Monthly Archives: October 2009

October 13, 2009 · 9:21 am

Waiting On The Lord, You Know, Just Waiting On Him! (Part 7)

The_Thinker,_Auguste_Rodin

Click on the following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

D. Waiting And Waiting And Waiting.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

If any group of people in America should know about waiting, it should be us Southern Californians, all 24,000,000 of us. We wait on expressways. We wait in banks. Grocery stores. Libraries. Post offices. Walmarts. LAX. Disneyland. We wait everywhere. It’s a fact of life. Period.

But is this the type of waiting referred to in Isaiah 40:31?

The Hebrew word qavah which is translated into the English word wait in Isaiah 40:31 means more than just hanging out and passing time while doing nothing. It’s number one interpretative definition actually conveys the thought of “to twist or to bind like a rope.”

Now, consider that rope making has been around for thousands of years. Natural fibers, such as jute, sissal or common vines, are woven into strands which are then woven into ropes, usually three-stranded ones (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

Hold the picture of a woven rope in your mind for a moment or two, okay?

The second interpretative definition for the Hebrew word qavah implies “to be strong, robust” as in the notion of tying fast with a rope. And even the third interpretive definition imparts the idea of “enduring, waiting for or expecting with strength.”

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait for You. (Psalm 25:21)

Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land… (Psalm 37:34)

Scripturally, waiting on the Lord does not imply that a believer can sit around, doing nothing, and still hope that his personal prophetic words will come to pass in his life. It won’t happen!

Waiting on the Lord means winding and weaving yourself around the true vine – Jesus – so that like a rope you will be strengthened and renewed to receive the promises offered by your prophetic words.

If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

(This concludes this series.)

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October 12, 2009 · 8:53 am

“My Journey Out” (Part 4)

moses-parting-red-sea

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church with 830,000 members, was once asked, “Will America ever have a church as large as Yoido Full Gospel Church?”

“No,” he replied, “Americans are not willing to spend the time in prayer that such a large undertaking would require.”

Though this interview took place twenty years ago, Cho’s answer still bugs me today. Not that his words were wrong, but rather, they irritate me because they accurately describe us American Christians.

You see, Pastor Cho’s church has prayer meetings where 300,000 people get together and pray for hours. (The number would even be higher if there was room for all of them to show up at the various satellite sites.)

The median church size in America is 75 members. Now, let’s say a pastor of one of these median-sized churches decides to start prayer meetings, how many people can he expect to show up each week? Three or four; maybe five. And even this small number will most likely tail off over a period of time.

And of course, there are exceptions. But for every praying church, there are scores of churches who have no prayer meetings at all.

In the 1990’s, I joined a prayer team at a church. After the services, the prayer team members gathered at the front of the church to pray for attendees who needed prayer.

Though new to the church, it was not long before everyone knew I had a strong prophetic voice. And each week, the line in front of me grew longer and longer until finally, most of the other prayer team members stood around, watching me pray for people.

The pastor did his best to encourage people to receive prayer from the other team members, but most people shook their heads and said, “No, we’ll wait for Larry.”

One Sunday, I looked at the long line of people awaiting prayer from me, and a revelation smacked me along the side of my head. “We are doing church wrong!”

So, maybe you’d say, “Wait a moment. Prophecy is for the common good of the Body, right? Shouldn’t you give words to everyone who needs them?”

Yes, I’m called to give prophetic words to people. But at the same time, I’m called to help equip believers to do the work of service … not do the work for them. (Ephesians 4:12)

Sadly, our traditional church system has trained people to sit and expect the so-called professionals to do the ministering for them. You know, the clergy versus the lay people system.

And let me tell you, this does not please Jesus because on account of this reasoning, we have a weak, dependent Church. One that is a sitting duck, waiting to be blown out of its pews by soon-coming calamities hitting our nation.

(Continued in Part 5)

Larry Who’s writings and teachings appear on this site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

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Filed under Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, jesus, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, spiritual warfare

October 10, 2009 · 11:53 am

Waiting On The Lord, You Know, Just Waiting On Him! (Part 6)

The_Thinker,_Auguste_Rodin

Click on the following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

C. If The Prophetic Words Are Confirmed, Then What? (Continued)

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. (2 Peter 1:10)

If we are convinced, and know that we know, that we have true prophetic words for our lives, who can stop these words from coming to pass?

Jesus? If He is unable to bring His prophetic words to pass in our lives, then He is a liar; and Jesus is not a liar. He is the Truth.

Satan and his demons? If you are trusting in the Lord and walking with Him, Satan may cause some problems, but in the end, he will bow his knees to the Lord’s prophetic words for you. He’s the defeated one, not Jesus or His words.

Us? Sadly, we are the weak link in bringing a prophetic word to pass in our own lives.

Then Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (1 Kings 19: 14)

Most of us suffer in varying degrees from the Elijah-complex, in that we think our prophetic words are just too difficult and too impossible for the One who spoke them to us to make them happen.

“Woe is me! And Jesus, You are not powerful enough, nor do You have enough grace to help me through these impossible circumstances! Everyone is against me! Yada Yada Yada!”

Okay, I’m guilty! I’ve sang these litanies of woe, and even told Jesus one morning, “Lord, I’m too lonely and I hurt too much to continue onward.”

Can you guess what His instant reply was to me?

“Larry, it was lonely at the cross and I hurt!” He said to my heart.

How do you offer a sufficient comeback to this reply? I could not think of one. So, I knew I had to change my thinking.

I made up my mind to believe that Jesus was able to bring every true prophetic word in my life to pass. No matter how impossible it seemed. No questions asked. No doubts. No thinking. Just, “Yes, Lord, I believe You are able. Period”

And also, I made up my mind to pray and fast for other believers who were undergoing similar trials of faith.

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)

(Continued in Part 7.)

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October 9, 2009 · 8:23 am

“My Journey Out” (Part 3)

moses-parting-red-sea

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

“Too much pastoring in the church.”

The Holy Spirit’s words stunned me, but at the same time, they instilled a desire to understand more about the pastor’s calling. So, I began studying the Bible.

Did you know the word pastor is only mentioned once in the New Testament?

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11)

The Greek word poimen (Strongs #4166) which is translated pastor in the above verse is also mentioned seventeen other times in the New Testament, but in these verses, it is translated into the English word shepherd(s).

A verb derivative of poimen, the Greek Word poimano (Strongs #4165), is mentioned ten times in various verses, but is translated in the King James Version into the English words feed or rule.

Now let’s say, that a Bible somehow landed in the hands of a linguistic expert who lived on Mars. After studying the Old and New Testaments, he convinced his government to capture an American Christian out of the traditional church system and bring him back to Mars.

Of course, the Mars expert would question the captured Christian. And being a knowledgeable believer, the Christian would have done quite well, explaining Jesus, the Gospel and the New Birth.

But when the Christian would have explained the church and our modern CEO-like pastor, the Mars expert would have most likely blinked his eyes in unbelief. “Hey, are you sure that you haven’t got the Old Testament and the New Testament mixed up?” he would have asked.

Then, the Christian would have blinked his eyes in amazement. To his scriptural reasoning, the traditional church and our modern CEO-like pastor are so obvious that he can not explain it to others. Maybe, he would have thrown his hands up in the air and said, “That’s just the way it is, okay?”

The captured Christian could have been me. Because when I started studying the calling of pastor, I looked through the lens of all the teachers who had been my instructors for over ten years.

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

Admittedly, I am resistant to change. I like to walk on the paths of our church forefathers, men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, D. L. Moody, Smith Wigglesworth and so forth who have been a part of the traditional church system. This seems to be the well-tread path of safety, right?

So, what has caused me to veer off onto old, hardly visible paths?

(Continued in Part 4)

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October 8, 2009 · 7:21 am

Waiting On The Lord, You Know, Just Waiting On Him (Part 5)

The_Thinker,_Auguste_Rodin

Click on the following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

C. If The Prophetic Words Are Confirmed, Then What? (Continued)

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11: 32-34)

The above verses in the book of Hebrews point out an important fact: obtaining prophetic promises by faith is akin to warfare. It’s a battle.

Now remember: the Lord is not the one fighting us. He wants His prophetic words to be manifested in our lives, especially about our callings. And He will bankrupt heaven to supply us with whatever we need to obtain them.

So, who is the fight of faith with? Demons and ourselves (the flesh).

This is the command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

What does heaven consider a good fight? Winning the battle. Period.

Let’s consider my personal situation in 1987:

I was an unknown nobody in a small Midwestern town. No money. No car. A marital separation. A 1o’ x 8′ apartment. A minimum wage job at a motel. I walked in all types of weather wherever I had to go. No one believed in me or my calling. And I had no open doors to preach, teach or prophesy, as in none, zilch, nada and zero.

Then, what did the Lord do? He gave me a vision that I would eventually preach, teach and prophesy in large cities and large inner cities of the United States; and I believed in the vision.

Now, I could have said, “Okay, God, I’ll just wait and see if You can do this in my life or not. Who knows, right?” But I didn’t. You see that’s not fighting a good fight, that’s sitting on the sidelines, covering yourself with fear and doubt.

So, what did I do?

I hung a map of the United States on the wall with all of the major cities and the toughest inner cities marked on it. Then, each morning, I would get up and place my hand on the map and proclaim, “Lord, I’m coming to these cities. And I command these cities to open up to me because I’m on my way!”

Then, I walked around my small apartment and proclaimed, “Lord, You called me; I didn’t. And Lord, I’m fully persuaded that You are able to do what You have promised to do. Furthermore, I don’t believe any man or demon can stop You and Your promises. So, unless You kill me, I’m going to preach, teach and prophesy in those cities.”

Nobody heard me or saw my faith while I was doing this. It was strictly between God and me.

I did this for years until I knew that God knew how determined I was to obtain His prophetic promises.

But I did other things, too.

(Continued in Part 6.)

“My Journey Out” (Part 2)

moses-parting-red-sea

Click on following for earlier article: Part 1.

If you have read my two series, It’s Your Decision…Run or Fight! and Sifting Through The Ashes of A Spiritual Defeat, then you know that 1994 was not one of those years Frank Sinatra sang about in his hit song. It was not a very good year; it was an absolutely, miserable one for me.

And 1995 was not much better.

By early summer, I was just looking for a back pew in a church where I could hang out, keep quiet, and hopefully, put myself back together again. My life and calling were a mess.

A church, thirty miles away, seemed to be the answer to my prayers. The pastor was a man with a shepherd’s heart. Its congregation was around seventy or eighty members in size, and fun to be around. The worship music was awesome. And the meetings were informally held in a school gymnasium.

It seemed the perfect fit for me.

Though giving prophetic words was not what I hoped to be doing, I knew the Lord used me on good days and bad days as a prophetic voice. So, to be safe, I went up to the pastor after the first service. “Do you have any rules about giving prophetic words at your church?” I asked.

He smiled and shook his head. “No, we don’t,” he said. “We encourage people to give prophetic words.”

Over the following four weeks, I broke every rule he said that he did not have. Each Sunday, he was upset with me about something.

“You said there were no rules,” I whispered in exasperation one time.

“That was before I knew you,” he exclaimed. “And I’ve never met anyone like you in my thirty years of ministry.”

Finally, we met for lunch, hoping to settle our differences. It’s not that we didn’t like each other or anything like that. It’s just that he was comfortable with prophetic BB guns and I was an AK-47 assault rifle. We were miles apart in our prophetic thinking.

“Listen,” he said toward the end of our conversation, “why don’t you just submit yourself under my ministry. Then, when the Lord tells me to release you into full-time prophetic ministry, I will let you know. All of the doors of our denomination will then be open to you.”

“What if you don’t hear the Lord’s voice for my calling and life?” I asked.

He blinked. “I had not thought about that,” he replied. His eyes looking down.

The meeting ended with us giving each other hugs and going our separate ways.

The next day, I received a letter in the mail from a member of the church who was not even aware of my meeting with the pastor. She wrote that I was rebellious and needed to submit myself under pastoral authority. And if I failed to follow her so-called godly counsel, she felt my prophetic calling would never come forth. As in never, ever!

I was upset and did what Hezekiah did when he received a letter from an enemy of Israel (2 Kings 19:14). I walked around, reading the letter to the Lord.

“Lord, she says I’m rebellious and that I need to submit under pastoral authority. I don’t even understand pastoral authority, what is it?” I went on and on until finally I had finished.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Too much pastoring in the church.”

(Continued in Part 3)

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October 6, 2009 · 1:39 pm

Book Review: “Finding God”

thebook

Have you ever bought a book without thinking much about the reasons for doing so? And then, when you began reading it, you are thrilled with your purchase?

Finding God In The Storms of Life by Mike Jones is such a book for me.

In the INTRODUCTION of the book, Jones uses a special occasion card to state the underlying theme for his book. He describes the front of the card as showing two doors, one at each end of the hallway. The opening line reads, “When God closes one door, He always opens another.” But the tagline inside the card is the real reason why it is still on display in Mike’s home. It reads: “But it’s hell in the hallway.”

Throughout the book, the author uses the hallway analogy as a descriptive term for surviving the storms of life, especially during times of transition and change.

The book is written in a devotional format which offers hope via scriptures, prose and poetry to those of us who are in the midst of our own transitions and storms. Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite poems, The Lure of Good Things:

It’s not just the bad that keeps us from God,

good will work too, and it’s more common than odd.

Good is so plentiful in these days that we live.

We have toys and church and tithes we give.

We think ourselves rich; that we don’t need a thing.

We’ve been lured into things, being our aim.

I’ll admit you have good, but it’s cost you My best.

Do you have an ear to hear the rest? (Finding God, page 21)

I really liked the book and look forward to reading more from Mike.

Finding God In The Storms of Life

Authored by Mike Jones; Published by Xlibris.

Trade Paperback; 107 pages.

You can check Mike out at his blog or read more about his book. To order a copy or if you have questions, send an email to: mikejonz@charter.net

Waiting On The Lord, You Know, Just Waiting On Him! (Part 4)

The_Thinker,_Auguste_Rodin

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

C. If The Prophetic Words Are Confirmed, Then What?

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11: 32-34)

Chapter Eleven of Hebrews is a “Hall of Fame for Old Testament Saints.” In it, we read that mighty men and women of God, such as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and others had testimonies which pleased God.

What was it they did?

They acted and persevered by faith. In fact, the phrase, by faith, is mentioned nineteen times and is the underlying emphasis for the forty verses of the chapter.

And why were these mighty people of God exercising their faith? They had prophetic words for their lives.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. (Hebrews 11:1-2)

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Our faith must be in God and it must be exhibited before Him. And whether or not, anyone else is able to see or understand our faith, is not important at all for the fulfillment of our prophetic promise.

You see, our approval comes from God, not men. He is the One who brings our prophetic words to pass, or rewards our faith and faithfulness.

For myself, I knew I was called to preach, teach and write within a few weeks after my salvation on May20, 1985. It came through a nighttime vision which I never mentioned to anyone for years.

But even as a young, know-nothing believer, I knew enough that I needed to prepare myself for my calling. I prayed. I studied the word. I listened to hundreds of tapes. I read hundreds of books.

Also, I rearranged the priorities in my life. TV, entertainment, sports, career, many relationships and whatever became secondary to my pursuit of God and His calling for my life.

Except for my family, no one knew anything about my spiritual discipline. I was an unknown in a small town. And there were no open doors for me to preach, teach and prophesy. As in none. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Yet, I did things to show my faith to God.

(Continued in Part 5)

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October 5, 2009 · 7:44 am

“My Journey Out” (Part 1)

moses-parting-red-sea In the late 1980’s, I had a nighttime dream in which I was standing in the middle of a palatial ballroom. All of my precious Christian friends were there with me.

At the front of this gorgeous ballroom, a worship team was singing. The music was Holy Spirit inspired and awesome. Everyone was having a great time worshiping the Lord and fellowshipping with one other.

As I stood there, I looked around and thought, “It can’t get any better than this, can it?”

But as dreams often do, the scene changed. The crowd off to my right parted and I could see through some double-doors leading out of the ballroom and into a large hallway. The hallway itself was magnificent with a lush carpet, expensive wallpaper and gold-leaf moldings.

Because of the angle I was looking through the doors, I could see a large gold-leaf mirror at the far end of the hallway. The mirror’s reflection was not of the hallway, but instead, it revealed a glimpse into another ballroom just across the hallway. The glimpse came about because one of the double-doors for the other ballroom was partially opened.

What I saw in the other ballroom stirred an immediate and deep hunger within me.

Now, there was nobody in the room; and the room itself was not as magnificent as the one that I was standing in. But it had an overwhelming presence of God in the room. So much so, that there was an intimidating holiness about it. A holiness which I knew would result in my death if I ever walked into that ballroom.

But I did not care because I absolutely wanted to be in that ballroom.

As I stood there, I knew what was required of me to get into that ballroom on the other side of the hallway. I had to turn my back on all my friends, many of my teachings and walk out the double-doors into the hallway.

This dream so effected me, that for years, I prayed, “Lord, I want to be in that other ballroom and I’m willing to pay whatever price You may require of me.”

So, after all my praying, you’d think I would have been prepared for the Holy Spirit’s statement to me in the summer of 1995, but I wasn’t. His words: “Too much pastoring in the church.”

(Continued in Part 2)

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Filed under Christianity, Christians, Church, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, jesus, Kingdom of God, Prayer, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, spiritual warfare