The aim of gospel ministry

“To cut off the sinner from all reliance upon himself, his merits and his powers; and throw him, naked and helpless, into the hands of the Holy Spirit to lead him to Christ in faith; should be the one great aim of the ministry.”

- Ichabod S. Spencer

A new song..can you hear it?

Shine - Shannon Noil

Get up, get up, get up, get up, lift your head
Come on, come on, get up out of bed
Today's the day you hold the world with your song
Go now, go now, go now, help escalate
Angels come down, help with this parade
To hear your voice ring out
Come on and shout it
Let your song be heard

This is the time
This is the day that we've been waiting for
All the world will stop to watch you shine

Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now sing your hymn
This is the new national anthem
We will all stand on guard to let you be heard
Let go, let go, let go all the cannons
How beautiful this world has become
Now everyone will see what I believe
That these words should be sung

This is the time
This is the day that we've been waiting for
All the world will stop to watch you shine
This is the time
This is the day that we've been waiting for
All the world believes that you will shine

And if you fall
And if you fall
And if you trust and
Yes it will come true

Hey, hey Yeah!

This is the time
This is the day that we've been waiting for
All the world will stop to watch you shine
This is the time
This is the day that we've been waiting for
When all the world will stop to watch you shine

Another good quote:

“God’s clean up operations are very strange.”

“A deep spiritual walk with God does not usually happen immediately after conversion. When the Holy Spirit invades the enemy territory of our lives and sets up Jesus Christ as King in the capital city of our heart, his strategy for conquering the rebel forces of the flesh that keep up their guerrilla warfare is different for each person. It may be fast or slow. God’s clean up operations are very strange.”

- John Piper, “The Danger of Being Merely Human“

The Vision for The Warriors

The vision is Jesus- obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus. The vision is an army of people, intergenerational, all ages all races. You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism. They laugh at 9-5 little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crust on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice. They are mobile like the wind; they belong to the nations. They need no passport. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the Vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure. Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. This is am army that will lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great 'Well done' faithful sons and daughters. Such heroes are as radical on Monday mornings as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again "COME ON!" And this is the sound of the underground. The whisper of history in the making. Foundations shaking. Revolutionaries dreaming once again. Mystery is scheming in whispers. Conspiracy is breathing…

And the army is disciplined. People who beat their bodies into submission. Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes, Winners, Martyrs. Who can stop them? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them? And the generation PRAYS like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphurous tears and with great barrow loads of laughter! Whatever it takes they will give. Breaking the rules. Shaking the mediocrity from its cozy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrings, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries. They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like a costume to communicate and celebrate but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or popularity? They would lay down their very lives- swap seats with the man on death row- guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair. With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them. Their DNA chooses Jesus. (He breathes out, they breathe in). Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make the demons scream in shopping centers. DON"T you hear them coming? Heralds the weirdo's! Summons the losers and the freaks. Here comes the frightened and forgotten with the fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking 'AMEN!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner. Guaranteed!

Date: January 01, 2000 Author: Kim Clement

QUOTE

"Watch out when the music of your nation changes. A new kind of music upsets every department of living—both public and private. The beat of the music changes first and everything else falls in line with the beat—fashions, language, customs and morals."

The character, Fred Fisher, "quoting" Plato in the movie "O You Beautiful Doll" (1949).

Prayer and Providence

“Coming events cast their shadows before them, and when God is about to bless his people his coming favour casts the shadow of prayer over the church. When he is about to favour an individual he casts the shadow of hopeful expectation over his soul. Our prayers, let men laugh at them as they will, and say there is no power in them, are the indicators of the movement of the wheels of Providence. Believing supplications are forecasts of the future, He who prayeth in faith is like the seer of old, he sees that which is to be: his holy expectancy, like a telescope, brings distant objects near to him.”

- Charles Spurgeon, The Holy Spirit’s Intercession

Henri Nouwen quote

My pastor sent me this from Henri Nouwen...

"A part of you was left behind very early in your life: the part that never felt completely received. It is full of fears. Meanwhile, you grew up with many survival skills. But you want your self to be one. So you have to bring home the part of you that was left behind. That is not easy, because you have become quite a formidable person, and your fearful part does not know if it can safely dwell with you. Your grown-upself has to become very childlike - hospitable, gentle, and caring - so your anxious self can return and feel safe. You complain that it is hard for you to pray, to experience the love of Jesus. But Jesus dwells in your fearful, never fully received self. When you befriend your true self and discover that it is good and beautiful, you will see Jesus there. Where you are most human, most yourself, weakest, there Jesus lives. Bringing your fearful self home is bringing Jesus home."

Recognizing a True Movement of God

By Carol Madison

When we pray for and speak of revival and transformation, what are the benchmarks we are using to identify a true move of God? Because those terms mean different things in different venues, we need to identify characteristics of a move of God that are supernaturally leading toward true revival and transformation. We should desire nothing less of God!
After traveling to Almolonga, Guatemala, to walk the streets of a completely transformed community, I experienced firsthand a new level of understanding of true transformation. This community was once known for idolatry, crime, drunkenness, and poverty some 20 years ago. Through the power of prayer, God’s presence is so manifest in this mountain village of 19,000 people that more than 85 percent now identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. Most of the 30-plus bars have been replaced by more than 30 churches. The four jails have closed, and crime is so nonexistent that the police no longer carry guns. And most amazing, God has literally healed the land in such a way that Almolonga is now known as the “Valley of Miracles.” The people raise vegetables of biblical proportions. There is no denying that God has miraculously transformed this community!

When we speak of a transformed community, we need to uphold Almolonga and other similar places around the world as the benchmark of a true movement of God. The danger is to define transformation according to our own perceptions or experiences, and in the United States that will most often sell transformation very short!
What Does a True Movement of God Look Like?
What is meant by a true movement of God? Very simply, if it is God, then it defies natural, simple explanations. It is God interrupting the flow of history for the sake of His glory.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, a recognized speaker on brokenness, repentance, and revival, states: “It is a divine moment when there is a supernatural outpouring of God’s Spirit on His people that cannot be explained in human terms” (Is This Revival? Pamphlet published by Revive Our Hearts).

Duncan Campbell, who helped give pastoral leadership to the revival in the Hebrides Islands in the late 1940s, described the outstanding characteristic of a movement of God: “First, the presence of God.”

John H. Armstrong expands on that definition: “God is always present and reveals Himself in many ways. But a true movement of God is when His presence overwhelms masses of people with an awed sense of Him. It is the manifest presence of God—coming to His people beyond normal experiences—to advance His Kingdom” (When God Moves, Harvest House Publishers, 1998).

Criteria for Determining Reality of a Movement of God
A movement of God can be personal, as in a transformation of a single person. But when we speak of transformation of an entire community, we need to be more discerning of His movement. Here are some criteria that I believe can help in this discernment process.

1. Who should get the credit: God or man?
Not everything that we claim is a move of God truly is. Often things are done more in the flesh than in the Spirit. Guard against declarations of God’s hand that are really the result of our own energies and efforts.
A movement of God is not necessarily measured by numbers of books sold or churches participating in a program. We can very adequately run programs and market products, but only God can bring true transformation of the heart. It’s about heart transformation!
I’ve heard many claims that revival is here, but as revival expert Richard Owen Roberts says, “If you live in the Western World and were born after WWII, you have not witnessed a genuine move of God in revival.” You may or may not agree with statement, but it sets a high standard for definitions of true revival.
A caution on overstatement: I once heard someone state, “We shared the gospel with 10,000 people on Saturday.” That is a powerful claim, but truth is that they sponsored a float in a parade and passed out tracts. Don’t overstate a movement. If it is of God, one doesn’t need to make any greater claims than what God is truly doing. To truly be a movement of God, it needs to have changed or transformed something. God is about transformation, not numbers.

2.Revival movements are characterized by a deep conviction of sin and repentance.
God has established an “If….then” pattern in Scripture that gives a general principle.

2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.”

Malachi 3:7: “Return to me and I will return to you.”
James 4:8-10: “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

A move of God should include a sober recognition of the holiness of God. Isaiah pretty much sums this up when he says in Isaiah 6:5: "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

If repentance, brokenness, and humility are not a part of it, then I find it suspect. Scripture indicates that God moves in response to obedience. If there is flamboyancy or prideful declarations, perhaps it is not from God.

A true movement of God should also result in a deep hunger for the Word of God that penetrates the heart, brings conviction, and leads to transformation of the heart. It transcends the person preaching or the program.

3.Can you discern a clear “before and after”?
Is there a significant difference, even in the physical realm? I’ve seen people change in physical appearance when they have found freedom and transformation in Christ. Whether physical or spiritual, some change must be evident.

Are there redeemed places you can identify? Pastor Moriano (Almolonga, Guatemala) placed his hands on side of bar in Almolonga and prayed that God would redeem for His Kingdom purposes—and now thousands worship on that very spot in a church that has been established there.

4.Do you see evidences of abundance and restoration?

Psalm 65:5-13 speaks of God-given abundance:
You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.

Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.

You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

This passage declares the abundance and restoration that God delights in bringing. This describes God doing His best work—a true movement!

I saw the contrast between Quetzaltenango and Almolonga, Guatemala—towns just minutes apart from each other. In Quetzaltenango, it was common to see guards with automatic rifles in front of stores and banks—and even McDonalds! Crime was high and it was not safe to walk the streets at night. In contrast, police in Almolonga (just a mile or so away) did not need to carry guns because of God’s protection over the community. Even the marketplaces of the two communities were dramatically different, with an overabundance of produce filling the streets of Almolonga. The vegetables were scrawny and sparse in Quetzaltenango.

5.What are the specific indications that something has changed in the spiritual realm?
People often say, “We prayed, and God gave us a breakthrough.” That may very well be, but what are the evidences? If God broke something, that means something has changed. If God did it in the spiritual, then you should be able to see some manifestation in the natural. Those are the indicators that truly God has moved in a profound way.

6.Is God getting ALL the glory?
So often you see advertisements that state: “Come and see Prophet so and so, and experience miracles?” Notice who is getting the bigger headline—the main speaker, or the manifest presence and holiness of God. Is the focus on sensationalizing something or on some unusual manifestation, or is it on a life-giving encounter with Jesus Christ?

7.Can you verify through a variety of sources?
If it is truly a movement of God, it will touch scores of people. Is there some acknowledgment by others that a change has taken place? Can non-Christians see an objective change?

People might not agree with how or why the change has occurred, but they should be able to see a difference. Almolonga is now called the valley of miracles—you cannot deny that something has happened. I picked up a secular travel book that identified Almolonga as a place with lucrative vegetable export business, a village that has abandoned religious traditions in favor of “evangelism.” More than 25 “evangelist” churches; residents attend at least once a day…The new religion is credited for lowering the rate of alcoholism, as well as for area’s beautiful crop (Hunter Travel Guide to Guatemala, page 171).

8.Do you see some level of community transformation?

Transformation does not mean perfection. But a true move of God cannot help but have an impact on society. It’s not something that happens just within the walls of the church.

If people are continually being drawn to a church because unusual things are happening or they are experiencing emotional encounters, but nothing changes in society—then it is good to question of much of that can be attributed to a movement of God. It may or may not be—but you need to be discerning.

Habakkuk 2:14 holds up a high standard for community transformation: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

The bottom line for a true movement of God is that Jesus’ name is famous and God is glorified in the community. Let’s believe and pray for nothing less!

Spiritual Warrior

I'm going through the book by Graham Cooke "Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior"..

Here's a quote from what I'm reading right now:

"Relentlessly, day after day, the Holy Spirit showed up with immense comfort, deep joy, and rest - pure sweet rest. I felt my anger leave. Resentment and bitterness were reduced so radically. I misplaced them for months at a time. When they returned on days, I just smiled and refused......He taught me how to see people and events His way....and His lovingkindness wore down my flesh until it died - overwhelmed by grace.

He showed me myself and then proceeded to love me so outrageously that it broke my heart. I was worse than anyone I knew, and He touched me, kissed me, loved on me until I capitulated......

I began to learn about being preoccupied with Jesus. I learned to understand thet if I defend myself, whose self was I defending? I became silent towards people and vocal towards God. I discovered a wonderful thing - how to die quickly!...

In the lovingkindness of God, I let it all go....Silence opresses the enemy, Rest infuriates him, the Cross debilitates him...."

Happy Are You Poor

Recently, I was reading through Jaeson's Journal blog and chanced upon this quote below from a book written by Thomas Dubay called “Happy Are You Poor.”

“It must be noticed that the values of the kingdom are just about 180 degrees removed from the values of the world…What are the world’s basic values?...It is assumed that every one knows them and that most people live by them. What are these premises: prestige is a primary value… bodily comfort and pleasure are indispensable… this life is all we have, and so let’s enjoy it to the full… impressing people with one’s possessions and accomplishments and attractiveness is important… sexual excitement and satisfaction are crucial… success is ‘coming out on top’ in relation to others… money is a must, for without it one can have very little of anything else worth having in life.

“If we turn to the pages of the New Testament we find a picture as opposite as it could be: humility, being last, unknown, hidden in Christ, is a condition for getting into the kingdom… prestige is worthless and even an obstacle to greatness… the hard road and the narrow gate, carrying the cross every day is immensely important… dying to our selfishness and crucifying our illusory desires are indispensable… impressing people is of no importance at all, whereas being pleasing to the divine eyes is everything… virginity is a favored and privileged state, and chaste fidelity in marriage mirrors the very union of Christ and his Church… one may not try to best others; rather he is to serve them as though he were a slave… it most difficult, indeed it is humanly impossible, for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven…It takes little imagination to see that one who freely chooses to be poor is far more prepared to understand the previous paragraph than one who is surrounded with luxury, comfort, pleasures of sense, who basks in prestige and position, who lives only for the good opinion of other human beings.”

-Thomas Dubay, Happy Are You Poor, pp. 57-58

Spiritual Orphans

By: Donna J. Kazenske

What is a spiritual orphan? A spiritual orphan is one who feels alone; one who feels that they do not have a safe and secure place in the Father's heart where He can affirm, protect, provide and express His love to them. They feel as if they do not belong. They are full of fear, anxiety and insecurity.

Spiritual orphans cannot receive the love of the Father because they have been personally abused, hurt, rejected and wounded by their earthly fathers or those in authority over them. They cannot receive the love of their heavenly Father because they cannot bring themselves to a place of being able to trust Him. Trust involves vulnerability. Trust involves receiving. Spiritual orphans cannot trust or receive until the unhealed issues and hidden cores of pain are attended to. Basic trust is a real issue in the life of a spiritual orphan.

Trust involves opening your heart to others. Spiritual orphans have closed their hearts because they are afraid of being hurt. They refuse to make themselves vulnerable to others because of past hurts and pain. Their spirits are closed to a love relationship with their heavenly Father because they do not trust Him. Instead of running to God, they are continually running away from Him.

Spiritual orphans are dysfunctional because they lack the basic trust needed to have healthy relationships with those in authority. They find themselves battling with fear, control issues, independence and pride. They are not able to have intimate relationships because they are not able to receive comfort or love from God or others.

Spiritual orphans are those who remain in the outer court of God's presence. They do not have the capability to enter into the Holy of Holies because they fear intimacy. They have closed their hearts as a type of protection.

They are not able to submit to authority because of fear. Submission involves having an open heart. Submission involves vulnerability, closeness and honesty in relationships. Submission is an act of humility and receiving that releases God's grace and abilities in our lives. Submission has the power to set us free from our fears and insecurities.

Spiritual orphans have an independent spirit which often causes them to hide or deny pain. They like to control relationships with anger, passivity, isolation or various other means. They keep their distance from those who are in authority or from those who are able to help them.

Spiritual orphans often find comfort and identity in money (by possessing material things), addictions (to alcohol, drugs, food and other forms of immorality), position (looking for acceptance by obtaining the praise of man or striving to be seen by man), and power (by controlling their own lives).

Spiritual orphans focus more on God's acts than on His ways. They tend to keep themselves busy doing religious activity out of duty instead of relationship. In their limited understanding, love is not received, but earned. Their ungodly belief system tells them that they need to do more and more in order to be accepted by God. They are deceived into believing that they will never measure up to God's standard because they can never do enough to attain His love and acceptance.

Have you ever seen a hamster running around and around in a circular exercise toy? This type of activity is very similar to the lifestyle of a spiritual orphan. They have no sense of direction or destiny. They live their lives by just going through the motions.

Spiritual orphans are servants only and not sons or daughters of God. Servants perform duties, while sons and daughters receive the love of the Father.

I believe that we are in a season of becoming the true sons and daughters of God. The Holy Spirit is putting His finger in the hidden places of our hearts so that we can be healed and restored to a deeper relationship with Him. He desires more than and outer court relationship with us. He desires intimacy which involves inner court relationship. Inner court relationship involves trust and vulnerability.

Sonship is a matter of attainment and with it comes the privilege of authority in God. The body of Christ has not been fully operating in the authority of God because we are still functioning as spiritual orphans.

Jesus was declared the Son of God by His Father on the day of His baptism. Baptism represents death and resurrection. Baptism is a going down, a submitting unto death and an immersion into it. Resurrection can only take place after a death experience.
We must die to this orphan spirit. We must die to any independence of doing our own thing or doing our own will. We must die to any and all ungodly beliefs that keep us from becoming sons and daughters of God.

Spiritual inheritance is obtained only after death.

Hebrews 1:3 - ".....when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

What is this verse saying? What name did Jesus obtain through His death and resurrection? He obtained the name, "Son of God."

Luke 3:22 - And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

After Jesus was baptized, symbolizing His death and resurrection, the Father made a decree from heaven to the world that Jesus was His beloved Son.

The Father in heaven is now waiting to decree our sonship to not only the world, but also to the principalities and powers of hell. When God the Father decrees our sonship as a result of our spiritual death and resurrection, the demons in hell will tremble because we will walk in the true authority and power of God.

It's time for us to get right with God. We need to repent and receive forgiveness through His blood because we have chosen to remain as spiritual orphans instead of sons and daughters of God. We must allow the Holy Spirit to have full rule and reign in our lives so that we can be set free and healed by His supernatural power. We must give ourselves completely to the Lord, withholding nothing from Him.

James 4:7-9 - Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up

The father wound

By Alfred C.W. Davis

We all come into the world helpless, dependent and needing acceptance, to be treated as worthy, and to be blessed. The father wound is the absence of this love from your birth father. The wound can be caused by:
neglect -- I am unimportant;
absence -- divorce, separation, death;
abuse -- mental, physical, sexual, spiritual;
control -- domineering;
lack of blessings -- at various stages of life; and
lack of affirmation -- that leads to a lack of self-acceptance.

The effect of a father wound is low self-esteem, a deep emotional pain inside and a performance orientation that makes us 'doers' rather than 'beings.' While salvation makes us new creations in Christ, it does not necessarily address this wound inside. We tend to have four barriers that inhibit the healing of this wound:
Pride -- no will to confront or change -- "I'm alright"
Sin -- no will to confess or receive forgiveness
The wound itself -- emotional hurt inside
Lies -- misconceptions about self, birth father and Father God
Instead of going to the pain and receiving the healing that we need, we tend to respond to life events by creating a misconception about our "Self".

Relationship to Our Birth Father
When we hold a conception of our birth father as angry, violent, uncaring, indifferent, distant/withdrawn, absent/abandoning, alcoholic, condemning and/or critical, we tend to believe the following words about ourselves: I'm unworthy, stupid, incompetent, unloved or unlovable. As long as we accept these words as truth, we will experience depressed, anxious and angry lives.

Relationship to God the Father
Often a person's image of God the Father is contaminated by the personal experience he or she has with the birth father. When there is a misconception that God is: watching, judging, angry, unhappy with my sin, fearsome, legalistic, and a discipliner; the words that we tend to believe are: 'I am not good enough,' 'I am guilty/shameful' 'I must work harder to justify myself.' As long as we accept these words as truth, we will seek to perform and prove our worth through perfectionism and materialism, or seek addictions to cover the pain.

Addressing the Father Wound
There are three steps to addressing the father wound:
* understand the heart of God
* invite Jesus into the wounds created by the birth father
* accept the truth about one's self as a child of God

1) The Heart of God
* as seen in the prodigal son*
- we are free to choose our own path
- the Father waits patiently for us to return to him
- when we return, he accepts us unconditionally
- he runs to accept and embrace us
- he values us by celebrating

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*God's provision for salvation*
- he loves us first
- we are his beloved creation
- he offers salvation for our sin
- he wants a relationship with us

*Jesus as the wounded healer:*
- he was tempted by Satan to know our temptations
- he experienced suffering to know our suffering
- he was rejected, mocked, beaten and crucified
- he fully understands our pain and wants to help
- 1 Peter 2:24 "By his wounds you have been healed"

*Jesus heals*
- when invited into memories, he comes
- when he comes into memories, my clients describe him as: gentle, kind, caring, loving, warm, friendly, hugging, accepting and healing.

When you understand his love, confess to Him the misconception you have had, receive His forgiveness and His love.

2) Invite Jesus into the wounds created by your birth father
*Do inner healing for the memories*
- invite Jesus into the specific memories
- understand the words that you accepted at the time
- ask Jesus to reveal his truth to you.
- receive His truth about who you are

*Choose to forgive your Birth Father*
- for hurtful words
- for hurtful actions
- for not loving you
- for not blessing you
- for affecting your image of God the Father

*Accept Yourself as a Child of God*
Receive the words of truth:
- I am accepted
- I am chosen
- I am loved
- I am God's creation
- I am precious in His sight
- I am forgiven
- I have been redeemed
- I will never be left or forsaken
- I have an eternal inheritance
- Nothing can separate me from the love of God

As you understand the truth about God's love and know your True Self In Christ, it frees you to let go of the pain and forgive your birth father. The new perspective that is created enables you to see your birth father through different eyes and allows you to live in freedom.

God's Heart

There is a mother's heart in the heart of God. And 'tis his delight to break the bread of love and truth for his children.

Celtic Blessings and Prayers
by Brendan O'Malley

First Love

Prophets are called to inspire people, to awaken them to listen and look for God. Sometimes, the church has to be provoked away from its programs, ministries, and routine life, and its attention turned to what God is doing now. These distractions are usually completely understandable--but it is inexcusable to resist the provocation of the Holy Spirit. When He offers us the opportunity to gaze upon the person of Christ, we need to leap at the opportunity. Our highest ministry priority is to adore God, and minister to Him.

This is the same challenge which God laid out before the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2-5-
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; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-unless you repent.

Ephesus had to be provoked to return to its first love. They needed to be inspired by a word of prophecy because they had lost an essential piece of who they were. They had lost the capacity to really enter into worship, to see God as their first love. From there, it's just a short fall into religiosity. The tragedy for many churches is that we lose sight of our first love very easily. A new program, a new vision, a new trend: suddenly we're swept away. We get into ministry and social action and just keep working and working and working. In that moment, God delivers a word of exhortation: "Return to Me, your first love."

We have to keep returning to our first love. Our doing, busyness, and ministry are legitimate-until they become our primary focus. The Greatest Commandment-"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind"-is more important than the Great Commission.

Prophets call Christians to put the Greatest Commandment first. Out of that flows the Second Commandment and the Great Commission call to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

The prophetic has to inspire. We may see things that aren't right, but we have to ask God what He wants to speak into those situations. What does the Lord want to accomplish? How do we get over the hurdles separating us from that goal? What does He want to emphasize? How do we speak to this hindrance so we can make sense out of it? How will we respond to Him?

We are not called to put something into people-we are called to bring something out. We ought to focus on what God is already doing and lay claim to it prophetically. "This is what God is doing in you," we prophesy, "this is who you are in the Spirit. This is you, as Christ sees you." When we call on the life of the spirit within, we inspire it to come into bloom. We create an environment, a greenhouse, where God can release things on His terms. It is an explosion of fresh faith and purpose.

Open our eyes..

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36).

We ought to meditate on this daily and ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the height, depth, width, length, and breadth of this JESUS Whom we say we serve. May God deliver us from our own idea, concept, perception, and illusion of a small Christ and give us revelation into the preeminence of His Son. When we see Christ as All in All then it will be impossible for us to ever again be reduced to the small, the trivial, the petty things which occupy us and waste so much of our time. Our only hope is seeing a Christ that fills us, a Christ that is greater than us, a Christ that is larger than we can fathom, an indescribable Christ that overshadows, overwhelms, and consumes us through and through!

U2 Worship

Awesome! Listen for the exhortation at the end.

Mexico Mission Trip 2007

House Building Project..

Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness

In the midst of my own struggles today, I came across this article on the 24/7 prayer blog...


From Oria in Zimbabwe
10/04/08

HOPE in a thousand words or less...i have recently positioned myself in zimbabwe...beautiful zimbabwe.some have said "for such a time as this", others have said "why...atsuch a time like this?" It certainly has not gone unnoticed that I'mchoosing to live in a place that thousands and thousands of peoplehave left.bad governance and hyper-inflation have crippled the economy here,leaving the store shelves virtually empty. i heard someone recentlyjoke that zimbabweans have become hunters and gatherers again... thesedays its not far from the truth, in the scramble for a balanced diet.me and a friend often get in the truck and drive to several differentstores throughout the city hunting for food on the shelves. after aquick round in the supermarket the other day i found soup noodles,toothpaste, copious amounts of ketchup, toilet cleaner and local beer.no milk, no toilet paper, no rice, no flour, oil, sugar, or bread.this food shortage combined with power and water shortages, anirresponsible and greed driven government, lack of freedom of pressand speech, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the lowest life expectancy inthe world today, has made living very difficult for millions ofzimbabweans.the list of could go on and on.....but regardless, this beautifulcountry is home for me now. and as much as i see restoration neededon so many levels all around me....i also choose to see and believe inthe good and beauty and strength of this nation. thats what it comesdown to in the end, choosing to position ourselves in a nation orplace or sphere or industry that we believe in and want to see jesusimpact and invade for his glory. to see the gifts and strengths ofthat place, however hidden they may seem at the time. to speak lifeand love over a place. to be a part of positive change. toacknowledge what the enemy has stolen, warped and robbed but insteadhelp to usher in god's redemptive plan.my journey with this nation is still in its early days, and there ismuch to learn but this much i know already....i am here to championhope.i recently sat in front of a high-school headmaster in a rural area ofzimbabwe. a few of us had gone to visit him and chat about the currentsituation at his school, needs, concerns, etc. there i sat in front ofa tall, strong, very capable and determined man who was holding backthe tears as he explained his desperate circumstances...no teachers,no food, the majority of the teachers he had were not trainedproperly...some were just finished high-school themselves...everyoneelse had left...i will never forget the utter hopelessness i saw inhis eyes. he was barely living one day at a time, waiting, clingingto a smidgen of hope that something would change...ease his situation.across the road was the primary school...they had food thanks to aninternational NGO feeding program. we sat with the teachers for a bitand they were beautifully honest with us...they said, 'we are onlyhere still because of the children...things for us are desperate.'nearly everyone we spoke to said they were waiting for the electionsto see what would happen. a lot of people's hope is riding on theseelections. when a country's motto can be 'hurry up and wait', thiscan drain all hope.and hope is precisely what has been attacked since the moment iarrived here. of course. i have found over my travels these last 10or so years that often where god asks us to position ourselves and ourphysical lives and situations in that place often end up reflecting orrunning parallel to what's going on in the spiritual of that place.perhaps because we carry around in us the presence of god and hechooses to use us to impact and affect the world around us...perhapsbecause our battle is not against flesh and blood. whatever yourexperience this has been mine. and this time, here in beautifulzimbabwe, this parallel has been a battle with hope. i have never feltit this hard to cling to this titanium string called hope. i havenever found it this hard to believe that the dreams god has put insideme will come to pass. that he will indeed carry out to completion thegood works he has started. and yet i recognize that this fight i findmyself in is not just about me...it's never just about us. its alwaysso much bigger. no-one lives only unto themselves. in my feebleprayers one night i clearly heard god say this battle you are in tohold onto hope is a tiny glimpse into the fight my beautiful people ofzimbabwe are in right now and have been in for quite some time. standwith them in this and don't take your eyes off of me...set your facelike flint.in my hopeless freak out i had forgotten that actually HE is our hope.hope is never totally void...yes it really can deliver the hardestpunches, seem impossible to continue on with it, and sometimes evenseem to hide from us altogether...but it is never void and it isrelentless in its ability to bring life and strength to all who chooseto fiercely hold on to it...to Him. and that right there gives me thestrength to go on. to believe for change to come in this nation, forjustice to prevail, for reconciliation and redemption to take place,for this dream of zimbabwe to shine again in all its strength andbeauty.

Excellent article from New Direction

"If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken." ~ 2 Cor. 4:7-9 the Message


The Gifts God Gives Us
If my life is a gift, where is the exchange desk?
~ By Brian Pengelly

I remember sitting there just staring into the box. It was without a doubt the ugliest, most impractical gift that I had even seen. I tried really hard to bluff, to hide the disappointment, but even my years of training in drama and public speaking weren't going to help me mask this one: the gift stunk!

We have all had gifts given to us that we have felt this way about. We get them, but we don't want them, and immediately begin plotting how we can tactfully re-gift or exchange them. But what do you do when you get an unwanted gift from God?

Well I have had a couple of those gifts: the gift of pain, the gift of singleness, and the gift of disappointment. "Wait a minute," I hear you saying. "Are those gifts? I don't remember seeing them in the last spiritual gift inventory I filled out." But the Bible is full of examples of each of these being a gift.

Suffering a can be a gift. That doesn't mean it is fun, but it means that God uses suffering to bring good in our lives. My least favourite verse in the Bible is Romans 5:4-5 "Not only so but let us rejoice in our suffering because suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope." God gave me this verse years ago as a life verse to chew over, and I am still choking on it on a regular basis. When I first came across this verse I was just beginning to begin to deal with a great deal of pain in my life, not the least of which was realizing that I was same-gender attracted. At the time my greatest prayer was that God would just take this struggle away. I prayed and prayed. And yet it never did go away.

For many years I was very bitter towards God. "How could he ignore my pain? Didn't he love me?" And the thought of rejoicing in it made me want to throw my Bible across the room. "Was God some kind of cosmic sadist?" But in time I came to understand something: God was not asking me to rejoice that I was in pain - that would be twisted. He was saying that we rejoice even when we are in pain because God can bring good things even out of that. The challenges that I faced growing up same-gender attracted were not good things in and of themselves, but they were a gift in that God used them to bring good things in my life. I would never have chosen SGA if anyone had bothered to consult with me. But my experiences with it have been the catalyst for tremendous spiritual growth in my life. I have a hard time picturing who I would be without that experience. So I count it as a gift.

Singleness was another gift I never really wanted, but was given for a significant part of my life. I spent a great deal of time complaining to God about it in my twenties as I watched friend after friend get married. I remember going to my 10 year reunion and being the only one there not married or in a significant relationship. I was miserable and bitter. I spent a great deal of time thinking about how much better my life would be if only I was married. In fact it seemed to me if only I could deal with that issue, everything else in my life would magically be okay.

My perspective on this has changed somewhat since I got married two years ago. That is not to say that marriage is bad and I wish I were single again. I love being married. Marriage is a gift, and I treasure it dearly. But time has given me the wisdom to see that singleness was a gift too. There were things I was able to do both personally and in ministry that I can not do now as a married man. The freedom that I had to pick up my life and move across the continent if an opportunity so arose, to travel without worrying about leaving my spouse behind, to have the luxury of time to invest in so many people over the years because I was not investing that time in my marriage, were all gifts. Even as I enjoy new gifts of a different kind of intimacy and security in my marriage, I miss the gifts of singleness that I had.

And as I talk to many people around Canada it often seems the single ones are longing for when they will be married, and the married ones are longing for the freedom of the good old days when they were single. Which has led me to understand that while singleness and marriage are both gifts, and both good, we should focus our energies on being thankful for the gift we do have rather than longing for what we don't.

That brings me to disappointment. You see, being married did not magically make all disappointment in my life go away. One of the things that I have always wanted to be in life is a father. Yet even after getting married I have discovered that for various reasons that will probably not ever happen.

The temptation is there to be bitter. It is easy to complain to God that His gifts are not good. But I think I have learned something along the way: even when what my life becomes is not what I hoped, wanted or dreamed of, God still has good things for me.

Almost ten years ago I began to be mentored by a man who, like myself, found that he was unable to have children. But rather than let the disappointment of that consume him, he saw it as gift, and promised to God to spend the time and energy he would have put into children into any youth that God allowed him to minister to. Over the years he has tirelessly and sacrificially given of his time, love and money to mentor hundreds of young people struggling with SGA. He has been a father to both my wife and I, and could be because he chose to see his childless state as a gift, and invest in others instead of being bitter at what he did not have. His example has prepared my own heart for the ministry that God has in front of me. I do not have any children of my own, and may never have, but this is a gift, in that it allows me to be a father to many in a different way. It was not the gift that I wanted, but it is a gift that is good.

As I write this I am looking at the gift from my friend. I know I told you it was the ugliest gift I ever received but... it kind of grew on me over the years. A while ago I found it in a box, and decided to put it out. It gave the room... character. I still don't know exactly what my friend was thinking when she bought it for me, but when I look at it now I think about how she dragged its considerable weight a great distance to bring it to me. Now when I look at it I smile. While it is not the gift I would have chosen, it was given in love. And it helps remind me on the hard days... and there are plenty... to be thankful for the gifts I have.

Divine Romance- Phil Wickham

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The fullness of Your grace is here with me
The richness of Your beauty’s all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room
Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied