Monthly Archives: October 2018

War……

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This past weekend was a big answer to prayer, about prayer, a ministry opportunity that God laid heavily on my heart about three months ago. I shared it with a few prayer warriors, then I saw God open doors in ways I could not, and I found myself being allowed to pray to start a national race series we started running. I found myself incredibly nervous, which is so unlike me, yet I think I realized the depth of my testimony coming full circle back to what I idolized above God for many years. As I simply prayed with thanksgiving, and for our safety, I inwardly prayed God will form a trackside ministry from this simple obedience, to reach those like myself only a few short years ago. This weekend was a family high if you will, quality time together, unity, and a combined hope for the future ministry opportunities and racing. I angered my enemy, so he launched an attack.

As I sat last night reflecting, I posted on social media, “One of the hardest realities of boldness in your faith, is the directly proportional attacks from Satan. Highs=lows. #prayer #onedayatatime #realwar” Satan had come at our family through my words, through the power of the tongue, through words you cannot take back, the lion who seeks to devour was on the prowl. James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. (read James 3:1-11) Satan always seeks to divide, a simple military strategy in a heavenly war for your soul. A divided army, family, church, self…..is easily conquered. Satan always wants to knock you back down any spiritual mountain you have just climbed, but God is always in the valley to pick you back up again. Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. I asked my family for forgiveness, shared of what I am speaking of here, and sat last night and prayed….for myself. I asked God for a renewed heart, for sin struggles, for focus, for many things I cannot share, and I prayed for him to wake me up at 4:30, as an answer to my prayer…..I almost felt shook awake at 4:29.

Will you join me in this pursuit? Will you join me in seeking God more than just on Sunday’s for an hour? Will you join me in doing the only thing that will effect your eternity in life? Awake early enough to simply pray and open your Bible. That simple act shows your heart for God, will realign your focus on God, and will begin the transformation by God until he calls you to paradise. It matters not your age, nor the condition of your heart or spiritual life, that simple act at any point is life transforming; you cannot remain the same person, if you seek God first today. You will find yourself immersed in the same war as I, as all of God’s saints for centuries; you will say to Satan I am not yours, but Jesus’ who defeated you at the Cross, and the daily preparation will enable you to do battle, in a war you cannot see, but can feel the effects of. Be a good soldier, and dedicate your life, to the One who gave you eternal life. Then you will be on the side that wins the war, and have eternity to reap the spoils of victory in Christ.

Follow Me (Jesus Christ)

Matthew 7:21-23   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Would you read a book that expounds on the scariest verses in the Bible in the first chapter? You might say, “yes,” because you think that was the hook that would get you to read the book. What if in it’s first chapter you began to question your faith, because of bold statements like, “If our lives do not reflect the fruit of following Jesus, then we are foolish to think that we are actually followers of Jesus in the first place.” What if the book made you question how you came to faith, and pointed to how soft and wrong so many churches have gotten the gospel of Jesus Christ? What if it made you realize that, “repeat after me prayers, signing cards, and raising hands” was just the beginning, but not just the get out of jail free card so many rest upon? But, what if you realized David Platt was right, and that he was just bold enough to biblically expound on Jesus’ greatest sermon, The Sermon on the Mount, and to proclaim an unpopular truth about Christianity today? Are we truly followers of Jesus that will spend eternity in Heaven, or, hear the words from Him above on our way to Hell? Would you keep reading the book and let God open your heart to a life more devoted that you could imagine, or put it down and return to the status quo and hope he was wrong?

I would not know where to begin, how to simplify, how to begin to explain the ministry God has called me to, except it is similar to David Platt. I grew up in religion, thinking I was saved because I went to church. Later in life, I discovered the true meaning of God’s mercy and grace, and the last ten years or so, have been a test of my faith. I am un-liked by many people because of my boldness; I feel like a prophet called to proclaim what God lays on my heart at all cost personally to me. My ministry is the church, one of repentance of the church, a call to proclaim true Christ following faith. It would be much easier with an evangelistic call, the one to the sinner, than to the prideful Christian. 13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Jesus closed his greatest sermon condemning those that had come to him in religion, those that wanted the blessing, but not willing to pay the cost of following him. Sadly many of us today fall into that category.

One of the clearest analogies I have heard to test your faith, is that of a courtroom. Simply stated, if you were tried in a court for your Christian faith, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict? What would others say about you? What would they be able to dig up on you in your home, online, banking records, phone calls, traveling, in your statements of faith and recollection of the Bible verses? Would you rest upon your church attendance record, and a sinners prayer alone? Would that hold up in a court or cast a reasonable doubt? Convictions come when enough evidence is proven to outweigh the doubt. Think about this in the word of “fruits” in the Bible. 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Jesus uses that term all through his ministry, and it is coined all through the New Testament. Are you producing fruit? Are you a true follower of Jesus Christ, going against the world and paying a cost for your faith? Do you stand your ground when your faith the pivot, or do you compromise? Read Jesus’ greatest message, The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7), and let the Word of God prick, pray for the Holy Spirit to convict and tug you to a repentant plea to become a true follower of Jesus Christ, to proclaim whatever he places on your heart to a world that desperately needs to hear.

Can You Relate? Then Participate!

Acts 13:2-3 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

I want to move to the middle of nowhere; I want to stick my head in the sand to ignore; I want to never watch the news; I want to disconnect from society; I want to scream from the rooftops what the $&#$ is wrong with you people……can you relate? I get so mad at the level of evil evident among us today. When you watch the news you see it played out locally and on large scales nationally and politically. I get so frustrated at the double-standards played out in the open, accepted just as if covertly seduced. I am appalled at the selfishness that breeds so many of these problems, yet I know the biggest problem is how far we have drifted from God. I know Satan is smiling as his limited power is peaking in my lifetime, but he will fall. I know Satan is smiling at the universalism and prosperity gospels that so many pastors are leading thousands to Hell with. Even Paul on this first missionary journey confronted the false prophet; 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? The only way to know the difference in false prophets and Godly ones is to spend time in prayer and God’s Word yourself. You WILL BE given discernment to know the difference!

I miss preaching, the pulpit, the preparation, the gifts from God for the messages for his people. That season in my life brought incredible highs and lows, but all of it brought me closer to the Lord. My pulpit is now social media (until blocked again), and wherever my feet are for the day. My outlet is wherever and whoever God puts in my path. An evangelist spoke to me deeply on my first missionary trip. “We share about sports, the weather, and ourselves, why can’t we share about Christ? What if that was the last conversation someone had, and they didn’t learn about Jesus?” Sharing your faith does not mean a full gospel presentation every time. Sharing your faith is relative to the situation God has put you in with someone at that time. How does your faith relate and effect what you are dealing with, and how can you simply share it? It can even be as simple as, “Well, when I don’t know what to do, I always pray about it. Would you like me to pray?” Through that act, God softens hearts and you just might play a part in preparing someone for eternal paradise. God is always at work in the unseen, and uses those willing to be bold in their faith to do heavenly work with him. 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. It is always God, not ourselves accomplishing the work of God, we are just blessed to be used by God doing his work.

You have a mission field. Those closest to you are where you start. Your family knows you better than anyone, and they know if you are living your faith seven days a week or for just a couple hours on Sunday. Your whole life should be filtered through your faith. Your actions, words, thoughts, decisions, acquaintances, work, and yes, your motives for each of these. If you proclaim Christianity, the world filters it’s opinion of you and your God through it. Everything you do is judged by those around you. How did they handle that as a Christian? How can they speak like that as a Christian? How can they post about their faith, and then their drinking on social media? How can they post about their love, and then their hate in the same day? I don’t know nothing, except the grace and love of my Savior, and I am blown away at why I (and you) have received both. But, I do want to spend my life telling others about Jesus, no matter how bad I want to run and hide. It is all about Him, and not about me. If you read verse two in Acts, everything we do, we are truly doing FOR God.