Brant Baker was born March 12th, 1948 in Santa Monica, California.
Brant accepted Christ in 1964, at a Billy Graham Crusade in San Diego, California.
I was present at that same crusade as a young kid.
A man named Jim Prescott had helped out my fatherless family financially at a time that was critical for us.
He was a Christian and took my whole family to that crusade.
I accepted Christ 3 years later through the street ministry of Lonnie Frisbee in 1967 in a hippie hangout house in Newport Beach California.
I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues at that time.
Lonnie introduced me to Brant at his clothing store on 17th street in Costa Mesa California.
In 1968 Brant witnessed the first miracle of his life at a Kathryn Kuhlman service at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
By then my family was living in southern California, I was also present at all of those Kuhlman Healing services.
Shortly after that Brant Began attending Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and studied the Bible extensively under the teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith.
I also started attending Calvary Chapel the summer of 1967.
Following a youth rally in 1971, Brant received a vision from the Lord, to give out the Bread- the Living Word of God.
Several months later a small bible study, led by Brant Baker, started and grew rapidly.
God told Brant that He would use him in a healing ministry, and gave him the scriptures, Jeremiah 33:3 as a promise.
The ministry expanded, with people receiving salvation, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, healings, and incredible anointed teaching from the Word of God.
In 1972, Brant was ordained in the State of California as a licensed minister of the Gospel, and Shekinah Fellowship was incorporated by the state as a recognized church organization.
The group took on the name of Shekinah Fellowship, intentionally meaning those who fellowship in the presence of the Glory of God.
While praying at his grandmother's bedside, Brant had an experience with the manifested Shekinah Glory of God and it marked him deeply.
I have seen the Shekinah Glory during Brant's services at Shekinah Fellowship.
I could actually see a physical white fog engulfing the room as the experience of a sense of Holiness descended upon everyone in what was a powerful manifestation of Almighty God.
This happened quite a lot in the early days of Shekinah Fellowship.
Further expansion reached out to the surrounding area with outreach services, and a television and radio ministry.
In 1974, the "Body Ministry" became a major part of the service.
Workers move among the congregation in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as Brant ministers from the podium.
Many miracles were wrought as these vessels of God moved together in one accord.
They became what was called the "Word~of~knowledge workers."
A pattern that was seen at the Kathryn Kuhlman healing services.
There was great fruit.
Thousands upon thousands, from every walk of life, every segment of society have found salvation in Jesus Christ through this ministry.
Thousands more have been touched, blessed and healed by the miracle working power of God, so actively a part of the Shekinah Fellowship services.
In 1976, the West Coast Theater, 333 E. Ocean Blvd, in Long Beach, California, with a seating capacity of 1,800 became the home and administrative headquarters of Brant Baker, Shekinah Fellowship.
It was here that the corporation became "Brant Baker Ministries."
The Marquee out front reflected this declining change.
It said in large black letters at the top "Brant Baker" and the next line under that in smaller letters said "With Jesus Christ" as observed by me one day as I drove past it.
I recall thinking to myself at that moment, "This marks the beginning of the end for that ministry."
Because of the hunger for more of God among the multitudes, many phone calls and letters from all over the world have been received for Brant and the Shekinah Fellowship Team to travel.
In September of 1979, Shekinah answered a call to "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel."
The corporate office of Brant Baker~Shekinah Fellowship was located in Glendale, California, with a mailing address in Glendale, California.
Brant's vision for the ministry was that it would be an effective means of preaching the Gospel, bring about unity among all denominations, making people aware of their place in the Body of Christ, the Church, and the soon coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with confirmation of the Word, with signs and wonders and miracles following.
"My place is to point the way to the one who can meet your needs.
I can't do anything to help you, except to point the way.
I'm no better than anyone else, I have no miracle working ability, but I believe that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever," Brant would say.
Brant Baker preached the uncompromising Word of God and expected to see miraculous confirmation of God's Word.
Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle.
Thousands of people have been healed through Brant's ministry and tens of thousands have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
As a result, Brant had continuously received hundreds of requests to minister from all over the world.
Some of these request have taken the ministry across the United States and others have led to different parts of the world.
In 1979, Brant and the outreach team traveled to the Midwestern part of the United States for two crusades in Des Moines, Iowa.
The first was for three days.
Because of the great response, they were invited to return for an eight day "camp meeting."
This led to television and radio airplay of previously recorded miracle services.
In December of 1980, a visit to the Philippines brought forth a week of miracles.
From the first press conference to the last miracle service, the people of Manila could see the moving of the Holy Spirit in Shekinah Fellowship.
This was a confirmation of the Word of God that was preached in each service.
As Brant has often said, "My place is to point the way to the one who can meet your needs."
The trips to the Philippines, was sponsored by the Alleluia Fellowship in Manila.
In the spring of 1981, Shekinah Fellowship was asked to conduct a special week of services during Easter at Jerry Barnard's church in San Diego, California.
No one could have known the impact of these services in the San Diego Area.
Due to live television coverage by the Christian Communications Network, thousands were touched by the moving of the Holy Spirit.
In response to the many request from churches and communities throughout the Western states, Brant traveled extensively, sharing the message God had given him.
Brant passed away November 26th, 1985, in a Glendale hospital.
He was only 37 when he died.
A victim of aids.
Brant had lived a gay life style, but God chose him and moved through his ministry like He did with Lonnie Frisbee.
"Many of us in full time ministry can trace the beginnings of our work to those early days at Shekinah Fellowship.
Like the other Elders and Deacons, I was unusually young for the ministry - 17, in fact! - when I came on staff in 1972, and I marvel at the level of work and responsibility we took on at such an early age.
But we'd come together with incredible zeal, a striking variety of gifts, and a conviction that Christ was coming soon, so we charged ahead, certain of our calling.
And who but a bunch of bold, naive, Spirit-filled kids would have dared to do it?
I will always remember Brant as one of the most engaging and passionate men I've ever known. When I attended his funeral I felt a sense of loss that's with me today, as he etched himself on my life, and on so many others, indelibly."
It was a Saturday night.
The auditorium was dark accept for the flood light that was focused on the long haired young man.
He had a guitar and was about to share a song with all of us.
There was an expectancy in the atmosphere of that place.
It was good to be there.
The man started to sing a plaintive song, "Adam, where art thou?"
The Holy Spirit was present and smeared all over that song as it was being sent forth by this young man of God with simplicity.
There was another young man of God sitting at the keyboard of the piano on stage.
He sat quietly in the dark at the periphery of the spot light as the song was being sung.
This team set the table for what was about to happen, but that is another story.
What I want to focus on here is the song that Randy West shared with us and Joe Dallas who was the piano player.
"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"
This was not the call of the police authority, but the call of yearning love.
A father's love for His own.
God's question to Adam still sounds in the ears of every sinner:
'Where art thou?'
It is the call of Divine love which offers redemption from sin.
It is the call of sorrow, which grieves over the sinner.
It is the call of Divine love.
To each and everyone of us the call is reiterated, 'Where art thou?'
It was not Adam who sought God, but God that sought Adam.
No coincidence that your eyes are upon this text at this very moment!
Sure you think that your doing ok, that you are not included in this cry of God's heart.
You are exempt from this because your full of Xtian activities and such and above this state of Adam.
Scripture tells us that, "There is none that seeketh after God." Rom. 3:11
It was God who sought out and called Abram while he was yet in idolatry.
It was God who sought Jacob at Bethel when he was fleeing from the consequences of his wrong doing.
It was God who sought out Moses while a fugitive in Midian.
It was Christ who sought out the apostles while they were engaged in fishing, so that He could say , "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you."
It was Christ who came to seek and save that which was lost.
It is the Shepherd who seeks the sheep, and not the sheep that seek the Shepherd.
How true it is that, "We love Him because He first loved us."
The Deity stooping so low as to care for and seek out you and I, the dust of the earth.
You have come here, just now, because God Almighty has desired to knock upon the door of your very life.
To rejoin you in His love.
Now Adam, who heard the voice of God, reacted in a curious way.
He and his wife "hid themselves" from Him.
Will you hide yourself also?
Man's conscience then did not bring him to God-for there must be the work of the Holy Spirit- they were terrified and ran away from God.
They sought to hide themselves. Are you also hiding?
He was Holy, they were sinful, consequently they were afraid of Him and sought to hide themselves.
Most are uneasy in the presence of God and wish to hide from Him.
They become uncomfortable in their sin, so they seek to flee from Him.
When God sought out Adam and brought him face to face with his guilt, he was given fair and full opportunity to confess his sin.
"Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?"
And what was the reply?
How did Adam react?
Instead of a broken hearted confession of his sin he excused himself- "And the man said, The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."
It was the same with Eve:
"And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?"
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."
Attempt was thus made to shift the responsibility upon others.
Are you doing this just now?
It was not working, it was unavailing and man stood face to face with a Holy God and was convicted of his guilt and unspeakable shame.
And just as it will be at the Great White Throne judgment day.
1. The discovery that something was wrong with himself.
2.The effort to hide the shame by a self-provided covering.
3.Fear of God and an attempt to hide from His presence instead of confessing his sin but seeking to excuse it.
This scenario has not changed much through out world history.
But salvation is provided by God Himself!
Mercy desires to spare the offender and because justice demands death, another shall be slain in his place.
The death of the Son of God is shadowed forth in the very act of God upon Adam and Eve.
He clothed Adam and Eve with skins, and in order to obtain these skins animals must be slain, life must have been taken, blood must have been shed!
And in this way was a covering provided for the fallen and ruined sinner.
The application of the type is obvious.
The Death of the Son of God was shadowed forth.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for the sheep God can now be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Adam and Eve were entirely passive, it was the Lord God who furnished the skins, made into coats and clothing them.
We see the same in the parable of the prodigal son. when the wanderer had taken the place of a lost sinner and had owned his sin, the grace of the Father's heart was displayed.
"But the father said unto to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." Luke 15:22.
The prodigal did not have to furnish the robe, nor did he have to put it on himself, all was done for him. And so it is with every sinner.
"For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the grace of God." Eph. 2:8
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isa. 61:10.
Let us come to our senses and come to God, just as we are, and allow Him to cloth us with Christ.
Christ Jesus our salvation, our covering from our sins. Our Redeemer.
Romans 3:24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Hebrews 9:12
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
You can have confident assurance that if you died today, you would go to heaven.
Confess your sins to God and ask Christ into your life, believing that He died for your sins and rose from the dead.
That service in 1973 with Randy West and Joe Dallas has stood out in my mind all these many years, because it was the heart of the Father that they shared with us kids...
They were anointed servants of God in a powerful way, smeared with the oil of the Holy Spirit, speaking a message that is timeless of salvation for all who hear.
Funny thing though, I can not for the life of me recall what the pastor, Brant Baker, shared with us that particular evening...hmm...
Brant is with the Lord now, that anointing- in all of its Glory and all of its power- has not disappeared forever.
"When I first came to a service I knew that is were I belonged.
It was in a small store and we all sat on the ground and listened to him preach.
We soon moved into a foursquare Church.
Many people started to attend the Sat night services and it soon grew to fill the large church.
The choir was wonderful.
I remember Joe Dallas at the piano and the various singers.
I remember that before each service Brant would be waiting on the side of the stage praying , eyes closed or raised, hands folded or uplifted to the Lord.
As we all sang worship to God the room would fill with a cloud of Gods presence.
It could literally be felt and seen.
There were many healings that I saw, and I can testify to one that I saw before my eyes.
I was on stage with Brant and Randy West, while people came up to testify of their healings.
A lady came up and she was healed of a illness but her hands were still twisted from arthritis and as Brant started to pray for her , I saw her hands straighten out fully.
Brant said, "did you see that" Yes, I did.
There were times when it was hard to stand next to him as you could feel the presence of Jesus ever so softly.
We all Loved the Lord and looked only to do his will."
Sweetest nothing that ever was had swept my conscious self away like a feather and I was out on the floor for a brief moment.
I didn't plan it.
I certainly didn't fake it.
I really didn't know what was going on: some friends who brought me to the service gently suggested I go forward along with everyone else pouring into the aisles toward the front where Brant was beginning to move through them: "In Jesus name...In Jesus name..."
Then the afterglow service and the presence of the Holy Spirit so powerful.
Exquisite warm liquid light.
The guy next to me was trying to get me to join the chant the rest of the room was chanting.
Everyone was speaking in strange languages.
But for me it wasn't happening and I was not about to fake it.
Then the Holy Spirit.
Oh man I can never forget.
"Lord," I said in my thoughts, "any more and I won't be able to keep my knees from giving way."
I was left standing.
So gentle.
So like God.
Liquid love and light running all through me and I was left standing.
Authentic.
Unforgettable.
***
So where are the ones called to ministry of God's manifested power in miracles and signs and wonders?
Sure there are a lot of places hyped up emotionally and acting out soulishly.
All claiming to have what in actuality they have not.
One you taste of the real of God you can't settle for anything less than that.
You will be on a life time quest to find what you once knew was so real and so powerful.
Few in ministry can set aside personal gain, set aside wanting others to know them and about them, it cost a lot to be in a place of usability where "He must increase and I must decrease" so that the power of God can flow.
Come O man of God!
Come O woman of God!
If today you hear His voice respond to the voice of God.
Rise up and have faith.
Come forth in ministry!
Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Through whom you can do all things.
With man it may be impossible but with God all things are possible.
It's a beautiful day.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52:7
Our God reigns!
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