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The "Impossible" Dream by David NelsonPosted: 2008-07-09 10:30:06
The “Impossible” Dream by David Nelson 7-7-08 I am hoping and dreaming and I have a vision for the future. Many songs in past years convey that we need more love in the world, but Jesus said in the last days the love of many will grow cold. But He also commanded His disciples to love one another with His love and He prayed that His disciples would be one with the oneness of the Father and the Son. In both cases (John 13 and John 17) He said, so that the world will know and see that Jesus is in us. So, my dream is that the true followers of the Lord in this hour would INCREASE in their oneness with each other and their love for each other. It seems like an “impossible” dream with so much coldness and lack of love in the world now. Love is decreasing in the world but I am believing that God will do a miracle to cause followers of Christ to increase in love. Do you have this dream? Of course, we all need to be closer to the Lord and our meetings need to be true encounters with the Lord, with Him mightily in our midst. Intimacy with the Lord every day will be the path to this new kind of love in us for Him and for each other (we see some of this in the book of Acts). But the world’s weeds and the cares of life can choke out our growth and our fruit. And who is behind the lures of the world that side-track us and can de-rail us, a foe whom we cannot beat or out wit except by God’s grace. We have an “impossible” dream and a deceptive foe and many temptations. We also have had to bear innumerable disappointments, delays, deep sorrow for the Church, and even deep sorrow over our own strivings. We have had to pioneer a new path that others have had to walk before but we have never been this way before. No one else can walk this walk for us, the Lord alone must show us each step to take. We will get encouragement from others but the Lord expects us to walk with Him in this new adventure. Have you heard His call to walk with Him? Have you ventured into this unknown territory where He will show us what He wants us to do? Maybe the Lord has shown you the kind of love that He is wanting to create in us and you have even burned with this pure love for the Lord and for others but you have seen very little reciprocated from others. And you have seen much less fruit for all your prayers and labors for Him than what you had hoped for. But still you are reaching for a star. You have a dream and a vision that is clear in your heart, it just has not been reached as yet. But this is your quest. Just like the wise men saw a star and knew to follow it, because they wanted to see Jesus, and so they kept following that star. If your hope has been deferred again and again, your heart may be sick with disappointment. At times your hope has diminished til it just has the slightest glimmer of life left in it. Still the dream is alive deep in your heart. How long will you follow that star? Have you lost track of that star? Or is it not moving now and you are waiting? What the Lord has in store for His Church and for you will be worth waiting for. I would encourage you to be true to the dream and vision God has given you. It is a glorious quest you are engaged in, even if you are just waiting now for God’s next move. You will be glad you didn’t abandon your quest or give up on your dream. Keep your dream and vision alive. You have a desire to right the wrongs you see around you. You have been bearing with great sorrow as you have hoped for love among the true followers in a dark and cold world. Can we be one in love as Jesus prayed? Will the world see it in us and be moved toward Him? We all want to have an intimate friendship with the Lord but the Lord’s goal is also that our love for one another would increase to a level that will touch this world in a radical way. Do you not agree that we are sadly missing the mark now? The world must see this love. Aren’t you hungry for a closer fellowship and an increased love with precious brothers and sisters of kindred spirit? Are you hungry for this dream to come true? I can assure you that the Lord is hungry for this. So, if you feel you are walking this path with the Lord with a dream and a vision which He has placed in all our hearts that will bring all who are true and pure together, then hold on, keep following that star, keep your eyes on the Lord and what He has put in your heart. You may feel like just one, scorned by others, covered with scars. But the Lord will help you to keep your eyes on the vision from Him, and if you seem to be giving your last ounce of courage, He will keep you going and will supply more oil and strength to you as you need it. It may seem like an “impossible” dream and an unreachable star but you are not alone in your desires. The day will come when we will all see it together and will sing together, Look what the Lord has done! Isaiah 52:8 says, “Listen, your watchmen will lift up their voices; with their voices together they will sing, for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord restores Hear these words of the famous song, “The Impossible Dream” (lyrics by Joe Darion) To dream the impossible dream To right the unrightable wrong This is my quest To fight for the right And I know if I'll only be true And the world will be better for this
Excerpts from a vision by Robert I. HolmesPosted: 2008-07-09 10:30:05 Excerpts from a vision by Robert I. Holmes (The entire vision can be found at prophetic@revivalschool.com titled “Joel’s Army & Gideon’s Army-A Vision”) (I am only giving excerpts that I found encouraging. I do not necessarily agree with all his interpretations). Gideon’s army I also saw off to one side, hidden in dense undergrowth, a battalion. It stood divided. I looked carefully at this group, feeling GIDEON'S ARMY
Just one of these companies is Gideon's. Others have seen and The fire in jars may well speak The PROPHETIC 'STUCK-IN-THE-MUDS'. Encouraging thoughts for June, 2008 by David NelsonPosted: 2008-06-11 14:47:36 Encouraging thoughts for June, 2008 by David Nelson I would like to share three important points that the Lord has impressed on me lately that I believe will encourage you. We must keep believing what the Lord wants to do in His revival even before it fully comes. Do not give up on the vision God has given you no matter how long it takes. What the Lord has already shown you about the coming revival, the truths He is now showing and has shown you, these revelations are very precious treasures. When they are shared with others, as the Lord leads, it will advance the Lord’s desires for the coming revival. You have a prophetic/apostolic anointing as the Bride of Christ being prepared to shine these truths to the whole Body of Christ so that more can come into real revival. First let me say that “real revival” and “the coming revival” have already begun. It has come in the truths the Lord has revealed to us about the bankruptcy of what is in “the church” now and the greater riches of what He is calling the Church to become now. It has come because He is calling us to a much closer walk with Him and some are answering His call and drawing near to Him. There will also be a closer walk with true brethren (whose hearts are being knit together more and more). We see this happening too. One thing we long for is corporate gatherings that will be 100 % led by the Holy Spirit. But we have not seen the things that we long for coming into flower or fruitfulness as fully as the dreams in our heart have portrayed. Just as Abraham saw a city whose builder and maker was God, but he saw it from afar off, he did not see it come into reality in his life time, but he still believed in it and longed for it, and it was accounted to him by the Lord as righteousness just to believe that it was coming. So too, we will be counted as righteous in God’s eyes as we look for His true revival, and because we will not be satisfied with anything less, and because we keep on believing no matter what we actually see with our eyes. Also, the Lord has shown us precious truths. Truths that reflect His pure and holy revival, that has not been seen in the Church, what is, is not what the Lord wants, but He is calling us to move toward what He has always desired the Church to be. And we know in our hearts what He is now saying. He is raising up a pure and holy standard again. It is becoming more clear every day what the Lord is moving us to. We will need each other to get the full picture. These truths and revelations that the Lord has increased in our hearts are very precious and have changed our direction much more to where the Lord is going. Have not these revelations been sent into our hearts from the Lord (just like Abraham heard from God) and are they not precious to Him and very valuable for the future blessings to His Church? What are you looking for, money, glitzy success, beautiful buildings, or the hidden truths of God now being revealed to His Church? Maybe you would like all of the above, but really what is the most important thing, is it not the precious revelations the Lord has entrusted to us? Must we not have a closer walk and relationship with the Lord? “In (our Lord) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:3) When what is hidden is found by us or revealed to us are very richly blessed from God’s treasuries (from the treasures of His heart). God has given us His best! Finally, we as the Bride of Christ have a prophetic/apostolic responsibility to the rest of the Body of Christ and the Church at large. How can we keep to ourselves what we have seen and heard from the Lord? Pastors and teachers can be good local helpers to instruct and watch over the Body of Christ spiritually (if they are anointed of the Lord). But Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists have traveling ministries and are to help many groups in many places beyond just one locality. The true revival of God will restore to the Church all that the Lord has meant for us to have and what we have been longing for, for some time now. Many are seeing what the Lord wants to do and the more we hear from the Lord the clearer the picture will be of what the Lord wants for the Church. That is why we will need to communicate with each other. We who have been watching and waiting on the watchtower have seen these things of the Lord and we will connect with others in many places, helping one another, sharpening one another in our vision for the Church, we are being honed in our spirits by the Lord. The anointing we are receiving as we receive precious things from the Lord will be lived out by us and spoken out by us to help not just locally but also to knit people together across county lines, state lines, and across country borders to the whole world. This is an apostolic/prophetic anointing. These are apostolic/prophetic truths. Just a few examples of these truths are: The Lord wants an intimate relationship and walk with each person where each person will know His voice and will be drawn closer to the Lord than ever before. The Lord wants us to be closer to each other too and to love each other more. We are to be knit together in love and unity in such a way that the world has not seen since the 1st century. The Lord does not want church services as they have been (3 fast songs, 3 slow songs, announcements, a sermon, and a prayer line at the altar). He wants to turn everything around to Him. He wants church services to be led by Him 100 %, with all the members of the Body involved with their gifts, songs only of the Holy Spirit, messages hot and fresh straight from the throne of God through whomever He wants to use, etc., etc. All these things we have talked about before and there are many messages on our website that spell out these things. Let us know what the Lord is showing you! We are continuing to see more clearly every day and we have tried to give weekly what the Lord is showing us through others and through our walk with the Lord. So, believe that the Lord is giving you a clear picture of what He wants in the future, work toward it as He leads, but even if you see very little, keep believing for “the city made by God” to come and God will count you as righteous like Abraham. (He too waited and saw just a little come to fruit before he died). Value the revelations He has shown you very highly, they are God’s heart to you for our time. It is the best and highest thing to have a close walk with the Lord and to know His heart. The vision God is forming in us will be made plain to us so that many will be able to understand it and run with it. If the vision seems to tarry, wait, it will not come too late, it will not tarry too long. We have the anointing of His treasures in our hearts and the whole Body needs to hear. We have a prophetic/apostolic anointing that must go across every state and every country border. We have in a sense a “traveling” ministry that will touch the whole world. These truths and revelations are preparing us all for God's great revival. Excerpts from "The Picture of a Prophet" by Leonard RavenhillPosted: 2008-05-08 09:12:45 Excerpts from “The Picture of a Prophet” by Leonard Ravenhill (1994) (taken from “The Banner” (Winter 2008) Pinecrest Bible T.C.,
The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men. Years back, Dr. Gregory Mantle was right when he said, “No man can be fully accepted until he is totally rejected.” The prophet of the Lord is aware of both these experiences. They are his “brand name.” The prophet comes to set up that which (will) upset. His work is to call into line those who are out of line! He is unpopular because he opposes the popular in morality and spirituality. The prophet is God’s detective seeking for a lost treasure. He is totally “otherworldly.” He marches to another drummer. He breathes the rarified air of inspiration. He is a “seer” who comes to lead the blind. He lives in the heights of God and comes into the valley with a “Thus saith the Lord.” He lives in “splendid isolation.” He is the villain of today and the hero of tomorrow. He is excommunicated while alive and exalted when dead! He is friendless while living and famous when dead. He eats daily the bread of affliction while he ministers, but he feeds the Bread of Life to those who listen. He walks before men for days but has walked before God for years. He is a scourge to the nation before he is scourged by the nation. He has a heart like a volcano and his words are as fire. He faces God before he faces men, but he is self-effacing. Our national need at this hour is not that the dollar recover its strength, or that we save face (in the world), or that we find the answer to the ecology problem. We need a God-sent prophet! I am bombarded with talk or letters about the coming shortages in our national life: bread, fuel, energy. They feel that the “seven years of plenty” are over for us. The “seven years of famine” are ahead. But the greatest famine of all in this nation at this given moment is a FAMINE OF HEARING OF THE WORDS OF GOD. (Amos 8:11) Millions have been spent on evangelism in the last 25 years. Hundreds of gospel messages streak through the air over the nation every day. Crusades have been held; healing meetings have made a vital contribution. “Come-outers” have “come out” and settled, too, without a nation-shaking revival. Organizers we have. Skilled preachers abound. Multi-million dollar Christian organizations straddle the nation. BUT where, oh where, is the prophet? Where are the incandescent men fresh from the holy place? Where is the Moses to plead in fasting before the holiness of the Lord for our moldy morality, our political perfidy, and sour and sick spirituality? GOD’S MEN ARE IN HIDING UNTIL THE DAY OF THEIR SHOWING FORTH. They will come. There is a terrible vacuum in evangelical Christianity today. The missing person in our ranks is the prophet. *(Let me add a note from David Nelson here. We are missing the Lord, we are missing all the gifts of the Spirit to be expressed from the least of the brethren to the greatest. We are missing meetings being 100% led by the Lord. There is a lot we are missing but the Lord will restore His glory to the true Church, His Bride, the tabernacle of David will rise again, and all things will be restored to glorify His name as never before!) We need men with terrible earnestness. Men totally otherworldly. Men rejected by other men, even good men, because they consider them too austere, too severely committed, too negative and unsociable. Let them be as plain as John the Baptist. Let them for a season be voices crying in the wilderness of modern theology and stagnant “churchianity.” Let them be as selfless as Paul the Apostle. Let them too, say and live, “This ONE thing I do.” Let them reject ecclesiastical favors. Let them be self-abasing, non-self-seeking, non-self-projecting, non-self-glorying, non-self-promoting. Let them say nothing that will draw men to themselves but only that which will move men to God. Let them come daily from the throne room of a holy God, the place where they have received the order of the day. Let them, under God, unstop the ears of millions who are deaf through the clatter of shekels milked from this hour of material mesmerism. Let them cry with a voice this century has not heard because they have seen a vision no man in this century has seen. God, send us (these men and women of true revival) to lead us from the wilderness of crass materialism, where the rattlesnakes of lust bite us and where enlightened men, totally blind spiritually, lead us to an ever-nearing Armageddon. God have mercy! Send us PROPHETS!
The silence of God, the "great revival" has begun, and God's promotion by David NelsonPosted: 2008-05-08 09:04:42 The silence of God, the “great revival” has begun, and God’s promotion There are three things I want to give to you today so I thought I would write this at one sitting. They may be a little unrelated but they are all important in my heart at this time. First concerning the silence of God, do not be overly troubled when God does not say anything to you for a period of time. He is testing us to see if what we say we believe we still believe when He is silent, or as the Psalms say, “He hides His face” for a period of time. The Psalmists were perplexed when they said things on numerous occasions like this, “How long will you hide your face from me, O Lord?” The Lord is intensely training each one of us to know Him so well that our confidence is not anymore in good feelings, or experiences, or gifts from above (although these may stop for a period of time God never means them to go away permanently, for He loves us so much and wants to keep giving us pleasant things). But to really be trained completely He must show that these are not central but just Him, who He is, who we have come to know Him to be, regardless if all outward or inward blessings cease for a time. To fully receive this lesson and to keep being reminded of it, the Lord may be completely silent for periods of time. Sometimes for much longer than we ever would have dreamed or felt necessary. But again, His point to teach us is, to know who He is and who He has shown Himself to be. We have read these things in the Word and we have experienced who He is over and over in our lives already. So, when everything becomes dark, with thick clouds allowing no light through, and this dark period lasts for many days, we must know who He is, who He always is, what His love is, and that His plans will one day be revealed, be fulfilled, and resume on schedule. For the Sun is always shining brightly even when it is night or thick clouds cover it, we just can’t see the Sun now (or hear Him), but He is shining brightly (out of sight) and never changes. We must know Him that way through all our dark experiences and His times of silence which He does to train us to deepen our character and our holiness in Him. We must always center on Him and not let anything around us move us. This is the
Now I would like to share that the “great revival” we are all waiting for has already begun. After I finish my thoughts here I will post an article titled “Vision of True and False Revival” by Patrick Ersig for your consideration. In that article (which is called a vision) it describes two kinds of revivals. One revival has lots of dancing and noise, “powerful” messages and miracles but the above author calls this a deceptive revival that sucks you into its power and charisma and yet does not change you into a holy servant of God or into one who walks intimately with God. We see meetings and “revivals” like this going on even now. The other revival has also begun already but it started some years ago in the hearts of individuals as they were becoming tired of the “same old” church services and feeling that something was wrong and that God wanted to do something new (or go back to His original plans). Really God had been progressively departing the old church systems till His glory has completely lifted now. He was fed up and sick of the false things in the church because it no longer centered on Him and it was not allowing the Body of Christ to come forth so that all could minister to each other as it was supposed to be. These fed up and sick feelings we were having over the old church ways was really God in us calling us back to Himself. He wants to teach us intimacy with Himself, individual by individual, and sometimes He may have to get each of us alone to do that. As He has been teaching and training these individuals all over the world He is giving us a desire and discernment to hear only His voice and follow only Him. This keener discernment now will show us what meetings are of God and which ones aren’t. Also we will know which speakers and song leaders have messages or anointings from God and which ones don’t. But the days ahead will be so seductive and so deceptive that messages and songs and miracles if possible may deceive even the very elect. So my warning to all is that we must be part of the individual training the Lord is now calling His people to (and not miss it for anything), and that a corporate coming together will in time come for those of the Bride being prepared (possibly in smaller groups at first). But these being trained will know each other in the Spirit, they will have kindred spirits with our own, and we will know in our hearts that they fellowship with the living God. I do not want to condemn bigger meetings with lots of excitement, for God will have purposes we don’t know about, but just make sure that all that we do or experience is really drawing us into a closer walk with Him. His sheep will know the voice of the real Shepherd and strangers they will not follow. Just because there is glitz and glamour and “miracles” do not let anything deceive you away from your intimate knowing and walk with the Lord. We must grow in love, humility, be broken and be holy. Jesus warns us in Matt. 24 of much deceptions, false teachings, false prophets and false miracles. (also see II Thess. 2:9,10) There may be two simultaneous revivals in these last days. Seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him.
Below is the article by Patrick Ersig NOTE from Andrew Strom Ministries (2006): I too have sensed the strong
Finally concerning God’s promotion, I want to read in Daniel chapters 4 and 5 and communicate an important message from the Lord that has encouraged me greatly for the days ahead. In chapter 4 Nebuchadnezzer king of Seven times will pass over king Nebuchanezzer and he will be cast down to have the mind of an animal, he will eat grass like an animal, he will be outside with the wild animals (be wet with dew), his finger nails will grow long until he knows that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He wills. While you Nebuchadnezzer are going through this period of seven times (an unknown period of time) your kingdom and position will remain intact for you (Dan. 4:26), and after that you will have known that the heavens do rule (all the affairs of the earth). Do we think we have done anything spiritual for God’s glory “by the might of our power, for our honor or for our majesty?” (Dan. 4:30) We must know that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing (including ourselves) and that He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth (including us), and that none can stop His hand, or say to Him, “What are you doing?” (Dan. 4:35) And so when Nebuchadnezzer was restored to his right senses his lords sought him again and his position and kingdom was intact and majesty returned to him. Nebuchadnezzer then realized that the Lord alone was to be honored and that those who walk in pride He is able to abase (or demote). Then in chapter 5 a similar thing happened to Nebuchadnezzer’s son Belshazzar. In Dan. 5:19 Belshazzer was sternly reminded by Daniel the prophet that his father Nebuchadnezzer (and any great emperor such as himself) has the authority to slay who he wants, or to keep alive who he wants, to promote who he wants and to demote who he wants. We must all know that it is the Most High God who rules (from heaven) in the kingdom of men and that He appoints over it whomever He wills (He is the one behind every promotion and every demotion). Then Daniel said, O Belshazzar, the God in whose hand thy breath is, and in whose hand are all thy ways, you have not (recognized) glorified. And that night Belshazzar was slain and his kingdom was divided. Do we really know (as yet) that every individual of the earth is as nothing (like grasshoppers)? And that God raises up whomever He wants and whomever He wills at the right time and for the right season (even the humblest, lowliest, and basest)? Just like Joseph, John the Baptist and Jesus were raised up for the right time, and some were not even recognized or honored as they ought but they were God’s promotions for the right hour. We too must know that each of us has a purpose, and a time, and a gifted place in God’s plans. Promotion comes from the Lord. (Ps. 75:6,7---For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he puts down one, and lifts up another). Some will be seen, some will not. Some will be in caves, prisons, or destined for martyrdom. Some will be very visible, with public messages and miracles. But every one of us (if we hold His hand) will accomplish all we were destined to be. He is the author (He has begun His work in us) and He will be the finisher (of each one of us as His masterpieces). Do we believe it? Know that He will promote in due season from heaven! Ponder these things from Daniel and you will realize that He wants you to know that He is over each of us for His glory. He is in control of all His plans for the earth and He loves and wants to use each one of us.
Excerpts from 5 encouraging articlesPosted: 2008-04-22 12:06:54 Excerpts from 5 encouraging articles I (David Nelson) have read some articles in the last few weeks that I did not feel led to put on our “Latest Page” yet they were of some encouragement to me. The following is a compilation of some encouraging thoughts I gleaned from these articles. The ideas are not necessarily related to each other but are more of a “buffet” of different encouraging words. I will give the authors and titles of the articles and may make a few of my own comments in each article. (If you want any of these articles in their entirety just let me know.) “Having Done All, Stand and Be Filled” by JoAnn McFatter: Have you dreamed the dream of God’s Presence filling the The process so far has all but killed us, so are we close to its revealing, has its purpose almost been accomplished? Are we empty vessels, void of ourselves, having come to the end of our strength and our ideas? His rebuilding of His Temple has been on a much more personal level (the changing of each one of us) than we ever imagined. Heb. 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” What we have hoped for has been deferred so much that it has made our hearts grow sick. But we still are holding on and believing that something good is ahead. “Things not seen” means we have not seen the things we are looking for with our eyes yet we are hoping to see them (soon we hope). The things we are looking for are being withheld out of His mercy and love towards us to be revealed at the right time. Is. 30:18-22 say, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. Blessed are all those who wait for Him. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction…your eyes shall (one day) see your teachers. You will hear, ‘This is the way walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.’ You will also defile your…images of silver…and your images of gold. You will throw them down as an unclean thing; you will say to them, ‘Be gone!’” Is. 30:15 says, “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quiet and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not….” And so He wants to be gracious to us for the right time, when we are ready and when His plan is ready. He wants to equip us within for what is about to be poured out from Heaven. “They Looked for a City” by Bob Brunz: What I am about to write was given to me by the Spirit of the Lord in the summer of 1974. It was an open vision. I believe this vision was given for the whole body of Christ for understanding and encouragement. I have shared it with small groups over the last 33 years. I was to write down the vision and wait until He would release me to share it with the Body of Christ. So, the Lord released me to share it 7-7-07. This vision entitled “They Looked for a City” is what I have labored for and give my life to in the past 34 years of ministry. I continue to look for that city (that Body) whose Builder and Maker is God (Heb. 11:10). My prayer is that the Spirit of the Lord will reveal to you, the reader, the understanding of the vision and encourage you in the days ahead as we journey together as the many membered Body of Christ. The Vision: *(Isn’t it interesting that each new level occurred 33 to 34 times, one for each year since brother Brunz received this vision? I think that this is symbolic of the Lord wanting us always to hear His voice and be ready to move on from what He showed us yesterday to do what He says today. Always fresh manna.) The Other Side of “The Days of Elijah” by Chris Anderson We sing about it, we preach about it, we prophesy about it, but when I look around I say, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” Where is the Elijah—confronting kings, calling down fire, raising the dead to life? We are expecting miraculous feats to fulfill the prophecies about these “Days of Elijah” that are supposed to be coming. But here is how the Biblical story of Elijah starts out (there is another side here). I Kings 17:2-5 say, “Go away from here, turn eastward andhide yourself by the brook Cherith, east of the This "hiding away" of Elijah is of great significance. It comes from Two articles on brokenness by Delwyn McAlister and Joseph Herrin: Both these articles are fairly long so I will just give a few quotes. Watchman Nee comments on this theme by writing, 'The breaking Peterus Octavianus, a man greatly used by God in the 1973 revival About four years ago I (Joseph Herrin) did one of the wisest things that a man can This was a watershed day in our lives, and I understood that some *(Please realize that each person will go through different things. For some, instead of 18 months it may be 18 years. For others your “18 months” might be one phase, and even harder things may be ahead. Also, the sweet savor you want to see reaching others may not be seen or felt by you as clearly or fully as you desire at this time. Even now you may still be contesting weaknesses and sins in your life but your heart is still pursuing that deeper walk with Him.) Words of Encouragement from the Lord (Author unknown)Posted: 2008-04-22 12:06:53 Words of Encouragement from the Lord (Author unknown) A few years ago I wrote down these thoughts from a book I was reading. I wrote down page numbers but do not have the author’s name. Until I discover who the author was let’s just except them as being from the Lord. I have a feeling that the real author just wants us to know the Lord’s heart and does not care that his name is not known. Your dreams are my dreams for your life. I share your excitement for the future and I have big plans for you. I have held them in my heart since before you were born. I see the big picture of your life and will take good care of you always. Through twists and turns I will give you my provision. Remember, I can make a way when there seems to be no way. My gentleness can make you great. My Spirit knows how much to do and will give you the strength to do it. Green pastures and still waters of my presence. Bask in the fullness of how much I love you, no matter what you face remember I am standing beside you. I desire to give you the fruits of the Spirit, they will fill your life with great contentment. When you follow me you follow the highest dreams for your life and fulfillment. I see the big perspective, you are trying to peer thru a keyhole. When you focus on me you will discover a different perspective, a higher perspective. Your plans thrown into disarray? Submit yourself and your plans to me. (I am all you need, everything will work out, you’ll see). Don’t give up, your future is secure with me. I want to see your dreams realized because I gave them to you. I finished my course and you will finish yours also. I am the anchor of your soul lest you drift into the sea of doubt and unbelief. Trust me and I will open doors for you and my hand will be upon your life. You are my treasure. Grace and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. Let me transform you into the person you long to become. I will fill your day with small pleasures that will bring you joy. Pause and look at the little gifts I give you to bring a smile to your heart. Soon you will have laughter and fulfillment daily with my goodness and my presence. I desire to see you achieve great things in your life. It will be my plans that I will fulfill in you. Hang your hope on me. See patience as a farmer watching his field. Give it time and wait for your season. Rest in my love. Rest in my love. You will have your answers in due season. With patience the reward is on the way. It is an ever flowing river even in drought and parched times. You are planted right by my river, let your roots tap in. I listen to the words you speak. I am dedicated to you and will never give up on you. Don’t give up on me. Even with all these gifts it thrills me most when you acknowledge me as your perfect gift and embrace my love (me). Come and live with me in the secret place. Don’t be discouraged when you stumble and fall for I have chosen you, called you and anointed you. I will accompany you for the entire journey. I will surely answer your heart’s cry. I delight in you. Life has let you down? I understand completely the disappointments of your heart. Remember, you have not reached the end of the story. I am still at work creating a beautiful tapestry in your life. My plans far exceed the dreams placed in your heart. I see all, you see a little. Do you love something more than me? Allow me to be the center. Whatever others do to you they have done to me. In the end your integrity will win (uphold you). My glory rests on you. Everything is my gifts to you. Treat others as I treat you. Choose the most treasured things for your plate and take time to enjoy them. Live your life in an eternal rhythm rather than by the clock. My gentleness makes you great. The world needs the gentle touch of my love thru your life. Combine gentle words with kind acts that reveal my goodness to those around you. Treat them with the gentleness with which I treat you. I love spending time with you now and I will love being with you for eternity in my house (where you will be most happy, and as you can be happy now on earth too). When you do right and are unjustly treated you honor me by not retaliating. You act like my Son who opened not his mouth in retaliation, but entrusted justice to Me. I am love, I shall love others thru you. I am always here waiting for you. Heavenly Gatherings Upon the Earth by David Nelson 3-20-08Posted: 2008-03-30 10:32:08 I want to describe two different types of gatherings. One is in heaven and one is on the earth. Both gatherings will have the Lord at its center and be led by the Holy Spirit. First, let me describe the heavenly gathering. Imagine in heaven the Lord inviting many people to His home for an evening together and that He is the host of this heavenly gathering. The greatest men and women saints of all time will be there and we are invited too. As we enter the place where the gathering is to be held it is the Lord’s home, decorated beautifully, with good food prepared by the Lord and each one dressed with very nice clothes provided ahead of time by the Host. It is hard to imagine this but everyone there is expecting us and is looking forward to meeting us and talking with us. Each one there has been individually trained by the Lord in being courteous, kind, loving humble, they have taken on the Lord’s character and have learned to treat people like the Lord does. We have been invited by the Lord and are kindly welcomed by the Lord and everyone else welcomes us too. Can you imagine being invited to a beautiful home with very important people there and being welcomed so graciously that you feel like an honored guest, equal with everyone else who is there? You feel so at home because of the kindnesses of everyone, you don’t feel out of place, or like an alien (alienated), not ignored, or forgotten. Even the highest and most respected guests come and talk to you and want to know you better sincerely (like you are important too). The Host even made part of the gathering a toast to you and a very fine plaque was awarded to you with very encouraging words said about you in front of everyone. (The award was so prestigious, like a Noble Peace prize, or a Pulitzer prize, or a Distinguished Metal of Honor). This is not a place where you felt excluded, or just an observer, not snubbed in any way, but you felt very at home and loved and appreciated by everyone, especially the Lord. It is the Lord who knows us and loves us and accepts us. He is the one who is supremely courteous and who appreciates who we are and who we will become in Him. It is He who teaches all the others to be like Him and so they all love us. He has always loved us, even before we knew Him, He has always known our potential, He has always believed in us and has seen us as a finished masterpiece of His. He has told everyone in heaven who we are and how much we mean to Him. Now even the greatest, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle all come up and talk to us, no one thinks they are greater than another. Now, let’s go to the gathering on the earth. True Christians from many different backgrounds have come together to meet with the Lord and with each other. Does anyone know who you are or does anyone want to know who you are? In our day the Lord is preparing His people how to gather together and He is teaching us to have a new, heavenly attitude that is the same as the heavenly gathering described above. The Lord wants us to taste some of what heaven is like and begin experiencing the love and kindness and graciousness of heaven even now. He wants us to be a people who will get together and honor one another and love and accept one another, with no one better than another. Of course our goal is to have the Lord dwelling in our midst and greatly honor, worship, adore and fellowship wonderfully with Him but He also wants us to love one another too. In this place where His people meet, even the “greatest” talk lovingly with the “least.” (We really are all equal) It is a place where you are welcomed for who you are and people want to know you and glean from the gifts in you. This will be a place where you feel so at home with people who sincerely love you because the Lord who knows you resides and flows through them toward you. You feel loved, accepted, understood, not ignored or excluded, not alienated, but truly one with the Lord and all His guests just as it is in heaven. In both of these gatherings, you as an individual walk into a corporate setting and have a desire to fit in. How good it is when we are loved by the people we gather with. There are always going to be situations where we do not know anyone at a gathering but in our hearts we long to be welcomed with warm hospitality even though we are a “stranger.” One of the deepest longings of the human heart is to be understood by others, to be accepted, loved and appreciated. When we fall in love and marry that special one we feel that it is the beginning of fulfillment of these longings. The Lord too, is calling us to love Him with all our heart, soul and strength. Marriage, as wonderful as it is, is a shadow or image of even a greater love by the One who knows us better than anyone, who knows our potential and gifts, and what we were created and destined to be in Him. We also want to be accepted by our peers. And so, we look for love from our spouse, from our peers, and from the Lord and all this will be perfectly found in heaven. As we enter His heavenly gathering, all the Lord’s guests are His finished masterpieces, each one from the least to the greatest have come into the places destined for them. But our gatherings on the earth now, should have a Bride being prepared to love as they do in heaven. The heavenly attributes and atmosphere that is so beautiful in God’s home in heaven is now coming to earth into His Bride, who He is preparing for heaven. We, too, are becoming more courteous and gracious and kind and loving toward all those that we meet. Yes, we are becoming like Him and like His heavenly host. Have we tasted the beginnings of it? How good it is and it will be to love one another with the love that He is teaching us. These are the Lord’s ways. How great is our Lord in beauty and majesty! If you were to attend a gathering on the earth that was not exclusively Christians but which included worldly famous people, you might go to that gathering and see people famous for their acting abilities, who have received awards or accomplished much in their careers. You might see music celebrities, famous singers and musicians. You might see famous and respected artists of the past and present. All would see them and want to meet them and talk to them. If someone pointed to you and said, “Are they anyone?” Another might say, “Why sure, they are known for accomplishing great things for the Lord, and they are greatly loved by the Lord.” Imagine a place where no one has to ask who you are but everyone knows already and assumes you are important because the Lord has shown them that everyone is precious. The Lord is talking to everyone in heaven about you, you are known and appreciated by them already. If you say, “But I don’t think much of myself and I am sure I have failed the Lord much more than I know, what good could He be speaking about me? Maybe He appreciates me but I’m sure few know me in heaven or even upon the earth.” But the Lord sees us already in our full potential and He sees us fulfilling all the plans He has for us. Could we not see others that same way here on earth? What will you be when the Lord is finished making you all He wants you to be? Will you truly come into His fullest plans for you? I believe each of us will because He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. I want to value each person as the Lord does. If someone doesn’t know Him yet, what will they be like when they do? If they do know Him but haven’t come into their giftings fully yet, what will they be like when they do? Can I encourage every person toward their full potential as I’m sure the Lord is doing for each person too? Maybe He wants us to love them and encourage them and this will be the love needed to bring about His revival in His Bride? But do I have the strength or ability to love others like that? I do if I will open my heart to the Lord and ask Him and be willing to be used in that way. So, what can the church do today to improve its gatherings and meetings in the areas mentioned above? In the real world many companies, including churches, have great ideas, plans, and lofty goals for making people feel they are part of a community where everyone cares about each other (and works together happily). They say, “Let’s be a family and love each other and respect each other as we ought to.” All these goals sound nice and friendly and seem to have good potential on paper but when it comes to living them out, such as, getting along with people, really liking each other, or could we ever come to the place where we love each other as Christ loved us, that may be easier said than done? People are fragile, they seem to slip up and hurt each other (by mistake or on purpose), we offend each other, hold grudges, carry around chips on our shoulders, and sometimes we would rather be left alone because it really costs too much to be friendly and to be forgiving and loving and we just don’t want to pay the price. But the Lord has His goal and His desire for the Church and He said, “I will build My Church.” He will have a Bride without spot or wrinkle. We must give ourselves to cooperate with what He wants to do in this hour, and that is to have a more warm, inviting and hospitable church (like His gatherings in heaven). He is preparing us now and is preparing our hearts for what He wants to do in the near future. The finished masterpiece of His Church is going to be created by Him in all of us for His glory. What each one of us needs to do is ask the Lord to give us love for every single person we meet, the good, the bad and the “ugly.” Then when we meet un-exciting, boring, ugly or mean people (and the good ones too) try to touch them with the gifts and love in us that the Lord has given us (He will flow through us to others). Hopefully we will see changes in ourselves in the future (as we are being changed into His likeness) and we will also see changes in others that we touch as they respond to the Lord’s glimmer of love flowing through us. That glimmer will grow to be a stream and then a mighty river one day that will flow and touch everyone we meet. May the Lord’s Name be forever exalted for what He is doing in these days. Poetry by Zainab Sule-AnewPosted: 2008-03-16 08:00:00  Anew © BY:Zainab Sule Just yesterday, I thought about God's love, and my mind was filled with awe anew. Now Easter is around the corner, and we have to think again of His love, which redeemed us from sin and shame. I will be forever grateful, as I keep remembering His wondrous love, which He showed to me, when He died on a wood, with hammer and nail. Never ever forget this Love, which redeemed us from the devil's claws. And this Easter, it is my wish, that He'll reveal a new dimension, of His love- Once again. Excerpts from "Pagan Christianity?" by Frank Viola and George BarnaPosted: 2008-03-15 08:03:20 Please note: Prophetic Ministry (
On the back (dust cover) of the book are the questions:
Not sure? This book makes an unsettling proposal: Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted, not in the New Testament, but in Pagan cultures and rituals developed long after the death of the Apostles. The authors also uncover problems that emerge when the church functions more like a business organization than the living organism it was called to be. As you reconsider Christ’s revolutionary plan for His Church—that He would be the head of a fully functioning body in which all believers play an active role—you’ll be challenged to decide whether you can ever do church the same way again. Inside flap (dust cover)---One of the most troubling outcomes of the practices in our church services today (we take for granted that they are Scriptural) has been the effect on average believers: turning them from living expressions of Christ’s glory and power to passive observers. This book examines and challenges every aspect of our present-day church experience. Book Dedication: To our forgotten brothers and sisters throughout the ages who courageously stepped outside the safe bounds of institutional Christianity at the risk of life and limb. They faithfully (raised a standard), carried the torch, endured persecutions, forfeited reputations, lost family, suffered torture, and spilled their blood to preserve the primitive testimony that Christ is the Head of His Church. And that every believer is a priest, a minister, and a functioning member of God’s house. This book is dedicated to you. Matthew 15:3—“Why do you yourselves transgress the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition?” Quote by J.C. Ryle (19th Century): “When traditions are once called into being they are at first useful, then they become necessary. And at last they are too often made idols, and all must bow down to them or be punished.” Preface: XVII—The Pharisees added to the Scriptures with their “tradition of the elders.” The Sadducees removed important truths from the Scriptures much in the same way that churches today have removed important first Century practices from our church services and added traditions. XVIII---Thankfully, such practices are presently being restored on a small scale by some today, daring souls who have taken the terrifying step of leaving the safe camp of institutional Christianity. XIX---To define an organic church: It is Spirit led, with open-participatory meetings, and nonhierarchical leadership. When a group of Christians begin to follow the Life of the Lord who indwells them together, the same outstanding features that marked the 1st Century church begin to emerge naturally. XX---Our goal? The reason for this book is simple, we are seeking to remove a great deal of debris in order to make room for the Lord Jesus Christ to be the fully functioning Head of His Church. We also make the outrageous proposal that the church in its contemporary, institutional form does not have a biblical (or historical) right to function as it does. You must decide from the evidence presented if that proposal is valid or not. XXIII---Hans Christian Anderson quote (from “The Emperor’s New Clothes”): “But the Emperor has nothing at all on!” said a little child. “Listen to the voice of innocence!” exclaimed the father; and what the child said was whispered from one to another. “But he has nothing on!” at last said all the people. The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought, “The procession must go on now!” and the lords of the bedchamber took greater pains than ever to appear holding up a train, although, in reality, there was no train to hold.” (Is this not a similar attitude that churches can have to carry on with the same things in a church service when the Lord is not in it?) XXV---Introduction by George Barna---We are living in the midst of a silent revolution of faith. Millions of Christians throughout the world are leaving the old, accepted ways of “doing church” for even older (Biblical) approaches. It is not so much that they are seeking to reclaim their roots or to be more accurate historically but it is borne out of a desire to return to our Lord for something (real), authentic, and for more of His fullness. The heart of the Revolutionaries is not in question, they are seeking more of God. They want more of what they read about in the Word and to be more in tune with His leading. They want their relationship with the Lord to be the top priority in their life (no matter what persecution comes or what sacrifices they must make). XXVI---They are tired of all the works, programs, and practices that do not draw them more into God’s presence. These people have experienced the initial reality of a genuine connection with God (and they do not want to go back to the old ways any more). God is waiting for them. They want Him. No more excuses. But the new things we are trying are they just the same stuff as before presented in a different setting? XXVII---So what we have are present-day attempts at honoring God and being the church (is there any manual to help us as we pioneer this new (yet old) way?) There is precious little (help), it turns out. (The Lord must show us the way.) Page 8---According to Frank Viola in his 1st chapter this is how the early church gathered (Scriptures available upon request): The early church met in homes. They took the Lord’s supper as a full (regular) meal. The church gatherings were open and participatory. Spiritual gifts were employed by each member. They genuinely saw themselves as family and acted accordingly. They had a plurality of elders to oversee the community. They were established and aided by itinerant apostolic workers. They were fully united and did not denominate themselves into separate organizations in the same city. They did not use honorific titles. They did not organize themselves hierarchically. Page 48---Most church services today have these 3 aspects, and usually proceed in this order: The song service, the sermon, and the closing prayer time/altar call/closing music. Other things that may be in a service are: announcements, offering, and the Lord’s supper. It has been this way for 500 years. Page 72---At times you may hear a person say, “We had a special service last night where the Holy Spirit led our meeting, Pastor Cheswald did not even get to preach.” Isn’t the Holy spirit supposed to lead all (every) church meetings? Page 75---This order of worship (or progression of the church service) puts a choke hold on the functioning of the body of Christ by silencing its members. There is very little room if any for anyone to give a word of exhortation, to share an insight, to start or introduce a song or spontaneously lead a prayer. Members are forced to be muted, pew sitters. They are discouraged or prevented from being enriched by the other members of the body as well as being able to enrich others with their gifts. Page 76---Also, this order of worship stifles (strangles) the head ship of Jesus Christ. The service is directed by one person (or by a few). Jesus Christ has no freedom to express Himself through His body at His direction. He too is rendered a passive spectator. (If a person were to stand up in a normal service occasionally it might be tolerated yet frowned upon. But if a person started standing up too often or too many people now wanted to share, this would be deemed as “out of order,” the authority of the pastor might be threatened, let’s calm down, let’s get back to “normal” or the troublemakers will have to leave. We can’t have everyone sharing, the leaders would cry “anarchy,” “wild fire,” errors and heresies may come in!) Also, the Sunday morning services are shamefully boring and highly predictable. Where is the variety, spontaneity, and creativity of the Lord? Pages 78 & 79---Open meetings are marked by incredible variety, not bound to one man or a pulpit dominated worship. The overarching hallmark of these meetings is the visible headship of Christ and the free yet orderly functioning of the body of Christ. Let me describe one such meeting: About 30 of us gathered together in a home and greeted one another. Some of us stepped into the center of the living room and began singing a capella. Quickly, the entire church was singing in unison, arms around one another. Some one else began another song, and we all joined in. Between each song, prayers were uttered by different people. Some of the songs had been written by the members themselves. We sang several of the songs several times. Some people turned the words of the songs into prayers. On several occasions, a few of the members exhorted the church in relation to what we had just sung. After, we sang, rejoiced, spontaneously prayed, exhorted one another, we sat down. Then, very quickly, a woman stood up and began explaining what the Lord had showed her during the week. She spoke for about 3 minutes. After she sat down, a man stood up and shared a portion of Scripture and exalted the Lord Jesus through it. Next another gentleman stood up to add a few very edifying words to what he said. A woman then broke into a new song that went right along with what the two men had just shared. The whole church sang with her. Another woman stood and read a poem that the Lord had given her during the week…and it meshed perfectly with what the others had shared up to that point. One by one, brothers and sisters in Christ stood up to tell us what they had experienced in their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that week. Exhortations, teaching, encouragements, poems, songs, and testimonies all followed one right after the other. And a common theme, one that revealed the glories of Jesus Christ, emerged. Some of those gathered wept. None of this was rehearsed, prescribed, or planned. Yet the meeting was electric. It was so rich, so glorious, and so edifying that it became evident to everyone that someone was indeed leading the meeting. But He was not visible. It was the Lord Jesus Christ! His headship was being manifest among His people. We were reminded again that He is in fact alive…alive enough to direct His church. (And the next night may be completely different. One night may be all songs, another night may be no songs, one night may be all prayer (And even intense intercessory leadings of the Holy Spirit), another night might be extensive Biblical teachings or perhaps prophetic revelations, and another night deep sharings from individuals opening their hearts to each other, or all of the above or none of the above. God is amazing enough to surprise us with his creativity and endless variety so that no two nights would ever have to be the same.) Page 82---The central issue we are addressing here is not whether Jesus is talked about and given honor in the service, but is Jesus the functional head of the gathering? There is a significant difference between making Jesus the invisible guest of honor and allowing Him to be the practical leader of the gathering. Let’s suppose the authors of this book attend your church service. And let’s suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ puts something on our hearts to share with the rest of His body. Would we have the freedom to do so spontaneously? Would everyone else have the freedom to do it? If not, then we would question whether your church service is under Christ’s headship. You see, a meeting that is under the headship of Christ means that He may speak through every member of the body in the gathering (as He chooses). In this connection, if you were to attend an (any) organic church gathering that met 1st Century style, you would have both the right and the privilege to share whatever the Lord laid on your heart in the manner in which the Spirit led you. Page 241---What are some of the signs of a healthy organic church?
Page 243---Quote by A.W. Tozer—“If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means than any now being used. If the church in the 2nd half of (the twentieth) century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be one of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray there will not be one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.” Page 247---What did the early church body life look like? The early Christians gathered in open-participatory meetings where all believers shared their experience of Christ (and exercised their gifts.) The meetings belonged to Jesus Christ and to the church; they did not serve as a platform for any particular ministry or gifted person. The New Testament church lived as a face-to-face community. The New Testament believers lived a shared life. They cared for one another outside of scheduled meetings. They were, in the very real sense of the word, family. The church had traveling apostolic workers (also prophets, elders, teachers, evangelists, and pastors, some who traveled and some who did not) who planted and nurtured churches. But these workers were not viewed as being part of a special clergy caste. They were part of the body of Christ, and they served the churches (not the other way around). Elders and shepherds were ordinary Christians with certain gifts. They were not special offices. Summary of “The Four Dimensions Of The Church” (given in its entirety at Frank Viola’s website (www.ptmin.org) The communion dimension of the church has to do with the church’s inward life and its relationship to the Christ who indwells it. As the Bride of Christ, the church is called to commune with, love, enthrone, and intimately know the heavenly Bridegroom who indwells her. (Of course, this must be done individually in our day to day walk with the Lord, but it also can and will happen in a corporate setting when the church gathers.) We should have fellowship with the Lord when we gather. We worship the Lord, pray, seek Him, love Him, commune with Him, and encounter Him. (It is important that these things happen when we gather.) The communion of the church with their Lord should be the engine that drives all of the church’s activities. The corporate display is seen when the church gathers together to display the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. How? Not by “church services” where a few people perform before a passive audience but in “church meetings” where every member of the Body functions and ministers. (We must see the many faceted glories of what Christ wants to show forth through the great variety of gifts in the Body.) Also we must not suppress the Headship of Christ by not allowing Him to lead meetings. Human headship (has for too long) directed what happens, who participates, and when. The community life of the church, when properly conceived, is a colony from heaven that has descended on earth to display the life of God’s kingdom. By its way of life, its values, and its interpersonal relationships, the church lives as a counter-cultural outpost of the future Kingdom—a Kingdom that will eventually fill the whole earth…. In the church the Jewish-Gentile barrier has been demolished as well as all barriers of race, culture, sex, etc. The church lives and acts as the new humanity on earth that reflects the Community of the Godhead. Thus when those in the world see a group of Christians from different cultures and races loving one another, caring for one another, meeting one another’s needs, living against the current trends of this world that give allegiance to other gods instead of to the world’s true Lord, Jesus Christ, it is watching the life of the future Kingdom lived out on the earth in the present. The pagan neighbors will say, “Behold how they love one another!” We live in a day when (our society) and the Finally, our commission is not just to care for our own but to care for the whole world that surrounds us. (We are to care for the poor and the sick around us. We are to preach the message of salvation (the good news that made us new creatures in Christ), we are to open prison doors and set the captives free, we are to teach all that Jesus taught us, make disciples of all men, go to the ends of the earth, etc.) |