30th July, 2008
I Wrestle Not Against
Not against flesh and blood but against my own “self”. I have been in a horrific wrestling match lately. The enemy has unleashed, all hell, it seems, against me! My “self” just wants to go back to the earlier years, before Christ, and handle this the “street” way. I so reminded of the spiritual warfare that I face here in this wicked city called Santa Cruz. (dubbed by many as Satan Cruz) Yes, everyone thinks it is just a community, a beach town, a cool place to retire or get lost in! NOT! It is a haven for evil, a farm for demonic growth, a darkness that dwells and lurks deep in the shadows. We must be on the vortex of a new revelation or breakthrough. I can put it simply like this: I have a spiritual machete and I have been whacking away at the evil brush and thick darkness. I was led one way and then another and BAM, I hit a nest of dark, secluded, and empirical nest of demonic forces.
I will be victorious, but scars I will carry for the good of the found souls in a darkness that deep black seems to be bright white when compared to the depth of darkness I have gone into.
Pray, pray, pray! I cannot stop now! The cries are to loud and the passion is to strong!
Best
Dennis
Posted at 10:38 pm | Comment (0)
23rd July, 2008
It Ain’t Over
Today, I am so exhausted from doing so much that I wonder just who I am in the “mix” of this Kingdom work! I have been letting down my time for blogging and simply put, I have been to tired to write deep stuff! My heart is sore from missing God so much and my mind is weary from doing four things at once, literally! I hope that all the “stuff” will bring a harvest of souls for the King to be stoked about. Actually, I sense that I am fighting one of the biggest fights in spiritual warfare ever! Tonight, I really felt the enemy attacking so I just stood there in the power of His might. CeCe Winans new CD “Thy Kingdom Come” is great! She has a song on it called “It Ain’t Over”. You no what, not to coin a phrase, but, it ain’t over yet.
Best
Dennis
Posted at 10:48 pm | Comment (0)
9th June, 2008
Committed To His Example
The cause of Christ was to save this world from her sin. In John 3:16-17 we read “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.
Having knowledge of this ‘love’ that Christ has shown us through His suffering proclaims to us the immense concern that God has for our character. In the serving the Lord we must also proclaim our concern for this world be living an exemplary life before all men. Jesus died and suffered many things when He did not deserve to suffer at all! He showed patience, meekness, calmness and confidence in what God had planned for the future. This was loyalty and perseverance in its truest sense. Christ took our place at Calvary and He died for our sins. This is called a substitutionary atonement. Those that follow Jesus must be prepared to suffer in this life. We realize Moses made that choice when we read Hebrews 11:25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. The suffering that we Christians partake in is a result of our doing well not a result of doing bad. If we suffer because we do bad and not say anything how will that glorify God? If we bear up under suffering for the sake of conscience toward God because we have done well we find favor with God. Jesus took all our sins and placed them on Himself so we could be called the sons and daughters of God. His wounds have healed us and we have been able to return to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls. The importance in this life is that we live it as unto the Lord and having that knowledge in our hearts we should be able to bear up under circumstances that cause stress in our lives. Live a life that exemplifies Christ before all men and have confidence. God is in control of the future.
Best
Dennis
Scriptures used in this blog post are from The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thoma Nelson.
Posted at 9:20 pm | Comment (0)
7th March, 2008
Marching Toward Victory
Have you ever wondered what it will be like when the battle is over? When, well you know, that the marching orders read STOP, you have done enough, the war is over and the enemy has surrendered. Today, I had a day that I was hoping I would receive those orders! However, it was quite the opposite. From the opening of eyes and having the new day begin, I heard the orders “March on into victory.” I wanted to yell out, I am to old and to weary to go on another day in the battle to see the souls that surround my life come to Jesus! I am not willing to go further! Then before I knew it, I was marching toward another victory. The day has come to an end and I am glad for the march. Victory is sweet and the enemy is a bay for the moment. Tomorrow brings another opportunity to march into battle. Hopefully, I will be willing and not fight the calling of my heart!
Peace
Dennis
Posted at 1:20 am | Comment (0)
20th January, 2008
It’s Late Into The Night - Souls In The Balance
I have again been face to face with a computer screen for about twelve hours. I am such a “geek”! New programs to learn, new designs to make and time just flies by.
I want to say that I am praying for victory in all our lives. The life of a Christian is so different today than it was a few years back. The message has not changed! The method has and so has the approach. I see so much here in Santa Cruz that often I wonder if people knew that they could be set free if they would just believe. Believe in the One True, Holy God, that loves them so much that He desires to forgive them of all their sin. I see so much in the “dirt” that I come home and pray that God would just breathe on this community and America as a whole.
There are so many “weak” Christians today that have relaxed their “standing” of beliefs! It is all comfort and pleasure! I like comfort and pleasure is really a nice addition to life, however, souls are on the scale and the weight of sin is outweighing the truth of forgiveness! My heart is heavy with the burdens of the lost. So simple, so easy, to reach out to God and be set free. Comfort and pleasure sneak up and snatch away the truth of a relationship with God. As sin grows in this country, like aides and cancer, there is cure that grows up higher than all! Nothing is higher than the Cross of Calvary and certainly nothing is greater than the Christ who died there for you and I. Tell it loud and tell it clear: Jesus cares and wants you to be delivered, happy,and living a fulfilled life!
Peace
Dennis
Posted at 12:42 am | Comment (0)
28th December, 2007
What Is Preaching?
Preaching is what people do when they want to strongly exhort. prophesy or reprove other people. Preaching is also defined as ‘the public proclamation of Christianity to the non-Christian world’. Preaching can be multifarious! It seem to me that we do a whole lot of preaching to each other who are saved and not enough to the non-Christian world. The enemy of our walk with God has confused so many by making “superstar” preachers (who I think should stay in Hollywood)! I have heard great preaching in my day! Sermons that would curl and did curl the devils toes. These sermons did not come from some known “superstar” but from the heart of individuals who understood the heart of God to reach souls. They understood the warfare that begins in prayer before the sermon is even designed on paper. They understood the anointing that came upon them as they began to declare the oracles of God to unsaved ears. It is not in length nor of talent but in the understanding that the Word of God is preached to bring souls to the decision of accepting Christ.
For myself I have been speaking for about 33 years. I really do not know if I even understand the “art” of preaching. One thing I do understand is that no matter how God does it, it is Him who breaks the yoke through preaching. I remember once that I felt that I had really found my niche in communicating the Gospel of Christ. I invited a seasoned preacher who I respected immensely to preach at the church I was pastoring in San Lorenzo, CA. The speaker came to the platform after I spent time introducing and sowing accolades ( Gets me sick to think that is what I thought was right) and in five minutes of speaking (preaching) the message was over. I sat in my chair thinking: It took five minutes to say what normally would have taken me an hour! I learned that day that content can be delivered as the Holy Spirit gives opportunity. What is the understanding of preaching. Paul stated this:
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God’s power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, ” (Romans 1:16, AMP)
In this verse I have soaked my spirit-man. Hoping that one day I can say in five minutes what it takes an hour normally for me. You can buy books to show you how to stand when you preach ( I must confess, that I never read one but I have paged through them!) You can buy other sermons and build of them. You can memorize so you can deliver with the greatest of eloquence ( That is cool, I think). But I still believe that finding a prayer closet and asking God to anoint you with power, to flow through you in power and to help you quench the thirsting of Jesus is the way to get your sermon. Studying is what God wants but we need to be anointed also.
So what is preaching? I really can only tell you that I am still learning to preach! What I have learned so far is that God has chosen it to communicate to the lost. By the way board room preaching is messed up and not anointed!
Peace
Dennis
All scriptures contained in this blog are of the The amplified Bible, containing the amplified Old Testament and the amplified New Testament. 1987. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
Posted at 10:35 pm | Comments (2)