Thursday, September 15, 2016, 7:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Revelation 16 (ESV). Then, the Lord reminded me of something which took place in my life 12 years ago, at this time of year. He reminded me of how concerned I was that so many preachers and teachers of the Word were teaching a false gospel message that was leaving people still in their sins, without God, and without hope. They were (are) keeping people still in the dark, ignorant of the truth, which will result in their eternal punishment.
At that time, I was training for ministry with the C&MA, and I was working toward consecration (much like ordination). I was at the district conference in 2004, at this time of year. And, the Lord spoke to me at that conference. And, he called me to something else – something I would never have imagined that I would be doing. He called me to write down what he teaches me from his word each day, and to post it on the internet. Via the internet I could share what God was teaching me with people all over the globe, most all of whom I have never met in person, but hope to meet one day in heaven. And, he has had me share his full (true) gospel message, too.
In reading Revelation 16 today, I realized that this whole chapter in Revelation is mostly about God’s judgments being poured out on the earth and on its inhabitants. In vv. 5b-6 it says this:
“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
It is true that these false teachers of the people have shed the blood of the people of this earth merely by teaching a false gospel absent of true repentance and true Biblical faith in Jesus Christ, which would result in obedience to Christ’s commandments. Many of them are also guilty of much persecution and rejection of God’s true ministers of the gospel, who are telling people the truth instead of feeding them lies which tickle itching ears. And, many of these true messengers of the gospel are being killed for their faith and testimonies for Jesus Christ, too, or else they are being falsely accused and ostracized by many who are following after the teachings of humans over the teachings of Christ – many who God is going to judge for this. And, I believe this serves as a warning, and as a caution to make certain you are following Jesus and not man, and his gospel, and not the gospel according to man. True faith involves repentance and obedience.
WHAT GOD SAID TO ME AT DISTRICT CONFERENCE
September 13-16, 2004
Monday night: Rev. FT spoke. He said something like this: “The word of God is ‘contemporary.’ We need to call on God and hear from God and then we need to preach the word of God, because that is what people need to hear – that is what will satisfy the hunger of their souls, not the teachings of man. We need to hear what God is saying to us and then we need to tell the people what God tells us we should tell them. And, we need to not fear their response. We need to trust God with the results.”
Tuesday morning: During my quiet time with God he said to me: “Call on my name. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Walk with God. Do everything I command you. I will remember you and no harm will come to you.”
Tuesday Morning Devotions: Rev. PN spoke. He quoted the passage in Acts which said, “David served God’s purpose in his own generation.” Rev. PN said, “What we’re going to do we need to do NOW!” Then, he quoted from I Tim. 2:7: “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle… and a teacher of true faith…” He said Paul had a clear sense of God’s purpose for him and an urgency for getting it done.
He continued by saying something like this: “Because of God’s grace we want to serve him. Christ’s love compels us. Because of God’s grace we are liberated. Loving God’s gifts means loosing his power within us. God has made us unique by giving us a special gift set, but sometimes we are afraid to allow God to use us in our gifted areas. God urges us and presses us to be what he wants us to be. It’s a conspiracy of adults that keeps us trapped into thinking we cannot be who God created us to be. God knows what gifts we have and our state of limited usefulness, and he wrestles us out of our beds of self-doubt and into His light. Fan into flame the gift of God within you. Loving God’s work means letting it go – it’s not ours – it is his. He may have something else for us to do that we have not even thought of.”
Tuesday morning business meeting: Rev. PN shared the President’s report in the form of a video presentation. He showed some clips from The C&MA Annual Council. Among the speakers at the Council were Anne Graham Lotz and a man whose name I did not get, but who was not from the C&MA. Anne preached on being called, not to ministry, but to Jesus. The man I referred to preached about the C&MA’s need to plant more churches state-side. He said that C&MA churches overseas outnumber the USA churches 7 to 1. He said that obviously our efforts overseas are successful, so maybe we should look at what we are doing right over there and do it here. He (I believe it was him) said that we don’t need to ask God to send more workers, but that we need to use the workers we have.
I could not help but think, in light of the fact that Anne Graham Lotz spoke at Council, and the fact that the C&MA utilizes women more in leadership roles in churches overseas than they do stateside, that if they would just release their US women to do what they allow their overseas women to do, that God could do a mighty work here in the USA in the C&MA in their church planting efforts. If they would just release their women to prophecy, as God said that he would pour out his Spirit upon all men and women and his daughters would prophecy, that they could reach a whole lot more people for Jesus Christ, and that not so many of their churches would be closing their doors, perhaps.
Tuesday evening: The speaker spoke from Habakkuk 2:1-4. Verses 2-3 spoke to me: “Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.’”
Wednesday morning: During my quiet time with God I was going back over my notes from Tuesday evening and I remembered reading something like that passage from Habakkuk in my grandmother’s journals. She said it often: “We are not to become discouraged and feel that God has forgotten his promise to us or has failed to fulfill our vision. For if the vision tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not tarry.”
Another passage Grandma Jones quoted often was: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” This is God’s calling on my life!
Wednesday morning devotions: The speaker said we don’t have a right to question God. We don’t have a right to say “why” when things don’t turn out the way we think they should or when a trial lasts longer than we think it should. He preached from the book of Job. He said that Job initially trusted God but as time progressed he began to question God. He said that it was absolutely imperative that Job did not know why. Otherwise it would have nullified the test. He said that whatever we are going through is so much bigger than we could ever imagine. Then, he went on to encourage us to stand firm, to press on and to not lean on our own understanding. He said that this all happened “for such a time as this.” He said, “It is NOW your time! Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
Wednesday evening: FH was the speaker. He said something like this: “Have you climbed any trees lately? God is asking this of all of us. He has a tree he wants us to climb. How big is your Jesus? The Church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy. It is indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world. The only hope for the Church is revival. We need tree climbers who want to get a closer look at the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. We have an enemy. Revival will come when we return to the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. Churches are relying too much on the teachings of men. Col 2:8: ‘See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.’ Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.”
In summary, this is what God said to me at district conference:
Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.
At that time, I was training for ministry with the C&MA, and I was working toward consecration (much like ordination). I was at the district conference in 2004, at this time of year. And, the Lord spoke to me at that conference. And, he called me to something else – something I would never have imagined that I would be doing. He called me to write down what he teaches me from his word each day, and to post it on the internet. Via the internet I could share what God was teaching me with people all over the globe, most all of whom I have never met in person, but hope to meet one day in heaven. And, he has had me share his full (true) gospel message, too.
In reading Revelation 16 today, I realized that this whole chapter in Revelation is mostly about God’s judgments being poured out on the earth and on its inhabitants. In vv. 5b-6 it says this:
“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
It is true that these false teachers of the people have shed the blood of the people of this earth merely by teaching a false gospel absent of true repentance and true Biblical faith in Jesus Christ, which would result in obedience to Christ’s commandments. Many of them are also guilty of much persecution and rejection of God’s true ministers of the gospel, who are telling people the truth instead of feeding them lies which tickle itching ears. And, many of these true messengers of the gospel are being killed for their faith and testimonies for Jesus Christ, too, or else they are being falsely accused and ostracized by many who are following after the teachings of humans over the teachings of Christ – many who God is going to judge for this. And, I believe this serves as a warning, and as a caution to make certain you are following Jesus and not man, and his gospel, and not the gospel according to man. True faith involves repentance and obedience.
WHAT GOD SAID TO ME AT DISTRICT CONFERENCE
September 13-16, 2004
Monday night: Rev. FT spoke. He said something like this: “The word of God is ‘contemporary.’ We need to call on God and hear from God and then we need to preach the word of God, because that is what people need to hear – that is what will satisfy the hunger of their souls, not the teachings of man. We need to hear what God is saying to us and then we need to tell the people what God tells us we should tell them. And, we need to not fear their response. We need to trust God with the results.”
Tuesday morning: During my quiet time with God he said to me: “Call on my name. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Walk with God. Do everything I command you. I will remember you and no harm will come to you.”
Tuesday Morning Devotions: Rev. PN spoke. He quoted the passage in Acts which said, “David served God’s purpose in his own generation.” Rev. PN said, “What we’re going to do we need to do NOW!” Then, he quoted from I Tim. 2:7: “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle… and a teacher of true faith…” He said Paul had a clear sense of God’s purpose for him and an urgency for getting it done.
He continued by saying something like this: “Because of God’s grace we want to serve him. Christ’s love compels us. Because of God’s grace we are liberated. Loving God’s gifts means loosing his power within us. God has made us unique by giving us a special gift set, but sometimes we are afraid to allow God to use us in our gifted areas. God urges us and presses us to be what he wants us to be. It’s a conspiracy of adults that keeps us trapped into thinking we cannot be who God created us to be. God knows what gifts we have and our state of limited usefulness, and he wrestles us out of our beds of self-doubt and into His light. Fan into flame the gift of God within you. Loving God’s work means letting it go – it’s not ours – it is his. He may have something else for us to do that we have not even thought of.”
Tuesday morning business meeting: Rev. PN shared the President’s report in the form of a video presentation. He showed some clips from The C&MA Annual Council. Among the speakers at the Council were Anne Graham Lotz and a man whose name I did not get, but who was not from the C&MA. Anne preached on being called, not to ministry, but to Jesus. The man I referred to preached about the C&MA’s need to plant more churches state-side. He said that C&MA churches overseas outnumber the USA churches 7 to 1. He said that obviously our efforts overseas are successful, so maybe we should look at what we are doing right over there and do it here. He (I believe it was him) said that we don’t need to ask God to send more workers, but that we need to use the workers we have.
I could not help but think, in light of the fact that Anne Graham Lotz spoke at Council, and the fact that the C&MA utilizes women more in leadership roles in churches overseas than they do stateside, that if they would just release their US women to do what they allow their overseas women to do, that God could do a mighty work here in the USA in the C&MA in their church planting efforts. If they would just release their women to prophecy, as God said that he would pour out his Spirit upon all men and women and his daughters would prophecy, that they could reach a whole lot more people for Jesus Christ, and that not so many of their churches would be closing their doors, perhaps.
Tuesday evening: The speaker spoke from Habakkuk 2:1-4. Verses 2-3 spoke to me: “Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.’”
Wednesday morning: During my quiet time with God I was going back over my notes from Tuesday evening and I remembered reading something like that passage from Habakkuk in my grandmother’s journals. She said it often: “We are not to become discouraged and feel that God has forgotten his promise to us or has failed to fulfill our vision. For if the vision tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not tarry.”
Another passage Grandma Jones quoted often was: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” This is God’s calling on my life!
Wednesday morning devotions: The speaker said we don’t have a right to question God. We don’t have a right to say “why” when things don’t turn out the way we think they should or when a trial lasts longer than we think it should. He preached from the book of Job. He said that Job initially trusted God but as time progressed he began to question God. He said that it was absolutely imperative that Job did not know why. Otherwise it would have nullified the test. He said that whatever we are going through is so much bigger than we could ever imagine. Then, he went on to encourage us to stand firm, to press on and to not lean on our own understanding. He said that this all happened “for such a time as this.” He said, “It is NOW your time! Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
Wednesday evening: FH was the speaker. He said something like this: “Have you climbed any trees lately? God is asking this of all of us. He has a tree he wants us to climb. How big is your Jesus? The Church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy. It is indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world. The only hope for the Church is revival. We need tree climbers who want to get a closer look at the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. We have an enemy. Revival will come when we return to the Supremacy of Jesus Christ. Churches are relying too much on the teachings of men. Col 2:8: ‘See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.’ Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.”
In summary, this is what God said to me at district conference:
- Preach the Word of God, not the teachings of man.
- Listen to God, hear what he is saying, and then obey him.
- Tell the people what God tells you to tell them and leave the results in his hands.
- Walk with God and obey his commands.
- What you are going to do, do it NOW.
- You were appointed by God as a herald and a teacher of true faith.
- God has given you a clear sense of his purpose for you and an urgency…
- Fan into flame the gift(s) of God within you.
- Give your ministry over to God – it is not yours; it is his.
- God may have something else for you to do that you have not even thought of.
- Find out what the church is doing right overseas and do it here in America – we do not need to call more workers. We need to use the workers we have. That includes empowering our women like the church does on the mission field.
- Write down what God shows you and then wait on him to bring it about.
- Don’t ask God “why,” just trust him – stand firm, press on.
- What you are going through is much bigger than you can imagine.
- NOW is your time! – For such a time as this I was placed upon the earth…
- Be a tree climber and get a closer look at the Supremacy of Jesus Christ.
- The Church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy.
- It is indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world.
- We need to get back to the basics – we need to put our focus on Jesus and the cross of Christ instead of on the teachings of man.
Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.