The Man God Shook: You Can Have a Continual Flow of Miracles out of Intimacy with God

By Kenneth C. Rowley

Nothing gives significance and purpose more than developing intimacy with God. That is why this book, The Man God Shook, can be dynamic in your journey.

I love reading this brilliantly written book: the honesty of the pastor, the struggles he endured being physically shaken for years, and his coming out the other side in the presence of God.
—Kent Parker

Oh wow, so many points, I loved it all: Scripture, notes from other pastors, personal stories, step by step to get to certain ideas, so many things touched me. I can’t give just one detail. I like the way it was all joined together!! Amazing.
—Judy Treherne

I was around when God shook the man! What I remember the most is bringing a man that was addicted on crack cocaine in the front door of the church for deliverance! The “shaking man” laid eyes on him and immediately the Power of God blazed through him and the addict fell and was so plowed by the Holy Ghost that he literally could not stand up! It was sooo powerful and awesome!! He would try to get up and could only crawl on his hands and knees while drunkenly say, “we’re having church and it’s not even Sunday” What a POWERFUL deliverance!! I shall never forget it! That man left, set free from addiction!!
—Brenda Reed

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973629450

Kenneth C. Rowley

Kenneth C. Rowley, a credential minister for over fifty years, he earned a B.A. degree from the Humboldt State University and a master’s degree from Southern Oregon College. He also earned California elementary and secondary teaching credentials plus an Administrator’s credential. Beside academic experiences, he spent two years at Bethany Bible College with in-depth study in the Scriptures. He pastored various churches, been an evangelist and founded a college ministry. His life has been graced by his marriage to Reverend Flynn, his daughter Deborah Broadway (her husband: Jeremy; granddaughters: Erika and Peyton) and his son, Philip Jason. He can be contacted at [e-mail]

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Kenneth C. Rowley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2944-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2943-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2945-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018906154

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/10/2023

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (ASV) taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (AMPCE) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

CONTENTS

Introduction

THE MAN GOD SHOOK

1. Confused from the Start

DESPERATION

2. Appetite

3. Desperation

4. Jacob’s Thigh

PURGING

5. Deliverance

6. Why Shaking?

7. Purged

8. Questions! Questions! Questions!

SENSITIVITY

9. Sensitivity

10. Going Deeper into the Heart of the Matter

11. Established

12. Bearing Rejection

OBEDIENCE

13. At His Command!

14. The Personal Side of Obedience

15. Stay Out of the Big Chair

16. The Adventure—Windows of Opportunity

Endnotes

INTRODUCTION

THIS BOOK CAN BE SUMMARIZED in one sentence. If you grasp and put that sentence into practice, you don’t need to read this book. But just in case you haven’t, taking the time to read and ponder each chapter will be well worth your time and do a world of good.

I can tell in an instant whether you understand this sentence. I know it through a simple test. If your life is profoundly transformed so that you know and live every moment with the purpose and meaning you were born with, then I know you have gotten it!

What is the sentence?

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned (so I can speak wisely), that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned (Isaiah 50:4 NASB).

Why am I writing this book? I have an overwhelming I must! I have experienced the most radical encounter with God. The most challenging part was the endless hours trying to figure it out. After I had written the book, I had it figured out. I discovered Isaiah 50:4 explained my encounter!

I scoured many books and stories that were encouraging. That got me to where Martyn Lloyd-Jones landed. He said, the value of reading these lives and these biographies in the history of the church is that they remind us of the possibility. They show us what can happen.

He goes on to say:

And thank God, what they show is that it does not depend upon us, it depends upon God’s power to give . . .. You can misappropriate these histories; you can become a gatherer, a collector of experiences. That is always bad. And still worse is the danger of living on these experiences and never having the experience yourself. ¹

So why did I search so much? They helped to clarify. I experienced something from God and read how other people’s experiences confirmed and gave me understanding. Since I was not searching for their theological positions, I cannot say I support their doctrinal slant or opinions. In fact, I cannot endorse their teachings because I don’t know. However, Proverbs 13:20 (MSG) says, become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

More important than finding out how God worked in people, I found out how God works. I discovered the source of knowledge and understanding was the Holy Spirit’s prompting and the glorious truths as explained in the Word of God.

That brought Jesus’s life into focus. We know that Jesus was God and man. He never used His divine nature for personal advantage, as He is the perfect example. He was on the same plane as we are without demanding exclusive rights.

If He did it, we could do it too! After all, He is our example. In John 13:15, Jesus said, for I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 1 Peter 2:21 says, that you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.

I have a catch-up! I am far behind Jesus’ example. When He was twelve years of age, He reasoned with the great scholars of His day, and the people were astonished (Luke 2:41–52). How had He learned so much by such an early age?

Morning by morning, Jesus had an intimate time with His Father. Mark 1:35 says, now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Early morning sessions enabled Him to gain fortitude to face insults and brutality as well as the violence of the cross (Isaiah 50:6). It empowered Him to know how to work with people.

He learned that God would help, so He never gave up. He emptied Himself with unrestricted obedience to God and submission to God’s will, guidance, and care. His ear was open to hear and obey His Master.

I found that the early morning sessions with God are beneficial. My nights consist of two parts. The first of the deepest sleep, a time of recovery from the day’s stress. The gentlest rest follows, which is lighter and more peaceful. Between two and three o’clock in the morning, that time has become the most profound time.

I have learned to get quiet in God’s presence. I calm myself by rejecting such notions that I am a know-it-all! I allow a craving to know God to grow. When impressions come, I write them down. Journaling assists in guiding my thoughts. Over the next two or three days, the ideas that linger are the ones I investigate. I have learned so much from this practice. It is mentioned in Luke 12:12, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Proverbs 18:15 says, the heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

The prophet Isaiah said that our ways and thoughts are not like God’s (Isaiah 50:9). If we are patient, they come line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little, there a little (Isaiah 28:13). It is like gathering fragments of bread. It should feel this way since we are collecting the bread of life (Matthew 4:4).

Because of what God did, I hope to show how God can work in you. I pray that your journey will be magnificent. The most amazing spiritual journey is ready for you. Please take the first step!

THE MAN GOD

SHOOK

I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language . . . .. His disciples said, Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.

—John 16:25, 29–30 (MSG)

CHAPTER ONE

Confused from the Start

WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE to live in a grass hut and abruptly move into a luxurious mansion on a magnificent mountain? It would take a lot to grasp. You would stagger at such an unconventional change.

My encounter with God left me wondering: What caused this? I had slid into a resplendent, heavenly high-rise! It is not so much about what happened. It is how it transformed me!

One night I dreamed I came upon a valley. A group was gathering trash. The more they worked, the more the valley became gorgeous. Before I left, the canyon gave me peace beyond comprehension. I thought: Everyone would love to live here!

Living anywhere besides a valley would be better. You go to a conference and have a mountaintop experience like the disciples when Jesus was transformed before them (Matthew 17). But it wasn’t long before they were back in the valley with conflict and difficulties. As good as the conference was, you are back to where the battle rages.

My unique event lifted me to the summit and turned my valley into the most attractive place. Best of all, I learned to abide in victory!

Many tell their stories, including success over addictions and failures. Others feel significant because they have achieved fame and fortune. Yet, both are left with a hollowness in their souls.

Have you experienced something so unexpected that you are spellbound? How did it happen, and what did you learn?

My experience began with the brilliant fall leaves of autumn. Soon trees were bone dry and skeleton-shaped. I felt my ministry rapidly tumbling down.

I heard another minister say, God, ruined my ministry. I felt God had done that to me! God gave the preacher the impression: I’ve seen your ministry, and I’m not impressed. Now I’m going to show you mine. ¹

On that Monday morning, after my wife had left for work, I thought, I’ll dress and be off to work! Then it happened! I never expected this! I slid into God’s throne room. In a flash, sacred words filled my mind. I reeled under prophetic insanity! Instead of my senses becoming sharp and brilliant, my emotions turned dull. My flesh clamored in confusion.

I thought my imagination must have drifted into the twilight zone. I always wanted a place of responsibility, not for the work, but the respect. I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to let everyone know how important I was. What happened threw me to the floor, weeping in humility.

All week His glory hung on me. How could I understand? What should I do? Questions circled in my mind as I sought help through phone calls. Matters got worse as I grew more upset. I began to feel I shouldn’t share with anyone. Yet, I urgently needed to talk. Long-held concepts forged through years of ministry began to crumble. The reality was not how I thought it was when I faced the truth!

Would my life be stable again? I questioned. Why did this happen?

To find God, or more accurately, to have God find you, is beyond explanation. That brief moment lasted no more than two or three minutes. It changed my life’s course. It was like Isaiah’s experience when he said, woe is me, for I am undone (Isaiah 6:5 KJV). Undone describes being cut off, disintegrated, and destroyed. I was shattered to the core!

James Burns, who had a legendary reputation for feuding, turned the rivaling parties into a gentle force when he opened a religious school that transformed the community. In 1909, he said:

Revival means humiliation, a bitter knowledge of unworthiness, and an open humiliating confession of sin . . .. It is not the easy and glorious thing many think it to be . . .. It comes to scorch before it heals; it comes to condemn . . . for their neglect of the Cross, and to call them to daily renunciation, to an evangelical poverty and to a deep and daily consecration . . .. ²

Sacred moments come through the anguish of spirit. After years of ministry, I felt desperate. What should I do? I needed clarity while simmered in stewing emotions and flashing thoughts. Understanding would come agonizingly slow!

CAN OTHERS FIND IT?

I wondered if others had a similar experience. God deals with us uniquely because He is sovereign! Yet, it could be!

Let me put it clearly! I was at a dead end. Ministry failure was evident. The harder I worked, the more I failed. A frantic unsettledness stirred within. It was sheer desperation that eroded wrong impressions and misinformation. I was finding God’s Word did not accomplish what it should because of the traditions of men.

I was working hard for the church, not actually for Jesus. As badly as I wanted to know God, He never seemed real. Monotony and frustration seasoned into an endless cycle of struggle, making me feel empty. Depression leaped with giant billows of blackness.

But desperation can create hunger! Spiritual hunger is the gateway into the depth of God! King David said, my soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God (Psalm 84:2). I wondered if I call upon God with all my heart, will He answer?

A burning passion was awakening. Coming into God’s presence created spiritual hunger. I longed for His power to flow through me. A thirsty obsession was awakening with a sacred zeal. Was I returning to that first love when God found me? (Revelation 2:4 KJV). I felt like Saint Paul when he said, for I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells . . . O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:18, 24). The Apostle James spoke of letting your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom (James 4:9).

John Bunyan, the seventeenth-century author of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most famous Christian allegories ever written, was in agony for eighteen months. World-renowned preachers John, Charles Wesley, and George Whitfield were under the deepest travail for months Their anguish gave entrance to God when they became frantic for Him.

Can you create a hunger for God? Spiritual passion can briskly be diverted by religion, pride, and indifference. Can a status quo person shift into a spiritual dynamo? Can the years of same-old, same-old be transformed into something fresh? Is it possible for church transformation and congregational growth to be achieved by what you do? If so, who cares? There must be something more than what can be achieved by programs, preaching, promotions, and pushing.

To say I had the most profound encounter is to underestimate what happened. I was ushered into a blessed sense of God from the lowest realms of wretchedness, coming through severe purging. And surprisingly, it was not a single occurrence.

How can your waywardness turn into experiencing the presence and glory of God? King David found it when he was in desolation. He said: I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:1–3). David urgently pleaded, do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11).

WHERE DID IT BEGIN?

What caused this revolutionary experience? Did it have something to do with my past? Perhaps it happened during my impressionable childhood when our family lived in a small lumbering town in Northern California known as Windy Weed. I loved that small community of contrast between well-worn, mostly company-built houses nestled against the majestic, snowcapped Mt. Shasta.

I am a preacher’s kid, and my father was known for his thick English accent. Some regarded him as the last of the Old English Gentlemen. He was born in northern England, a Jordie, in the Newcastle area where the Romans had built Hadrian’s Wall to keep the primitive Scots out!

An incredible event occurred at the church where dad pastored. Evangelist Carl Oney held a series of meetings. I did not hear him preach much about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I did not listen at all. A similarly aged friend aroused my curiosity. He longed for the infilling. At the end of the worship service, I headed for the altar. Nothing happened.

The next afternoon, Old McGrath, a good-hearted, uneducated, overalls-wearing lover of the Holy Ghost, visited me. Son, he said, you can’t speak in tongues and English at the same time. Just praise God, not in English. That was confusing! But that night, I accidentally fell into an encounter with God at the altar. Two hours later, I stood up, some distance from where I knelt. How did I get here?

I had absorbed so much talk from adults about the good experiences of the Holy Ghost that I was thrilled. But it didn’t seem all-consuming.

Something embarrassed me, and I never talked about it. I loved going to the golf course with my father as a child. He would play a round or two. I would beat the tall grass, looking for golf balls. When baptized in the Spirit, my mind was on the golf course. I concluded that something must be wrong. I was having a remarkable encounter while my mind viewed the golf course. Then, in this divine encounter years later, I asked God why I was mentally at the golf course. I got the impression that God said, I would be with you just as you were with your father, enjoying the experience. Just as your earthly father was near, I will always be nearby. Well, that didn’t seem so unspiritual after all!

DID IT COME FROM EARLY IMPRESSIONS OF A CALL?

After the infilling, I was still in a toss-up over the flesh with a sagging self-image. I felt God had called me to preach. That impression began when I was in second grade. Our family was traveling in our two-toned green Pontiac through snow-covered mountains, headed for a healing crusade in a larger community. My father pulled over to stretch. I knew I would be a preacher someday on that wintry day as I walked along the highway. I visualized myself before crowds preaching. It was startling. Had that sense of destiny something to do with what is going on now?

WAS IT FROM THE OBSERVATIONS OF OTHERS?

Could other events lead to this earthquake encounter? Was it rooted in my teenage years when I graduated high school and prepared for college? It was then that I made a firm commitment to Christ. The most dramatic events brought me to the feet of Jesus. From then on, I was obsessed. I thought of nothing but the ministry. Though I had a sense of a call into ministry, I steadily looked for ways to convince God for more convincing evidence.

One evening, after graduating from high school, I attended a crusade meeting in my hometown. Midway through the session, the preacher pointed at the back row where I sat and said, young man, stand up! Yes, you, young man! Slowly I stood. He told the crowd that this young man would be a missionary evangelist. Let’s pray for him!

I was shocked. I had never seen anything like that being addressed personally! However, my uncertainty was settled. Hearing of the incident, my pastor (not my father) told me to disregard it. He said that God speaks to people directly, not through another. He may confirm what He has already told you. I accepted what he said.

WAS IT FROM EARLY ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD?

Was this surprising encounter from my earliest etchings of the Holy Spirit’s work? It happened when my family attended an Oral Roberts healing meeting. Up until then, I was a feeble child, often sick. After waiting in a long prayer line, I stood face-to-face with Oral. He read the card that my mother wrote describing my condition. He put his hands on my head and prayed. It seemed like 10,000 volts of electricity bolted through my body! The shock hurled through my body, so I whirled around and danced before the vast crowd. I regained people consciousness when I heard Oral say, God has undoubtedly touched that boy. I was embarrassed. I got off stage quickly. From then on, I enjoyed excellent health.

WAS IT FROM FIGHTING OFF EVIL IMPULSES?

These experiences and the Baptism in the Spirit kept me spiritually secure through most of my teenage years. Gradually, a besetting sin created a vicious plague. Use me, God, I prayed with a sober commitment. If I disgrace Your Name, never use me!

One sin moved to another. Soon I was sinning in ways I promised I would never sin. I am disgraced today by what I did. Please never ask me about it!

My besetting sin trapped me. For years, I lived in the horrors of that ensnaring slavery. Once I crossed that threshold, I knew I was disqualified from a valuable ministry. I did it to myself. What terrible agony!

I wanted to brand my arm with, Remember sin! There was a most penetrating scar on my soul. I had sinned!

But the mercy of God reached me. I had just graduated from high school and needed work for money to attend college in the fall. I decided to move to the Sacramento Valley and find a job. I found employment driving a truck hauling barley from the fields. One day, the farmer asked the men to help a neighboring farmer put out a fire in the foothills. We arrived and followed the fire edge, putting it out. Unexpectedly, we ran out of water. Mr. Mitchell, the seventy-two-year-old farmer, had panic in his eyes. I knew we were in trouble, so I prayed. God help! An airplane suddenly appeared