Larry Who

On this eighth anniversary of 911, it’s a good time to seriously ask ourselves: what’s stopping us from serving the Lord with our whole hearts? Is it our if onlys?

If ever a person had justifiable excuses not to serve God, it was Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844 – 1924).

Maria knew as a young girl that she was called to preach the gospel, but she also knew the problems with being a woman preacher. Woman preachers were not accepted at all in the middle 1800’s. Pulpits were for men.

Maria felt her only hope was to marry a missionary, and thus she prepared herself  to attend college. But her father died and hopes for a college education for herself had to be set aside.

During the Civil War, she met an injured soldier and was married after a whirlwind courtship. They soon set up farming, but their hard work and labor only produced failures and debt.

Sadly, her husband never cared about ministry for himself or ever wanted his wife to preach. Plus, they had six children, of which five died from a horrible disease. The last child’s dying words were, “Moma, you have to serve God.”

During her whole life, Maria had felt the persistent call of God on her life. So, she tried explaining to the Lord what she couldn’t do, her list of if onlys.

“If only, I knew what to say,” she told the Lord. His reply, “I’ll fill your mouth with words.”

“If only, I knew the Bible better,” she told Him. He showed her an illuminated Bible on the wall in front of her.

“If only, I had been born a man and not a woman,” she said. As she searched the Scriptures, the names – Hannah, Hulda, Miriam, Phoebe, Narcissus, Tryphens, Persis, Julia, the Marys and Priscilla – jumped off the pages to her.

Finally, Maria launched out into a preaching ministry which eventually led her all over the United States. Few have ever matched her triumphs and successes in preaching the gospel, especially with signs, wonders and miracles.

So what are our if onlys? And how will our if onlys stack up before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

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.

If one word can describe the generation divide between parents and children, it is this one: music.

My parents enjoyed hearing Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Ernest Tubbs, Red Foley and Tex Ritter. I liked the Beatles, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Bobby Dylan,Joan Baez, Buffalo Springfield and the Grass Roots. So, these words were often spoken to me, “Turn that music down. How can you possibly like that clatter?”

What did my son like? Ozzie Osbourne. Kiss. Billy Idol. Queen. And what did he hear from me? “Turn that music down. How can you possibly like that clatter?”

Now, music disagreements are a normal irratation between parents and children as each struggles to relate to the other’s tastes. But what’s interesting is that this is a problem with different Christian generations, too.

Old-time Pentecostals still are turned on by foot-stomping “Power in the Blood” piano music … and turned off by the new-fandangled stuff. Those growing up during the Vineyard Music era believe worship music is the only music to listen to…as in – the only anointed music on earth.

And then, there’s my son who likes Third Day and Need to Breathe.

All of this came about because I sent a Jerry Williams /Harvest CD to my son. I thought this 1993 music would show me as being hip in his eyes. His reply, “Dad, one or two are okay, but they are out of date.”

Out of date, I thought. How can good stuff like that be out of date? What’s wrong with him?

Then, he sent me a Third Day CD and a link to Need to Breathe’s Myspace site. And oh boy! Their music was different than my classical music tastes. As in ear shattering, brain shaking different.

Thus, I had a dilemma. I liked a certain style of music, but I wanted to relate to my son and his generation’s music. What could I do?

I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit, “Give me a love for my son’s music.”

Then, I sent an email to my son explaining that I was not an old fuddy-duddy when it came to music. His email reply:

I agree that you’re not a fuddy-duddy. You have a fair bit of fuddy in you…but you’re several years away from full-blown fuddy-duddy.

So, what about you? Are you a fuddy or a full-blown fuddy-duddy when it comes to Christian music? Can you adapt to the new sounds from heaven for the different generations of believers?

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.

This week, the Holy Spirit backed me into a corner. He showed me I was guilty of looking at the needs of people far away while overlooking those of nearby neighbors.

I was guilty. Thus, I repented.

Now, I’m prayer walking through the streets of my community which consists of about thirteen hundred homes, condos and apartments.

As you can see from the above picture, I rent a home in a beautiful Temecula community. There’s a large lake. A Olympic- sized pool. Spa. Walking trails. Playgrounds. Baseball diamonds. Picnic areas. Community house. It’s an elite area with mainly professionals living in it.

Most inhabitants work out,  staying in tip-top shape. Mothers push strollers while jogging and listening to their iPods. Dads belong to LA Fitness. Children wear GAP clothing. All seem to drive an Acura, BMW or Mercedes.

Why do they need prayer, right?

As I walk past homes, I pray in the spirit. Then, the Holy Spirit shows me how to pray for each area. And guess what?

My neighbors have the same problems that other people are struggling with. Finances. Marital problems. Children problems. Drugs. Drinking. Afflictions. Sin. And like me, they all need a greater revelation of Jesus.

I believe that I’m planting prayer seeds, and others will then come along and water these prayer seeds. But all in all, it will be God who gives the increase who will receive the glory. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)

So, what about you? Do you need bifocals, too? Are you overlooking the prayer needs of your neighbors?

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.

I was rereading an article by Paul Cain in a 1992 issue of The Morning Star.  It was entitled, The Annointing vs. Respectability.

Cain states that in every move of the Spirit, there are four stigmas attached to the anointing:

Stigma #1. Embarrassment. This stigma is not tolerable for those who are self-seeking and pretenders. After all, who really wants to be embarrassed, right?

Stigma #2. Being Misunderstood. When we take up our crosses, we too must accept being misunderstood if we are to carry out the very purposes of God. Those who insist on being understood most likely will separate themselves from the anointing.

Stigma #3. The Occasional Requirement to be Set Aside. Are we willing to look like nothing for a season until God makes something out of nothing? Are we willing to wait, like God is willing to wait, for His name to be vindicated? Jesus will be vindicated for eternity; and it is better to wait for eternity to vidicate us than insist on it in this life.

Stigma #4. Being Defenseless. It is embarrassing and awkward when you cannot defend yourself, when you know that you are right about something, but God does not allow you to defend yourself because He has a higher purpose.

Cain’s article causes me to search myself and count the costs. Do I really want to embrace the mess and look foolish in this new move of the Spirit? Do I want to be misunderstood by those people I love and have fellowshipped with over the years?

Sometimes, my answer is an absolute yes. Sometimes, it’s a definite maybe. And sometimes, it’s just “wait and see.”

But what about you, which do you want respectability or the anointing?

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.

“I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life,” said George Burns (1896 – 1996).

Who can forget George Burns’  Oh, God! movie; it  was hilarious. But his witty quote about the future captures what we Christians should be planning and praying for:

as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did (Romans 4:17)

It does not take spiritual eyes to look at our present church scene and see problems galore. Division. Doctrinal disagreements. Political schisms. Gay rights. Abortion. Helping the poor. Racism. Etc. Etc. Etc.

What happens in the future depends on what we Christians do now, not on how we react when the future arrives. Our faith. Our prayers. Our actions. All of this determines what the church will be in the future.

So, what do you see for the church five years from now?

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.

Oral Roberts once said, “Many of my friends tire me out and wear me down, but my enemies make me stronger. I need more enemies!”

Maybe, Roberts’ take on enemies is accurate. Maybe, we need to embrace our foes.

So, what do you think, should we appreciate our enemies? Our political ones? The enemies of our faith? Or whatever?

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.

Dreams can be really weird, right? Well, a few days ago, I had a bizarre one.

In it, I was driving a sporty car, possibly a SAAB. It had a five speed manual transmission and plenty of horsepower.

I was driving the auto on a paved highway through what looked like a large parking lot. It seemed to be at a large airport, but not like any we have here in California (or probably anywhere else for that matter.) There were no ramps or fences or tollgates. Just lots of parked cars right off the highway, and rows of them as far as I could see on both sides of the highway.

Plus, there was lots of snow and ice everywhere. On the road. On the parked cars. On the parking lot.

As I drove down the highway, I stepped on the gas which caused me to spin out of control on some ice. I was going sideways, backward, forward and spinning around. I downshifted and did my best to dodge oncoming traffic and avoid the parked cars on the sides of the road.

Because everything was happening so fast, I had no time to panic or worry. I just reacted and was caught up in the action, weaving through possible mishaps.

Then, the auto straightened itself out and I resumed driving on the highway. Up ahead, I saw a stop sign and knew that I was going to take a right turn on a road which angled through some more parked cars off to the right.

As I approached the stop sign, I saw a snow-covered opening between some parked cars. It looked like a perfect shortcut which would save me a few seconds of time getting onto the next road.

I turned into the opening. Then, plop! The car fell into a snow pit. The top of my car’s roof was level with the pavement. I wasn’t hurt, but I realized this was going to take lots of time before I was back on the road again. In fact, I felt like I needed a heavy-duty crane to lift me out of the pit.

End of dream. I woke up.

Sadly, I did not pay a lot of attention to this dream. I just wrote a note to myself: don’t take shortcuts. But now, I have doubts about my conclusion on the dream and its interpretation.

So, help me out. What do you think the dream means and what’s the interpretation of it?

P.S. Don’t be bashful. Jump in and write something. This is a good way to exercise your gifts…and help me at the same time.