Lord, Do It One More Time #3

The old adage is so true. Sometimes we aren't able to see the forest because of the trees. In other words, the things (obstacles, challenges, etc.) immediately in front of us can prevent us from seeing the bigger picture (the complete work of God). It is all too easy to look at those "angels" who seemingly aren't being moved by the Holy Spirit and begin to lose hope. Week after week, you pray and prepare, pray and prepare, and then pray and prepare some more and yet what you've prayed for just isn't manifesting. The trees (the unmoved boys and girls) are preventing you from seeing the forest (the underlying work of God).

So, when those times come (and those times can come all too frequently), I find it important to pull back and begin to remind myself of the things that I know to be true. I begin to remind myself about who God is. I meditate upon the integrity of His Word and promises. I encourage myself by remembering that what God has done in the past, He can and will do again ... for those who believe! Soon, the confusion and disillusionment dissipates and disappears.

Allow me in this third and final segment of the Lord, Do It Again One More Time blog series to encourage you. Know that the same Holy Spirit that worked in and through the child mentioned in John G. Lake's Adventures in God is at work in your children and children's ministry. Remember that if the Holy Spirit did it once, He can do it again!

John G. Lake. “I was sitting one day in the home of the DeValeras in Krugersdorp, South Africa, when a man arrived who had ... been following me from place to place, trying to catch up with me. He ... had developed a large cancer. He came into the house and ... in a little while a 6-year-old child who had been sitting near me went across the room, climbed on the man’s knees, put her hands on his face, and prayed. I saw the cancer wither. In half an hour, the thing had disappeared.” John G. Lake, Adventures in God (Tulsa: Harrison House, Inc., 1981), 15,16.

Join me one more time in crying out, "Lord, do it one more time" in my children and children's ministry!

Lord, Do It One More Time #2

Last week, I shared that if we can read in the Word or in times gone by of God working supernaturally in a certain area then we can have a precidence for asking Him doing it again. We can be confident of the fact that if God has done it before, He can do it again.

The reason for this series of blogs is to show that history records times of God moving supernaturally in and through boys and girls. And, in seeing this, it should cause us to cry out, "Lord, do it again. Send your Spirit to my children's ministry. Pour out your Spirit upon my children so that they can be mightily used of you. Lord, please do it one more time!"

This week, let's look at another time in history of God coming upon children...

Welsh Revival, Evan Roberts, 1904. "While this was a revival of youth, children were so taken up with the things of God that they held their own meetings in homes, barns, yards; many from the age of 10 would exhort, sing and pray with great power. Many young children took part in public meetings as well." Mary Stewart Relfe, Cure of All Ills,(Montgomery: League of Prayer, 1988), 86 "Children began to sing and pray for hours."Wesley Duewel, Revival Fire (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 165.

Join me. Together let's cry out, "Lord, do it one more time!"

Lord, Do It One More Time #1

For the next couple of weeks, I want to share about moves of God from days gone by. The reason for sharing these events is to remind us of the fact that if God has done it before, He can do it again. Seeing the Spirit of God come upon and flow through children throughout history should cause us to cry out, "Lord, do it again. Send your Spirit to my children's ministry. Pour out your Spirit upon my children so that they can be mightily used of you. Lord, please do it one more time!"

Check out these records of God coming upon children...

Cane Ridge Revival, Kentucky, 1801. “Little children, too, were brought visibly into the kingdom of God, like the 7-year-old girl, sitting on her father’s shoulder, who exhorted the crowd for a time and then slumped down in weariness.” Bernard A. Weisberger, They Gathered at the River (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1958), 33.

Maria Woodworth-Etter, St. Louis, Missouri, 1890. “One day, a helpless little girl was brought to me. She could neither talk nor walk. After I prayed for her, I told some of the folks to take her out and let her try to walk…. After a while, they brought her back. She was walking and talking, but they couldn’t understand a word that she said. Praise the Lord. She had the use of her whole body; she was walking and talking in a strange language or tongue. She was filled with the Spirit and was bold as a lion. I stood her on the platform, and she began to walk about and preach. With hands uplifted...she preached to the astonished multitude, showing what great things the Lord had done for her.” Wayne E. Warner, Revival! (Tulsa: Harrison House, Inc., 1978), 55,56

I'll share more stories next week. Until then, join me in crying out for the Lord to one more time send His Holy Spirit so that children's lives will be forever changed!

Overflowingly Filled (Bad Grammar, Great Thought)

I have mentioned in a couple of recent blogs that among the 3 or 4 books that I am currently reading is a book entitled The Complete Smith Wigglesworth. I am absolutely loving this book and gaining fresh insight in the areas of faith and the Holy Spirit.

Allow me to share a few sentences that I have meditated upon and meditated upon. Hopefully it will be a blessing and challenge to you as well.

"The most important thing, the one thing that counts, is to see that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, filled to overflowing. Anything less than this is displeasing to God. We are commanded by God to be filled with the Spirit, and in the measure you fail of this you are that far short of the plan of God."

What a challenge. I am to be filled with the Spirit of God. And, not just filled, but filled to overflowing. This challenge is stirring my spirit. Filled. Over-filled. Splashing-filled. Can't-contain-it-all-over-filled. There-is-no-end-in-sight-filled. Not a yesterday over-filled, but a TODAY over-filled.

Just a quick warning. Being overflowingly (I know that "overflowingly" isn't a word. There just isn't another word to convey this thought!) filled can get messy. It will spill over on those around you causing them to become born again, set free, healed, encouraged, joyful, ...

Will you join me? Will you accept the challenge given by Wigglesworth? Let's be OVERFLOWINGLY FILLED with the Spirit of God for this day and all of the challenges and opportunities that are before us for this day and then expect today to be a supernatural day. After all, TODAY is His day. TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost!

Stretch 2,3,4. Stretch again 2,3,4!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am reading a book on my iPad entitled The Complete Smith Wigglesworth. I am absolutely loving this book. I find myself highlighting so many truths found in Wigglesworth's teachings.

Rather than share a lengthy thought this week, allow me to share a quote from the book. If meditated upon, it could be the launching pad for some powerful ministry in the days to come.

"The Holy Ghost wants to get you ready for stretching yourself out to God and believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

Isn't that a powerful quote? Wigglesworth was telling us that supernatural ministry is a direct result of a spirit that is enlarged and stretched by the Holy Ghost. This enhanced spirit is merely a byproduct of praying in the Holy Ghost. (Jude 20)

If you want to flow in the supernatural, pull away from the crowd and begin to daily stretch and enlarge your spirit by praying in other tongues. Soon, you'll be like Peter in Acts 3 and be able to walk into any ministry situation and say, "Such as I have give I thee" and see the natural give way to the supernatural!

2012 - The Year of NO Excuses!

This weekend's services were powerful as we taught "Why Sit We Here 'Til We Die". It was one of those types of weekends where the Holy Spirit spoke not only to the individual children but also the direction of our children's ministry. Using 2 Kings 6 as the foundation for the teaching, we saw that these lepers knew that if they continued to sit where they were and continued doing what they were doing, they would continue to receive the same results that they were presently experiencing. They recognized the importance of getting up from where they were and beginning to do something!

The final object lesson of the message dealt with eliminating all of our excuses. Excuses cause us to keep on doing what we are doing.

Some boys and girls might try to say:
1. “But, God, I was only a child.” God will answer back, “But what about my using a little boy named David to kill Goliath? He offered no excuse for his age!”
2. “But, God, I didn't know what to say or do.” God will answer back, “But I spoke to a little boy named Samuel and told him what to tell the prophet Eli. I spoke to him. I could have spoken to you.”
3. “But, God, I was too busy.” God will answer back, “But I used a young slave girl who was very, very busy with all of her duties to speak to Namaan. Her actions caused Namaan to go to a man of God named Elijah and receive his healing from leprosy.”
4. “But, God, I don’t have much to give.” God will answer back, “I used a lunch from one little boy to feed over 5,000 people. One boy’s lunch was what I needed to help many, many people.”

From this, we can see that our children are NOT too young. They CAN hear God’s voice. They ARE sensitive to God-given ministry opportunities. They DO have what is needed to flow with the Holy Ghost. There is absolutely NO excuse why our children and our children’s ministry can’t be SUPERNATURAL!

In wrapping up the service, I heard in my spirit the phrase, “2012, the year of NO excuses”. This will be my mantra this year. NO EXCUSES! Throughout the year, service after service, I will declare this, teach this, and expect this. In our services I will give the children opportunity to testify about what happened after they eliminated their excuses and began flow with the Holy Ghost.

Will you join me? If TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost (and it is), then let’s facilitate His working through our children. Then, to quote T.D. Jakes, “Get ready, get ready, get ready!”

Your Report Card is Ready!

Believe it or not, when I would bring home my report card during my elementary years in school, almost invariably the teacher would write a comment in reference to my conduct. Without exception, the comments would refer to my excessive talking during class. I seemingly just couldn't help it. I could always find something funny in any situation and I would comment to my peers about what I had noticed. Consequently, each report card would notify my parents that "Billy talks too much."

As we begin this new year, I want to give a brief notice on your "report card". You are not talking enough! It is not a misprint. You are NOT talking enough. Let me become more emphatic. You are NOT TALKING ENOUGH!

The psalmist David had some insight about the importance of talking. He wrote, "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." (Psalms 91:2) In other words, David just didn't think about the greatness of God. He recognized the necessity of vocalizing what he knew to be true.

I hate the space confines found in writing this blog. There is so much that I would love to share about talking (after all, my elementary teachers thought that I was quite good at talking). Let me briefly share the importance of speaking ALOUD.
1. HEAVEN will hear your voice and begin to take action.
2. YOU will hear your voice and be encouraged.
3. HELL will hear your voice, take notice, and flee.

As we begin this new year, let's become talkers. Begin to boldly declare out loud the realities imparted by the Holy Ghost. In fact, to start with, beginning today, why don't you begin to daily (and many times throughout the day) declare aloud "TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost". Come on. It won't hurt you. In fact, it will help you. TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost. Now, a little louder. TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost. Now, a little bolder. TODAY IS THE DAY OF THE HOLY GHOST. In doing so, you will begin to become more and more sensitive to His presence, voice, and actions!

One more thought as we begin 2012. I have written on your "report card" that you have become an excessive talker. So, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and then do some more talking. Get ready. As you put into practice what I have written on your "report card", you and your ministry will never ever be the same again!