Monthly Archives: November 2009

-Student Awakening at IHOP in Kansas City

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Michael| 1 Comment

Here’s Charisma Mag’s write-up of what is happening at International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Thousands of young people are attending nightly ‘awakening’ services at IHOP’s school of ministry which started in a morning class on November the 11. Now it is spreading to other colleges and universities through a live webcast during the meetings.

Here’s IHOP’s official website with the available webcast and their account of how it all started and their perspective on what is going on:

“On November 11, during a 9:00am class of first-year students, led by Allen Hood and Wes Hall at International House of Prayer University (IHOPU), the Spirit moved in their midst with physical healings, deliverance, and a spirit of joy. That class, on November 11, continued for more than 15 hours. The word spread quickly, and over 2,000 people spontaneously gathered in the auditorium from all over the Kansas City area, as deliverance and physical healings increased. The meeting continued well past midnight. Recognizing that the Spirit was moving, the leadership of IHOPU canceled all classes for the next few days so that we could gather to receive all that the Spirit wanted to do.”…

<<Read the rest>> *Top

Posted in Awakening, IHOP Awakening

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry Mr. President, We will be Praising The Lord

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Michael| Leave a comment

: (Image via Wikipedia)

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American celebration that began nearly four centuries ago with a deeply religious people, the Pilgrims, giving thanks to God for preserving them though a very hard year and bringing them their first bountiful harvest which they gratefully shared with their indigenous neighbors.

It was our first President George Washington who proclaimed that our first official national day of public thanksgiving should be dedicated by observing and:

“…by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.“

In recent years the ‘politically correct’/secular crowd has rewritten the history of the first Thanksgiving to place an emphasis upon the hand that the indigenous American Indians played in helping the original Pilgrim community to survive. In the process they have redirected the emphasis on thanks towards the neighbors and away from the providence of Almighty God.

In his official recognition and Proclamation of Thanksgiving 2009, our most secular President Obama continues the PC view and takes it to another level calling the nation to observe the following during this Thanksgiving:

“…I encourage all the people of the United States to come together, whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place where family, friends and neighbors may gather, with gratitude for all we have received in the past year; to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own; and to share our bounty with others.”

Notice that he makes no mention of thanking God in his proclamation—probably the first President to ignore the Almighty during this celebration. While it is always good to be thankful for others who have enriched our own lives and certainly that has a good part to play in the celebration. Nevertheless the major emphasis of Thanksgiving should always be upon God as it was at the very first.

Sorry Mr. President, for me and my family we will be praising and thanking the Lord God Almighty for the bounties and the providence that he has bestowed upon us this year in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. *Top

Posted in Thanksgiving

Tagged Thanks to Almighty God, Thanksgiving

Kingdom Culture: Do Not Worry, Be Thankful and Pray Instead

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Michael| 3 Comments

: Image by Loci Lenar via Flickr

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV

Do not be anxious about anything? This comes in the form of a command and surely is relevant for us today in the middle of a major economic crisis and a culture that seems to be leaving us behind. In effect Paul says here—Don’t worry pray instead and be thankful. This is the way of the Kingdom and the path of faith which leads us in an entirely different direction than the dominant culture.

We know that Paul actually lived out this command praising God after being beaten and thrown in prison, ministering to those around him regardless of the circumstances, even writing this scripture and others while he was in custody.

Remember, we have a God who wants only the best for us and we have a Lord who understands what we are going through, and we have a Holy Spirit which is with us in the midst of all of our troubles inspiring us to seek the best—we are not alone, praise God and be thankful!

The passage also remind me of what Jesus said in Matt. 6:25-34 plus the Greek word for anxious is the same in this passage also:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” …

…“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”…

“O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, …For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The basic message in both of these passages is the same—live according to faith and not like the dominant culture. Praise God, seek His Kingdom, pray continually, remember to be thankful and it will be well with you and yours for all eternity including the few years lived on this earth and in these chaotic times.

Believe me I know how difficult this may seem sometimes and I certainly am guilty of letting bad circumstances get to me and bring me down for a while. But with God everything is possible and when we let His Spirit to be more a part of our daily lives than it is increasingly fulfilled in us as we actually gain the mind of Christ and peace floods into our daily lives in spite of ourselves. *Top

Posted in Christian Living, Devotional, Faith, Holy Spirit, Kingdom Culture

Tagged Don't Worry be Thankful, Kingdom Culture

The ‘Manhattan Declaration’: A Call of Christian Conscience

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Michael| Leave a comment

Over 151 Christian leaders from all sorts of different denominations and organizations have signed a document called the ‘Manhattan Declaration’ which is a call for Christians to stand together on a number of major moral issues that face America. The following three points summarize the key areas addressed by the document :

1. The sanctity of human life

2. The dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. The rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Here’s the final paragraph of the document which reflects these key areas of concern:

“Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.

We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.”

Response: <<Read my response on my AFTF blog>>

Here’s a link if you want to sign on to the document. Over 5,000 signatures so far. *Top

Posted in -Pro Life, American Church, Culture Wars, Politics & Religion

Tagged Manhattan Declaration

Offended by the Holy Spirit?

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Michael| 1 Comment

A Devotional by Mike Bickle:

“The Holy Spirit intentionally offends people”

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. —1 Corinthians 1:21-24

In contrast to the polite, shy, gentlemanly image we have of the Holy Spirit, He intentionally offends people. It pleased God that the Gentiles were offended by the foolishness of the gospel message and that the Jews were tripped up by the stumbling block of the cross. Paul warned the Galatians that if they required circumcision as demanded by the Jews, then "the offense of the cross has ceased" (Gal. 5:11, NKJV). The implication is that the gospel is sometimes offensive by God’s design. By offending people with His methods, God reveals the pride, self-sufficiency, and feigned obedience that lie hidden in people’s hearts.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Father, prepare me for the times when Your Spirit offends me or others. Remind me that You may choose offense to reveal my pride, self-sufficiency, or feigned obedience.

Response: I freely admit that there are times when I have been embarrassed and offended by the Holy Spirit usually when I need to make some changes in my life and particularly my attitudes. It seems to come at the most inopportune times and calculated to make one look rather silly which in reality we all are in comparison to the Lord.

It is tragic that sometimes we may back away from making those changes and letting the Spirit have it’s way with us. Some of us would rather make up theological reasons why we don’t need to respond. Believe me I know that one too. After you get a Doctorate in Theology you really think you know something but in reality you have only gained fancy ways of talking about what you really don’t know.

The Holy Spirit is real good at helping you see how ignorant you really are no matter whether you are highly educated like a Paul or practically wise like a Peter.

Come Holy Spirit, Fill us today and show us your ways.

Posted in Devotional, Holy Spirit

Tagged Holy Spirit

Happy Veteran’s Day

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Michael| Leave a comment

(Picture by respres via Flickr)

To all who have served our country so well:

We salute you this day and may God’s blessings be upon you.

Posted in Veteran's Day

Tagged Veteran's Day

Kingdom Culture: The Lord is Always with Us

Posted on November 8, 2009 by Michael| 1 Comment

: Image by freestone via Flickr

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV

One of the most important lessons that all of us need to realize as Christians is that our Lord is with us through it all–good and bad. He is there when we lose our job, he is there when we fight with our wife, he is there also when we respond to his Spirit and reach out to others around us.

He is there through thick and thin. He promised us that he would be with us to the very end of the age. We might be facing tough times right now, but if you take a time out and read what Jesus and his Apostles lived through, we probably aren’t facing circumstances quite as severe as they did–as least not those of us in America. Some Christians are and we may face similar trials in the future.

Remember Paul and Silas in prison singing? The Lord was with them that night. Peter- when the chains fell off?

It reminds me of the testimony of a modern day Christian pastor that I personally know who was thrown into a Cambodian prison during the ‘killing fields’ era when all Christians were rounded up and killed. As he waited for his execution and after he was beaten every day and left for dead in his cell he began to sing: “I have a river of life flowing out from me…”.

Eventually all those in cells around him were converted. They took him out of the prison since he seem to be causing so much touble among his fellow prisoners –put him in a hospital to bring him back to health so that they could tortured him some more and get him to reveal the identities of fellow Christians.

A East German (supposedly Communist) doctor who was actually a closet Christian helped him escape. He found his way to Southern California and pastored among the Cambodian community here until the Lord sent him back to re-establish the church in Cambodia (which is another story). The point is this Cambodia bother testifies that the Lord was with him in all of those situations and continues to be. A real lesson for us all.

The Lord is at hand and with us through it all. *Top

Kingdom Culture: Peace in the Midst of Chaos (charismatica.com)
Kingdom Culture: Be Reasonable and Considerate (charismatica.com)
Kingdom Economy: Not business as Usual (charismatica.com)

Posted in Devotional

Tagged Devotional

Kingdom Culture: Be Reasonable and Considerate

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Michael| 3 Comments

(Picture by adonis hunter / ahptical via Flickr)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV

In the ongoing culture around us the motto is- “looking out for number one”. In many ways Christians have been no different than anyone else. Put me in a car going down the freeway and most of the time it’s ‘do to others before they do to me’ –not exactly the Golden Rule that Jesus had in mind.

Even in churches, some of the meanest people I have ever had the misfortune of coming across have been supposed Christians sitting in the pews. Over the years when teaching classes I have occasionally been pulled into battles over minutia that didn’t amount to anything more important than a slight disagreement over eschatology followed by a severe tongue lashing. Anyone that has been posting on the internet for a while can attest to how ungracious fellow Christians can be sometimes.

It really is time for Christians to be different. For too long we have been pulled along with the culture—but this culture is no longer Christian and the prevailing values no longer reflect an underlining effort to do good. Actually increasingly what is ‘good’ according to the scriptures is now increasingly being called bad and what is evil is now starting to be considered good. In my lifetime I have lived long enough to see everything turned on its ear.

It is time for Christian to reflect a ‘Kingdom Culture’ which is increasingly at odds and different than the dominant culture around us in America and the Western world.

We may pray every day—”Let your Kingdom come let your will be done”—it is time for the Kingdom to become a reality in our everyday living. We should stand out as gentle, reasonable, and considerate folks letting our lights shine as beacons into the increasing darkness.

This doesn’t happen over night but only as we allow the Holy Spirit to come in and dwell with us as we do our daily tasks—going down the toll road, shopping in the store, and reaching out in kindness and civility to those working around us. As a beacon of light that will draw people to you and the Lord which should be reflected in our lives. Let the Holy Spirit’s light break through. *Top

Posted in Devotional, Kingdom Culture

Tagged Devotional

Kingdom Culture: Peace in the Midst of Chaos

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Michael| 4 Comments

(Picture via Wikipedia)

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -ESV

For many Christians the chaos that is going on around us in the economy and everyday living is closing in on them and robbing them of their joy and victory in Christ Jesus. With our harried lives of here there and everywhere it is sometime difficult to fit the Lord into our busy schedule—at least it is for me sometimes—and even harder to rejoice in the midst of it all.

Nevertheless, the counsel of these verses is very clear –we are to rejoice always in the midst of it all. You might say– ‘Well Michael- you don’t know what I am going through right now’—and that would be true but neither do you know what I am facing.

It is good for us to remember what Paul was facing when he penned these verses in the first place. He was under arrest facing the Roman Justice system. What ever we may be going through it has got to be better than that. The message transcends the centuries and the Holy Spirit confirms it in our very hearts:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

(To be continued) *Top