Monthly Archives: January 2009

January 16, 2009 · 7:25 am

So, What’s The Lord Saying Or Doing? (1/16/2009)

It is my belief that we Christians depend too much on what an individual pastor or an individual prophet or another anointed person thinks that he (or she) is hearing from the Lord, rather than trying to hear for ourselves or listening to many different voices from all over the Body of Christ. Dependence on just an anointed few is a guaranteed recipe for failure.

So, each day, I invite you to write what you believe the Lord is telling you, showing you, or doing for you. Testimonies. Short teachings. Prophetic words. Scriptures. Prayers. Whatever you believe that the Body of Christ needs to know or will be blessed by hearing. Try to keep your words under 250 words. And if you need to, attach a link to your site for longer messages.

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January 15, 2009 · 7:21 am

So, What’s The Lord Saying Or Doing? (1/15/2009)

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January 14, 2009 · 9:21 am

My Dad: Takes a Licking But Keeps On Ticking

Twenty years ago, Mike Murdock was ministering at a church near me. I attended with some friends.

Murdock stated, “Write down on a piece of paper three prayers that you want answered by the Lord and bring them up front to me. I will lay hands on the paper and agree with you on your prayers. God will answer your prayers.”

I did as he said. One of the prayers concerned my parents and that they would experience long lives.

Has God anwered my prayers, especially for my dad?

Since that prayer, my dad has avoided death over and over again. First, it was a burst appendix which he thought was the flu; so he continued to work for two more weeks after it happened. A just-in-time ride in an ambulance to a hospital saved his life.

Then, he fainted in a bathroom and hit his head on the side of the bathtub. Another ride to the hospital.

On my wedding day (1996), he had a heart valve replaced. And of course, this was done at the last second to save his life.

A year later, pieces of the heart valve broke off, causing clots in all of the wrong places. It just so happened that Honey and I were visiting at the time. Honey prayed for him. A miraculous recovery from the death bed.

Since that time, he’s ridden by ambulance to the hospital many times until recently he almost died from gall stones and problems with his heart regulator.

Today, my mom is 85-years old and dad is almost 88-years old. Both are still living in their own home and cooking their own meals. Dad drives the car and still does all of the shopping and chores around the house. And both are still sharp as a tack.

Dad calls me twice (or more) each week, just to hear my voice and to give his views on whatever he thinks is important. I enjoy our visits.

There have been times over the years that I have given up on that prayer of agreement, prayed with Murdock. I really believed dad was done for, but God has faithfully honored the prayer.

Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

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January 14, 2009 · 8:24 am

So, What’s The Lord Saying Or Doing? (1/14/2009)

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January 13, 2009 · 11:46 am

A True Confession By Larry Who

Okay, okay, I admit it. I don’t read my Bible and Christian books 24/7. And …and … instead, I read mysteries. Not just a few mystery novels, but heaps of them. I’m hooked – must have my daily mystery fix.

Let me start at the beginning. Before my salvation, I was an avid reader of novels and a few biographies. Steinbeck. Hemmingway. Smith. Ludlum. LeClare. Fitzgerald. Wouk. Etc.

And at the time of my salvation, I was reading Yeager, an autobiography by Chuck Yeager, the test pilot. But after my salvation, I could not finish the book. I’d open it up and fall asleep. This happened quite a few times before it hit me: I don’t read non-Christian books anymore.

So, for the next eighteen years or so, I read hundreds of Christian books and my Bible. There was one exception: There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. This book told about two African-American boys growing up in the Cabrini-Green complex on the Southside of Chicago. Sobering book!

But then, in 2002, I started writing prophetic fiction. I finished my first story and handed it to Honey. She read it and said, “Good story line. Lousy writing.”

Yikes! There’s something about truth coming out of your mate’s mouth that makes you grit your teeth. It’s a little like a fingernail going across a blackboard. The hairs on your neck stick up; you arch your back; and you’re ready to unleash your claws.

Yet, the truth was, I was stuck with writing prophetic fiction. So, I needed to read books that had simple formats which I could figure out and learn.

This led me to mystery novels. Quick reads. Simple formats. Heavy dialog. Easy to understand scenes and transportation from one scene to the next. A perfect genre for a simple writer like me.

Whose books do I read? Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, some Elmore Leonard, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, William Tapply, Steve Hamilton, and others.

So, there you have it. The truth is out of the closet.

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January 13, 2009 · 9:05 am

So, What Is The Lord Saying Or Doing? (1/13/2009)

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January 12, 2009 · 3:32 pm

Twice Baked Potato

The Lord looked down on earth, His garden. His eyes scanned back and forth. Then, He pointed and said, “There. That one is ready.”

“Lord,” said the angel, “that’s parched dirt. Nothing much has grown there for years. Maybe, You should check out the Midwestern spuds. Plenty of water there. ”

“No,” said the Lord,” this is the spud of my eye. When I planted him, I poured some great spiritual genetics into the little tater. And now, he’s ready.”

The angel shrugged and took off. Within nano-seconds, he landed next to the vine which the Lord had pointed out and dug with his hands into the dry soil. He pulled out a medium-sized potato and held it up. It was not much to look out, sort of scrawny and dirty.

“Well, little potato, this is your day,” said the angel. The potato, being all eyes, did not say anything. He just listened.

Then, the angel took the potato through a cleansing process. He was washed and scrubbed. Damaged parts and bad eyes were clipped off. When it was over, the potato said, “The Lord loves me and I love Him. I am the spud of His eye. I am so happy.”

Next, the hand of the Lord lifted the potato up and shoved him into an oven. The heat was turned up to 350 degrees.

The little potato was afraid; it was dark and hot in there. Very hot. “Lord, what are you doing to me?” cried the potato.

“Trust Me,” said the Lord in a gentle voice. Then He added, “You are the spud of My eye.”

The potato rolled over to the door and banged against it. “Lord, Lord,” screamed the potato, “I am dying in here. Let me out.”

The Lord smiled. “Yes, I know you’re dying. That’s My plan for you.” Then again, He added, “Your are the spud of My eye.”

After a while, the potato quit banging on the door and crying out. He resigned himself to the process. His resignation did not make the experience any less painless, but it allowed him to focus better.

The door finally opened. A hand reached in, lifted the potato out and set him on a kitchen table. What a relief, thought the potato. Now, I’m ready to be what I’ve always been called to be.

Zzzt! A knife slit the potato and removed his flesh from the skins. The particles fell into a white mixing bowl.

Grrrr! A electric mixer mashed the potato flesh inside the mixing bowl.

“Lord, why are You doing this to me? Don’t You love me?”

“Yes, I love you. I do this to every potato who loves me with all his heart like you do. Your flesh is just being smoothed out a little,” said the Lord. Then, He added, “You are the spud of My eye.”

What next, wondered the potato.

Milk , butter and seasonings were added. Then, more mixing. A lot more mixing.

The mixer stopped. The Lord inspected the little potato. “He’s ready.”

The potato sighed. “It’s over. The process is over,” whispered the potato. “It was bad, really bad, but somehow, I survived. Now, it’s time for me to be what I have been called to be. Yea!”

Thwop! Thwop! The potato’s flesh was spooned back into his skins and shoved into the oven. The heat was turned up.

This time the little potato kept quiet. He knew that it was useless to complain. Everything was out of his control and in the hands of the Lord. How long it took before he was ready, he did not know nor did he care. After all, he was the spud of the Lord’s eye. That was enough for him.

Twice baked potato, sort of reminds a person of how an apostle is readied for his ministry, right?

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