Discipleship is NOT Sexy

Posted: June 27, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Discipleship is NOT Sexy

It has been a long time since I have written anything. I have spent most of my days developing new friendships and trying to explain to them their need for Jesus. I wish I could tell you a bunch of stories of lives that have changed as a result. I wish I could tell you that hundreds have repented and are now serving the Lord faithfully. Instead, I’m pretty sad as very few of my new friends are ready to ditch their lives to follow Jesus. Some are not convinced they need to repent. Others are not convinced He is worth it.

The good news is that I regularly see God do supernatural things (too many stories to write out). I expected these miracles to result in conversions, but now I understand what Jesus meant when He said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31).

Jesus never promised revival; in fact, He told us to expect the opposite (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Even when people saw the supernatural, it usually didn’t lead to repentance (Luke 10:13). What Jesus did promise was that we would have His presence with us as we made disciples (Matthew 28:20). This I have definitely witnessed. Supernatural answers to prayer never get old.

Like most speakers/pastors, I like to share about conversions and victories! But by only sharing those stories, it may make people think that something is wrong if they don’t see a lot of fruit in their efforts. Maybe this post is a strange word of encouragement for those who have been sharing Jesus and not seeing much result. We may not often see repentance, but we do experience God being with us; and we do enjoy the peace knowing we tried. And that makes it all worth it.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

By Francis Chan

Walking Dead men

Posted: June 22, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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Walking dead men
By Russ Welch

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
(2 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV)

Is this Word not true? Are we not surrounded by a prideful people?

O’ how we must pray like King David, that Holy Ghost search our hearts daily and let us not be found with pride!! Yes my friends we are in the days when one mentions obedience & sacrifice people scream legalism. When the truth is preached that we must deny ourselves and follow Christ they cry out religious radical. But As I read the Word I see that the Father knew well in advance that we, in this day would be witness to those who loved their lives more than that of the Lord & His Will. Yet it is these very people who cry out for revival and for the presence of the Lord and all they get is an emotional high and rooms filled with real religious spirit’s!!

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV)

God is seeking radical servants who are willing to lay down their lives and rise up with renewed hearts willing to live out the radical call of discipleship that our Lord Jesus Christ call’s us too.

I am so tied of stumbling in my own walk. I have fought with my own strength and will power for to long. I can not take one step in Holy righteousness in my own ability. No I must die to my own abilities that He may live with His ability flowing through me that His name may be glorified.

I have come to fully realize that the only way to fully walk on the narrow road is to die to myself, that Christ may live in me via His Holy Spirit. I know that I like the disciples in the New Testament must be as a walking dead man- fully dead to the desires of the flesh and carnal thinking and fully reborn and led of the Spirit of the Living God.

To be a true disciple of Christ, we must be willing to get up from the life which we lived before He called us and leave it all behind walking in the newness of a transformed life from this day forward.

How many times I have heard people say “Well that was for them” or “You cant really believe that Jesus is calling us to sell and forsake all”. I know I use to say these very word and I praise God for His Holy Ghost bringing the Fire of God’s discipline upon my life to show me how wrong I was. I know some will disagree with the statement I just made and so be it – For what is more important to me is that the scriptures testify to it.

No my friends be not fooled, the casual, the lukewarm and half hearted person will never enter heavens gates. I would encourage you to study the word endure throughout the New Testament. No I am not talking about salvation by works – I am talking about lives that produce fruit worthy of repentance, lives that produce fruit for His Kingdom. We must realize that it is no small call that this God of the universe calls us to. For He left nothing undone for our way to Him to be clear. Let also be mindful that He also made sure that there was no other way for anyone to sneak into His Kingdom for there shall be no trespassers in the Kingdom of our God.

Again I challenge you to study these statements made by our Lord: “To those who endure, to those who obey my commands, to those who truly love Me” and you may just be shocked to realize the gospel you have heard, the gospel you have been taught really isn’t the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven rather it is the gospel made up by foolish, weak men with calloused hearts.

For not only is our Lord a Radical Lord who has made radical commands to live a radical lifestyle, He calls forth His disciples to be as radical as He is!

Let us all be as walking dead men, that the world may see the true Messiah living through our reborn, sacrificed and sanctified lives!

For indeed our God is an Awesome and Mighty God.

Is God going Broke!

Posted: June 21, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, wilderness
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By Russ Welch

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt 6:19-21)

It is interesting as I was studying Matt 6 this morning, I was led to vs 19-21. This message is something the Lord has been speaking to me for the past 18 months in regard to our hearts and minds set on heavenly things and not on worldly. As I was studying I crossed over into some of my study notes from a year ago, where I had put AW Pinks commentary on these verses:

“We are now to enter the fifth division of our Lord’s sermon, and as we do it is well to remind ourselves afresh of His first and primary design in this important address, namely to correct and refute the erroneous views of His hearers. The Jews held false beliefs concerning the person of the Messiah, the character of His mission, and the nature of the kingdom He would establish. As unregenerate men their views were carnal and mundane, self-centered and confined to things temporal.” ~AW Pink

As I read this I thought of my trip to Keystone Heights Florida yesterday to do a termite job – This town at one time was beautiful with lakes all around it. Yet today many of those lakes have shrunk to mere ponds, some even have dried up. As I drove out-of-town I started counting the Churches, and saw that there are 12 + churches for a town whose population is only a little over 1500. Three of the Churches were big enough to house 1000 plus.

The word drought and temporal kept running through my spirit last night. And this morning as I awoke and the Spirit led me back to Matthew chapter 6 I saw it all laid out. So many today who call upon the name of the Lord have yet to allow their carnal ways of thinking be put to death.

Keystone Heights has a population of less than 2000, so why do they need so many Churches and not only that what a waste of money, the Lord’s money they have splurged that they could show the world they have the biggest and best. Temporal the Lord says, for these to shall burn. All are vanity of the worst case, mere stubble and hay.

We are living in a day when the hearts of men are fixed upon the things of this world rather than the things of heaven and we are seeing these things begin to be exposed. We see record amounts of Churches being sold do to foreclosures on their buildings. In Florida alone since 2010 there have been more than 270 Churches lost to financial loss.

Is God’s treasure chest on the decline? Is our Father in Heaven running out of money?

I do not think so. I can remember the one thing that Holy Ghost ingrained in me when we started the nursing home ministry Mighty Arm Ministries in 2005 and the ministry school in 2006, walk into the Fathers blessing. It was so powerful I told our board that we would never borrow or finance and part of the ministry and then ask the Father to bless it. No, we would walk into the blessings of the Lord, that which He had ordained.

It brings to mind what Solomon wrote in proverbs not just once rather 3 times:

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. (Prov 12:15)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Prov 14:12)

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Prov 16:25)

I said it several years ago and I say it again – We are in a season where the Spirit is pulling back the covers and revealing & exposing the naked things, the things hidden in secret which are not of the Fathers Will. Those places where the harlots have remained hidden in their whoredom, the untestable and blasphemies which are done in His House.We can see the Lord blowing a wind of holiness across the land which is blowing away the dust that has covered up and hidden His true purpose for His Bride in this and all other nations.

I could go on about what the Lord has shown me in regard to the spiritual drought, the illness that plagues His Church in this nation yet today I want to call upon our individual hearts. For these 2 verses are in regard to the Lord’s direct teaching to us firstly as individuals.

What captivates your heart today friend? Is it the treasures of heaven or the things of this world. What motivates you to work? Do you work simply to provide for your family, to pay for your house, cars and other luxuries of this world? Or are you driven to not only put food onto your table but to help put food on the tables of others as well?

I was speaking with a brother the other night in regard to the “Prosperity gospel” And I truly believe God does desire to prosper us, just not so we can attain the American dream, surrounding ourselves with the pleasures of this world. I pray that the Father would bless me with a Million dollars and the heart to go with it. For the carnal mind would confess it could never live in a one room home rather it desires pleasure and excess so give me a million dollar home. Me, I would rather have enough money to build a million homes for the homeless and the heart that is comfortable to live wherever the Lord calls me, even to a one room living space.

You will notice that the Lord end this message in verse 21 with:

“for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

So where is your heart today friend? Anchored to the things of this world or do you desire Jesus and Jesus alone?

For of you desire the things of this world, you have already received your reward which shall ultimately burn up. But O praise God for those who desire the Master and He alone, for none shall enter Heaven with out the Son and He desires that we come empty-handed with our hearts sworn to anyone or anything else save Him. For Jesus is the treasure that shall last for all eternity and if your hearts are fixed on anything else you will never be able to experience this treasure in Spiritual truth!

I can assure you that our Father in Heaven has not gone broke rather that much of the American Church has chosen the things of this world over the treasures of Heaven which have rendered many of them Spiritually bankrupt!!

I end this with one of my favorite songs which really brings home the message today:

Turn Your Eye’s Upon Jesus….

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

Refrain

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Admitting we are unable open’s the door to God’s ability!!!

Posted: June 21, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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“Then he replied, “This is the word the Lord spoke to Zerubbabel: You won’t succeed by might or by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies. (Zech 4:6) There are so many messages just in this verse alone!

TO THE INDIVIDUAL:One can not over come sin nor even the temptation thereof by the sheer will of their determination. True victory only comes when we reach the place where we admit to our in ability (our weakness) and surrender to God’s total ability.

TO THE CHURCH:It’s not about your numbers, it’s not about the amount you receive in tithes and offerings, it not about the pastor being a great speaker, Nor your worship team being better than any other – It by His Spirit and His Spirit alone – for many are the houses that claim His Name yet few are they who have surrendered to His Spirit and His Will that He should come, and not just visit them, but make His abode!!

TO THE NATION: It doesn’t matter who is the head in the White House, it doesn’t matter how large ones military is. It matters not who rules the senate nor the house – a Nations strength lies within its total reliance upon the Lord and His Spirit. When a nation boast of its ability outside of the Lord, He shall pull back His hand of protection and let them see just how far “their strength” will take them!!!!

Many are they who in reference to this verse refer to it’s speaking of doing the work of God, and doing so follows a correct spiritual principle. When God does something, it is not done through physical strength. It is interesting that might literally means “arms,” and power refers to physical activity. The work of God is not going to be done through feats of arms, military victories, or anything that requires physical fighting or contention. Nor can it be accomplished by any amount of physical activity.

Yet we must come to the spiritual revelation of what this verse is saying for it matters not to the amount of work and effort that men put into it, they are not what will get God’s work done properly. They will be helpful, certainly, because God works though men, and men must exert themselves in order to do God’s will. Nevertheless, He says clearly here that all the credit goes to His Spirit. God Himself is at work! Our job is to submit, to do the things that must be done. We must do what the Spirit directs us to do, but God will receive the credit, not us. We could do none of these works by our own means.

For when we grasp all that Holy Ghost desires to teach us here, we shall see that God gives the ability. He gives the inspiration, the strength, and the endurance. He opens the doors. He supplies the manpower, the money, and the other resources to go through those doors. He supplies favor so that the doors can be opened. We merely walk through them.

One could very well say that God’s work is an act of grace. Then again one might conclude that it is a kind of oxymoron to say that work is done by grace, since we think of work and grace as two extremes, but they are not!

What comes first?

The grace comes first: God grants favor and gives gifts, then the work is done.

So where is the glory?

It appears in the grace. The effort comes afterward and accomplishes God’s will.

For by His great mercy are we saved and upon salvation Holy Ghost deposits grace into our lives, empowered with the revelation that we can overcome by our abilities but that through the empowerment of God’s abundant grace through the work of His Spirit shall we walk the narrow road victoriously.

For indeed, our God is a Mighty and Awesome God!!!

A total lack of respect in the Body!!!!

Posted: June 19, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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A total lack of respect in the Body!!!!

By Russ Welch

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself (Eph 5:22-33)

I agree with what Paul is saying here whole hearted – the question I have is how and when did the ways of the world get slipped in here – women’s lib and male egotism  – For I do not see where Paul says women disrespect your husbands until they become like Christ, nor husbands disrespect your wives until they learn to submit – Yet I see this being played out in marriages across the Church horizon and it really comes down to a total lack of respect on both parties. Even if your wife is the worst ever, we are still called to love them as Christ and if your husband is not any where near a saint leave alone Christ, the message of submitting has never been dismissed.

Many profess to be disciples of Christ yet their lives are lived as the disciples of the prince of Hell.

The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,
and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues. (Prov 17:27-28)

I listen to wives t& Husbands tare the other to shreds in public, many of the discussions which should be private are made public and we wonder why divorce is at a higher rate in the Church than in the world outside? I will tell you why, we have made a vow before God and God alone which we brake day in and day out – we cry to Him for Mercy yet His ears remain closed because we can not even show mercy unto one an other.

Are we the Bride that Christ is coming after?

If we treat our spouses with such disrespect we are in all reality treating God with the same disrespect.

It’s time we start living Bible rather than merely speaking Bible and this is in every area of our lives – not just in the public view but in the secret places as well – If not, we better get use to the rocks crying out the praises  of the Lord for the praise of the defiled will never reach heaven!

I myself believe that a family should worship together, pray together and battle the war of hell against the family together – when you separate one from the other you weaken the line and allow the enemy entrance. I do not see this as merely a personal opinion, I see it as scriptural sound and a mandate from the King Himself.

We need a radical transformation in our lives – a radical holy fire that will burn & put to death ever worldly thought that our minds may be transformed into Kingdom thoughts.

My take: Why my church rebelled against the American Dream

Posted: June 15, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Editor’s Note: David Platt, Ph.D., is the author of the New York Times bestseller Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream and is senior pastor of the 4,000-member Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama.

By David Platt, Special to CNN

We American Christians have a way of taking the Jesus of the Bible and twisting him into a version of Jesus that we are more comfortable with.

A nice middle-class American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts.

A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who for that matter wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings comfort and prosperity to us as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream.

But lately I’ve begun to have hope that the situation is changing.

The 20th-century historian who coined the term “American Dream,” James Truslow Adams, defined it as “a dream… in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are.”

But many of us are realizing that Jesus has different priorities. Instead of congratulating us on our self-fulfillment, he confronts us with our inability to accomplish anything of value apart from God. Instead of wanting us to be recognized by others, he beckons us to die to ourselves and seek above all the glory of God.

In my own faith family, the Church at Brook Hills, we have tried to get out from under the American Dream mindset and start living and serving differently.

Like many other large American churches, we had a multimillion-dollar campus and plans to make it even larger to house programs that would cater to our own desires. But then we started looking at the world we live in.

It’s a world where 26,000 children die every day of starvation or a preventable disease. A world where billions live in situations of such grinding poverty that an American middle-class neighborhood looks like Beverly Hills by comparison. A world where more than a billion people have never even heard the name Jesus. So we asked ourselves, “What are we spending our time and money on that is less important than meeting these needs?” And that’s when things started to change.

First we gave away our entire surplus fund – $500,000 – through partnerships with churches in India, where 41 percent of the world’s poor live. Then we trimmed another $1.5 million from our budget and used the savings to build wells, improve education, provide medical care and share the gospel in impoverished places around the world. Literally hundreds of church members have gone overseas temporarily or permanently to serve in such places.

And it’s not just distant needs we’re trying to meet. It’s also needs near at hand.

One day I called up the Department of Human Resources in Shelby County, Alabama, where our church is located, and asked, “How many families would you need in order to take care of all the foster and adoption needs that we have in our county?”

The woman I was talking to laughed.

I said, “No, really, if a miracle were to take place, how many families would be sufficient to cover all the different needs you have?”

She replied, “It would be a miracle if we had 150 more families.”

When I shared this conversation with our church, over 160 families signed up to help with foster care and adoption. We don’t want even one child in our county to be without a loving home. It’s not the way of the American Dream. It doesn’t add to our comfort, prosperity, or ease. But we are discovering the indescribable joy of sacrificial love for others, and along the way we are learning more about the inexpressible wonder of God’s sacrificial love for us.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my country and I couldn’t be more grateful for its hard-won freedoms. The challenge before we American Christians, as I see it, is to use the freedoms, resources, and opportunities at our disposal while making sure not to embrace values and assumptions that contradict what God has said in the Bible.

I believe God has a dream for people today. It’s just not the same as the American Dream.

I believe God is saying to us that real success is found in radical sacrifice. That ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of him. That the purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. That meaning is found in community, not individualism. That joy is found in generosity, not materialism. And that Jesus is a reward worth risking everything for.

Indeed, the gospel compels us to live for the glory of God in a world of urgent spiritual and physical need, and this is a dream worth giving our lives to pursue.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/23/my-take-why-my-church-rebelled-against-the-american-dream/

“I believe that David Platt is another Radical disciple of Jesus in our day, yet Christ calls each of us to be as radical as the disciples of the Bible” ` Radicaldisciples blog founder & Author Russ Welch

I’m Finally Obeying, and I Love It!

Posted: June 15, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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By Francis Chan

This is really sad…  Many years ago I was deeply convicted while preaching through the book of Luke.  When I got to Luke 14:12-14, I knew what I was supposed to do.  I planned on doing it.  I just never got around it.  Sound familiar?

In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the man who was hosting Him for a banquet…

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

It seems like Jesus is saying we should literally have banquets for those who could never repay us.  It seems like it is good to have feasts for those who are rejected by others.  Yet I have spent my life taking friends out to dinner who often pay me back, inviting them to my house for dinner and letting them return the favor. Sure, I gave money to rescue missions to feed the poor for me.  But I had no idea the blessing that would come from doing it myself!

On Sunday night, some friends and I are throwing an elaborate banquet for people we have met in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.  The banquet hasn’t even happened yet, and I’m already overwhelmed by the blessings I have received.

  1. 1.  The excitement I see in the faces of people when I tell them I want them to come to a banquet.  The shock when I tell them I’m bringing in chefs who will cook WHATEVER they would like to eat.  Steak?  Fish?  Lobster?  Anything.
  2. 2.  The women blushing and teary-eyed when I tell them my wife will take them shopping (Lisa’s spiritual gift) before the banquet.  “I haven’t gone shopping in years!” is a typical response.
  3. 3.  The fun of going the extra mile in making this memorable- getting photographers, decorations, live entertainment, expensive gifts…  We do this for donors, why not the least of these?
  4. 4.  The opportunity to tell them that this is a tiny glimpse of the riches He has in store for us in Heaven.
  5. 5.  The joy of resembling God as I offer grace to people who may reject it.  I have worried way too much about giving to people who may not appreciate my gifts or may squander them like a prodigal.  There’s certainly a time for prudence, but don’t miss out on opportunities to pour out undeserved favor.

The biggest thrill came yesterday as I was explaining the upcoming event.  I was giddy as I spoke about how these people have no idea what they are walking into.  I want to have so many surprises waiting for them when they arrive.  Then it hit me:  Is this how God feels about the banquet He is preparing for me?  Is He thinking, “Francis has no idea what I have in store for Him!”  I have always struggled with understanding and deeply believing His grace towards me.  God is using this event to put me in His shoes for a moment.  I can taste a bit of the thrill of being a grace giver.

Who knows?  Maybe those invited will get busy and decide not to come.  Then we’ll have to pull others off the street, clean them up, and bring them in.  That might end up being a blessing as well (Luke 14:15-24).

 

“This message was writing by Francis Chan, whom I consider to be a radical disciple of Jesus Christ” ~ Radicaldisciples blog Founder & Author Russ Welch

In order to be a true disciple the old man must die!!!

Posted: June 13, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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In the disciples life there must come a day, when like Matthew we leave the table from which the world has defined us. Like Peter we must drop the nets from which our source has come from and turn completely in the direction which points us to follow Christ, having left everything else behind.

Many are not able to make this turn, for they are fearful to leave behind what was, lacking the faith to fully trust that the Lord can completely take care of them. Like the passenger going on a long journey and told they can but bring one carry on bag they bring several and when they are refused entrance at the gate they turn and walk away.

We must be willing to lay down every aspect of our lives – our family, friends, work, heart and soul in order to be a true disciples of Christ for if we do not we can not take one step on the journey of discipleship. Jesus never once asked those He called to follow, to take the time to finish what they were doing or to wait till their house was in order. No His call to follow demanded an immediate & radical decision.

Many today wonder what is going wrong in their walk with the Lord yet in all honesty it has yet to begin, because they refuse to renounce the things of the past and come to Jesus just as they are with nothing else in hand. Some may have been called to follow Jesus having been a musician and they can not picture themselves as anything else so they attempt to start their journey as a musician and never get one foot on the road as a disciple because Jesus has called them to be His disciple and nothing else. The same can be said of a teacher, construction worker, doctor and the list goes on.

Now I am not saying one must quit their profession to follow the Lord but they must forget their identity as such for their identity now belongs to the Lord. He may well call us to stop doing what we are doing, to quit our profession but if we are unable to trust Him we can never begin the journey as a true disciples of the Lord.

In the same way we may be known as a drunk, an unfaithful husband, a thief or an un-trust worthy individual. Again we must lay down what was, in order to truly follow Christ. I am reminded of my favorite part in the movie “The passion of Christ” where Jesus has fallen and the cross comes crashing down on His head. His mother runs to His aid and He looks at her with and says with a mouth full of blood “Mother, look I make all things New”. He can not do this in our lives if we hold onto what our lives have been, unwilling to surrender that identity.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (1 Cor 5:17)

Many today still find their identity in who they were – an angry person, an unforgiving person etc. and this identity sticks to them like mud on a pig because they are unwilling to accept the Word of God as truth. But O glory to the Lord to those who can, for the blood of the Lamb washes the mud a way and indeed they become a new creation.

Our biggest enemy in this battle is not the Devil, it is our minds and heart which are unwilling to step in faith and instead reside in the valley of doubt. This is something I see so often and when I questioned Holy Ghost about it He said it is because they have yet to meet the real Jesus. They have been bombarded with a false gospel which portray as god with a magic wand, who simple zaps people and wham they are completely obedient and holy.

Yet this is not the Gospel of the Bible, for the Gospel of the Bible speaks of us making the step towards Christ having had our heats pricked by Holy Spirit to a place of surrender, of faith and a desire to turn from the old things and follow Christ that He may indeed make all things new. It is about surrendering our will to be subject to His will and His will alone. It is a process in which we must be willing to allow Holy Ghost to put to death the old man that we having been baptized in Christ death, be rising a new creation. (Rom 6:3-6)

To sum it all up We must count the cost of following Jesus in order to become an authentic or true disciple of Jesus Christ. The cost of being an authentic disciple is forsaking everything to follow Jesus Christ in whole-hearted obedience. This is made very clear in the passage Luke 14:25-33, with Jesus ending with the words in verse 33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

In order to be genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ we must be willing to die to our self, with our sinful fleshly nature, in order to follow and obey Him. Our lives can no longer be lived according to our fleshly desires, selfishness, and self centered ways. As authentic disciples we must learn to surrender all and yield everything in our lives to Him as the Lord of our lives. We must remember He is Lord of our hearts and rules over everything in our lives; otherwise He is not truly Lord of our lives.

The journey of discipleship following Christ will cost us everything yet at the same time it is a journey which ends not simply with a crown, it ends with an eternity of being with Jesus. Just being with Jesus is a reward that no price can be put on. Once you see the true Jesus, such love for Him will make everything else pale in comparison.

If you have yet to enjoy to fruit of being a true disciple of Christ, if you have not experienced such a close relationship with Him I challenge you to get on your face before the Lord and cry out to be truly saved and do not get up until He answers you. And trust me you will now because that peace that passes all worldly understanding will wash over you like the ocean.

Lest we think we are above judgement!!!

Posted: June 12, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, wilderness
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An Old Testament message to Israel, is speaking to in Church of America & Europe in our day and of what has & what will continue to happen if she repents not (The House of God):

“Rebuke your mother, rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Otherwise I will strip her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;
I will make her like a desert,
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
I will not show my love to her children,
because they are the children of adultery.
Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.’
She has not acknowledged that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold —
which they used for Baal.

“Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
So now I will expose her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;
no one will take her out of my hands.
I will stop all her celebrations:
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.
I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers;
I will make them a thicket,
and wild animals will devour them.
I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot, ”
declares the Lord. (Hosea 2:1-13)

The Lord was speaking of Israels adultery here in regard to her desiring and submitting to with a deep lust and hunger for the ways of the world, and so does He speak to His Church in our day!!!!!

A cleansing Fire is coming!!!

Posted: June 8, 2012 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, wilderness
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How is that some Christians can get so caught up in the politics of the land – yet are passionless as to taking the principals of the Kingdom outside the 4 walls (You know, like Jesus and His disciples did) – They will call everyone’s attention to appose a politician or policy yet never once rally God’s people to take to the streets and feed the homeless, care for the orphans or visit the widows (You know like Jesus commanded us to do) –

Sad to see leaders who proclaim to have the passion of the Lord yet their actions show but the passions of worldly kingdoms. God is not worried about the politicians and politics of America – He is more angered by the harlots who have taking over His house and brought the wisdom of the world into the pulpit in direct opposition to what He has commanded –

They shout Jesus didn’t say to build His Church – yet they attempt to build and market theirs like the businesses of the world – They cry revival fire is going to start in our House – but I hear the Spirit of the Living God saying He shall breath new life into, a baptism of Holy Ghost Fire upon those who are looked down upon and He will raise up an Army of dry bones, from the very streets that these hireling harlots have forsaken, and His Army of Holy Ghost filled disciples shall enter His Houses of worship, being consumed by His Fire and clear out the dross and corruption and make way for His Glory to flood and transform this land!!!

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