If Martin Luther King said, “I have a nightmare” who would have followed him? Find the positive alternative ahead and focus on that. This has been a year of much bad news, no need to list it all. But the fact is that regardless of what has gone down around you and in your life to date, there is always a POSITIVE alternative in your future. Obedience to the revealed will of God in your life will open doors to new understanding and new opportunity. So take time this season to listen to the still small voice of the Father in Heaven. You might hear him say to you “I have a dream (for your life)”
May His dreams for you come true in 2012.
2012 · alternative · dream · dreams · god · heaven · life · martin luther · nightmare · obedience · revealed · understanding · voice
The enemy uses lies to convince us that the problems we face are greater than the solutions within us. If you have the Spirit of God you ALWAYS are carrying a solution greater than your problem.
You will never see a situation in the Bible where God says to Michael the Archangel “Oh My Goodness (pun intended) I never thought of that. What are we going to do now?” Nor has the Father ever felt that way during ANY situation that you have encountered. HE ALWAYS has a plan! And He never has a plan without providing the power to execute the plan.
In the movie Bruce Almighty, there is an amazing scene where Jim Carrey enters God’s warehouse and his life is revealed in an enormous file cabinet drawer that knocks him across the room because the drawer keeps opening further and further to reveal a never ending array of file folders. Although not theologically precise, the scene dramatizes a compelling truth. I like to picture it this way: Your Heavenly Father (not Morgan Freeman) has a file cabinet in heaven’s warehouse with your name on it. One of the drawers is labeled – Romans 8:28 – and subtitled “alternative routes to My perfect will.”
In this drawer are COUNTLESS file folders detailing on how you can succeed in every possible combination of circumstances. These possibilities include sickness & health, poverty & wealth, wise choices and dumb mistakes, not to mention the successes and failures of everyone within your circle of touch. No matter Who or WHAT has impacted you to this point, there is a PLAN available for you to chart a course towards God’s will and your destiny. And the power to execute that plan lies WITHIN you.
You DO have the power – power to understand, power to see the invisible, power to overcome, power to speak to obstinate circumstances and change them. If that appears to fail then you have the power to endure and you cannot be beaten by delay. When faced with obstacles sometimes the plan springs out the cabinet drawer and lands on our lap while other times it seems like we are painstakingly searching the drawer, reading the tab on every file until the ‘Aha’ moment arrives. On occasion it requires great humility and perseverance – even repentance. But it IS there. So is the power…
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to His power that is at work within us , to HIM be glory …” Ephesians 3:20. Next time the problems are being magnified in your mind and heart, step back, and you will see that it is the enemy who is holding that magnifying glass. Step aside and use the telescopic lens of the Spirit. His lens will lead you straight to the Romans 8:28 drawer. Revelation, wisdom and power awaits you!
cabinet · enemy · filing · god · God's will · heaven · heavenly father · plan · power · problems · solution · will
Sitting on my deck watching a sprinkler pour clean drinking water on my lawn, I realized how ironic it is that I should be working so hard to get fresh water into a few villages in Bangladesh while at the same time living within one kilometer of 21% of the world’s accessible fresh surface water – i.e. The Great Lakes. In our town water is so accessible and cheap that we NEVER have a water use advisory. In 36 degree heat I can water my lawn all day if I wish. And no one has even bothered to separate the drinking water from that which we use for industry, home maintenance and sanitation. My toilet tank flushes gallons of drinking water a day into the sewer while my friends in third world countries desperately try to rehabilitate polluted water enough to risk a drink.
In a few days I will be walking among some of the world’s poorest folks whose only accessible water are a few ponds stagnating in the hot sun. After several months these ponds cook into a dangerous bacterial soup. Families often have to work for hours in the morning (fetching fetid water then cutting wood to boil it) just to get a reasonable facsimile of what I casually spray onto my lawn with the twist of a tap.
Even after boiling, the water often contains Arsenic which through prolonged exposure produces ‘leprosy like’ symptoms. That’s why I will be back in Bangladesh next week getting a deep tube well project going. That’s why in the past year I helped connect ERDO with my friends in Bangladesh. ERDO (Emergency Relief and Development Overseas) funded the creation of 50 deep tube wells there in 2010.
If you are old enough you may remember Phil Collins’ song “Oooh, think twice – just another day in paradise” The lyrics to that song come to mind every time I walk through a Bangladeshi village. When I return to my own house in Canada, I immediately head for the kitchen, stick my head in the sink and drink straight from the faucet – just to remind myself how blessed I really am.
Final thought – by bringing clean water to Muslim villages it is amazing how interested they become in what I have to say about my faith(wink). Hmmm… now that I think about it, I seem to recall that Jesus met a woman at a well once and the results of that encounter were pretty good…
Evangelist David Wilkerson played a significant role in my conversion. As a teenager in the 1970’s I was doing drugs and getting into more trouble than anyone in my family realized.
At that time one of the staff members from the Toronto branch of Wilkerson’s organization Teen Challenge, who lived around the corner from my house, began to witness to me. This man had experienced great tragedy in his life. First, he had a powerful ‘born again’ experience. Then, he had been further transformed by the Holy Spirit after coming in contact with Maury Blair and the staff at Toronto Teen Challenge. His life was literally on fire for Jesus. One of the results was that he began to pray earnestly for me and seek any opportunity to share his faith with me and other teens in the neighborhood.
I had to pass his house on my way to and from school. One day as he saw me go by he opened the door walked right up to me and offered me a copy of ’Run Baby Run’ the famous story of Nicky Cruz; the New York Gang leader who was converted through Wilkerson’s street ministry (later this story was made into a movie).
That book and the fact that this man took such a genuine interest in me were pivotal events in my ‘pre-christian’ life. They sparked in me a curiosity that led to spiritual hunger and then to my own conversion a few months later.
I heard David Wilkerson in person twice in the 1980’s. I still remember what he preached. In later years I didn’t always agree with everything he taught, however, how he lived always challenged me. Nothing will change the fact that the fire of God burning in his soul until the moment he was ‘promoted to Glory’ also caught fire in other’s souls who then introduced me to authentic ‘on fire’ Christianity. Even though his earthly life has ended some of the spiritual ‘fires’ he started continue to burn in the lives of others. I have recently ministered at the Teen Challenge Farm in Ontario and have seen how Wilkerson’s vision is still being used by God to transform the lives of broken men.
There’s something about being ‘on fire’ that creates a version of Christianity which is transferrable. Once you ‘catch the fire’ of the Holy Spirit, you are able to effectively pass it to others who then can burn brightly themselves. “Father no matter what I accomplish through my own efforts, it will all stop at the end of my life unless I pass along that passion to others. Spirit breathe on me today – stoke the embers in my soul, add new fuel so that others who come near will catch YOUR Holy Fire”
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Peace is the first gift of the resurrection. The night before He died Jesus promised PEACE to his disciples. (John 14:27) The day he arose from the dead he greeted them with the words – ‘Peace be with you’ (Luke 24:36).
However, the fact is that peace is one of the rarest commodities found in the human heart. In our culture, a combination of ambition, comparison, boredom and sense of entitlement have conspired to assassinate what is perhaps the most important gift people can receive from God – a heart at rest.
Because of the resurrection, we have the right to live with an unshakable confidence that whatever struggle we are facing, whatever unmet goals, personal weakness or frustration we are walking through at this moment, the Heavenly Father will provide, guide, lead and feed.
Humanity’s failure in this pursuit is tacitly admitted in the cliché used for tombstones ‘May he rest in peace’ – i.e. only in death can we rest from all our struggles!
Why can we not find this while we live?
The writer of the book of Hebrews warns all Christians that the Jews who wandered through the wilderness after the days of Moses and Joshua, failed to find the gift of rest because of their disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11 reveals a great irony – that we must ‘strive’ to enter a state of rest! It takes discipline. Our minds are constantly barraged by a ridiculous rate of stimulation from media and culture. During Jesus’ earthly life, Mary knew where to find her peace while Martha succumbed to the tyranny of the urgent. Today, it is still possible. We can learn to limit the flow of useless information, (especially the amount and content of social media) and find that place at Jesus’ feet where our mind and heart is put at rest.
This gift of peace is more than just a welcome feeling. It is an absolute pre-requisite for winning spiritual victories. In his book, The Three battlegrounds, Francis Frangipane says that we must experience ‘Rest before rule, peace before power’.
From a heart of peace flow the gifts of the Spirit, the wisdom of God and the power to resist temptation. Peace is the fruit of faith, giving us the ability to have joy in suffering (Romans 5:1-5) Jesus died to give us peace. To receive it is to honor his sacrifice. Peace be with you.
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Crouched in the back of a 3 wheel motorized rickshaw sharing the impossibly narrow road with cars, buses, trucks animals and bicycles going BOTH ways provides a slice of life you just can’t find in Canada. Watching people eating out of dumpsters, or trying to boil a bit of putrid water in a cup on the road tends to slap my sense of entitlement in the side of the head. I have learned to recognize the imposters among the many beggars and to reject their well rehearsed pleas for a few Taka.
In two weeks we traveled the country by train, plane automobile, bus, rickshaw and of course on foot. I toured a village where people have died from arsenic in the water, assisted in the baptism of 45 new believers, visited construction sites for new training Centers, met with Christians, Muslims and Hindus, conducted 3 pastors conferences and watched the amazing transformation of certain leaders who had an Acts 2 experience right before my eyes. The conferences contained testimonies that matched Joel 2:28-32 and Luke chapter 10. (More details will be available soon through requesting a secure log-in to our missions page). Water well projects were celebrated and more were planned. For the most part I was treated like a celebrity just because I showed up. In fact one village told us that we were the first white people they ever remember visiting them – and with the effort it took to get there - it was no surprise to me.
When the blood red morning sun rises over the endless green rice paddies you can almost call this land ‘pretty’. But the real beauty is working and walking with some of the most humble and dedicated you can find anywhere on the planet. We learned about life from each other, prayed ‘Thy Kingdom Come!” and watched as it did come in unmistakable power and love.
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Ouch. Middle age just bit me. If you are under 40 and reading this blog BEWARE one day it will come and try to take you captive; with its dinner parties, upscale vacations, and insidious desire to ‘back off’ from a sacrificial lifestyle.
Over Christmas I attended a party where I met a former friend I hadn’t seen in 15 years. Like me, he is now in his 50s. I found myself disinterested after 5 minutes. Why? Well, after the typical ‘catching up’ conversation, such as the current ages and situations of our children, the only other thing this person had to talk about was his retirement. Look, I am honestly glad for people who have financially positioned themselves that they can quit their day job before sixty years old. Good on them. But too many people my age seem to retire their passion with their job. They have long ago parked their world-changing dreams somewhere between the first youth mission trip and the second house purchase. Oh there’s still enthusiasm in their souls. The energy is evident when they talk about their latest vacation or vehicle, but where is the passion to change the world!?
Look at the Old Testament Bible Stories and you will rarely find a hero that is middle aged. Most of those who are changing their world are either quite young or old … Am I unfairly judging? I think not. You will always talk about the thing(s) you are passionate about. Here’s the deal. There are very few middle aged people I know who bring up the subject of their walk with God or the latest experience they have had with the power of the Spirit.
I have begun to insert the subject into conversations. After a few niceties, I like to ask ‘How are you doing spiritually?’ or ‘What has God been saying to you lately?’ Fortunately I have found a few guys my age who will ask this question even before I do. And not coincidentally, they believe that people like us can actually make a dent in the evil that pervades this world. Three of them are coming with me to Bangladesh in Feb 2011. One is a former dairy farmer who sold his business so he can travel and do stuff for God. He’ll be helping me minister to 500 Christian leaders who lead growing churches with almost no formal training.
I am done with middle aged mediocrity – or any other kind of mediocrity for that matter.
Lord light the Fire again!
change the world · difference · dreams · light the fire · middle age · passion · world-changing
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Now is the time to find a son or run after a father.
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A man I know in full time ministry is well past the age of 60 years old and still engaging in the same ministry to young adults that he was 25 years ago. When asked why he doesn’t give it up, he said something to the effect “I’m still running the race and I don’t see anyone coming up behind me.”
To all my friends under 35, I apologize for that remark. I applaud that brother’s persistence but not his perception. Parents don’t power-walk down the street and blame their young children for not keeping up. Neither should mature leaders blame this generation for not following their example. Perhaps they are seeing something in us they don’t want to emulate!
Two well known prophets reveal the Biblical pattern for mentoring between generations. 1 Kings 19:19-20 “Elijah went from there and found Elisha…went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then went and ran after Elijah.”
My generation has not often been mentored. Older ministers were fond of telling us how much they had sacrificed and that we also needed to pay the price like they did. Under that model, every generation will have to waste productive years re-learning the same lessons as the previous generation.
Fifteen years ago I was complaining about this to the Lord and He spoke to me. He gave no sympathy, no pat on the back, just a simple phrase that completely crucified my grumbling.
The Spirit of God said to me “Go and BE the person you wish they were!”
I made up my mind right then that I would spend the rest of my life connected to the generation(s) coming up behind me. I have come to realize since then that the pursuit of my own unique destiny positions me right in the middle of a team relay race not a solo endurance run. It’s MY job to know where and when to pass the baton and to position myself so that the next runner can take it successfully from my hand.
A word to the generation before me – please no more talk about the good old days – they weren’t really as good as your selective memory is telling you. THESE are the days of Elijah – declaring the new thing that God is doing.
A word to My generation – please stop complaining or boasting about how hard you work and go FIND a spiritual son or daughter. Elisha outperformed Elijah in the miracle department. The next generation is capable of more than we are – so let’s get them up onto our shoulders and give them a boost into their double portion.
A word to the next generation – raise your line of sight just a little and you will see some of us running not far ahead up ahead, looking back toward you with the baton extended. We’re trying to find those willing to run in tandem for a while so that they can accelerate past us and accomplish what we’ve only been able to dream about. Run after us and then take your turn. Have the heart of Elisha who wouldn’t let Elijah out of his sight until he had received a double portion.
NOW is the time to find a spiritual son (or daughter) or to run after a spiritual father (or mother).
A greater anointing is awaiting those who do!
'next generation' · Elisha · emerging leaders · mentoring · spiritual father · spiritual fathering
I am more interested in long term LEGACY than short term PROSPERITY. Therefore 2 Timothy 2:1 is a foundational life verse for me. I have made a decision to GIVE AWAY any wisdom I have accumulated – especially the lessons that came at a high price experientially. And so… I have begun to blog! My blogging is dedicated to the NEXT GENERATION – of emerging leaders. You have the potential to be the best generation the world has ever seen … many of you will create the greatest testimonies in the history of the church! So… if I can help any of you save time by offering some time tested life lessons or practical insights then I will have achieved my goal.
Beginning sometime in July 2010, I intend to begin recording weekly blogs containing usable stuff for leaders – transferrable concepts for people who want their life to count in a big way. Sometimes I will use new insights, served up without any finishing touches, other times I will offer the smooth polished stones from past teachings. Whether the insight is the product of my own prayer life or a direct quote from other sources – the goal is not to be ‘original’ but rather ‘useful’. Meanwhile I am getting my new website and Facebook page in order. Talk to you more in July.
Blessings from the Boneyard – Terry Bone