My Mother almost died in the middle of church! I've wrestled with sharing this because I know it's controversial and some people might have a problem with the truth, but I've come to the place where I can't keep it inside any longer. I want to encourage you to read it all the way through with an open heart and mind because it is absolutely true...and I have at least a half dozen witnesses to back me up!
Sunday night, June 21st, we were having a great service and our Youth Pastor was delivering a powerful message. From my viewpoint on stage, I noticed that my Mom seemed to be struggling with her sugar level. She's a diabetic and has to be careful when she takes insulin because her sugar level tends to plummet and she has to grab something to eat in order to keep it from hitting the bottom. I saw her trying to discreetly eat part of a candy bar, then my Dad got up and went to the fellowship hall to get some water for her. After a little while, I saw her lean over and I thought she was getting something else out of her purse. Wrong! She had passed out in my Dad's lap and the Pastor and his wife, who were sitting right in front of her, turned around, laid hands on her and immediately began to pray in the Spirit. Becky was working the sound and she came hurrying up, and others who were around them surrounded her and began praying, too. The Youth Pastor immediately asked everyone to begin praying and what came next turned out to be a battle for life itself!
Pastor knew that there was a fight coming and encouraged everyone to persevere and press through. We prayed and it seemed like she would start to come around, but just as suddenly as it happened, she would take a downward turn and head back to unconsciousness. They brought milk mixed with sugar and she could barely even drink it. With each sip we had to remind her several times to swallow it before she would get it down. I had come down and was sitting next to her, trying to hold her up and keep her awake, but it wasn't helping. I have seen her go down before but never like this. Her body normally responds, but this was different. In one of her rallying moments, she turned and looked right at me and I could see death on her face. She turned back and leaned over on Dad and closed her eyes. Becky was behind her and couldn't find a pulse, which set her off. She began crying out to God as everyone around began praying in the Spirit. Finally, her hands began to move and she rallied once again, but it faded as before. Like I said earlier, it was a fight for life! We were literally fighting death itself. The fight probably went on for 30 minutes or more until one point when Mom was laying over on Dad. She began speaking in tongues and praying in the Spirit. Pastor looked at her and said, "The Lord just spoke to me and said to tell you, 'Woman, ARISE!'"
As soon as he said that, Mom stood to her feet. She didn't struggle to get up! She stood up solidly, raised her hands and began to rejoice in the Spirit. Her faculties immediately returned to her and she was alert, back in her right mind! After several minutes of praying and rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, she sat down and was fine. She walked out of the sanctuary that night instead of being carried out on a stretcher, and it was all because of the power of our Almighty God!
I know healing, tongues, and those type of Spiritual matters are offensive to some. Others believe that those are not for us today and it must be of the devil. Let me assure you that the devil was at work that night, BUT it was to do what he does best...steal, kill and destroy. I can promise you that the tongues weren't of him, neither was the healing. God is the One who gets all of the glory in all of this! The power of the Holy Spirit is still just as real and HERE today as He was on the day of Pentecost. There are those who look for the tickle, the tongues, the run, the jump, or the shout. That's NOT what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for. To focus mainly on the manifestations of the Spirit is missing the point. The power is there to enable us to live a successful, powerful Christian life. The manifestation in tongues, prophecy, healing, or in any of the gifts of the Spirit comes as a sign that His awesome power is still at work and isn't to be used for our pleasure, but rather for the fulfilment of God's will on Earth.
If you have experienced a Pentecostal service that left you feeling judged, condemned, or entertained then please, don't discount the TRUE work of the Holy Spirit. If you have been taught that the work of the Holy Spirit is just hype, emotional overload, false-doctrine, occult or devil-inspired, I encourage you to stop and read God's Word. Don't read it through the eyes of the doctrine of man, but ask God to reveal the truth to you directly. I'm not trying to "turn you on" to the Holy Spirit, but I don't want you to click to the next website without an explanation of fact and a plea to avoid being judgemental. God still works miracles and the operation of the Holy Spirit is still real in our world today. My Mom is LIVING proof!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Prepare The Way!
I have to say that I am blessed! God has given me a wonderful family and has taken care of us in every way imaginable. He also allowed me to grow up in a Christian home, so I have spent my life seeing His mercy and grace in action. That type of exposure would normally cause someone to become desensitized to what's going on, but I find it's just the opposite when it comes to God's handiwork. I'm constantly amazed by His awesome love for us!
Please, allow me to share what's on my heart. As I look at what's happening in our country and in the world, I can't help but see how that relates to Scripture and the return of Jesus for His Church. The signs are there and I believe that our time here is running short -- probably shorter than we realize! In my humble opinion, these really are the Last Days! If that is true, it means that we are not far from seeing our Savior, Jesus Christ, face to face. Sadly, though, it also means that we are running out of time to share Jesus with our friends, family, and anyone else we meet who might not know Him and His saving grace!
All this has made me wonder. If we really knew how close His return was, would we change anything about the way we live? Would we stop watching certain movies or TV shows? Would we stop using certain language? Would we stay away from some of the places we currently go -- or start going to church more often? Would we make things right with people we have hurt or who have hurt us? Would gossip suddenly seem like the sin it really is, and would we be willing to go back and make things right from all of the gossip of the past? Would the vices we rationalize as being o.k. suddenly appear as ugly to us as they do to God? Would our focus shift from the insignificant things that bring us pleasure to the things that please God? Most importantly, would we have an urgency to share Jesus with as many as we could so they could have the chance to live for eternity with God in Heaven instead of separated from Him in the eternal torment and agony of Hell? What would it take to cause that type of urgency to rise in us?
There is a clarion call going out to "Prepare the Way of the Lord!" Just as John the Baptist went about telling everyone he could about the coming Messiah, we should be about the business of telling everyone we can about the return of the King of Kings! My exhortation is to pray for the Holy Spirit to bring revival; revival in our hearts, in our families, our churches and in any other area that God desires! How we need that outpouring, and I know it's coming! That will empower us for a great push to reach the lost before it's too late! We've got a mission and we're running out of time. Jesus is coming soon and we must grasp the urgency to Prepare the Way of the Lord!
Please, allow me to share what's on my heart. As I look at what's happening in our country and in the world, I can't help but see how that relates to Scripture and the return of Jesus for His Church. The signs are there and I believe that our time here is running short -- probably shorter than we realize! In my humble opinion, these really are the Last Days! If that is true, it means that we are not far from seeing our Savior, Jesus Christ, face to face. Sadly, though, it also means that we are running out of time to share Jesus with our friends, family, and anyone else we meet who might not know Him and His saving grace!
All this has made me wonder. If we really knew how close His return was, would we change anything about the way we live? Would we stop watching certain movies or TV shows? Would we stop using certain language? Would we stay away from some of the places we currently go -- or start going to church more often? Would we make things right with people we have hurt or who have hurt us? Would gossip suddenly seem like the sin it really is, and would we be willing to go back and make things right from all of the gossip of the past? Would the vices we rationalize as being o.k. suddenly appear as ugly to us as they do to God? Would our focus shift from the insignificant things that bring us pleasure to the things that please God? Most importantly, would we have an urgency to share Jesus with as many as we could so they could have the chance to live for eternity with God in Heaven instead of separated from Him in the eternal torment and agony of Hell? What would it take to cause that type of urgency to rise in us?
There is a clarion call going out to "Prepare the Way of the Lord!" Just as John the Baptist went about telling everyone he could about the coming Messiah, we should be about the business of telling everyone we can about the return of the King of Kings! My exhortation is to pray for the Holy Spirit to bring revival; revival in our hearts, in our families, our churches and in any other area that God desires! How we need that outpouring, and I know it's coming! That will empower us for a great push to reach the lost before it's too late! We've got a mission and we're running out of time. Jesus is coming soon and we must grasp the urgency to Prepare the Way of the Lord!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The Best Laid Plans
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray! My plan to keep this up on a daily basis have definitely gone by the wayside. Just playing "Captain Obvious" there. I've been busy, but not in the way I've been used to for the last few years, and certainly not in the way I thought I would be. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Let me explain.
I've become accustomed to getting up and being at work by a certain time. I would do specified tasks until a specified time, then I would go home. Since we have been back in Texas, my job description and schedule have both been fairly flexible and that has been tough for me to adjust to. When I say I've been busy, it hasn't all been "job" related, meaning it hasn't all been money producing. Of course, there is the farm which has various tasks and challenges that pop up from time to time. I'm also the Minister of Music at our church, and just preparing music for services and practice has been constant. In fact, I feel like I'm just really starting to get back in the flow of things and am getting a good foothold. I can honestly say that I know it's what God has called me to do, and I didn't fully realize how much I had missed it until now!
We've also had more opportunity to help with other areas of the church which is giving us a chance to fellowship with others and really form relationships that will help "iron sharpen iron," and I like that! Anyway, I could go into more detail, but it would take so much of your time to read it all. Let me just summarize for now and share more info later. I had my ideas about what was going to happen when we came back to Texas, but God always has higher plans. My expectations were high, but God has taken those to a whole new level...no, a whole new dimension! We are seeing Him do mighty things in people's lives. Our whole view and agenda has been altered and God is doing greater things than I could ever have imagined. I have a strange feeling that this blog will turn into a Revival Journal before too much longer! I don't say that lightly! I truly believe that we are about to see a move of God and we are called to be like John the Baptist and help prepare the way of the Lord!
He is coming back soon, I really believe that! We need to be ready and we need to tell others about Jesus while we still can. I'll share more later, but right now I need to get back to work on the other part of my calling, which is the earthly part that helps pay the bills. Be blessed!
I've become accustomed to getting up and being at work by a certain time. I would do specified tasks until a specified time, then I would go home. Since we have been back in Texas, my job description and schedule have both been fairly flexible and that has been tough for me to adjust to. When I say I've been busy, it hasn't all been "job" related, meaning it hasn't all been money producing. Of course, there is the farm which has various tasks and challenges that pop up from time to time. I'm also the Minister of Music at our church, and just preparing music for services and practice has been constant. In fact, I feel like I'm just really starting to get back in the flow of things and am getting a good foothold. I can honestly say that I know it's what God has called me to do, and I didn't fully realize how much I had missed it until now!
We've also had more opportunity to help with other areas of the church which is giving us a chance to fellowship with others and really form relationships that will help "iron sharpen iron," and I like that! Anyway, I could go into more detail, but it would take so much of your time to read it all. Let me just summarize for now and share more info later. I had my ideas about what was going to happen when we came back to Texas, but God always has higher plans. My expectations were high, but God has taken those to a whole new level...no, a whole new dimension! We are seeing Him do mighty things in people's lives. Our whole view and agenda has been altered and God is doing greater things than I could ever have imagined. I have a strange feeling that this blog will turn into a Revival Journal before too much longer! I don't say that lightly! I truly believe that we are about to see a move of God and we are called to be like John the Baptist and help prepare the way of the Lord!
He is coming back soon, I really believe that! We need to be ready and we need to tell others about Jesus while we still can. I'll share more later, but right now I need to get back to work on the other part of my calling, which is the earthly part that helps pay the bills. Be blessed!
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