The Voice New Testament
Matthew 3:12--He carries a winnowing fork in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor; He will gather up the good wheat in His barn, and He will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.
A threshing floor was a large paved area usually located near the top of a hill to take advantage of the wind. People would would bring their sheaves of grain and spread them all across this threshing floor. Pairs of donkeys or oxen would then be walked round and round, often dragging a wooden threshing board behind them. This would tear the ears of grain from the stalks and loosen the grain from the husks. Then the farmer would come along with a wooden fork-like tool called a winnowing fork and through the mixture into the air. The chaff would be blown away by the wind leaving the heavier and more precious grain to fall at the farmer's feet.
In Matthew's gospel that I have quoted above, John the Baptist gives his listeners a very good description of the process that a our Heavenly Father his children through. He takes us from our familiar environment (the safety of the field we were raised in) and places us on a hard, stony surface. Then, he brings in donkeys to stomp on us. Some of these donkeys drag boards behind them.
This is not our punishment. It's a natural cleansing process. So much of what a grain of wheat is attached to is of no value to the farmer. Therefore, the stomping of donkeys and the proverbial 2 x 4 is necessary to separate the grain from the "stuff."
God is not mean when he puts us through this process. Even though we whine and moan and groan, the things that this process separates from us, is not good to us either. We just don't know it, yet.
Then, our Father takes His winnowing fork and throws us up in the air. Have you ever been there? Seems like you're falling and don't know you're going to land? It very well could be that the Father is trying to expose you to the wind of His Spirit to gently blow more of the "unnecessary" away from you.
It is only AFTER the process is complete, that we can look at what's left and say, "God knew what He was doing all the time." Yield to the process. The Apostle Paul said in Romans--ALL things work together for our good as we love the Lord.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Let's Laugh With God
Ps 2:1-Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2-The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying],
3- Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4-He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5-Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
In Biblical times, when two armies would come together to fight. They would stand some distance away from each other and taunt each other. They would make fun of each other. They would make fun of their gods. They would taunt each other by telling the opposing army all the terrible things they were going to do to them during the battle. They would probably taunt them by telling them the things they were going to do to their families after they killed them. All this was done to instill fear in one another. Did you catch that? It was done to instill fear in their enemies.
Isn't that exactly what satan, our enemy does when he sends people to hurt us and make us angry. (See previous blog-Luke 10:19 Revisited) Satan doesn't care about the person he sends to you to hurt you. He doesn't care about you either. If he gets both of you angry and vicious, then he has won. When you hear news about the economy on the TV, he whispers to you all the terrible financial things that are going to befall you as if it was going to happen right now. If you have a loved one serving in the Armed Forces and hear something about Afghanistan, Iran, or Iraq, he'll pop unsettling images of what he would like to do to your loved one. Your children go out on dates or to a party and he reminds you of every horror story you have seen in the newspaper about car crashes, rape, murder and gang warfare. All done to unsettle you, instill fear in you and destroy your faith in God.
My mother used to say, "It's a poor game that two can't play." Look real hard at Psalm 2:4. The first thing that God does when the enemy starts his prattle is laugh and then the Lord does a little taunting Himself. Then verse five tells us that God speaks to THEM in HIS anger and vexes THEM. And when God speaks, EVERYBODY listens.
Let's take another look at the arrest of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He spoke to the disciples and told them that He could call 72,000 angels to help Him. With all of this power available to Him, He allowed them to bind Him and lead Him away. He never resisted. He never called them bad names. Even when they whipped Him and nailed Him to the cross, He never cursed them. In essence, He taunted them by taking my punishment and yours without one complaint.
Think about the trial. Jesus was the one Who was in control. Out of all the things that were said to Him and the false testimony about Him, He kept His cool and just let them rant and rave. It was Jesus, Himself, that brought the proceedings to a close when He admitted that He was the Christ. The Sanhedrin couldn't pull off a successful trial without that one statement.
I made a statement in my previous blog that I want to reiterate. JESUS FLAUNTED HIS FATHER'S LOVE FOR HIMSELF TO THE DEVIL BY ENDURING THE CROSS. Not once did He speak in anger. Not once did He speak in doubt. Not once did He say any unkind remarks about his accusers or his cowardly followers. But catch this. The ultimate backhand slap in the devil's face was when Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Don't you know that satan was using every human vessel he could to get Jesus to say something un-Godlike. Jesus maintained control of the situation by holding His peace and only uttering His Father's love.
When we walk in the joy of the Lord in every situation, we laugh with God in the face of the enemy. When we 'choose' to walk in love with God and our neighbor, we backhand slap the devil with every step. When we 'choose' to speak God's Word instead of uttering phrases of doubt and fear, we backhand slap him again. When we speak God's Word in the face of chaos, we become satan's enemy as we begin to taunt him. I like that.
Happy taunting and backhand slapping, my friend.
2-The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying],
3- Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4-He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5-Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
In Biblical times, when two armies would come together to fight. They would stand some distance away from each other and taunt each other. They would make fun of each other. They would make fun of their gods. They would taunt each other by telling the opposing army all the terrible things they were going to do to them during the battle. They would probably taunt them by telling them the things they were going to do to their families after they killed them. All this was done to instill fear in one another. Did you catch that? It was done to instill fear in their enemies.
Isn't that exactly what satan, our enemy does when he sends people to hurt us and make us angry. (See previous blog-Luke 10:19 Revisited) Satan doesn't care about the person he sends to you to hurt you. He doesn't care about you either. If he gets both of you angry and vicious, then he has won. When you hear news about the economy on the TV, he whispers to you all the terrible financial things that are going to befall you as if it was going to happen right now. If you have a loved one serving in the Armed Forces and hear something about Afghanistan, Iran, or Iraq, he'll pop unsettling images of what he would like to do to your loved one. Your children go out on dates or to a party and he reminds you of every horror story you have seen in the newspaper about car crashes, rape, murder and gang warfare. All done to unsettle you, instill fear in you and destroy your faith in God.
My mother used to say, "It's a poor game that two can't play." Look real hard at Psalm 2:4. The first thing that God does when the enemy starts his prattle is laugh and then the Lord does a little taunting Himself. Then verse five tells us that God speaks to THEM in HIS anger and vexes THEM. And when God speaks, EVERYBODY listens.
Let's take another look at the arrest of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He spoke to the disciples and told them that He could call 72,000 angels to help Him. With all of this power available to Him, He allowed them to bind Him and lead Him away. He never resisted. He never called them bad names. Even when they whipped Him and nailed Him to the cross, He never cursed them. In essence, He taunted them by taking my punishment and yours without one complaint.
Think about the trial. Jesus was the one Who was in control. Out of all the things that were said to Him and the false testimony about Him, He kept His cool and just let them rant and rave. It was Jesus, Himself, that brought the proceedings to a close when He admitted that He was the Christ. The Sanhedrin couldn't pull off a successful trial without that one statement.
I made a statement in my previous blog that I want to reiterate. JESUS FLAUNTED HIS FATHER'S LOVE FOR HIMSELF TO THE DEVIL BY ENDURING THE CROSS. Not once did He speak in anger. Not once did He speak in doubt. Not once did He say any unkind remarks about his accusers or his cowardly followers. But catch this. The ultimate backhand slap in the devil's face was when Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Don't you know that satan was using every human vessel he could to get Jesus to say something un-Godlike. Jesus maintained control of the situation by holding His peace and only uttering His Father's love.
When we walk in the joy of the Lord in every situation, we laugh with God in the face of the enemy. When we 'choose' to walk in love with God and our neighbor, we backhand slap the devil with every step. When we 'choose' to speak God's Word instead of uttering phrases of doubt and fear, we backhand slap him again. When we speak God's Word in the face of chaos, we become satan's enemy as we begin to taunt him. I like that.
Happy taunting and backhand slapping, my friend.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Luke 10:19 Revisited
Luke 10:19--Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
The Greek word for 'power' in this mandate (to choose a popular word) from The Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, means the 'power of choice.' It does not mean the dynamite power that dunamis means. Jesus was saying in His mandate that you had a choice to walk on and trample serpents and scorpions.
A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about the two greatest commandments, to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself. Love is, itself, part of your 'power of choice.' We make choices every day of our lives whether we love somebody or not. The divorce courts are filled with people who exercised the power of their choice to hate the one that they had previously chosen to love. Point made.
In Ephesians, chapter six, Paul describes the armor of the children of God. He declares that we must use the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy. Satan's main goal is to make someone say or do something that would bring hatred, jealousy and strife. That's what Paul meant when he called them fiery darts. They are intended to get us to burn with anger or hurt. The bite of a serpent or scorpion would feel like a fiery dart, also.
When someone slings a 'fiery dart' at us, we have the option of walking in hatred or walking in love. For most of us, the desire to retaliate is definitely stronger than the desire to love. What helps us is when we understand that the REAL attack came at us from satan for the stand we take against him. The offender was only the vessel he used.
With that in mind, our desire should be to get back at satan and not the vessel he used. The way we do that is by turning away from anger and hurt and walking in love toward the vessel. I can tell you from first hand experience that it is not an easy task. My desire to retaliate is just as great as any one's. However, when I saw the truth of Jesus' mandate of walking in love, I realized that it was tied to the mandate for choosing to tread on serpents and scorpions. Satan would love nothing better than to get our faith all twisted by forcing us to walk in hatred and anger. When we refuse to give in to hate, THAT'S when we begin to trample serpents and scorpions under our feet.
Can I say it like this--I love my love walk. When I choose to walk in love to those who have offended me, I realize that satan NO LONGER can exercise control over me. Now that's a real GOTCHA. No more yo-yo--up, down, up, down. When opportunities for anger and jealousy come at me, I view it as a ready-made chance to hit satan with God's knock out punch, His love. I am now quick to tell old slew foot that God loves me more than to let me go through his evil plans. I remind him that God loves me more than to leave me a slave to his evil designs.
God hit me with this analogy last week. I want to pass it on to you. As I was meditating along these lines, I realized that Jesus ran to the cross and not away from it. God brought Jesus' actions to me with this statement. JESUS FLAUNTED GOD'S LOVE FOR HIMSELF AT THE DEVIL BY ENDURING THE CROSS. In essence, He was saying to the devil, "Give me your best shot, it can't destroy My Father's plan for me."
Walk in love-------trample some scorpions.
The Greek word for 'power' in this mandate (to choose a popular word) from The Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, means the 'power of choice.' It does not mean the dynamite power that dunamis means. Jesus was saying in His mandate that you had a choice to walk on and trample serpents and scorpions.
A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about the two greatest commandments, to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself. Love is, itself, part of your 'power of choice.' We make choices every day of our lives whether we love somebody or not. The divorce courts are filled with people who exercised the power of their choice to hate the one that they had previously chosen to love. Point made.
In Ephesians, chapter six, Paul describes the armor of the children of God. He declares that we must use the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy. Satan's main goal is to make someone say or do something that would bring hatred, jealousy and strife. That's what Paul meant when he called them fiery darts. They are intended to get us to burn with anger or hurt. The bite of a serpent or scorpion would feel like a fiery dart, also.
When someone slings a 'fiery dart' at us, we have the option of walking in hatred or walking in love. For most of us, the desire to retaliate is definitely stronger than the desire to love. What helps us is when we understand that the REAL attack came at us from satan for the stand we take against him. The offender was only the vessel he used.
With that in mind, our desire should be to get back at satan and not the vessel he used. The way we do that is by turning away from anger and hurt and walking in love toward the vessel. I can tell you from first hand experience that it is not an easy task. My desire to retaliate is just as great as any one's. However, when I saw the truth of Jesus' mandate of walking in love, I realized that it was tied to the mandate for choosing to tread on serpents and scorpions. Satan would love nothing better than to get our faith all twisted by forcing us to walk in hatred and anger. When we refuse to give in to hate, THAT'S when we begin to trample serpents and scorpions under our feet.
Can I say it like this--I love my love walk. When I choose to walk in love to those who have offended me, I realize that satan NO LONGER can exercise control over me. Now that's a real GOTCHA. No more yo-yo--up, down, up, down. When opportunities for anger and jealousy come at me, I view it as a ready-made chance to hit satan with God's knock out punch, His love. I am now quick to tell old slew foot that God loves me more than to let me go through his evil plans. I remind him that God loves me more than to leave me a slave to his evil designs.
God hit me with this analogy last week. I want to pass it on to you. As I was meditating along these lines, I realized that Jesus ran to the cross and not away from it. God brought Jesus' actions to me with this statement. JESUS FLAUNTED GOD'S LOVE FOR HIMSELF AT THE DEVIL BY ENDURING THE CROSS. In essence, He was saying to the devil, "Give me your best shot, it can't destroy My Father's plan for me."
Walk in love-------trample some scorpions.
Pray Before You Vote
KJV Numbers 32:23-and be sure your sin will find you out.
This was a warning from Moses to the tribes that wanted to stay on the plains side of the Jordan River as the people were about to enter Canaan. That side of the Jordan was better suited for their cattle and I can understand the request. Moses understood also and granted their request with one stipulation. The families and young children could stay but the men that were able to fight should go and help the new nation conquer the land. They agreed. As they agreed, Moses issued the warning that if they did not honor their promise, it would be a sin to them. Hence, the above statement, "and be sure your sin will find you out."
This is the prayer that I pray concerning the upcoming elections. In Wednesday night's debate, Rick Santorum defended the reason he supported a liberal candidate, Arlen Specter. Mr. Santorum cited a certain conversation with Mr. Specter which Mr. Specter publicly denied on TV. Who is right and who is wrong is not the point I want to contend. We have already seen this in action during the campaign and will see things like this appear again before November. I cannot remember any national campaign in which scenes like this were not played out.
Indeed, it seems that candidates spend useless air time making charges, refuting charges, explaining statements, denying statements. Personally, I could care less about their charges against each other. When any candidate spends more time tearing somebody down than they do on the real issues, they begin losing my vote no matter who they are. After all the charges and counter charges, are we supposed to choose the candidate with the less mud on them? How can you tell?
The passage of scripture from the book of Numbers has been my prayer for this election for a couple of years. It is so hard, sometimes, to know for sure who is telling the truth and who is just blowing hot air. Will you join with me and invite those that you know as well, to pray specifically for the upcoming election------God, let their sins find them out. You're the One that knows them better than anyone else. Make it plain who Your choice in this election is. In front of the whole world, Father, let their sins find them out. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
This was a warning from Moses to the tribes that wanted to stay on the plains side of the Jordan River as the people were about to enter Canaan. That side of the Jordan was better suited for their cattle and I can understand the request. Moses understood also and granted their request with one stipulation. The families and young children could stay but the men that were able to fight should go and help the new nation conquer the land. They agreed. As they agreed, Moses issued the warning that if they did not honor their promise, it would be a sin to them. Hence, the above statement, "and be sure your sin will find you out."
This is the prayer that I pray concerning the upcoming elections. In Wednesday night's debate, Rick Santorum defended the reason he supported a liberal candidate, Arlen Specter. Mr. Santorum cited a certain conversation with Mr. Specter which Mr. Specter publicly denied on TV. Who is right and who is wrong is not the point I want to contend. We have already seen this in action during the campaign and will see things like this appear again before November. I cannot remember any national campaign in which scenes like this were not played out.
Indeed, it seems that candidates spend useless air time making charges, refuting charges, explaining statements, denying statements. Personally, I could care less about their charges against each other. When any candidate spends more time tearing somebody down than they do on the real issues, they begin losing my vote no matter who they are. After all the charges and counter charges, are we supposed to choose the candidate with the less mud on them? How can you tell?
The passage of scripture from the book of Numbers has been my prayer for this election for a couple of years. It is so hard, sometimes, to know for sure who is telling the truth and who is just blowing hot air. Will you join with me and invite those that you know as well, to pray specifically for the upcoming election------God, let their sins find them out. You're the One that knows them better than anyone else. Make it plain who Your choice in this election is. In front of the whole world, Father, let their sins find them out. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Blessed to Be a Blessing
JAVA Evangelism
Dear Prayer Partners,
We have three items to add to your prayer list, please.
First, B2B is a mission awareness and mobilization class, much like Kairos which we have mentioned on a few occasions. B2B has the advantage of being developed in Indonesia for Indonesians based on the same material used in Kairos which is from the Philippines. Both are abridgements of the very extensive "Perspectives of the World Christian Movement." We expect to have 80 participants Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday. Please pray that all will find their role in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. We are praying for a dozen or so people who will devote a day a week to bearing witness to God's love among three ethnic groups we wish to target here. We will give them training, and help with the strategy. The Lord willing we will see fruit soon among these three unevangelized people groups.
Second, pray for F&F. This couple abandoned their ministry post and mis-used mission resources several months ago. Today, the husband posted on facebook, a broad request for forgiveness. We have sent him a private message, asking him to send us a text message with a number where we can call. We assured him of our daily prayers for their repentance and return. Please pray with us for God's grace to work in their hearts.
Third, keep praying for the team in Pleasant Port. I'll copy the words of the team coordinator below. Seriously consider the request in the P.S. The Enemy does NOT
like what has been happening through the witness of the team and their converts in recent weeks. He will not stand idly by!
"...no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Glory be to our God! We have blessed and honored to have you partnering with us in saving the Bees. Today, Selfee and Atone believed and were born of water and the Spirit in the river. Nawang officiated their immersions. Pray for these two Bee believers to read their copies of the good news daily. Pray for the H.S. to help them to grow in the Word. Pray for them to grow in IAM and learn to witness.
A certain pre-believing Bee who witnessed the immersion today, commented that the new Beelievers got baptized to become Christians because they were being possesed by demons. Also another person starred at OG with an angry look but said not a word. Pray that God will keep us all from evil and give us victory always by the power of His name!
Pray that the H.S. will help and convince Trendy, Nofee, Hanter and Acu of the Lordship of IAM and His Word. Pray that God will lead them to us for more good news study. Pray also for their delayed immersions to be materialized soon.
Pray for the salvation of Junadi who just heard the good news today. Pray that the H.S. will convict him of his sins and his of IAM. Pray for him to study and understand the good news and believe.
Nawang (bee believer) is introducing IAM and His good news to Pak Ali. Last night Pak Ali studied the good news with us till around 1:00am. Yet at the end of the study he refused to believe. He related to us some of his weird experiences/vision like seeing his spirit departing from his own body and journey to a strange world - meeting and talking with some strange people. Also, some strange things coming in and out from his own body that usually made him stunned and speechless. Pray for him to believe in IAM and His word. Pray that the forces of the darkness that sometimes disturbed him will be destroyed by the power of IAM. Pray for IAM to enter into his life. Pray for him and his household salvation.
Because He lives,
Speedy and family
P.S. Pray that God will deliver the Bees Believers and the Bee team from the evil one and give us all His peace!
Until All Hear Clearly,
Dennis and Lynn Free
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Wrong Mandate
The newspaper headlines are filled with discussion about President Obama's mandate on birth control availability. For one, where does he come off issuing a 'mandate' to the American people to 'aid' in their birth control? What ever happened to the 'Just Say No' mandate that God placed inside every right thinking man and woman? That is the original 'birth control.'
I was taught in school that public officials were elected to represent us. Let me see the hands of those out there that President Obama called to see if he should mandate birth control availability. That's what I thought.
Not only the President, but a lot of the ladies and gentlemen in Congress never seek the advice of the people who elected them to office. Two statements: Number One--We the voters just give them a pass and never hold them accountable for their actions or lack thereof. Number Two, and the biggest shame--We the Christians fail to exercise a greater power than our vote, the Power of Prayer.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is quoted as saying, "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the standing armies of Europe." One man crying out to God changed the course of many peoples lives and scared the reigning monarch. Was that kind of prayer for just that time period? Was it just for one man? Was it only to be used to bring one person (Mary) under conviction?
If you would take a look through church history, every successful revival began with earnest prayer. The possibilities of corporate prayer are endless. From The Voice New Testament we find, John 14:14-Let me say it again: if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it. That's kind of point blank, isn't it. It throws the burden of answered prayer on the back of the ones that are to be praying.
This in an election year and it would be an opportune time to get some Godly people in office. If you haven't already, let's get down to business with God and begin asking in His name to bless His candidate for office. Let's ask Him to make it plain to us who He wants there and let all the others fall by the wayside.
Prayer---it is God's mandate for His people.
I was taught in school that public officials were elected to represent us. Let me see the hands of those out there that President Obama called to see if he should mandate birth control availability. That's what I thought.
Not only the President, but a lot of the ladies and gentlemen in Congress never seek the advice of the people who elected them to office. Two statements: Number One--We the voters just give them a pass and never hold them accountable for their actions or lack thereof. Number Two, and the biggest shame--We the Christians fail to exercise a greater power than our vote, the Power of Prayer.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is quoted as saying, "I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the standing armies of Europe." One man crying out to God changed the course of many peoples lives and scared the reigning monarch. Was that kind of prayer for just that time period? Was it just for one man? Was it only to be used to bring one person (Mary) under conviction?
If you would take a look through church history, every successful revival began with earnest prayer. The possibilities of corporate prayer are endless. From The Voice New Testament we find, John 14:14-Let me say it again: if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it. That's kind of point blank, isn't it. It throws the burden of answered prayer on the back of the ones that are to be praying.
This in an election year and it would be an opportune time to get some Godly people in office. If you haven't already, let's get down to business with God and begin asking in His name to bless His candidate for office. Let's ask Him to make it plain to us who He wants there and let all the others fall by the wayside.
Prayer---it is God's mandate for His people.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Cornerstone of The Cornerstone
We all know that Jesus is described as "The Cornerstone." A cornerstone is the strongest part of any building. It is laid before any other part of the building is built. Everything else was built around it. But, what was our "Cornerstone" established on? What principle was it that He built and fashioned His life around?
I believe we can find this answer in Jesus' own words found in Mark 12:30-31. Quote is from The Voice New Testament.
He first developed His love relationship with His Father. Strong love brings strong trust. With that first commandment as a cornerstone, He was free to love all of mankind, even the ones who opposed Him. Because of His Cornerstone love relationship with His Father, He was able to love those who crucified Him. Remember, He cried out from the cross for His Father to forgive them.
Indeed, He walked on the serpents and scorpions of life (Luke 10:19) and put them under His feet. As long as we are in this present world, there will be those scorpions and serpents for us all to trample on. They didn't hurt Jesus because of His ability to Love the Father and mankind through every circumstance.
The end result was not in His "Gotcha" over His enemies. It was in the release of mankind from the grips of the satan gang. That was what Jesus was looking forward to (Heb 12:2). Reaching the lost was what He built His life around.
So, what is our Cornerstone? What have we built our lives around? And, what is the end result that we are looking toward?
Many blessings today, my friend.
I believe we can find this answer in Jesus' own words found in Mark 12:30-31. Quote is from The Voice New Testament.
You should love the Eternal, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second great commandment is this: Love others in the same way you love yourself. There are no commandments more important than these.
He first developed His love relationship with His Father. Strong love brings strong trust. With that first commandment as a cornerstone, He was free to love all of mankind, even the ones who opposed Him. Because of His Cornerstone love relationship with His Father, He was able to love those who crucified Him. Remember, He cried out from the cross for His Father to forgive them.
Indeed, He walked on the serpents and scorpions of life (Luke 10:19) and put them under His feet. As long as we are in this present world, there will be those scorpions and serpents for us all to trample on. They didn't hurt Jesus because of His ability to Love the Father and mankind through every circumstance.
The end result was not in His "Gotcha" over His enemies. It was in the release of mankind from the grips of the satan gang. That was what Jesus was looking forward to (Heb 12:2). Reaching the lost was what He built His life around.
So, what is our Cornerstone? What have we built our lives around? And, what is the end result that we are looking toward?
Many blessings today, my friend.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Baptism Report From Java
JAVA Evangelism
Dear Praying Partners,
God is at work in Pleasant Port! Give Him Praise! All three team couples there are having baptisms more frequently that we had ever dared dream before! New believers are bringing and baptizing their friends/family! Please pray for God to give the workers special wisdom in how to manage the harvest, enabling maximum impact. We do not want to be satisfied with numerous baptisms alone. The goal is for a church planting movement. Ask God to sensitize the team to all that it will take to produce such a movement.
13 have been buried with the Lord since January 1st. Every Sunday there have been between one and three born of the water and the Spirit. As we said all three families are seeing fruit. Speedy is a very gifted evangelist and serves as coordinator for the team. Please pray for paperwork to all his family to remain among his focus people for a long time.
Until All Hear Clearly,
Dennis and Lynn Free
Dear Praying Partners,
God is at work in Pleasant Port! Give Him Praise! All three team couples there are having baptisms more frequently that we had ever dared dream before! New believers are bringing and baptizing their friends/family! Please pray for God to give the workers special wisdom in how to manage the harvest, enabling maximum impact. We do not want to be satisfied with numerous baptisms alone. The goal is for a church planting movement. Ask God to sensitize the team to all that it will take to produce such a movement.
13 have been buried with the Lord since January 1st. Every Sunday there have been between one and three born of the water and the Spirit. As we said all three families are seeing fruit. Speedy is a very gifted evangelist and serves as coordinator for the team. Please pray for paperwork to all his family to remain among his focus people for a long time.
Until All Hear Clearly,
Dennis and Lynn Free
Today He's Trying To Shape Your Life
From The Voice New Testament-
Col 2:6 & 7
Now that you have welcomed the Anointed One, Jesus the Lord, into your lives, continue to journey with Him and allow Him to shape your lives. Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always spill over with thankfulness.
vss 9 & 10
You see, all that is God, all His fullness, resides in His body. You, too, are being completed in Him, the One who has dominion over all rule, all authority.
Each of us make up the Body of Christ. All the fullness of God resides in us because of His blood that He shed for us. Everything God is has been made available to us. The things that we will face today have not been allowed to come to us because of how mean we were or how mean God is. The things that we will face today are designed by our Creator to shape us into the part of the Body that God called us to be when He called us to salvation through Jesus Christ. Instead of being overcome by anger and frustration,"Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always spill over with thankfulness."
Be blessed in your walk, my friend.
Love in Jesus,
Henry
Col 2:6 & 7
Now that you have welcomed the Anointed One, Jesus the Lord, into your lives, continue to journey with Him and allow Him to shape your lives. Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always spill over with thankfulness.
vss 9 & 10
You see, all that is God, all His fullness, resides in His body. You, too, are being completed in Him, the One who has dominion over all rule, all authority.
Each of us make up the Body of Christ. All the fullness of God resides in us because of His blood that He shed for us. Everything God is has been made available to us. The things that we will face today have not been allowed to come to us because of how mean we were or how mean God is. The things that we will face today are designed by our Creator to shape us into the part of the Body that God called us to be when He called us to salvation through Jesus Christ. Instead of being overcome by anger and frustration,"Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always spill over with thankfulness."
Be blessed in your walk, my friend.
Love in Jesus,
Henry
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Passages from The Voice New Testament
John 3:16--For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.
17--Here's the point. God didn't send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.
This version has challenged me to think about God's love and His plan for mankind in a much deeper way. Therefore, it has challenged me to act on His calling in a stronger manner.
Check this out also.
John 14:1, 25-27--Don't get lost in despair; believe in God, and keep on believing in me.
I have spoken these words while I am here with you. The Father is sending a Great Helper, the Holy Spirit, in my name to teach you everything and to reming you of all I have said to you. My peace is the legacy I leave to you. I don't give gifts like those of this world. Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful.
That's good stuff.
17--Here's the point. God didn't send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.
This version has challenged me to think about God's love and His plan for mankind in a much deeper way. Therefore, it has challenged me to act on His calling in a stronger manner.
Check this out also.
John 14:1, 25-27--Don't get lost in despair; believe in God, and keep on believing in me.
I have spoken these words while I am here with you. The Father is sending a Great Helper, the Holy Spirit, in my name to teach you everything and to reming you of all I have said to you. My peace is the legacy I leave to you. I don't give gifts like those of this world. Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful.
That's good stuff.
Unbridled Revival Part 8
This is the last in the series of Unbridled Revival. We want to talk about unbridled endurance.
Heb 12:2-Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This verse tells us that Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame because of the joy that was set before Him. What was His Joy? His joy was knowing that God was fulfilling His Word. It was spoken of Him in Isa 53:5-But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. His Lover and the Lover of all mankind made the decree that all the sins of His lovechild (man) would be forgiven forever and all of man's sicknesses would be healed. Also, Joel 2:28-And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Jesus knew that in 50 days this verse of scripture would be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, man's sins would be blotted out forever and God would again be able to fellowship with him through His Holy Spirit.
Although Jesus knew it would be rough and people would look at Him as if He was the worst sinner in the world, He gladly walked through the experience. Why? Because He knew that the pain and the shame would last only a little time. The joy of renewed fellowship with mankind was fixing to last forever for all who would receive Him.
Here's the important point. Heb 11:1-Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The word evidence in this verse is from the Hebrew word of someone giving evidence in a court trial to convict someone of a fact. Our faith in the Word of God is the convicting evidence that we believe something God said was going to come to pass. Jesus set a future joy ahead of Himself when He believed that God would forgive sins and come to live inside the believer because of what He was about to do. Jesus set the joy ahead of Him because He believed the Word of His Lover. Just like you did when you asked that young lady for a date. The date wasn't right now, it was in the future. You set a joy in the future and endured the rest of the week until Saturday came. You rejoiced all through the week. Every day brought you closer and your joy and excitement increased.
Here's what you have to understand with God. When you chose to believe God's Word instead of what you see, God immediately puts a plan in action that will bring His Word to pass for you. It might take a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or a few years. The promise is His and the redemption of that promise is His. But remember, that God is Faithful and He will not stop working until He brings His Word to pass.
Let's take a look at a few examples. One of them is Abraham. He had to wait 25 years for Isaace to be born. Yet, Abraham had 75 years to enjoy God's fulfilled promise, Gen. 25:7. Jacob fled from Esau and lived in Haran for 20 years. When he left he had nothing. But when he returned, he was very rich, just like God promised him at Bethel the night he left Canaan. It was 14 years before he began gathering any riches. But in six years, God gave him more than his father-in-law had. Years later, Joseph was sold into slavery and went to prison. The Word of God tells us that everyone saw God in his life. Why? He had learned from the actions of his forefathers that God was always faithful to His Word no matter how long it took. So, by faith in God's Word through the dreams He had given him, Joseph was able to spend the next 13 or 14 years with joy in his life. He was able to rejoice and endure adverse circumstances because he believed that a change would come and his faith would be vindicated.
Remember, faith in God's Word will set a date in your future. Satan would love nothing more than to ruin your party. We tend to look at satan's evidence instead of God's. God gave His Holy Word to us and He has never failed. We can take the bridle off of our faith and plainly believe that what God said will come to pass. We can endure all circumstances with unbridled joy because we are conviced that God is busy working out His plan even though we can't se it happening.
One of the greatest examples I can think of right now is the 400 quiet years between Malachi and Matthew. God was silent. No prophecies came. No miracles were worked. It seemed God was dead. The Greeks and the Romans came in and occupied the land and it looked more like God had forsaken them more than He was a redeember. However, when the Greeks conquered the land, they made all the conquered nations learn to speak Greek. When the Romans conquered the land many years later, they built, maintained and guarded roads all over their conquered area. When it looked like God was quiet, He was actually very busy setting the stage for the redemption of mankind and the spread of the gospel. After the crucifixion of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus had an easy time spreading the gospel. Every captured nation spoke and read Greek. There was no language barrier to have to muddle through. There were great roads that made travel to these countries very easy. And, the roads were guarded by the Romans which provided safety for them as they traveled. So, while it seemed God was quiet, He was actually very busy. He was setting the stage for the mass evangelism that would occur after the price of redemption was paid by Jesus on the cross.
That's why Jesus could endure the cross and despise the shame. His Father had spent four hundred years getting ready for that day and the days to come. Let us also walk through rough times with unbridled endurance. Maintain the hope and joy of answered prayer. He is Faithful that promised.
Heb 12:2-Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This verse tells us that Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame because of the joy that was set before Him. What was His Joy? His joy was knowing that God was fulfilling His Word. It was spoken of Him in Isa 53:5-But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. His Lover and the Lover of all mankind made the decree that all the sins of His lovechild (man) would be forgiven forever and all of man's sicknesses would be healed. Also, Joel 2:28-And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Jesus knew that in 50 days this verse of scripture would be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, man's sins would be blotted out forever and God would again be able to fellowship with him through His Holy Spirit.
Although Jesus knew it would be rough and people would look at Him as if He was the worst sinner in the world, He gladly walked through the experience. Why? Because He knew that the pain and the shame would last only a little time. The joy of renewed fellowship with mankind was fixing to last forever for all who would receive Him.
Here's the important point. Heb 11:1-Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The word evidence in this verse is from the Hebrew word of someone giving evidence in a court trial to convict someone of a fact. Our faith in the Word of God is the convicting evidence that we believe something God said was going to come to pass. Jesus set a future joy ahead of Himself when He believed that God would forgive sins and come to live inside the believer because of what He was about to do. Jesus set the joy ahead of Him because He believed the Word of His Lover. Just like you did when you asked that young lady for a date. The date wasn't right now, it was in the future. You set a joy in the future and endured the rest of the week until Saturday came. You rejoiced all through the week. Every day brought you closer and your joy and excitement increased.
Here's what you have to understand with God. When you chose to believe God's Word instead of what you see, God immediately puts a plan in action that will bring His Word to pass for you. It might take a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or a few years. The promise is His and the redemption of that promise is His. But remember, that God is Faithful and He will not stop working until He brings His Word to pass.
Let's take a look at a few examples. One of them is Abraham. He had to wait 25 years for Isaace to be born. Yet, Abraham had 75 years to enjoy God's fulfilled promise, Gen. 25:7. Jacob fled from Esau and lived in Haran for 20 years. When he left he had nothing. But when he returned, he was very rich, just like God promised him at Bethel the night he left Canaan. It was 14 years before he began gathering any riches. But in six years, God gave him more than his father-in-law had. Years later, Joseph was sold into slavery and went to prison. The Word of God tells us that everyone saw God in his life. Why? He had learned from the actions of his forefathers that God was always faithful to His Word no matter how long it took. So, by faith in God's Word through the dreams He had given him, Joseph was able to spend the next 13 or 14 years with joy in his life. He was able to rejoice and endure adverse circumstances because he believed that a change would come and his faith would be vindicated.
Remember, faith in God's Word will set a date in your future. Satan would love nothing more than to ruin your party. We tend to look at satan's evidence instead of God's. God gave His Holy Word to us and He has never failed. We can take the bridle off of our faith and plainly believe that what God said will come to pass. We can endure all circumstances with unbridled joy because we are conviced that God is busy working out His plan even though we can't se it happening.
One of the greatest examples I can think of right now is the 400 quiet years between Malachi and Matthew. God was silent. No prophecies came. No miracles were worked. It seemed God was dead. The Greeks and the Romans came in and occupied the land and it looked more like God had forsaken them more than He was a redeember. However, when the Greeks conquered the land, they made all the conquered nations learn to speak Greek. When the Romans conquered the land many years later, they built, maintained and guarded roads all over their conquered area. When it looked like God was quiet, He was actually very busy setting the stage for the redemption of mankind and the spread of the gospel. After the crucifixion of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus had an easy time spreading the gospel. Every captured nation spoke and read Greek. There was no language barrier to have to muddle through. There were great roads that made travel to these countries very easy. And, the roads were guarded by the Romans which provided safety for them as they traveled. So, while it seemed God was quiet, He was actually very busy. He was setting the stage for the mass evangelism that would occur after the price of redemption was paid by Jesus on the cross.
That's why Jesus could endure the cross and despise the shame. His Father had spent four hundred years getting ready for that day and the days to come. Let us also walk through rough times with unbridled endurance. Maintain the hope and joy of answered prayer. He is Faithful that promised.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Voice New Testament
I am sixty-four years old and have been a Christian since the age of twelve. I have served as pastor, worship leader, teacher, and evangelist. Needless to say, I have spent many hours engulfed in the Word of God. It has been my desire to come to know my Lord and Saviour more and more.
The other day, I downloaded a copy of The Voice New Testament from Thomas Nelson Publishers into my Adobe Reader. Immediately, I was impressed by the vibrant message this version contained. As I read Paul's writing in the book of Philippians, it was like I could hear Paul's heart clearer as he talked of His relationship with Jesus and the relationship of Jesus to the church. The instructions that he gave to the Philippian church were more meaningful. I could see that he was impressing upon them the need for knowing more about Him.
I guess the way they wrote my favorite scripture was what really impressed me the most. Phil. 3:10 (KJV) That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection. The Voice New Testament reads it like this, I want to know Him inside and out. I want to experience the power of His resurrection.
Reading The Voice New Testament has caused me to stop and think about His goodness more than I ever have before. There's just something about it that encourages my understanding of His love more than any translation I have read. I would wholeheartedly suggest you pick up a copy and read it for yourself.
The other day, I downloaded a copy of The Voice New Testament from Thomas Nelson Publishers into my Adobe Reader. Immediately, I was impressed by the vibrant message this version contained. As I read Paul's writing in the book of Philippians, it was like I could hear Paul's heart clearer as he talked of His relationship with Jesus and the relationship of Jesus to the church. The instructions that he gave to the Philippian church were more meaningful. I could see that he was impressing upon them the need for knowing more about Him.
I guess the way they wrote my favorite scripture was what really impressed me the most. Phil. 3:10 (KJV) That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection. The Voice New Testament reads it like this, I want to know Him inside and out. I want to experience the power of His resurrection.
Reading The Voice New Testament has caused me to stop and think about His goodness more than I ever have before. There's just something about it that encourages my understanding of His love more than any translation I have read. I would wholeheartedly suggest you pick up a copy and read it for yourself.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Unbridled Revival Part 7
In this series of blogs entitled "Unbridled Revival," I have encouraged you to think back to when you first fell in love. Before you ever said anything to her, before you ever asked her out, as a matter of fact before anything went on between the two of you, you did something you need to imitate to help bring unbridled revival. YOU MEDITATED ON IT. The more you meditated on asking her out, the more desire you had. The more you meditated on it, the more joy you had. The more you thought about it, the more boldness you got to finally ask her out. You did the same thing when you wanted to hold her hand or kiss her. You actually pictured yourself doing the very thing that you had never done before. Every time you thought about it, desire was stirred.
Here's what the Bible says about meditation.
Joshua 1:8-This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Psalm 1:2-But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Phil 2:5-Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
In Joshua chapter 1, God gave specific instructions to Joshua as they were about to conquer and inherit the promise land. God said to talk about the word and think about the word day and night. He said if you did that then you would make your way prosperous and have good success. David said the same think in Psalm 1. He said that if you think about the word of God day and night, you would be like a fruitful tree and prosper in everything you do. Paul encouraged the Phillipians to think like Jesus did. If you read the New Testament at all, you have got to believe that Jesus thought it the normal thing to reach the lost and heal the sick. Revival happened everywhere He went.
The secret to great success is thinking about it instead of thinking you're a loser all the time. What does a pimp or aprostitue think about? He/she thinks about what can they do to attract more business. What does a drug dealer do? He thinks about how he can get somebody else to try his product. What does a bar owner think about? He thinks about how he can attract new business. The same can be said for any business whether it is ethical or not. Thriving businesses gather themselves together into "Think Tanks" and try to come up with ideas about how to improve their business.
What have we Christians done? We spend more time meditating on how much somebody hurt us. We waste time thinking about how bad off the church is. We slap God in the face by thinking that people don't want to come to Jesus anymore. The list could go on and on and on. How much time do we think about souls being saved at our alters? How much time do we spend thinking about people being healed? How much time do we spend thinking about our prosperity? The answer is---very, very little. That is why we are not walking in His life-changing unbridled revival.
We spend our time meditating on blaming the pastor, worship team or the town we live in. We spend our time meditating on how rough conditions are. We spend our time meditating on how bad the politicians are. We spend our time meditating on how bad everything is.
Jesus would come into a town and reach the lost and heal the sick. Things would be going along pretty good. Then He would say that they needed to go into the next town. Why leave a good revival? Because the next town needed what He had. He never thought about failure. When He stood at the tomb of Lazarus, He said one of the most fascinating things I have ever read about Him. John 11:41-Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. Say, what? Jesus hadn't said anything yet and He was thanking the Father in advance. Why? Because all He thought about was God answering His prayer to bring Lazarus back to life. He never doubted that He could do it because He followed the commands of Joshua and David as mentioned above.
Our success does not depend on the church we go to, the poor pastor we have or the goofy congregation we are forced to worship with. Our success depends on how much we meditate on God's Word, the Word of our Lover. John 3:16 tells us that God loves the whole world and that anybody who believes would be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance. That means everybody from your mean relatives too those dumb politicians across the nation. ANYBODY that is a sinner is a candidate for salvation. There is no life that God can't turn around.
The challenge is to change our meditation. Begin picturing people coming to the alter at church. Begin picturing yourself leading someone to salvation. Picture your loved ones coming to Jesus. Picture the folks in Congress coming to Jesus. When we change our meditations to where we think more about the Word of God than we do the horrible conditions we live in----Life-Changing Unbridled Revival will come. Constant meditation on revival will stir desires and motivations deep inside you. You will begin to think about the endless possibilities that God can bring about instead of thinking about how bad things look like they are going.
Life-changing unbridled revival begins when we change our thought pattern and bring those thoughts into captivity of Jesus Christ. You've already brought defeat by thinking about it all the time. Let's change our thoughts until revival sweeps through this great country of ours.
Here's what the Bible says about meditation.
Joshua 1:8-This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Psalm 1:2-But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Phil 2:5-Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
In Joshua chapter 1, God gave specific instructions to Joshua as they were about to conquer and inherit the promise land. God said to talk about the word and think about the word day and night. He said if you did that then you would make your way prosperous and have good success. David said the same think in Psalm 1. He said that if you think about the word of God day and night, you would be like a fruitful tree and prosper in everything you do. Paul encouraged the Phillipians to think like Jesus did. If you read the New Testament at all, you have got to believe that Jesus thought it the normal thing to reach the lost and heal the sick. Revival happened everywhere He went.
The secret to great success is thinking about it instead of thinking you're a loser all the time. What does a pimp or aprostitue think about? He/she thinks about what can they do to attract more business. What does a drug dealer do? He thinks about how he can get somebody else to try his product. What does a bar owner think about? He thinks about how he can attract new business. The same can be said for any business whether it is ethical or not. Thriving businesses gather themselves together into "Think Tanks" and try to come up with ideas about how to improve their business.
What have we Christians done? We spend more time meditating on how much somebody hurt us. We waste time thinking about how bad off the church is. We slap God in the face by thinking that people don't want to come to Jesus anymore. The list could go on and on and on. How much time do we think about souls being saved at our alters? How much time do we spend thinking about people being healed? How much time do we spend thinking about our prosperity? The answer is---very, very little. That is why we are not walking in His life-changing unbridled revival.
We spend our time meditating on blaming the pastor, worship team or the town we live in. We spend our time meditating on how rough conditions are. We spend our time meditating on how bad the politicians are. We spend our time meditating on how bad everything is.
Jesus would come into a town and reach the lost and heal the sick. Things would be going along pretty good. Then He would say that they needed to go into the next town. Why leave a good revival? Because the next town needed what He had. He never thought about failure. When He stood at the tomb of Lazarus, He said one of the most fascinating things I have ever read about Him. John 11:41-Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. Say, what? Jesus hadn't said anything yet and He was thanking the Father in advance. Why? Because all He thought about was God answering His prayer to bring Lazarus back to life. He never doubted that He could do it because He followed the commands of Joshua and David as mentioned above.
Our success does not depend on the church we go to, the poor pastor we have or the goofy congregation we are forced to worship with. Our success depends on how much we meditate on God's Word, the Word of our Lover. John 3:16 tells us that God loves the whole world and that anybody who believes would be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is not willing that any should perish but that ALL should come to repentance. That means everybody from your mean relatives too those dumb politicians across the nation. ANYBODY that is a sinner is a candidate for salvation. There is no life that God can't turn around.
The challenge is to change our meditation. Begin picturing people coming to the alter at church. Begin picturing yourself leading someone to salvation. Picture your loved ones coming to Jesus. Picture the folks in Congress coming to Jesus. When we change our meditations to where we think more about the Word of God than we do the horrible conditions we live in----Life-Changing Unbridled Revival will come. Constant meditation on revival will stir desires and motivations deep inside you. You will begin to think about the endless possibilities that God can bring about instead of thinking about how bad things look like they are going.
Life-changing unbridled revival begins when we change our thought pattern and bring those thoughts into captivity of Jesus Christ. You've already brought defeat by thinking about it all the time. Let's change our thoughts until revival sweeps through this great country of ours.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Java Evangelism "Fast Start"
JAVA Evangelism
Dear Praying Partners,
The pre-school English course we call "Fast Start" is off and running. Please pray for it to be a blessing and pray that we find a way to break into the Muslim community with programs like this.
If you are interested in investing some time blessing the people of this city and provincde who have suffered too long from religious conflict and unending suspicion, please consider the material on our Java Evangelism facebook page about blessing the people in the islands Columbus missed. Another route to the material (without pictures) is www.java-evangelism.blogspot.com.
You can download from dropbox with this link
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50685396Please%20consider%20coming%20to%20bless%20the%20people%20of%20the%20islands.docx(
(If clicking doesn't work, try copying and pasting, but make sure the full title is on one line.)
Until All Hear Clearly,
Dennis and Lynn Free
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Prayer and Praise Report From Java
Java Evangelism
We are back to our bridge picture for this mailing because the move toward Christ can be treacherous for many.
First rejoice of "Adi" birth of water and Spirit on Sunday. Every Sunday in January there have been 1 - 3 new spiritual births in Pleasant Port! Praise God. Abel has been working with Adi for some time.
Please keep the following item from Speedy on your prayer list.
Hello, God's friends!
Thank God for your partnership in saving the Bees. Appreciate your prayer to destroy any influences and beliefs in the life of "Snoopy" that is preventing her to believe the God IAM. We continue to witness to her until today but she refused to accept the good news. We have found out that whatever we shared to her, she reported it to their teacher of religion. She witnessed many immersions already and knew many followers of IAM already. Her teacher of religion told her to not to believe in IAM, the good news and never to get immersed. But he allowed her to study the good news just for additional knowledge. Snoopy now only believe their holy book and IAM as a mere prophet and thought that the followers of IAM as foolish people because they considered IAM as God. But Snoopy two sisters (Rara and Eunice) are now following IAM. Before becoming a believer of IAM, Eunice also threatened Rara to report her to their parent if she will follow IAM. But thank God she's now a believer. Only Snoopy tried to harden her heart to accept the Truth and IAM and asked some advices/help from their religious teacher. Pray that God will protect all the Bees believers and us from the evil one. Pray that the good news of IAM will continue to be preached and changes lives. Pray for Snoopy to be fully convinced of the good news and the Lordship of IAM and become His effective witness.
Pray also for the scheduled immersion of "Neo" this coming Sunday, by God's grace. Pray that IAM will continue to show His greatness and establish His Kingdom among the Bees. Pray that God will bring more people to Him this coming Sunday. Blessings!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Pray For Eko and Eko
Java Evangelism
We had a good visit with Eko MU and Eko PL, pictured above on the campus of our Java Bible College on Friday. These two first born sons (hence the name Eko - number one) will spend at least the next six month serving in evangelism, discipleship and fellowship formation on the Mentawai barrier islands off the western coast of the central section of Sumatra. They will join Meikron who as been there since the end of 2010.
We have discussed a strategy with them, which we pray will lead to a rapid proliferation of house fellowships among these people who are now targeted by many Muslims for the spread of their faith. Pray for them to be spiritually and morally strong (temptation reportedly are especially rampant in Mentawaian society which has become extreme promiscuous). In the words of Meikron, "There are a lot of wives of Potiphar here."
Today Eko and Eko fly from Semarang to the provincial capital. From there this they will travel by ferry to Sikakap in Mentawai over night. We are encouraging the worker in Mentawai as elsewhere to develop small kingdom businesses that will help their neighbors economically, and provide the income they need to support their work.
Pray for them to be consistent in sharing the Gospel with any one, any where, any time! This is their commitment now! Pray for believers to be quickly immersed into Christ, gathered in to fellowships and immediately equipped to share their faith and to facilitate new groups.
Pray for key people to emerge from the early believers: people who will do as the woman at the well in John 4 did, and bring others to Jesus immediately upon faith. Pray for wisdom on behalf of the team in seeking and equipping these key individuals.
We have recently come across great training materials for these goals which we have shared with the Mentawai team and others. Pray for consistent application with total reliance upon the Lord. We expect a harvest. Jesus wants a harvest. Pray for a harvest, big, quick and expansive!
Until all have heard,
Dennis and Lynn
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Unbridled Revival Part 6
The next key to Unbridled Revival we want to explore is unbridled praise and joy. Let's take a look at some key scriptures and see how our heroes of faith overcame the awful conditions they were going through.
Heb 10:23-Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.
Did Jesus do that? You bet He did. The day He was crucified, he stood in front of Pontias Pilate bound, bruised and bloodied. The crowd was yelling all kinds of insults at Him. They were telling nothing but a pack of lies. They never gave Him credit or praise for any of the good things that He did. Notice this scripture.
Pilate asked Him, John 19:10-Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
To which Jesus replied, John 19:11-Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Whatever it is that you are facing or going through right now could not have come except our Heavenly Father allowed it. That person who is persecuting you is only able to do it because our Heavenly Father allowed them to. Here is a very important point you need to understand while you are in the middle of a rought situation. If you are living in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, whatever trial you go through is God's declaration of how strong you are in Christ Jesus. Pilate tried to throw his power around. Jesus, on the other hand, threw God's power around. Jesus knew that He was walking in the very center of God's will and that God had a plan for him. You do the same thing. Don't moan and groan and whine all day. Stand up to the devil. Tell him God has a better plan for you. Shout to him that God didn't intend for you to stay in the valley of the shadow of death. Tell him over and over that you are going THROUGH this valley and come out of it praising God.
Pilate asked Jesus something else. John 18:37-Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,
Jesus held fast His confession of the truth. Bound, battered and bloodied, Jesus looked Pilate right in the eye and with great boldness He declared to Pilate that He was born a king. He didn't look like it right then. He didn't feel like it right then. Everybody around Him contradicted what He said, but He held fast His confession of the Word of His Lover.
Let's go back to our first date. We asked the young lady out. She said 'Yes'. Did we moan and groan? No. We rejoiced. We rejoiced, not at what was happening right now, but at the promise that our Lover made to us. We knew that it was not going to take place right then and we were OK with that. Still, we rejoiced and began to tell others what our lover had promised. They might have made fun of us, but WE KNEW AND BELIEVED THE LOVE that she had displayed and rejoiced through EVERY adverse circumstance. Our Lover, God Almighty, has given us exceeding great and precious promises. Begin to confess those promises because they are His love desires for you. It's OK to rejoice and praise Him for something that has not come to pass because you believe that God's love will bring it to pass just like He said.
Look at Abraham and Sarah. They rejoiced over having a child for 25 years. Do the math. That's 9,125 days that they waited and praised Him until they got what God promised. They were convinced that what God had promised, He was faithful to perform. That's found in Romans 4:21.
What about Paul and Silas. They were persecuted, beaten and put in jail unrighteously for doing the will of God. Yet, they CHOSE to praise God in the very middle of hard circumstances. Did they know that an earthquake would come and free them all? No. They did not know what God had up His sleeve. But, they did know Jer 29:11-For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. They knew that their Lover was not through with this situation because their Lover was planning on bringing them peace. So they held fast that confession and began to rejoice and praise Him for whatever it was that He was going to do. Paul later wrote to the Romans, Rom 8:28-For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Notice that Paul didn't say that all things WERE good but that ALL THINGS would WORK TOGETHER for our good. Then, he said that love-dovey remark again---to them that love God.
Find the promises that our Lover gave us concerning the situation you are going through. Hold the promise close to your heart. Don't hold what you are going through to your heart. That hurts. Hold the promise of our Lover and begin to rejoice that all things are going to work together for your good. Rejoice that what your Lover has promised, He will be faithful to perform.
2 Peter 3:9-The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Along with John 3:16, this verse should spark joyous praise in the daily lives of the believers. It is God's will that the lost, all of the lost, to come to Jesus. That is HIS will. It needs to become the desire of our hearts and the reason we praise and rejoice. Make it a daily habit to lift up praises to our Lover that the lost are coming to Jesus. Boldly tell the devil that his hold over your loved ones is broken because God is not willing that they perish but His will is for all the lost to be saved. Until we take the bridle off of our praise and begin to rejoice in God's Word, then revival will never come. Souls are being lost because of the inactivity of God's people, not because it's not the will of God. Do something productive today, saints. Hold fast your confession and give Him praise that the lost are coming to Jesus.
Heb 10:23-Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.
Did Jesus do that? You bet He did. The day He was crucified, he stood in front of Pontias Pilate bound, bruised and bloodied. The crowd was yelling all kinds of insults at Him. They were telling nothing but a pack of lies. They never gave Him credit or praise for any of the good things that He did. Notice this scripture.
Pilate asked Him, John 19:10-Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
To which Jesus replied, John 19:11-Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Whatever it is that you are facing or going through right now could not have come except our Heavenly Father allowed it. That person who is persecuting you is only able to do it because our Heavenly Father allowed them to. Here is a very important point you need to understand while you are in the middle of a rought situation. If you are living in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, whatever trial you go through is God's declaration of how strong you are in Christ Jesus. Pilate tried to throw his power around. Jesus, on the other hand, threw God's power around. Jesus knew that He was walking in the very center of God's will and that God had a plan for him. You do the same thing. Don't moan and groan and whine all day. Stand up to the devil. Tell him God has a better plan for you. Shout to him that God didn't intend for you to stay in the valley of the shadow of death. Tell him over and over that you are going THROUGH this valley and come out of it praising God.
Pilate asked Jesus something else. John 18:37-Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,
Jesus held fast His confession of the truth. Bound, battered and bloodied, Jesus looked Pilate right in the eye and with great boldness He declared to Pilate that He was born a king. He didn't look like it right then. He didn't feel like it right then. Everybody around Him contradicted what He said, but He held fast His confession of the Word of His Lover.
Let's go back to our first date. We asked the young lady out. She said 'Yes'. Did we moan and groan? No. We rejoiced. We rejoiced, not at what was happening right now, but at the promise that our Lover made to us. We knew that it was not going to take place right then and we were OK with that. Still, we rejoiced and began to tell others what our lover had promised. They might have made fun of us, but WE KNEW AND BELIEVED THE LOVE that she had displayed and rejoiced through EVERY adverse circumstance. Our Lover, God Almighty, has given us exceeding great and precious promises. Begin to confess those promises because they are His love desires for you. It's OK to rejoice and praise Him for something that has not come to pass because you believe that God's love will bring it to pass just like He said.
Look at Abraham and Sarah. They rejoiced over having a child for 25 years. Do the math. That's 9,125 days that they waited and praised Him until they got what God promised. They were convinced that what God had promised, He was faithful to perform. That's found in Romans 4:21.
What about Paul and Silas. They were persecuted, beaten and put in jail unrighteously for doing the will of God. Yet, they CHOSE to praise God in the very middle of hard circumstances. Did they know that an earthquake would come and free them all? No. They did not know what God had up His sleeve. But, they did know Jer 29:11-For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. They knew that their Lover was not through with this situation because their Lover was planning on bringing them peace. So they held fast that confession and began to rejoice and praise Him for whatever it was that He was going to do. Paul later wrote to the Romans, Rom 8:28-For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Notice that Paul didn't say that all things WERE good but that ALL THINGS would WORK TOGETHER for our good. Then, he said that love-dovey remark again---to them that love God.
Find the promises that our Lover gave us concerning the situation you are going through. Hold the promise close to your heart. Don't hold what you are going through to your heart. That hurts. Hold the promise of our Lover and begin to rejoice that all things are going to work together for your good. Rejoice that what your Lover has promised, He will be faithful to perform.
2 Peter 3:9-The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Along with John 3:16, this verse should spark joyous praise in the daily lives of the believers. It is God's will that the lost, all of the lost, to come to Jesus. That is HIS will. It needs to become the desire of our hearts and the reason we praise and rejoice. Make it a daily habit to lift up praises to our Lover that the lost are coming to Jesus. Boldly tell the devil that his hold over your loved ones is broken because God is not willing that they perish but His will is for all the lost to be saved. Until we take the bridle off of our praise and begin to rejoice in God's Word, then revival will never come. Souls are being lost because of the inactivity of God's people, not because it's not the will of God. Do something productive today, saints. Hold fast your confession and give Him praise that the lost are coming to Jesus.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Pray For Our Mushrooms
Java Evangelism
We have enjoyed our time on the bible college campus, consulting, planning, dreaming with alumni and students. Our main goal was to help Eko MU and Eko PL have a clearer strategy of how they can lift us the Name of Jesus effectively in the Mentawai Islands. More on them Tuesday morning (Asia time), as they head off on this adventure.
We also had time to interact with a couple of alumni from the bible college that we are assisting as they seek to establish themselves for self-sustaining ministry on the slopes of Mt Merapi and Mt. Merbabu.
Rekno and Samini are raising catfish, but will likely shift to fresh water eels; marketing batik clothes; growing papaya; and as of this trip marketing Tea Tree Oil and accessories. We neglected to get a picture of them when we met. Please pray for the small scale kingdom businesses and for their efforts to get the Good News into some Muslim villages. They expect their first child in early March.
Pictured above is Karseno. His new bride unfortunately was at work and unavailable for the picture. He is seen among his growing mushrooms. His chosen variety is an Asian delicacy, but Jew's Ear Mushrooms are not widely known in the West. He is producing a good crop. Marketing is the challenge. We are trying to help market them in Ambon and elsewhere. So we invite you to pray for our mushrooms. They are not the magic variety, but are kingdom mushrooms. If this is successful it will help fund an evangelist (Karseno) on the slopes of Merapi. His partners are local pre-believers. Sales in Ambon will help provide for Christians there and assist the funding of IHOPP.
Kingdom businesses, like all enterprises, face many challenges and some fail! We are committed to this methodology for funding workers in pioneer situations because it can be self-sustaining. Pray for all of us involved to have wisdom.
Thank you for praying for our mushrooms ... papaya ... eels ... etc.
Until all Hear,
Dennis and Lynn
We have enjoyed our time on the bible college campus, consulting, planning, dreaming with alumni and students. Our main goal was to help Eko MU and Eko PL have a clearer strategy of how they can lift us the Name of Jesus effectively in the Mentawai Islands. More on them Tuesday morning (Asia time), as they head off on this adventure.
We also had time to interact with a couple of alumni from the bible college that we are assisting as they seek to establish themselves for self-sustaining ministry on the slopes of Mt Merapi and Mt. Merbabu.
Rekno and Samini are raising catfish, but will likely shift to fresh water eels; marketing batik clothes; growing papaya; and as of this trip marketing Tea Tree Oil and accessories. We neglected to get a picture of them when we met. Please pray for the small scale kingdom businesses and for their efforts to get the Good News into some Muslim villages. They expect their first child in early March.
Pictured above is Karseno. His new bride unfortunately was at work and unavailable for the picture. He is seen among his growing mushrooms. His chosen variety is an Asian delicacy, but Jew's Ear Mushrooms are not widely known in the West. He is producing a good crop. Marketing is the challenge. We are trying to help market them in Ambon and elsewhere. So we invite you to pray for our mushrooms. They are not the magic variety, but are kingdom mushrooms. If this is successful it will help fund an evangelist (Karseno) on the slopes of Merapi. His partners are local pre-believers. Sales in Ambon will help provide for Christians there and assist the funding of IHOPP.
Kingdom businesses, like all enterprises, face many challenges and some fail! We are committed to this methodology for funding workers in pioneer situations because it can be self-sustaining. Pray for all of us involved to have wisdom.
Thank you for praying for our mushrooms ... papaya ... eels ... etc.
Until all Hear,
Dennis and Lynn
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