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)
11th June, 2008
Waging War Against Apathy
The greatest enemy of the church today is not lack of provision or a falling and weakened stock market; it is the age-old deception of the enemy – APATHY. The ability to know what must be done and just not doing it is the best definition of “apathy”. The apathetic spirit that invades the atmosphere of a church must have war declared against it. This spirit has a crippling effect not only on the believer but also on the corporate body of believers. How can war be waged against such a deceiving spirit? The Word of God declares: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephes. 6:12 Our weapons of warfare are not carnal but spiritual. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 2 Cor. 10:4 First things first, you must recognize your enemy. There must be knowledge of what you are fighting against. The Word defines this for us. We must not be ignorant of the enemy’s devices. Secondly we must be able to know what our weapons are. The weaponry that we have at our side is made mighty through God. Having indifference toward the things of God is actually rebellion against His Will and His purpose for your life. The Lord desires for you to have the best and He will always provide for your every need. We miss what God has for us when we live indifferent from His commands. The best way to gauge your appearance of application toward the commands of God is through your prayer life. Prayer is the strongest weapon that anyone can have in his or her spiritual arsenal. Prayer will always tear down the enemy’s power and the Holy Spirit will show you through His wisdom just what the Lord wants you to do. When one communicates with the Father there is an ability that comes. The Word tells us that we can do “all” things through Him who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13) When one does not pray there is the possibility of becoming “lukewarm” to the Word. This is always the result of the indifferent spirit. The Lord does not want anyone of His children lukewarm but He desires them to be “on fire” with His Word. To have compassion for the lost and have a real burden for prayer. If you are feeling like you do not want to be involved or you have done enough – watch out, this spirit of apathy will deceive you into believing that you are all right. Seek the Lord and find “newness” in life and take pleasure in His presence. The war is raging but we are winning for prayer has given us the edge – the Sword of the Spirit!
Best
Dennis
Scriptures used in this blog post are from The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thoma Nelson.
Posted at 10:09 pm | 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)
12th October, 2007
What I Wrestle Against
Do you ever feel like your struggling? I know I do more than I would like to admit. Sometimes I just want to give up and give in to the struggle. Sometimes I cannot even point to the subject of what I am struggling with or against.
Paul’s writings in Ephesians comes alive in my spirit:
“For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. ” (Ephesians 6:12, AMP)
These past few days I have been really struggling (wrestling) in my heart and mind. Someone once said..”That means something good is about to happen”. Well, I hope so because it has been a tough couple of days. The answer is knowing how to struggle by putting on the whole armor of God: Ephesians 6:13-18.
I realize that the people I minister to are demon possessed and worship false gods on a daily basis. I serve in a New Age capitol and metaphysical spiritual web of deception by the enemy. But I struggle (wrestle) on and through. So, like Paul, I may be able to speak the truth to the lost: so please pray for me!
“And [pray] also for me, that [freedom of] utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news (the Gospel), ” (Ephesians 6:19, AMP)
The Lord has given me a task, vision, desire, passion and mission to bring the Gospel to this dark city. That is why I fight so hard! I must remember that my weapons are spiritual:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, ” (2 Corinthians 10:4, AMP)
I am struggling right now even as I type this journal. This is a tough one this time!
I must always remember that: prayer moves the Hand of God.
Peace
Dennis
Posted at 11:39 pm | Comment (1)