The Kingdom

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May 22, 2011

World Did Not End…. Darn It…No Apocalypse

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Ok.   I am still here and not in Heaven.  Darn it.

So, I did not spend my life’s savings on bill boards.  I did not give away everything and wait up all night for the world to end..(although I was up pretty late).    Now, don’t get what I am saying wrong.  The cat that said the world was going to end on Saturday night……May 21, 2011…….I am not saying he is crazy…..  The scriptures just say that no one knows the end date…..not even the son…just the father.  The scriptures say that there will  be many that will say, Lord Lord…..  Don’t  be deceived.   The Scriptures say…..Do not follow them…!

So, what do we do with stuff like this……where the world is supposed to end……and it does not?

Well,……what we do is ……   we just make disciples.  We share the Word of God.  We look at those around us and we minister to them…..on earth as it is in heaven…

I suspect that you know someone that desperately needs Jesus Christ.  I suspect that they…(and me sometimes) does not  know what Jesus did on the cross is an absolute substitutionary work of judgement on us for today.  Share this love of Jesus with them today.

 

January 10, 2011

Red Shirt

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So, I am in the Christian Book Store….and of course, all the folks look “churchy” ….they have their cross necklaces, have ties on, have the bible look…..and I am in there getting a video.

This guy comes in with a rushed look on his face and obviously out of place and uncomfortable.  Like the guys feel when their wives want them to go to Target and get them a fresh pack of kotex or worse yet,…tampons.  This guy was a fish out of water and it was all over his face.  He asked real quickly…where are the shirts….like he was an escaped convict and needed a change of clothes…..he saw the shirts and grabbed a red shirt…..and got to the counter.

He said that he had to have a passport photo for a job as a security guard and that his white t-shirt was prohibited…he needed red or blue and this job depended on it.  So, he grabs a t-shirt that says on it….only….Jeremiah 29:11….just the verse number….nothing else. 

So, he is in this Christian Book Store,….fish out of water,….needing a job….extremely uncomfortable in his surroundings… and this shirt is what he needs to help him get a job….  then he asks me….. hey, what does this mean, this Jeremiah 29:11?  I told him it meant that God had a plan for his life….a plan to prosper him.  He said, “cool, I need that.”  I told him that he would be wrapped in God’s word when he took the photo for the job. 

You see,…even when we don’t know what God’s word means….it has meaning.  Even  when we are not searching for God…he is searching for us.  Even when we don’t know that God has a plan for our lives, …. a plan to prosper us, a plan for a hope and for a future…..He is still working….

 God has a plan for us…..even when or if we don’t know it.  It may even be in a red shirt.

 

December 20, 2010

Model T Way

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I have this guy at work that is a tech type.  Really a good teacher, really a smart person, can see processes, can see technological answers to problems and wants to share it with everyone.  My belief is that he really really does.

Problem is,…not everyone can adapt to technology at the same pace.  My parents have a cordless phone at their home and they think that is cool.  I want to share stuff wirelessly with my daughter on our Macbooks.  I think that is cool.  I am still behind too.

So, this guy at work has some good ideas but some of my folks are not budging.  They are not ready for it yet.  They like it their way, and they have been quite successful doing it their way…I would say very successful.  But my buddy is frustrated…and me, the boss, is in the middle of someone with the light and others that have the light too,….just a different light.  My buddy wants to bail out and not try to help them anymore…..”let them do it the Model T way if they want…but not me.”

Luke 11:33 talks about having a  light, having something that someone else does not have, having revelational knowledge or understanding, having insight that someone else does not have, having ability that someone else does not have…..and then not sharing it..or worse,…hiding it?  I told my buddy that he should continue to share what he sees, what he has, how it can be done….then I thought about me.

Jesus Christ has done so much in my life.  I am just a new person.  Then I got to thinking how much I shared what Jesus has done for me and my family, my outlook, my attitude, my disposition, my temper (still working on that), my selfishness, ….  I guess I should practice what I preach. 

Look, if Jesus has done something or is doing something in your life,….share it.  There are those around us,…maybe in our own family that need the light, that are surrounded by darkness, that are lonely and in need.   There are folks on the street that maybe just need a meal or a coke, I know they smell.  May be some folks at work that need a few minutes, I know they smell.  Share what you have, when you can, where you can.  put your light up on the table. 

My buddy is on the way to Saudi Arabia to set up a  remote web surveillance system for a prison.  Not the Model T way for sure.

 

November 24, 2010

Fishing Lures

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So me and my 5 year old son are fishing.  Of course, I am a fishing expert.  Especially in the company of a 5 year old young boy.  I mean, I have caught hundreds of fish, especially fresh water bass, and have a real good knowledge of how to do it, how to catch them, how to bring them onto shore….the whole deal.  And me and my 5  year old little son have been catching these bass from a lake in our neighborhood….on artificial lures….I want him to get this early in life….how to do it without a cork and live bait.

He has caught some fish….had some success…knows what the bite feels like and knows how to set the hook….but he is just learning and under my close tutelage.  I am showing him the ropes, step by step, technique by technique, special tactic by special tactic….lure by lure.  But…well, he likes his own lure selection…and often it is … well, wrong.  I want to make it right with him and basically tell him he can’t use that lure because it is the wrong one….but he likes it….so I let him.  He has some success….some failure.

It is the classic battle I have with God.  I seem to want to do it my way, to use my techniques, my lures, my way of thinking, my battles instead of just listening to God…..instead of just letting God tell me what to do and I do it,…..instead of just seeing that God has all the fish and I need to do it His way.

I want to try to get my son to do it my way….then  I think about me….how often I don’t just do it God’s way.  A classic battle between faith and works, between flesh and spirit, between trust and unbelief…  Just like I am doing now with the sickness of one of my daughters…and so much of my life..  I want to do it my way.

God help me to do it Your way.   Help me to help those around me to do it your way…    louie

 

May 6, 2010

Free After 35 Years….How About You?

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So,….DNA evidence does just as much to  clear as to convict.  This guy is free after 35 years.  Wonder how he felt all those years?  Wonder how me and you feel after all these years of captivity?

Jesus came to set the captives free.  You captive somehow, somewhere, from something?  You may be for now…. this is prophesy to you right now….you are no longer captive…you are set free. 

The Prophet proclaimed this in the Old Covenant….but it is for you.  Be set free in Jesus name. 

louie

 

April 29, 2010

Combat Infantryman Badge

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A young man was in my office and saw the single wall that I display a shadow box with my father’s picture, his silver star, bronze star and combat infantryman badge.  Don’t get me wrong…..I love the silver and bronze star…..but the rifle with the cluster on the blue background…….the color of my wall…..that is cool.  The wall was designed just for this.  I am proud of my dad.

To get this…the person…(my father and many others)  had to have  … actively fought in active ground combat while assigned to the infantry.  Down and dirty.  In the trenches. 

The Psalter knew that God was with him and had subdued those in battle with him.    You see,….God knows the battle  you are in.  He knows what  you fight against.  He knows just how to subdue that which you struggle with.  God is with you and wants you to have a combat infantry badge.  But…well,…you will have to be in active ground combat……in the Lord’s army.

CIB.  louie

 

April 13, 2010

Speaking in Tongues finds Nadia Bloom!

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 Tongues Finds Nadia

Ok.  You think I am a nut…but listen and watch the video closely. 

The rescuer says that praying in tongues …… in the spirit….. led him to Nadia.  That God led him to Nadia.

Jesus Christ said this.  If you do not believe what I say… then believe because of what you see….what I do…. my works..  This is recorded in John 10:37-38.  Jesus was saying this….. I can tell you that God told me and I can say it….just like this rescuer… James King…..  But words are hollow.  

James King said that God told him to pray in the spirit…in tongues…. he did it …  he believed…. he acted… he went out and found Nadia Bloom….. on the 4th day…..   same amount of time that Lazarus was in the grave…. another story for another day…. 4 days… 

I could go off here on so many teachings….and I want to ….

But listen to me.  God spoke to a man and his wife.  They listened.  They stepped out on what God told them to do…. went where God said….. saved Nadia.  Jesus says I come to save the lost.  Simple stuff.  Step out on what God says. 

louie

 

April 12, 2010

Breadcrumbs Are Enough

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So, this woman is desperate….  she gets out of her comfort zone, out of her people, out of her church, out of her upbringing, out of her way of life and she begins to beg….   I mean, she is a Greek, she is educated, she is proper, she is not from the area,…..  she is used to getting it because of who she is…..  Maybe it is her color, maybe her race, maybe her social status, maybe her place in life, her pedigree.   But her daughter is sick and she hears about a healer.    The scriptures do not say it… but I do….  that she has tried everything (like another woman in the record…her next).  The last post shows that she was desperate. 

So now she goes to Jesus.  To the feet of Jesus.  Under the table.  Check this out.  She went to the floor.  She wanted the Bread of Life.  She went to the source…..and found that Jesus said that what he had…healing power….salvation….was for the people of Israel first…not her yet!  She was ok with it  because she had a revelation about Jesus Christ…the Bread of Life.  She had a revelation that whatever Jesus gave her was enough.  That revelation was this…….what is in the bread….is in the crumbs too. 

This woman knew that crumbs were enough.  She knew that what was in the bread….was in the crumbs.  She knew that if she only got a crumb…. that the crumb was enough. 

You need something from Jesus Christ?  Son or daughter, husband or wife, a sickness, money or a job..a house?  Get on the floor, do not depend on what you can do and ask God in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  What is in the bread is in the crumbs….it is enough.

louie

 

February 18, 2010

Is This God Talking To Me?

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That is what my 12 year old daughter Emily ask me tonight.  

We were pulling out of a mall and she saw a homeless man with a sign….. She told me that she felt a strong need to give him 20 dollars.  I only had 4o dollars…but I gave her the 20.  (My brother says that it is not if he should give… but how much…)

So, I turn around.  Give her the 20 spot and now she says, God is telling her to pray with him.  So, I pull over…stay in the truck and my daughter gets out and gives him the 20 and asks him if she can pray with him…….I began to weep as she prayed for his diabetes, his home situation and his life, his finances.

She got back in the truck….and said it is cold….can we take him to Mike Ellis’s homeless shelter.  …..  She wanted to give him a Bible, wanted to feed him and wanted me to call Mike.  The she said…..is this God talking to me?

If you feel the urge to serve others, if you feel the need to give, if you feel the need to feed others, if you feel the need to give of what you have…..It is God talking to you!  It is that simple.  It is not complicated.  God is talking to you.

I could quote you a bunch of bible here….I won’t do that.  I will just tell you this.  Answer the call of God when you see someone less fortunate than you.  It is God talking to you. 

louie

 

January 21, 2010

A Deal With The Devil?

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Ok. It is not my intent to get to deep or squirrely on the blog.  But, Pat Robertson made a statement about Haiti’s destruction and a deal with the devil.  Now, I am not saying what Pat said is correct.  I do, however, think about Sodom and Gomorrah and their utter disregard for God.  I think about how Abraham pleaded with the messengers of God about sparing these two towns (of over a million people) if there were just 10 righteous people in them.  There were not…..and they got toasted.  This is recorded in Genesis 19:24-25.  The whole story is wrapped around this.

I do not have the knowledge to argue the point to utter oblivion nor do I want to.  I have, for most of my life just sort of lived on the grace side of the christian equation and really sort of disregarded the judgement side of things as Old Testament and not really relevant to my life.  I have primarily studied and teached on the New Testament….because it has produced much fruit in my ministry and I am comfortable with it.  But the older I get and more I try to put the entire bible in perspective….I see the relevance of the Old Testament to the New.  I diligently study the Old Testament for answers and I see a side of God that tolorates sin, disobedience and turning away……just so long before he begins to lift his hand of blessings…..before he gets fed up….before he convicts….and takes action.

So, as this has been on my heart and as one of my Senior Pastors spoke about this….I began to think even more…was this judgement on a country that made a deal with the devil?  Joshua 24:15 ask the question who will you serve, the Gods your fathers served or the Gods of the enemies.  Joshua says he and his family will serve God.  I just begin to think if we choose other gods to serve,….that our god, a gracious god will be gracious to a pont….and maybe just honor a deal with the devil and allow the  consequences for that deal……We don’t need to separate forever on this non-essential position.  I just ask that you consider the possibility that God is still in the judgment business.  Because if He is….you will be seeing more with specific answers that you may probraby know about.  Keep looking.

louie

louie

 

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