Saturday, November 08, 2008

The election

Many Christians are wondering what the outcome of the election means to us, how will it affect us, what should our response be?

Well without hesitation our first duty is to pray for those in authority that we may live quiet and peaceable lives, and so that the gospel will have liberty.

Regardless of who steps into leadership we are called to support them, honor them and pray for them. Whether or not they are godly, qualified, or men and women of character has nothing to do with our response, we should pray sincerely for their success and the peace of our country.

Sounds like your dodging the question Mark, what do you really think?

here's what I really think;

Who we choose as a leader reflects on how effective we have re-presented Jesus to our culture.

In this last election we were given the choice between John McCain and Barak Obama, both men have claimed to have faith in Jesus Christ, and so in a general sense the option presented to the vast populace was the choice between a Democratic Christian and a Republican Christain, neither of which made faith a policy plank in their campaigns. For the general population what they saw was two supposed Chrisitain men slugging it out and getting dirty in a mean spirited campaign for the Oval Office.

There are quite possibly a number of people who will die thinking that these men represent the followers of Jesus, but both were powerless to unite and powerless to re-present Jesus in any meaningful way.

Obamas church suffers under Liberation theology, and cannot imagine a God who does not see life as the Black Church see's it. McCain's faith was what helped him get through Viet Nam and the captivity he suffered, but it was the faith of last resort.

I am in no way dissing either mans faith, what I am describing is how the general public must have seen faith in this election.

Faith in the 2008 election was primarily seen as a private matter and in no way a significant platform for national change.

And here is the great illusion...many including myself fasted and prayed for specific righteousness and a manifestation of Gods Kingdom in the election process, and many woke up feeling as though faith had let them down, primarily because the hot button issues that Christians focus on seem in serious jeopardy due to Obamas record of pro-abortion legislation.

But before we fall into the delusion of the devils agenda, lets not loose our confidence, nor waver in our confession.

Gods Will, will be done.

We will see the Kingdom of God manifest, and we will see the tide of abortion ended.

I have that confidence from my Father, and I know without a doubt that is His will.

So where do we go from here, and what about stuff like the economy and the far left socialistic agenda?

The Kingdom answer is now more than ever God wants to prosper His children, what a better background for the testimony of Gods provision can you have than to see your needs met while all around you are losing financial ground?

Its the perfect time for a Kingdom Manifestation of Gods ways, and His Grace, and we get to re-present Jesus to our neighbors and cities and to the general population who will soon grow tired of awesome speeches and partisan pay-offs, what they need is a government bigger than the one being represented in Washington, a government that knows no poverty, no sickness, and no selfish infighting.

The history of our family is that we shine the brightest when the governments of our world fail the worse...think about Daniel, or Joseph, think about Paul before Herod, or John the Apostle leaving the political prison of Patmos with a revelation of the King of Kings.

That is our pedigree, that is our culture, and that is the government that will see no end.

So whats the practical side of this?

Well in my spirit I see a generation of men coming out of this that will be able to speak to nations...think about it, the old prophets usually spoke to NATIONS, we can barely get on t.v., but that is fixing to change.

In my prayers I am praying for Obama, that he will become filled with the Holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and his inner man will be completely transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ, I am praying that he receive angelic visitation, and that the Lord himself visit him in the White House...do you really think he could destroy Gods babies once he meets God face to face?

I am dedicating to pray and fast until it happens.

So think about it...what position would your faith be in right now if you knew without a doubt that the Angel of the Lord, and major Prophets were on assignment to visit the new President? That God had a plan to bring transformation to an entire segment of our population who has sold out their hearing ear to Obama?

Frankly the idea makes me excited...is anything to hard for God?

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Our Greater Assignment

Regardless of what happens in our culture or our world we have been commissioned with the purposes of God as revealed in the gospel and our hope is not based in events of our time.



  • We have the ultimate truth.


Nothing changes that. Regardless of speculation, or adversity, human achievement or calamity, we remain (as the church) Gods seedbed of truth demonstrated in the world.


“1Tim 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”



We have the ultimate reality, not the kingdoms of this world, not any government or agency of man, the church is the pillar of reality, not the feds, and certainly not wall street.


  • The book of Hebrews PROMISES that once more God will shake the earth and also the heavens.





“Hebrews 12:27-28

And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:”



The reason for this shaking is not to intimidate or frighten us, it must be viewed in context of the gospel of grace; that God is in process giving us something that CANNOT be shaken, so when we see turmoil in the markets, or economy our biblical response is gratitude, why? Because thru the shaking, the church (that means ME) receives the unshakable kingdom, which will remain. This means something comes out of the mess that will endure for our kids, our kid’s kids, and our generations yet to be born. That is very good news!



  • God is not intimidated, worried, apprehensive, or even bothered by the current situation.


God is perfectly comfortable with who he is, and what He’s doing in the earth, His plan has not back-fired, there are no loop-holes the devil can exploit in Gods purposes and ALL His purposes are FOR GOOD AND NOT EVIL. He’s comfortable being God. He likes His job.

  • Insecurity in the life of a believer is simply security in the wrong thing.




On a personal level how do you deal with the insecurity of the financial markets, the possibility of job loss, the possibility of higher taxes etc..?The first piece of equipment listed in the armor (Eph. 6:14) is the girdle of truth, if you do not approach your finances, job, gas prices and all of it in truth then you will be exposed to the enemies attacks against those very things. You have to ask yourself the truth, who do you work for? Who is your source? Where does your help come from? If you honestly get apprehensive or have insecurity clouding your attitudes then the reality (truth) is your security needs to be realigned with Gods promises and purposes for your life.


  • God has never failed to provide for His purposes or assignments.



Ever, not once, it would actually be sin for God to give you an assignment and then fail to provide for it, so it is not even possible for you to lack Gods provision to accomplish what He has called you to do.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Lakeland and Beyond

So if you are much of a Charismatic, or whatever the current label is for someone who follows deeply the activity of the Holy Spirit, I'm sure you've heard about the Lakeland revival and Todd Bentley.

The obvious questions that arise from such activity is "Is this from God?" "Is it real?" "What will happen now that Todd has stepped out of it?" etc...etc...etc...

My response to these questions is simple: Yes, yes, yes.

Is it from God:
Let me ask you this;
Do you know anyone who can even bring a physical improvement for a cold by simply speaking words? Have you ever met anyone who could cause another person to fall down simply by speaking?

The only person I know who can do that is Jesus, so its not a far stretch to see it happen through people who claim a connection to him.

If you want to go and try blaming this activity on the devil or his spirits, I need to remind you that his (the devils) main operating strategy is to kill, steal, and destroy...none of which fits into the activity I've just described.

Anyone who maintains that Lakeland was the work of the devil is in major deception and needs serious deliverance from demonic strongholds rooted in unbelief...there I've said it may the truth of that sink in.

So what about all the unusual demonstrations and the "hype"?

I don't know. Really. What difference does it make?

If you suggest that the world will reject Jesus because of the weirdness of this event, I gotta say, the world has already rejected Jesus, what makes you think any activity of God would be designed to impress them anyway?

The same Jesus who heals the sick with a "BAM" told the religious leaders of his day that in order to have life they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood...and then he did not even bother to explain what he meant to them, he just let them get all hot and bothered and upset to the point that many of his own followers ended up leaving him.

Let me say this perfectly clear:

God owes you no explanation.

Jesus does not need to explain the whys and where-for's of his activity.

To quote from a Matrix movie
" Your comprehension is not a prerequisite for your cooperation.".

So where does that leave us? Especially considering that Todd Bentley has basically resigned from the movement?

Well that's an interesting question.

There is one thing I would like to remind anyone who followed this movement about, many times I heard speakers, including Todd refer to the coming revival as the faceless nameless army, meaning that God was raising up an army not composed of superstars and headliners, but instead He was raising up something that had no particular form or comeliness that we should be attracted to it, it would be average Joe's doing the miraculous.

Once you make that declaration as a leader, you sort of volunteer yourself to become a nobody, and the difficulty with Todd's presence was that in order for him to lead the faceless, nameless army, he himself would need to become the very thing he prophesied.

Kinda tough under all that spotlight to fulfil that kind of declaration...so I do not find it even slightly unusual that in the course of this he would basically disappear from the spotlight, regardless of how it transpires.

I am not suggesting that God orchestrated the seemingly impending divorce, but what I will suggest is that God can and will use it to move Todd into a place of obscurity so that he can fulfil the next stage in the declared purpose in this movement.

Where do we go from here? Well that remains to be seen, if you consider that what happened in Lakeland was actually a "seeding" process, well that's some pretty impressive seed there and when it comes to full fruition it will be everything the hype suggested and more, I suspect we will look back at Lakeland as a spark that grew into a flame that became a fire that burned a nation and beyond.

As one of the old charismatic songs would say..."It only takes a spark..."