Massive Encouragement!

Wednesday was filled to overflowing with teaching and encouragement! I am not even trying to attend all the possibilities. There are many more than one person can possible take in. So I am only able to give a sample of the table the Lord has spread for us. 


My morning session was to hear Rev. Bob Sorge. He worked with Jacob/Israel, who with both names is mentioned more times in the Bible than anyone else. Bro. Sorge worked through Jacob's life allowing the Lord to unfold His plan through all the mis-steps and failures that Jacob seemingly had. He very effectively worked with Jacob's wrestling with God and the limp that was given him as a result. Allow me to capture for you a few of the profound statements Bro. Bob made: 

The same Jesus' hand that healed, reach out and wounded Jacob for His own glory. Jacob in incredible pain with his joint out of socket will not let go. Every step is guarded so the joint will stay in place, because he cannot endure it out of socket - now he hobbles because he has no muscle to hold that hip in place.He, in his pain, hangs on with all even though he is in incredible pain. The pain of the body was worth the blessing. Jacob has his arm around the promise - and the promise is saying “let me go.”
He took away Israel’s ability to push. Your legs represent the ability to push and get things done. Jacob was a “pusher.” He pushed himself into everything. He would rob, steal, deceive - anything to get it done. God takes out that ability to push. God takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. In order to teach him an entirely different way of working - training him in the school of the Spirit - in one word, God is developing meekness. It is the opposite of pushing.

Bro. Sorge then related it to the injury of his own voice and how that has impacted his ability to push and get things accomplished. Through very personal and heartfelt sharing, he allowed us to see that God uses all things for His glory - but that is not the last chapter.

God was transforming Jacob’s parenting paradigm. God needed a Joseph - his other sons are not going a good direction. If I leave you to your own strengths - I will not get a Joseph. The brothers were raised by Jacob, Joseph was raised by Israel.
He continued to share Jacob's life and show that even through deep depression, Jacob was being used and then when he went to Egypt, he got everything he thought he had lost, back in his arms again, Joseph, Simeon, Benjamin, and favor with Pharaoh.
God writes the last chapter of our life. Jacob proves to be a prophet in Genesis 48-49, speaking God's will into each of the lives of his sons.

Bro. Sorge was mightily used by the Lord to encourage all present. Our God is in control and in charge of our lives. 

I then attended the Willow Women's Luncheon with speaker Pastor Victoria Triano. Nancy Clark introduced her as a "riot" and that is certainly true. However, the substance of her teaching was the highlight of my day. She, indeed very humorously, worked with the story of the covenant of David and Jonathan as it related to the life of Jonathan's son, 2 Sam. 9:1-10 Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9:1-10.

That covenant was David's motivator. God doesn’t covenant with a phony. Covenant is the real deal. We must be real. Anything fake is worthless. So there is a realism that God is calling us to. That same grace that says come is the same grace that sustains us. We do not have to worry about no measuring up, because we don’t - none of us do.
She walked through her testimony and allowed that to display the Lord as she worked with how God sustains through covenant. Below are just a few of the comments she made as she worked through the scripture.
David delivers Mep. from a waste land (meaning of Lo-Debar) and places him in the abundance of the King’s table. We must have the same deliverance. We just need to come under the mighty hand of God. We need accountable relationships in our lives. Accountability to one another is difficult. Find someone. .
Everything that we do is covered with a relationship with the King. Change me, let me be real, let me find a group of sisters I can be real with. God will come in and change us. No such thing as retirement - just re-firing.
From condition to position. What He has in mind for you will be very different than what you think for yourself. The Lord will do for us, His plans for our lives - He knows. As we surrender everything to the Lord, He has a declaration over us.
Mep - was told from now on you will eat from the Kings’s table for the rest of his life. You do not have to prove anything to anyone - just stay in relationship with God. He will do it for us. 

We laughed, cried and identified with her and with Mep all the way through. It was a wonderful time of sharing.

The speaker for the evening session was Bishop Joseph Garlington. He has a very unique style of teaching, singing and preaching as he presents what the Lord has laid on his heart. This was a long session of almost 2 hrs, and his main scripture was the story of Hannah as she was desperate for a son in 1 Samuel 1. 

His topic was, "How Desperate are you?" Due to his speaking style, it was difficult to record many of the statements as they were all surrounded by song and story-illustrated emphasis. So  let me just summarize it all by saying that he worked with man's part in the interactive relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer and its call was the main focus. Even though it was lengthy, the large crowd (800-900) stayed and prayed for a while at the end of the session. 

What a blessed day it was! 

Today is the last day, and it too is full. Lord willing I will have more for you in the morning. Thanks so for enjoying this all with me. 

Sacred Trust

Tues. Night - I have just returned to my room from the first evening session of the Elim Leadership Conference in Lima, NY. I will write the post this evening, while all is fresh in me, and then post it in the morning at a reasonable hour.

Bro. Paul Johansson, a former president of Elim Bible Institute, founder of New York School of Urban Ministry in Queens, addressed the 700-800 attendees relating lovingly and forcefully the heritage and thinking of Elim Fellowship. It was moving and revealing as he shared all the various Holy Spirit movements beginning with Azusa Street and following through modern times to the "3rd Wave" movement that included Toronto and Pensacola. I will try to relate accurately his main points for you. What you will mainly read below are the points that were of interest to me. It was a wonderful, anchoring sermon that was laced with the main phrase, "We have been given a sacred trust." Much of what follows should be in quotes, his and others, but permit me if you will to just relay as much as I could type as I listened. (Yes, I did take my MacAir and typed away - I do have marvelous notes but all of them would make this post much too long). 

There has been given to us, passed on to us, a sacred trust. Elim functions best where there is a need and a need for life. 

We have been commanded to teach, preach, and to disciple.To Preach you have to open your mouth.To teach you have to open your Bible.To disciple you have to open your life. Jesus told His disciples not to do anything until they received power from on high. We cannot obey and fulfill the command until we have the power. 

I want to share what have I seen in Elim - looking from where Elim has been and how it has functioned and bring it into our period of time. 

We have a sacred trust. What is in the "Elim Box?"

1. Where did it come from? 2. How did it get there? 3. How does that affect us today?

Where did it come from?  It is a unique box - beginning with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1906. IQ Spencer began the Holy Spirit school teaching holiness,  the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit and a worldwide vision. Elim received this empartation - the ability to receive what the Lord poured out, then worked with it until they understood it Biblically and then continued to maintain it and move in it.

It was a strong current from many streams.

The winds of the Holy Spirit are not to direct us, they are to propel us, we direct them. Don’t take the force of the wind as a direction. Grace does not eliminate the Biblical principles. If you know how to sail, you can sail into the wind. The wind does not have to determine our destination. Causalities happen when we take the wind for direction. 

Bro. Johansson then walked us through the major Holy Spirit movements from 1906 to the present time allowing us to see how Elim had taken the truth of each unfolding and releasing - then staying grounded Biblically, releasing that truth. It was a wonderful understanding and he worked with the idea all the way through of a big river that had grown each time a smaller stream or river joined it. 


His urging was to take all the movements of the Spirit, work with them - never against, and allow ourselves to be molded by the movement through the Scriptures. 

What then is in our box today, that we must maintain?

 *A hunger and an openness to God by prayer and fasting. A real cry of the Holy Spirit for integrity and holiness - “I need you more than yesterday.” Must daily exercise yourself in the presence of God. A seeking of God. 

You can have all the Spirit you want, but if you do not step out, its not worth anything. You must move in faith. Elim has always believed and supported the following things:

 *Prophetic gifts and worship released. It is an abiding anointing on Elim. We must treasure the anointing - its genuine. Elim was noted for singing scripture. 

 * We are people who believe in gifts and ministries and offices. Release them! This is our heritage. 

 *Faith out of sacrifice - integrity and humility. 

* A heart for the whole Body of Christ with a world-wide vision. 

 Elim with its “influence without control” has labored in many nations under a national body as our missionaries have sought to strengthen national movements. Most of our missionaries go out and works with the national churches in the countries. It is not about having Elim or its people in the limelight. It is about using our influence behind the scenes to get the Kingdom work accomplished. 

Today we are weak in the following and these matters deserve our attention and efforts: 
*Intentional ethnic integration
* Faith to produce large churches.
* A strong commitment to plant urban churches
*The ability to raise the finances it will take to change our generation”Isa. 41:14-15 “A worm will thrash a mountain.”

  By faith, we will hold this sacred trust dear and release it to further generations. 

Even though I have known much of this history, it was wonderful to re-visit it. The Lord has truly appointed me to walk with Elim (my ordination is through Elim) as much of my appointment from the Lord is what Elim believes and works toward in the Kingdom. Lord I bless you and thank you.


More tomorrow.... 

Serve/Worship By Spirit

"Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh--..."

"For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit,...." Many of our translations use the word "worship" instead of "serve" in this passage. The reason -- the word in Greek is the common one for service and it is sometimes translated "worship" when the text seems to call for that rendering. Let's look at it both ways. I find when a word can be used several directions, it is best to examine the meaning in all those differing dimensions. It is, in translation, here not so much a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of emphasis.

Paul is making certain the Philippian Christians, who are mainly gentiles (from various ethnic backgrounds) understand they do not need to adopt the Jewish customs or law in order to be true Christians. So he explains they are the true circumcision (that of heart - covered in previous post) who  have several characteristics in their lives. The first one is that their motivations for service and worship are empowered by their relationship with Jesus by the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God). In other words, their entire lives are marked by listening to the Lord and interacting with Him in all aspects of their lives. They serve out of appointment - not want to, nor talent, nor ability, but out of calling. They hear and they move. They listen and share in the Lord moment by moment and then respond in their service.

The same is true of their worship, for their service is a part of that worship. (I refer you to various translations of Romans 12:1). However, for a few moments let's look at an aspect of corporate worship that can sometimes stumble us. This is not speaking to style. I love the worship of Pentecost! I fully engage and find it liberating. However, such expression, in and of itself, is not worship. Worship is a matter of the heart and the mind loving and bowing before the Lord God. It is not about how that is expressed. Just because my expression is active does not mean I am truly worshiping. Movement nor the lack of it, is worship. Worship happens from the heart and mind that chooses to bless and bow.

Also, worship does not need music. It is nice to have music to accompany us as we worship, but true worship happens everywhere and at all times for the believer and is not limited to a corporate setting, nor a certain portion of a corporate setting. It is not a feeling - although feelings may become engaged. It is to purposefully bless, bow, honor, adore and much, much more.

So to serve and to worship by the Spirit is to be fully engaged in an interactive communication in and with the Lord. It does not start nor stop. This is such freedom in relationship. He honors every intention His direction. Enjoy serving and worshiping Him today - every moment. That, I know, is a learning process - but so worth our time and focus.

Coming: Tomorrow I plan to write the post in the morning. Then I travel to Lima, NY for the 2012 Leadership Conference for Elim Fellowship. I plan to "blog" the conference so you can share some highlights of it with me. Then we will return to our study of Philippians. So travel with me and let's enjoy the Lord through the Conference.

Watch Out!

"Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—" Philippians 3:2-3 TNIV 

Paul is warning these people he loves about some others who would under cut their faith. The word used here and translated "dogs" is a word with a double meaning. The first meaning is "male prostitutes." The second understanding of the word is more likely what Paul was using here. This is the word that the Jews of the day would call anyone who was from another race of people. We see it used in the incident of the Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21-28). When the woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter, Jesus said He had only come to the "lost sheep of Israel." When the woman persisted, He said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." Then she replied, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Jesus then healed the woman's daughter and said "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." So we see it was in common use in this way. So I believe it is the way Paul is using the word.

He is turning the tables on those who would add to the simplicity of grace and truth in saying these people, as gentiles, needed to be circumcised. Paul said to watch out for these teachers because what they are doing is just mutilating people. Circumcision in the flesh does not mean a person is circumcised in heart.

The truth of grace, saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) is revolutionary - it was then and it is now. People are always, in genuine attempts to help others, adding to the "necessaries" of salvation. The grace thing is given lip-service, but seldom taught and seldom lived in fullness. Paul said, watch out for those who "add to." Then he says, "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh --" Those who believe in Christ, who allow Him to live in them -- those who receive by grace through faith in their inner being, they are the true circumcision. They have been circumcised in heart by the Holy Spirit. "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your sinful nature was put off when you were circumcised by Christ..." (Colossians 2:11) This is the critical piece - the circumcised heart by the Holy Spirit.

He adds two other items as to who these people of the true circumcision are. We will work with those tomorrow, or at least one of them. Until then... blessings!

As To The Rest . . .

"Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you." Philippians 3:1 TNIV

I have chosen another translation for our passage this morning, as this one more accurately says what the original Greek relates. Most other translations read "Finally...". The meaning is not "finally" as he is only in the middle of the letter to these people. It means, "As to the rest" or "further." He has a few more things on his heart to write. Then he begins a related but separate topic. 

Paul uses this writing technique often in his letters. It is a "hinge" verse, relating to what has gone before and what is coming later. In this case the before related verse is 2:29 "Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him,..."and the after verse is 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again rejoice." The data between these statements is another thought entirely. But this verse (3:1) is a hinge into the thought of having an attitude of constant rejoicing which he will return to and complete later in chapter 4. 


The word "rejoice" is a form of the word "grace" in Greek. This form does mean "rejoice" - to be filled with the joy that grace brings. Joy is not what we call happiness. Biblically speaking - joy is an empowerment in grace to live in all the benefits of salvation. I refer you to Isaiah 12:3 "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." Literally from the "springs" of salvation. It is the overriding attitude of joy (power to handle) that pervades a person who knows they are always cared for and always loved. It is not an asking for, but a participation in the power given to all Christians. So as he encourages this attitude, he then begins to work with some rather personal, emotional journeys. These are difficult and imperative as we learn to live as a recipient of the grace and power of God. More tomorrow, Lord willing. 

Messenger & Minister

"I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me." Philippians 2:25-29 ESV

Epaphroditus was  evidently a very fine servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is pictured here as being five (5) very important things in the heart of Paul: brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger, your minister to me. The "brother" in all likely hood, is a brother in Christ, then he worked along side of Paul and was a fellow soldier in the cause of Christ. In addition to these things, he evidently was the one who brought Paul whatever supply the Philippians had recently sent. (4:10) So he had become a messenger from them to Paul and a minister to his needs. 


Now Paul is sending him back to the Philippians to ease their concern. They had heard he had been ill, and ill to the point of death. Paul says that was indeed true and that he had risked his life to fulfill what trust the Philippians had placed in him. Such faithfulness must be recognized and rewarded. So Paul wants them to know what an outstanding person he is. Their trust was well founded. 


We find in Epaproditus an example of outstanding integrity. He was entrusted with some sort of treasure or provision the Philippian church had sent for Paul's care while he was in confinement. In Rome, as in many countries today, the state did not pay for the needs of any prisoner. His friends and relatives were responsible to bring him food and clothes - whatever he needed. So we see the Philippians being a part of that needed provision. So in Paul's heart, Epaproditius was counted among the generals of the army of Christ! 


Lord, as we walk with you, teach us this kind of integrity. Thank you for empowering us to fulfill our appointed assignments with integrity and joy. 

Released Through Grace and Love

"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also." Philippians 2:19-24 ESV

Paul is in prison - as is generally thought - at least in house arrest in his first imprisonment. He has every indication in his spirit that he will be released. (1:19) So until that time comes, he is looking forward to sending Timothy to them so he can find out about their welfare.

He can send Timothy because Timothy is genuinely concerned for them. He has no other motive in his heart that to love them and be concerned for them. He is not trying to build his ministry, not trying to impress them or Paul, but simply a sweet spirit to minister Christ's life to them. Timothy genuinely loves them.

"For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." These words cut my heart. Most of us, well let's be honest, all of us - know what it is to seek our own interests. In fact, most of our lives are wrapped here. What a wonderful journey in Christ -- to be delivered from such self-seeking! As we begin to experience this release through His grace and love, we begin to experience embracing His people in love, because we have no motives about our relationships with them, except seeking those that are of Christ for them and to them. We begin, in His love, to experience such other-love. As we embrace that release more and more, we discover the joy of belonging together.


Timothy had that experience. He was a true child in the faith to Paul as he served in such heart and other-love. He could be sent in Paul's place. This was joy in Paul. He knew he would see them before long, for he felt in his spirit he would be released shortly. However, Timothy could go in the meantime.


Thank you Lord, for the record of Timothy for our encouragement.