Month: August 2013

Are you listening?

I believe, and many believe, these are certainly prophetic times in which we live.

Amen?

You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out, all you have to do is pay attention and see what’s happening. Even in our own nation, things are changing. Things are lining up with the Word of God itself, and thank God for that.

The Bible tells us, those who have ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit of God is saying to this generation.

God has a Word for this generation. Not another generation, but this one right now.

In the Bible, God used Daniel to prophesy. As you may know, Daniel spent most of his time in captivity in Babylon. He was taken at the age of 17 and thrust into a different nation and culture.  His home and nation had been destroyed and overrun. All of the sudden he’s handpicked to stand in front of the King. They wanted those who were handpicked to be educated and quick learners. They wanted them to learn the language, to be fluent in speech and writing, even to be instructors of the language.

Could you imagine how traumatic that would be?

So there Daniel is, 17 years old, handpicked to work with the government and foreign affairs. In the first few chapters of Daniel, we learn that the handpicked ones are Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The Bible says, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. His spirit was so troubled, his dream left him.

I believe in the last days, God is going to trouble men of power and influence of their dreams and visions. They’re going to go, just like Nebuchadnezzar, to the wrong side of the tracks and say;

Crystal ball gazer, give me the interpretation.

Tarot card reader, give me the interpretation.

They won’t be able to because they have no knowledge of God, but knowledge of evil. This is when the people of God have to be lead by the Spirit of God to have the interpretation of dreams, visions, and spiritual things.

Amen?

I’m not talking about the whole church getting this; I’m talking about the remnant. The remnant in this situation was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

You may have a mega church of 13,000…15,000…18,000, or more. That is a lot of people! But is every single person inside of that church of thousands on the same page?

I’d say, not likely.

What I’m saying is this, we need to be the remnant. We need to tune in to hear that voice of God. I’ve made that determination myself. I’m spending more time just being quiet before the Lord. For some people, that’s a challenge. They go to God and all they do is complain and want to do all the talking. They talk about people, what’s going on, this, that, and the other thing. Then they ask, God, what are you going to do about that? God is exhausted by the time you’re done.

Praying is not just you complaining to God. It also has to do with listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

It’s the same principle of discerning spirits. A lot of times, the Lord will give you inside information. He will tug at your heart. He’ll give you an inclination. You may think, “That’s just intuition.”

Maybe. But I’d rather call it the Spirit of God dealing with your heart and you’re discerning somebody’s spirit. Sometimes that discerning comes like a lightning bolt from heaven, but not often. So, where do you get it? Right down on the inside. Something happens and you wish you would have listened to that small voice.

We have GOT to live tuned into the right station. The Bible talks about the many voices in our world. It says don’t listen to all those voices; we’ve got to tune in by the Holy Ghost, to the right station, to hear the right thing.

I want to encourage you to practice listening. See how God begins dealing with your heart. He may lead you to have the interpretation of dreams and visions for this generation.

-Pastor Steve

The Sent One

Missio = “Sent One”

Some of you may know of T.L. Osborn, a great missionary. He produced a movie, years ago, when he was in Holland, called, “The Holland Wonder.”  He had hundreds of thousands in an open air crusade in that north part of Europe, which is unheard of. It was a miracle. He was a true evangelist. But he said this, “There is no such word as missionary in the Bible.”

Wait a minute, Brother T.L.; you’re messing up our theology here.

He said there is a call for us all to be , “the sent one,” but you’re sent as who you are. So if you are not that here, you’re certainly not going to become that there. There is a ministry to fulfill wherever you are, whether you’re in South Bend or Timbuktu. There’s a ministry of helps, a pastor, teacher, or an evangelist. You can service in the ministry wherever you are.

I’ve heard people say, “The boat ride, or the plane ticket, is not going to make you a missionary.” It’s not like the phone booth Clark Kent used and you hop out a super missionary. No, no, no. You’re you will be the same dud there as you were at home. You can’t think that when you get “there”, you’re going to be a  super missionary, or that all of the sudden you’ll have the power of God, or assume people are going to want to hear what you have to say. Just because you go, you don’t become somebody else.

Who you are, is who you are. 

You can not change that. You’ve got to be that person you want to be here, before you transport there. As many of you know, I was brought up many years, on the mission field. Up until high school, I had lived in the Philippines, twice, Hong Kong, Israel, and other parts of the world. I’ve seen people that have come from the United States that had good hearts, good intentions, but they were not prepared. They would land at the airport and say, “what do I do now?”

That is not the place to figure that out.

Those things need to be figured out at home, before you go.

Therefore, you have to go, knowing, that you are the anointed of the Lord and you are sent, not by accident, but on purpose to do a work for God.  Amen?

-Pastor Steve

 

 

Responsibility

The Lord wants you to know today, that you truly are sent.

In the past few posts, we’ve been discussing who missionaries are, who are the sent ones. We now know, without a doubt, it’s you. It’s me. It’s everyone who is born again. The Bible says, we are called to reconcile people to God. We are the sent ones.

With great responsibility, comes great power. The power to change the world with the good news. The time is getting short. Years ago, God said, the fields are white, ready to harvest. Go into the fields and bring that harvest in, because the time is short. Be busy, as sent ones, into this world.

I will personally send you to groups and individuals that need help. They are looking for help. They are trying, but looking in all the wrong places. Help them. Be a sent one to them. Don’t give your opinion, but give the gospel, the good news, to those who have not had good news in a very long time. Help them, lift them up, encourage them, because redemption draws nigh.

Hallelujah.

Remember the sacrifice. Remember the price paid. Remember, it cost somebody, something, and it just wasn’t something. It cost them everything. Everything. Their very life. But, He didn’t mind doing it, because He knew that God was going to raise Him from the dead. And He did. Thank God for the power of the resurrection, because He lives, we too can live. We have the hope of heaven, knowing all those that have gone on before us, are there with Him.

The Bible says, that we are surrounded be a big cloud of witnesses, that are looking over heaven, looking on the playing field, called Earth. They’re cheering us on, saying, “You’re close to the end, don’t quit!” God says, I see the line, don’t falter. Don’t take a misstep, because I’m coming real soon, for My church.

What good news that is.

When God looks at us, He doesn’t see us in our sin. He sees us saved, whole, and delivered. He’s looking through that sacrifice.

I challenge you today, be ambassadors. Be responsible. Represent heaven and the King. Hallelujah, we are sent ones.

Pastor Steve

Faith Factor: Return from Sweden {Video}

Last week, as some of you may know, I was in Uppsala, Sweden for the Word of Life European Conference. I have attended and participated as a speaker for many years, but this year, in particular, was a little more special. They were celebrating 30 years of ministry. Hallelujah!

Here’s a short video recapping my time in Sweden. You’ll also find links below to my session, as well as links to the other speakers.

Pastor Steve Session

Ulf Ekman

Dr. David Yonggi Cho

Word of Life Europe Conference

God Bless,

Pastor Steve