Next Generation Leaders | Move of the Spirit

Over the last year I have noticed a number of leaders being raised up and sent out by the Holy Spirit. Their names are not well known, and they were not given their positions by large well known ministries. These emerging ministers have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and given power to heal the sick and authority to cast out demons. Ministers are coming forth after decades of preparation in the ‘wilderness of Moses,’ or many years of suffering in the ‘prison of Joseph.’

The Holy Spirit is sending the next generation of ministers. Jesus is raising these commissioned ones out of the “ash heap” so He gets the glory. The Lord doesn’t want well known ministries or the religious system to have ownership or boast over His ministers or messengers. He wants to show the church that He is the owner and One who empowers these ministers. The Lord is going to get the credit, honor, and glory for the next move of His Spirit.

We are in the season of apostolic and prophetic ministries being released, as well as evangelists. Evangelists mainly focus on salvation, healing, and deliverance; while apostles and prophets reveal the fullness of Christ. Apostles will start with milk if needed, but they move on to meat in order to bring believers to the spiritual maturity of Christ. If a traveling ministry is only preaching salvation, healing, impartation, and deliverance; then they are most likely operating as an evangelist.

The Delay

Years ago, the Lord spoke to the hearts of certain people and called them to be His ministers. Prophetic promises from the Lord were sown into their hearts. Then the dry spiritual wilderness came and all hope of being sent by God sometimes seemed lost. But the Lord needed to bring the dry wilderness so the ground of their hearts would become hard, like dry and cracked desert soil. This occurred so the seeds of calling, ministry, gifts, and anointing would lay dormant under the dry ground for many years.

The Lord foresaw the violent attacks and storms of the enemy. He knew what would come against the future ministers of the Lord if the seeds sown into their hearts were not protected. If the seeds would have sprouted immediately then the seeds would have been completely destroyed by the ravaging storms of the evil one. The Lord knew that the winds would be so violent that He must make the soil of their hearts hard for a time to protect the seed which was sown into fertile soil. If the soil of these ministers’ hearts remained soft, the sheer power of these demonic storms (attacks) would have blown away the soft soil and tore out the seeds of promise. 

So the delay and hardship have been necessary to protect the gifts, ministries, and callings of God. We are now entering a time where many ministers have endured and passed the tests. The soil of their hearts is becoming soft again. The seeds have been sprouting through the soil. Over the last few year these ministries have been springing up, and will continue to do so until the full number has come forth. The Lord wants to encourage those who have had His call and giftings sown into them, but have not seen the fruit because the seeds have been dormant. For many, it is the time for the budding of the Lord’s calling and giftings which He desires to bring forth His Kingdom. 

The Rising

The release of the hidden ones started around 2020. Many have not been sent out by the Holy Spirit yet, but their time of rising is near. Many of the hidden ones have no ministry connections and will suddenly appear like Elijah did. The Lord is doing the work in them and commissioning them. These don’t need a large ministry to approve of them and tell them it’s alright to minister. The Lord will move and do the impossible as the Holy Spirit is their only option. 

Many of these next generation leaders don’t have any way of entering ministry and it seems impossible that they could enter ministry. This is simply an opportunity for the Lord to move miraculously like He did with Moses. When the fullness of time has come, God will send forth His sons and daughters. The ‘coming forth’ will not be by the gifting or charisma of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

Deliverance 

The Lord is currently focusing on deliverance ministry in the U.S. because the church is in such a backslidden and lukewarm state. Many believers need to be set free so they can commit to following Jesus. It’s extremely hard to follow Jesus and be a burning lamp for Him when we are struggling with sin and demonic influences. That is why deliverance is such a crucial and foundational step for new believers, and for those believers wanting to follow Jesus fully. Many Christians struggle following Christ because they have not been set free from demons. The Holy Spirit is currently emphasizing deliverance because there is an entire new generation that needs this manifestation of the Lord’s love and mercy. 

The Lord first started speaking to me about the return of the church to public deliverance ministry in 2009. I noticed how Jesus would minister and cast demons out publicly. His disciples are supposed to follow the example of their Master. At that time, the spiritual climate in the church strongly discouraged public deliverance ministry even though it was exampled in the Bible. It is refreshing to see the Lord moving in positive ways to break believers out of their “religious boxes.” 

Refocusing 

Recently the Lord told me I needed to return to the value I once had for His power, healing, anointing, and spiritual fire released by the Holy Spirit. There was a time, in my immaturity, that I over focused on these things, and the Lord had to pull me away from them to focus on Him. He wanted me to know that the priority must be conforming to the image of Jesus. The Lord is after a fully mature crop for harvest, not a massive undeveloped crop. He wants to see the image of His Son in believers, and for the church to attain to the perfect man or stature of Christ. But now, the Lord is showing me that once we have Christ’s fullness and image as our priority, we must still value the power ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever the Lord chooses to do must be valued, even if it is a release of spiritual milk. Spiritual babies cannot survive on steak, they need milk. This is why Jesus began His ministry with preaching repentance, healing the sick, and casting out demons. People needed to be set free so they could progress in the spiritual life. The power of God is a necessity that must come forth if we are to progress onward to Christ possessing us inwardly. 

Healing and Deliverance 

Jesus commissioned His first century apostles and disciples to heal the sick and cast out demons as they preached the Kingdom of God. So will it be with His last century apostles, disciples, and evangelists. Our current generation has only operated in a measure of the power to heal the sick, and authority to cast out demons. The fullness of that power and authority is yet to be released, but we are near that crossover point where it will be released. 

With the full measure of authority to cast demons out, they come out in a few commands within a matter of seconds. I have seen deliverance take a few minutes or even five minutes or more with various ministries I’ve come across on the internet. The Holy Spirit taught me in 2008 and 2009, and showed me how quick deliverance can occur (just as it occurred in Jesus’ ministry). The Lord will restore this level of authority.

Jesus will also restore the full measure of His healing power. Peter operated in such a high level of anointing that the sick were instantly healed (Acts 3:1-10, 9:32-42). The shadow of the Holy Spirit will come upon the next generation of ministers who are rising out of obscurity, and many who come under that shadow will be healed:

“More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.” (Acts 5:14-16 AMP)

I believe we have started to see the release of this power and authority over the last few years in the United States. It’s time to step into the manifestation of what has been prophesied. Prophecy must be followed by apostolic demonstration. It should be an encouragement to us all that the Lord is beginning to move in this way and with a new generation.

Power and Authority 

The Level of Christ’s power and authority operating in ministers does have a correlation with the measure of Christ in the minister. Ministers who allow Christ to increase and take possession in them will step into the same grace that rested upon Jesus. Ministers who have not fully yielded to Christ and allowed Him to increase to the measure of the stature of His fullness (the perfect man), will only function in a portion of His power and authority. The Father trusts Christ in us with raw power and authority, not us. We cannot handle it as history has clearly demonstrated, but Christ in us can handle it. 

The measure of Christ in us is often related to our season of preparation. Moses had a long season of preparation, and carried great authority. Christ came forth in Moses during his wilderness season of breaking, afflictions, and trials. Ministers who die-to-self in the wilderness for 20 years are usually more emptied of themselves than ministers who had a 5 year season of preparation before entering ministry. The next generation of ministers is the new breed because it’s not them living for themselves or their ministry. They are not trying to get the attention of the current leadership so they can ‘fit in’ and be apart of the ‘club.’ The new breed will allow Christ to flow through them and get what He wants. They are focused on the Lamb. Original apostolic power and authority will be restored to this group of emerging leaders. 

I will note that the prerequisite to operating in power and authority is following Jesus as a disciple. Jesus only gave His disciples this grace (Luke 9:1-2, Luke 10:1), or ones He sent. It wasn’t until the disciples reached a certain point in the discipleship process, that power and authority were released to them. We must follow Jesus until He says we are ready, and then He gives grace to us and sends us out. We can’t “confess it” until we have it. Just because something is true in the word of God doesn’t make it true for us. For example, Moses parted the Red Sea, but just because that is in the word doesn’t mean I can walk out to a lake and part the waters. We have to submit to the Word of God (Christ) as He speaks to us individually.

Deliverance 

When the true authority of Christ is released to someone, demons leave in two or three commands (even spirits that are stronger or strongmen). Generally this happens in under 30 seconds. While I understand that it is good to confess and repent of sin for deliverance to occur (especially self deliverance), Jesus ministered in an authority that did not require this. Jesus did not have the person publicly renounce sins and confess for several minutes, but simply casted out the demons. Some deliverance ministers have the demons speak and explain how they gained entrance (which takes a long time for each person needing deliverance). If a demon is manifesting, all a minister has to do is bind the demon, break its power, and cast it out in the name of Jesus. This is how the Holy Spirit taught me, and it is effective. 

If sin needs to be repented of by the person for the demon to come out, you do not need to know the name of the demon, how it got in, and other answers. To simplify things and save people embarrassment, all a person needs to say is, “I ask forgiveness and repent of any sin I committed that would have allowed this demon to come in.” Then the minister can cast out the demon. It really is that simple and all that is needed is a very general prayer. Some ministers moving in deliverance like to have long videos of demons speaking through people, as they get a lot of views on their social media channels. It can easily become a “show” or the advertising of one’s ministry instead of the pure ministry of the Lord. 

Jesus will restore authority to His apostolic messengers and they will be able to declare that a person’s sin is forgiven (at the Lord’s direction as the Lord is forgiving sin). Then they will cast out the demon (by the authority of Christ) without getting in a drawn-out conversation with a demon:

“So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”(John 20:21-23 NKJV)

This authority was only imparted to Jesus’ apostles and it will be given again to those who He chooses. Obviously one must be led and directed by the Holy Spirit when using this authority. Jesus only did those things He saw the Father doing, and Jesus is our example. This scripture can’t be claimed or confessed to make it a reality in a person’s life. That is not how the Lord works. It must be the Lord forgiving the person’s sin and telling the messenger to proclaim it (just as Jesus proclaimed it when the Father was forgiving sin). Only God can forgive sin, heal the sick, or expel demons. (Also see Matthew 9:1-8)

I was once praying for a man who needed healing while on a short-term mission to Brazil in 2015. The man had been in chronic pain for two years from a motorcycle wreck. His life quality was terrible. I commanded the pain to leave his body and for him to be healed, but nothing happened. I then found myself breaking a generational curse off of his bloodline. After I did this, I prayed for healing again and he was instantly 95 percent better. The tormenting pain left immediately thanks to Jesus. 

The point I am making with sharing this testimony is that I didn’t need to have the man repent of any generational sin, confess sin, or try to figure out if there was a specific curse that caused the accident and was keeping him bound in pain. The Lord taught me to step into His authority and break the curse. I didn’t even know what the curse was, and I didn’t need to. The Holy Spirit came in and broke the curse and healed the man. Ministry does not have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s as complicated as we choose to make it. The Lord was showing me that He simplifies things, and that He is restoring the same authority He operated in to set the captives free. 

Ending Revival

The new generation of ministers will have to remain under the hand of the Lord if they are going to be used in revival by the Holy Spirit. Jesus would stay in a certain location for a certain amount of time and then move on at the direction of the Father. He did not allow the success of revival in a certain location determine whether He would stay or travel elsewhere. He also didn’t allow the will of the people to determine if He should continue revival meetings in a certain area. Jesus was only moved by the Father:

“When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.” So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].” (Luke 4:42-44 AMP)

Anointing draws Glory from Man

“When the people saw the sign (attesting miracle) that He had done, they began saying, “This is without a doubt the promised Prophet who is to come into the world!” Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by Himself.” (John 6:14-15 AMP)

Thirty years of ministering to the Father in the secret place prepared Jesus for 3 1/2 years of public ministry. The secret place in the presence of God focuses our attention on the One who is most important. The anointing and power of God will draw the attention of men, television, and big ministries. The enemy can use these to exalt ministers of Lord and destroy them. Our Master did not allow this to happen and went back to the hidden place before the face of the Father. Not all opportunities are “blessings” or “open doors” from God. 

Ministers who want to carry God’s power and authority need to be able to discern the difference between the opportunities from God and opportunities from the Devil. Opportunities from the Devil have already shipwrecked many men, women, and ministries. However the new breed of leader that is arising will not be sucked in to this evil trap of Satan. The new generation of leaders will follow their Master Jesus to the ‘mountainside’ to be alone with the Father, instead of to thrones of exaltation that men give them. 

New Wineskins

Fresh wine can only be put into new wineskins. The Lord will soon pour out His new wine of the Spirit, but have we been made into new wineskins? Many in the Pentecostal Movement thought that they were a new wineskin until the Charismatic Movement came along. Then many rejected it (or parts of it), and it was discovered that many thought the old wine of Spirit was good enough or better than the new wine:

“Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” (Luke 5:36-39 NKJV)

Just as many in the Pentecostal movement were not ready for the new wine, many in the Charismatic Movement are not ready for the new wine about to be poured out. Those who have been filling their wineskins with the old wine of the Charismatic Movement are currently in a dangerous position of rejecting the coming move of the Holy Spirit. Those believers who have been carrying their crosses and have been made ready by the Holy Spirit, are the new wineskins that have the capacity of holding the final movement of the Holy Spirit before Jesus returns. 

The new wine that is coming will burst the old wineskins. Jesus’ words will not fall to the ground. Believers who have only been drinking the old wine of the old movement will not be able to carry the new wine or be used in the new movement. It is extremely important that we keep our spiritual eyes on the Holy Spirit and follow His movement. He is moving on and leading us to the fullness of Christ. He is not camping out in the past (old revivals or movements), or still emphasizing things that He was 25 years ago. 

Milk to Meat

Paul was an apostle that came to fullness. He is an example to us in the apostolic ministry. He was able to preach salvation in Christ and see people born into the Kingdom of God. Then he gave milk to spiritual babies once they were born. He fed them understanding about baptism, speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands (healing, deliverance, impartation), and other elementary things. Paul then progressed from bottle feeding milk as the believers aged (spiritually), to feeding them spiritual meat:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14 NKJV)

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” (Hebrews 6:1-2 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit reveals elementary school level principles of Christ in the book of Hebrews. This spiritual milk is needed to have babies grow and become healthy, and is therefore very important (it should be valued). But if the church chooses to stay camped out and focusing on the laying on of hands (healing, deliverance, impartation), then she will never progress to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. 

Real apostles, like Paul, bring the church from babies to fullness. They labor to see Christ formed in the church, not keeping believers as spiritual babies. There is nothing wrong with drinking milk with our steak and potatoes, but we need meat and potatoes to come to maturity. Apostles who only teach healing and impartation are keeping the Lord’s church in immaturity, and are not fulfilling the apostolic mandate. Jesus told His apostles to preach the Kingdom of God (not just preach the laying on of hands). Jesus told them to ‘do’ healing, not preach it (Luke 9:2). We are to preach the fullness of Christ and His Kingdom in order to bring the church to maturity. 

The true voice of the apostles is the Lord’s voice through His apostles. That voice is calling for believers to be transformed into the image of Christ, becoming the mature man that Christ is, and understanding the revelatory knowledge of Christ inwardly. The Lord will serve milk because He is loving, but it’s time to bite into a fat juicy steak that the Holy Spirit is taking off the grill. There is nothing wrong with drinking milk with your steak, as long as you aren’t just drinking milk. 

Jesus the apostle didn’t teach much on healing and deliverance. He demonstrated it. Jesus severed milk with solid food. Jesus taught on the “meaty” matters of the Kingdom of God that His Father wanted Him to. As Jesus revealed the meat of the Kingdom, it presented an opportunity for people to listen and obey. Then empowered by the Holy Spirit, as believers do what the Truth says; it brings one to maturity. There is a need to return to the meat that Jesus cooked for people. The ministry of Jesus is our ultimate example, and should be our goal. 

Spiritual Age

A believer who has been in the Lord for 40 years, can still be a baby in the spirit. If a believer has only drank milk for most of their spiritual life in Christ, then they will have a harder time accepting meat. For example, if you serve them a revelation of Jesus the Judge (steak) for dinner; they may spit it out. They spit out the revelation because they only want to hear about how the Father loves His children (which is a very important aspect and foundation of God, but is milk). 

A believer who has only been in the Lord for 10 years, could be 40 years old in the spirit because they have been eating meat with their milk. The time that you have been born again does not determine your spiritual maturity. The degree that you have journeyed with the Lord, and allowed Him to come forth in and through you, determines maturity. 

Teaching on prophecy and healing will never bring the church to maturity. If we review all the different subjects Paul addresses in the epistles, we see that the Holy Spirit is leading us on to maturity through a real apostle. It would do us good to reread the epistles and notate each subject matter that is addressed. We should also take note of the progression of revelation released to the church through Paul in the epistles.

Refreshing 

“So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; and that He may send [to you] Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you, whom heaven must keep until the time for the [complete] restoration of all things about which God promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” (Acts 3:19-21 AMP)

Those believers who repent, turn from lukewarmness, and follow the Lord; will experience times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord. This is the outpouring of the Lord’s presence that we have desired, and it is coming to the remnant bride. I believe the unsaved youth will be drawn into this movement of the Holy Spirit. They will encounter the fire and power of the Holy Spirit, and will never be the same again. The next generation of leaders will have to see the newly born-again youth progress into spiritual maturity very rapidly. These leaders will take the youth from milk to steak in a short amount of time in order to prepare them for the end of the age and Christ’s return. 

The Lord started speaking to me about ‘presence ministry’ in 2009. His presence will be so thick and fiery in meetings that people will get healed and delivered in the atmosphere. The body of Christ has experienced this at a certain level in various locations, but these ‘times of refreshing’ are going to come to fullness. The fiery atmosphere of Heaven is going to fill our gatherings. The Lord is going to step into gatherings and minister to His people. The presence of Jesus is going to refresh, recharge, and renew us from past seasons of difficulties.

What do you need to repent of for the times of refreshing to come from the presence of the Lord? The Holy Spirit showed me that I needed to honor the generation that went before me. They have sown to the Spirit and my generation will reap the harvest that they have sown. Many leaders have labored in prayer for revival for over 40 years and have seen little harvest. But the Lord is releasing a harvest to this generation that we have not labored for, so that the generations are connected in the Spirit. I believe that a proper attitude towards our spiritual fathers is a key to the ‘times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord.’ It is by grace:

I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. (John 4:38 NKJV)

The scriptures are clear that ‘the restoration of all things’ will not occur until the time that Christ returns. When Jesus returns, He will set up His Kingdom on earth and restore all things. The church will not be restoring all things like many have been teaching. Christ will do it when the time comes and He returns from Heaven. The refreshing in the presence of the Lord will prepare the church to endure the final difficult years of this age. His refreshing will be beautiful and glorious.

The Lampstands and Olive Trees 

The new generation of leaders (new breed) will be given spheres of authority in the church. They will be given territories to operate in depending on their callings. A lampstand is defined by scripture as a church in a region (Revelation 1:20). The Lord considers there to be one church in a region, not many churches. In regions that Jesus designates, He will place two olive trees next to the lampstand (church). The two olive trees are two witnesses who have a position at the Heavenly council of the Lord (Revelation 11:4, Zechariah 4:11-14). 

We see in Revelation Chapter 11 that the Lord will have two witnesses in the Church in Jerusalem to fulfill a specific ministry. He also desires to have two witnesses in appointed churches throughout the world. The two witnesses receive a steady flow of fresh oil from the Lord which they release to the church (Zechariah 4:3). I believe the two witnesses are the apostolic and prophetic ministers that the Lord is appointing to leadership in regional churches of His choosing. 

Zechariah the prophet received the guidance, vision, and instruction from the Lord. He then released the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel and the congregation. Zerubbabel was then empowered by the voice of the Lord through the prophetic ministry to began building the temple of God (the church). Zerubbabel was a type of apostle who carried an apostle building anointing (a wise master builder). I believe it is the Lord’s desire to put these two ministries together for the building of His apostolic/prophetic regional churches. 

First the two sons of fresh oil will lay the only foundation that can be laid, Christ. This will be a revealing of who Christ is in His fullness, as well as Christ coming forth in believers and becoming their life. Secondly these two witnesses will receive the fresh oil of the Spirit and rub it on the living stones (believers) so they can be built together. Once the temple is constructed, the Lord will come to rest and dwell in His temple. His glory will fill the spiritual temple and it will be greater than the former temple (which was a physical building). In the midst of deep darkness, the glory of the Lord will arise upon His Heavenly City Zion, part of which still happens to be on the earth. The Lord’s city is His people who have Heaven in them. The Lord will have a remnant bride that has become Heaven on earth before Heaven actually does come to earth. 

Summary

A new generation of leaders are here, and more are coming. Power and authority are being restored to give milk to the younger generation coming in to the kingdom of God. Times of refreshing are coming in the presence of the Lord. The Lord will bring His remnant to the full measure of Christ, so that His will and purpose is accomplished.

-Ty Unruh (2023)