Archive for the 'Holy Spirit' Category

Is Tongues Biblical?

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on January 30, 2008
in Doctrine, Holy Spirit and Tongues
. 4 Comments

1. 1 Corinthians 12:28. “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.” God has appointed, ordained, commanded, tongues to be exercised in the church, with or without denominational approval. There is no such thing as an “apostolic-Church” and a “post-apostolic-Church”. Jesus established one Church for all time. Period!

2. Mark 16:17. “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues.” In this passage, tongues is wholly a matter of one’s relationship with Christ through personal believing; the gift has nothing to do with the death of Apostles or canonizing of Scripture. Observe that in this case, believing is the same requirement as given to the Philippian jailor, Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” And Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart.” In each case, belief is the foundation of relationship with God. It is dangerous to predicate such relationships upon historical events or chronological dates.

Continue reading ‘Is Tongues Biblical?’

Popularity: 27% [?]

Need Some Arabic Help

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on January 29, 2008
in Christianity, Prophesy and interpretation
. 1 Comment

Does the term “City of Ibrahim” mean anything?

Is there such a place?

Please reply via the contact form or in the comments. Thanks!

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Now playing: Rick Pino - Your Love Is Like

Popularity: 22% [?]

Black Pentecostal Discussion

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on January 8, 2008
in Holy Spirit, Revival and Tongues
. 3 Comments

You may not agree with everything in the video but I think it is a really good beginning of discussion of Pentecostalism in the Black community and how it relates to voting patterns.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Faith Has Left the Building

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on December 18, 2007
in Prophesy and Revival
. 4 Comments

The Methodist church still uses the cross and a flame as a symbol but the flame went out long ago. What do you do when your founding no longer lines up with your current church?  In other words, what do you do when your methodology does not reflect your stated theology?  In other words, let me see your methodology and I will show you your true theology.

So what does it mean when your stated and preached theology does not reflect your actual theology?  You are a liar.  You may not mean to be, but you are.

Have you ever been in a service that had an altar call for the baptism in the Holy Ghost then did not actually lay hands on anyone to receive it?  I have.  Ever seen a man stand in the pulpit of a denominationaly pentecostal church and preach sola scriptura?  I have.  Ever been persecuted by the elders of a pentecostal church because their teenage children saw open visions of the end times in one of your meetings?  I have.  And every time I thought it was some sort of bizarre isolated occurrence.  I no longer think so.

These are the works of the flesh that take place when pentecostal faith is no longer being exercised.  It seems in every generation or so a new move has to come along and restate what the generation before was supposed to carry.

I have decided to preach it from the rooftop and I really don’t care who it offends.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Reading the Signs

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on December 4, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit and Prophesy
. 6 Comments

Some may chalk this up to being super spiritual but check this out.

We had a birthday party for our son this Saturday at a park in town. In between running around getting things together, Isaac and I stopped at a garage sale. We did not have time to stop there, and in fact, there was nothing that caught my eye that caused me to stop. I actually turned the car around and drove back after passing it. The sale was not even on the front lawn, it was inside.

There was nothing in the house but a few pieces of furniture and a couple books. I saw a little model of a church that I liked and asked how much the books were. I offered $3 for one of the books and two little church models. The woman told me that they had some “religious books” in another room if I was interested.

I went through the empty house to a back room and saw this revivalblog and revivalblog

The pictures are really bad and there were more books than I captured in the pic.  We got to talking and I told the folks that I was planting a work downtown and this was a real find. As I gazed around the room I saw books by Hinn, Wigglesworth, and other Pentecostals. This was a find indeed! They told me that their father had moved to Colorado and they were charged with doing something with what was left. As I began drooling over examining the books, they said to me,

If you want them, they’re yours!

I brought a friend to help load the books into my van the next day and it took us a half hour to move them all. As if that was not cool enough Holy Spirit reminded me a prayer I made about two months ago. I asked that “one day” I might be able to have one of those multi-volume bible commentaries. Well, in oneRevival Blog day I got a half dozen of them including the 12 volume Interpreter’s Bible, the 23 Volume Communicator’s Commentary, the 23 Volume The Pulpit Commentary, the 31 Volume The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary, at least two other full commentaries, the entire Tozer Pulpit Series, and about 200 other books. Here’s what it looks like in my bedroom after dozens of trips from the van, up the stairs, to my house. I am going to need a larger bookshelf.

So check this out. Less than a month before I am leaving my church to start my new ministry I receive the entire library from an AG pastor who has left the ministry not even a mile from my house. To me that is a prophetic sign.

btw, the book that I bought that triggered this windfall? God’s Smuggler. A story about a man that took the Word into oppressed areas by God’s supernatural provision. I just read it in two days.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Rape

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on November 23, 2007
in Healing, Prophesy, Youth Ministry, holiness and visions
. 0 Comments

So I am working the altar the other day when I went to pray for a girl.  Instantly I knew that there was an unclean sexual spirit at work.  But I did not feel like she was in sin.  That may sound odd but that was my impression.  I asked her if there might be some sort of relationship that she was involved in that the Father may not be pleased with.  This was nothing heavy handed.  Just felt that I had to ask the question.

She was vehement that there was nothing.  I am ok with that.  I don’t run a cult, I am not going to make someone come up with something just to make me happy.   It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts, not me and it is the Holy Spirit that draws, not my words.  I left her alone and continued working the altar.

A little later I came back to her.  I felt like I had a little clearer picture.  I told her that I felt like something had happened and God wanted to heal it.  As I continued talking I told her that God would show her what I was talking about.  As we talked I knew she was seeing it.

Often as I counsel people they begin to receive revelation.  I frequently meet with people who want counsel and before they are done telling me the problem they know the answer.  That’s just how the gift works in me.

So as I was talking I could tell that she knew what I was talking about.  When I felt the time was right I laid my hands across her eyes and told her to see that situation.  This is not guided imagery.  I am not telling people to see anything.  I never tell people what to do or what to see.  I told her that I do not need to know what happened or what the memory was or any of that.  She had a memory that Jesus wanted to heal her heart of.  As soon as I told her to see whatever it was Jesus was pricking her heart about she started crying.  I asked her if she sees it and she answered that she did.

I then told her to look for Jesus.  The bible says that He will never leave us or forsake us. That He would be with us to the ends of the earth.  That means if we are His, He is with us.  When I told her to look for Jesus she started bawling uncontrollably.  I prayed till the peace of God overcame her.   I then asked if the memory had changed and to tell me what Jesus was doing to which she said,

“He is keeping my father from touching me.”

Selah

I wish I could tell you that I was shocked but I wasn’t.  You hear lots of statistics about girls getting touched inappropriately but when you start to see how it ruins girl’s lives the numbers take on a disturbing reality.

I was in prayer about preaching a few months ago and the Lord gave me a word of knowledge that He was going to bring healing to people who were molested.

At the end of my message I told the 150 or so youth the word of knowledge.  I did not pray for a minute before there were youth sobbing all over the building.  Boys and girls.  I wanted to just sit down and cry but I had an altar call for that and one other thing so they could have plausible deniability and the altar was full.  It seems like a majority of the girls that have relational issues that I counsel were molested.  I don’t know how many of the boys.

After the girl I ministered to this week regained her composure she began to make excuses for her dad, “I just want to let you know I did not get raped or anything.”  She was protecting him.  How sad is that.

I wish that I could hear preachers address this in service more often.  Just cut your giving message back a few minutes once a month and say something like, “Men, if you are touching your daughter inappropriately you need to repent and move out of the house until you get some professional help.  Girls and boys, if you are bing molested call the police.”  The fear of the Lord would come upon those who are contemplating it.

I don’t know this girl’s father, he does not attend our church.  I truly don’t know what I would do I he did.

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Now playing: Hillsong United - Lead Me To The Cross

Popularity: 30% [?]

On My Maidservants I Will Pour Out My Spirit

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on November 12, 2007
in Angels, Christianity, Holy Spirit, Prophesy, Revival, Tongues and visions
. 6 Comments

This will either bless and challenge you, or totally puzzle you.

I had a Friday night class that centered on ministering in the power of the Holy Ghost. About 30 people came. Most between 15 and 20 years old. Some older, some younger. One night I heard the Lord tell me to have an altar call. He said that if anyone wanted a spiritual gift to come to the altar and He will give it to them. That was a new one for me. I was obedient and told the people just as I had heard it. To my amazement only one person responded.

This was a 15 year old girl who said she wanted the gift of deliverance. I told her there was no such gift but that you would need the gift of discerning of spirits for that ministry so I will pray for that. I laid hands on her and called it forth. Down she went. She got up about a half hour later and told of a complete open heavens encounter that she had. She saw angels waring with demons in a complete battle. It was long and detailed. I talked to her about never taking part in the battle and not getting involved in the warfare. The angels were there for a reason.

Over the next couple months she got all kinds of stuff. She would get visions and see things in my meetings all the time and I came to really treasure the gift. Recently I sensed a shift in the gifting in purpose and strength. I had been discipling her in this gift but Jesus has decided to take over the discipleship process. I asked her to give account of what has happened recently. I mildly edited it to conceal her details.

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It was June 17, 2007 and I was at Carl’s Friday night class at church, the last one I would attend since I was going on a mission trip to Omitted. We worshipped God, Pastor Pedro was a guest preacher, and then he asked us to come up to the front (I don’t remember for what). When I went up there, it was something different. Carl prayed for me and he didn’t say anything but “open heavens”. Then the fire of God fell on me and God, almost immediately, told me that my visions were going to be so clear from now on. Since that day, they’ve been picture clear.

A week from that day, I went on a mission trip to Omitted. Half way into the trip, while the team was in prayer and worship, God did something like I had never experienced. The song playing at the time was singing “I want to stand at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand, lay against you and breath, feel your heart beat”. That underlined part really sunk into my spirit. I asked God, “God, I want to feel your heart beat.” As soon as I said that God responded saying “I will give you more than that.” In an instant, I had a vision that I was in God’s heart. It was so real that I could tangibly feel God’s love around me. In God’s heart, I had my own room. In the room were pictures of my life hanging on the walls. The only picture that I saw was the Eiffel tower. As the vision ended, I could still feel God’s love around me and I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.

The next encounter was on a Wednesday night, my first Wednesday back from Omitted. At the end of the service, I went up to worship. Sometime while I was up there, I saw angels pick me up and we started soaring through this “icy tunnel”. The reason I call it this is that it was a tunnel made completely of blue ice. We soared through there straight for about 2-3 minutes and then I was back where I was in the service, worshipping. I was so shook by where I had just been that I had no words except “God, You are so amazing!” A few minutes after that, Carl came over to me and started declaring open visions over me. Immediately, I was back in that same icy tunnel. I was enjoying it so much but I was still wondering where I was going. After soaring for about a minute, the tunnel dropped me of into the throne room of God! God’s glory in the throne room was so heavy that I fell at His feet, in the throne room and at the altar, to worship Him. I stayed down there for a while after I came back into the meeting and was by consumed by the glory of God. I just started singing “Let it rain!” over and over again until I saw that rain was falling down from heaven onto the people at the altar. This rain was the Holy Spirit coming and falling on the people there with all of His glory, fire, and power.

The next Wednesday was even more spectacular. We had a worship night that day. I knelt down at the altar to worship Jesus. Then, Carl came over with a word for me from God. God told him that I have the “Bride of Christ” anointing. He said that I have this intimacy with Christ that I’m actually able to go into His wedding chamber. He told me that I’m supposed to show others this intimacy so that they can have it, too.

God made this more clear through the following experiences.

It was towards the end of a Friday night class at Carl’s house. The glory of God started falling on me and I felt a burning fire running through my whole body, especially my head. I felt angels pressing me into the ground. All of a sudden, I was in the throne room. Jesus was on the throne while myself and others were sitting around Him. Everyone was dressed in royal gowns and jewels. I asked God, “Why are we all dressed like royalty?” He answered, “Because you are all my princes and princesses.” After He said that, I noticed that we weren’t conversing in English, but in tongues. Although I didn’t understand what we were saying, my spirit seemed to and so did the people around me. The only tongues that I recognized were Carl’s, who seemed to be talking with us. God revealed to me that that is how they speak in heaven.

After a little while of being back in the natural, I laid back down again in the same spot that I was in when I went to the throne room. God took me someplace but this time it was different. Jesus and I were in a courtyard dressed as if we were from the middle ages. I was sitting on one of the benches in the middle of the courtyard (The benches, though not connected, formed a circle) and He was holding my hand sitting in front of me. We were speaking in tongues to each other but this time I got the main point of what we were saying. We were speaking terms of endearment and telling each other how much we love one another. It was very intimate and something special between me and God. Ever since that day, I’ve gone back into that place that is only for God and I when ever I worship or pray to Him.

One day, as my mom and I were driving home, my mom started yelling at me. Every word that she spoke broke my heart a little more. As tears poured down my face, I lifted my head to see a sticker on a car that said, “Relax, God’s in control.” That little sticker slightly lifted my spirit. When we got home, I ran to my room and knelt down. I started to cry again and prayed to God asking Him to take everything. I then went to our courtyard and, instead of me sitting on the bench, Jesus was and I laid my head on His lap and He poured His love on me. He was dressed in a white gown that seemed to be silk but it was softer. The white of His gown was a white that I have never seen before and it seemed to glow along with the rest of Jesus.

One or two Wednesdays after this, I was worshipping. I was telling God that I just wanted to be with Him. Right after I said that, I went back into that courtyard. When I looked at His face, I was somewhat mesmerized by His beauty. I can’t even describe to you His features because they are so distinct like no other man. His eyes shined with love. He didn’t even need to say anything yet I still knew that His love for me was immense. After, the band told us to go back to our seats, I was still dazzled by God’s radiance.

At the end of the service, after Carl preached, Carl said for the intercessors to start praying, God gave me a vision. I saw Jesus walk over and sit on the edge of the stage, facing the audience. He started to cry. I said, “God, why are You crying? I don’t like when You cry.” He said, “They can’t here me, their ears are closed to my voice.” He yelled at the youth to hear Him but they didn’t. I started to pray and ask God to open their ears to His voice. As I prayed, people’s ears started to open and they could hear Jesus’ cry to them. Jesus stopped crying and started smiling, as did I. People went up to answer the altar call.

A few minutes later, I went up to worship behind them. As I looked at a cluster of people at the altar, God started speaking to me. He told me that they didn’t know how to drink from Him so they went to find things in the world to drink from because they were thirsty. God then showed me a pool of water in an oasis. He told me again that this was His water and that people needed to drink from His water but didn’t know how. They needed to be taught how to drink from God’s Spirit and someone had to teach them. This whole time that God was speaking this to me, I was burning and, basically, being overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit. He is so amazing!

As I sat in a chair that I had been placed in by Carl while the above paragraph happened, I went back to the courtyard. There, God told me that everyone has there own place with Him, like our courtyard, which not even angels can enter. This place is intimacy with God. Everyone’s place is different. He also said that others can experience what I have experienced and to take others with me the next time He takes me to heaven. Through these encounters, I was further understanding the Bridal anointing.

The next time I went to Carl’s Friday night class, I was worshipping. Carl saw an angel pouring oil over my head. Then He saw an angel walk across the room and place something purple in my hands. Then my hands physically started to lean down and before I knew it I was on the floor. I could feel an angel breathing on me and speaking to my spirit. Even though I didn’t know what it was saying, I knew my spirit did. God said to listen to the angels because they are here to help me. Then I saw the angel put a goblet made of gold in my right hand. I asked God what I was supposed to do with it and He said pour it over people.

—

It goes on but you get the idea. Exciting times!

Popularity: 18% [?]

Quick Rant

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on November 6, 2007
in Christianity, Doctrine and Holy Spirit
. 4 Comments

I was on a Christian jewelry site and saw a link to their doctrine. My first question is to wonder why a jewelry site needed to post their doctrine. I looked however and came down to the last point of the section titled:

IV. PNEUMATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

4. The Spirit bestows gifts, however the sign gifts (e.g. tongues, miracles) gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority was confirmed (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:20; 4:7-12; Heb. 2:1-4; 1 Thes. 5:1).

Now, for the sake of being a good Berean lets take a little look see here:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (Listen)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Says that there are gifts and goes into detail listing them.

2 Corinthians 12:12 (Listen)

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Ok, signs attest to the office.

Ephesians 2:20 (Listen)

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

The foundation, these gifts must be pretty important.

Ephesians 4:7-12 (Listen)

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

More gifts given to men by the Spirit of God.

Hebrews 2:1-4 (Listen)

2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

God bares witness to doctrine with signs and wonders. Very important indeed.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 (Listen)

5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.

huh? Not sure what this has to do with anything.

But I did not read anywhere in this list of Scripture that says it is ok to rip out whole chapters of the New Testament with a doctrine that is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Does someone else see it in here?

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Now playing: Extraordinary - Hear Us From Heaven

Popularity: 10% [?]

The Affilictions of the Righteous

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on October 10, 2007
in Christianity, Healing, Holy Spirit, Prophesy, Revival, Salvation Story, Tongues and interpretation, ministry and visions
. 10 Comments

We had a little move of God this past summer. We had a little outreach to some urban young folks and saw lots saved, set free and baptized in the Holy Ghost.

One girl showed up and got right (I actually blogged about it here). What I found out later was that this girl had just gotten out of a correctional institution. I still don’t know what got her there but she lost a year and a half to the place. She had gotten out that week and her younger sister brought her to the meeting.

As it turns out, she had been accepted to a Christian College and had gotten a financial needs scholarship. Now she was right with God and was really excited. She was faithful to the meetings and grew in her relationship with Jesus. As the weeks passed she began to develop an unusual maturity in the Holy Ghost. We prayed for her and laid hands declaring that she would see a move of God at her new school.

The night before she was to leave she called me and asked if I would baptize her friend before they left. Her friend had gotten out of the institution the same time and was now going to go to the school with her. She had come down to make the trip with her. I had lead her to Christ a few days earlier and wanted to be baptized before she went.

I went to her house and baptized her.  She came up out of the water filled with the Holy Ghost.  We prophesied over her, declared things of the future, broke off things of the past and watched her glow that you see on a person with a fresh filling.  I then realized that the roof was awfully close to the pool. holy ghost baptism Of course we spent the next half hour jumping off the roof into the pool. This may be the best benefit of working with young people.

All seemed well until I got a phone call a few days later. It seems they had run into a few problems. Without going into details, I later discovered this on the schools website under beliefs

Without meaning to be unfriendly or unkind to anyone, we feel it only fair to say that Pensacola Christian does not agree with the modern-day charismatic movement, and we believe that students who are a part of the modern-day tongues movement should seek their college education elsewhere as they would not be allowed to participate in or promote any charismatic activities.

That could be a problem! I am waaaaay beyond charismatic. And these girls got right with God under the anointing. They were believing God for a move of God in a place that did not believe that God moves anymore. As time went on people around them began to experience manifestations of the Holy Ghost. there were angelic visitations, sovereign deliverances, works of knowledge and prophesies through people who did not know that such things were possible and the leadership of the school was not liking it in the least.

Last week they were brought into the dean of students office and were given an opportunity to promise that they would not pray in tongues. If they did not promise then they would be expelled. To try to keep this story brief, these girls were expelled from the school three days later.

Those that know me know my intolerance for the biblical liberals who have disregarded whole chapters of the Bible by saying that the Holy Spirit ran out of power sometime around the 3rd century. But on another note, how cool would it be to have the testimonies that these girls will have?

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Now playing: Rick Pino - I Can Hear The Sound

Popularity: 22% [?]

Quick Testimony

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on October 4, 2007
in Holy Spirit, Revival and Youth Ministry
. 3 Comments

I was working the altar on Wednesday night when I prayed for this girl who got really wacked.  She had been going to this really good baptist church down the street but through relationships wound up with us.  Anyway I got this message from her through myspace (hope you can read teenager):

im still singing…lol… idk how to explain how i feel.. but its amazing… thx so much 4 praying 4 me… after u prayed 4 me it was like i have 2 worship him and i cant control it.. my brother already told me to stop, but i cnt…..

I replied:

Thats awesome. Welcome to revival.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Is God Allowed?

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on September 21, 2007
in Christianity, Holy Spirit and Revival
. 8 Comments

I sometimes want to get my computer and throw it out of the second floor window of my bedroom. The impurity that is on the internet should make any true believer blush. To imagine the foul lies we allow into our homes via the internet would make the Apostle Paul write a new epistle.

Of course if you know me then you know I am talking about the lie that is wrapped in the Pharisee’s cloak of cessationism.

Note to cessationists: This blog is not a forum of debating unbiblical doctrine. We at RevivalBlog hold a high view of Scripture that does not allow us to delete whole chapters of the Bible like the liberals do who write these lies.

This current rant started when I read outright accusations about a ministry that is seeing some signs and wonders. Every time I see these things I wonder what the Holy Ghost feels. Besides the fact that the authors have yielded to the spirit of antichrist, they are defaming ministers of the Gospel by name. They walk in a self-ordained authority. I pray that God would show the mercy in the Great Day.

But this all brings me to this question, “Would you allow God to do something in you, or your ministry that not only is beyond your understanding, but beyond what is considered orthodox?”

If you have been crying out for something new and are not seeing it you especially want to ask yourself this question.

Imagine this scenario: You are getting ready for a meeting and you distinctly hear God tell you He is going to do something in the Bible, like cause people to interrupt your meeting with someone coming to wash your feet. Or you clearly hear God quote Isaiah 56:10 and tell you that He is restoring the bark to His people? Do you completely freak out?

What if He goes even further and quotes Isaiah 43:19? In case some people aren’t fluent in English, new means it has not been done before. As in God is going to do something that is not in the Bible.

Would you allow Him? Would you lay your reputation on the altar in order for God to be the head of your ministry? What if God said that after He did these things you would lose your credentials but this would be a sign against your denomination? What then? What if He told you that your name would be vindicated but not until after you died?

Lets get down to where the rubber meets the road. What price are you really willing to pay to see the Glory of God manifested in your life?  Is that even important to you?

Popularity: 10% [?]

Desire Drives Discipleship

Published
by
Carl Thomas
on August 15, 2007
in Christianity and Holy Spirit
. 4 Comments

I firmly believe that the primary role of teaching is to understand experience and frame it within a biblical context. Far to many Christians have lots of bible knowledge but it is so far removed from an intimate, experiential, relationship with Jesus that it actually robs the student of faith. I believe this is why the Word says that knowledge puffs up.

Here is how it is supposed to work.

A person encounters Jesus. He is immediately discipled in the Word to gain an understanding of who this Jesus is and what He is supposed to do in response to the encounter. The more we encounter Jesus, the more we desire to gain understanding of Him and this drives us to search and understand His Word but not the Word only. And here is where most churches are failing.

2 Peter 1:5 (Listen)

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,

It does not say add to your hunger knowledge and your knowledge faith. First faith, then virtue, then knowledge. The American church is exploding with churches that serve up a Hungry-Man size serving of knowledge every Sunday with no faith or virtue.

I began to think about this last night when a group of young men asked me to begin to disciple them in the Word. They have experienced the supernatural. They have been responding to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in character issues and now they want a firm foundation in the Word.

This is what I believe to be biblical Christianity.

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Now playing: Lecrae - After The Music Stops

Popularity: 33% [?]