Category Archives: Christianity

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

What would the Apostle Paul say about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

As a five year old child, I had my eyes on a silver-plated toy gun in a local store.  I really wanted it.

When I showed it to Mom and Dad, they shook their heads. “Son, it costs a dollar and that’s just too expensive for us,” they told me.

But I really, really wanted it. So much so, that I stole a dollar from Dad’s wallet while he was readying himself for our weekly Saturday evening journey to town. I hid the dollar in my undershorts.

After eating with my family at a restaurant, I excused myself and headed to the local store. There I purchased the silver-plated toy gun.

Now as thieves go, I was not a clever one because I took my purchase directly to my parents and showed it to them. I thought that they’d be happy for me. But of course, they were not!

“Where’d you get the dollar?” asked Dad. His eyes searching my face for telltale signs.

“From you,” I said. Then I explained how I stole it out of his wallet.

Dad marched me over to the store. There I confessed to the store owner about my theft and I returned the silver-plated toy gun, thus receiving the dollar back. Dad scooped up his money and put it back into his wallet.

Dad never spanked me or yelled at me, but even today, it’s hard for me to write this story. I loved Dad and never ever wanted to cause him pain, but this incident had to be tough on him, knowing his son was a thief.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. (Acts 20: 26-27)

Paul was a father to the churches in Asia. But like my dad, he was not a modern-day, wishy-washy, anything-goes type of father. He believed his flocks needed to hear the truth whether it enhanced his popularity or not. After all, he was a responsible father who loved his children.

So, what do I think Paul would say (if he could) about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

“America, you ought to have listened to the Spirit of God after the 911 attack or after Hurricane Katrina or after Haiti, but you did not. You continued on the same course, and now, the BP oil spill has caused you more economic damage and loss. How much more must you suffer before you return to Me with a whole heart?”

The apostles are coming! Are you ready for them?

(This series will be resumed in the future.)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

“Been there! Done that! Bought the tee-shirt!” should be the slogan printed on shirts worn by apostles.

Why?

Because the phrase aptly describes the apostles’ journeys into their callings and throughout the length of their callings.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4)

As a young Christian, I remember another believer saying to me in a hushed, reverent whisper, “You know, Cathy is called to be an apostle.”

How awesome? I thought at the time.

And I was absolutely flabbergasted at how glamorous the word apostle sounded to my ears. It seemed to be the height of the  Christian pyramid. The top hierarchal rung. The creme de la creme of callings.

Of course, I was naive and had no understanding of callings at all, and especially that of an apostle. But since then, I’ve studied and learned a few things.

You see, the apostle is specifically prepared and trained ahead of time by the Lord to help the Body of Christ journey through upcoming treacherous, tough times.

How does the Lord prepare His servants – the apostles?

If your guess is that the training is carried out in nicely lit, air-conditioned rooms while sitting comfortably on soft cushions and listening to qualified lecturers at an ivy-towered university which overlooks a quaint village, then I have bad news for you. You’re wrong!

For each apprentice apostle candidate, the Lord simulates the treacherous, tough times which awaits the Body sometime in the future; and then drops the candidates into the simulated circumstances.

And the apostle candidates are like dirty clothes shoved into an automatic washer, going through one desperate, ruinous cycle after another. The candidates’ heads are held under the water most of the time, with a few short breathing breaks in between dunks.

All of this continues until they are finally rinsed and brought out to dry. And this may take years!

Now, while this divinely orchestrated training is happening, the rest of the Body of Christ looks on and scratches their heads. “What’s wrong with those losers? Why don’t they get with the program? They haven’t got a clue!” they murmur to each other.

But when the treacherous, tough times hit a nation, it will be these losers – the apprentice candidates – who will step forth as apostles and confidently proclaim, “I know that our God will bring us through these bad times. Just follow me because I have discovered the correct path to walk on.”

(Continued in Part 8)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

Close your eyes and visualize what you think an apostle should look like. Do you see him (or her) like a classy CEO of a corporation, barking  orders to underlings? Or like a authoritative general? Or like a prestigious  national leader?

We probably all have opinions on what an apostle shall be like.  Some of our beliefs will be based on our cultures and some on our church traditions or teachings.

But how did Paul visualize his calling of apostle?

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. (1 Corinthians 4: 9)

…we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. (1 Corinthians 4: 13)

Not exactly what you had in mind, right? But consider this: our English translations paint a much rosier picture of the apostle than what Paul really visualized when he wrote these verses in his original Greek writings.

Paul actually saw the apostle as a person who was considered by the world as the lowest and worst possible criminal, much like an Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin or a brutal serial killer. A person who the world would not have one drop of pity or empathy toward at all.

And if possible, the world would capture the apostle and place him at the end of long procession which would pass by crowds who would taunt, spit on, throw rocks at, dump refuse on and whatever to belittle the apostle. Why? Because the apostle, in the judgment of the world, deserved this abuse because of his calling.

The long procession would eventually parade itself into an arena where the apostle’s death would be the main attraction for the world’s spectators and also for angels.

Now, the apostle’s death, as visualized by Paul, would not be a beheading or a firing squad or a hanging. No, these executions are much too civilized for a culprit as evil as the apostle. Instead, wild animals, such as lions and tigers, are sent into the arena to tear and rip apart the apostle. All the while, the world is looking on and enjoying the bloody spectacle.

Okay, get the picture?

Now, how would you feel about having an apostle, like the one Paul visualized, come to your church? Will it bother you that the world, maybe your friends, relatives and neighbors, will think of him (or her) as an evil criminal? Will you like being linked to his name and assumed to be just as guilty as the apostle because of your association to him (or her)?

(Continued in Part 7)

Click on following links for: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

A year after my salvation, I had breakfast once a week with three or four Christian men. We fellowshiped and prayed for each other, and usually one gave a short teaching.

The only teaching that I can remember from those breakfasts was given by a young man who stated, “Our heavenly Father is a good God.”

As he said the words, a revelation exploded within me: “Of course, that has to be true because my own earthly father is a great dad. So, my heavenly Father has to be a good God.”

This simple revelation has remained with me for more than twenty-four years. It has comforted me in my worst times, just knowing that God is a good God and that He absolutely loves me.

Through the years, I have been with many different groups and befriended many Christians. All have mouthed the words, “God is a good God,” but sadly, I have met very few believers who really, really believe that God is a good God.

Now, it’s not that the believers did not love God because they did. It’s just that the believers did not have the child-like abandon of knowing that the Father loved them and was cheering for them on their good days, as well as their bad days.

Most believed that they had to  perform at a certain, but undefined, high holy level so that the Father would love them. They did not see themselves as little children and God as a loving Father who absolutely loved and doted upon them, even when they made mistakes.

Some of these believers had less than perfect earthly fathers, and a few were even abused by their dads. And to be honest, this may hinder a person’s  revelation of God being a good God; but at the same time,  God is able to give whosoever a revelation of who He is. We just need to ask…and keep asking until we receive this revelation.

But most (98%) of these believers, who had difficulty believing God was a good God, had Christian leaders over them who did not reflect the Father-Heart of God to them.

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4: 15)

Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. (2 Corinthians 12: 14)

Because the traditional church system is set up with a definite separation between the clergy and the laity, most (98.99%) church leaders look at church members as a means for advancing their personal visions. After all, their personal visions came from God, right?And the laity has been the traditional money-source for hundreds of years; so why change?

The apostles are coming. They are the loving fathers of the gospel who are willing to spend themselves for other believers.

(Continued in Part 6)

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

In 2007, I had a weird dream in which I saw a bunch of five bananas. Four of the bananas in the bunch were rotten and one was perfect. End of dream.

I told Honey about the dream, but even with her help, I had no clue what the dream was about.

As with all of my dreams, I wrote it down in a notebook so that I could review it sometime in the future.

Then, I went into the kitchen to make myself breakfast. I poured GrapeNuts into a bowl and grabbed what looked like a perfect banana. As I peeled it, I was surprised to learn the fruit was rotten. Not one portion of it was eatable. I tossed it into the trash can.

Next, I grabbed another banana and began peeling it. Surprise! Surprise! It, too, was rotten. Then, I grabbed a third and a fourth one. Both were also rotten. The trash can now contained four rotten bananas.

Finally, there was only one banana left in the bowl. I picked it up, checking it over. Just like the others, there were no marks on the peel; it looked perfect from the outside.

What do I have to lose? I thought.

So, I peeled it. And in fact, it was perfect in every possible way, not one bruise on it.

As I stood there looking at the banana, the Holy Spirit spoke to me heart: “The first four callings have been restored to the Church and are mostly rotten. The fifth calling will soon be ready. It will be perfect.”

The Holy Spirit was referring to the five-fold callings in Ephesians 4:11 –

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.

But even more, I felt the Holy Spirit was especially referring to the end-time apostles when he mentioned the fifth calling’s perfection.

The rottenness of the first four callings – teachers, pastors, evangelists, and prophets – is due mainly to the traditional church system rather than to the personal character traits of the people in these callings.  The traditional church system has shoved these four callings into a box and sculpted each of them by its traditions and hierarchy.

The end-time apostles are not coming to fit into the traditional church system’s mold, but instead, they’re coming with sticks of dynamite to blow it apart.

The apostles are coming!

(Continued in Part 5)

Click on following link for: Part 1 and Part 2.

What are the Biblical requirements for being a prophet? Or an evangelist? Or a pastor? Or a teacher?

Actually, outside of being called by the Lord, there are no biblical mandates which have to be met for a believer to become any of these callings. None. Zilch. Nada. Zero.

Now, this does not mean that these callings are imparted without some degree of preparation, but this is strictly the Lord’s decision on what the preparation program will be. He’s the Boss; and He doesn’t confer with men or groups about His preparation plans.

For instance, when the Lord called me to be a prophet, I didn’t rush off to confer with a pastor or  a group; but rather, I just walked in my calling and used the gifts which came with the calling. I began prophesying.

And of course, I made mistakes – lots of them. But my mistakes did not negate the calling on my life. I repented often, learned about my calling and kept on prophesying.

And when the Lord called me to be a teacher, I followed the same course. I walked in my calling and began teaching. Period.

Okay, all of that is fine and dandy for the callings of prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, but what about apostles?

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? (1 Corinthians 9: 1)

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. (2 Corinthians 12:12)

If you check Christian internet websites, you will notice a glut of people who claim to be apostles. It’s almost as if the calling is as common as pennies; they’re all over the place. So, do we just take a person’s word that he (or she) is an apostle and then submit to him? Take a look at what Jesus said:

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. (Revelations 2:2)

Works are not enough to prove the validity of an apostle’s calling. I repeat: works are not enough to prove the validity of an apostle’s calling. The  true apostle must also have had a visitation with Jesus and he (or she) must have signs, wonders and miracles which glorify the Lord.

Anything less than these three biblical mandates causes the supposed apostle to fail the test.

And guess what? We believers are the ones who must check the apostles out.

So, get ready! The apostles are coming.

(Continued in Part 4)

Click on following link for: Part 1.

For most of my dad’s life, he was a Christmas and Easter service attender. Anything more than that took a special program to drag him to a church’s pew.

In fact, I remember as a young boy, hearing a neighbor ask if he would see Dad in church on the following Sunday.

“Well, you just might see me,” Dad replied, “if the church’s windows are clean, and if you happen to look out when I drive by.”

So, with this in mind, you can understand the shock I felt in 1995 when the Holy Spirit spoke these words to my heart: “Your dad should have been the one who trained you and helped you into your calling, but he did not make it into his own calling.”

After hearing the words, I sat in my pickup truck without moving for minutes; I was stunned. To be honest, I did not know if Dad even knew the Lord. And as far as Dad having a calling on his life, that seemed impossible for me to believe.

So, I stored this experience on an empty shelf in my heart.

Two years later, Honey and I went back to my hometown to visit Dad while he was in a hospital. He had suffered a major relapse from a heart valve operation. Because of divine timing, Honey and I were able to spend some time alone with Dad. Honey prayed for him and I asked him questions about his personal salvation.

“Don’t worry about my salvation,” Dad answered, “that’s all taken care of.”

And the Holy Spirit impressed me that Dad was indeed saved. A point which I had not known before that day.

Then, for some reason, I left the hospital for a half hour or so. In that time period, Dad related his testimony to Honey.

It seems that Mom was very sick when I was a youngster. She was in a hospital and her doctor told Dad that it was iffy whether or not Mom would survive her sickness.

At that time, Dad was a twenty-eight year old farmer who loved his wife and had two children under six years of age. He was distraught and did not know what to do. So, while staying at my grandmother’s house, he bowed his knees in the middle of the night and cried out to the Lord.

The Lord saved him and Dad became a child of God. But even with this,  Mom’s life continued to hang in the balance over the next few days.

Finally, Dad threw himself on his knees once again in the middle of the night and cried out to the Lord for His help.

Then, Jesus walked through a wall into Dad’s bedroom and came to Dad and said, “Your wife will live and she will raise her children and see them grow up. But to help you over the next few days, I will come to you and comfort you each time the doctor tells you that your wife may not live. In this way, you will know she will survive.”

Jesus left the same way He entered the room: back through the wall.

Dad said that each time the doctor told him that Mom might not live, he felt peace in his heart. He knew Mom would live.

And Mom did survive the sickness. She is now eighty-six years old.

Five weeks ago, I went back to the Midwest to help my parents for what I thought would be a time of recuperation for Dad. But Dad’s condition worsened and I took him to an emergency room on a Sunday morning.

As I drove him to the hospital entrance, I had a quick vision. In it, I saw myself sitting in the truck fifteen years earlier after the Holy Spirit had spoken to my heart about Dad’s calling. But this time, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “I’m taking your dad home.”

Dad died on May 2, 2010. He was twenty-three days short of being eighty-nine years old.

Now, I’ve included my Dad’s testimony to underscore an important point: the Church desperately needs the ministry of the apostles.  Many callings need to be fathered and brought into fruition.

(Continued in Part 3)

“He’s dead! He’s dead!” exclaimed the courier from Rome as he walked up to us.

I stopped working and stood up. The other tent makers did the same.

“Who’s dead?” I asked.

“Paul’s dead!” said the courier, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “He was beheaded in Rome about a month ago.”

Even though I knew Paul’s ministry would probably have a sad ending, the news stunned me. O Lord, why? I thought.

I walked away from the group, not wanting to talk about the apostle at that moment. It was just too painful! So, needing to  sort everything out for myself, I walked down to the Aegean Sea and sat on a rock. There, I thought back over my years with Paul.

The first time that I met Paul, I was not impressed. His stature was too puny, only 4 feet 6 inches tall and 110 pounds in weight, and his public speaking talents were too shallow when compared to Apollos and the other orators. Yes, he was brilliant and could write, but these were facts which I learned later and did not figure at all into my first impressions of him.

Yet, there was something about Paul which drew me to him. Maybe, it was his fiery passion for the gospel; or his fierce boldness; or his love for the church. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but anyway, I joined up with Paul and traveled along with him as his aide.

On our first journey to Rome, we ended up swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Somehow, the Roman soldiers did not execute us and we were able to swim ashore to Malta. And eventually, we did arrive in Rome.

Next, I spent two years, waiting for Paul while he was under arrest. When we finally resumed traveling again, everything became a blur of afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness and hunger.

Then, the fire in Rome changed everything for us from bad to worse. Christians were blamed for the fire and Paul became a marked man. Nero sent soldiers to hunt him down in Asia.

Finally, the stress wore me down. I could not take it any longer.

“Paul, I didn’t join your ministry to be killed by Roman soldiers,” I said on the day of my departure. “I’m going to Thessalonica, start a business and maybe marry a young woman and start a family. I’m too young for a martyr’s death!”

Paul was disappointed, but what could he do? I fled on a boat.

It had been almost two years since I last saw Paul and now he was dead. My mind wandered here and there as the blue waves splashed against the rock I sat on.

Did I make the right decision when I left Paul? I wondered.  And how will I be remembered by future Christians?

for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…(2 Timothy 4: 9)

(Continued in Part 2)