Have you met the Raging Fire? That blazing heat that burns off all that is unworthy? That presence that blasts off, that by the nearness refines while it terrifies?

The intimacy is shocking, such holiness, such intolerance for that which we embrace foolishly thinking it gives us freedom and power. Gone, gone, gone are the ways of man in Your presence. Chaos and all the things that would attempt to dethrone are laughed to scorn. No power, no authority known unto man stands here. No place to hide, no way to misdirect, no lie is even able to be uttered for Your divine aura repels all strength that does not come from Your throne.

This is where I long to dwell. This is where I want to build my home, my eternal home.

No other place houses such clarity. No other place houses such peace.

Much like the terror of sudden thunder, or the flash of unexpected lightning, so does Your truth strike fear to those who hear, for whoever hears it are suddenly brought unbearably close, into the fire, the heat only burns if you don’t let go. But for those who long for the fire, they draw beyond the unbearable, they welcome the purging, they surrender to the flames sweet embrace. Such an aroma of blessing, the burning of the dross.

It becomes desire to be fully known, and fully surrendered. Unbearable intimacy, terrifying proximity, but when you let go, you fly, with wings of fire. Its light fills your eyes with flame. Holy flame, holy fire becomes your vision. A touch of the eternal blazes forth cutting through all, making any attempts of your failing flesh and weakened heart flutter away like ash.

Its ridiculous, insanity, unbelievable, why would anyone do this? Why would anyone feel comfortable here? No fancy invitations. No welcome mat. No greeter but the flame. No cup of water for relief. Only fire. A goblet of fire. No comfortable couch to sit on, only an altar, only an altar. An altar for living fire. A fire that enters in your heart, your mind, your soul, and doesn’t die. No it doesn’t die. Never lacking strength, never dying out. Never does it dim. A living fire, it threatens to shed off this mortal body, it threatens to engulf our hopes and dreams. It alights our imagination, our past, our present, our future. All that we have, saved up for ourselves, all that we have stored up for our own survival. It enters there, it looks at it with a smile and a word,

Security?

Only in that holy raging inferno, only in the Triune flame, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Security in anyone else? Ha!

The only security lies beyond reason. The only assurance dwells where we cannot see. The only certainty in a realm we cannot hold and touch. A place we need to be reborn into to enter. This Kingdom of Fire, where the King has a sword that comes from His mouth.

-Brian Carter

Sometime during my Sophomore year in High School, I felt lead to begin reading my Bible during the 15 min. break we had between our classes. I opened my Bible to Psalm 1, one of my favorite passages, and began reading with my Bible hidden in my locker. The words I read went right from my eyes out of my head. It was like I couldn’t understand what I was reading. I thought this was really odd but kept on anyway. I must have read that Psalm 5-7 times before it finally started making sense. I began to pray that I would be the kind of person who was like the tree planted by streams of water.

The next day, instead of hiding what I was reading in my locker, I sat down and had it out on my lap. A friend of mine who was also a believer saw what I was doing and asked if he could join me. The need I felt to connect with God at school was felt by more than just the two of us it seemed, for many students began to come during their break to join us for Scripture reading and prayer. It was a blessing that was soon to lead to practically a church planting experience. There were so many of us that we blocked the hallway and eventually had to move because we were a fire hazard.

During one such time of prayer and Scripture reading, while we were still in the hallway, we faced opposition. A group of guys from the football team began mocking us, calling us names, and shouting things about “separation of church and state”. It took me off guard, but I understood what was going on. I looked over at a friend of mine and I took off my glasses. Now understand, I was in High School, and fighting was one of those things that came with the territory, and I wasn’t the most mature person in the world. My friend, who wasn’t either, nodded at me and we both stood up while the rest were reading the Scripture for that day doing what I should have done- ignore the mockers.

At the time, I knew the two of us couldn’t take out the group of 6 football players, but I was also full of stories of David and Goliath, Gideon, etc. And as we walked up to the group, right before we were in confrontation distance, I was turned to my left as if I was on some kind of invisible track and didn’t have a choice. I looked up and saw a friend of mine that I had been attempting to tell about Jesus.

This guy was probably one of the roughest guys in High School. Adopted/fostered by a caring family, he was taking the path of his birth parents and was headed to doing jail time. He heard the guys shouting things behind me which was becoming increasingly aggressive and offensive. It was one of those times when you think, “O now this is going to get interesting.” My rough friend didn’t have the governor that most of us do and could probably have taken on all 6 sending someone to the hospital.

Now with him at my side, my other friend and I turned around to face them. When my rough friend heard them cussing at me, that was all he needed to hear. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many cuss words in one sentence before that actually almost made sense, and he shouted them out for all to hear. The intensity just went to the next level. The surrounding students knew this was going to get epic so they formed the ring around all 9 of us. They gathered so thick, no teacher was ever going to get near in time.

Then as I should’ve been getting ready to charge, something happened that I’ll never forget, I felt an incredible calm wash over me. The rough kid was standing next to me, his face contorted in rage, and my other friend was next to him looking at me for the signal. I remember the insults the 6 were saying hitting something before they even got to me and I watched/felt them slide down to the ground. It was amazing, a Matrix bullet experience 5 years or so before the movie came out. I looked at the 6 then at my friends and was kind of puzzled that I wasn’t getting this party started. But the peace was persistent so I looked again at the 6, walked up to the biggest one (my head was his chest height) and asked a question in a calm voice.

“What is your problem?”

“Separation of Church and State!” said one of the 6.

“We’re just reading the Bible and praying, we’re not doing anything against you,” I responded.

Meanwhile, my rough friend was about to take up on the moment that I let slip by. I placed my hand on his shoulder and he stopped. It was at this time, another curious thing happened. The 6 all had their eyes cast on the floor. Before anything else happened a teacher broke through the ring shouting, “Break it up! Break it up!” And it was over.

The next day, I saw the big guy I had talked to. I walked up to him and he immediately apologized for what happened and he even mentioned how he honestly respected what we were doing. It was so surreal. This was the time the power of God became greater to me than a fist to the face. There is no way a fight would have yielded such a powerful outcome. I remember realizing that with His power, hearts are changed. The most I could get out of a good hit is a bloody nose or a black eye, but nothing near to what He did and can do.

About my 2nd year in college, I heard they were still meeting there for prayer and Scripture reading.

-Brian Carter