School of Circuit Riders LA Summer 2013 My Lecture Notes, #5

7/29/13 Brian Brennt at PiHop (Pasadena International House of Prayer)

Sometimes in the prophetic we have to strain to see.  In this time of prayer and preparation, God has redirected us to the first commandment of LOVE.  We are no longer hating people to motivate them to love!  No more guilt/forcing.

The GOSPEL is the greatest love movement in the world.

Three love killers:

1. Anxiety over making things happen. This is the antithesis of trust.  Fire anxiety! Hire trust. You can't make your future happen!

2. Pride infection (also self-preoccupation). This is basically thinking we're better than others. We are all learners. Get used to learning from the younger generation. There is so much hatred within Christianity.  Get rid of the opinion machine. Don't be a pride robot. The mandate of a pride robot is to have no fun and give lots of advice.  Get on the humility wagon.   Let's start a love revolution with practical humility.

3. Power: you can't be in charge!  Jesus is in charge. Only be in charge under mandate from God.  Jump on the Jesus wagon.  If I like being in charge I won't be listening to anyone, including Jesus.  Listen with a pure heart. Enjoy listening!  Be a discoverer of the human heart: ask lots of questions. Be confident because you are a LOVE MACHINE.  Remember:  just love the one in front of me.

7/30/13  Notes from the morning session:

Spend time with the Lord of Love!  Drink from the well of the One who loves perfectly.  Bring Him the sacrifice of praise; for in HIS presence is fullness of joy.

Live in a culture of love: 1 Timothy 1: ("The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly," verses 5-7.)  The law points to the gospel!

Live in a Culture of Honor.  Honor what each person brings to the table. Live in humility realizing everyone has value, gifts and experiences that I don't have. 

School of Circuit Riders LA Summer 2013 My Lecture Notes, #4

Actual Circuit Riders' Training, Day 1

7/28/13  Andy Byrd: on Unbelief

We have a T-ball God-one who cheers us on and approves of us even when we can only smack the T and the ball falls off and dribbles a few inches 

Jesus did all of life (even the tiny things) in the realm of faith.

Loving your neighbor has a multiplication effect in the supernatural. Acts 2:14, 41, 47- One by one we lead people to Jesus! 

We are like Jesus in that we are both natural and supernatural at the same time.  Unbelief attacks us to disqualify us supernaturally. We need simple, practical, everyday faith.

Reinhardt Bonke quote, "I said YES to Jesus."  That's it; we don't have to be amazing and deep!

God will give me my action plan in simple steps: Gal. 5:6. 6 "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

7/29/30  Sammy Rodriguez: Tasty Treats of Evangelism

       Don't be:  
                Captain Serious, but be Captain Joy  
                     (we have freedom to fail!)

                Captain Religious, but be Captain Love

                Captain Theology, but be Captain Simplicity
                             (Keep it simple!)

                Captain Repentance, but be Captain Grace:

Simply lead others through the 4-R's (REPENT of the sin, RECEIVE Christ's death on the cross and forgiveness of our sin, REBUKE the enemy and his lies to us in this area, REPLACE the lie we have been believing with the truth of God-speak scriptures out loud that proclaim the truth!

 Use CLASP as an evangelism guideline:

                        CLASP:

                        C= Chat

                        L= Listen

                        A=Ask

                        S=Share

                        P= Pray

My School of Circuit Riders LA Summer Lecture Notes, #3

Jason Maas

On Revival:

2 Chronicles 7:14 "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 

Revival = God's grace

Acts 1:  assembled together, baptized with/in the Holy Spirit to be witnesses (martyrs-unto death).

We are not called just to be witnesses to individuals, but to cities and nations.

The presence of God comes through repentence, humility and prayer.

Revival is not enough- we need REFORMATION, of every sphere of culture.  What this looks like:

1. Power of God revealed

2. Purpose of God established.

Revival = relationship, community and purpose tranformation

Let your works define your faith!

Pastor Ché Ahn

Evangelism should be an overflow of the Holy Spirit in me as I'm doing life!

Eph. 5:15.  Ask to filled continually with the Holy Spirit just as I thirst after water.  Zech. 4:6

Day 2 of Circuit Riders' LA School 2013, July 26, (Love Santa Ana Event), Part 2.

We are on the verse of another Jesus movement in South California. Col. 20:27

1) Be filled with the Spirit

2) Be led by His Spirit: John 5:19, John 10:27 (my sheep hear my voice); Acts 2:17-18 (First  manifestation of Spirit=prophecy)

3) Pray for open doors and divine appointments!

4)  Preach the NEWS!  (Mark 16:17)

Francis Chan

1 Chronicles 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Eph. 5:16: make the best use of the time

In 1 Chr. 15:8 King Asa did not seek help from the Lord rather relied on others.

Revelation 3:2 "Strengthen what remains and is about to die…"

We need FFO:

F = Freedom

F = Fearlessness

O = unOffendable hearts

The American dream sucks J!  It is wealth that ties us down and independence that lets us die a lonely death.

The older we get the more risks and sacrifices we need to take.

My School of Circuit Riders LA Summer Lecture Notes, #2

Day 2 of Circuit Riders' LA School 2013, July 26, (Love Santa Ana Event), Part 1.

Speaker # 1 Adam Edgerly (Site Pastor of NewSong LA) teaching: The Spiritual Discipline of Civic Engagement-how to be an agent of change for the downtrodden.

Jesus said, "Go into ALL the world…" Therefore we the Church need to live a disciplined spiritual life (Biblical example of Nehemiah and King Artexerxes). Nehemiah showed patience, after all, Rome was not burned in a day!

We are to be Revolutionaries.  Characteristics of a revolutionary:

1. Willing to experience Pain (Nehemiah's grief in Neh.1). We are not ready to be used by God until we weep with those who weep.

2.  Willing to risk relationships in order to have hard conversations.

3. Willing to be disciplined. 4 levels of discipline:

            a. Investigative: collect facts on injustice

            b. Negotiate

            c. Self-purification

            d. Non-violent civic demonstration

Pray that "we would be one as the father and I are one."

4.  Devoted to praying for reform in this country.

Speaker #2 Brian Brennt:

Overcoming the "Sharing your Faith" Paralysis:

1. Have a humble heart and realize you too were rescued. Coming from a higher position is out!

2. Realize you're proposing JESUS!! Not a religion. Religious insincerity is out!

3. Listen, don't lecture. What does he/she have to tell you?

4. Ask yourself-"Do I know my own (Jesus) story?"  Be ready with your story when the opportunity arises.  How can you connect your story with theirs?

5. Relax! The Holy Spirit does the work.  All you need to do is strike up a conversation and ask questions.  Be ready to say, "How can I pray" or "How can I help?"

6. Be ready for the religious police! Don't worry about being perfect.

7. Overcome fear; you don't need more training! That is a lie-fear of man is a killer. There is no perfect way, so don't force a preconceived idea…flow with the Spirit.

8. Share the love!

Speaker #3 Jason Aguilar:

On Evangelism:

1. Take the risk of failure-be willing to MESS UP!  Remember when the gift of faith starts operating, the rest of the gifts rise up too.

2. Fix my eyes on Jesus! Not on myself, my gifts or wisdom.

3. Remember that wherever I walk, Jesus comes with me, bringing the POWER OF GOD into the situation!

4. Learn to rejoice in the small things. The more I rejoice, the more miracles will come.

5. Yield to God-the filling of the Spirit comes with yieldedness. The book of Acts came out of yielded people.

6. Ask "Do I know what God is doing in my city?"  This is important, for this information lets us know what, where and when God is going to do something, and I can show up with faith.

7. Realize that being Spirit led has to be preceded with prayer, fasting, and conquering the desires of my own flesh.  Prayer is vital!

8. Rely on the Grace of God. Grace=power and gifts of the Spirit. This will bring favor, access and influence.

The bottom line is to remember that GOD is the giver of all gifts. HE gives them to whomever He pleases.  My vision should be bigger than my capacity!

My School of Circuit Riders LA Summer Lecture Notes, #1

Day 1 of Circuit Riders' LA School 2013, July 25, (Love Santa Ana Event)

 Speaker #1: Dave Gibbons (senior pastor of NewSong Church, LA). Notes:

 The natural inclination of man has always been to build vertically (Gen. 11, Tower of Babel, which is actually Satan's strategy). This has played out in the Church spending much time in construction of buildings and places of worship. These Christian structures cannot handle the demonic assault from a city.

There is a new game coming-the Church is called to the streets and workplace, not to try and lure the lost into structures. God's design is to scatter and send into trials, not build a structure. We are called to go out in twos and threes to bring fragrance and bless the earth. God's original design in Gen. 1 and 12 is to own the earth and claim it! To boldly roam the earth fearlessly and freely is planted in our DNA by GOD. This is true evangelism. Stop focusing on church- Focus on the Kingdom!

Ask yourself, "What am I pretending not to know?" [I realized I was pretending I didn't really know how to do evangelism ☹]

We are called to go out into the world to bring the Blessing! What does this blessing look like?
      1. To SEE people (on streets, crowds, etc). To notice them and ask, "What does the Father want to do here (John 5)? Lay culture aside and don't impose our own strategy-God has already placed Rahabs there to give us the keys to the city.
      2. To get to KNOW people (Acts 15). Have conversations, receive downloads from God (Words of Knowledge) about an individual-powerful and effective!
      3. Affirm the person's DESTINY! Mostly received through Words of Knowledge.
      4. Practice radical GENEROSITY! Give of our inheritance to bless others.
      5. LOVE!
               L- Learn the city-listen to God's heart for this city.
               O- Organize and have a plan of reaching the city.
               V- "verge"=convergence of different streams (Christian churches and organizations) all with                 different strengths, gifts, and insights. This is unity Of the body (1 Cor. 12)
               E- Encourage those we seek to save with words, gifts, affection, etc. Let them know they are VALUED. Approach people on their terms and in their locations. Ask questions; find out    about them, be interested, listen to the Lord for Words of Knowledge to share with the person.

Legalism: a cop out

Most of us who have been bible-believing Christians for any length of time have probably fallen under the influence of legalism.  We have absorbed half truths and Christian "conventional wisdom" through sermons, misinterpreted scriptures, and let's face it, demonic lies.

I quote: "The word 'legalism' does not occur in the Bible. It is a term Christians use to describe a doctrinal position emphasizing a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth. Legalists believe in and demand a strict literal adherence to rules and regulations. Doctrinally, it is a position essentially opposed to grace. Those who hold a legalistic position often fail to see the real purpose for law, especially the purpose of the Old Testament law of Moses, which is to be our “schoolmaster” or “tutor” to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The apostle Paul warns us of legalism in Colossians 2:20-23: “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Legalists may appear to be righteous and spiritual, but legalism ultimately fails to accomplish God’s purposes because it is an outward performance instead of an inward change."
[From http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-Christian-legalism.html]

I submit it's far easier to operate under a legalistic rule-based faith than it is to search out scriptures for ourselves with an open mind, uncolored by preconceptions, crying out the Holy Spirit for discernment.

In biblical times the Pharisees, a group of Jewish religious extremists, epitomized legalism. They rigidly adhered to a "godly" law of mostly their own making and Jesus vehemently and often harshly rebuked them.  In Matthew chapter 23 Jesus makes it pretty clear how He feels about legalists. Here are a few excerpts:

"But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them... Everything they do is done for people to see... Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to...You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel [my favorite!]. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former...You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?"

We are to be people who "walk in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25), not people who default to a set of fear-based rules in order to be "safe" and to practice a lazy faith.  Some examples of legalism I have encountered in my 40 years as a Christian:
"It's Godly to remain in an abusive marriage rather than the sin of divorce. God will bless the wife, even if she ends up being martyred in the marriage."  Are you joking?
"Ear piercing and tattoos are sin.  Says so right in the bible."  These misconceptions come from the misinterpretation of Leviticus 19:28: “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.” Context, people! This scripture does not refer to body decoration, but trying to atone for the dead, not merely honor and remember them.
"Drinking alcohol is a sin."  Now this is definitely NOT in the bible. Drunkenness is a sin, but not the consumption of alcohol, which, by the way, Jesus did, and was severely criticized by, guess who? The Pharisees, of course! (Luke 7:33-35).
"It's a sin to skip church."  This one REALLY irritates me.  As if church is the answer to all our problems. I strongly suggest that church is made for man, not man for church.  The Word teaches that "... let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" in Hebrews 10:23-25, but it does not follow that a day off from church is a step onto the path of Hell.  There are lots of other gatherings that constitute "meeting together," and the point is to stay in fellowship with Christians. Church can become an addiction and another stone in the load of legalistic expectations.  I personally don't usually miss church simply because I like being there and I find it a great encouragement to me, but if I want a day off, I'm taking a day off, and I ain't going to believe the lie that Satan kept me away from church simply by whispering, "you should skip...." Good one.

Let us be people of FAITH, people of the SPIRIT, not scared rabbits who default to a set of rules and regulations in order to feel safe or good about our "Christian" performance.

Christian Universalism: Doctrine of Error

I just finished a mini-study covering the Christian doctrine of Universalism, a feel-good creed Wikipedia clarifies as belief in: "...universal reconciliation (all will eventually be reconciled to God without exception, the penalty for sin is not everlasting, i.e. doctrines of everlasting damnation to hell and annihilationism are rejected) and theosis (all souls will ultimately be conformed to the image of divine perfection in Christ)." Oh, how my fallen nature wishes this were true! Nice, comforting, HUMAN beliefs, ones eliminating the necessity of evangelism or intercession for lost souls...but unfortunately, biblically erroneous principles.

One of the books I read during this study was Rob Bell's "Love Wins." Bell is the former pastor of the Mars Hill (a mega-) Church, but somewhere along the way, he wandered into Biblical Fantasy Land. I quote him here: "A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.... This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." Universalism initially seems preferable to traditional Christianity's "hellfire and brimstone" tenant, but again, just because we can conjure up a NEW set of rules doesn't make them true. And just because some of us don't like how Yahweh set things up doesn't give us license to invent our own gospel and pretend it's real.

Let's discuss the flaws of Universalism. First of all, in order to create a new and "better" Christianity, Universalists must rationalize God's behavior and fit Him into a human mold, endowing Him with characteristics that fit human notions of compassion, fairness, love, etc. The foundational claims of this false doctrine explain that because "God is love," there's no way a loving God would send people to Hell. Basic problem: God is not JUST loving. He is also HOLY. His Holiness is as much a component of His divine nature as is His love. Apart from God, we have no notion of holiness, therefore we can't fathom His absolute abhorrence of sin. He cannot abide it. While we excuse it, He requires payment for it. Our sin nature necessitated the cross. His bodily sacrifice paid for our unholiness, justifying us to enter into His fellowship. This is a notion violently at odds with a "kinder, gentler," humanistic world-view. The cross actually seems pagan to our sophisticated mind. What kind of God, after all, requires a BLOOD sacrifice? A savage God? "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" Isaiah 55:9.

While Bell asserts the cross indeed paid the price for salvation, he further insists it accomplished that in such a manner as eliminating the need for repentance and completely apart from any decision made in regards to Jesus. Therefore salvation is a universal get-in-free card for all, not just those who "believe on the Lord Jesus." (Acts 16:31) In fact, Bell says, "People come to Jesus in all sorts of ways. Sometimes people use his name; other times they don’t." Really? You can't COME TO JESUS without professing his name! The bible clearly asserts,"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). For to disdain a God who would send someone to hell is to say we know better than God what God-behaviors are acceptable. "Woe to the one who argues with his Maker-- one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it, What are you making? Or does your work say, He has no hands?" (Isaiah 45:9).

Secondly, Universalists must contort or rationalize scriptures to justify this position. Rob Bell enters into a detailed description (distortion) of the word Gehenna, biblically translated into English as "hell." Gehenna literally referred to a garbage dump outside the city of Jerusalem that was kept continuously burning to consume the refuse. Bell insists that though Gehenna was a place of constant fire ("where the worm does not die"-Mark 9:48), it didn't refer to after-life hell. The fact Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna)" doesn't seem to faze Mr. Bell. He wrote that this verse does NOT mean PEOPLE will burn in hell, but instead the reference to Gehenna represents the fire God uses to consume the bad stuff in human lives until they get to the place where they can go to heaven. Hmmm, that's a stretch.

So Jesus doesn't really mean what he says in the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13? I quote: “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and ALL [emphasis mine] who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear." So the Savior just spouted scary words to manipulate us into righteousness just because He prefers us this way? Not because our souls are in literal danger of hell? The logical choice is taking him at His Word.

I needed an antidote to Bell's book, so I also read "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan, a book he authored specifically to refute Bell's "Love" book. Some of the great quotes from this book were: “God is compassionate and just, loving and holy, wrathful and forgiving. WE can't sideline His more difficult attributes to make room for the palatable ones." And: “God is love, but He also defines what love is. We don't have the license to define love according to our standards.” And: "I really believe it's time for some of us to stop apologizing for God and start apologizing to Him for being embarrassed by the ways He has chosen to reveal Himself.” Chan doesn't try and sanitize God to satisfy our frail human sensibilities. He tells it like it is, "warts" and all.

 The bottom line? The Word teaches that those who enter into relationship with Jesus Christ and accept His atoning work on the cross as payment for their inherent sin nature will "not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). I love how 1 Peter 1:3-5 puts it: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." The contingency, however, is FAITH in Christ. It isn't just any ol' path and the Lord's great mercy will cover whatever erroneous crud we decide to believe. Sometimes I wish it were so, but it ain't, boys and girls.

Seduced by Humanism

I woke up this morning, my heart heavy, with this prayer burden: our country has fallen under the spell of humanism.  We have abdicated our Godly heritage, traded it for a man-made god, one who is "nicer" than the real God.  We are the Israelites who built and worshiped a golden calf while their leader Moses communed with the real God.  In the words of C.S. Lewis, our God (Aslan) is: "not safe, but he's good." We want a safe god, one we can control, one who doesn't really send people to hell and one who doesn't let us reap what we've sown.  For that is what we're doing: we're reaping the whirlwind of secular humanism (defined as: "belief in human-based morality: a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority) from sowing the wind of pride. Sure beats a God who actually said, "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “ ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched,'"doesn't it?

Thomas Jefferson and Alex de Tocqueville said, "A people get the government they deserve."  Because idolatry has ruled us, we deserve a country in financial ruin.  Because we have allowed this nation to spit in the face of God, we deserve Christianity to be reviled and trampled under foot.  Because we have allowed millions of innocents in the womb to be brutally murdered, we deserve rampant violence.  Because we have felt sorryfor  and enabled the ne'er-do-wells, we deserve millions on the dole, unwilling to work because they were given free fish rather than a fishing pole. Because we have revered our leisure time, have no time for God or the life He has called us to, and  don't even know this God we claim to serve, we deserve secular humanism.  Because we have given Hollywood our hard earned dollars no matter what trash they've come up with, we deserve a pornographic society, free sex, and rampant abortion. Because we have called the bible a "Jewish story book," especially the Old Testament, we see the systematic removal of all things Christian from our nation (we're barely even allowed to say "Christmas" or "Easter" any longer).  Because we have been silent when we should have risen up in protest, we have anti-constitutional political correctness. And because we have been apathetic and believed in separating church from state, we Christians have no voice or influence in America (even though the original "separation of church and state" came from Thomas Jefferson, who wrote:"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,'" effectively building a wall of separation between Church and State.  Jefferson actually meant that the government is not to interfere with religion!

My morning prayer focused on our President.  I have never struggled with so much anger toward a government leader before, but every day I have to war against that fleshly response. I have to remind myself daily that "our battle is not against flesh and blood." This morning I prayed hard for this man who is so deceived. This man who fulfills the scripture in 1 John 2:18, "dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour."  Before you think I'm a fanciful freak, I don't think our president is THE antichrist.  But he is an antichrist, defined as: "an antagonist of Jesus Christ, expected by the early Christians to spread evil throughout the world, but then to be overcome by the second coming of Christ."  (For the sake of brevity, I've omitted the list of our current Commander-in-Chief's anti-Christian activity; it can be found here, however: http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=106938)

In the scriptural story of the golden calf, our president is the Aaron-the one who fashions the golden calf because the people demand it.  That golden calf is humanism, and we the people of this nation have embraced that idol as our God.  We are to blame for the state our country is in: for sky-high grocery prices, for the violence in schools, for the march of moral destruction and pluralism, for the slaughter of millions of our unborn innocents; and we are the only ones who can turn this ship around.  But in order to do so, we have to care.  We can't sit back and want everything nice like little Pollyannas.

 My favorite biblical (non-Jesus) person (besides Moses) is John the baptist.  I want to share my favorite story of him from Matthew 3:

"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” [Not a people pleaser!] This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey [a manly man!]. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River [a man of influence]. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance [not worried about political correctness...this dude called a spade a spade!]. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire [truth-talker!].” Matthew 3:1-12.

It's time to lay the ax to the root, people! We must take back our country from the ruin caused by intellectualism, pride, apathy and human compassion.  If we don't, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren on down will reap the whirlwind of our spiritual and moral lethargy.  Apathy is a drug-it lets us off the hook, it gives us the false notion that we are actually supposed to let things go: "let go and let God." Or better yet, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be);" how appealing to our lazy, self-indulgent flesh!  We can just sit back and ignore this nation's slide into hell and concentrate on having the happy little life we Americans deserve, by God! Good luck with that; that happy little life is about to be annihilated.

 "They triumphed over him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." Revelation 12:11

What is Faith?

Old time evangelist and healer Smith Wigglesworth once said, "What is faith? It is the very nature of God; it is the Word of God. It is the personal inward flow of divine favor, which moves in every fiber of our being until our whole nature is so quickened that we live by faith, we move by faith, and we are caught up to glory by faith! God wants us to have far more than we can handle and see...With the knowledge that you are born again by His incorruptible World, you know that within you is this living definite hope, greater than yourself, more powerful than any dynamic force in the world, for faith works in you by the power of the new creation of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, with the audacity of faith, we should throw ourselves into the omnipotence of God's divine plan, for God has said to us, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). It is possible for the power of God to be so manifest in your human life that you will never be as you were before; you will always be going forward from victory to victory, for faith knows no defeat."

Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24: “Have faith in God...I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Faith is not grunting out miracles.  It is not lying to ourselves about the situation. It is simply recognizing this truth:  as believers we contain the Spirit of the living God within us, the God who created the universe and everything within it with a word. That's real power. The seriousness of sickness, disaster, relational woes, or a seemingly hopeless situation fades when we think of the ramifications of the incredible power (dunamis) we carry within.

Dunamis (Greek) is defined as "potential for functioning in some way, power, might, strength, force, or capability; specifically, the power that works wonders."

Ephesians 1:18-21 discusses dunamis eloquently, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,  and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."  We. Have. This. Power.

We are possessors of the selfsame power that Christ demonstrated when He created eyes from mud for the blind man, the same power that went out from Him when the bleeding woman grabbed His clothes and forever stopped up her years-long affliction, the very power He released to raise dead Lazarus; that power resides within every believer!  And yes, the Christian world has largely lost sight of that power since the days of the early church, and even teaches doctrines that deny we are to have that power.  But revival is coming! Even now we are seeing an awakening of faith, especially outside the U.S., and when we grasp the awesome truth of a miracle-working God who has already empowered us with the same supernatural muscle Jesus exerted, we will take hold of this inheritance in authority and wield it to release miracles into this lost and hurting world.  We WILL see the lost saved in record numbers, multitudes of sick healed, the oppressed set free and the name of Jesus exalted across the earth!

Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

 He also said in Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Believers across the world are beginning to embrace the truth and walk in miracle power. Jesus didn't just die to save us, He bought us SOZO, which means "to make new, to protect, to save, to heal, to preserve, to have faith, to make whole, to love, to make joyous, to have control, to worship, to be made pure; to receive everything good that comes from God." Now this is the FULL salvation we have received, our inheritance.  By this sozo, WE are empowered to do the work of the Lord.   And so we shall, if we just realize the extent of the miracle producing power that resides within us, we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.