30th August, 2008
Spiritual Maintenance
Just quick word to all that continue to wonder about what God is doing. He is consistently doing spiritual maintenance on all those that are willing to come to Him in humility. The scripture is really straight forward when is states that those who wait upon the Lord shall…
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
We have every right to wait upon Him and we can even enter boldly…
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Just think, God is always willing to do spiritual maintenance on us! All we have to do is ask!
Best
Dennis
All scripture in this blog post is from The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Posted at 8:40 pm | Comment (0)
28th August, 2008
Crafty But Caught
Imagine for a moment if the world we live in did not know of God and did not care to know Him! Actually, it would be safe to say that the world be a real mess! The thought of this brings shivers up my spine and clearly makes me want to worship Him who is known as God, Creator, Master and Savior.
Now that we have set that as a foundation, it seems really important to mention that the enemy of the souls of mankind, has been crafty in his doings! Absolutely in all that he seemingly does in the natural has its place in the supernatural or spiritual realm. Terms that bring us to reckoning with some of the emotion we feel when we witness the damage that has bruised the lives of those we love. Have you ever come to reason with why after prayer, you may sense the pressure or oppression of spiritual ridicule? The craftiness of the enemy is employed to condemn and destroy the prayers that you have offered up for others.
Never think for one moment that he is successful in his craftiness! He is caught in the gaze of a Holy God who watches over you day and night. He never slumbers nor sleeps! (Psalm 121). He keeps you from harms way and lights your path with His Word. The Lord also keeps us from the craftiness of the enemy by hedging us in and delivering us out of all our troubles. Even when the enemy comes in like a might rushing water, the Lord raises up a standard (a wall) that cannot be penetrated.
God has prepared for us His own armor to wear and continue in life with. The area of that armor that speaks loudly and clearly is the “Shield of Faith”. This article of protective wear stops the fiery darts of the enemies lies. Faith is soaked with the Word of God. So every dart that hits, is dowsed in the Word and put out!
He may be crafty but he is caught in the trap that is set through promised deliverance, righteous living and committed prayer!
Best
Dennis
Posted at 10:28 pm | Comment (0)
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)
2nd July, 2008
Do You Have Church Growth Plans?
Just what is in your future? Has your heart or mind been looking ahead to what the future may hold for you and your dreams. The most qualified statement is always going to be: Do not stop dreaming your dream! When I was just a very young minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, I was the pastor of a small country church. I would pray for growth and go to every seminar and read all the books on Church Growth I could find. Yes, the little country church grew and it was quite exciting! It grew only to the capacity that it would hold though! Even though I had prayed and overcame many obstacles I wanted to grow further in the “plan” for renewal and soul discipleship application. I was not satisfied! The one thing that stopped the growth where I was came to me simply but incredibly incomprehensible for me. The “folks” of the church did not want to grow any further. I thought my dream had ended! This is all there is? This cannot be! So I contacted a pastor who had grown to about 2500 people and was highly respected in the field of Church Growth. To my ultimate surprise and highest encouragement he agreed to meet me for lunch. Well, to make a story get to the point he said these words to me: Never stop dreaming your dream, you will make it if your keep dreaming. People will always try to wake you up and bring you into there nightmare! It is a nightmare because you do not belong in their dream. Always be spiritually asleep, dreaming on what God’s future is for you. Be spiritually awake so you can take others along on the journey of your dream. Make your dream real to them and you will grow.
I have never forgot those words. One of my favorite scriptures in the Word of God is: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
So my heart has always dreamed and my dream continues as I am asleep spiritually in His great promise and I am alive (awake) in Him so I can tell others of His great love. Do not stop dreaming your dream! It will come as that which you have dreamed.
Best
Dennis
All scriptures used in this blog article are The Amplified Bible, containing the Amplified Old Testament and the Amplified New Testament. 1987. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
Posted at 10:13 pm | Comments (2)
25th June, 2008
The Twist That May Break
Here we go into the summer and all is to be told about the “new” way and “how” it should be in the Church of God. So much for all that, yawn! There is so much going on in the “spiritual” level of the Church that the General Assembly will be nothing but a “Who’s Who” in some “Who’s Who book but I do not know whose. Do you?
Great revival has broken out again in Florida and all eyes and ears are open to the critics but not the Lord and just maybe He is doing something there that is new and refreshing! Oh well, just let the critics work it out as God does His thing and everyone that should be there will be there. The “arm chair” revivalist’ will have fun running it from their living room televisions! Why not, it is a “media” revival is it not?
The shrinking of the Church of God is still going on but as usual everyone has their head in the sand looking out from their butt. Come on we are shrinking! Oh, yes, that is right your not but it not just about you! There is always growth, in spotty areas, in a denomination when it shrinks as a whole. That happens because some pastors don’t even realize that they belong to something! Keep going guys, ignorance is bliss when you can get away with it!
So what is going to happen in the Fall of 2008? Probably there will be meetings and plans made with the hope that the former things will not rise back up! The funny thing is that they never have ever been pushed down. It is a gimmick of some sort when we think that the “new” leadership team at “headquarters” is really different. Same stuff, new faces (maybe), all the promises of help and hope but the pockets keep getting bigger and who knows what really happens on that mighty fourth floor? It must be really incredible though! I would suspect that it changes good men into pleasing men and some where along the line integrity looses its intense road to holiness.
Till next time when the morning brings news of a whispering of spiritual truth that just may open the eyes of the concerned. Oh, don’t forget that the mouse will show up in August in San Antonio, TX and the elephant will turn and run!
Best
Dennis
Posted at 10:07 pm | Comment (0)
23rd June, 2008
A Very Spiritual Time
I have some thoughts that I would like to share in the next few weeks. The vein of thought relates to where we are as the Church today! Denominational death, the rise of the questionable techniques being used in evangelism today, the inference of the style of revival used today, the shrinkage of the faith from the Church or is it the shrinkage from denominational control and laws. Is there really freedom of worship in the Church today or is it orchestrated for the furtherance of individual ministries? The actual truth being spoken in the open or behind the doors of “planners” desiring to become “kings” and “queens” as the Church grows weary fighting amongst the “climbers” of political hoopla! We are in a very deep spiritual time or a time of great reckoning!
Best
Dennis
Posted at 9:55 pm | Comment (0)
19th June, 2008
Evolution vs. Revolution
What do we have here? A real revolution that may change the face and the direction, diction and distinctiveness of the Church of God or an evolution that is bringing the same results? The question presents some depth and internal searching for reference to a revolutionary stage at General Assembly or a evolution that will be embraced. If a revolution then so be it and it should be respected and heard. It is really only a revolution of words and ideals and maybe some ideas that can turn the tide of that which resembles a monument about to become a mausoleum. Could this deeply be the birthing of a “new” church within the “old” guard assuming the posture of submission to the Holy Spirit. New wine being poured out into new wine skins? Evolution would be a better approach and a great way to shed the “old” wine skin! It is the natural flow of things you understand? The thought of a penned revolution ticketed for discussion that may change the pages of a book entitled ”The Minutes” to a reference book of spirituality. This mentioned “bible” of political aspirations and controls that empowers men to run ahead of the finger print of God! How wonderful this would be! Men and women able to say what they feel and be heard without being “closed” by the “chair” whom just may not agree with the revolution or even the evolution. Can such things happen in this 21st Century when “change” is being shouted from the board rooms and Starbucks! If we cannot evolve past this insensible deterioration of spirituality and gravitate to a level of a spiritual church then the revolution must start now and be penned in passion, deeply engraved into the hearts of those willing to “fight” for truth and spirituality.
This could become two churches with similar distinctive pentecostal beliefs!
One being young and full of “new” vision and flowing in what has been created as new and pertinent to His “now” call! The other existing on foundations built from “old” bricks, such as, the walls lining farms and plantations, still keeping out what may be able to bring life?
What do you want it to be? Revolution or Evolution in the Church of God?
Best
Dennis
Posted at 10:58 pm | Comment (0)
5th June, 2008
Being On The Cutting Edge
Are you living on the edge of happiness and victory or are you just living on the edge? The Lord lived His whole life on the edge of spiritual revelation and scriptural truth. His application to life was to give life to those who would ask for it! Life is not just breathing and enjoying the other senses, such as, taste and feeling, etc.
The Lord wants us to have a life that is not only natural but also very spiritual. A life that is rich with virtue and dynamic in purpose. The church should be living with a sixth sense, “revelation sense” that is placed in our lives when we receive the Lord…He has made His abode in us and is consistently impressing our hearts with revelation. The Word is alive in us and we have the “knowledge” and the gifting that prepares us for ministry and worship. Moving in the Spirit is not just something you encounter by opening the day with a smile or even a sense of relationship you may have with you own emotions, but it is “revelation” in your spirit that contains the application of ministry and worship. Listen to the what the Word of Lord speaks:
“For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper that any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is discerner if the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creation hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes if Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)
He has equipped us with this Word and this Word was breathed forth from Him. His Word is inspired and is true inspiration and motivation to all that will hear what the Spirit is saying to the church…The Lord is revealing His direction and depth to all that will listen and obey. Are you willing to live on the edge, the spiritual edge, and the cutting edge of ministry? There and only there will you see and hear the “real” application of the Word of God in action and in purpose. He shares with you through the “sixth sense” – the revelation sense! He wants to take us all past the outer gates into the courts of His Praise that all would be able to move away from the natural into the spiritual.
Come now into the Holy of Holies and receive the “revelation” from Him and begin to live on the cutting edge. Come out to where Jesus is and walk the edge of spiritual revelation and see what the Lord will reveal to your heart as you worship Him.
Best
Dennis
Scriptures used in this blog post are from The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Posted at 10:56 pm | Comment (0)
30th May, 2008
Being Real In Life
Walking in the newness of the Spirit is certainly the formula for living “real”. The Word declares that if we are going to have a spiritual life we need to walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) Just walking in the Spirit is quite different than walking with the Spirit! Both are needed to complete the empowerment for a holy lifestyle. So many people attend groups and churches with the attitude of walking with the Spirit. Walking with the Spirit is necessary and really important in keeping in step with your purpose in life. When one walks “in” the Spirit there is a “bound” relationship that expresses trust and reliance. So to be spiritual there must be a relationship that trusts what the Spirit is declaring into the heart. This area of trust or portion of trust embraces “faith” and holds on the the “hope” that is set before each individual. It is really unique to be in relationship with the Holy Spirit! Jesus placed His whole declaration in John 14-16 on the promise of the coming Holy Spirit. The necessity expressed of the importance of His presence on this earth was never negated by any words or prayers of Jesus of Nazareth. He consistently impressed upon His disciples the “need” and the “source” of communication that the Holy Spirit would represent to them. That is why the importance of walking “in” the Spirit cannot be set aside or placed as frivolous in the hearts of mankind. Even the love that represents who we are and designates in whom we represent is placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5) Keep in step with Him but also more importantly walk in Him so your “life” can be the “real” thing!
Best
Dennis
Posted at 11:36 pm | Comment (0)