November 13 2009
Mel Montgomery Biography
Rev. Mel C. Montgomery (Brother Mel)
Mel's Beginnings
Author and minister, Mel Montgomery was born in Wichita, Kansas and grew up there. The call to the ministry made itself known in his early childhood.
At about 10 years of age, Mel read a book about a great orator and he understood what he was to do in life. He declared, "That's what I'm going to do in life. I am going to get up on a stage, give speeches, and tell people the truth. And people are going to come from miles around to hear my speeches!" From that point onward he considered no other path in life.
Knowing deep in his heart that there was a purpose and plan for his life, and understanding that he would have to pursue it and make sacrifices for it, led to joys and frustrations. Raised in a home that was moral, but not Christian, the only profession Mel knew of in which he could give speeches to crowds was to be a politician.
Throughout his teen years, he studied the speeches of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and others. Upon graduation from high school he completed a one year Administrative Management program at a local business college, serving also as the College's student representative to the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce. After completing this program, he enrolled in Wichita State University as a political science major. However, after taking several political science courses, he felt deeply and inexplicably dissatisfied. Whatever the purpose was for his life, whatever it was that was burning within him so intensely seemed to have no connection to giving political speeches. Frustrated, he left WSU.
Mel Finds The Lord
At this time, Mel was in his early 20's and was already the owner of a small business employing several people. Mel would work until late in the evening then come home and surf the TV channels. One night, God moved. Mel's surfing led him to watch the old PTL Club in its heyday. Impressed by how gospel music and well crafted sermons could affect people, Mel began studying the presentations of guest ministers, thinking that one day he might be able to copy their phrasing and gestures in giving his own public speeches. Within days though, the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ struck his heart, and Mel repented and invited Christ into his life. Mel was born again.
Initially Mel joined a Southern Baptist church. They laid a solid theological foundation in him that he will always appreciate and to which he still remains true. But he eventually felt drawn to a newly founded Charismatic Church. At this church he was filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues. Mel had found peace with God in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb by being born again. He had come into an understanding of sound Christian doctrine among the Southern Baptists. Then among the Charismatics he had experienced what is commonly called "the infilling of the Spirit," and spoke in other tongues.
As God steadily revealed His Word and the things of the Spirit to Mel, he began to realize that this desire to "give speeches and tell people the truth" was actually a call to preach the Gospel. After a year of study and preparation, Mel was ordained through that Charismatic church. But still something was lacking. The call of God within him seemed partially satisfied, but also greatly dissatisfied. Mel's ministry was sincere, but powerless, as were most of the Spirit-filled churches he visited at that time. They talked a great deal of the power of God and spiritual gifts, but had very little in manifestation. It seemed to Mel that surely there was a real power and flow of God that still could be found somewhere in the earth. It would not be long before God would bring Mel into contact with the power he longed to see.
A Divine Appointment
Mel wandered into a Charismatic church one night that was hosting a live satellite broadcast of Kenneth Copeland's 1984 Southwest Believer's Convention. On this broadcast, he saw Sister Goodwin minister. Mrs. Goodwin was the widow of Rev. J.R. Goodwin. He had been a pastor, and she was a prophet. The Goodwins had taught Kenneth Hagin Sr. about the gifts of the Spirit and the prophet's ministry. John Osteen had been filled with the Spirit in the Goodwins' living room. The Goodwins were a bridge between the old Pentecostals and the new Word of Faith group. Brother and Sister Goodwin had sat in the meetings of Smith Wigglesworth back in the 1930's, and then had trained Kenneth Hagin Sr.-the Father of the Word of Faith Movement. The Goodwins had entered full-time ministry in 1936, and now 48 years later in 1984, Sister Goodwin was prophesying to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and was ministering to numerous other individuals through her prophetic calling. Mel sat in awe as he watched the live broadcast, tears streaming down his face, knowing that he had at last seen in Sister Goodwin the strong move of the Spirit for which his heart had hungered.
Sister Goodwin and Brother Mel in 1989
Mel waited a few days, found out Sister Goodwin's phone number and he gave her a call. He told her, "Sister Goodwin, the way you ministered the other night at Kenneth Copeland's meeting, that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life." Sister Goodwin replied, "That's the Holy Ghost, honey!" Yes, indeed.
Sensing that God had a purpose at work, Sister Goodwin invited Mel to come visit her in her home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. As quickly as it could be arranged, Mel drove down to Sister Goodwin's home and spent some time in prayer and fellowship with her. Mel was amazed to find that the Presence of God seemed to just tabernacle at Sister Goodwin's home. Mel used to tell people, "If you can't seem to get ahold of God, just go over to Sister Goodwin's house. The Lord is there all the time." God's awesome Presence was present in Sister Goodwin's home every time he visited her. Through other visits, numerous phone calls, and letters over the years, a strong relationship grew between Mel and Sister Goodwin, and later the friendship included members of the Goodwin family.
The Anointing Comes
During a visit in March of 1989, as Mel prepared to leave Sister Goodwin's, she asked him to kneel down beside her chair so that she could pray for him. He did so. Sister Goodwin laid her hands on Mel's head, and prayed to God, asking the Lord to use Mel in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A few months after Sister Goodwin's prayer, God answered in unmistakable power. Mel was caught up in a vision in which the Lord showed him things that would happen in his ministry in the future. When the vision ended, messages in tongues began coming out of Mel's mouth, and immediately the interpretations were revealed to Mel also. This was the beginning of the prophetic calling that God had for Mel. For the next number of years, Mel increased in the prophet's anointing, and he preached as doors opened for him. A beautiful example of Mel's prophetic ministry was caught on videotape when in a church in Chicago, Brother Mel prophesied and acted out a parable. Here is the You Tube Link.
Sister Goodwin's Prophecy
In one of their last conversations before her passing, Sister Goodwin had some things to tell Mel in the Spirit of the Lord. She said to him, partially through prophecy:
Mel honey, many are called.
Few are chosen.
You are chosen of God [to be used in spiritual gifts]-I know that. And I've known that ever since I first met you. Why do you think I've spent so much time with you? I am contacted by lots of people, and I don't spend this much time with them all. I've spent this much time with you because I knew that God is going to give you an anointed ministry, and you needed to know the things I could tell you so that you wouldn't mess yourself up. Now, I couldn't tell you this when I first met you because you would have been lifted up in pride, and you had enough of that in you when I first met you. But I can tell you now: You are going to have a strong ministry, an anointed ministry, like some of the men of old, and it is going to bless many, many people. This will happen for you." She added, "Now, what ‘some of the men of old' means, I do not know. But you will know when it happens."
Sister Goodwin then went to Glory, and more than ten years passed before God revealed what was meant by Sister Goodwin's statement that Mel would have a ministry "like some of the men of old." As with all genuine words of prophecy, that word from the Lord eventually began to come to pass.
"The Men of Old"
In 2006, the moment Mel awoke one morning, the Holy Spirit said to Mel, "Start a blog." In obedience, Mel started a blog which eventually evolved into a website, www.brothermel.com. He put on it biographical information about the Goodwins, and his own teachings on spiritual gifts. Through the website, Mel was eventually contacted by individuals who were close to the Goodwins. Much to his surprise, he found that many sermons at the Goodwins' church had been recorded on audiotape. The Goodwin family asked Mel if he would be willing to host these recordings on his website, making these spiritual treasures available to the world for free, and Mel was honored to do so.
These recordings included numerous recordings by Mom and Dad Goodwin, plus previously unknown recordings of Howard Carter, and the earliest known recordings of Kenneth Hagin Sr. As Mel made these available over his website, individuals from around the world began contacting Mel and sending him other rare recordings that had been kept in storage for years. Speakers included Stanley Frodsham, WFP Burton, Harold Horton, David Du Plessis, George Jeffreys, and others. Mel has been appointed Copyright Agent for the Goodwin recordings, as well as for other rare materials and recordings.
As Mel uploaded these recordings to his website, he listened to them and began to understand how badly we needed to listen to these "men of old." The more he listened to these giants, the more he found his own preaching and positions change to conform to the Pentecostal message of old that had swept the globe in their generation. Then he realized that when Sister Goodwin had prophesied about Mel "having a ministry like some of the men of old," she had been referring to the men he heard speaking on these rare recordings, and how they would come to influence Mel's ministry and message.
The more Mel listened to the sermons of Howard Carter, Stanley Frodsham, F.F. Bosworth, the Goodwins, and others,
Howard Carter Stanley Frodsham F.F. Bosworth
Rev. and Mrs. J.R. Goodwin David Du Plessis
the more he realized that in many instances we had forgotten many truths concerning faith and prayer that these early ministries typified. The more recordings Mel uploaded to his site, and the more articles he wrote, the more hits came to his website. Increasing numbers of ministers and lay Christians contacted him telling him that through his writings and the old recordings, they were getting answers and direction from the Lord that they had sought for a long time. Invitations for meetings began to come, asking Mel to travel to distant cities to teach Bible truths and to flow in the Spirit, as he felt led. Mel has also appeared as a guest on Christian radio programs and on a local Christian TV program.
Mel's Writings and E-books Increase in Stature
Demands for his writings increased. Mel joined with Dr. Charles Goodwin, a theologian and professor of New Testament Greek, to write a book examining the spiritual manifestation known as "falling in the Spirit" entitled, "To Fall or Not to Fall." Believing it to be a valid spiritual experience and proving from historical accounts that falling in the Spirit has been present in numerous revivals for at least the last several hundred years, Mel and Dr. Goodwin also pointed out the abuses of this experience. This and other writings by Mel were downloaded tens of thousands of times around the world by Christians seeking sound teachings. Among those in foreign countries that have embraced Mel's teachings, admonitons, and corrections is a major church in Warsaw Poland. They translated some of Mel's articles into Polish, published them in an influential Polish Christian magazine, and distributed the articles throughout Poland. As Mel's writing and website have increased in credibility and stature, his writings have been quoted as source material for articles published on major national secular websites. Slate dot com's article about Joel Osteen entitled, "Pentecostalism for the Exurbs," credited Mel's article "The Goodwins and John Osteen" as the source for some of its information.
Mel continues to author teaching articles and e-books, and holding meetings in local churches. Many asked to be updated when Mel writes new articles or schedules meetings near them, so he created a monthly e-mail newsletter that currently goes out to subscribers around the world. His newsletter can be subscribed to by clicking HERE.
Another Divine Appointment
Mel's experience in ministry fellowship had been deeply disappointing for many years. He had been a member of a major non-denominational International ministry association for 13 years, and in all of those years when he had called the headquarters office asking for advice on ministry decisions, he had never had a phone call returned. He also had never met any of the regional and district directors who were supposedly in authority over him. He was just another name in the directory of an organization that couldn't care less about him. Mel knew he needed to be a part of a ministry fellowship in which he could believe. He allowed his papers to lapse in the first ministry fellowship he had joined, and looked to God for the solution. God was not long in answering Mel's prayer.
One day, a minister advised Mel to call Rev. Elizabeth Pruitt-Sloan. He was told, "she ministers like you do." This would prove to be another divine appointment. Mel contacted Rev. Elizabeth Pruitt-Sloan, drove down from Joplin, MO to Tulsa, OK, and spent New Year's Day 2007 with Elizabeth and her husband Rodger at their home. He found much in common with Elizabeth.
Rev. Elizabeth Pruitt-Sloan
Sister Elizabeth had grown up in Aimee Semple-McPherson's church, and had been in the first graduating class of Rhema Bible Training Center. She had grown up among the old Pentecostals, and yet had found a home also among the Word of Faith leadership. She had been friends with Brother Hagin and also with Sister Goodwin. Mel found a great deal in common with Sister Elizabeth. Eventually, Brother Mel sought ordination through Elizabeth's ministry association, Helping Inspire Ministers (H.I.M), and found in that organization the fellowship and advice he had sought for years. Mel attends Sister Elizabeth's monthly Holy Spirit meetings and all H.I.M. functions whenever his schedule permits. Sometimes he is asked to speak at these functions, and he always has the liberty to flow in the Spirit when he has something from the Lord. As pastors and other ministers contact Mel from around the world by phone and by e-mail, asking his advice, he prays with them and offers his input, and then also encourages them to consider joining H.I.M. if they have no spiritual home.
A Whole New Level
Brother Mel believes he has a mandate from the Lord to present the recordings of "the men of old" and his own teachings to as many people as possible through every available voice. He has done so through local church meetings, in e-books, and through audio and video recordings through his website www.brothermel.com. In late 2009, a new form of technology opened up to him--podcasting. He created the a podcast channel entitled, "Voices of the Faith Giants Podcast," through which he offers the rare recordings and his own teachings to the world through this additional format. The subscriptions to this free podcast are increasing exponentially.
Brother Mel continues to accept invitations to hold meetings in local churches, preaching the old-time Gospel message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, with signs following as the Holy Spirit wills. Thus through audios, videos, his website, podcast, and in meetings in local churches, Sister Goodwin's prophecy continues to be fulfilled about Mel having "a ministry like some of the men of old." Mel preaches in large churches and in small ones. To invite Brother Mel to come and hold meetings at your church: TO SCHEDULE A MEETING CLICK HERE
A Sample Sermon
We will leave you with a sample sermon by Mel Montgomery. Attached to this podcast is an mp3 of Brother Mel preaching at one of Sister Elizabeth's monthly Holy Spirit meetings. As Sister Elizabeth concluded her sermon, she invited Mel to come forward and share whatever the Holy Spirit had put in his heart. So he came forward and preached on a subject that the Lord had been emphasizing to him recently about the Blood of Jesus Christ being "The Blood of Obedience." We trust it will be a blessing to you.
© Copyright 2009 Rev. Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved.
