I have just posted Episode 3 of Flee California Now on Youtube. It is entitled, “Train Like You Fight”
You can check out the video here:
Check it out, especially if you live in California.
And also, Flee California Now can be heard on Apple Podcasts. Just enter Flee California Now on the search line and listen to every episode on your headsets or while you’re traveling in the auto.
Thanks
Filed under Christianity, Church, Prayer, Prophecy
If the Apostle Paul walked into most of today’s churches, he wouldn’t wait for the service to start, he would rush to the pastors, elders, and deacons and ask, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
The leaders might hem and haw, explaining their beliefs and theological insights on the Holy Spirit.
Paul would shake his head at their words. “Do you prophesy? Do you speak in tongues?” he would ask, with his dark eyes blazing.
Maybe you disagree.
Okay, did you know Paul spent one to five months planting each church in such cities as Pisidian Antioch, Iconic, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea? Then he left them alone without pastors or leaders for a long time, as much as two years.
Now remember:
Fifty percent of Paul’s converts were slaves.
There were no Bibles and few had even one Old Testament scroll.
90% of the converts were illiterate.
95% could not write.
Average life expectancy for a male was 45 years of age and for a female 38. (The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola.
Yet, the gospel that Paul and Barnabas preached to these new converts that were once heathen and miserable Gentiles, was enough for them to love each other and evangelize their neighbors without any outside help.
How did Paul accomplish this feat?
Pursue love, and desire earnestly the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
The Apostle Paul made sure the spiritual gifts were working in the believers for each church. It was through the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, that Christ came to life in their midst.
So, do we really want to turn our cities upside down for Jesus?
If so, maybe we should rethink prophecy and the spiritual gifts. It worked for the Apostle Paul in Pisidian Antioch, Iconic, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.
And I believe it will work today in our cities, too.
(Conclusion)
Filed under Christianity, Church, Prayer, Prophecy
In the late 1980’s, I attended a large meeting where Dr. Bill Hamon taught on prophecy. He had a unique way to encourage people to prophesy. “I want everyone to pair up with someone you don’t know,” he said, waiting for everyone to follow his directions.
The lady sitting next to me agreed to be my partner.
“Okay,” said Hamon, “I want each of the pair to give a personal prophecy to the other person. I will wait until everyone is done.”
My partner’s eyes were the size of pie plates. “I prophesy. What about you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. Why don’t you go first?” she whispered.
I prayed and prophesied to her. “Your words were just what I needed. Thanks.”
“Okay, now you prophesy to me,” I said.
Again, she shook her head. “I’ve never prophesied and never have thought about doing it.”
“We need to be obedient. If you make a mistake, I won’t tell anyone. So, just open your mouth and prophesy.”
She looked around and shrugged her shoulders. “Why not?” she said. Then, she spoke a long prophecy to me, which answered some important questions for my life.
“Wow! That was awesome,” I said.
“I can’t wait to pray and prophesy to other people,” she replied.
The best way to encourage people to prophesy is to have them speak personal prophecies to other people. This can be done in a small group, a church, or just two people sitting alone somewhere.
All you have to remember is that you are obeying:
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Will all be able to prophesy? Probably not, but if all give an honest effort, there will be numerous surprised believers speaking words of prophecy who will be encouraged to prophesy even more in the future.
Why is there such an emphasis on prophecy for today’s believers?
(Continued in Part 8)
Filed under Christianity, Church, Prayer, Prophecy
With our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, He made the Old Covenant obsolete.
With this, we no longer need to appoint a high priest to go into the Holy of Holies to offer gifts and sacrifices for our sins. Jesus is our High Priest forever and His blood has cleansed us from all our sins. We also no longer need a Temple because we are His living temples and His Spirit dwells in us.
Thus, the ministry of the New Testament prophet has changed dramatically from that of the Old Testament prophet.
First: the New Testament prophet is still a mouthpiece for the Lord, but he no longer is the Lone Ranger galloping into town on a white horse ready to speak the word of the Lord to people. Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all believers can prophesy and are encouraged to do so.
Second: Prophecies spoken by a prophet (or a believer) are not to be accepted as prophetic words straight from the throne of God without being judged first by other believers. We judge prophecies by checking scripture and our inner spirits.
Third: A prophet or believer can no longer burst onto a scene, like a church, and prophesy. Everything has to be done decently and in order. Thus, the Holy Spirit has to make a way for the person to prophesy.
Fourth: If a prophet or a believer makes an error in his (or her) prophecy, he is to humble himself and ask forgiveness. Believers are to forgive him as the Lord has forgiven them.
Fifth: Prophets are still held accountable for prophesying words of warning and the full counsel of the Lord, but the sting of failing to do so has been removed at the cross.
The one thing that has stayed the same is that prophets or believers who prophesy may suffer afflictions, even severe ones.
Okay, what can we do to encourage believers to prophesy?
(Continued in Part 7)
Filed under Christianity, Church, Prayer, Prophecy, Spiritual gifts
I have just posted Episode 3 of Flee California Now on Youtube. It is entitled, “Train Like You Fight”
You can check out the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFzCBNF-26E
Check it out, especially if you live in California.
Thanks
Filed under California, Christianity, Church, Prayer, Prophecy
Prophecy may arise from three different beings: the Holy Spirit, demons or our own imaginations (our flesh). And it’s even possible for a prophecy to be a mixture of all three at the same time.
Now, don’t throw your hands up in the air and give up because it sounds too tough. Let’s see what the Apostle Paul says:
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV)
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:39 ESV)
The Greek word zēloō is translated into the English language as earnestly desire in the English Standard Version, but it more nearly means “to boil over with zeal and envy for something.”
How many of us actually wake up in the morning or walk into churches boiling over with zeal to prophesy? Probably not many of us, but actually the Apostle Paul states that this should be our attitude.
So, how can we do this and still follow Paul’s advice of “doing everything decently and in order?“
The answer is simple: allow ourselves and others the opportunities to make mistakes. Period.
We must remove two mindsets to do this:
First, never frame a prophecy by saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” Now, we may feel like every word has come down from the throne of God, but still, it’s up to others to judge it. Be humble, be a servant. Allow the Holy Spirit to raise us up.
Second, get over the importance of appearing as a mature believer to others. Remember: humbling ourselves as little children is the road to greatness in the kingdom of God.
Spiritual discernment will only come for each of us through practice and giving grace to ourselves and others.
In light of Old Testament scriptures, how can we allow someone to make mistakes with prophecies?
(Continued in Part 5)
Filed under Christianity, grace, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
What is the plan of action for healing a sufferer of dementia?
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV)
In Part 4, I wrote:
Without the gifts of the Spirit, none of this would have happened. The woman with Tourette Syndrome would not have been healed and her daughter-in-law would not have had a baby girl.
The gifts involved in these two miracles were the gift of faith, the gift of discerning of spirits and the gift of prophecy.
I had another Holy Spirit experience over thirty-five years ago. It happened when I was preaching at a small house group. A woman showed up that night, suffering from muscular dystrophy. She used a cane and hobbled over to a chair and sat down.
When I finished my message, I walked over to her, reached out my hand and said, “Let’s dance.”
She took my hand and danced with me around the family room. After a minute or so, I stopped and looked at her. “What do you think?” I said.
Her eyes opened wide. “Oh Lord, I’m healed!” she proclaimed.
The woman carried her cane home, totally healed. The next day, she enrolled at a gym to get herself back in shape.
This happened through the gift of faith and the gift of working of miracles.
None of this was through my efforts. It was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit working in me.
If I could turn the gifts on when I wanted to, I would, but it doesn’t work that way. The Holy Spirit determines when He will manifest Himself in believers, and not us.
Here’s my thinking:
If we want to be used by the Lord to heal dementia sufferers, we need to eagerly pursue the spiritual gifts. All of them. I just don’t believe there is any other option.
Also, it’s my belief that dementia/Alzheimer’s is caused by demons. And I think these demons have built up strongholds in our minds so that very few believers are praying for dementia sufferers to be healed.
Thus, like Jesus said about casting out the demon in the young boy, “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)
It will take the Spiritual gifts, faith, prayer and fasting.
How much fasting? Seek the Lord.
(Conclusion)
Filed under Christianity, Deliverance, Faith, Fasting, Gifts of the Spirit, Healing, Prayer, Prophecy
Peter, James, John and Jesus walked back to the crowd after their transfiguration experience. A father approached Jesus and explained how His disciples could not cast a demon out of his son.
Jesus asked that the boy be brought to Him. He rebuked the demon and it came out of him. He was cured at once.
Later, the disciples asked why they were unsuccessful.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:20-21 ESV)
Faith like a grain of mustard seed.
The mustard seed was the smallest seed in Israel. When germinated and under the proper growing conditions, the seed grew into a mature bush within three months’ time to an average height of seven feet tall.
Therefore, when Jesus used the mustard seed as a metaphor for His teaching here, he was talking about the seed’s one-sided genetic focus (or faith) to be the largest garden plant.
The seed never doubted or waivered in its faith to be all God called it to be. The seed could even lie dormant for over sixty years, but when the conditions were right, it would fulfill its genetic calling by growing into a mature plant.
Although the mustard seed is tiny, mustard-seed faith is not a small amount of faith. It is 100%, put-your-hand-to-the-plow-and-not-look-back, all-in faith. It is the pinnacle of faith and where we need to set our sights.
Prayer.
The word prayer, as used by Jesus, signifies the many different types of prayer, such as supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings, praises, worship and more. But no matter what type we believers use, we must draw near to God and believe He will reward our efforts.
Prayers depend upon our relationship with our Father. We must act little children and rush into His presence, knowing He loves us and desires to answer our prayers.
Fasting.
Fasting is probably the least popular of all of the spiritual disciplines. Starving for Jesus’ sake, right?
But as Paul discovered, God’s power works best in weakness. And the weakness God was referring to is our fleshly nature, especially our desire to eat and drink.
My experience on fasting is that we have to trust that God’s grace is truly sufficient, even when we don’t eat for a period of time.
So, what’s the plan of action for healing dementia?
(Continued in Part 6)
Filed under Christianity, Deliverance, Prayer, Uncategorized
The following is an excerpt from my memoir, The Hunt for Larry Who:
In the midst of the auto sales drought, I felt the Lord wanted me to fast. How long? I had no idea. Why? I did not ask and had no clue. So, I began fasting by drinking only water and morning coffee, but eating no food.
Did things improve for me? Heavens no! My auto sales drought continued.
On the fourteenth evening of the fast, a former client’s wife phoned me. I had mentioned to her husband that the Lord could heal his wife of her long-term ailment.
“Larry, do you really believe the Lord can heal me?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“When can you pray for me?”
My pastor, her husband and I showed up at the woman’s house two days later. The sick woman’s daughter-in-law was also there to support the woman. We chatted a bit until I felt the presence of God descending upon us. I walked over and began praying for the woman.
I discerned a demon caused her ailment rather than being a physical issue. As my prayers increased in tempo, I felt an inner urge to command it to leave.
“Go!” I proclaimed.
Then, I spun around and looked at the daughter-in-law.
“You’re going to have a baby. Fix up a room for your new baby,” I prophesied.
The daughter-in-law broke down and cried. She eventually collected herself enough to tell us how she and her husband had just undergone extensive tests at a Sioux City hospital, discovering they could never have children.
That night, on the sixteenth day of the fast, I ate again.
The woman phoned two nights later.
“Larry, do you know what ailment I suffered from?” she asked.
“No.”
“I had Tourette Syndrome,” she said and explained how her tics and rants kept her housebound and away from public gatherings for years. “I’m totally healed. Thanks.”
A year later, I received a card from the daughter-in-law announcing the birth of their baby girl.
So, what is Tourette Syndrome?
Tourette Syndrome is a disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled. For instance, you might repeatedly blink your eyes, shrug your shoulders or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words.
Tics typically show up between ages 2 and 15, with the average being around 6 years of age. Males are about three to four times more likely than females to develop Tourette syndrome.
Although there’s no cure for Tourette syndrome, treatments are available. (Mayo Clinic)
So, how can this help with healing dementia sufferers?
(Continued in Part 5)
Filed under Christianity, Deliverance, Fasting, Healing, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare
Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother Lazarus would not have died.”(John 11:24 ESV)
“Everyone in the story, including Jesus’ enemies, believed that He could have healed Lazarus if He had arrived sooner. His power to heal was unquestioned, even by His opponents. But they were limiting Jesus’ power. None had the imagination to think about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
“We often underestimate Jesus as well. We pray for things that are far less than what He could actually do. Even those of us with faith and enough experience to know better, still expect lesser things of Jesus than He is capable of doing.)
Begging. A passage of Scripture that has shaped my life every day for decades occurs twice in the New Testament. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus tells us that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
His solution is not a program for leadership development or a teaching curriculum to produce more ministers. No, his solution is far more effective and simple. We are to pray for more workers – but not just pray. The word used is translated in some of our Bibles as “beseech.” What exactly does that mean? It means “to beg as if your life depends on it.”
We’ve all watched the scene in a drama where the hero is suddenly at the antagonist’s mercy. With a gun barrel inches from the good guy’s forehead, we see a sly grin on the bad guy’s face as he says, “Beg me for your life.”
When Jesus instructs us to beg as if our life depends on it, this is not what is happening. We must realize that He is the Lord of the harvest – it is His field. It is His desire to have a plentiful harvest even more than ours, so He is not wanting us to bend our will to His own. Instead, He is inviting us to want it as badly as He does.
When we beseech Him for this, we are being summoned to His level of concern, not the other way around. We don’t bend God to our own desire; true spirituality is quite the opposite. You can be sure that God will hear and answer this prayer, because it is His idea. It is actually His command for us, and it is His desire much more than ours.
When my children were young and in vulnerable situations, I would beg the Lord to watch over them. When my babies had a high fever and I felt helpless, I would beg for their healing.
(Both of the above excerpts are from PRAY: Finding Ways for Ordinary People to Connect with God by Neil Cole, 2020, Starling Initiatives Publications Series, eBook on Amazon, pages 40, 58, 59)
I believe that our prayers for Dementia/Alzheimer’s sufferers have underestimated the power of Jesus. We have prayed things for the sufferers that are far less than what Jesus could do for them.
And begging?
I believe that we are in a season that we can beseech the Lord for healing for dementia/Alzheimer’s sufferers.
But to do so, we have to make up our minds to be a part of the Church that hates losing!
(Continued in Part 3)
Filed under Christianity, Encouragement, Gifts of the Spirit, Intercession, Prayer
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