Archive for March, 2007

Sometimes We Don’t Understand

Published
by
carl
on March 30, 2007
in Christianity and salvation
. 0 Comments

I went to a youth pastor’s conference a couple weeks ago. I hate to say it but much of what was presented was not very good but some of it was excellent. One presenter spoke about the need for doctrine and how we need to preach doctrine to our youth that they may be firmly founded in the faith. I had just such a chance this past Wednesday.

The man in the picture is Waldyr Nascimento. He moved to the United States from Brazil on the leading of the Lord. He was a successful business man waldyr.jpgin Brazil but moved here to minister. He began to lead the Brazilian ministry at my church and it began to grow exponentially.

About six months ago he stepped down from leading the Brazilian ministry to tend to his companies. It was too bad. When I saw him preach in the Brazilian service I was blown away. I remember thinking that when this guy gets his English down this 500 person crowd will look tiny compared to the flock he will tend here in America.

Saturday night his car hit a pole and he died. That was pretty bad. I had to preach Wednesday night to our youth. Included in the audience was his 17 year-old son and his 13 year-old daughter. His 11 year-old son was in another class.

I did not want to eulogize but I preached on our heavenly hope. I have never used as much scripture in a message as I did that night.

The funeral was today. There were lots of people at the service and lots of people cried thinking of his widow and the children, not to mention what might have been for this family.

All three of his children spoke but his wife was not on the agenda. There were funny stories and lots of tears and an all around miserable time. At the end of the service there was to be a benediction over a video montage of his life.

Just before that happened his wife stopped the service and wanted to speak. She said that her husband never had a service that he did not give an opportunity for people to give their life to Jesus. She then preached one of the most powerful Gospel presentations that I have ever heard. Afterward, she invited those who raised their hands in response to the invitation to receive Jesus to come the front so that she could hug them. She said this is the legacy her husband would have wanted.

A life was lost. Lives were saved. And a woman flowed in the anointing as a way to honor here deceased husband, and give glory to her Father.

If you have time today, would you throw up a prayer for this family? It’s going to be a long road ahead.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Healing Word of Knowledge

Published
by
carl
on March 30, 2007
in Christianity, Healing, Holy Spirit, Prophesy and Revival
. 3 Comments

Is there another way of getting a word about headaches other than to get a headache?

This is getting a little old.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Havin’ Church

Published
by
carl
on March 28, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit, Revival, holiness and salvation
. 4 Comments

As I bloged about earlier, I was invited to speak at the home group of some of the young men I disciple. They have a meeting at 10 p.m. in their garage and the expect God to show up every time.

The turnout was around 25 people all aged between 17 and 20.  About a third were completely unchurched.  Some were only churched.  And others were saved.

When I was preparing for the meeting, the Lord showed me an angel of deliverance that would be there.  If that makes you scratch you head it did the same for me. I mean, what are you supposed to do with that information? I can’t preach it since it is not explicitly in the Bible but I can’t act like I did not see it. Either way I had decided to preach Rev 1:18.

The key here is that Jesus has the keys to unlock us from bondage.  Most people are afraid to preach to unsaved young people.  I am not.  To me, there is nothing more exciting to me than a room full of unsaved thugs.     These people deal with the pains of life trying to act hard.  The Holy Ghost shows up and shows them who’s in charge every time.

So I read the Scripture then did a complete old testament survey 101 presentation starting with Adam, through the history of the jews into NT101 through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus up to his visitation of John.

I then went into Romans 6 and preached the death with Jesus.  I told them that if they give their life to Jesus that He would set them free from the things that control their lives.  I knew deliverance was at hand.

I had a real altar call in that living room and about a dozen of them came forward and kneeled to receive the Lord.  Great right?  Well, apparently that was not enough because then I declared that we were going to have a water baptism.

So last night I had a Holy Ghost water baptism.  (That is the kind that takes longer than 15 seconds per person. Don’t tell anyone, but some got more than one dunk.)

About 10 people were buried with Him (Rom 6:4)  last night in a glorious but cold pool.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Musical Interlude

Published
by
carl
on March 23, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit, Prophesy and Revival
. 0 Comments

I wrote a while back about some young men that got right and are now doing some godly music.

Well, like I said, they have started a little meeting at their house on Tuesday nights in the garage. I am going to preach at it this week. These guys are on fire so I am excited.

They normally get about 15 but they are expecting 25 or so this week.

Anyway. They put out their version of a worship track. If you are into R&B you might like this.

Popularity: 18% [?]

The Holy Ghost is Still at Work

Published
by
carl
on March 16, 2007
in Christianity, Healing and Holy Spirit
. 2 Comments

Here is a really neat story about a 40-something year old Jewish autistic man’s life changing encounter with a Pentecostal church as told by his sister in Newsweek Magazine.

When the pastor asked everyone to grab hands and try to feel the Holy Spirit together, I held my brother’s hand for the first time ever.

Its more than dancing and tongues in a true Pentecostal church. That is just our reaction to the welcomed presence of the Holy Spirit. He ministers the grace of God. It’s to bad more people don’t realize they need it.

Popularity: 15% [?]

The Bapitsm in the Holy Ghost

Published
by
carl
on March 15, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit, Prophesy, Revival, Salvation Story, Tongues, Youth Ministry, holiness, ministry and salvation
. 10 Comments

I really try to be nice to visitors. I try to think what it must have taken for one of my youth to get one of their secular school friends to come to church with them in the middle of the week. I went through elementary, high school, a stint and a half in the military, and half of college a heathen so I don’t know first hand what it takes for a ninth grader to witness in school but I remember what the peer pressure felt like so I really admire the work the kids are doing in bringing their friends.

We ran some numbers and in the last year we have gone from getting anywhere from 60 - 80 kids on Wednesday nights to averaging 125 now. We have baptized 26 so far this year alone. This leads to the point of this post.

Have you ever ministered to someone and at the end still could not tell if anything was accomplished? I trust that God is faithful to complete the work he began but sometimes I want a little evidence of the work of God.

We have all lead someone in a prayer of salvation and at the end were still not convinced that the person was saved. That’s right! I said it. And let me go one step further. I have seen to many outreaches that came back with a stack of decision cards but not a single convert.

I was in a church that had a month long city crusade that claimed something like 4,000 “decisions for Christ.” Not a single person got baptized from that crusade. What does that tell us? Nothing really. But if 3,000 people got joined to the church and got baptized in the next six weeks, we would call that revival.

So back to the visitors.

One of the young girls that I am discipling brought a girl last night. This girl has a Aimee Semple McPherson call on her life and is on fire for God.  Now like I said, life is hard enough for these kids so I try not to freak out the kids that they bring.  But sometimes the Holy Ghost is not as concerned about people freaking out.

Right in the middle of worship I got this burning buzzing prophet thing that came over me and I knew it was for this girl.  I asked her if she ever felt the presence of God (if you have never asked this question, just take the bewildered look as a no).  I promised her that by the end of worship that she would.

During the last song I went and laid hands on her head and the Glory of God began to be poured out on her.  Almost instantly she began sobbing.  To make a long story short I told here she was a hellbound sinner in need of a Savior.  She received Him and tried to describe to me the deliverance and salvation she had just experienced to no avail.

After service she answered the altar call (which was just a formality at this point) along with another visitor girl.  At the altar last night was that forceful fall in the spirit anointing.  It looked like people were getting “struck” by the Holy ghost instead of a gentle breeze.  You know what I am talking about.

I get to visitor girl #1.  Now this is the first time she has ever been to church.  She endured a hundred kids singing to God while some guy was casting the devil out of her.  She heard a message on the attack of the enemy, now she is standing in front of a stage and kids are falling all around her.  I don’t know that I would not have left.  I prayed fer her.  She went down.  She stayed down.

Now I get to visitor girl #2.  This is also the first time she ever went to church but the girl who brought her is not exactly a red hot ember.  I get up to them and immediately the both of them begin bawling uncontrollably.  It was really something.

I lead visitor #2 in the sinners prayer and began to pray for her and it was like heaven was opened above her.  She did that falling thing where people try to reach out to grab something to keep them from falling but they are already halfway down.  (That one always gives me a chuckle.  Its like they are looking for the guardrail or something.)

To keep another long story short, while #2 was on the ground twitching I had to cast the devil out of her friend.   After which I asked her, “How do you feel now?”  to which she said, “REALLY REALLY GOOD!”  (I call it sweet deliverance)

After a while her friend got up a little dazed.  I told her that now she needs power to live for God. And here is the point of this whole post.

Immediately she got baptized in the Holy Ghost and began to pray in tongues.  No doubt what happened to that girl that night.  One more added to the Kingdom.

Popularity: 46% [?]

Just When You Thought You Have Seen Everything

Published
by
carl
on March 5, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit, Prophesy and holiness
. 1 Comment

I preached this past Wednesday and the anointing was so think people started wailing half way through the service. I have no idea why that happens. I just know that it does.

I had an altar call and had the young people from my discipleship class work the altar with me. For some of them it was the first time they ever saw someone they were praying for get touched with physical manifestations. Nothing tickles me more than this.

Anyway . . . I was working the altar when I came upon a girl I knew had been coming but had not really gotten to know yet. We have lots of people form different cultures come to our meetings and apparently modesty has different meanings for different people. So I came to this (over)developed yet under dressed girl.

I laid my hands on her head and then noticed a cell phone wedged in between pieces of flesh in a manner that men (and most women) would not be able to accomplish.

There are many places in the Bible that talk about how God challenges the prideful.

Up until this point, I thought that I had seen everything. I have even gotten used to seeing people kneeling at the altar with g-strings sticking up out of their pants. I have seen preachers with their cellphone still on their belt while bringing the message (must have been a really important call they were waiting for). I have seen leather-pantsed worship leaders (I spent worship face down on the floor). I was even in a service where a man was sitting on the steps of the altar “prophesying” while cuddling the woman he was living with (sans marriage). But up until Wednesday I had never seen overexposed cleavage used as an electronic devise holster.

Just thought you might want to know that I have been humbled.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The Shocking News About the Tomb of Jesus

Published
by
carl
on March 2, 2007
in Christianity
. 3 Comments

It is empty.

Luke 24:1-12 (Listen)

24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Popularity: 7% [?]