I have been a bit behind on sharing what God has been doing so I will have to hit the highlights.
I lead a youth small group now. I have the feeling that I will be moving out of youth ministry soon and I sense a great urging to impart some things before I leave. So I started my little group.
The first meeting I had four kids in the middle school ages. One kid got saved and the other three got baptized in the Holy Ghost that first meeting.
This past Friday, I had to lead the Friday night youth service so I brought my group to be my ministry assistants. There is nothing greater than ministering to people who do not doubt the power of God. They don’t have to have faith, I will bring that, but they can’t be filled with doubt. Doubt is a real ministry inhibiter. When you preach to a group of doubters you have to plow for so long it almost isn’t any fun.
At the beginning of the meeting I told the group that I don’t do normal church. I got saved in college after serving in the military and I only know how to be on fire for God or on fire for the world. There is no in between. If I am at church I expect to see the manifest presence. Otherwise I might as well be watching television. I told the youth that I was going to preach and at the end we were going to pray. At that point the Glory of God would descend in the room and people would be changed.
So preached and preached and preached till I felt like there was some sort of breakthrough. Then I asked the Holy Spirit to come, and come He did!
Continue reading ‘God Loves the Youth’
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Here is stuff that I found interesting. some of this is interesting for good reasons, others for not so good and yet more that is to be determined later. If you need something to look at, have a gander.
These are links that I found interesting. Just because I found it interesting does not mean I agree with it. I find the workings of cults interesting, but only so I can help their members come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. You know what I mean.
Since almost nobody reads this blog it may really not matter.
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If you look over there on the right you will see one of my links for Fire on the Altar. They have some really neat stuff. If you have some time, listen to “10 shekles and a shirt.” they have had the revival hymn on their site for a couple years but someone made a video of it.
So now for your viewing pleasure . . . The Revival Hymn. This is about a half hour long.
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Here is a new post on the Iris Ministries Blog. If you don’t know them, get to know them.
Sunday was a beautiful day. Church was filled with singing, dancing Makua and Macondie friends along with many visitors from around the world. I preached from Mark 16:15-18, “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
In Mozambique, we see King Jesus protect us from great opposition as he promised in this passage. During church, several people gave their testimonies. One lady had been full of demons and was told by her witch doctor to eat her family! She was severely sick and could not sleep. She would cut her arm and drink her own blood. When she came to church I would hug her and pray she would know the love of Jesus. Then one of our pastors visited her and burned all her witch doctor fetishes, and almost immediately she was freed and filled with the peace of Jesus. This morning her face was beaming with love, and instead of eating her family, they have become her friends!
Continue reading ‘Iris Ministries Update’
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I used the CoComment Enhancer plugin and now I think that Cocomment is finnaly working correctly on my site.
The comments themseves are not showing up correctly. For some reason all formatting for them is removed when they are viewed. the formatting is still there. I can see it when I try to edit them but it does not show up. does anyone know why this is?
UPDATE: The propblem was caused by the ESV plugin. I will let you know if I get a work around
UPDATE2: I got the workaround thanks to the folks at WrodPress. I think the author is going to update the code.
Here is what I did:
Change this line at the end of the plugin script:
add_filter(’comment_text’, ‘esv_display’, 20);
to this:
add_filter(’comment_text’, ‘esv_display’, 40);
All better!
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Eric from The Merge commented on yesterday’s post that he is unmoved by revival. I think that what he means is that he is less than enthused by what is passed off as revival. This is a followup to his comment.
I think we would agree that Revival is awesome … It is man’s reaction that is often short of glorious. Yesterday I read a wonderful article by a very senior pastor who talked about worshiping worship instead of worshiping God. The same can be said of “revival.” Worship that is not centered on God is not worship. Revival that is not powered by God is not revival. It may be recommitment (with the grace received producing the euphoria that people so enjoy) it may be renewal (see little note above) it may even being escapism (which makes me very suspect regarding what people are experiencing) but it is not revival.
I have seen glimpses of real revival. Where the very Glory of God descended into a room (or at least it felt like it). In the midst, you feel undone. Many sob uncontrollably. Your uncleanness becomes disturbingly real. The soon return of Jesus and the consequences for the world becomes tangible. Nobody is rolling on the floor laughing. Nobody is giggling and declaring funky “prophesy.” Nobody becomes rich. All become poor for His sake.
How I cry out for that again.
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Got this email on the New Wine list. If anyone knows anything about Jay West and his ministry (including a link to his website and itinerary) I would appreciate a heads up.
First of all - thank you to everyone for your prayers - some of you were contacted again on Sunday when it was determined that I would stay an extra day for an additional service of refreshing - let me begin as there is a lot to share -
I was invited to this Vineyard Church by my good friend - Bill Jackson - Bill wrote the book, The Quest for the Radical Middle - A History of the Vineyard - and he was a good friend and ministry companion of John Wimber along with previously ministering with such folks as Randy Clark and Peter Wagner - the pastor for the church was also a good friend of John Wimber and had previously ministered with John Arnott -
On Saturday, Bill Jackson taught his seminar on Ministering Like Jesus - this was an excellent presentation with great ministry of which I was blessed to participate in - I would highly recommend this seminar to any church and would be happy to put you in touch with Bill Jackson - or JAX as he likes to be called - For the Omaha folks, I have talked to Jax about bringing him in to lead such a seminar here - it was excellent -
On Sunday morning, the pastor ministered, but I was asked to help pray and to share words of knowledge - the words of knowledge this weekend were very accurate and right on target for many people - I was thoroughly blessed and simultaneously blown away by what the Lord was telling me and showing me - and how He was demonstrating the Kingdom to me - what a joy and honor - Usually for me, I get words of knowledge with just thoughts or an impression - but in addition to that, one of the words came through to me with words that were super imposed over the words of the song on a power point - I could clearly read an additional message and got up and shared it and many came forward for ministry regarding that particular word as it spoke directly to several people.
Continue reading ‘Jay West - New Wine’
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From the AG newsletter
** CHI ALPHA: “LOAVES AND FISHES”
Eli and Mary Gautreaux have been involved in Sam Houston State
University, Huntsville, Texas, Chi Alpha for the past 14 years,
being nationally appointed Assemblies of God U.S. missionaries to
SHSU since 1996.
In those years, they’ve had their share of surprising experiences as
well as predictable trends - for example, college students being
flat broke by February every year.
However, what took place this past May 4, left this veteran
missionary Chi Alpha couple stunned and believing more than ever in
the biblical account of the loaves and fishes.
Continue reading ‘Loaves and Fishes’
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I read a few weeks ago that the new pastor at Brownsville Assembly of God suddenly resigned. We all know that the school leader left during the revival with most of the school. Later the Evangelist, Pastor and Worship leader left.
In Lee Grady’s newsletter, he asks the question, “The Florida church that hosted the Brownsville revival has dwindled to a few hundred people. Did it have to end this way?”
Tough question. Lots of people can point their finger and declare what they perceived to be the shortcoming but who knows if we will really see this side of eternity.
I have seen revival annointing wreck more than one church. So in that regard, Brownsville is not unique. Yet the question remains, what happened to the fire?
There is a congregation local to me that was touched during the mid 90’s outpouring. They lost the fire a long time ago yet still have weekly “revival” meetings. To be honest, its a little wierd.
I wish you had to qualify somehow to use the title “Revival” in a service.
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I have been broke for years. I have had prophesies of wealth, visions of heavenly treasures, quoted confessions, believed testimonies, and sowed enough to have funded a third-world orphantage but we are still broke.
Hve you ever said to God, “If you stretch me any more I will break. Please make it stop.”? I plead that in tears . . . three years ago. But enough about me.
All this makes me so excited when I hear of someone getting genuine breakthrough.
Here is the stroy about the $10,000 shirt.
Be encouraged!
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My current Church, Boca Church of All Nations regularly has tongues and interpretations in worship services. There are two Sunday morning services and it happens more in the second service than the first. This may be becasue there are more visitors in the second service, second service people are more spiritual, or maybe that they are more awake. In any event, it happens.
I made reference to this in Chris’ blog a little while ago.
Well, it happened this Sunday with a funny twist. I usually attend the first service, work the visitor room and then minister to the middle school youth during the second service. If possible, I like to hit second service worship before heading to the youth. (Second service worship is normally better)
At the end of worship, while people were expressing their love for God a woman began yelling out a tongue. We waited for the interpretation and then it came . . . in Portugese! A good portion of my church is from Brazil and they speak Portugese as evidenced by the “amens” as the interpretation came forth. They wear little ear pieces to hear an english translation during the preaching but us English speakers don’t don’t get one as preparation for a tongue that is interpreted by a Portguese speaker. So after the tongue (I do not know the speaker’s native earthly language) and the Portugese interpretation, the Brazilian worship leader translated the interpretation into English. It was a good word and many were blessed by it.
For those who are curious, this is what a high view of Scripture looks like.
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Glen, the AG missionary to the spiritually dead wasteland of Stanford University has post a list of possible mother’s day scriptural references. Use with caution.
Mother’s Day is an odd Sunday in most churches. Pastors get up and talk about Proverbs 31 or some other predictible text, and then give every lady a rose.
I’m not actually preaching this weekend (Paula is, as it turns out), but if I was I’d be looking for a more unusual angle. For instance, here are some lesser-known verses which touch on the theme of motherhood.
- Psalm 109:14 - may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
- Isaiah 50:1 - This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away?
- Jeremiah 22:26 - I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die.
- Hosea 2:2 Rebuke your mother
- Hosea 4:5 I will destroy your mother
- Luke 12:53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
- Deuteronomy 22:7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go
- Exodus 23:19 Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Job 17:14, CEV: say to the worms, “Hello, mother!”
- Lev 18:7, MSG She is your mother. Don’t have sex with her.
Maybe Proverbs 31 isn’t such a bad choice after all… 
Please note that most of these verses have been horribly wrenched from their context to make them even less appropriate for a mother’s day sermon.
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