Before moving to Monroe County in east Tennessee in January 2006, I had visited Barney Creek, the First Assembly House and Fields of the Wood, all of which are significant to the history of the Church of God of Cleveland, Tennessee. When I had visited them the first time, I viewed them with a “so this is where it all began” attitude – like that of a tourist. But my attitude toward these places changed when I began to get to know some of the precious people in this area.
Before I go any farther, allow me to give you a brief history of the beginning of what occurred at Barney Creek.
On August 19, 1886, in a grist mill along the banks of Barney Creek in the Coker Creek area of Monroe County Tennessee, a group of nine believers joined together to form The Christian Union. Richard Spurling and his son, R.G. Spurling, operated the grist mill which was also known as the Barney Creek Meeting House.
The Spurlings had felt that there had to be more to church and the Christian life than the creeds and rituals which they were experiencing in the churches they attended. They felt that the church should be founded upon the law of love which the Scriptures taught and that the New Testament contained everything that was needed for guidance for the church and Christian living.
During their time of searching the Word of God and hours upon hours of prayer, they experienced the grace work of sanctification and an in-filling of Holy Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts. The young church experienced much persecution but through it all they remained strong in their faith and commitment to the Lord.
Additional information can be found at the Church of God International Offices’ website, http://churchofgod.org/a-brief-history-of-the-church-of-god.
The Christian Union eventually became known as the Church of God has continued to grow and is now in virtually every country of the world and its membership exceeds six million people.
As I stated earlier, as I came to know more about this area and the people in it, my attitude changed. My heart began to be burdened and grieved because there was not the strong pentecostal presence in the area that I felt should be. Since this was the place God had chosen to pour out His Holy Spirit over a hundred years ago, I couldn’t help but feel that He still wanted the power of Holy Spirit in this area in a mighty way.
We began having Breaking Free Weekend Retreats for Women in the Coker Creek area and prior to the retreats we would spend time praying over the area. We would go to the top of Buck Bald Mountain to intercede. Buck Bald Mountain is an amazing place. There used to be a fire tower on the top of it and there are no trees at the summit of the mountain. The view forms a 360 degree panoramic vista. You can see Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia (and possibly South Carolina) from there.
During the summer of 2010, we were preparing for another retreat in late September. In August we began a 40-Day Mountain Top Prayer Journey in preparation for it. We made several trips to the top of Buck Bald Mountain to pray and proclaim the Word of God over that area and those who would be attending the retreat. We interceded for the power of Holy Spirit to again flow through this area.
On the day the retreat began, the retreat staff gathered on top of the mountain again. One of the ladies prophetically declared that there had been a paradigm shift in the atmosphere. To be honest with you, I was tired of “hearing” prophetic words about “paradigm shifts” and “new levels” and not seeing any results. But something seemed different that day. And it has been different since then!
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