Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

March 14, 2015 · 9:40 am

Yes, We Had An Outhouse…So What?

I grew up on a farm in Northern Illinois. Our old house had a manual pump with a handle for pumping water from a cistern, two kerosene gas stoves, and an outside toilet. Yes, we had an outhouse…so what?

Our drinking water had to be carried in a pail from an outside well house. The water was pumped up from a deep underground well. The depth of the well caused the water to always be cold and refreshing.

As you can imagine, the day I came home from school to see our new fan-dangled bathroom with a toilet and running hot and cold water was a glorious day for us. We had finally joined the Twentieth Century…in 1960.

All of this seems extremely primitive to me now.

But to 750 million people in the world, they would be happy to have what we had before the new fan-dangled bathroom arrived at our farm. You see, these people do not have access to fresh water at all. And half of these live in South Asia, mainly India.

Mothers give their children dirty water to drink which results in one child dying every minute from a water-related disease. Open defecation and lack of sanitation only worsen the crisis.

To combat this water crisis in nations throughout South Asia, Gospel for Asia digs Jesus Wells and provides BioSand Water Filters to families and communities thirsty for clean, fresh water. GFA also provides safe, reliable sanitation by building outdoor toilets, preventing an epidemic of water-related diseases. Through the provision of clean water, many communities are becoming more open to hearing about the God who loves them and provides for their needs. Learn more about Gospel for Asia’s clean water ministry by clicking here.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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March 12, 2015 · 10:13 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (3/12/2015

Those who planned ahead of time for a hurricane did not plan for a disaster; they planned for minor inconveniences…Plans must be based on worst-case scenarios… (Lt. General Russell Honore)

Have you ever gone through a terrible circumstance and wished you would have listened to those who warned you ahead of time? You felt terrible and wanted to smack yourself for being so hardheaded and not paying attention. Yet, it was too late and you suffered for your irresponsibility.

There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. (James 2:13 NLT)

Memorize this scripture and then live it. Give to the poor and the helpless now. Be merciful to your neighbors and everyone now. Don’t wait! Begin now.

Why?

Because terrible tragedies and calamities may soon be common occurrences in America. Many lives may be wrecked and destroyed. And who knows? Maybe you and your family will be in the path of one of the disasters. So, plan for the worst-case scenarios by being merciful now.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that we Americans hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches by focusing our attention on giving to the poor and the helpless. So that, in the day of trouble, You will honor our acts of mercy by delivering us and protecting us and keeping us alive and even blessing us. (Based on Revelation 2:7 and Psalm 41:1-3)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

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March 11, 2015 · 9:06 am

To Listen or Not to Listen to Prophecy…That’s The Question (Part 8)

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)

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March 10, 2015 · 9:41 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for Prisoners (3/10/2015)

Each Tuesday, I pray and fast for the nations of Asia, where 4.4 billion people live.

Why Asia?

1. 85.4% of world’s unevangelized people live in Asia. (Unevangelized means they may have heard the gospel but have no understanding on how to respond.)

2. The world’s three largest non-Christian religions – Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhists – are based in Asia.

3. Of the 37 countries of the world that are less than 10% Christian, 32 are in Asia. Of the 14 countries, that are less than 2% Christian, 12 are in Asia.

4. 85-90% of unreached people live in Asia. (Unreached means that they have never heard the name of Jesus.) (Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation)

Today, I prayed for children in India and Bangladesh:

Almost 500 million, or 40% of India’s population, live under the poverty line and guess what? 40% of India’s children are underweight and malnourished. 50% of Bangladesh’s population, or 80 million people, live under the poverty line and their children suffer a similar fate as do those in India.

Sadly, children aren’t allowed to choose their parents ahead of time, because if this were possible, who would pick a couple in India or Bangladesh as their parents? No one.

So, I prayed today:

Lord, You said that we would have the poor with us always and we could help them anytime we wanted to do so, so I ask that You help us want to help the poor children in India and Bangladesh and be our brothers’ guardian. (Based on Mark 14:7 and Genesis 4:9.)

Join with me on Tusdays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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March 9, 2015 · 10:24 am

To Listen or Not to Listen to Prophecy…That’s the Question (Part 7)

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)

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March 8, 2015 · 8:32 am

Did You Know?

In South Asia:

• 50,000 female babies are aborted each month just because they are a female.

• One in three women are illiterate.

• Many young girls are forced or sold into a lifetime of prostitution. (1.2 million child prostitutes)

• Women commit suicide at a rate 21 times the world average.

• Every year, 7,000 women are doused in kerosene and burned to death by their husbands because of insufficient dowry.

• Widows are blamed for their husband’s deaths. They are then shunned by their communities, rejected by their families, and forced to live in an inhumane lifestyle. Tens of thousands commit suicide. (40 million widows)

• 92% of India’s women, aged 70 and older, are widows with little hope to survive.

But did you also know that there’s hope for women in South Asia?

Gospel For Asia is reaching and helping thousands of women in South Asia through women missionaries and their “Help for Suffering Women Fund.” If you are able, consider partnering with Gospel For Asia with a one-time gift or monthly support for a woman missionary. For more info, click here.

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March 7, 2015 · 2:47 pm

Second Chances for Women?

I attended a meeting as a young Christian where a prophet ministered for the evening. He pointed to me and asked me to come up front during the service. There, he gave a glorious prophecy for my life.

After the meeting, a woman in her late sixties walked up to me. “I used to get prophecies just like yours,” she said.

“Oh, really?” I replied.

“Yes, I wrote them all down in a spiral notebook.”

“What happened to them?”

“Oh,” she said, “I still have them and am waiting for the Lord to bring them to pass.”

The lady died a couple of years later. And as far as I know, none of the prophecies ever happened in her life.

Now, assuming the prophecies were accurate ones, it’s easy to think what she should have done. Maybe prayed more, fasted more, studied more, fought spiritual warfare more, and done more of whatever she needed to do so that the prophecies would have come to pass in her life.

Yet, the truth is that her husband was unfaithful, which resulted in a bitter divorce. She and her whole family attended a Pentecostal holiness church in which men were in charge and women sat in submission and kept quiet. She had no encouragement from the male leadership and no place to minister. At best, she could have been a Sunday School teacher at the church.

To even think she could have left her church, turned her back on her family, friends, and teachings she learned over a lifetime is a tall mountain for a woman, especially a divorced one, to climb. Thus, the prophetic words for her life died with her.

Okay, we’re in a new day!

I believe the Lord is about to release a powerful move of the Holy Spirit to set His Annas, Loises, and Eunices free so that they can fulfill the callings on their lives. He has heard the cries of these older woman and has seen their lifetimes of spiritual bondage. Now, He will move on their behalves.

Fear, which has been the major roadblock for these fifty-five years and older women, will be canceled out by the Holy Spirit so that these women can make their decisions based on faith, rather than in fear. Female apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers will be released to equip and build up the body of Christ.

Some of these women will serve in their callings for only six months and others for one, two, three, five, ten, or more years, but all will know the satisfaction of serving Jesus at their highest levels before walking into heaven and hearing the Lord say to them, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.“

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March 6, 2015 · 10:24 am

The Rumors of Larry’s Death Were Not Greatly Exaggerated (Part 7)

(Click on photo to enlarge)

One of my favorite prophetic words was spoken to me in the Spring of 1994. It happened when a friend and her husband stopped by the house to see me on their way to a restaurant.

“Larry, the Lord knows how much you love to preach, but He wants you to do something first for Him, before you do any more preaching. Then afterward, you can preach all you want,” she said.

The “something” the Lord wanted me to do first turned out to be – start a paint contracting company, which ended up being a total disaster. I am still suffering from its fallout, twenty years later.

And preaching? I still laugh when I think about the Lord saying to me: “Then afterward, you can preach all you want.”

You see, what was missing in the prophetic words was that the Lord was going to squeeze every drop of desire out of me to preach and be on a stage ever again. The guy who used to love to preach died often in countless trials over the last twenty years. I absolutely do not miss him and, in fact, I abhor the guy I used to be.

Okay, how does this fit into publishing?

I have two thousand copies of The Day LA Died, ready to be marketed through whatever way the Lord shows me, like Christian book stores, churches, and advertisements. The two thousand copies weigh a total of 1900 pounds and are stored in closets throughout the house. It would be nice to free up the closet space again.

But first, I feel the Lord wants me to do something for Him, something which, of course, has nothing to do with publishing.

So, if you believe that walking with the Lord is the shortest distance between point A and point B, I have bad news for you. That is usually not the case. There will be plenty of time-consuming zigs and zags and stops along the way, but I also guarantee, it will be the greatest adventure of your life.

(Continued in Part 8)

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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March 5, 2015 · 2:06 pm

Tuesday’s Prayers for Prisoners on Thursday (3/5/2015)

Each Tuesday, I pray and fast for the nations of Asia, where 4.4 billion people live.

Why Asia?

1. 85.4% of world’s unevangelized people live in Asia. (Unevangelized means they may have heard the gospel but have no understanding on how to respond.)

2. The world’s three largest non-Christian religions – Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhists – are in Asia.

3. Of the 37 countries of the world that are less than 10% Christian, 32 are in Asia. Of the 14 countries, that are less than 2% Christian, 12 are in Asia.

4. 85-90% of unreached people live in Asia. (Unreached means that they have never heard the name of Jesus.) (Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation)

Today, I prayed for female babies in India and China.

If you are a fetus with XX chromosomes and live inside an Indian mother’s or a Chinese mother’s womb, your life is endangered because both India and China families want male babies.

Although the grievous “one-child policy” of China has been somewhat relaxed, millions of female babies are still aborted after ultrasound tests determines the babies are girls. In India, ultrasound testing is illegal for sex determination, yet it is still done and female babies are aborted.

Even after female babies are born, their lives are still at risk. Thousands are abandoned, drowned, or killed by some other means, just because they are females. In fact, did you know that in China, Buddhist priests slay unwanted female babies? The priests believe they are releasing the female babies to the next life.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray to You for the female babies in India and China, with weeping and loud lamentation, just as Rachael wept for her children and refused to be comforted because they are no more. (Based on Matthew 2:18)

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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March 3, 2015 · 8:23 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America on Tuesday (3/3/2015)

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At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over Israel, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. (Daniel 12:1)

Like all nations, Israel is imperfect and flawed, but no other nation in the history of the world has so many promises and a divine destiny written in the Bible like Israel does. America doesn’t. England doesn’t. Russia doesn’t. Only Israel has such unique promises spoken by the Creator for His chosen people: the Jews.

Now, if you believe the Bible is truly God’s Word, then you only have one choice: to stand with Israel. Otherwise, you may find yourself fighting against God, which I guarantee will be a losing position for you.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that we Americans bless Israel and also that we pray for the peace of Jerusalem so that our nation will prosper in the future. (Based on Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

Click on to see MyGFA site.

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