One of the things about writing a blog is that one sometimes runs out of space before finishing the subject at hand. I have also been accused of writing too much in each post. The man who made that criticism also implied that he and his associates have a better idea of what God was calling me to do than I do. I assume you can tell, that did not slow us down too much.
In the first part of this message, we mentioned hearing Tom Demaree speak in a Sunday morning service at a local church. His message for the morning, at the pastor's request, centered around the joy of leading people to Jesus. He used an acrostic for the word "harvest" as his outline. Obviously we do not have room to detail that teaching here. It was a good message. I even took notes, which is unusual in itself. I have never been a great note-taker so when I take notes I often miss the next thing that is said. It seems easier to just listen carefully in the first place.
T0m is a man who carries a prophetic calling. He does not make an issue of it. He simply goes about the work God has called him to do. He did mention during his teaching for the morning that God has given him favor in different places and he told of some of the things he has done and will do should Jesus tarry. He said favor is better than talent. Tom is also a man most of us would consider to be gifted. His intelligence gained him scholarships to study medicine at the University of California, but he decided medicine was not what he wanted for his life's work. Shortly thereafter, he talked to a record producer who wanted to sign him to a contract. He nixed that idea as well. I do not know about you, but I do not even think in terms of that kind of intellect and talent.
To shorten the story just a bit, Tom was born-again shortly after declining the record contract. One of the very first things he was told to do as a Christian, was to call a woman he knew, in the wee hours of the morning, to tell her Jesus loved her. He tried to talk himself out of it, but was unsuccessful. He made the call sometime after 3:00 AM as she was about to swallow a lethal dose of sleeping pills. (Are you kidding me?) That is the stuff devotionals and those sweet, viral emails are made of.
When the pastor dismissed the service, I had to make a pit stop so I excused myself. When I returned to the sanctuary, I was not at all surprised to find my wife, face-to-face, and engaged in conversation with Tom. I joined the conversation which went on for ten minutes or more, with us standing in the sanctuary, between services. I cannot go into great detail about all he told us, but he did give us confirmations about what we are doing in challenging the religious spirit in the Santa Maria Valley. (Which is the whole basis for this blog.) He noted there is a discernible difference in the spiritual climate on either side of the river that divides Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. (We were standing in San Luis Obispo county at the time.) He mentioned instances where he had personally seen the differences manifested in church leadership.
Of course I have no idea what it means to you when someone confirms for you that you are indeed on the right path. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. (Well, okay, they got moist, but we were in church in a face-to-face conversation so I choked them back.) It is especially meaningful when many others are not so quick to agree and even less than congenial in their relationships toward you because of your calling.
I did not even know I needed confirmation, but the Holy Spirit recently caused me to see the reality of the situation. The people the Lord has drawn around me are specifically here because they believe in the mission we are on. They are as convinced as I am that God has ordained and is leading it. In my spirit, I know I have the favor of God and according to a word He gave me over twenty years ago, it is beginning to manifest. To have a confirmation now and again, from someone outside the situation, is a blessed thing--whether I feel as though I need it or not.
Showing posts with label Tom Demaree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Demaree. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Serendipitous Coincidences
In the previous post, we discussed a chat on Face Book that we considered to be almost random. I particularly enjoy randomness. We all have stories of things that just seemed to happen out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. We variously refer to them with words such as chance, luck, good fortune, serendipity or coincidence, among others. The question is, are they really any of those things?
Let us quote a couple world-class Theologians as we begin this discussion. The late Dr. Harold in his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King's Kid defines coincidence as, "When God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." Television detective Barnaby Jones, played by Buddy Ebsen, said, "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get." Of course we see the truth in both those statements, but again, do things really just happen or is there a creative intelligence behind everything? We choose to believe the latter. That, is in no way, intended to advance the idea that we do not have a part in what happens in our lives and in the lives of those we touch as we tread this sod. It is interesting that, depending on which translation of the Bible one is using, either case can almost be made.
Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know all things work together for good..." (KJV), or "And we know that in all things God works for the good..." (NIV) The first translation almost suggests randomness while the second shows God actively working. The position one takes on this point will determine how one's life is lived. One either goes about life hoping God will be working everything out or lives life intentionally partnering with God in doing His work. The second position here is the one that demonstrates Jesus is Lord of one's life rather than simply an actor in it. This is a critical distinction because Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) If we want to experience God in our lives, we must do what He says.
Yesterday, we were deciding where we would attend Sunday services. Since we lead and teach on Saturday evenings, and since Jesus has not yet placed us in a local church, we have been fellowshipping at various different places on Sunday mornings. I had already decided where we should attend when I remembered they were having a different kind of service that I was not entirely thrilled to be a part of. My wife suggested another church which we had visited before. I was only slightly more thrilled to return there. My being less than thrilled had nothing to do with the fellowship, teaching, worship or the people at that church. I just doubt that is where we will be attending long-term.
Off we went. When we found our seats, we noticed the pastor was not the person wearing the microphone for the service. In fact, we recognized the man who was wearing it as Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk fame. We had become acquainted with Tom and his wife Deanna when they were in the area leading a prayer walk. We have mentioned him previously in these pages. If you would like more information on Tom's ministry you can find some at www.pentecostwalk.org.
I have no doubt the pastor of that church would have delivered a good message, but we both knew we were in that service because Tom and Deanna were there. (Be sure to read the next post. We will mention a couple things Tom told us personally.) We were experiencing a serendipitous coincidence. I would have believed my wife had the mind of the Holy Spirit when she suggested we attend there, but for a statement I had heard Dr. Jack Hayford make many years ago. He said. "Everyone knows God cannot talk to you through your wife." (Need I tell you it was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark? And by the way, so was the last one I made.)
One thing I have learned fairly recently is that we can do things intentionally or accidentally. There is a creative intelligence behind everything we perceive with our senses, and all the things we do not. Everything in the universe, from creation to the present, has been done with intention and purpose. Perhaps you have been "tossed around" (Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6) either by bad teaching, a lack of faith, or both. It is time for that to stop! If things are not going the way you would like, seek the wisdom of God to discover if you have either not been intentionally doing the right things or perhaps even intentionally doing the wrong things. Either of those will stifle your maturity, mitigate your growth, and reduce you to living a life where you do not recognize the hand of God at work. In short, you will not be able to live the abundant life Jesus promised you. (John 10:10) Any good things that happen will look like serendipitous coincidences.
Let us quote a couple world-class Theologians as we begin this discussion. The late Dr. Harold in his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King's Kid defines coincidence as, "When God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." Television detective Barnaby Jones, played by Buddy Ebsen, said, "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get." Of course we see the truth in both those statements, but again, do things really just happen or is there a creative intelligence behind everything? We choose to believe the latter. That, is in no way, intended to advance the idea that we do not have a part in what happens in our lives and in the lives of those we touch as we tread this sod. It is interesting that, depending on which translation of the Bible one is using, either case can almost be made.
Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know all things work together for good..." (KJV), or "And we know that in all things God works for the good..." (NIV) The first translation almost suggests randomness while the second shows God actively working. The position one takes on this point will determine how one's life is lived. One either goes about life hoping God will be working everything out or lives life intentionally partnering with God in doing His work. The second position here is the one that demonstrates Jesus is Lord of one's life rather than simply an actor in it. This is a critical distinction because Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) If we want to experience God in our lives, we must do what He says.
Yesterday, we were deciding where we would attend Sunday services. Since we lead and teach on Saturday evenings, and since Jesus has not yet placed us in a local church, we have been fellowshipping at various different places on Sunday mornings. I had already decided where we should attend when I remembered they were having a different kind of service that I was not entirely thrilled to be a part of. My wife suggested another church which we had visited before. I was only slightly more thrilled to return there. My being less than thrilled had nothing to do with the fellowship, teaching, worship or the people at that church. I just doubt that is where we will be attending long-term.
Off we went. When we found our seats, we noticed the pastor was not the person wearing the microphone for the service. In fact, we recognized the man who was wearing it as Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk fame. We had become acquainted with Tom and his wife Deanna when they were in the area leading a prayer walk. We have mentioned him previously in these pages. If you would like more information on Tom's ministry you can find some at www.pentecostwalk.org.
I have no doubt the pastor of that church would have delivered a good message, but we both knew we were in that service because Tom and Deanna were there. (Be sure to read the next post. We will mention a couple things Tom told us personally.) We were experiencing a serendipitous coincidence. I would have believed my wife had the mind of the Holy Spirit when she suggested we attend there, but for a statement I had heard Dr. Jack Hayford make many years ago. He said. "Everyone knows God cannot talk to you through your wife." (Need I tell you it was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark? And by the way, so was the last one I made.)
One thing I have learned fairly recently is that we can do things intentionally or accidentally. There is a creative intelligence behind everything we perceive with our senses, and all the things we do not. Everything in the universe, from creation to the present, has been done with intention and purpose. Perhaps you have been "tossed around" (Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6) either by bad teaching, a lack of faith, or both. It is time for that to stop! If things are not going the way you would like, seek the wisdom of God to discover if you have either not been intentionally doing the right things or perhaps even intentionally doing the wrong things. Either of those will stifle your maturity, mitigate your growth, and reduce you to living a life where you do not recognize the hand of God at work. In short, you will not be able to live the abundant life Jesus promised you. (John 10:10) Any good things that happen will look like serendipitous coincidences.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Cracks Are Beginning to Form
Admittedly we are speaking by faith here, seeing things that have not yet manifested in time. When a spirit, such as the religious spirit that covers the Santa Maria valley, is present, the darkness it causes is like a shell covering the area, protecting it's territory and not allowing any new birth to happen. God also uses that shell as an incubator to grow a stronger church that will thrive when the shell is finally broken. We are talking about the spiritual realm here. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13) One can never understand these things with the mind, nor can they be perceived with the senses.
I am about as slow a learner as anyone I know. I will be sixty years old in just four weeks. I probably should not have spent all those years confessing to be a late bloomer. It would be great to have learned a lot of these things much earlier in life. Nonetheless, enlightenment is creeping up and beginning to run all over me. In the spirit, I can literally see the cracks in the shell beginning to form. I would have thought, according to all the teaching I have heard, that it would take some massive spiritual warfare with fasting and praying and standing in the face of one spiritual presence or another for a long time before there would be any movement. What I have come to understand is something much different.
All that is necessary to defeat an evil spirit is to not participate with it. The Holy Spirit can then begin to direct the action behind the scenes, moving people in, out, and around and even having people come in from outside the area. We have mentioned Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk in these pages. The previous post acknowledged Shari Norvell from Cessors (short for intercessors), but did not mention her husband Scott who directs a parallel ministry called Terraforming. If you are not familiar with that ministry, you owe it to yourself to find out more about it. (http://www.terra4ming.com/) In fact, all three of the people mentioned above are what we like to call John 3:8 Christians. The world does not understand them. The Holy Spirit called them to come to Santa Maria to help us defeat the religious spirit. We cannot even be sure if they recognized exactly why they were here. They were simply answering the Holy Spirit's call on their lives.
Most of my life, I have heard things like, "When God closes one door He opens another." It is not that I did not believe that, I was just a little short on experience. I had a lot of doors slam either in front of or behind me and I only recall one time that I knew beyond doubt God had done it. Now I am living the experience.
I have had several people offer me condolences on the loss of my job a couple weeks ago. Were I still at the Central Coast Rescue Mission, I would still be frustrated that I could not fulfill what God was calling me to do. In fact, I have only within the past few days heard from the Holy Spirit some of the new things He wants me to do. Several people are going to be blessed beyond what they even know to think or ask, and more will be after that. The best expression is probably some variant of, "I am blown away" by the larger things the Holy Spirit is speaking to me now. I will not have room to tell you about all of them now and prudence dictates I wait a few days anyway. I sort of think there is one more change yet to come.
Some of you will understand when I say a part of what I am called to do right now is to be a testimony against some people who are cooperating with the religious spirit. (Imagine the criticism I am going to get for making that statement.) By the way, please send those criticisms as comments to this post. It is our practice to publish all comments as they come to us without editing them. In fact, this time there will not even be any rebuttal to your comments. We will let them stand or fall on their own merits. You may even post them anonymously if you choose. Please allow me to add my disclaimer here. I cannot promise that some of the regular readers will not post rebuttals to your criticisms. I have lately been hanging around with some people who sincerely desire to be John 3:8 Christians themselves. The end.
I am about as slow a learner as anyone I know. I will be sixty years old in just four weeks. I probably should not have spent all those years confessing to be a late bloomer. It would be great to have learned a lot of these things much earlier in life. Nonetheless, enlightenment is creeping up and beginning to run all over me. In the spirit, I can literally see the cracks in the shell beginning to form. I would have thought, according to all the teaching I have heard, that it would take some massive spiritual warfare with fasting and praying and standing in the face of one spiritual presence or another for a long time before there would be any movement. What I have come to understand is something much different.
All that is necessary to defeat an evil spirit is to not participate with it. The Holy Spirit can then begin to direct the action behind the scenes, moving people in, out, and around and even having people come in from outside the area. We have mentioned Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk in these pages. The previous post acknowledged Shari Norvell from Cessors (short for intercessors), but did not mention her husband Scott who directs a parallel ministry called Terraforming. If you are not familiar with that ministry, you owe it to yourself to find out more about it. (http://www.terra4ming.com/) In fact, all three of the people mentioned above are what we like to call John 3:8 Christians. The world does not understand them. The Holy Spirit called them to come to Santa Maria to help us defeat the religious spirit. We cannot even be sure if they recognized exactly why they were here. They were simply answering the Holy Spirit's call on their lives.
Most of my life, I have heard things like, "When God closes one door He opens another." It is not that I did not believe that, I was just a little short on experience. I had a lot of doors slam either in front of or behind me and I only recall one time that I knew beyond doubt God had done it. Now I am living the experience.
I have had several people offer me condolences on the loss of my job a couple weeks ago. Were I still at the Central Coast Rescue Mission, I would still be frustrated that I could not fulfill what God was calling me to do. In fact, I have only within the past few days heard from the Holy Spirit some of the new things He wants me to do. Several people are going to be blessed beyond what they even know to think or ask, and more will be after that. The best expression is probably some variant of, "I am blown away" by the larger things the Holy Spirit is speaking to me now. I will not have room to tell you about all of them now and prudence dictates I wait a few days anyway. I sort of think there is one more change yet to come.
Some of you will understand when I say a part of what I am called to do right now is to be a testimony against some people who are cooperating with the religious spirit. (Imagine the criticism I am going to get for making that statement.) By the way, please send those criticisms as comments to this post. It is our practice to publish all comments as they come to us without editing them. In fact, this time there will not even be any rebuttal to your comments. We will let them stand or fall on their own merits. You may even post them anonymously if you choose. Please allow me to add my disclaimer here. I cannot promise that some of the regular readers will not post rebuttals to your criticisms. I have lately been hanging around with some people who sincerely desire to be John 3:8 Christians themselves. The end.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Leaders Are Not Always Right
There have now been too many interrelated events this morning for me to not write this post. I was way more productive yesterday than I had intended to be and I am a little tired from all that. If that is too cryptic, I spent way more time than I would have liked to at two home improvement stores, maintained the fireplace, organized part of the garage, and for good measure, replaced a leaking garbage disposal. So I thought maybe I could get a bit of a day off today. And then...
The Holy Spirit said, "Leaders are not always right." I had not even finished mulling that when my wife asked, "In Romans 12 it says that we are to do what is right in the sight of everyone. Wouldn't that make us man-pleasers?" I gave her the best answer I could, but at that point I was still not making any connection. Then I opened my email. The last headline on the list was the notification of a comment by "Anonymous" on my blog. I was still okay. Of course I had to read the comment. You can read it for yourself, (I do not seem to be able to get the link in here right now, but the comments are on the post entitled, "Heart of a Warrior") but my understanding of the sense of it is that there is more than one way to pursue spiritual warfare and he/she (?) is not sure I am using the correct approach. Okay. No problem. I appreciate the input. Were that as far as it went, I can live with that. How many of you know, the Holy Spirit is not going to let something like that rest?
Let me put those things together for us. Please read the whole context before deciding I am wrong or even being a little harsh. I am just reporting. Wherever a religious spirit has any measure of control, the leaders are the problem. We cannot live our lives to please people who are themselves problems, or participants in the problems. The clear teaching of Romans 12 (and various other Bible passages) is that we each have our own jobs to do if the body of Christ on earth is to be victorious over our enemies. I obviously cannot speak for anyone else, but I am confident I am doing what I am supposed to do.
Now of course I have to clarify the previous paragraph. All the leaders are not the problem. I am not indicting your pastor or my pastor or the leaders of any of what we call "paraChurch" ministries in the Santa Maria valley. I am only writing about the ones who are participating with the religious spirit by seeking their own and controlling and/or otherwise keeping the flock of God from "...attaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13) Listen, even the ones who are causing the problem are doing it ignorantly. They are good men and women. If they understood what they were doing, they would not do it. Do not let anything written here inspire you to ignore Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account..." (Hebrews 13:17)
As for the question, my wife posed, our responsibility as Christians is to do the right thing. The only people we are required to please in any endeavor are those who, "...see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16)
That would have been all I had to say except that there is a fourth occurrence today that probably set the three we have already mentioned in motion. Tom Demaree, whom we have mentioned before, is relaunching Pentecost Walk in Santa Maria. The culmination is a prayer walk this very afternoon from the Foursquare Church to City Hall. (I really hope I have all that right. Do not make your plans to attend until you check with someone else to be sure.) Tom is a man we greatly respect and support prayerfully and financially. Tom is doing spiritual warfare a different way than we are. When I worked at FedEx, we would have given him an award called, "Bravo Zulu" for fulfilling his call to ministry with all his spirit, soul, and body. You go Tom!
I am about to hit the "Publish Post" button knowing that I might have to un-post and re-post this. We are almost out the door to hear Pastor Jack Hayford speak at a local church. Jack was our pastor for several years, quite a few years ago. He is a giant among pastors and theologians. He always has a word from God. He might say something today that needs to be stated or clarified here, but for now...
The Holy Spirit said, "Leaders are not always right." I had not even finished mulling that when my wife asked, "In Romans 12 it says that we are to do what is right in the sight of everyone. Wouldn't that make us man-pleasers?" I gave her the best answer I could, but at that point I was still not making any connection. Then I opened my email. The last headline on the list was the notification of a comment by "Anonymous" on my blog. I was still okay. Of course I had to read the comment. You can read it for yourself, (I do not seem to be able to get the link in here right now, but the comments are on the post entitled, "Heart of a Warrior") but my understanding of the sense of it is that there is more than one way to pursue spiritual warfare and he/she (?) is not sure I am using the correct approach. Okay. No problem. I appreciate the input. Were that as far as it went, I can live with that. How many of you know, the Holy Spirit is not going to let something like that rest?
Let me put those things together for us. Please read the whole context before deciding I am wrong or even being a little harsh. I am just reporting. Wherever a religious spirit has any measure of control, the leaders are the problem. We cannot live our lives to please people who are themselves problems, or participants in the problems. The clear teaching of Romans 12 (and various other Bible passages) is that we each have our own jobs to do if the body of Christ on earth is to be victorious over our enemies. I obviously cannot speak for anyone else, but I am confident I am doing what I am supposed to do.
Now of course I have to clarify the previous paragraph. All the leaders are not the problem. I am not indicting your pastor or my pastor or the leaders of any of what we call "paraChurch" ministries in the Santa Maria valley. I am only writing about the ones who are participating with the religious spirit by seeking their own and controlling and/or otherwise keeping the flock of God from "...attaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13) Listen, even the ones who are causing the problem are doing it ignorantly. They are good men and women. If they understood what they were doing, they would not do it. Do not let anything written here inspire you to ignore Hebrews 13:17, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account..." (Hebrews 13:17)
As for the question, my wife posed, our responsibility as Christians is to do the right thing. The only people we are required to please in any endeavor are those who, "...see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16)
That would have been all I had to say except that there is a fourth occurrence today that probably set the three we have already mentioned in motion. Tom Demaree, whom we have mentioned before, is relaunching Pentecost Walk in Santa Maria. The culmination is a prayer walk this very afternoon from the Foursquare Church to City Hall. (I really hope I have all that right. Do not make your plans to attend until you check with someone else to be sure.) Tom is a man we greatly respect and support prayerfully and financially. Tom is doing spiritual warfare a different way than we are. When I worked at FedEx, we would have given him an award called, "Bravo Zulu" for fulfilling his call to ministry with all his spirit, soul, and body. You go Tom!
I am about to hit the "Publish Post" button knowing that I might have to un-post and re-post this. We are almost out the door to hear Pastor Jack Hayford speak at a local church. Jack was our pastor for several years, quite a few years ago. He is a giant among pastors and theologians. He always has a word from God. He might say something today that needs to be stated or clarified here, but for now...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Weapons of Our Warfare, Part 4
One would think after attending church regularly for the best part of fifty years it would be obvious there is some spiritual benefit to the practice. Pastors say that all the time. So does my wife. Yet, I am still surprised when the Holy Spirit actually speaks or clarifies something to my spirit during a Sunday morning service. That happened today. Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk fame was our guest speaker. We missed much of the actual worship time because we were handing out bulletins and greeting at the door. Nonetheless, my mind, as it is apt to do, ran to this blog during the service. It was one of those flash things that sometimes happen. I flashed on how difficult it seemed to be to write this post. The problem was that I had not been writing this post at all--I had been writing the next one. The next post is about the place of praise, worship, and music as spiritual weapons. This one is about the name of Jesus. Psalm 138:2 says, "...for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." (NIV) We previously discussed the word of God, but not the name. Logically, since those two things are placed together in the Bible, we should put them together too.
"...God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord..." (Philippians 2:9-11) These verses show us that the name of Jesus is the name above every other name. Everyone with a different name, a lesser name, is going to bow down at the name of Jesus. That is everyone everywhere, heaven, earth, under the earth, everywhere. The name of Jesus incorporates every other name of God because Jesus is the completion of God's plan to bring many sons and daughters to Himself. Jesus is the name we are given to use in addressing God. It is the name above all other names.
The forces of hell cannot resist the authority in the name of Jesus. When we speak that name they have to bow. They are included in the verses above. They already know Jesus Christ is Lord. He is not their Lord. They do not follow Him. He is still Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the second part of the Trinity that is God. As such He has all authority over everything that has been created. He created all things. All things were created through Him. (John 1:1) We have been given His authority because we have accepted His lordship over our lives. We are entitled to use his name. It has the same authority on our lips as He does in person.
We recently learned that the county Sheriff--any county Sheriff--has absolute authority within his county. He is unique amongst law enforcement officers. No other law enforcement agency trumps his jurisdiction in his county. In fact, they all have to yield to him. The deputy Sheriffs in the county carry the same authority within the county. Jesus has deputized us. We have all the authority He has when we use His name.
The encouragement here would be to invoke the name of Jesus in any situation that involves a demonic, spiritual force. Even in times when the spirits are unidentified, the name of Jesus can be used to beneficial affect. When something does not seem right, but we can not put our finger on the problem, we can still speak the name of Jesus and see things change. We have seen physical and soulical healings take place as a result of the name of Jesus being spoken over the problems. Try it. You will like the results.
"...God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord..." (Philippians 2:9-11) These verses show us that the name of Jesus is the name above every other name. Everyone with a different name, a lesser name, is going to bow down at the name of Jesus. That is everyone everywhere, heaven, earth, under the earth, everywhere. The name of Jesus incorporates every other name of God because Jesus is the completion of God's plan to bring many sons and daughters to Himself. Jesus is the name we are given to use in addressing God. It is the name above all other names.
The forces of hell cannot resist the authority in the name of Jesus. When we speak that name they have to bow. They are included in the verses above. They already know Jesus Christ is Lord. He is not their Lord. They do not follow Him. He is still Lord, the Christ, the Messiah, the second part of the Trinity that is God. As such He has all authority over everything that has been created. He created all things. All things were created through Him. (John 1:1) We have been given His authority because we have accepted His lordship over our lives. We are entitled to use his name. It has the same authority on our lips as He does in person.
We recently learned that the county Sheriff--any county Sheriff--has absolute authority within his county. He is unique amongst law enforcement officers. No other law enforcement agency trumps his jurisdiction in his county. In fact, they all have to yield to him. The deputy Sheriffs in the county carry the same authority within the county. Jesus has deputized us. We have all the authority He has when we use His name.
The encouragement here would be to invoke the name of Jesus in any situation that involves a demonic, spiritual force. Even in times when the spirits are unidentified, the name of Jesus can be used to beneficial affect. When something does not seem right, but we can not put our finger on the problem, we can still speak the name of Jesus and see things change. We have seen physical and soulical healings take place as a result of the name of Jesus being spoken over the problems. Try it. You will like the results.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
One More Move
The reason for our departure from the church we mentioned in the last blog is critical to the story we are telling here. Before we deal with that, however, it is important that you know about a revelation the Lord gave me in the early morning hours sometime in 1998.
I was laying in bed awake very early in the morning when a moving picture of sorts started to play in my mind. In it, I saw a man, who I knew was me. He had some sticky paper on his hand. He was shaking his hand vigorously to remove the paper, but to no avail. When he grabbed it with his other hand it became stuck to that hand. He bent down, put it on the ground and stepped on it. The paper became stuck to his foot so that even a violent shaking would not dislodge it. Again he stooped and pulled it from his foot only to have it stick once again to his hand. In desperation he smacked his hand on his forehead and when he removed his hand, the paper was stuck to his forehead. Now in abject confusion as to how to resolve the situation he stood and pondered. A hand reached down from above and pulled the paper from his forehead, removing it into the darkness. God spoke to my spirit and said, "That is how it is with your sin. You can do nothing about it, but I have taken it and removed it as far from you as the east is from the west." (If that phrase sounds familiar try looking at Psalm 103:12.) I do not really take pride in the fact that I can be a smart aleck in virtually any situation, but I said--and it is as though the Lord knew I would--"I know, and you have forgotten it." I sensed Father God looking down and shaking His head at my statement. He said, "David, that is an anthropomorphism. I do not forget anything. But it is as if I have forgotten it because I will never bring it up again. And if anyone else ever brings it up again you can know they are not speaking for me." This was to become a pivotal revelation. Although it contained no new theology to me, it gave me a concrete way to tell if another person was speaking for God in certain situations.
One Friday afternoon in the fall of 2008, the pastor called me on the telephone and asked if I would be attending the men's breakfast the following day. I said I would and he asked if I would come to his office afterward to speak with him. Although I have discovered over the years that an invitation like that usually portends an uncomfortable conversation, I agreed. After the meeting the two of us adjourned to his office. He told me he had talked to a woman the previous week who had told him I owned a collection of pornographic videos and had even appeared in one. I am not certain I have ever felt quite that level of shock at anything that was said to me previously. For the record, I have never even seen a pornographic video. As a young adult, I had been invited to view an X rated movie during an Army National Guard drill weekend. Within about the first five minutes I decided that was not my kind of activity. It was only upon reflection that I realized this accusation was the devil escalating his attacks against me to another level.
The pastor had no empirical way of knowing whether the woman was telling the truth or not. However, he explained his reasons for giving any creedence to her allegations. By way of evidence, he reminded me of several other things I had been accused of over the previous fifteen years. I knew a few of those things to be true, but in my mind it is still questionable as to whether there was ever any actual wrong done. I will, however, admit to less than excellent judgement in failing to avoid even the very appearance of evil. I would later discover the majority of the accusations were unknown to me at all or were incidents that had never been verified. I declined to discuss any of the allegations because the most recent of them was already a year old at that time and I have some understanding of the spiritual power of our words. I fully believe that to give voice to those things would be to give them life when they should have died months or years ago. Naturally, I also had a problem with him even bringing up those things. I have a revelation, by direct word from the Lord and validated by scripture that says God will never bring up past sins. I question whether any of the things he mentioned could be considered sins. If they were, they are covered by the blood of Jesus and he was reminding me things God does not remember. If they were not sins, could they be anything other than spiritual attacks against my personal credibility?
The pastor offered counseling if I were having such a problem. He was courteous when he said that if the woman's allegations were true, I might very well be the reason the church was not doing any better than it was. He felt he had to ask for my resignation from the church board. I had sensed the beginning of the end of my ministry in that church almost a year earlier, but had remained faithful because that is who I am. It had not occured to us that we would be leaving under such unfortunate circumstances. In fact the pastor was very disappointed when my letter of resignation from the board also indicated that we would no longer be part of that church.
We were out on the street, without a church home, one more time. This time there were more potential churches to visit. We decided to revisit some churches we had passed on previously and to check out a few churches that had been started while we were attending our former church. We even visited one of the churches mentioned earlier in this blog, but knew when we visited that nothing had changed in the years since we had left.
In searching online for the telephone number of a church we wanted to visit, we came across the website for a church we vaguely knew existed, but had not previously considered. In perusing their website, we discovered the church belonged to an association of churches with which we were familiar and believed to have sound doctrine according to our understandings of scripture. We had one other church left on our list to visit so it was two weeks later that we made our visit to that church. What we found when we entered that building was a group of people who had good concepts of worship, teaching, fellowship, giving, and ministry. Within the next few months we attended the mandatory, introductory class for those wishing to be part of the church. That particular church has no official membership. Instead those who wish to be part of that fellowship, exchange vows with the current participants on what is known as "committment Sunday." Prior to our committment to the church, I felt it was important to inform the pastor of the allegations that had been made to our previous pastor about my participation with pornography. My feeling was that if that allegation had walked into one pastor's study, it could certainly walk into a second pastor's study. I felt it far better that he hear it from me.
Having completed the basic requirements for inclusion in the life of that church, we participated in committment Sunday and settled into getting aquainted with the other people who attended the church and finding exactly where we fit into the body life.
A few weeks later, I received an invitation to visit with the pastor in his office. We set the date and time. When I arrived at his office, I found there was only one item on his agenda for the meeting. He had visited our former pastor and had been told about the allegations against me. All he wanted to know is if I were ready to confess my faults and repent. He said he had a list of twenty different allegations given to him by the other pastor. I am not sure if he realized that list was compiled from allegations over the previous fifteen years or not. I am aware of no more than half the allegations on that list myself. (If you have read the post entitled, "Back to 1987" this may sound hauntingly familiar. It did to me.) When I mentioned that many of the things he had heard had never been verified and might not even be true, he said he knew they were true because another pastor had given them to him. He did not want to hear any defense.
This catches us up to the present day. It is clear to me that history is in the process of repeating itself (and has already in some ways) in an twenty year cycle. It seems anyone should be able to see the similarities between the events in that first church we attended in Santa Maria and the one just mentioned. Harold Hill, in his 1970s era book, How to Live Like a King's Kid, defined coincidence as being when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous. Using that as a working definition, we must consider the possibility that we are facing a work of God in the present situation.
Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk says he hesitated to start that ministry thinking himself unworthy of such an undertaking. In the middle of his argument with God he heard, "You are the third person I have asked to do this. Shall I go on to the fourth?" Obviously we know the answer to that question.
Now we are faced with two, strikingly similar situations, separated in time by twenty years. Not long ago I was complaining to the Lord that the devil had stolen the past twenty years of my life from me. I have to wonder, had I recognized the spiritual battle that was going on those twenty years ago, if we, the Christians in the Santa Maria valley would already have won. How many people might have been born again and entered into everlasting life had the conflict been understood? How much more abundant would our collective lives be? How many more people would be worshipping Lord Jesus as they go about their daily lives and participate in church services? Twenty years later, we have another chance to enter the conflict. This time we are going to fight and we are going to win. God promises us, "...the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Daniel 11:42)
I was laying in bed awake very early in the morning when a moving picture of sorts started to play in my mind. In it, I saw a man, who I knew was me. He had some sticky paper on his hand. He was shaking his hand vigorously to remove the paper, but to no avail. When he grabbed it with his other hand it became stuck to that hand. He bent down, put it on the ground and stepped on it. The paper became stuck to his foot so that even a violent shaking would not dislodge it. Again he stooped and pulled it from his foot only to have it stick once again to his hand. In desperation he smacked his hand on his forehead and when he removed his hand, the paper was stuck to his forehead. Now in abject confusion as to how to resolve the situation he stood and pondered. A hand reached down from above and pulled the paper from his forehead, removing it into the darkness. God spoke to my spirit and said, "That is how it is with your sin. You can do nothing about it, but I have taken it and removed it as far from you as the east is from the west." (If that phrase sounds familiar try looking at Psalm 103:12.) I do not really take pride in the fact that I can be a smart aleck in virtually any situation, but I said--and it is as though the Lord knew I would--"I know, and you have forgotten it." I sensed Father God looking down and shaking His head at my statement. He said, "David, that is an anthropomorphism. I do not forget anything. But it is as if I have forgotten it because I will never bring it up again. And if anyone else ever brings it up again you can know they are not speaking for me." This was to become a pivotal revelation. Although it contained no new theology to me, it gave me a concrete way to tell if another person was speaking for God in certain situations.
One Friday afternoon in the fall of 2008, the pastor called me on the telephone and asked if I would be attending the men's breakfast the following day. I said I would and he asked if I would come to his office afterward to speak with him. Although I have discovered over the years that an invitation like that usually portends an uncomfortable conversation, I agreed. After the meeting the two of us adjourned to his office. He told me he had talked to a woman the previous week who had told him I owned a collection of pornographic videos and had even appeared in one. I am not certain I have ever felt quite that level of shock at anything that was said to me previously. For the record, I have never even seen a pornographic video. As a young adult, I had been invited to view an X rated movie during an Army National Guard drill weekend. Within about the first five minutes I decided that was not my kind of activity. It was only upon reflection that I realized this accusation was the devil escalating his attacks against me to another level.
The pastor had no empirical way of knowing whether the woman was telling the truth or not. However, he explained his reasons for giving any creedence to her allegations. By way of evidence, he reminded me of several other things I had been accused of over the previous fifteen years. I knew a few of those things to be true, but in my mind it is still questionable as to whether there was ever any actual wrong done. I will, however, admit to less than excellent judgement in failing to avoid even the very appearance of evil. I would later discover the majority of the accusations were unknown to me at all or were incidents that had never been verified. I declined to discuss any of the allegations because the most recent of them was already a year old at that time and I have some understanding of the spiritual power of our words. I fully believe that to give voice to those things would be to give them life when they should have died months or years ago. Naturally, I also had a problem with him even bringing up those things. I have a revelation, by direct word from the Lord and validated by scripture that says God will never bring up past sins. I question whether any of the things he mentioned could be considered sins. If they were, they are covered by the blood of Jesus and he was reminding me things God does not remember. If they were not sins, could they be anything other than spiritual attacks against my personal credibility?
The pastor offered counseling if I were having such a problem. He was courteous when he said that if the woman's allegations were true, I might very well be the reason the church was not doing any better than it was. He felt he had to ask for my resignation from the church board. I had sensed the beginning of the end of my ministry in that church almost a year earlier, but had remained faithful because that is who I am. It had not occured to us that we would be leaving under such unfortunate circumstances. In fact the pastor was very disappointed when my letter of resignation from the board also indicated that we would no longer be part of that church.
We were out on the street, without a church home, one more time. This time there were more potential churches to visit. We decided to revisit some churches we had passed on previously and to check out a few churches that had been started while we were attending our former church. We even visited one of the churches mentioned earlier in this blog, but knew when we visited that nothing had changed in the years since we had left.
In searching online for the telephone number of a church we wanted to visit, we came across the website for a church we vaguely knew existed, but had not previously considered. In perusing their website, we discovered the church belonged to an association of churches with which we were familiar and believed to have sound doctrine according to our understandings of scripture. We had one other church left on our list to visit so it was two weeks later that we made our visit to that church. What we found when we entered that building was a group of people who had good concepts of worship, teaching, fellowship, giving, and ministry. Within the next few months we attended the mandatory, introductory class for those wishing to be part of the church. That particular church has no official membership. Instead those who wish to be part of that fellowship, exchange vows with the current participants on what is known as "committment Sunday." Prior to our committment to the church, I felt it was important to inform the pastor of the allegations that had been made to our previous pastor about my participation with pornography. My feeling was that if that allegation had walked into one pastor's study, it could certainly walk into a second pastor's study. I felt it far better that he hear it from me.
Having completed the basic requirements for inclusion in the life of that church, we participated in committment Sunday and settled into getting aquainted with the other people who attended the church and finding exactly where we fit into the body life.
A few weeks later, I received an invitation to visit with the pastor in his office. We set the date and time. When I arrived at his office, I found there was only one item on his agenda for the meeting. He had visited our former pastor and had been told about the allegations against me. All he wanted to know is if I were ready to confess my faults and repent. He said he had a list of twenty different allegations given to him by the other pastor. I am not sure if he realized that list was compiled from allegations over the previous fifteen years or not. I am aware of no more than half the allegations on that list myself. (If you have read the post entitled, "Back to 1987" this may sound hauntingly familiar. It did to me.) When I mentioned that many of the things he had heard had never been verified and might not even be true, he said he knew they were true because another pastor had given them to him. He did not want to hear any defense.
This catches us up to the present day. It is clear to me that history is in the process of repeating itself (and has already in some ways) in an twenty year cycle. It seems anyone should be able to see the similarities between the events in that first church we attended in Santa Maria and the one just mentioned. Harold Hill, in his 1970s era book, How to Live Like a King's Kid, defined coincidence as being when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous. Using that as a working definition, we must consider the possibility that we are facing a work of God in the present situation.
Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk says he hesitated to start that ministry thinking himself unworthy of such an undertaking. In the middle of his argument with God he heard, "You are the third person I have asked to do this. Shall I go on to the fourth?" Obviously we know the answer to that question.
Now we are faced with two, strikingly similar situations, separated in time by twenty years. Not long ago I was complaining to the Lord that the devil had stolen the past twenty years of my life from me. I have to wonder, had I recognized the spiritual battle that was going on those twenty years ago, if we, the Christians in the Santa Maria valley would already have won. How many people might have been born again and entered into everlasting life had the conflict been understood? How much more abundant would our collective lives be? How many more people would be worshipping Lord Jesus as they go about their daily lives and participate in church services? Twenty years later, we have another chance to enter the conflict. This time we are going to fight and we are going to win. God promises us, "...the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Daniel 11:42)
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