Merry Christmas means that God ALWAYS keeps His promises!

Dear Friends and Family,

           

I think that I started using this basic “Merry Christmas” message around 1990. I bring it to you again because I am more convinced of the premise behind this letter than ever before! Here’s that premise – if God promised to send His Son to be our Savior and He kept that promise; then His promise to return is sure.

If the birth of Jesus was orchestrated by God according to the fullness of time and there were signs that indicated that time (which few saw and recognized); and, if all of the major events of Jesus life, death, burial, and resurrection were also ordained and “signs” were given to reveal those times…then Jesus’ Second Coming will not be a random event that goes without events that provide insight into the time (not a day or hour!) of Jesus’ return and the end of all things. If we celebrate Jesus’ birth at “Christmas” and He was born at the appointed time will not His coming also be at an appointed time?

This is so vitally important and I share this message at Christmas because it seems that everything Jesus talked about in Matthew chapters twenty – four and twenty – five concerning His Second Coming, (which was given as the answer to the three part question the disciples asked in Matthew 24:3) is being fulfilled right before our eyes. So, the question WE must ask is whether or not the “signs” that Scripture provides us do in fact determine where on history’s time line we live. If prophecy is being fulfilled, as it was when Jesus was born and if we are at the end of time it would be of utmost importance to make sure we understand those “signs.” I don’t think that I have ever listed the prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled regarding Jesus’ return in my Christmas letter. For the sake of space, the list begins after the rebirth of Israel as a nation. That fulfilled prophecy seems to be that which catapults all other prophecies into fulfillment.  The budding of the fig tree in Matthew 24 was Israel becoming a nation in 1948. Jesus said that the generation that saw that event would also see “…all things fulfilled.” (BTW, this “list” is not in chronological order.)

1. The destruction of Damascus. (Have you been paying attention to the news and Russia’s involvement in Syria? Bone chilling!)

2. The Gospel to be preached in the whole world; Matthew 24. (Can anyone deny that there is a Gospel witness even now in every nation?)

3. The Jews will come to believe in and accept Jesus as the Messiah; (This is seen in all of the prophets in one way or another.)

4. The “tares” will be eliminated at the time of the harvest; Matthew 13.

5. Nations will come against Israel. Again, there is much to say in the Prophets.

But here is the BEST news of all!

6. The church being raised up to be in the end as it was in the beginning (primarily the church revealed in the book of Acts!) Daniel, Isaiah, Micah and in fact, most of the OT talks much about what God is going to do in the latter days! This end – time church has often been called “The Evening Light” church because God will work in and through the church as He did at the churches’ beginning!

There is a sense of urgency in my heart that I cannot ignore. I suppose my plea to all of those in my life, whether family or friends, is to make sure that we don’t miss the things all around us to help us determine where on the time line of history we live. Time is a linear line with a beginning and an end. Each generation should consider where it is on that line and live accordingly. Except for some shepherds, a group of “Wise men,” and a few others, the “signs” that revealed the time of Jesus’ birth were missed. There are billions now who are missing the “signs” of Jesus’ Second Coming. No one can know the day or hour, but we can know the time. It is time. Begin today to make sure your lamp is trimmed and full of oil! Those without oil will be shut out of the wedding feast. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins, which was Jesus’ last parable, is the most terrifying of all. Be ready. And, help everyone you know to get ready!

Share the Gospel with wild and reckless abandon!

Merry Christmas? A Zombie Jesus? Really?

Hmmm....

I HAVE to be over thinking all of this. I am, aren't I? But, on the other hand, maybe not...over thinking all of this that is...

Let me start with a verse from the Bible that will help address the questions I posed in the title of this post - (It's from John 1:14)

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (NKJV).

I'm sure you know this, but this verse from the Gospel of John is talking about Jesus, the Christ; God in the flesh who once walked on the earth with a human body but now lives in Spirit through His body, the church, just as surely as He did when He walked in a physical, temporal body! And, I must add that the biblical Jesus who DOES, IN FACT live in His body, the church, through His Spirit lives in and with the SAME glory He had when the disciples gazed upon Him. 

Beholding His glory...seriously, think about it. BEHOLDING HIS GLORY!

Why, in America, would there be two ridiculous, outrageous, and even dangerous ends of a spectrum that have the issue of the glory of Jesus Christ at their root? Track with me for a minute -

On one end of a "spectrum" society rages against the phrase Merry Christmas because it points to Jesus Christ. Now we can't have that, can we? Whether or not Jesus was or wasn't born on December 25 is not the issue. The issue is that it's pointless to ignore the fact that Christmas IS about Jesus. Just saying "Happy Holidays" does absolutely nothing to erase the point of Christmas being about the first advent of God in flesh coming to abide with us!

Hey world...rage all you want, seriously, it's STILL all about Jesus! 

Like it or not, (and this is why I don't have my comments section available), it is, without question the churches' fault that this controversy has arisen over the last few decades. Intentionally, or, unintentionally, we have conspired to cloak the biblical Jesus by ignoring His Word and rejecting His Spirit. It is really just that simple.

IF we sought out the biblical Jesus and walked in His Spirit and thereby beheld HIS glory, then, without question the world would also SEE HIS GLORY! And let me tell you, when one sees HIS glory, well, there just ain't no question about who the season is about!

And now for the other end of the spectrum...

Have you seen this? Zombie Jesus! (Clickable link!)

Free speech? Are you kidding me? Is this not frightening if not absolutely terrifying? This goes WAY beyond God's prohibition of making graven images. This is taking the very crux of history and the reality of the "Lamb that takes away the sin of the world" and associating Him with something dark, sinister, and evil. Honestly, I would be shaking in my boots to even think of making a zombie jesus, much less actually doing it.

Are you telling me that such a project could so easily be undertaken and displayed in front of thousands of people if Jesus' glory was clearly and unmistakably displayed in the church instead?

This is beyond tragic...

Here's the thing...

There is coming a day, when God's glory, IN JESUS, is going to be revealed in ways that many, who claim to be Christians, will not even be able to believe. EVERY eye is going to see and EVERY tongue is going to confess that HE IS LORD. For those who want to pretend that Christmas is just a holiday and has no connection to Emmanuel, God With Us; and, for those who would dare associate Jesus with evil, their confession will be too little too late...

BUT...how much responsibility will be placed on US if we cloaked Jesus' glory by ignoring God's Word and rejecting His Spirit?

I don't even want to consider the implications.

No Holding Back! A Tribute to Billy T. Ball

“As for me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord (Isaiah 59:21 NIV).

The backstory -

It really started on a Saturday night. I don't know WHICH Saturday night but I do know I was 15. The church our family attended was in deep spiritual trouble. Our once thriving youth group had dwindled to just 4 or 5 students, 2 of which were my brother and I. We lived out in the country, maybe 10 or 12 miles from Middletown, Ohio. (One would think that after living there for years, at some point, someone would have clocked the actual mileage...)

My sisters attended the Grand Ave. Church of God in Middletown. They encouraged me to begin attending the youth service held on Saturday nights. The church had a growing bus ministry and a dear lady, Connie Centers, drove a few miles out of her way to pick me up for the Saturday night youth service. (JB Walters was the youth leader. JB has gone home to be with the Lord but as I've written in the past, in a very short period of time I was hooked! on Saturday nights because of the ministry of JB and Nina Walters!) 

Another couple, Rod and Juanita Montgomery, had a route in Preble County on Sunday mornings. I started attending the church on Sunday mornings also. When I turned 16 and got my driver's license, I began attending regularly. Billy T. Ball was not only my pastor, but was a preacher that spoke a Thus Saith the Lord message with a power and authority that I had never heard OR experienced before and I grew up in the church.

How could I or anyone possibly recount the impact of his messages, his life, and love for Jesus and His church. How could those who had Bro. Ball as a pastor recall the years of Sunday mornings and evenings, the Thursday night prayer meetings, and the Tuesday morning Bible studies...who could forget?

Bro. Ball laid my theological foundation. He also helped me lay the bricks that became the doctrinal building that sits on that foundation and, on which my life and ministry are now based. As I said, I have grown up in the church and always believed in the basics. (No need to list them here.) It was under Bro. Ball's ministry, however, that the Gospel opened up to a whole new level. There were things connected to those basic doctrines that could take one higher, deeper. longer, and wider than one could have imagined at the start. One would have to listen though...one had to listen intently, purposefully, passionately, and with single - mindedness to God through His Word, and His Spirit.  There were no shortcuts, or express lanes to drive in to understand His - Story (history).

I do not remember a time when the Word came without God's anointing. Bro. Ball walked in the Spirit and the Spirit worked through him in ways I had not seen and have rarely seen since. Bro. Ball, not only preached God's Word with power, but left us (those who were under his ministry) with a ravenous hunger for that Word. He helped us develop a thirst to know God and to speak about Him with authority. We developed a soul burden for the lost. Race, color, creed, ethnicity, or language - across the street, across town, or across the globe - it didn't matter. Winning the world was not only THE cause for which one's energies should be directed, but a cause that would end in a revival unparalleled in history. That revival would lead to the coming of Jesus.

Volumes could be written about anyone who has had a great and positive influence on others. Time nor space would allow the re-telling of a life who changed others' lives. This is a blog. I have a natural propensity to be wordy. I'll close with a Scripture that embodies what Bro. Ball imparted to me. I shared Isaiah 59:21 at the top of this post. I suppose if 100 people tried to summarize what impact Bro. Ball had on their lives, there would be 100 different ways that a tribute could be written. These words from Isaiah, to me, provide us with the promise that God's Word will always be on the lips of a new generation because of the faithfulness of the last generation. Being filled with and walking in God's Spirit and proclaiming HIS Word is THE most important gift anyone could give to others. Bro. Ball gave us this gift unreservedly. 

Part of the "title" for this post is "No Holding Back!" I too believe that a global revival is SOON coming. This revival will be the result of God's work in His last days church that will not only equal the work He did when the church was born but surpass it. This revival will lead to the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of all things. I can no longer be silent and I cannot hold back what I believe to be absolute truth. Billy T. Ball's legacy for me, was a message of extreme hope! A hope generated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The coming of God, in flesh, into this world has changed everything. His birth, death, resurrection, and soon coming is the Good News that the whole world needs. The Church, armed in God's Spirit and with His Word can, and will, storm the gates of hell and take back those who have been trapped by satan's lies in unprecedented numbers. The Kingdom that Jesus brought to this world will be presented back to God when He comes. And that, will be the end of all things.

I do not want to miss out on the work of God in these last days. I do not want to hear the cry, "The Bridegroom comes," only to be shut out of the wedding feast because my lamp has run out of oil. When it is all said and done, I want to hear God say to me, what He has already said to Bro. Ball; "Well done good and faithful servant..."

What? Jesus prayed for me?

Jesus prayed for me!

And He is STILL praying for me!

I can't even unpack these -

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word..." (John 17:20)

"Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:35).

"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

Gayle and I were having our devotional time a few hours ago and in the middle of our discussion on prayer itself, the above three verses literally bolted into my mind like lightning.

Jesus prayed for me...did you hear that? Jesus prayed for ME!

All I can say is, why wouldn't I do all I could to listen, learn, obey, and serve Him with all my heart?

Did you REALLY read the first verse, from John 17:20? Do you know the context of verse 20? Jesus prayed for me right before He was murdered...think about it!

The crazy thing is, He is STILL praying for me! Ever interceding...

Don't you see? I HAVE to live my life for Him!

What will YOU do? You know He was praying for YOU TOO, right?

Praying and believing for the future!

"...(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;"

This is from Romans 4:17 (NKJV). When I woke up this morning (at about 6:15 AM), this Scripture was on my heart and IN my spirit! An unusual verse perhaps to think of when writing a Thanksgiving post. But...check this out...

I opened the "new post" window, pasted the logo I wanted to use for this blog and copied the verse above from Biblegateway. com onto my new blog window. But then I stopped because Gayle and I were ready to have our morning devotional time. We are using Mark Batterson's Draw the Circle devotional book and we're in our third time through. Today, Gayle read Day 25. The title for this chapter is, "A Prophetic Voice."

I wish I could just copy and paste today's devo right here into my blog because every word Batterson wrote for day 25 had already been placed in and on MY heart when I first woke up. Let me share one paragraph under the heading, "Personal Prophecies."

"Prayer isn't just the way we cultivate our own potential; prayer is the way we  recognize potential in others. Like Paul, who saw gifts in Timothy that Timothy couldn't see in himself, we, through prayer, are enabled to see with prophetic eyes. We are given supernatural insight. Then we are prepared to speak with prophetic boldness into the lives God has positioned in our path" (140).

Today is Thanksgiving Day, 2015. Gayle and I praise and thank God daily for His abundant supply. I, as anyone talking about this "holiday" could, thank God for the rest of our lives for all He is and for all He's provided. I thank Him for life eternal made possible through Jesus. I am thankful for Gayle, my family and friends, and for His sustaining daily strength in spite of critical health issues.

But today, I am also thankful for the things God is going to provide us in the near future! I said in my last blog that I would share some things about four things Gayle and I are praying about AND FOR! 

1. We thank God that He is going to miraculously save the girls, the manager(s), and the owners of New York New York which is a local strip club. We are praying for each person to have other vocational opportunities as well. With everyone involved out of "the business," we are praying that God would provide the building for a ministry center that could be remodeled and sanctified for His work.

2. We thank the Lord for the work He's doing at a local high school. And trust me, He IS working. But our praise takes us to the work He's about to do there. Revival is coming. We're sure of it. And many, many lives (students, faculty and staff) are going to be transformed by the grace of God. Jesus is about to show up, AND show off! (Thanks for that too, Mark Batterson!) (I wish I could share the story of just ONE young man, a ninth grader who has the faith of someone who has lived for Christ MUCH longer. He's amazing! Perhaps soon, he will share his story here.)

3. Gayle and I praise God for the open doors He is going to provide to have my books edited professionally and published. I am convinced that the Lord gave the ideas and themes to me and I believe that He is going to use them to reach a lot of folks with the Gospel.

And, 4., Because of the love and support of some dear friends whom I love with all my heart, Windstorm is back on the Web. I had a dream that took shape in 1985. That dream has yet to be fulfilled but that dream, with many parts, is about to come to pass.

We believe. And, we give thanks!

              

Blogging again...

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly nine months since my last post. I write again, today, in the shadow of the terrorist attacks in Paris, France. I am not even sure how to re-introduce things for which I am passionate. To cover everything in this post would take much longer to write than there is time, and, it would take much more time to read than you can spare. I, for the sake of time, will highlight those things for which Gayle and I have been praying earnestly. Longer "stories" about these "dreams" will be forthcoming. An old familiar bullet list will have to point the way today...

• Where, really, would one begin to comment on or "analyze" the events in Paris over the last twenty-four hours? Hundreds of hours of news coverage have now accumulated. I have watched a significant amount of that coverage. Just a short while ago I heard the end of an interview with an "authority" in understanding the radicalization of Muslims. He made this comment, (which is somewhat of a paraphrase): 

What we need (he said) is to determine what causes persons to turn to the dark side. That way, it would be easier to identify potential terrorist threats.

Wow, could we ever take off and chase a whole herd of rabbits with that one...(are a bunch of rabbits a herd?)

This particular thread of the ongoing debate over the "radicalization" of Muslims who actively engage in terrorism assumes, as does all of Western society that human beings are independent of any spiritual influence. So, given that people can simply choose to do good or evil society must safeguard itself against the influences that would cause people to choose to do evil.

But a fundamental biblical truth trumps the ideals and philosophies of any culture or society. While many different texts could be considered, here is one that lays the context for evil in the world. (From 1 John 5:19 ESV)

"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."

Yes, people can do good things. But, that doesn't change the fact that until one is born again and comes under the influence of the Holy Spirit, "radicalization" lurks in the darkness. So, to all the pundits who want to try to squelch the radicalization of people who become terrorists, there is only ONE hope...

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!

PERIOD!

Next time out -

• A strip club turned ministry center
• Revival at a local high school
• Book projects
• Windstorm on the Web

The NCC at NYNY! (Dreamin' BIG!)

I cannot count the times I've written about hopes and dreams I have that I feel have been given to me by the Lord. I write today to share yet again one of those "dreams."

I felt called to ministry a long time ago. I cannot point to a specific time, place, or associate that calling with an event, but I definitely know that God has called me into ministry. I also know that "ministry" encompasses that to which Jesus calls ALL believers and expressed, explained, and defined in Matthew's and Mark's Great Commission. Specifically though, for me, my "call" has to do with preaching and teaching Scripture in settings that would win unbeliever's to Christ and to also disciple them as Jesus prescribed. 

Sometime between 1989 and 1992 I believe God performed a miracle for me that sealed my belief that God had me in the area in which I live to do His work, in His will, and in His way. That work would result in many lives being saved and growing towards maturity as taught in Scripture. This miracle involved a dead tree coming back to life. I won't tell the whole story here but I have never stopped believing that what I saw and felt was God's affirmation that I was right where He wanted me and that He was going to raise up His church as a witness to Him just as He had resurrected my little dead tree.

You, my reader, may not be able to fully understand the brokenness I felt when, instead of the church growing, it began to decline. Shattered is the only adjective I can use to describe how I felt when a half dozen or so folks and I had to make the decision to close the church in March, 1993. It was devastating. Not only did the church not grow, but closed. 

I have carried the sorrow and guilt of that for twenty - two years. But here's the thing - when one is given a miracle and one sees the miracle, it's hard not to hide that in the heart and expect that what was pronounced by the miracle would someday come to pass.

Since I am writing this post on February 22, 2015, it is less than a week until March 1st - the month that the church closed so long ago. I have to tell you that twenty - two years is a long time to hold on to and hold out for a dream. As I write, there are no visible signs that would cause me to hope for the miracle that I believe God gave me more than two decades ago. But here I am. Hoping, Dreaming. And, believing. 

Along with the dream of the church that I feel the Lord told me He would raise up comes the location for the church that in and of itself would mean that people would come to know the grace, mercy, peace, and love of Jesus.

The name and mission of the church that closed was The North County Church. The mission? To win the whole of the northern part of our county. There is currently, all across America, a concerted effort to combat human trafficking. The prostitution industry in America and here locally is linked to strip clubs and shops that sell sex related merchandise. It is by now common knowledge that pornography has ripped the very heart and soul out of the men in America which includes the men of the church. 

So, with the memory of a miracle; with the name and mission of the church well defined; and with the passion to see lives unchained from sexual sin (and every other "sin"), the only thing left is a location in which the ministry could be housed.

Here's where the dream gets crazy. Today, I renewed my hope and prayer that the Lord would provide the building in which New York New York, a local strip club currently does business. I pray that the owners, managers, workers, and patrons come to the place where they can trust Christ with all their hearts; follow Him wherever He leads, and share His love with their world. I pray that the resources would be provided to buy the building; remodel and equip it to house a church and ministry center that would reach the whole world. After dreaming the dream for over twenty years...I think I can keep dreaming a while longer. In fact, I will keep dreaming!

Yes The NCC in place of NYNY. I'll hold out for that!

Now, about that list...

I left the ministry a few years ago. I will talk about the why in another post, but at the time I decided I'd just call it quits, I (obviously) thought I would never be back. Keep in mind, I didn't say I left the church. I continued to sing, preach, and teach when given the opportunity but I had faced such discouragement and I felt so isolated that I wanted nothing to do with professional ministry again. A few years later, after a very long time seeking and searching for a restored vision, the Lord answered my prayer. I had what I thought was a word directly from Him. A "word" for the church I felt sure He would someday allow me to be part of and dare I say the church I was certain I would pastor. 

Mission statements are all the rage aren't they? Experts do not agree on whether or not an organization even needs a mission statement but a lot of time is spent writing them. I seemed to have a certain clarity for a mission statement that would easily and concisely communicate elements of and for a new church. This new ministry outreach would be a - 

P.E.P. Rally

P.E.P. is an acronym for Praise, Equip, and Prepare.

I want to share some things about each of the elements in this acrostic mission statement but will start with the last and work my way to the first. So, let's talk about Prepare.

Let's talk about a church that would, as part of it's very foundation, prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus. It's an important topic considering the fact that Jesus talked about His coming a great deal. Check out this portion of Matthew chapter 16:1-4;

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

We must obviously guard our propensity to eisegete Scripture. I have often heard this set of verses quoted to support trying to estimate the time in which Jesus' would return and time would cease. I think there may be a link, albeit weak, that would allow us, with some degree of assurance, to discern "...the signs of the times..." in connection with His coming. However, having said that, and if one would be true to the text and context, I don't think these verses speak directly to or explicitly of trying to determine when Jesus will come.

So then, what's the point and why am I suggesting that this part of Matthew's Gospel could provide an accurate and biblical way to determine whether or not we were close to the day of Jesus' return?

I'm glad you asked...I'll explain it in the next post. Stay tuned!