Author: admin

With a small power washing project before me, I rolled out the old power washer to give it a crank and get the job done. A quick glance into the gas tank to fill it up with fresh gas revealed debris present in the bottom of the tank. My friend Jeffrey, who is very mechanically minded, proceeded to remove the gas tank to get it thoroughly cleaned out. In the process, we discovered since it had been sitting for a season, the water pump was frozen up. We got that loosened, then with the gas tank clean and re-installed, we attempted to start it. We finally got it to fire and run for about ten seconds, then it would die. After all that we did to it, we concluded there must be trash in the fuel line or carburetor. The next step is to get some carburetor cleaner and spray some of that in there and see if that will inspire it to start and continue running. If that doesn’t do it, there will be a judgement and decision if I am going to spend anymore time and money on it. It is an old Craftsman machine that has well served its time, virtually an antique. If we can’t get it running this time, it might well be headed to the scrap pile. A lot of people have been sitting around in the church house and are “frozen up.” First of all, it needs to be stated that just because you sit in a hen house for twenty years does not make you a chicken. The reason some people are not living the life of Christ is because they don’t have it to live. Being good and religious is not the same as having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, there are some genuine believers who are not running well—they keep dying after about ten seconds with the debris of unbelief in their gas tank, not seeing results as they expected. Or, they got their eyes on a person or a church instead of looking to the Lord and His Word alone. Focus on God who is faithful. Sin, unbelief and catering to the flesh in our life, brings spiritual death. We need to get our spiritual tank cleaned out and blow the fuel lines out and clean the carburetor. This is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are “frozen up,” and not sharing Jesus freely with the passion of the fire of God, we need to let God get a hold of us and break us free from religious corrosion and bondage. Once we are broken free by the working of the Word and Spirit of God, then we need to get filled up from Him with the fuel of the Spirit, get cranked and running. Sitting idle will render you ready for the scrap pile. A total commitment to the Lord Himself will get you up and running smoothly.

Menu

Jesus took love, truth and the healing, delivering power of God into every level of society. He took it into the street, into the established educational and religious institutions, and into the political arena. He chose twelve people He could train to follow Him. Today, He is calling to His church for “the twelve” to follow Him.

Two Different Mentalities

There are two different mentalities. Lukewarm is not acceptable. So, we all have a choice to make. Which mindset will we adopt?

The Church Conservative does just that—it conserves. It holds on to what it’s got; it keeps refined truth inside the four walls of its institutional grace.

The Church Militant marches out to war. It takes raw truth and power to the druggies on the street, to the town meeting, to the day-care centers, to the schools, to the universities, to the seminaries, and to the highest political arena—to every level of society.

One mindset is to hold on to what you have—a defensive mindset.

The other mindset is to push forward to take more territory—an offensive mindset.

One mindset offers freedom and liberty to a select few who we encounter in the sphere of our convenience.

The other mindset sacrificially and aggressively goes to the ends of the earth to offer freedom and liberty to all, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One stays in the realm of caution and conformity, for measured responses.

The other steps into confrontation and chaos with the truth and power of God to make it happen—and then continue to take the truth and power of God into whatever does happen.

The Call is Going Out

God’s call to His church is going out to us all. Many are called, but few are chosen. Those who are chosen are those who make themselves fit and ready in the love, truth, grace and supernatural power of God. Not just a revival—a revolution of love, truth, grace and supernatural power, all issuing from and revolving around the Lord Jesus Christ.

We all have a choice to make. What is your choice?

Menu

God is a forgiving God. If He were not, no person could ever be saved.

Jesus forgave those who killed Him. Luke 23: 34

Stephen forgave those who killed him. Acts 7: 60

Erika Kirk, standing before the whole world, forgave the person who killed Charlie.

The apostle Paul dealt with a sin issue in the Corinthian church. In the conclusion of the matter, he said the person was to be forgiven “in the person of Christ; lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 1 Corinthians 5: 4-5; 2 Corinthians 2: 6-11

Forgiveness is of God. It opens the door to allow God to work in a situation. Unforgiveness is of Satan. It opens the door to allow Satan’s devices to operate.

Forgiveness releases you from the sin that person or organization has cast upon you. Unforgiveness keeps you tied and bound to that iniquity. David said the wicked “cast iniquity upon me” (Psalms 55:3). Forgiveness casts it off of you. That does not mean the offenders won’t have justice served on them. Vengeance is not yours. Vengeance is the Lord’s. He is the just Judge.

Forgiveness allows you to have closure so the wound can heal. Unforgiveness keeps the wound open with negative words and memories. There is no healing. The wound is open for the infection of bitterness, and like gangrene, bitterness can cause death if it goes unchecked—death to the anointing, death to relationships, and physical death.

Forgiveness is a spiritual transaction bringing God on the scene in love, grace, righteousness, redemption and restoration. Unforgiveness is a spiritual transaction that brings bitterness, hatred, malice, vengeance, gossiping and every evil work. It colors one’s whole outlook on life dark shades of negative, skeptical, hurt, and speaking evil.

Jesus taught us to carry the message of mercy and forgiveness to the world. He paid the price for every person to be forgiven, and for every person to forgive. Through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ all people can be set free. Sin’s power is broken. The power of death is broken. Forgiveness releases this power of God in the earth. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” God is the just Judge. Romans 12: 17-21

We reap what we sow. Do we want to reap from forgiveness or from unforgiveness?

Menu

I want to ask every born-again believer who is a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ (“Christ” meaning “Holy Spirit anointed Messiah”); I want to ask every preacher, everyone in leadership position, every person—do you speak in tongues? Why not? Please, ask yourself this question. Take some time and examine yourself. Be perfectly honest with yourself. Why have you not received the power of the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues?  

Did not Jesus say, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues”? Jesus said these signs, for all the unbelieving world to see, shall follow them that believe. Mark 16: 17 (italics mine)

Did not the apostle Paul agree with Jesus when he wrote to the Corinthians that tongues were a sign to the unbeliever, showing a supernatural God at work bringing light, life, liberty and power to the lives of people for the glory of the name of Jesus. Paul quoted a prophecy from Isaiah 28: 11-12 showing that this grace and sign was of God. 1 Corinthians 14: 20-22

Did not Peter stand up on the day of Pentecost and explain to the unbelievers that what they were hearing was the fulfillment of a prophecy from Joel 2: 28-32. He said, “These are not drunk, as you suppose…this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” The speakers were the people who believed the Word. The onlookers were the unbelievers. Acts 2: 15-21 NKJV

Acts is the recorded history of the early church in the Bible. Did not believers show this sign throughout the book of Acts? Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 9, Acts 10, Acts 19—in every instance, covering a span of about the first twenty years of the church, the sign was given. Simon saw something in Acts 8. In Acts 9, it is not specifically stated that Paul spoke in tongues, but he told the Corinthians that he did speak in tongues, “more than you all. 1 Corinthians 14:18 NKJV

Let’s just reason together for a moment. If God has a supernatural means of power and communication that He wants to impart to all His children, do you really think He would then do away with it, withhold it, or offer it to just a few? Jesus clearly stated: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13 NKJV

The Holy Spirit is not mute! He has His own language! He speaks through a vessel. We see this throughout the book of Acts. He groans in every believer to express the word and voice of God out into the world (Romans 8: 26, 27). Any vessel who believes, and opens their mouth wide, God will fill it (Psalms 81:10). He will express Himself in His own way and language.  Do I have any believers? Will you yield and receive God’s power? Why not?

Menu

I dreamed I got a heavy-duty draw string plastic garbage bag. At night I went to a hornet’s nest, put that garbage bag over it, drew it tight, and extracted it from its mooring. I don’t know what I did with it after I got it. And I don’t know if a hornet will bore through a plastic bag or not. If he can, that could be a problem. I have never done this, but I have taken a wide-mouthed clear jar, put about a table spoon of lacquer thinner in the bottom of it, and at night, when all the wasps are at home, ease that jar over the nest. I just hold it there for about forty-five seconds. You will see them drop off the nest into the jar, stone dead from the fumes. Or, if the nest is on a flat surface, you can drag that jar side-ways, and it will dislodge it and the nest and all will fall into the jar. If the nest is in an area that is not a flat surface, I have taken a little lacquer thinner in an open container and doused the nest with it. By the time the wasps hit the ground, they never move a muscle—dead! One more trick, while we are wasp hunting. In cold seasons, in older houses on days that it warms up, the wasps that are in the walls will make their way into the warm house. One time I was working in an older house, and on one of those warmer days, scores of wasps came inside (it wasn’t a tightly built old house). Well, I needed to work, and there were other occupants in the house. I took my little hand-held shop vac and went around and sucked ‘em all up! You just ease it up on one, and he doesn’t know what’s happening. He’s tryin’ to hold on. Then as you slowly get closer, poof! He’s gone! Then you gotta figure out what to do with them once you get them in your vacuum cleaner. If I remember right, I sucked up a little lacquer thinner and just let them sit there for a while. But you have to be careful with lacquer thinner. It can eat up certain plastics. Here’s the deal. We live in a physical world with spiritual forces working behind the scene. The Bible says we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with unseen spiritual principalities and powers. Many times, what appears to be a person acting up, is nothing but a stinging demon influence being expressed through that person. A believer who is submitted to God is to be loving and truthful to the person, but in prayer, in the “night” of the prayer closet, we are to take authority over those spirits and bind them up and cast them out. We keep our focus on presenting Jesus to the world, but sometimes in the night, we need to deal with the wasps.

Menu

I remember the days when you could pull up to a “filling station” and get full-service. You would get your windshield washed, tires checked, oil checked, transmission checked, your tank filled with gas, and all this with a friendly smile. Whatever needed to be done, you would have it done. Most of the time, the attendant would know your name. We had all this for what, about thirty or forty cents a gallon for the gas? Back then, it was known and expected that when you pulled into a “service station,” you were going to be served in this manner. You were going to be thoroughly checked over and equipped to safely roll on down the road for the long haul, to arrive at your destination. Nowadays it is quite different. If you want your windshield cleaned, you do it yourself—if there is water in the box. It’s called “self-serve.” Whatever you need, you gotta figure it out and go buy it and put it in. When the church first got started, it was a full-service church. When you pulled into this church, you would get your life checked over by the spirit of holiness. If something needed tending to, you can better believe, it would be tended to. At this church you would get your sins exposed and washed away by repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus. You would get totally immersed by water baptism, showing a total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, to do the will of God from that day forward. You would get an infilling with the Holy Spirit with a supernatural prayer language imparted to you by which you could drive on down the road in the supernatural power of God. By that same anointing oil of the Spirit, you could live smoothly, operating in the anointing of God even in the face of adversities. If one of your spiritual tires was low, or flat, slowing progress, there were spiritual-minded brethren who could help take care of it without spreading rumors all over town. When you pulled into the early church, you knew you were going to be served by the Lord Himself. You knew you would drive away fully supplied and fully equipped with the supernatural power of God. You knew He would take you down the road with His strength and ability. By Him, you would fulfill your purpose in life and safely arrive at your destination. The early church was not a boring program of dead religious rituals. It was God serving the people with life, power, protection, and preparation for what lay ahead. It was not a self-serve pick and choose what I like or what I don’t like. It was God manifested for the good of the people. If you wanted God, you went to church and submitted your life to Him, knowing, He will take care of you. Good News! Today, God is still available “full-service” to those who seek Him with all their heart.

Menu

My recent “fender-bender” received an evaluation of “total loss” by my insurance company. Functionally, nothing is impaired. By the nature of the damage, and by the fact it is a 2008 vehicle, it was deemed “totaled.” I elected to keep the vehicle for the compensation offered, instead of surrendering it for the larger amount of money. One reason I did this, was because after a couple of estimates of repair with new parts and all that, I began to visualize what could be done to work with what I had. After the collision I picked up the pieces lying in the roadway and brought them home. So, when I got home, I got those pieces together and started holding them up in place and seeing how and where they fit. I thought, “Hmm! I think I can decently stitch this thing back together.” On a Sunday afternoon after church with my wife’s mechanically-minded nephew, Jeffrey, we put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. We drilled holes and “stitched” those parts back together with zip-ties. Even injuries on our bodies fixed up by professional doctors carry stitch marks. So, there is no shame in stitch marks. They just show we survived the battle. So, my “Jehu’s Chariot II” survived the battle with some stitch marks on a certain area of its body.  I have yet to paint it, but when it is painted, it will blend beautifully and carry its marks with dignity. Did you know that God uses imperfect vessels? If He did not, He could do nothing on earth because nobody is perfect except Jesus, and He is in heaven. We all have areas in our lives where we got banged up either by our own or by other people’s choices. God doesn’t bang people up. People’s poor choices, inattention, hasty actions and selfish ways cause life’s collisions. God is right there on the scene to starting fixing it up and transform and make the most with what we’ve got. We need never limit God by our own understanding. We can cooperate with Him and roll with Him in what we have. In due time, if it works out, a whole new bumper and hatch door can be purchased and installed. But right now, we can take what we have and roll on with God’s plan and purpose. Are we satisfied to remain in any sin and weakness in any way? Absolutely Not! But if we will submit who we are and what we have to the Master Mechanic, He can work in our life to keep things smoothly rolling down the road of His purpose. So, get up and trust Him to transform you the way only He knows how you need it. Don’t stop your journey with Him just because you got damaged. All God ever uses is damaged goods who have allowed Him to be their life and their strength. There is a harvest to be reaped. Entrust all your life to God, get up and get moving!

Menu

“If I had just looked a split-second longer!” That is what I said to Barbara as I related how I backed into the path of an on-coming vehicle. At this location, I normally park in the parking lot beside the building, the reason being so I can pull out in the street going forward. This morning, I chose to park in an angular parking space along the street. When I got in the car to back out, I looked over my right shoulder down the street for any on-coming traffic, and with none in view, I proceeded to back out. Boom! In that moment, as it occurred, I thought, “I’m being hit by a car. I can’t believe this is happening! But it is! I’ve backed out in front of a car!” Well, I pulled back up into the parking space and shut the engine off and jumped out to check on the other driver. He was opening the door as I approached the vehicle, and I asked him if he was okay. He said he was shaken up. I apologized that I did not see him, explaining to him that I looked down the street, and apparently at the very instant he was in my blind spot. A 2008 Forerunner has about a foot wide roof support at the middle side window and about an eight- or ten-inch roof support on the right rear corner. At the instant I looked, the low-riding little car was hidden behind one of those supports or behind the sidewall of my car itself. The crash was a total surprise. I came away from the incident with a very practical lesson for me and for all. Jesus said to watch and pray lest you fall into temptation (“experience of evil, adversity”—Mark 14:38). He did not say to glance and pray. To watch is to hold a gaze on the situation and check it out thoroughly to make sure of what is going on. It is to really pay attention. In eternal spiritual matters, we don’t need to just give it a good religious glance then do our thing. We need to consider if we might have any “blind spots” in our life, so that things might not really be as they seem. Blind spots can cause unexpected crashes. We need to hold our gaze on our life in the light of the Word of God to see where we really stand with God. A religious blind spot of believing in God and Jesus Christ without having love and devotion to God and love toward our neighbor is a killer. If we have no love for the Word of God, we might be looking down life’s road without seeing the on-coming traffic. Sometimes we make bad choices, we follow the flesh, and we mess up. Sometimes we position ourselves to get blind-sided. We don’t stop driving just because we have an accident. Keep learning, repenting, making changes, and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Menu

Coming through North Little Rock, a group of us family members decided to stop in at The Black Bear Diner in North Little Rock. I had never been there and discovered this to be an excellent choice for eating out. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. As I looked over the menu, I saw they offered a huckleberry milkshake or malt. “How unique!” I thought. I had hardly even thought about huckleberries since I was a kid, much less to find them offered on a menu. When I was a kid, Dad would take us out to open areas in the woods to pick huckleberries. They are sort of like a wild, smaller version of a blueberry. I remember we would come out of the woods with a Mrs. Tucker’s Shortening bucket full of blueberries, and with a body covered in chiggers. I remember seriously considering if the pleasure of eating the berries was worth the misery of the chigger bites. It worked out best if you just keep scratching while you enjoyed the pie or jam or whatever the huckleberries were made into. Back to the Black Bear Diner; I had a salmon dinner, which was good, and I sampled a bite of steak offered from another person at the table. It was thin-sliced and seasoned with garlic and some other herb or spice, and it, too, was uniquely delicious. So, I had never seen huckleberry offered on a menu, and I don’t think I had ever had steak with garlic and whatever herb on it. I determined we would have to make a return trip to sample some other items from their menu with their generous portions. When you find something good, it does not take a lot of effort to share it with others. After sixty years of being with the Lord, I have become convinced that the reason so many “Christians” do not freely share the Lord is because they have never really partaken of His love, forgiveness, healing and infilling with life and power. Reality: we can have religion without a relationship. Relationship comes with understanding combined with total commitment and surrender. My wife has this saying: You can sit in a hen house for twenty years, but that does not make you a chicken. Powerless religion stems from no personal relationship. We can be good but not truly connected with God. Connection with God comes by understanding our heart condition before God, and understanding that what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross is the only thing that makes us right with God. When we see this, and we turn to Him, surrendering our life to Him, surrendering our goodness and our badness to Him, we experience a change of heart. We become a partaker of the menu, not just an observer. When we become a partaker of the spiritual bread and wine of Jesus Christ, we realize how good it is, and we overflow, telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Menu

Believing God is a calm, joyful, confident knowing and expectation of Him performing in your life, and in the lives of others, that which is already accomplished by Jesus Christ His Son. Believing God is based on knowing the heart of the Father to do good to all, bringing about reconciliation, restoration, healing and provision in every way.

“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Psalms 145: 8-9

“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry, The Lord looseth the prisoners: the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous: the Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” Psalms 146: 5-9

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is asking, declaring and operating in the Spirit to manifestly bring about that which is in the heart of the Father.

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is based on the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father has exalted Jesus Christ His Son so that every knee of sin, self, sickness and satanic oppression should bow to Him in heaven and in earth and under the earth, all to the glory of God the Father, who is greater than all.

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is operating in the anointing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (the anointed One and His anointing), all to the glory of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.

John 13: 16; John 14: 28; Ephesians 4: 6; Philippians 2: 9-11; 1 John 2: 27

Menu