While traveling through Boston last night I just gave a lot of thought to my first travels through the city when I was 4 or so. I thought about all the years that had gone by since my mom introduced me to Lexington and Concord, Paul Revere and history.
In 1774 and the Spring of 1775 Paul Revere was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia. Continue reading A Prophetic Voice and Their Choices→
Years ago the Lord spoke to my heart and said “many are the ones who carry scars of the past, but those who allow for wounds to be untouched and not stop bleeding will never see resolution.”
This morning I awoke and I was thinking about a dream I had. In the dream the Lord showed me people who had given up just inches from their victory, moments from their deliverance. I was reminded of the old cartoons where a man would head for an oasis in a desert seeking water. Many skeletons were found just minutes from the waters of the respite. Continue reading Bumps Along The Way→
The Lord is taking me into a new season for whatever the reason. Over the weekend He began to speak to me about various things that He was calling traps of the enemy. This morning I wrote about one of the greatest traps being the deception that leads one away from rest.
The Lord has given me a study to consider out of the book of Nehemiah that I will be breaking out soon, but along the way He has had me revisit various things from my childhood. One of those things is the fables of Aesop and Hans Christian Anderson. Continue reading Pride Raises Your Head High→
The last month or so many of us have been concerned about destiny, purpose and who is supposed to do what.
I have said previously, that it is God’s purpose and destiny that I make myself aware of. In the process I get what I need for my personal “destiny.” I do not focus on what I am going to do, but simply being a vessel that is yielded to Him that He might express His life through me. Waiting on Him is important. James 1:4 So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. Continue reading God’s Purpose and You→
It is more than just a place to go. It may be how you get there.
I guess you could say I am on a mission. A mission to see dads restored and the family made whole. I would not have said that was a part of my mission but often people tell me my thoughts on it are “obvious.” I hurt my own children in my divorces. I see others hurt. It really matters little the age. Continue reading The Impact of Divorce on a Child→
Over the last few weeks I have had this “thing” on my mind about being a dad. What is the value of a dad? How can one help? What do we do with this currently “dadless” generation? So many young people are running around without dads or dads that left mom hanging to struggle in the realms of finance and support.
In full disclosure at one point I was that dad. After the loss of my first marriage, I moved on, having two more children. A second divorce came not long after. I now had child support to pay to two ex-wives and three children. But the Lord entered my life and I saw the need to become more responsible not just financially but to provide support emotionally, spiritually and with physical things like warm housing, food and peace. Paying child support, undergirding two step children and maintaining life was not easy but I made it. At the end of “child support” season I had letters from my ex-wives thanking me for being the man I was.
Last night some of this topic was coming up in our prayer time but the Lord has been speaking to me about it for a long time. Over the years of ministry I faced many challenges with a variety of folks in our church fellowships. They included:
Sons with no dads
Daughters with no dads
One parent households of both sides
Broken parents left behind
Children with lopsided understanding of family
Anger, frustration, hurt, pain and more.
I could and have gone off on wayward parents of children who have left them empty handed, broken and busted. Today is not that day. Today is a new day and I see new focus on men and in particular, dads. Grace tells me God believes in reconciliation and restoration of all things. He also tells me one of our “jobs” is to redeem the time. And so I am moving towards that.
What I see happening….
Years ago, in a small Baptist church I prophesied that when the men dance the church would change. Only days later the Toronto outpouring began and men danced. The last few weeks (September of 2013) I have felt the church’s unprecedented growth will be shaped by men understanding who God has called them to be.
I see that the following are readying to change.
Men will act more like God than ever before towards their wives, children, parents, church family, friends and places of business.
Men will step up to the plate in leading the next move of grace across the land.
Husbands will learn the ways of the Lord towards their wives with grace and love.
Fathers will be fathers as the Father is, to their children. Providing for their children’s emotional, physical and financial needs from a Dad.
Godly men will help children of broken homes in healthy, godly ways.
Young men without fathers will turn to “fathers in the faith” to learn.
Young women will seek out “mothers in the faith” to learn.
Single parents will see God as their supply, not racing for more brokenness.
We are about to see some amazing things amongst men in this land. Men stepping into place. Balanced in all things of God.
I suspect that young men are going to need help here. Young women and young men will have questions. Older men will question how they plug in.
Passing the baton
Malachi 4:6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers
Luke 1:17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
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Many folks are coming into a revelation of the need for the fivefold ministry. It is often easy to see the results when we do not see this gifts operative or available.
My own understanding of the need, the hows and whys have changed over the years. So for “today” here are my thoughts!
The Church is a spiritual temple. Jesus Christ is the Foundation of this spiritual temple and we, God’s people, are the living stones that are being built upon this Foundation. (I Corinthians 2:11, I Peter 2:4-10) Apostles and prophets help to lay that foundation of Christ for the people of God.
An improper church foundation will lead to difficulties down the road. Study this pattern and see the value of it.
“It was he who gave some to be…prophets.” (Ephesians 4:11) Prophets stand positioned in the divine counsel of God and are to be interpreters of His divine will and purpose. They receive what is from God’s heart and mind and release it to others through the gifts of preaching, teaching and prophesying. Prophets also have the supernatural gifting and ability given by the Holy Spirit to see and predict future events and warn of things to come. As we learn more about the ministry (the function or grace) of the prophet, we can come to realize how valuable this gifting can be to the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God on earth and also how dangerous it can be to the powers of hell. The prophetic voice is needed more now than ever before.
Some of the things that I have mentioned are just some of the multifaceted gifting of the ministry of prophets. We can glean even more about the function and operation or the grace of prophets through examples given in the New Testament.
While traveling through Boston last night I just gave a lot of thought to my first travels through the city when I was 4 or so. I thought about all the years that had gone by since my mom introduced me to Lexington and Concord, Paul Revere and history.
