Category Archives: grace

June 19, 2009 · 11:30 am

Swimming Upstream: “What’d You Think of the Lakeland, Brownsville and Toronto Revivals?”

Did you wrinkle your nose at the recent Lakeland Revival? Or what about the Toronto Revival of 1994? Or the Brownsville Revival of 1995? How did you respond to these three revivals?

It may seem silly to ask these questions, but it is important. Your answers will determine whether you will settle for respectability or the anointing in the next move of God

Paul Cain proclaimed at a National Leadership Conference in 1991:

“We will soon lose it all if we do not get up and go for it again with THE ABANDON that we had in the beginning, regardless of how MESSY it gets. Let’s go for it! No matter how BAD it LOOKS, let’s go for it! Sometimes it gets messy because of the anointing…

“God has made it so that the anointing does create a certain kind of mess. This is to deal with our pride… When we have already become too proud for the mess, we have already come to the place where God is resisting us. If we want the grace of God we must be willing to LOOK foolish to the NATURAL man…

“The warning from the Holy Spirit is that we have allowed RESPECTABILITY to compete with the ANOINTING. It sneaks in so subtly, seemingly harmless, but it has killed and murdered many of the great spiritual movements in church history. The early Pentecostals were not very respected, BUT THEY HAD POWER. The desirability of respectability, the danger of respectability, the deceit of respectability can be deadly. It’s blinding and binding. It’s so blinding that it will make you see yourself as rich and in need of nothing when you are really poor, miserable, blind and naked.”

The good thing about our past attitudes is we can change them so that they do not affect our future ones. Because when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, what do you really want? Respectability or the anointing.

The choice is yours.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog 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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June 17, 2009 · 9:22 am

Swimming Upstream: “Is God Really A Good God?”

In a back and forth conversation, I finally sighed and said, “I know God is a good Father.”

“Oh yeah,” she spit out, “then where was He when my dad raped me? Can you answer that?”

Tough question, right?

And what’s really tough is that the person is a Christian. But yet, the person has always struggled with believing God loves her… and that He really is a good God.

This is not a unique situation. In fact, a large percentage of Christians have had terrible things happen to them which hinder their relationships with the Father. They may attend great churches. They may know the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. They may say all the right things at the right time. They may even wear picture-perfect Christian smiles on their public faces.

But yet, in their heart of hearts, they don’t really believe God is a good God or that He loves them. For after all, why did He allow my dad to rape me? Or my baby to die? Or my spouse to reject me? Or why am I hungry? Or why am I penniless?

Sometimes, there are just no easy answers for why terrible things happen to people. A book or ministry may help a little bit, but let’s be honest, okay?

These believers need a first-hand revelation from the throne of God that the Father is head over heels in love with them. That He absolutely, positively loves each one of them.

And guess what?

Without the help of a ministry or church, the Father is going to reveal Himself and His love through dreams, visions and divine appearances to countless thousands of such hurting people.

One moment, they will have nagging doubts about the Father; and the next, they will be testimonies of the Father’s goodness and lovingkindness.

It will be a sovereign move of deliverance straight out of the Father’s heart.

For thus says the Lord: “… I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. (Ezekiel 34:11-12)

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June 15, 2009 · 9:23 am

Swimming Upstream: “How Does This ‘Just Love-Em’ Stuff Work?”

My head hurts from the biblical logic displayed at various Christian anti-war sites.

Invariably, this mantra is repeated over and over: “Love your enemies. Just love-em.”

Sounds great, right? But what about this very possible scenario?

Let’s say, you have just bought a new rifle and some ammunition at a sporting goods store for a planned hunting trip to Alaska. As you walk through the mall toward your auto, you hear AK-47 shots being fired. You sneak behind a pillar, and peak around at the mall lobby.

There you see a terrorist shooting innocent shoppers. Bodies are lying on the floor. People are pleading for their lives. What do you do?

Do you unwrap your rifle, load some shells in it and then, shoot the sucker? Or do you just stand there oozing love-waves all over the terrorist?

Jesus did say, “Love your enemies (Matt. 5:44)”, but He also said, “Love your neighbors as yourself (Mark 12:31).”

And in this case, your neighbors are being killed by your enemy. So, which verse, will you obey?

A possible spiritual dilemma?

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was any place found for them in heaven any longer. (Revelation 12: 7-8)

Notice how the Lord handled His enemy, the one He called a murderer and a destroyer. There was no peace conference to air Satan’s complaints. There was no compromise or excuses accepted. Instead, there was an all-out war.

Now, to be honest, each believer has to decide on his own what he will do if this type of situation ever arises, but I know what I”ll do.

I’ll load the rifle’s chamber with shells, look down the sights and squeeze the trigger.

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June 12, 2009 · 10:11 am

Swimming Upstream: “The Best Testimony Ever”

As a young Christian, when I was sharing my new-found faith with others, the only thing I could talk about was my testimony . The Bible and other Christian books were foreign to me.

So, over and over, I told how I met Jesus on a bathroom floor and how He had changed my life.

One time, I shared my testimony with another believer. His reply eventually became my favorite testimony of all time.

The forty-year old man shrugged his shoulders after listening to me. “Wow! What a testimony,” he said. Then, he added, “Mine is not much.”

“Really?” I asked with my chest puffed out, buttons popping off. “What’s yours?”

“Well, I gave my life to Jesus as a five-year old boy and have loved Him ever since; and I guess, that’s about it.” His eyes looked down as if he were embarrassed by his words.

At the time, I did not think much of his testimony. After all, he was not as big a redeemed sinner as me. I was the worst of the worse and he was this little five-year old boy. How much sin could he possibly have, right?

But as the months and years passed by, I realized his testimony was the best one I have ever heard. A young boy falls in love with Jesus and just keeps on faithfully walking with Him. Wow! How awesome!

We need to hear more testimonies like his.

And they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)

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June 11, 2009 · 8:14 am

Big Macs, Bubba and Waterboards

How many of us Christians are excited about fasting? “Oh, yea Lord! I’m so happy about going on a forty-day fast. No Big Macs. No pie. Just water and nothing for the next one hundred and twenty meals!”

Give me a break, will you?

Or how many of us Christians are enthusiastic about being thrown into prison for our faith? “Hooray! I’m looking forward to Bubba and the boys showing me a good time behind bars. Maybe, I can write an inspirational book!”

Yeah, right!

Or what about being tortured? “O Lord, along with flogging, could you let me have lots of waterboarding? Please!”

I don’t think so, do you?

So, how do we handle these unpleasant possibilities? By His abundant grace. Period.

The Lord will never ask us to undergo any hardship without His first supplying us with enough grace to endure whatever we are going through…all the way to the end.

Now, don’t go expecting the grace to drop on you ahead of time. It won’t. Sufficient grace is waiting for you in the hardship. There it will cloak you and comfort you. This awesome grace is what Paul referred to as “the fellowship of His sufferings” in Philippians 3:9.

How do we prepare ourselves?

This is the perfect time to memorize, meditate on and believe the following scriptures to the nth of our abilities:

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

This post was inspired by ransom33’s honest comment on That’s Not The Jesus I Know.

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June 10, 2009 · 8:21 am

Swimming Upstream: “Watch Out For Deliverance Flakes…But yet-“

Hearing someone say, “I have a deliverance ministry,” causes my underarms to drip with a fearful cold sweat. My eyes dart here and there like a cornered cat, looking for an escape route.

Without thinking, my hand reaches into a pants’ pocket, searching for car keys. Where are they, I think to myself. O Lord, where are the keys? Help!

“Uh, well, uh, you know,” I stammer, edging toward the door. “I need to check prices on alligator burial plots. You just never know when you might need one, right? And Forest Lawn has a big sale going on now. So, bye!”

Then, Larry Who exits stage left or stage right or jumps over the orchestra pit into the audience. But whatever, he’s gone.

Okay, I admit this is slightly exaggerated, but not by much.

Most (98.3%) believers who announce they have a specialized ministry of casting out demons are Flakes, with a capital F. They’ve read a mumble-jumble “how-to” book like Pigs in the Parlor …and now have it all figured out.

My advice: beware of specialized deliverance ministers, especially if they mention Pigs in the Parlor once or twice. Who knows, they may be cousins of the seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19:14).

But yet, many believers in the Body of Christ need deliverance from drugs, alcohol, porn, perversion, insanity or whatever. They are still slaves of sin (John 8:34).

So, what can we do? Pray according to Luke 4: 18 –

Lord, send Your Spirit to deliver the captives.

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June 9, 2009 · 9:17 am

That’s Not The Jesus I Know

Fifteen or so years ago, I heard Larry Burkett tell about a Chinese man he heard speak at a church. The story changed Burkett’s whole life. I’ve tried to get a tape of this program from Larry’s ministry, but I have not been successful. So, the following is the story as I remember it.

In 1949, when Mao Zedong took over the mainland of China, his first acts included the elimination of all possible enemies. Christian missionaries were expelled. Then, a murderous rampage swept across the nation. Christian pastors and leaders, all government officials, people educated in or who had visited America, business leaders and others were executed. Millions were murdered.

A young lieutenant was dispatched by Mao to the rural villages of China. His job was to carry out Mao’s orders. Like all of Mao’s close associates, he was an ardent murderer.

But the young lieutenant came upon a village populated by enthusiastic Christians, taught by Watchman Nee. These Christians fasted and prayed for the lieutenant; and the lieutenant was saved.

In fact, the young lieutenant was gloriously saved. So much so, that the young lieutenant decided to return to Peking (now Beijing) and tell Mao the good news about Jesus.

Mao’s reaction to the young lieutenant’s testimony was instantaneous and gruesome. The dictator had the lieutenant’s wife and children brought in and a soldier stood behind each loved one with a pistol to the head.

“Reject your faith in Jesus,” said Mao to the young lieutenant.

The young man fell to his knees and wept. “I can’t. What’s happened to me is real,” he said.

His family was executed before his eyes.

Not satisfied, Mao brought in the lieutenant’s father, mother, brothers, sisters and all of his relatives. Each with a soldier’s pistol to the head.

Once again, Mao said, “Reject your faith in Jesus.”

The man pleaded and wept. “I can’t,” he said.

His whole family was wiped out.

Then, every friend that this young man ever had was brought in. Each suffered the same fate as his family.

Mao decided the young lieutenant was not worthy of death. He ordered him stript naked and thrown into the worst prison in China. Then, on a regular basis, he was brutally beaten.This nightmare continued for the young lieutenant for more than fifteen years, until the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960’s.

The young man’s legacy at the prison was that he led over 90% of his guards to Christ. These converted guards smuggled Bibles and books into prison for the man.

When Larry Burkett heard the Chinese man speak, the man was on an American speaking tour, visiting large churches. The man concluded his speech by saying, “I have seen your American Christianity; and that’s not the Jesus I know.”

He stood at the podium and wept for us American believers.

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June 8, 2009 · 12:15 pm

Swimming Upstream: “Satan’s Waterloo”

How do armies figure out battle strategies? They study past battle tactics of their foes; and then construct plans to defeat these tactics.

Warfare rule #1: know your enemy.

At the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815), Napoleon faced an allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon’s army was largely manned and staffed with veteran soldiers who had voluntarily returned to fight under the tri-colours. They were tough, confidant fighters.

Wellington admitted his allied group was “an infamous army, very weak and ill-equipped, and a very inexperienced-Staff.” Not exactly, a morale boosting statement, right?

As the battle raged back and forth, the pivotal moment arrived. The battle and future of Europe hung in the balance. Napoleon knew it was time for his best men to be thrown into the battle – the Old Guard. This group of veterans had never known defeat. Just their appearance on a battlefield was enough to send their foes into a hasty retreat.

But yet, Wellington knew his enemy.

He had 1,500 British soldiers hidden away, lying down on the side of a hill, waiting for this exact moment. As the Old Guard approached, the soldiers stood up and fired point-blank volleys into the midst of the oncoming French soldiers. The Old Guard was devastated. Though the Old Guard bravely tried to rally, the battle was lost; and history was forever changed.

At this precise time in America and throughout Western civilization, it looks bad for the Church. Division, confusion, apathy, lethargy and compromise reign in the Church’s midst. Satan is walking toward the victor’s podium.

But don’t lose heart! Jesus knows the enemy.

The Lord God of Hosts has been telling a group of hidden-away prophetic soldiers for years, “Wait. Don’t do anything. Just wait.” Over and over, He has held these battle-ready soldiers back from the fight.

Now, He is sending out new orders to these hidden-away soldiers. “Stand up and fire.”

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June 6, 2009 · 10:54 am

God’s Smuggler…a Book Review

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There are just a few books I have bothered to read more than once. God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew is one of them.

God’s Smuggler was first published in 1967 and has since sold over ten million copies. By comparison’s sake, the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown sold a little over five million copies and was on the New York Time’s Best Seller’s list for two years. So, as you can see, 10,000,000 copies is a mega-monster, smash-hit book.

Why has it remained so popular for forty-two years? The answer is simple: the book is an inspirational master-piece for us ordinary believers who dream about doing extraordinary works for God.

The hero of the book, Brother Andrew, is a Dutchman without much education and little money. After he gives his life to the Lord, he believes the Lord has called him to be a missionary. His mission field: the Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain.

Now, you must remember that during the 1950’s and 60’s, the Communist countries of Romania, Yugoslavia, Poland, Albania, Russia, Hungary and others were repressive ant-Christian countries. The governments imprisoned people who smuggled evangelistic pamphlets and Bible into their nations.

And yet, Brother Andrew was able to successfully smuggle millions of Bibles into the Iron Curtain countries. He succeeded without always knowing who his Christian contacts would be or what city they were in. He did it under the searching eyes of secret police and soldiers. His KGB file was over one hundred and fifty pages long, and yet, they could not stop him.

He prayed this prayer when guards were ready to search his auto: “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to Your children. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” And they never did.

For myself, I like to randomly open the book up and read a few pages every now and then. When I do, I’m blessed.

If you need to be inspired, read it. You can buy it here, here and even used here.

If you want to know more about Brother Andrew and his Open Doors ministry, go here.

A Pirate’s Prayer

Francis Drake, Privateer made a comment on one of my posts which contained a nugget of pure gold…a prayer by the Elizabethan pirate, Sir Francis Drake:

“Disturb us Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly. To venture on wider seas. Where storms will show your mastery; Where, losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future, in strength, courage, hope and love.” (SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 1577)

Amen.

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