The Fellowship of God’s Spirit — Carol McLeod Ministries

A Note from Carol: One of the greatest joys of my ministry is introducing you to voices that inspire us to love Jesus more deeply. Today, I’m honored to share Jenny Randle with you—an Emmy® award-winning creative, ordained minister, and author whose newest book, The Promised Presence, is a Bible study through Luke and Acts on the power of the Holy Spirit. Jenny’s journey has taken her from Hollywood video editing to ministry leadership, where she now equips believers to experience the Spirit’s presence, power, and purpose. Her story reminds us that God not only redeems our past but empowers us to live with joy and strength today.

After graduating in 2004 from a private college in New York, I vowed to never go back to school. God had other plans, though. In the fall of 2022, I enrolled in seminary, working toward a master’s at Asbury Theological Seminary. Having an undergrad degree in television/radio, I took core classes consisting of analyzing TV shows and producing videos. This grad work in academia was a whole new world of reading hundreds of pages weekly while taking a full class load and juggling family responsibilities and ministry work. Talk about a plot twist!

At the start of this second semester in seminary, I saw God in a way I never had. During this time, after what seemed like a standard chapel service for a Christian university in Kentucky, the students quickly learned that day was far from ordinary. On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, three students at Asbury University stayed after chapel to pray together. This sparked an outpouring of God that led to genuine repentance, praise, prayer, and healing for students around the world.

By Saturday, the internet was abuzz with what was happening on campus. Oh, how I wished I could be there. God’s Spirit filled the students up as the theology of the head collided with the heart. There were no bells and whistles. No famous speaker or celebrity worship leader. People had an authentic hunger to see God, and He met them there with a powerful outpouring of His presence.

The same day, a friend who was also watching what was happening texted, “Are you going to take a trip to Kentucky?” It was the push this nonspontaneous gal needed. Two days later, around 10:00 a.m., I was headed to the airport.

Let me tell you—God is in the details. While boarding my first leg from Florida, my friend Kimberly texted me about Asbury. By the second leg of my flight when I checked in with her, her tickets were purchased for the next day. It was a gift to experience these modern-day miracles beside a friend in the faith.

What God birthed from a few students’ desperation grew into an outpouring of His glory. You can’t manufacture or manipulate a move of God like this. There was no performance. You cannot sustain days of continuous worship without the empowering of Holy Spirit. He was healing His people. This posture of desperation and crying out from the younger generation was answered by a loving God.

It was a place where heaven invaded earth, and our only response was to worship in awe of triune God. I saw the older generation praying over the younger, the younger leading the older, interdenominational unity, and the sweetest sense of God’s presence. Everything was stripped away except the tangible evidence God was with us.

Before I knew it, I felt prompted by Holy Spirit to walk down two flights of stairs and into the auditorium’s main floor. I approached an older woman I had never met before but had been watching from the balcony. I could tell she was a firecracker in the faith; she carried a spunky passion in her worship, drawing me in. I watched her pray for others and felt led to ask her for prayer too. After introducing myself, I asked her to anoint me with oil as I was battling chronic illness. She prayed. She reminded me of the grandmas of faith at the church where I became a devoted Christ follower. She declared healing, spoke peace, and many other things I can’t remember. Her love for Jesus was evident, and her compassion and love were obvious.

I don’t know what happened during that prayer other than one thing: I felt God weigh me down like a weighted blanket. So, we sat together on the worn floor that had been walked on by countless college students and leaders. It was a fresh filling of the Spirit, and I can promise you this: I left different than when I arrived.

God poured out His Spirit at Asbury. In that sanctuary, the reverence and awe toward God was something I’d never witnessed before corporately. I’ve felt it in my private prayer time with God, but together with thousands of others worshipping the true God—the experience was so sacred and sweet I could barely talk about it. I didn’t want one word spoken back to me that held ill intent or doubted God’s work. Yet I share this with you to preserve the sacredness of what I witnessed, and I pray the same outpouring extends to our families, churches, and the world!

We don’t always get to hop on a plane to see what God is doing. Nor do I think we should. We may not fully understand it in our finite brains, but an infinite, powerful God meets His people with His glory. And here’s the beautiful thing—His glorious Presence is not just contained in the walls and halls of Asbury. We don’t have to chase revivals, outpourings, or awakenings to experience a move from God. The same God who filled that space is within you. Through a relationship with Jesus, this same sustaining power is for you too. Our greatest response to a move of God should be one of awe and deep gratitude that a God who loves us this much would fellowship with His people.

God restores the broken and lost and revives us to life, and often, these moments catalyze in prayer. I’ve been mulling over what it means to be a carrier of prayers that wear the potential of such promises. To think: the Spirit of God Himself is within. The same God who was at Asbury is the same God who can meet you at your local church, during your daily activities, or in your secret place of prayer. Fellowshipping with God is what being a Spirit-filled Christian is!

In this inspiring episode, Carol McLeod sits down with author and speaker Jenny Randle to discuss her new book, The Promised Presence, and the dynamic, ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. From her life on Amelia Island to her journey through faith and calling, Jenny shares candid insights about prayer, miracles, and the importance of living in community. Together, they explore how the story of the early church in Acts is still unfolding today, and how each of us is invited to take part. This conversation will stir your heart to pursue a deeper relationship and reliance on the Holy Spirit.