Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

of family members. From a spiritual perspective, Jesus Christ initiated not just a new religion but a global spiritual movement. It all began when He appointed twelve other men to follow Him (Matt. 10:1–4). From a few disciples, the group grew, and just three short years later one hundred twenty individuals gathered in an upper room to wait for the Holy Spirit to come (Acts 1:15). Days later, the Jesus seed family saw three thousand people converted at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4, 41). Within days a second wave of conversions to Christ brought in an additional five thousand new believers (Acts 4:4). Within a few days, there were more than eighty-one hundred people identified with Christ! As the gospel spread throughout the Roman Empire, entire cities were moved to faith in the gospel, including Samaria, a city despised by the Jews (Acts 8:1–14). Nearly two thousand years after the Resurrection, there are an estimated 2.1 billion people who profess some form of Christianity. 3 All life is in a seed. This concept is often taught when a minister is instructing individuals to give tithes and offerings. However, we need to take another look at the seed to discover some often-overlooked facts that Scripture reveals concerning the real seed . T HE S EED -G IVING C ONCEPT The concept of a “seed-faith offering” was first taught during the early days of the restoration movement,