Posted on FaceBook Feb 27, 2021

KINGDOM PRAYER FOR THE NATION 5

Prep Time

In 2 weeks, we will have completed our morning prayer (2 Chronicles 7:14 +) for our nation in that little chapel outside Lebanon, KS, near the geographical center of the continental US. We don’t know what to expect, except that God WILL show up. I am humbled that He has given me such a bold mission as this. He has told me the time has come for all Christians to be bold in proclaiming the Truth found only in God’s Word. We must stop hiding behind the “safety” of our homes and churches and become part of the Revival that is coming to proclaim the Glory of God through the light we carry as Jesus Christ’s representatives here on earth.

God has given each of us unique gifts to complete the tasks He has intended for us. If you don’t know what they are, it is time to pray for understanding and knowledge of them, so that you can then walk out God’s plans for you. Time is running out! Be a part of the Revival that God is calling for. Humble yourself before God, focus on Him. Pray for discernment and guidance. Make an intentional effort to turn away from sin. When we lift our voices in One Accord, God will hear our cry and heal our land. BUT, we must take that first step. That’s all. Move in that direction and God will do the rest, according to His plan and on His timeline. If you are focused on Him and are walking by faith, you will see His glory begin to work in your life and in this nation.

Join us on our journey. Be Blessed!

Posted on FaceBook Feb 26, 2021

KINGDOM PRAYER FOR THE NATION 4

ALL IN!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

I began reading “Choosing the Extraordinary Life” by Dr Robert Jeffress last night. I’m only 50 pages in but already hooked. Dr Jeffress uses the humble ordinary life of Elijah to illustrate how God calls ordinary people, like you and me, to use them for His purposes. If we have not surrendered to God, learning to hear His voice as we draw near to him, we might miss that call and fail to obey.

My morning prayer, following 2 Chronicles 7:14, focused on my commitment to doing God’s will and asking Him to use me as He saw fit. As I am getting up off my knees, I glance at my phone to see the time and notice an incoming email from “First15,” one of the devotionals I subscribe to. The title was “God wants to use you.” By now, one would think I would be used to the way God speaks to me. But every time it happens, it blows me away. Lately that’s been happening a lot. Some pastors and preachers talk about being a Christian. “Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the Scripture?” But they often don’t complete the picture. What does that look like? How do we get there? How can we apply that in our own lives?

I started these mini-blogs (and sometimes not so mini) to share one passion driving me: the need to surrender everything to God and obey His call. He can do a much better job with our lives than we ever could. We must, however, be ALL IN! My purpose in sharing the story of my life is not to get you to be me. We are each unique, created in God’s image, and He deals with each of us in a unique way. My purpose is to first give Him all the glory, then to show you what a surrendered life can produce in your own walk and to encourage you to seek that surrendered life yourself. Forsake the ordinary life. Choose the Extraordinary life in the presence of God.

That is what this trip to Lebanon, KS, in two weeks is all about: doing God’s will. God has been equipping me in earnest these last 4 years. I’ve learned to discern His voice, not in a normal conversational sense, because He doesn’t talk to me that way. He draws my attention by dropping devotionals, podcasts, Scripture references in my lap. He uses Super Bowl commercials. And only because I am committed to be being All In, am I able to hear His voice. He’s in the driver’s seat and rarely does He take the shortest, smoothest route. It’s more like Corpus Christi streets: full of dead ends, detours, construction and potholes. I just have to keep my focus on Him and trust He knows what He is doing.

And along the way, He has given me a third passion (the second being the ministry of tending to the broken hearted through GriefShare and DivorceCare.) Four months before the pandemic grabbed the world by the throat, He placed on my heart the need for a REVIVAL among His people. Like Abram, I have no idea what this upcoming trip is going to reveal. At least I know where I’m going. And I suspect this trip, in addition to praying for the healing of our land, is to spark that Revival.

Please continue to pray with us, for the healing of our nation and the world. Listen to God’s voice and allow Him to use you to spark a revival among His people.

Be Blessed.

Posted on FaceBook Feb 18, 2021

KINGDOM PRAYER FOR THE NATION 3

FIRST STEPS

Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” You can’t be a secret Christian. God calls and He expects a response from you. When you phone rings, in order to answer it, you must do something. If you don’t, it will stop ringing. With God, He will wait as long as it takes for your response. He waits for us, not the other way around. We can’t pray and wait for Him. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

All these, and others, talk about waiting. But in the waiting we are not instructed to do nothing. We are told to be strong and take heart, that is believe that God is working on your behalf and be hopeful. We must be still. Stillness is not the absence of any activity. It takes every part of our being to be still. We must work at it. And in the waiting we must rejoice in the hope He gives us, bear up under the trials of tribulation and pray. In talking of the true vine, Jesus says, in John 15:4, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” We must abide in Him first. We must take that first step. Those first steps are evident throughout all of scriptures. In Genesis, God tells Abram to leave his homeland. He doesn’t even tell him where to go, just “GO.” Fortunately, Abram obeys and becomes the Father of Nations. Before God parts the Red Sea, God tells Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea (Exodus 14:16.) And again, in Joshua 3:13, the priests carrying the Ark must first step into the Jordan before the waters of the river would part so the Israelites could cross over into the Promised Land. First steps!

If we are praying for God to move in our lives and nothing is happening, we must look at ourselves. Are we asking for something to satisfy our flesh? Because God will provide according to His plans for our needs. We must believe with all our hearts. Are we watching for His response? Because He may be answering, again according to His plans and those plans don’t align with our expected answers, so we miss out. Or are we just standing on the shoreline, staring at the water, waiting for something to happen? God is waiting for us to take the first steps!

Easy words to say (or type), but how does one do that? The closer you draw to God, the closer He draws to you and the clearer you will hear, and recognize, His Voice. When He calls, you will be better prepared to step out in faith. The waters will part before you and the path forward will be revealed. Thus, when you are regularly focused on Christ and trying to walk in a Christ-centered lifestyle, you will hear His voice in a Super Bowl commercial and find yourself planning a trip to the geographical center of the continental US in March, to pray for healing of our land. Yes, I could pray right here in the comfort of my home, but God has other plans and wants me to step out. So, off we go Mar 12, to Lebanon, KS. Preparations are underway, hotel reservations are made, time off requested. Join us spiritually on this journey, praying 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 91 and other appropriate scriptures in preparation. Or take your own first steps physically, travel to Lebanon, KS, or some other symbolic location, and pray. Step out in belief and confess that belief in the power of prayer out loud in boldness.

What is God calling you to do? What are you waiting for? Be obedient. Be Bold. Be the spark for Revival and Be Blessed!

Posted on Facebook Feb 8, 2021

KINGDOM PRAYER FOR THE NATION 2

It has been a month since my last Kingdom Post. But God has not been silent. He has been working on me, preparing me for this push. The push started last night during the Super Bowl, as a particular commercial aired. The seed was planted last month, and got a fresh dose of water earlier yesterday morning, as we were getting ready for church. Pat was listening to Pastor Robert Morris, Gateway Church. As I walked into the bedroom, he was talking about true worshiping in church, singing out, not just being there. And it was directed at men. That was not the message he was delivering, but merely a sidebar to the main message. In the same way, what I heard had no direct connection to the watering but was a channeling of the water to the connection between last month’s post and Pastor Morris to Unite 714, which I have talked about before (2 Chronicles 7:14), with respect to people turning to God in prayer. And the watering continued later that day as Pat and I discussed the need to start travelling to places neither one of us have been to. That watering led to the revelation buried in the commercial last night.

This is what happens when your focus is on Jesus Christ. You come across several seemingly unconnected events that set you up for the main event, which when revealed, is totally expected and clear. The commercial was sponsored by Jeep. The only way you realized that was the narrator was driving a Jeep (apparent if you know your vehicles well) and the commercial ended with the Jeep tag. I did not see that tag last night as I went to the bathroom before the very end, which is why I almost missed the commercial all together. I was about to get up when the commercial started, but something kept me in the chair.

The bulk of the commercial was about a small town in Kansas. Lebanon, KS is 252 people strong. It is located about 2 miles southeast of the geographic center of the continental United States. Near that center is a marker, flagpole and small church. The actual center is about ½ away on private farmland. The church is open 24/7. Pat, not a sports fan, had gone to bed sometime before the commercial aired. I headed to bed just before the 2 minute warning, the outcome long since determined and told Pat I knew where one of our trips was going to be: Lebanon, KS, the geographic center of the continental US. It would be a quick weekend trip, as far as an almost 1000 mile trip one-way could be. By this morning, more details were revealed.

God speaks and we obey. Sometime in the next two months, Pat and I will travel to that chapel in Lebanon, KS, to pray for our nation. In support of Unite714, we will time the trip to allow us to pray at 7:14 a.m. and/or 7:14 p.m. We will start with praying 2 Chronicles 7:14, then go where we are led. We are standing firm in our faith. I have talked about revival for over a year now. This is but one small effort to ignite that revival so desperately needed in our nation and around the world. We must be bold and speak the truth in love.

God speaks to each and every one of us. We can only hear if we are paying attention with an open mind and heart. Are you ready to walk out your faith, to be the light for Christ in this dark times? This is our challenge to you. Listen to what God is telling you in love. Join us in this revival. Join us on this journey to Lebanon, by making a journey physically yourselves or spiritually in prayer regularly. Join with us in prayer on the day we pray in that little chapel in Lebanon, KS. Share this post so that the flames of revival will be kindled. We can do nothing alone, but as Paul says in Philippians 4:13, each of us “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us. We will keep you posted.

Be Blessed!

Posted on FaceBook Jan 8, 2021

NOTE: I wrote this, then tried to find a way to make it into 2 posts, but it would be confusing. So this may be long. Just one more problem with today’s culture, with short attention spans, desiring short articles, etc. Thus, here is this post in its entirety.

KINGDOM PRAYER FOR THE NATION

Not sure where this one is going, but I pray God gives me wisdom, knowledge, insight and kindness as I type.

Wednesday night our Pastor Donald Leavell, Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship, made the service a call of Prayer for the Nation, saying we cannot stand around and pretend nothing happened that day. Like burying our head in the sand. Several of our brothers and sisters rose up and prayed. Everyone delivered a heartfelt plea from down deep. One shy young lady who got up told me over a year ago that she was not ready to stand behind the pulpit and preach God’s Word. She was right! She needed to be in front of the pulpit, as she was Wednesday night. There could be no denying the raw emotion, passion and call to action. Not to be confused with the younger young lady, who prayed well too. Way to go, Liz!

The US is in serious trouble. All one need do is take a short drive, or walk around, and observe what is happening around you. Take the traffic as an example. Everhart has been under roadwork construction for a year now. During that entire time left turns onto Holly from southbound Everhart have not been allowed. A portable digital sign has been in place at the beginning of the construction stating that. “No left turn” arrows have been placed at the intersection, both at the stop line and adjacent the traffic lights (impossible to miss). Yet people continue to ignore those signs and wait for traffic to clear so they can turn. Meanwhile traffic backs up behind them sometimes over a block, usually at least half a block.

You may think, “what’s the big deal?” Let’s start simple and build from there. Your need to not be inconvenienced by a traffic ordinance in place to keep traffic flowing smoothly and prevent accidents, has just inconvenienced 10 – 15 other people behind you wanting to travel straight. If you feel there is no problem with disobeying that sign, what’s to stop you from obeying other traffic signs or ordinances, like wearing seat belts, texting while driving, speeding, etc? All of which happens everywhere. Then these same people, desensitized to obeying traffic laws, begin to think they don’t have to obey other laws, and before long, anarchy reigns. People feel they don’t have to wear masks in public, for whatever reason, so don’t. It’s OK to riot and destroy property, again for whatever reason they choose to justify their position.

Unfortunately, these people aren’t just those who belong TO the world. There are many who supposedly profess to belong to the Kingdom. Many Christians, including pastors and leaders, are following the path of least resistance and watering down the Word, turning a blind eye or in some cases advocating or at least condoning these worldly actions. NO MORE!

Mr Floyd’s death sparked protests, turned to riots, turned to violent upheaval. Every few days a new atrocity raised its ugly head and violence increased to the point Federal buildings were put under siege and attacked. One side stayed noncommittal or leaned towards supporting the violence. Now that that same side has apparently succeeded in being placed in power, they are now crying “Foul” with the events at the Capitol building on Tuesday. Federal property needs the full protection of the government now. It appears, however that the same elements who fanned the embers of the protests last spring and summer, into full blown fires of violence may have been at work on Tuesday. Those advocating impeachment during the past 4 years now tell the other side to “get over it” and accept the results.

There are very few unbiased, fact reporting outlets out there. “Alleged” has been stricken from the dictionaries, replaced by comments like “false claims of widespread voter fraud.” These comments are not being presented as quotes from people being interviewed, but as facts stated by the reporter. The articles read like opinion pieces and not fact reporting.

Not long ago, I wrote a series on “Truth in Love,” calling on Christians to speak God’s Word (truth) with kindness and compassion (love.) Now more than ever Christians need to lean into that Truth and speak out in love, not anger or condemnation. We must not be caught up in the worldly responses but be “doers of the word” as James 1:21-27 tells us.

“Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. for if anyone is a hear of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:21-27)

And in the next chapter (James 2:14-26,) he tells us that faith without works is dead.

“But what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:14-26)

We cannot simply go to church on Sunday, worship God, then pretend nothing is wrong and bury our heads in the sand the rest of the week, or even worse, actually act like the rest of the world. We must be the Light, setting the example of a Christ-centered life, and share His Word. We must fulfill the destiny God has intended for us. Jesus Christ is THE ANSWER!

Be Blessed.