Words,Thought’s, Feelings and Ideas...

Be wise as serpents?

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:16:55 -0400

It’s was a beautiful fall day in New Jersey. My wife and I were spending some time with our family in South Jersey. We were walking and spending some time in the great outdoors for a change. As we were walking through the park we came to a nature center and decided to go in. There were frogs, fish, turtles snakes and some other stuffed animals. So I went over to look at the snake and saw his skin to the left of him. It made me think about something Jesus said. Matthew 10:16 KJV “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves : be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” If you read carefully Jesus says some pretty crazy stuff! Him telling people to be like animals especially snakes is pretty crazy if you stop to think about it. Often we read the Bible and don’t think, or pray to God and don’t really listen for God’s response. If we are going to be fully engaged we must simply pay attention. When I began to think about why Jesus said to be wise as a serpent a few thoughts came to my mind. The first on was that serpents know how to put off the past. They shed their skin and keep on moving. The second thing that came to my mind was that snakes know how to get into where they need to go, and somehow they find a way in. They don’t make excuses about “why not” they simply find away. The third thing that is interesting about a snake is that they blend into their environment, but are not of their environment. Their ability to blend in is both their defensive and offensive game plan all in one. If you have ears to hear what the Spirit may be saying to you perhaps there is a word in there for you and I.
Being wise is about getting where you need to be and getting there the correct way. We are in need of wisdom like never before because of all the opportunities we have been given. There are places to get in and often the only way in is wisdom and or favor. If you want to continue to walk in favor you will have to use wisdom. People who consistently walk in wisdom are wise, God is calling us to be wise and get into the places he is leading us. What God does is established and sustained by his wisdom. Ask God to not only give you wisdom but make you wise. If you want to step into the future plans that God has for you which are good. You will have to put off the past just like the snake below. Forget those things which are behind and press forward in Jesus name...

Marketing, Promotion and Honor.

Tue, 31 May 2011 18:30:06 -0400

It’s been a while since I last blogged, so please forgive me. I want to take the time to write about something I see in the body of Christ that needs to change for the body to come into maturity. It doesn’t just need to change it is changing slowly, which is better than not changing at all. If we want to be entrusted with a Kingdom stewardship, maturity is necessary. Spiritual maturity precedes spiritual abundance or natural abundance. If you look in the body of Christ you will see a lot of marketing and promotion. Marketing and promotion aren’t inherently bad in an of themselves. The issue is what Spirit are they done in? Often in the body of Christ there is a lot of competition, due to a lack of honor. Anywhere there is competition there is division due to selfish ambition. There is a difference between Godly ambition and selfish ambition. It’s an unseen heart issue that becomes visible and audible in how people communicate and what emanates from their life. Romans 12:10 KJV “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;” Here Paul talks about love, honor and preferring one another all in the same thought. The reason he said this is because love expresses itself through honor and an expression of both love and honor is that we prefer one another. At the very root of this truth is Christ Jesus. He preferred us over his very own life. “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” This was the greatest expression of love ever. In conferences often we hear about Greater works, but its very rare that we hear about Greater Love. If we really love God we will love people. Our love for God is expressed in how we treat each other, and our enemies.
The reason there is so much self promotion in the church is because there is a lack of love, which means there is a lack of honor for one another. Another reason is because people have a lust for money, power and respect. All selfish ambition is rooted in one of those three issues. The root issue is love, however the lack of love gets expressed in many different ways. Marketing and self promotion with the wrong spirit is because of a lack of honor, which gives birth to rejection. If we would truly prefer one another there’s things we wouldn’t have to do or say about ourselves. There is a verse that gets massively taken out of context. Jesus said “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country.” Here Jesus was talking to un-regenerate religious Jews, not a New Testament, Spirit filled tongue talking church. This issue is still an issue to this day in most churches. When the true Prophetic ministry is not welcomed there will be a true lack of Spiritual discernment. Which means deception will operate in a more free and bold way within the context of a local church or ministry. Choosing not to honor the Prophetic is a fatal mistake. This truth is seen all through the Bible. Whether it’s honoring the prophetic or the pastoral or just preferring people over ourselves, we must learn to be like Nike and “just do it.”
There are many reasons why people are not inclined to properly honor people. I am going to list just a few. If any of these describes what you have seen or are seeing pray for those who are in authority, because they will be judged twice as strict on the day of judgment.
1. Lack of Spiritual Identity, which means people specifically leaders are very insecure. 2. Many times people have a spirit of competition because they live a performance based life. 3. Choosing to honor someone may make you look as though you are not well suited for your job. Let’s say one of the Elders in a church is a better public speaker than the Senior Pastor. Perhaps the Senior Pastor doesn’t let the Elder speak on Sunday morning because of his insecurities about the Elder seeming to be more qualified than him. 4. Many leaders have been hurt by people or have been let down and so they are not quick to honor the right people because they have been burned by the wrong people. 5. Honoring people for who God has called them to be may mean that the church is not under the direct control of the set leader, but under the direct leading of the Holy Spirit. A brief example would be if your church service is on a set time schedule and you allow your worship leader who is anointed by God to move freely in the Spirit, the manifest presence of God may show up. If it does this will throw your time schedule off. God doesn’t live in time at times he visits time, when he does our schedule is sure to be messed up. Some people value control more than God’s presence. If you asked them “Do you value control more than God’s Presence they would say “NO” but their actions say the very opposite.
This issue could turn into a book or a church life encyclopedia. That certainly is not my objective. My objective is to put language to or shine light on a problem and then offer a brief solution. So I am going to honor some very significant people in my life by briefly writing about them and promoting their ministry to you. I hope you are blessed from the people I share with you through this blog. The people I am going to write about are not aware that I am going to write about them. My heart is to show you some pure people I know that you might see Jesus in them, and possibly connect with them in their Labor for the Kingdom of God and the honor of Jesus Christ. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog.

10 Manifestations of a Carnal Christian

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:14:34 -0500

10 Manifestations of a Carnal Christian

1. They will grumble, complain murmur and wander.
2. They will talk about you but never confront you.
3. They are enamored with gifted people.
4. They don’t have clear direction in their life but they can tell everybody the will of God for their own life.
5. They jump to conclusion’s about you based on their perception of you.
6. They operate out of their fleshly tendencies instead of by the Spirit.
7. They will say one thing and do another and blame the Lord for their double-mindedness.
8. They will make excuses for sin trying to use grace as a get out of jail free card to not have to take responsibilities.
1. They are easily offended
2. They will not properly relate to sinners.

10 Manifestations of a Mature Christian

1. They are teachable and can receive correction even if it comes in a package they don’t like.
2. They are willing to confess their sin and also admit when they are wrong.
3. They don’t play the blame game, but they take responsibility for their words and actions.
4. They will make room for other people to use their gifts or express themselves.
5. They are good listeners.
6. They aren’t stuck in the past or afraid of the future.
7. They love and tell the truth even if it costs them.
8. They are usually seeking ways to be a blessing to others.
9. There is a deep love and concern for other people, especially the lost and the suffering.
10. They will always make time for Jesus.

Jesus is Pro-Life

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Jesus came to the earth to give his life that we might have life in him. Being pro-life is a lot more than voting Republican. Although personally I find it hard to have eternal life and not vote pro-life. Our theology must become biography. That’s was what Jesus did, he the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I believe God is desiring the word to become flesh in us so that Jesus is tangible to the world around us. It is time to stand for life like never before. Daniel 11:32 b KJV “But the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Knowing God causes us to be strong on the inside and do exploits on the outside.If there is truly oil in our lamp there will be light in the world. We were created to know God and to partner with him in rescuing lives.

A Year Crowned with Goodness for the faithful

Sat, 1 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

My lovely wife Sarah doesn’t say a lot but when she speaks, I listen. Listening is a learned behavior. Learning to listen can be painful, but not as painful as not listening. Often God speaks directly to me through my wife. I, personally, have seen Sarah be very prophetic and pretty accurate consistently. So I am going to share with you what she said to me and what I felt like God shared with me after I listened to her.
Very often God is speaking directly to us through other people, the question is are we listening? The humble will hear, but the proud will have a hard time hearing God through their brother or sister. One of the manifestations of spiritual pride is when we don’t want to hear from God through someone else. Another manifestation of spiritual pride is when we can’t see past someone’s shortcomings and receive from the Christ within them. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were not received due to other people’s spiritual pride. Pride usually leads to a fall because it makes one spiritually blind and deaf. Luke 7:33-35 KJV “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking; an ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.” There Jesus was talking to the religious people who had excuses of why they could not receive John the Baptist or himself. Often religious people try to cover up their blindness with excuses on why they don’t have to receive those who are truly sent from God to them to speak things they themselves cant’t see or don’t want to hear. Religious people are the best at excuses, religious people are better at excuse making then sinners. Often excuse making in christendom is really lying in the sight of God, and lying is merely verbalized deception. Here is a great example. If you ask a religious person to do something that God has already commanded them to do in his word, they will tell you “I will pray about it” or “I am not in that season right now.” Really what they are saying is they have a hard time receiving you and obeying God, especially when you challenge their complacency. Often we have a hard time obeying God because we have a hard time receiving each other. As we receive each other properly than we can obey God together. In the name of “friendship” with God, there are very few real disciples who when God speaks they obey. Its authentic discipleship that is the true wineskin for friendship with God. God was trying to communicate to his people when he sent John the Baptist and ultimately Christ, but they weren’t listening. All the time even as I am writing this blog our body is communicating properly with itself. Sickness comes to us when our body doesn't properly communicate with itself or when one of the members of our body fails to do its job, and so it is in our families and in the body of Christ. Does that sound like the church today? Lets make it a little more personal, does that sound like you or I? Perhaps it may, which is ok because it is the goodness or the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance.
Back to the topic my wife received from the Lord and shared with me. Here is the verse Jesus gave her for 2011. Psalm 65:11 KJV “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” This word may not be for everybody but it sure is for me. God’s goodness is going to be made manifest in 2011 by abundance. What’s great about this is through abundance others are blessed, the hungry are fed and I can get a few more over priced dress shirts. The point is God, in 2011, is going to give us what we are lacking. Some people lack money, some people lack boldness, whatever it is God is going to abundantly supply you with what you need in 2011 to establish his will on the earth like it is in heaven. Our names are written in heaven, therefore heaven knows how to receive us properly. I believe in this next year and the years to come the body of Christ is going to learn how to properly receive one another. In a culture of honor, people are received and celebrated and not merely tolerated. Insecure people can only tolerate others because they don’t even really like themselves, so it is hard for them to celebrate others. The goodness of the Lord is going to instruct us how to properly communicate with and receive from one another. A year crowned with goodness doesn’t mean no troubles or persecution, it means God is going to get us through them because he is good and he is leading us. In 2011 many people are going to receive specific marching orders from the Lord. The people of God have wandered to long. Remember complaining leads to wandering, while thanksgiving opens the door to God’s presence and in his presence we find our ultimate purpose and a fresh commissioning. This is written to the faithful, those who have been pressing into the Kingdom, those who have been faithful in the little, and those who have not despised small beginnings. If this word is for you receive it, if not repent and then receive it. Be intentional about your words, time, finances and relationships in 2011 like never before. A visitation is upon us, the word visitation in the New Testament means an “inspection.” God is coming to see if things are in order, so that he can bless us and entrust us with abundance when the world is in a time of lack. Also so we can minster to people's needs both supernaturally and naturally. We are in a time of harvest which also means we are living in a time of both judgment and mercy. It is time to get our house in order because we don’t know which hour our Master will come. The revelation of urgency is so that we live faithfully with what has been entrusted to us.
I speak blessing over you in Jesus name.

The Communications Issue - Part 2

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

I hope you enjoyed the last blog on the Communications Issue. If you haven’t read part one you might want to. Part one is the foundation of part two. The Communications Issue touches every part of life .

The Communications Issue - part 1

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The previous blog entry was about the advance in technology and the hunger for the supernatural it has created. One of the technological advances that affects us the most daily, is in communications.

An Advance in Technology and a hunger for the Supernatural...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Daniel 12:4-5 KJV “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The wise don’t just pray that people will come to Jesus, they also teach people how to live in a way that is pleasing to him by example. Perhaps “the people running to and fro” are the international airlines that take people across the earth in just hours? Just a thought. The scriptures read, “knowledge shall be increased.” We are living in a time and season where that prophecy is being manifested right before our eyes in unprecedented ways, if we have eyes to see. The other day I was sitting in my office at my desk with two computers on it, while my I-Phone and computer were simultaneously ringing from a call from a friend of mine in Brazil. A few moments later I began to think a little about all the technological advances I have seen in my life time alone. These thoughts really began to fascinate me, at that moment I knew God was going to begin to speak to me, and so he did. Here is what I heard him say, “Do to all the technological, medical, and scientific advances it has created a greater hunger for the supernatural and people are re-thinking what is possible.” We can see in the AT&T slogan above that people are seriously re-thinking what is possible. Jesus said, “with God all things are possible.” Here we see the beginning of a great conflict. That will result in God shaking the nations and showing humanity that they are mere men. God did this before in the days of the tower of Babel. The people of Babylon thought they could do the impossible without God and they were confused and scattered. Here we can clearly see that division is a judgment of God against people who think they can unite and do the impossible without him. In the book of Hebrews it says “God will shake the heavens and the earth.” God has already begun shaking the earth but when he begins to shake the heavens satellites are going to fall from the heavens. All the control that man thinks he has can be lost in a moment at the appointed time. Truly God sits in the heaven and laughs, he is sovereign over all things.
Whether we know it or not we are in a great conflict and we are headed for a war. The war is over “Truth”. Above is a picture of the Verizon Wireless slogan it reads “rule the air with Verizon Wireless.” The word “Kingdom” in the New Testament also translates to rule. Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Ephesian church declares that satan is the “prince of the power of the air.” The battle is on the ground but the war is in the air. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. The battle becomes manifest and visible in the flesh and blood realm, called earth. In Daniel chapter 10 we learn that the war is in the air, but the manifestation of the battle was seen on the earth when Babylon enslaved Israel for 70 years according to Jeremiah’s prophecy. The municipalities in Babylon were in agreement with the principalities in the demonic realm creating free slave labor and economic catastrophe for the people of God. After the 70 years of bondage Israel was then freed in three waves. The society we live in has great similarities to both Babylon and Rome. In America there is order like Rome and perversion and oppression just like Babylon.
The good news is we the people of God who are listening to God are being positioned to be a solution to the very place God has sent us, similar to Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. When there is conflict, there is a great need for solutions. Where there is great advances in society there becomes a deepening hunger for the supernatural power of God. Jesus said to the religious people of his day that they err, or go into error because they know not the scriptures nor the power of God. The time we are living in, the Gospel must be demonstrated with a lot more than words. The character of God must be evident in our actions and reactions and the power of God must follow us if we are really believers. We need to press into the Kingdom like never before. We need to press into Jesus enough for us and the world around us that is perishing. So many people are disillusioned and need a place of refuge, we must take the light from under a bushel and become like the fortified city that is set on the hill inside the Kingdom of God, shinning for the world to see.
Do to the increase of knowledge we have a greater need for wisdom than ever before. We have limitless possibilities and opportunities, therefore we need to be directed by the wisdom of God. Everything in the Kingdom of God is sustainable, because the King is good and his Kingdom is eternal. Its wisdom that makes power sustainable. We need wisdom and understanding like never before. In all of your getting, get understanding. There is very little talk about wisdom and understanding because it doesn’t tickle people’s ear or touch their feelings. In church the true knowledge of God is more rare than we would like to admit. However God is raising up Pastor’s after his heart who will feed the people of God with knowledge and understanding. The knowledge of God and the understanding of his ways. Its important to know God and his ways so we can partner with him in the earth. Remember to listen to his voice and do what he says. Doing what God says activates the supernatural. We owe the world an encounter with Jesus, so we must listen to, and obey him. I believe God will do the supernatural through you as you listen and obey Jesus.

Finishing 2010 well...

Mon, 6 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500

This year we received in seed form what we will received in full manifestation in 2011. As I look back on this year my heart is filled with gratitude. I was in the the January 12, earthquake that shook Haiti and killed well over 230,000 people in less than 30 seconds. The wall my bed was on came down just seconds after I got up, I easily could be dead. This quake shook the religion and complacency out of me. My wife and brother made their first instrumental cd. I was able to publish my first book. As I reflect on what God has done this year I become overwhelmed at his goodness and often end up in tears. Another thing I am really grateful for is the new friends he has given me. In ministry true friends are a commodity.
2010 was a year of shaking, if you don’t believe me research how many earthquakes there were in 2010. I personally believe 2011 will be a year of Glory. In 2011, people are going to begin to find what they have been searching for. The shaking and the testing are usually before the glory and the blessing. Saul was blessed before he was tested and he didn’t finish well. His predecessor David was tested first and then he was blessed. In spite of David’s sins he finished well. I want to encourage you to not despise the testing or the hard times of this year, because they were the preparation for next year. The testing of our faith produces patience and patience causes us to persevere in the will of God. I believe 2010 was a year of great sowing and there will be a great harvest in 2011. I want to encourage you to finish 2010 well. It is time to put things in order. Order is what facilitates a blessing. Rivers are amazing but without the order of one bank on each side the rushing rivers becomes a small stream and eventually turns into dry parched land. In this last part of 2010 we need to put things in order and prepare our hearts, minds and bodies for next year. I am focused on losing weight so I can feel better, look better and keep a busy schedule without burning out. I believe we as Christians often neglect natural things that are actually the wineskin for supernatural things. The suddenly of God is upon us, we need to be prepared to move with God into deeper water in 2011. I believe in 2011 we will walk in more revelation which will cause us to be more intentional about our words, actions, giving, habits, relationships and even our time management. We shouldn’t worry about tomorrow but let’s not waste today either. We must seize the moment, and be ready to move with God.