodney: It really is all the Holy Spirit and we understand that God uses people and all we see ourselves is to light the fires of revival everywhere we go.
Sid: Well, now that I realize this and I’ve put this whole connection together it’s even more imperative that we understand how God dealt with you. Because as you say “Whatever you received anyone listening to us can receive if they get hungry enough.” Would you agree?
Rodney: Yes Sir, you know the Bible says “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through-out the whole earth. God is looking for people that He can trace Himself strong in their behalf.” As a young boy I’d given my life to the Lord when I was 5 and I was Baptized in the Holy Spirit when I was 8 years of age. Crying out for God throughout my growing up, my teen years.
Sid: Now, let me point out that you were raised in a Pentecostal home. Out of curiosity did you see miracles as a young boy in your home; in your church?
Rodney: Yes sir, my mom and dad; my dad was an engineer, my mom ran several businesses and I saw the Spirit of God on both of them. Actually in fact every one of the 9 gifts operated through their life. Our house was a place of prayer, people would come and get set free from demonic oppression, delivered off of drugs, alcohol. They’d also come to our home for prayer meetings to get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So I saw it all in the living room. It was pretty amazing as a kid growing up.
Sid: Well that’s a great heritage. Just out of curiosity I’ve never asked you this but did you have a season where you back-slid I mean being… unfortunately lots of people raised the way that you were raised wanted to see if the grass was a little greener somewhere else.
Rodney: No sir I did not. I’ll tell you I think my parents I think there walk with God it meant every day we prayed together and I saw the reality of Jesus in each of them. So from a young age I had a really relationship with the Lord so I did not, I did not backslide no, thank God.
Sid: Okay, in 1978 something happened that just shook you to the very core; what was that?
Rodney: My oldest brother, I have two older brothers one 12 years older, and other 14 years older than me. And my oldest brother past away suddenly of leukemia and it pretty much devastated the whole family. I mean he was in the ministry; we were in it and we had a music group together and I really looked up to him obviously as my older brother, and he died suddenly. And so I remember standing at his deathbed; I was only 17 at the time and I remember praying and I made a vow I said to the Lord, I said “The devil going to rue the day that he touched my brother.” And I didn’t even know what I was saying Sid, I said of the devil “People are going to laugh at you all over the world.” I did not know God would give us a ministry of joy.
Sid: Hmm. So Rodney would you say you’ve kind of up until that point were taking things for granted having been raised where the supernatural is so natural in your home and in your church? In other words, tell me what was the difference in your hunger as a result of what happened to your brother?
Rodney: Well I realized that I had to have the fire in my life. You can see the fire of God it’s like when Paul wrote to Timothy he said “I see the fire in you that was in your mother and your Grandmother.” I knew that my parents had an intimate relationship with the Lord that God spoke to them and that the Lord had spoken to me several times as a teenager. I had heard His audible voice, however, I knew that if I was going to go into the ministry which God had called me to God called me into that I could not go without the fire. Like John the Baptist said “I baptize with water but there’s coming one after me that will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.” And I knew I had the Holy Spirit but I needed that fire if I was to have any impact anywhere that I went.
Sid: So how were you praying at that time?
Rodney: Oh I was just desperate and it really took place over a period of August of ’78 to July of ’79. Then in July of ’79 for whatever reason I just was one night I said “Lord, tonight’s the night either you come down and touch me or I’m coming up there to touch you.” And I was so desperate I began to cry out “God I want your fire” and the fire of God fell on me. (Laughing)
Sid: But, but, but even before that you said “Lord, tonight is my night.” You were just making a bold statement or did you feel God showed that to you.
Rodney: No, no, no it was just like in a place of desperation of crying out to God.
Sid: Okay, tell me about what happened…
Rodney: As I was crying out for the fire and just shouting at the top of my voice actually I felt nothing at the time for about twenty minutes. And suddenly it was like somebody poured gasoline over me and set me ablaze. Now when I say this; when I talk about the fire of God it was not painful but it was like pins and needles but it was a good kind. It was like electricity running through my body from the top of my head to the souls of my feet. And out of my innermost being this river of Living Water began to flow I was started to weep; and I was laughing and I was speaking in other tongues and this just went on and on it flowed like a river. And so that was when the Lord touched me and it lasted like that for really over 3 days; into the 4th day is when I cried and I said “Lord, I can’t bear this and can you lift it.” And I realized why we’re going to have to have a glorified body when we get to heaven because we wouldn’t be able to stand in the presence of God. Our physical bodies could not take too much of the presence of God.
Sid: Now just out of curiosity you said it lasted several days, did you just stay in your prayer place, or did you go to work and then come back and pray, what was going on?
Rodney: No, no I was actually with a group of young people and they were mainly all Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Dutch Reformed, I was the only Pentecostal among them and so kind of fighting everybody in the room when I started crying out. But when the fire of God fell on me it actually fell on them. And there was a group of girls from the Grahamstown High School for girls and the fire of God hit them. They went back and the revival broke out; they went for 3 years in Grahamstown and I only found out some of the stuff later, years later. We know of a pastor’s wife who was actually there the night that I got touched by the fire and she told the story of how the revival went back to this high school and shook this whole high school.
Sid: Now out of curiosity your parents when you went to them and told them what happened how did they react?
Rodney: Oh no, they understood, they totally understood because I’d seen my mother, I remember when I was 7 years old and I walked in the room and my mom was sitting on the sofa and she was filled with great joy. And she was just laughing for 3 ½ hours; and I remember as a 7 year old boy I said to my dad, “What’s happening to Mom?” And he said “Jesus is touching mom.” So to me, I totally understood the presence of God. And the Bible says “In His presence is fullness of joy, at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The Bible says “Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water.” And this is the joy that Jesus gives that the world cannot give.
Sid: Now, the fire went into you; you’re experiencing God. When did it actually start being released on other people, of course you said “Other people,” there was a group there that it was released on, but at a meeting when did it start being release?
Rodney: Well, just in reference to when it fell on me, I didn’t know what to do so I started just laying hands on everybody around me and they got hit by it.
Sid: (Laughing)
Rodney: The next year 1980 when I went into the ministry I was traveling with a group called “Youth for Christ.” And we had a music group and I was lead singer, guitarist and we had a whole band. And we were in this Methodist Church and of course they told me they said “Look, you can’t talk about the Holy Spirit.” And I said “Okay, what do you want me to talk about?” They said “Well, talk about Jesus.” And I said “That’s fine by me I know Him so I can talk about Him.”
Sid: (Laughing)
Rodney: I think they forgot that Jesus said “If I be lifted up I’ll draw all men unto Me.” And so when you talk about Jesus Holy Spirit comes along and say’s “Did you call?” But so I was backroom of the Methodist Church and one of the young ladies on our team that was in terrible pain came into the door right before the service. And said “Look, I’m in terrible pain would you pray for me?” I got up as I went towards her to lift up my hand and lay it on her head the power of God came right through her head and I never even touched her and she just crumbled on the floor. And I felt for the first time the tangible presence of God coming through my hands.
Sid: It was like that electricity that hit you originally it was now moving through you to other people.
Rodney: Correct, but I felt it go from me.
Sid: Hmm.
Rodney: And then I found a reference in the scripture from Mark chapter 5 the story of the woman with issue of blood.
Sid: Rodney I think you’ve going to have to hold that thought we’re out of time right now. But Rodney’s call, his purpose is to make you so hungry for God. To provoke you to such jealousy and then to pray a prayer of impartation.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth