Prophetic Ministry News- March 2008

Posted: 2008-03-09 17:44:52

• Weekly Prayer, Saturday evenings, 7 p.m.
• Des Moines Ministry Base Church, Sunday evening, 6:15 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENT(S): 

Gilroy, California
Pacific Rim Training Institute-
Teaching sessions
March 28th-30th

Perryville, Missouri
April 2008

The True Gospel by David Nelson

Posted: 2008-03-01 21:02:53

The True Gospel    by David Nelson       2-29-08

Introduction: Below is a statement on some of the essential parts of the message of salvation often missing in sermons. This is not a doctrinal statement or a full treatise on every aspect of salvation or the gospel. We believe it is important for people to know these things in addition to other important aspects of the Gospel that are more widely accepted and taught. We are trying to guard against people sitting in church thinking that they are saved because they have “said a prayer,” and a pastor or a “spiritual leader” told them they were saved when, in fact, they have not been born again and are still going to church in an unsaved condition. After reading the points below we hope that you will agree that these thoughts and verses are an important part of the True Gospel. 

----God takes the initiative to draw us to Himself. “No one comes to the Father unless the Holy Spirit draws him.”

----No one can make himself born again. “Unless you be born again you cannot see the kingdom of God.” No one by the will of man can make himself born again, only God makes you born again as He wills.”

----We must believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth and have Him in our life. “There is no other name except His name (Jesus) by which we must be saved.” “If we have Jesus in us we have eternal life.” “He who has not the Spirit of Christ has not life.”

----You may speak to God in prayer often but what is of key importance is when He starts speaking to you about sin and righteousness. If you listen, take heed, and change into His likeness (at whatever speed is not the key factor but what is key is continuing to change in your character and actions to become more like Christ) then you are a real “son” (child) of God. If you do not grow in righteousness and holiness (because of His continuing discipline of you, and His showing you His ways, and the changes that He makes in your life as you submit to His leadings and promptings), if this is not happening, then you are not a real “son” (child) of God but a bastard (pretend) son. “Without holiness no one will see God.”

----The true gospel Jesus presented can be summed up in this verse, “If anyone (man, woman, boy or girl) wants to be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” (If you don’t do this you are not my disciple, pupil, or follower). Jesus did the will of the Father in His life. “I do only those things that please Him. I do nothing on my own authority but only what I see the Father do, that I do.” One of the hardest things Jesus ever had to do, though He knew ahead of time it was the Father’s will, was go to the cross. Why do I say it was one of the hardest things? He did all that the Father sent Him to do through His whole life without complaining but one night in the garden of Gethsemane He faced the greatest crisis of His life. When He prayed, “If it be possible Father let this cup (of the cross) pass from me (that I would not have to drink it). Never the less thy will be done not my will (which was to have it pass). Three times He said the same words to the Father in great agony of soul. Finally He got the victory and said, OK, I will do it, not my will, I will do your will, Father. And Jesus requires no less of His followers, deny your own will every day, take up your own cross every day, and follow Me (in whatever I may require of you).

----This is the true gospel. It has to do with us receiving Christ and believing in Him (His cross, His righteousness, His blood, His forgiveness, His life in us). He will change us by making us born again. We will become new creatures that are drawn toward righteousness and away from sin. As we lose sin more and more, we are becoming more holy, more like Him. It is a narrow path that leads to life eternal. We have that eternal life in us with Jesus in us. If we should stray from the path, He’ll give us strength and show us the way back. If we stay in relationship with Him till the end we will grow spiritually, become more like Him and “if we endure to the end we will be saved.” “We are nearer now to our salvation than when we first believed.”

----This is not the gospel that we hear very often, but it is because we have become familiar with an “easier gospel” and we thought it was an acceptable gospel, but it is missing some of the essential parts mentioned above.  

----Why is this Gospel such “Good News?” Because Jesus is the door to God’s world. He is the door to know God. “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” I give you the free gift of eternal life, “And this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” 

(Quotes above are verses from the Bible, available upon request)

Doing Away With the Cross by Vern Kuenzi

Posted: 2008-03-01 20:55:27

DOING AWAY WITH the CROSS
-by Vern Kuenzi.

The Lord has spoken three times over the last six years about the
absence of the cross in the current vision and affairs of the church.
These are among the strongest and clearest words the Lord has
ever spoken to me. At the time of each of these speakings, the
Lord put me into a desolate place so that I would get the point and
there would be no confusion that He was speaking and about what
He was saying.

The first time was in late 1996, at a major men's evangelistic
meeting here in Honolulu. At that meeting were the best of
speakers, the best of musicians, an upbeat evangelistic message,
and an altar call to accept Jesus as Savior. I tried to fit in with the
flow of the meeting and went down onto the arena floor to hopefully
distribute my quota of pledge cards, but I was ineffective and
became very grieved in spirit and walked back up to my seat and
sat slumped there until the meeting was over. I thought the
problem was with me. I didn't even want to attend the next day's
meeting, and as I lay in bed the next morning stripped of all
enthusiasm, I was very surprised when the Lord clearly spoke
through David Wilkerson's latest newsletter and said, "They have
done away with the cross." Obviously the very best that we can
come up with in terms of evangelistic efforts amounts to nothing if
we do away with cross. It might look good and sound good but
still be wood, hay, and stubble. The cross is the wisdom and
power of God, and without it the captives remain bound.

About two years ago, I attended a charismatic home meeting near
my house here in Pearl City. A known minister was invited and
signs and wonders and prophetic utterances seemed to flow.
Saints were slain in the Spirit and some claimed healings. The
next morning when I woke up it was as if the Lord had pulled a
plug and drained every bit of spiritual life from me. All I could think
of was, "I'm not gonna make it." I have never been so empty in my
life. But there was a small "Free Grace Broadcaster" pamphlet
beside me on the bed which I picked up and began to read. The
article that presented itself was titled, "The Glory of the Cross."
And as I began to read that short article, I could feel the life flowing
back into me. The Lord spoke clearly through that article by
saying, "God forbid that you should glory in anything but in the
cross of Jesus Christ." Apparently I had been glorying in many
things that night other than in the cross.

Most recently (in mid-2002, about August) I was reviewing several
books written by popular authors who embrace and oversee a
current apostolic/prophetic movement. The common vision of
those authors is that the church is called to overhaul the political,
economic, financial, and educational systems of this nation before
Jesus returns. I felt so out of step with this vision that I became
unsettled for several days and wondered again what was wrong
with me. I tried to buy one of the books at the Christian bookstore
where I was browsing it, but the cash register was malfunctioning
and I went home without the book feeling a check in my spirit. The
next day I went back to the bookstore and I picked up that book
again and began to reread portions of it. I asked the Lord to show
me where I was in error, and I also asked Him to keep me from
being deceived. Suddenly the Lord seemed to say, "Where is the
centrality of the cross in this vision?"

Three times the Lord has spoken severely about things that
seemed like "good" things, and in all three cases, the problem
that He identified was the absence of the cross. In all three cases,
the pain of the experience was very real. I now believe it was pain
associated with a birthing.

As "good" as it might seem to overhaul the economic, judicial,
financial, and educational systems before Jesus returns, that is
not the finish line that the Bible describes... We see a remnant
of saints who overcome satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word
of their testimony, and by loving not their lives unto death. The
book of Daniel concludes by saying the end of the age will come
when the power of the holy people has been shattered. We see a
snapshot of this in the lives of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

Together the books of Daniel and Revelation establish the true
vision for the church at the end of this age, and that vision is not
victory in a worldly sense, but victory through demonstration of
the wisdom and power of the cross. The true remnant church is
destined to follow Jesus and walk the path of the suffering servant.
God's eternal purpose is to involve His saints in the defeat of the
devil, and that defeat will be accomplished only as the church
walks in demonstration of the wisdom and power of the cross...

We're setting ourselves up for the same mistake that the nation of
Israel made 2000 years ago when they expected a political
messiah. Jesus did not come to overhaul Rome, and the remnant
church is not destined to overhaul Babylon, but to come out of her.
Her testimony in the midst of Babylon is what will set the captives free.

The danger of having our vision slightly off-target could cause us to
align with the wrong side. The antichrist is not going to come in a
red suit with horns. He is going to come as a deceiver and a
counterfeit. The nature of the counterfeit is to be as much like the
real thing as possible, but still not be the real thing. He's going to
come with an agenda of "good" things, but they will be things that
have done away with the cross.

The agenda of the devil is very simple. If he can get us to skew
our vision just a little bit off center by doing away with the
centrality of the cross, he will have won the victory. We will not
then be in position to demonstrate the wisdom and power of the
cross through our lives. We will be fighting against the cross
rather than embracing it.

The great dividing issue at the end of this age will be the issue of
the cross of Jesus Christ. Those who embrace it as the Holy Spirit
leads them will overcome. Those who do not, and rely on the
understanding and abilities of natural man, will fall away. If our sin
and our shortcomings do not bring us to the place of total
realization that not one good thing resides in us in the flesh, then
we have missed what it is that the Lord wants to work in us. Paul
came to the place where he realized that he was the chief of
sinners, and that no good thing was in him, and that he could
glory in nothing but in the cross of Jesus Christ. His words were
not spoken in wisdom, but in meekness, fear, and trembling, and
he recognized that only by the grace and mercy of God and by the
power of the Holy Spirit could he ever offer anything of significance
to a dying world around him.

The things that are coming upon the earth in these days are
designed to purify the church, and are likened to birth pains. It is
out of great tribulation that a great multitude emerges who have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
We must understand that this process is an outworking of God's
love, not His wrath. His wrath will follow great tribulation, and will
be directed only toward those who choose not to repent.

I once heard a man preaching on TV and saying, "God would never
do that to His bride." (He was referring to the question of her going
through the great tribulation) He did not understand the work of the
cross in the perfecting of the  saints. His doctrine had done away
with the cross.

Saints, let's not make that mistake. Let's embrace the cross
rather than doing away with it. Let us constantly abide in the
embrace of the Father's fervent love so that our love does not grow
cold. We love Him because He first loved us, and we continue to
love Him and others as we continue to live in His love. The
overcomers will be lovers. And may all glory be the Lord's!

NEW CHRISTIANS-Basics of Discipleship-True Repentence-Part 3

Posted: 2008-02-28 19:59:00

Scripture verses referenced in this study:

Hebrews 6
Deuteronomy 8:2
Revelation 2 and 3
II Tim. 4:7
I John 1:7

God is leading us down a wonderful path!  The basic discipleship ideas in Heb. 6 include repentance from dead works.  God doesn’t want us to have a hold of the world and the flesh and what is dead.  He wants us to put that off and take what is life and have our minds renewed.  We are being renewed daily so that we might put on what is heavenly and what is life. 

In Deut. 8:2, is a continuation of thought, here, on being led out of the world.  “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not, and he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”  The Lord led the people into the wilderness.  He wanted to teach them to listen to His voice, not to put their confidence in food that they see or in water that they see, in shelter or anything human by walking by sight, but they were to walk by faith and listen to the voice of God.  As they walked into the wilderness, their food began to be depleted, the water began to be depleted, they are out in the wilderness.  There is no McDonald’s around, there are no fields of corn.  Where’s the food?  They can’t walk by sight now.  It has to be you must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, that God says he will take care of you.  God says that he will provide food and water.  They complained to Moses and they said, “Our food has run out, our water is running out, we are going to die of thirst here in the wilderness, it would be better for us to go back to Egypt where we had our squashes and our leeks and our onions and our fields and we could see something and know that this is our food and this is what we can depend on...we would rather be in slavery and know that we are going to be taken of."  This is hard,  walking by faith.  God humbled them and let them hunger in the wilderness.  See, this is the growing up.  God may pull little rugs out from underneath you, or he is going to take away something that you wanted, or he is going to allow something to happen that you are going to be running after toys and he is going to say that he doesn’t want you to have these toys, I am going to make you miserable hanging onto these things.  You have to let go.  You have to pray more. You have to press in.  You’ve got to not watch so much television.  All of this is a humbling of causing us to hunger and thirst that when he finally feeds us with manna or feeds us with quail or takes the water that is before us and all of the sudden we are ready to drink it and it is poison water; OH NO.  But then He sweetens it.  He will show you what is right and will provide water for you from unseen ways.  As God said to Moses, “Strike the rock and the water will come forth.”  Water will come forth from My hidden treasury.  God is saying, you’ve got to learn to walk this walk of faith and you have to learn to let go and to progress. 

In Rev. 2:26 it says, "He who conquers and keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations."  You must keep his works until the end.  You must keep bearing the fruits of repentance.  John the Baptist says, "bear fruits that befit repentance."  He must keep His works until the end.  It says, "Endure until the end and you will be saved."  These are His works.  You have to do what He is telling you to do.  You have to have a relationship with Him and walk with Him and be changed by Him.  In II Tim 4:7, “I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.”  This was probably Paul’s last letter.  These were, maybe, days before he was going to be martyred.  He says, “The time of my departure is near.”  I know that I am going to be put to death soon.  I know that the race is soon over for me.  I have fought the fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.  We have to keep going until the end and repentance, as it mentions in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, seven churches are mentioned.  To five the different churches, he says that you must repent.  He says, “I know your works.”  Verse 2:2:  “I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance.  I know that you cannot bear evil men and you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not and found them to be false.  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name.”  This sounds like a good report, doesn’t it?  This is the Church of Ephesus.  A good report.  Jesus is saying I know your works.  I know that you are serving Me.  I know that you are true and I know that you have walked with me up until this point, but he says, “but I have this against you, verse 4, you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember then, from what you have fallen.  Repent, and do the works you did at first.  If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.  Twice it says, there, repent.  He says, “If you do not do this I will remove your lampstand” which means I will remove your church.  Jesus never meant us to just repent at the beginning.  Bear patiently with Him, love Him, serve Him, but then come to a place where we had gotten away from Him in one area or in a few areas, or maybe in a very serious area like losing our first love.  Yes, we were still bearing patiently, Yes, we were still continuing with our church, Yes, we will still continuing with our praise services and our healing services, but something was wrong and we had to repent.  He says, ”Unless you repent, I will come and remove your lampstand.”  You have got to return.  You cannot stop anywhere on the path and think I have done enough repenting in my life.  I have come so far and there is no more need for repentance.  Yes, there is.  If Jesus comes to you and he is calling to you to enter in more deeply, to come deeper, to let go of what may be more of a childish level and come up into a more mature level, we cannot say no to Him.  He won’t let us say NO to Him.  If we say NO to him, he will make us to become hardened in our heart and if we become hardened in one area we will begin to maybe be hardened in another and slowly but surely we will become lukewarm and it cannot be.  God will not allow it.  He says I have to train you to bring you to maturity.  You have to repent from this.  This is just one of the churches.  Every church—let’s say five of them I know for sure—he says REPENT.  Look what is says to Sardis in Rev. 3:1.  He says, “I know your works, you have the name of being alive but you are dead.  Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard.  Keep that and repent.  If you will not awake, if you will not repent, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.  You still have a few names in Sardis of people who have not soiled their garments.  They shall walk with me in white for they are worthy.  He who conquers shall be clad, thus, in white.  I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but if you will not repent, if you will not wake up, if you will not come alive and strengthen what is on the point of death, I will blot you out of the book of life.  You must repent.  Finally, the second of the five churches, the Laodecean church.  In verse 17, he says that you are lukewarm, you are neither hot nor cold.  I will spew you out of my mouth, for you say I am rich.  I have prospered and I need nothing; knowing not that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  Therefore, I council you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich and white garments to clothe and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen and suave to anoint your eyes that you may see.  You need salve from Me to anoint your eyes to see your true condition that you need to repent.  Verse 19, “Those whom I love I reprove and chasten.  So, be zealous and repent.  If you do not repent, I will spew you out of My mouth.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  The Lord was standing outside of His church saying, “Let Me come in and sup with you.”  He wasn’t saying, let me come in and make you a Christian.  He was staying:  You are having me be outside your church.  You are lukewarm.  You are not hot with the Spirit.  I (the Lord) is outside, trying to come in and make your church alive and make you hot and make you know that you are blind and pitiful and wretched and you need to be clothed and your eyes anointed with salve and awoken up and become hot for Me.  Let ME come in and sup with you and you with Me. 

This is the walk of repentance.  This is the repentance that is a continuing walk of true repentance.  Finally, in 1John1:7.  “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”  Anyone who is backslidden does not really want to have fellowship.  They are hiding in the dark.  They are running away from God.  They know that their life is away from God.  Every one in the while they will meet somebody who is on fire and they will either be sparked into thinking, “Gee, why can’t I be on fire again.”  I know there is something wrong and I know that I am not walking in fellowship with the Lord or in the light. They will begin to fellowship again on a level of just sharing the word, thinking that maybe this is going to merit them something, but they know there is something wrong, they know that they need to repent.  But, if we walk it the light as He is in the light and we have fellowship with God and we open up our arms to God and we say, “God, look at me—I am weak.  I am lukewarm.  I want to be hot.  I have lost my first love; oh, rekindle that love.  That true confession to God.  That opening up and walking in the light.  It says, “The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”  It says in verse 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have to open up to the Lord and confess.  We have to tell Him what we need.  We have to say, “Lord, lead me into truth.  Lead me by your spirit.”  All those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.  I confess my sin and I walk in the light.  I open my life to You that you might shine on me.  Lord, I want to be in fellowship with you again.  God will truly do this for you and he will take a hold of your hand and he will lead you down that path of life and he will teach you and chasten you and discipline you and that is the path of true repentance.

NEW CHRISTIANS-Basics of Discipleship-Spiritual Warfare-Part 2-by David Nelson

Posted: 2008-02-27 19:59:02

Scripture verses referenced in this study:

Ephesians 6:12
Daniel 10
II Timothy 2:3
I John 5:19
II Corinthians 2:5-11
Ephesians 4:26-27

Eph. 6:12:  “For we are not wrestling against flesh and blood.  We are wrestling against principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  Do you hear that list of things?  Do you think that it is meaningless?  Do you think, “da, da, da, da, da, DA, DA, DA, DA, DA, da, da, da, da, da, DA, DA, DA, DA.”  No, every one of these things means something.  Look, “the wickedness in heavenly places.”  Do you know that Satan is called the Prince of the power of the air?  He controls the air over certain things.  He controls the air over parts of Des Moines.  But you know what, God has won a lot of victories in this city.  God has won victories and it has opened up the airways for the move of God.  There is a break in the airways so God can send revival.  There is free reign here for angels to ascend and descend.  If the demonic powers had control over the air, the angels couldn’t get through.  Daniel, Chapter 10, gives an an example of a battle in the heavenlies--how Satan's armies (demons) battle against God's armies (angels) for control of large geographical locations.  Eph. 6:12 says, “we are contending against principalities.”  Principalities means there are principal places where Satan is stronger than other places.  Just like you have a city—isn’t there more people in a city than there is out in the middle of the corn fields?  That is called a principality.  It is called, “this is a principal place where people dwell.”  Satan has principalities where he has set-up strong things.  In the city of New York there are strongholds and principalities that have many demons over them.  There are rulers of this present darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.  Therefore, take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.

In war, you are not sitting and relaxing.  You are not off your guard.  You are not side-tracked into other things.  You have a keen interest in warfare.  It says in II Tim. 2:3, “take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”  No soldier, on service, gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is satisfy the one who enlisted him.”  Do you think a soldier who has been called over to Iraq says, “I think I am going to take a day off today—I think I am going into the city and do what I want to do.”  No, not unless your Commanding General says you can go.  You are on active duty.  You cannot go and do what you please.  We are soldiers, enlisted by our general, to do what he is telling us to do and we should not be entangled in civilian pursuits.  That is when we get slowed down.  We get side-tracked and we are entangled in civilian things, when God has a war raging all around us.  Now, sometimes, he has mercy and he says, “What are they doing now?”  “Oh my, I guess I have to run down there and protect them.”  Then, he sends an angel to protect us while we are getting side-tracked at something.  We can get side-tracked. 

What are Satan’s wiles and his deceptions?  Back in Eph. 6, it says, “Put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day.”  We are in an evil day.  It is more wicked now than it has ever been.  There is more trouble.  There is more rebellion.  There is more betrayal.  There is more backbiting and slander and haters of God.  We need to do everything we can do to stand.  It says, “having done all, to stand.”  We have got to keep standing.  We have got to keep alert.  We have got to keep our feet planted and have the armor of God.  Satan is going to try every trick he can. 

In I John 5:19, it says, “The whole world is in the power of the evil one.”  Don’t think about him just being the price of the power of the air.  Cities all over this world are in control of Satan.  It is only the Christian soldiers who come in who are going to redeem the land and set the captives free and set the prisoners free that are actually the soldiers that are releasing people from the hold of Satan.  It says of Satan, “He has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers.”  They are not going to be able to see unless they hear the truth.  The truth will set you free.  “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  This is one of the weapons of our warfare, the sword of the Spirit.  When Jesus was battled in the wilderness and tempted by Satan, he always said (when Satan said something to him), “It is written.”  Then, he quoted an Old Testament verse; so, he slashed out with the sword every time he speak to Satan.  Satan would say something to him and Jesus would say, “It is written”  “Ye shall worship the Lord Your God and Him only shall you worship” and he had to back down on that one.  But God didn’t release him yet.  He came back on another one.  Then he came back on another one.  After Jesus won those victories, it says “Satan left him for awhile until he had another opportunity.”  See, Satan will have his seasons. 

Satan, in the book of Job, had to always get permission as to what he did to that righteous man Job.  In Chapters 1 and 2 of Job, Satan was allowed to hurt Job.  He was allowed to send a great wind.  God ordained the wind, but Satan was the one who said, “Send a great wind and knock it into his house, like a tornado.”  Have you ever heard anyone say a “dust devil,” a twister?  Those twisters, if you ever saw one in real life, you would think about, “What is this evil coming for my house to destroy my house?”  This world is filled with evil.  Satan can use winds to destroy.  In Job, Chapter 1, Satan used a wind to knock Job’s house down and all of his children died.  His sons and daughters died when his house collapsed.  Then, Satan also sent the Sabians, which were a group of people.  The Sabians came through and stole his cattle, killed his cattle, killed his servants.  Then, Satan was allowed to touch Job’s body, but Satan could do nothing unless he got permission from God.  So, no matter what Satan throws at us; and it says in Eph. 6 that he will throw every fiery dart at us.  Eph 6:16 says, “An above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  We need to take the shield of faith to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  What is he going to throw at you?  He is going to throw the wind, blow your house down, your children are gone.  Now, that’s a fiery dart, would that knock you out of the ministry?  What if your house fell down and your kids were all killed?  Would that make you say?  Now, I’m bitter against God.  I’m not going to serve God anymore.  Or, he blows something else at you.  Destroys your goods.  Or, he touches your body and that is going to make you not serve God anymore because he touches your body?  He might cause you to get in an accident where your neck is broken and you can’t even move your arms and legs anymore and he might now allow you to get healed, like Joni Eareckson-Tada, who was not healed, but she goes all over the world speaking for God in a wheelchair.  She can’t move her arms and legs and she is used by God, mightily, not because he healed her but because she loves God even when she is still paralyzed.  She did this in a swimming accident where she dove into some shallow water.  No one can say that Joni Eareckson Tada did not have the faith to be healed.  Many great, mighty, faith healers have prayed over her to be healed and she is not healed.  You know why?  Because God is going to get more glory for using her to go all over the world saying, “God has made me close to Him, even thought I am not healed with my arms and legs.”  No matter what God does to you, no matter what flaming dart Satan hurls at you, you quench it by the shield of faith.  Which means, God, you have given me children, you have taken them away, Blessed be the name of the Lord.  I still trust you and love you.  You have given me all this cattle and all these homes and now they are all swept away.  Lord, you gave me good things and now you have taken them away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Lord, I had health.  Now, you have taken my health away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  It said, even when his health was taken away, he STILL did not find fault with God or charge God with wrong.  He didn’t get mad at God; he said, “I still trust you.”  You know what else he said, “Even if you slay me, yet will I trust you.”  Even if I have to go and die for you, God, I will still trust you.  Because trust is the shield of faith to quench all the flaming darts of Satan.  No matter what he does to you, you say, “Lord, I believe in you, Lord I hide in your refuge, Lord, Satan can’t do anything to me because I am going to believe in you no matter what.  If anybody here has been going through trials, Satan has been hurling darts at you. 

The tricks of Satan:  If you don’t know how your enemy is battling and what his tricks are, then you will be deceived.  You will have to learn by trial and error what he is like.  I will give you some ideas in Part 3 of this writing about what he is going to do; so, you can anticipate what he is going to do. So, you can be a good warrior and a good soldier.  In II Cor. 2:5-11, verses 5-10 tell the context of the 11^th verse.  “To keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us, for we are not ignorant of his designs.”  The word “designs” means devices, schemes, tricks.  We are not ignorant of his tricks.  We want to be smart.  You want to know what his devices, designs, schemes are because if he can get in and do one of his schemes, he will have the advantage over you; unless you know how to overcome his schemes.  One of his designs is unforgiveness; holding a grudge against somebody.  Now, many times, I have been tempted to get mad at somebody.  I have been tempted to hold a grudge against somebody or not forgive them or let a separation come.  Sometimes, I have wanted to say, “Forget them.”  I don’t need them.  I can go on without them.  No, that is not God’s way.  That will be one of Satan’s tricks.  It says here in verses 5-11 that unforgiveness is a trick of Satan, that if you will forgive—and they are talking about forgiving a certain person, then you will clear the path for reconciliation.  But, if you will not forgive and you hold a grudge, then Satan will have the advantage over you and he will have tricked you into separating from someone.  Let’s turn to Eph. 4:26-27, “Be angry, but do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no place to the devil.”  Remember the one I just read in II Cor.  It said, “let not Satan get the advantage over you.”  Unforgiveness is giving place to Satan.  Sometimes Satan can cause trouble in your family.  He can cause husband and wife to not be cooperating and be working at odds with each other. 

If you were fighting a heavy battle and you had 50 people fighting and, all of the sudden, 20-30 of them said, “Hey, we are not going to do this anymore, this is crazy!”  “We are not going to make it.”  They all start running for the trees.  Now, you have only got 10-15 people and you are looking out at the enemy, saying “We don’t have much to fight with now but we better stand our ground.”  And then, more leave and pretty soon you only have 3-4, isn’t it harder when people are deserting?  It is harder, but you are going to say, “We are going to stand our ground.”  “God is with us.”  It doesn’t matter how many we have.  The race is not to the swift.  The battle is not to the strong.  The battle is to the Lord.  The Lord will beat them.  The Lord’s hand will reach forth and beat our enemy.  It doesn’t matter how many we have.  We have to stand strongly.  We have to keep going.  So, it says in Eph. 4:26-27, “Anger will give place to the devil…”  If the devil gets a place in you, he has gotten a foothold in your life.  He gets an advantage in you.  Anger will do it.  Unforgiveness will do it.  For example, if you don’t get along with your wife or husband, it says in I Pet.3:7, that will hinder your prayers.  Satan knows how to hinder you.

Prophetic Ministry News-February 2008

Posted: 2008-02-25 11:19:45

• Weekly Prayer, Saturday evenings, 7 p.m.
• Des Moines Ministry Base Church, Sunday evening, 6:15 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENT(S): 

Perryville, Missouri
Christian meetings
3/14-16

Gilroy, California
Pacific Rim Training Institute-
Teaching sessions
3/28-30

Christian love-February 2008

Posted: 2008-02-25 05:01:05

"Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays." 

Author:  Andrew Murray

"May Your Dreams Come True" by David Nelson

Posted: 2008-02-23 18:10:38

May Your Dreams Come True      by David Nelson    2-21-08 

It is a recurring theme in movies, books, and most importantly in the Scriptures, where we see a person waiting for “their time” to come and then the Lord (sometimes suddenly) launches them into their destiny. What I mean by “their time” is the period of their life that they were created for and destined by God to fulfill. What is your dream for how the Lord will yet use you?

Think about Moses living to be about 120 years old. The first 40 years (preparation), the next 40 years a shepherd in the wilderness (feeling, I’m sure, some disappointment, regrets, or wondering, “Is there more I am to do?” Maybe Moses had an unfulfilled dream in his heart till he was 80, “Does God still want to use me, could the dreams and vision deep in my heart still be ahead of me? I still feel there must be more ahead for me?” Then suddenly, one day, a burning bush. And Moses was launched into the last 40 years of his life that was his destiny. Quite an adventure he had ahead wouldn’t you say?

Think about Joseph, 17 years old, the dreams he had, sold as a slave by his brothers, almost murdered by his brothers. Then 13 years later, still in slavery and in prison. I’m sure he thought about his dreams. “Does the Lord still have good goals ahead for me, will I still accomplish the dreams deep in my heart?” Then suddenly, one night, the Pharaoh had his own troubling dream (did not the Lord know ahead of time the exact night and date Pharaoh’s dream would come?) Come quickly out of your prison, out of your waiting and wondering time. Take off your old clothes, get shaved and presentable, your time has come Joseph, you are now entering a new chapter of your life, your new adventure and the fulfilling of your destiny.

Think about Gideon of the Old Testament and Saul (Paul) of the New Testament. Gideon was threshing out wheat in a wine press. He was hiding his doings so that his enemies (the Midianites) who were coming into the land wouldn’t get his food. Many others were hiding in dens and caves of the mountains also. I’m sure Gideon was discouraged (and maybe a little angry and bitter) when he said to his visitor (really an angel or the Lord Himself), “You say the Lord is with me and I am a mighty man of valor? If the Lord is with us why have all these bad things befallen us? Where are his miracles of old that we have been told about? But now the Lord has forsaken us,” that seems clear. “Also I am the least in my father’s house.”

Gideon needed some coaxing to believe that he had something great to do for the Lord, though I am sure he also had dreams deep in his heart as to his destiny and how he would or could be used for the Lord. Then suddenly, when fire rose up out of the rock and consumed Gideon’s present of a delicious meal for his visitor, then Gideon was launched into his new adventures with the Lord.

Saul of Tarsus became Paul suddenly on the road to Damascus when he entered the new chapter of his life he was destined to fulfill. There was a preparation time for Paul and I’m sure a burning desire in his heart to be used by the Lord greatly but into what? He had not been fully launched into his destiny as yet when he was Saul of Tarsus but now he was to be Paul the Apostle.

Now I would like to paint another picture for you. Imagine an older cowboy or a former hero of the “Old West” who has seen better days. He is sitting alone in a social setting in a public establishment at a table thinking about his past. In his day, he had great skills admired by everyone. He had already accomplished some great things in his life but not everything he had dreamed of had come to pass as he had hoped. Now he wondered, is there still more for me to do? Are all my days to accomplish great things behind me or are the dreams I feel in my heart for all I could have been or still desire to be, could these great things still be ahead? Like Moses and Joseph and Gideon and Paul who searched their own hearts, appreciating their past accomplishments but wondering and hoping that they still could accomplish what they were born to do. There were dreams deep in their hearts that God had put there that there was much more ahead if they could just believe that God would or could still use them greatly. And so, the former western hero sat, wondering if he was too old, wondering if his skills and gifts were still sharp enough to be used for God’s glory, was there a greater destiny for him, and if so, when and how would it ever come? If a great need arose for his town to need a hero again, how much coaxing would it take to get him to arise to the greatest adventure of his life that God had in store for him?

This is a time now for each one of us. This is the time that the Lord has chosen for us to be in. All the dreams and the vision deep in your heart have been smoldering. Your dreams may seem broken at times, many disappointments, or what others may see as failures, or the times of waiting for your dreams to come true have passed like water under the bridge. You know God has given you the skills and the gifts, you have seen them, and others have seen glimpses of them. Your gifts may be much greater than you know, you might be one in a thousand or one in a million with rare skills to be used by the Lord in this hour. You have a smoldering fire down deep inside (your dreams) that haven’t completely gone out. Who will coax you out of “retirement” like Moses and Gideon were? Who believes that you can do great things again or even a new and greater adventure, the challenge of your life, greater than anything done before? It is the Lord who will come suddenly, He knows what He can do with you, even what He will do with you, and what He has always planned for you to do. The dreams have been growing in you like a baby into its birth maturity in your womb. The Lord has put those growing dreams in you. Will you miss your destiny? Will you miss doing what God has for you to do? No, you are reading this. You are looking to Him and hoping in Him and He is the Author and Finisher of us. You just need someone to stir up the fire, stir up the smoldering embers. You just need to believe that God has a good plan for you and that He will fulfill all that He has planned for you. Suddenly God will come to you. The hour is now, there are things ahead we do not fully fathom. He is making us ready for this hour. He has need of thee. Just look up, take His hand, He sees you, He is working His plan out (He has been all along), you will be part of it, He’s stirring you up, He’s teaching you things to prepare you, get ready for the greatest hour, trust Him for your dreams (they are His dreams) to come true.

In the Mean Time, This is My Constant Desire and Prayer

In the mean time (as we look for the restoring of all things), as we are growing in the Lord each day and seeking to do His will every day, there is one prayer request that I am calling out to the Lord constantly. Lord, what is your will for me each day? Lord, I want so much to hear you say one day, “Well done, my good and faithful servant….” Lord, if I have any idols, I want them to fall and be broken and scattered in the dust. I want to say they are nothing to me and you (Lord) are everything. Lord, I want to be enthralled with you (intimacy with you in prayer and in all my daily walk), I want to get your work assignments to be done each day (what projects do you have for me today?). I want everything I do now that is not of you to become as ashes, as dung, as a toy that I’m no longer interested in. As a small candle at night so are my desires in the dark, but when you come to me more and more fully it will be like the sun coming up and it will be so light with your desires and your things that the candle of my desires will be nothing now. Lord, make my trivial pursuits each day fall away, let your greater light come. Remove all that is base and worldly from us (or give us strength to throw it all out), teach me how to forsake all and reject all that is not of you. Come suddenly and launch me. Your dream has been growing in me like a baby in the womb. Deliver it out. Let it birth out. Let it start to come out and please keep it moving out into the open. 

I am willing to talk with anyone about what the Lord has been saying to me, for I believe He has been saying similar things to others all around the world. Sometimes what I feel inside burns like a mighty furnace but sometimes my dreams are just smoldering coals that need to be stirred a bit by the encouragement of others, so then the fire flares up again.

Disappointments and much time waiting for the fulfillment of things in my heart takes a toll at times, who else out there has seen the same things? Who sees clearly what is wrong and what is needed? Who has some more pieces of the puzzle, how can we sharpen one another? Can we work together to bring these things out that the Lord has been showing us? So much needs to be restored to the Church and revived in the Church. So let us be together in this exciting time. What exciting things the Lord has ahead for all of us.

I would like to meet with others to seek the Lord, pray for revival, and make places for the Lord to come and dwell in our midst and be our King. When we come together we will hear from each one what the Lord has been saying to each and what manifestations of the Spirit will come forth through the members of His Body.

Quote by A.W.Tozer-Clear Seeing

Posted: 2008-02-21 18:10:38

“We need a baptism of clear seeing.
We desperately need seers who can see through the mist--Christian leaders with prophetic vision. Unless they come soon it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy."

Author: A.W. Tozer, circa 1950

"Old Wells, Fallen Mantles and New Fountains" by Michael Edds

Posted: 2008-02-09 11:40:18

The Coming Great Awakening

"OLD WELLS, FALLEN MANTLES and NEW FOUNTAINS"

~by Michael Edds


I moved to a major U.S. city in June 2000 to assume the position as Headmaster for an interdenominational Christian High School. The school was new but had severe problems. Prior to my arrival, a teacher had been arrested for a serious crime. Upon my arrival, the incident had become front-page news in the city. To say the least, I was shocked at the magnitude of the problem and the work that needed to be done. I became angry with God and questioned His direction.

Late one night I could not sleep. I was exhausted from the stress of the challenge before me and still angry with God. Around 2 am, I got up to sit on the couch and pout. In spite of my upset state, anger and disgust, the Presence of the Lord settled in the living room. God did not even pay attention to or address my complaint. Instead, His presence was so strong that I physically trembled. He spoke these words, "Old Wells, Fallen Mantles, and New Fountains." He instructed me to get my Bible. By that time, I too had set aside my complaint. His Presence was so great that I did not know if I could survive it.

I opened my Bible to Isaiah 35: 3-7: "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for IN THE WILDERNESS SHALL WATER BREAK OUT and streams in the desert. AND THE PARCHED GROUND SHALL BECOME A POOL and the thirsty land SPRINGS OF WATER."

Next followed Isaiah 41:17, "When the poor and needy seek water, and
there is none, and their tongues fail for thirst, I the Lord will hear
them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in
high places, and fountains in the midst of valleys: I will make the
wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."

I was directed to verse 19 of [Isaiah 43]: "Behold I WILL DO A NEW THING. Now it shall SPRING [BURST] FORTH . Shall ye not know it?"

The Lord was moving so quickly through the scriptures that I could hardly keep up. His presence was incredibly strong. I felt like I was floating. Leaving Isaiah, the Lord took me to Joel 2:23: "He will cause to come down for you the rain, THE FORMER RAIN AND THE LATTER RAIN IN THE FIRST MONTH." Then Joel 2:28 was given which states: "It shall come to pass afterwards that I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH. Your sons and daughters shall PROPHESY, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS and your YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS."

Finally, Genesis 26:18 finished the scriptures that the Lord was rapidly giving me: "AND ISAAC DUG AGAIN the WELLS of water which they had DUG IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM HIS FATHER."

The Lord revealed the meaning of this vision:

The Early Church experienced the fullness of God. They had the fullness, the gifts and revelation of the Holy Spirit. They were full of boldness, power and anointing. God turned the world upside down through them. The dead were raised, the blind received sight, the possessed were set free, the sick healed and the Gospel was preached to the poor. The anger of Hell was violently aroused. The more the devil persecuted and killed them, the more they multiplied and spread. So Satan changed his tactics. By 300 AD Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. What Satan could not do through persecution, he accomplished through promotion, position, power, prestige, acceptance and prosperity. They SOLD OUT! The Church backslid and the all humanity fell into the brutality of the Dark Ages.


The purpose of each Great Awakening or the bursting forth of a spiritual well was to restore an element of truth that the Early Church possessed back to the church. Luther restored 'the just shall live by faith'. Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards and the First Great Awakening restored repentance, inward holiness and "Christ in you." The Second Great Awakening with Barton Stone at Cane Ridge in the West and Francis Asbury in the East brought restoration in society through evangelism, missions, and great social renewal such as abolition, child labor laws, and suffrage movement. The Third Great Awakening of 1857 restored the power of prayer. Azusa Street Outpouring of 1905 restored the infilling and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Lord stated that He was going to reopen all of the "old wells" of revival in order to restore TOTAL truth to His church.

Fallen mantles of ministry and anointing that rested upon the great men and women of God of old would be picked up and placed on godly men and women today to finish what was started long ago. They are the "Isaacs" that will revisit the old wells of revival and reopen them. The mantles of ministry did not die nor were they buried with Asbury, Wesley, Stone, Amanda Berry Smith and others. They have only been "on hold" until a generation would be born that could relate to them and pick them up. Isaiah 58:12 refers to them: "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places, thou shall raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in." The Lord said, "What once was shall be again."

Malachi 4:5 prophecies that "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." He said this was not just a generational reconciliation between the old and the young. It is a restoration of His people to the Faith once delivered to the Saints, the Faith of our fathers. The Lord said He was tired of the apostasy, deadness, programs, personality cults, plans and politics that have nearly destroyed His church. He is going to restore HIS church by returning the "Faith of our Fathers to their children (descendants) and the children (descendants) to the Faith of our Fathers." The old wells will BURST forth and the fallen mantles will be picked up. This will be a "suddenly". Isaiah speaks of it occurring in the desert places and on the barren heights. In other words, it will happen in the most unlikely of places. The Lord continued His interpretation of the vision by explaining to me that "NEW FOUNTAINS" would gush or break forth also.

Something that has never occurred in any Great Awakening or in any historic move of God will exploded upon the scene in our day. Joel 2:23 speaks of God sending the former rain (the Old Wells of revival) and the latter rain (The New Fountains) in the SAME MONTH!!! In other words, all of the moves of God and fallen mantles from Pentecost until now will be reopened and picked up and combined with a totally new thing from God. It will literally shake the church and the world. HE WILL RESTORE A CHURCH WITHOUT SPOT OR WRINKLE! He will not allow the church to go out defeated. HE WILL ARISE FOR HIS OWN NAME'S SAKE!

God has been preparing a "Joseph Generation" that has been enrolled in the " School of Dung." In this schooling, they have endured the pain of rejection, slander and isolation. The 'Word of the Lord' has tried them severely. They cry out, "God why? All I wanted to do is serve you. All seems to have 'gone to hell in a hand basket'. It seems just the opposite of what You promised. I am lonely, the organized church thinks I am crazy, a fanatic, out on a limb. They have rejected me and hated me because of my love for you. WHY, OH LORD?"

God has been preparing and perfecting these Josephs in the darkness and in the prison houses of loneliness and isolation for a day and hour that they will be unleashed as a secret weapon on the kingdom of darkness. He has allowed all of these things to happen to them for their good. He has prepared a people that He can trust with His power, gifts, and anointing. In holiness, humility and boldness they will fulfill His plans in our day. They will give HIM the glory. They will give HIM total control of the coming Great Awakening. The door of their prison house of utter loneliness and rejection is about to open. Their "word" is about to come. That word is "the King has need of thee." In a moment, they will be ushered from prison to position. In a moment, they will fully understand their long and severe sufferings. In a moment, they will be brought out into the light of God's divine destiny for them. God will use them to lead the Coming Great Awakening.

Along with this final Great Awakening is coming Divine Judgment. Isaiah 35:4 declares, "Your God shall come with vengeance, even God with a recompense." God is going to overthrow the abuse and control of man in His church. He's going to take back the 'ship' that has been turned into a luxury liner and restore her back to her original state: a ship of war. HE IS GOING TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF HIS CHURCH!!! The Church is HIS bride, not someone else's. Additionally, this nation is going to be greatly shaken.

The First Great Awakening preceded the American Revolution. Before the Second Great Awakening began at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, a massive epidemic of Cholera occurred. In its early days, the Third Great Awakening saw every bank in the nation collapse. This awakening was followed by the greatest disaster in American History when the nation was ripped apart and 600,000 Americans perished in the horrific War Between the States. A great earthquake hit California at the same time as the Azusa Street Outpouring. He is going to shake the Church and this nation. Only that which is of Him will be left standing.

A great hunger for repentance, seeking God, seeking holiness and seeking truth has exploded within the "Joseph Generation". They have studied, researched and sought out the Old Wells of revival. They intensely hunger for God to do it again! They cry out, "Just one more time, oh Lord!" Programs, politics, personalities, manipulation, and plans in the church sicken them. THEY MUST HAVE GOD! They MUST be in His presence! They are meeting in the homes, in the fields, in the woods, in their prayer closets and any place that they can totally seek His face. Their despair has turned into an all-consuming hunger that says, "Give me God or let me die." GOD HAS HEARD! He is about to reopen the old wells of revival, He is picking up the fallen mantles and placing them on men and women, and He is about to do a new thing!

Every Awakening has incurred the wrath and persecution of man. When the Presence and holiness of God confronts mankind, they must make a decision for or against Him. When they choose to reject Him, they lash out and fight against His messengers. In the mid-1700's, the Baptist in Colonial Virginia were beaten, imprisoned, and killed for preaching the Gospel. The Methodist circuit riders were jailed, tarred and feathered, beaten, abused and martyred for the message of God. The reason there is little persecution against the Church in America today is that there is so little of the Presence and Message of God to confront mankind. The world has heard how to get rich, how to prosper, how to have self-esteem, and to feel good. They have not heard the message, "Repent or perish." They have not heard the anointed Word of God that demands a decision. Be forewarned, The Final Great Awakening will usher in a wave of persecution against the true Church of God. Old Wells of Revival is on the threshold of being reopened. Fallen Mantles of ministry are being picked up. New Fountains are rumbling beneath the surface and about to burst forth. Frank Bartleman (chronicler of the Azusa Awakening) once said, "To understand what God is going to do, we must understand what He once did." The most incredible move of God will suddenly explode upon the scene!!

Judgment and a great shaking are coming to the land and to the church. Persecution of the Isaacs and Josephs, the true saints of God will occur. However, they will be covered with such zeal and boldness, they will be like the Fathers of old: "And they loved not their lives even until death." (Rev 12:11) God will harvest a holy remnant from this generation. He will have a church that is without spot or wrinkle, a pure bride for His Son. Be encouraged. Lift up your heads. Your God has come! "The King has need of thee!"
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