The Promise of Blessings Upon Your Children

Psalm 112
1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.
2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever;
his horn will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

In the previous post I began sharing with you what the Lord was speaking to me about the prophetic promises contained in this powerful prophetic psalm. The list of blessings it says will accrue to the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands is truly mindboggling! As I said there, I was totally blown away by what it says concerning not only the blessings that come upon that person, but also upon his/her children, and their children's children!

God declares and decrees that the posterity of those people who fear the LORD and find great delight in his commands "will be MIGHTY in the land!" They are not wimps or casper-milquetoast people! They don't live their lives in a corner, cowering in fear and trepidation. They do not live their lives anonymously; they are known and noticed wherever they go. People know who they are! Perhaps more tellingly, as with Jesus and the Apostle Paul, demons know who they are, as well. Whatever their hand finds to do, they do it with all their MIGHT. They've established a habit of being STRONG in the Lord and in the POWER of HIS MIGHT! They've learned that the joy of the Lord is their strength. They are indefatigible, indestructable, and invincible. THEY ARE MIGHTY PEOPLE!

The children of the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands are the real reflector of his life! The seed he sowed while living, germinates and produces a multiplied harvest in the lives of his children, who are exponentially more blessed in every aspect of their lives than was he during his lifespan on the earth. As Proverbs 13:22 says, "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.

It has been both astonishing and humbling to see the Lord's workings to bring forth these things in my own life. Just a few days ago, on May 3rd, my daughter, Angela, and I celebrated the one year anniversary of our reunion after 37 and a half years of involuntary separation that began when she was only 6 months old. I first told about our reunion in the tribute to my father I wrote and posted on my website last year. In addition to telling about some of our experiences from time to time in my various writing forums, she and I plan to co-author a book relating the life-revolutionizing impact this reunion has had upon both of our lives, as well as her children.

What a year this past twelve months has been! In some ways it seemed like only a month. In other ways it's seemed like a hundred years! While the victories have been phenomenal, the battles have been ferocious! I had the indescribeable joy, honor, and privilege of leading my daughter to the Lord and laying hands on her to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and have witnessed firsthand one of the fastest and most profound life transformations I have ever seen or heard about as the indwelling Spirit has performed in her His sanctifying work.

The Lord has continued to also use me to facilitate my daughter's ongoing deliverance from demonic influence and bondage, which has been one of the most thorough cleansings and deepest purgings I've ever had a part in, though I've so often yearned for it in the case of many others to whom I've ministered over the years. Truly, we have in her case plumbed a significant portion of the depths of the passage, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!" (2 Cor. 5:17). She is truly a new creature, and every day old things are passing away, becoming passe, obsolete, and dead, while we truly do behold in amazement the new things that have come to replace the old things and ways.

As great as the transformation has been, still so much more is yet to come as that maturation process "unto the measure of the stature that belongs to fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13) continues, as it does in us all. It is altogether astounding what the Holy Spirit CAN do in us all, if only we get out of His way and let Him have His way, yielding to His supernatural sanctifying power!

After 38 years of living with a gaping void that could not be filled by anything or anyone else, I cannot describe to you the overflowing joy I am now experiencing in knowing that whatever small portion of the Kingdom of God I am able to appropriate in my life, it is a seed -- an "incorruptible seed" -- that will produce an abundant harvest in my posterity, that is, my children's lives, and their children's lives, and on through the lineage that shall come should Jesus tarry. Such a prospect has given me a new impetus for living for Christ and striving against the devil!

Every day I am seeing more and more of the promises of Psalm 112 being infused into the life of and implanted into the future of my daughter and her three children (who, by the way, she in turn led to the Lord and who have also received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit). As the writer began the Psalm, I too shout the exultation, "Praise the Lord!"

"O, that multiplied thousands of the children of God could begin THIS YEAR of 2007 to inherit these promises in their lives, and sow the seeds of righteousness into their children's lives!

The second promise of this powerful Psalm, found in verse 3, is that WEALTH and RICHES are in the house of the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands! What a promise! And how much greater number of God's people need to appropriate this promise into their lives in these last days when the funding of the purposes and plans of God requires such a superabundance of just that -- wealth and riches. But our discussion of that promise will have to wait until the next edition.

Visit Our Website

If you have not been to the website in a while, be sure you visit and check out the articles in the Prophetic Perspective and the Real Truth Digest. There's also a new book I wrote, Dunamis! Power From On High! , which is all about the mighty power available to every believer through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

In the next post I'll tell you more about what God has shown me through this powerful Psalm and the application it has to your life.

The Blessings Coming to the Righteous

Yesterday I was reading Psalm 112, and was totally blown away by the prophetic promises it contains! I just had to write to share with you what the Lord was speaking to me about you through it. I say "you," because I believe you are one who fears the Lord and finds delight in His commands!

Psalm 112
1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.
2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

What a glorious picture the psalmist portrays of the life and posterity of "the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands!" The list of blessings it says will accrue to that man is truly mindboggling! And they concern every aspect of life that, when the final curtain of life comes down, really counts!

Indeed, the overall message of this Psalm is that the blessings God bestows upon the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands are all-encompassing. That is affirmed by the fact that this Psalm is actually an acrostic, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Its message is an Old Testament pre-parallel of Jesus' statement that comprises the conclusion of the final Book of the New Testament, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13)

The very first aspect of these blessings that inure to the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands concerns his children, who are is posterity and ultimate legacy. His children are MIGHTY in the land. They are not among the down and out, downtrodden, destitute, and despirited of the land in which they live. Rather, they are the up and overers, who overcome all obstacles and vanquish every foe, against all odds. THEY ARE MIGHTY PEOPLE! They are indefatigible, indestructable, and invincible. They never say die, and refuse to quit. They cannot go down for going UP! They cannot go under for going OVER! They cannot be overcome, for they are overcomers. They cannot be conquered, for they are more than conquerers. Their response to every challenge is to rise up, rather than run away; to confront it, rather than cower. THAT is indeed a MIGHTY people!

They are not the downtrodden of the land where they live. Rather, the posterity of the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands subdue every inch of ground where their feet have trod, making it part and parcel of their assigned domain. They are "the powers that be," the so-called "high and mighty" of their region, those who have "made their mark" or "made a name for themselves." They are not anonymous, unknown, and unnoticed. People (and demons) around them know who they are!

The children of the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands are the real reflection of his life! The seed he sowed while living, germinates and produces a multiplied harvest in the lives of his children, who are exponentially more blessed in every aspect of their lives than he was during his lifespan on the earth. As Proverbs 13:22 says, "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous."

O, that multiplied thousands of the children of God could begin THIS YEAR of 2007 to inherit these promises in their lives, and sow the seeds of righteousness into their children's lives!

The second promise of this powerful Psalm, found in verse 3, is that WEALTH and RICHES are in the house of the man who fears God and finds great delight in His commands! What a promise! And how much greater number of God's people need to appropriate this promise into their lives in these last days when the funding of the purposes and plans of God requires such a superabundance of just that — wealth and riches. But our discussion of that promise will have to wait until the next edition. In the next post I will share more of what the Lord has shown me through this powerful Psalm and its application in our lives.

Visit Our Website
If you have not been to the website in a while, be sure you visit and check out the articles in the Prophetic Perspective and the Real Truth Digest.

There's also a new book I wrote, Dunamis! Power From On High!, which is all about the mighty power available to every believer through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

A New Breed Of Preacher

-by Greg Gordon

A New Movement of Fearless Uncompromising Preachers
God is raising up a new breed of preachers in our day. People are sick of modern-day soft preaching that does not move our consciences anymore then a worldly movie would. God is going to raise them up, they will not be bred in modern day seminaries or bible colleges. They will speak against the whole system that is raising anemic preachers and teachers. Their messages will be bold, strong, pointed; it will offend many but save many. Their preaching will bear witness to their calling. God will be in their messages and the fear of God will come with their message. God has always been faithful to have a voice in every generation. Surely we find ourselves in a time as the Psalmist lamented: "There is no more any prophet, neither is there among us, any that knoweth how long." Yet they will come! They will come with messages that will sear our consciences, Oh how we need a modern day prophet!

Will the modern day prophet agree with all the theology and comfort of American Christianity? No, his message will so contradict all of what we know of Christianity that we will hardly believe he is from God. Jeremiah was a prophet that heard from God and he prophesied: "behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." These new breed of preachers will be men that are shut-in with God and hear from him and their words will be as "fire" and the people "wood."

D.M. McIntyre spoke of this same heavenly principle: "Before the great revival in Gallneukirchen broke out, Martin Boos spent hours and days and often nights in lonely agonies of intercession. Afterwards, when he preached, his words were as flame, and the hearts of the people as grass." Oh these men will be "much with God" and "little with men." The things of earth to them will grow strangely dim. They will be strange men to the ways and systems of the world. They will speak against the hypocrisy in the pews and the hirelings in the pulpits. The fear of man will not have any hold on these men, the holy fear of God will be their overwhelming vision. They will speak the "word of the Lord" in due season and not refrain from being a mouthpiece in the hand of the Lord.

PROPHETIC Preaching
A.W. Tozer spoke of this new breed of preachers in his short article 'prophetic preaching' — this is the need of our day and it will come:

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher.

The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom.

Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath. This is only to say that we need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the Church. And it is my belief that the one gift we need most now is the gift of prophecy.

Uncompromised, unsettled, unyielding, unmovable, unshakable! These men will come with unbelievable message to those steeped in unbelief. David Wilkerson said once, "only praying men touch God." These men will be 'men of God' that touch God and hear from Him. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Joel, Hosea, Zechariah, these men will find good company with the coming prophets. They will be fully accepted of God and fully rejected by men. God will call them 'blessed' and men will call them 'cursed.'

Picture Of A Prophet
Leonard Ravenhill in his book "America is too young to die" speaks of the true picture of the coming prophets to Christendom. Oh how sorely we need them:

The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men. The group challenged by the prophet because they are smug and comfortably insulated from a perishing world in their warm but untested theology are not likely to vote him 'man of the year' when he refers to them as habituates of the 'synagogue of Satan!'

He is unpopular because he opposes the popular in morality and spirituality. In a day of faceless politicians and voiceless preachers, there is not a more urgent national need than that we cry to God for a prophet! He has not price tags. He is totally 'otherworldly.' "He lives in the heights with God and comes into the valley with a 'thus saith the Lord.' He is the villain of today and the hero of tomorrow. He is excommunicated while alive and exalted when dead! He walks before men for days, but has walked before God for years.

He announces, pronounces, and denounces! God talks to him about men. He talks to men about God. There is a terrible vacuum in Evangelical Christianity today. The missing person in our ranks is the prophet. The man with a terrible earnestness. The man totally otherworldly. the man rejected by other men, even other good men, because they consider him too austere, too severely committed, too negative and unsociable.

Let him be as plain as John the Baptist. Let him for a season be a voice crying in the wilderness of modern theology and stagnant churchianity. Let him be as selfless as Paul the apostle. Let him, too, say and live, 'This one thing I do.' Let him reject ecclesiastical favors. Lim him be self-abasing, nonself-seeking, nonself-projecting, nonself- righteous, nonself-glorifying.

Let him say nothing that will draw men to himself, but only that which will move men to God. Let him come daily from the throne room of a holy God, the place where he has received the order of the day. Let him, under God, unstop the ears of the millions who are deaf through the clatter of shekels milked from this hour of material mesmerism.

Let him cry with a voice this century has not heard because he has seen a vision no man in this century has seen. God send us this Moses to lead us from the wilderness of crass materialism, where the rattlesnakes of lust bite us and where enlightened men, totally blind spiritually, lead us to an ever-nearing Armageddon. God have mercy; send us PROPHETS! [Read Full Article]

Run For Your Life!
The message of these men will seem strong and extreme to most. They will call for utter immediate implicit obedience to the commands of the Lord. They will call for a turning away from sin and from sinful practices. They will preach a God-exalting and men-abasing message. They will not be worried about men's self-esteem or happiness but rather their clarion cry will be: "Holiness Unto the Lord!"

Their message might sound like this excerpt of a message preached by Carter Conlon:

Run from gospels that focus on your success and prosperity. Run from those that use the name of Jesus Christ only for personal gain. Run from those that are picking your pocket in the name of Jesus. Run! Run from gospels that focus only on self-improvement, or on three steps to a better personality. Run from churches where men and not Christ are glorified. Run, get out of that place! Run from churches in America and Canada where there is no Bible, no cross, no searching Word, no repentance from sin. Run when there's no mention of the blood of Jesus. It's an unclean place, so run! Run from churches where the worship leaves you cold, where there's no sense of God's presence, because they don't know God. Run! Run from churches where you're comfortable in your sin. If you enter God's house with sin in your life, but you're not convicted of it, you're sitting at a table of devils. Run! Run from pulpits that are filled with politically driven men who use the pulpit of God for a personal agenda. Run! Run from those who preach division between races and cultures. Run! Run! Get out! Turn it off. They know nothing of God. Run from ungodly, spasmodic movements and endless empty prophesying. Beloved Church. Run for your life! Run from preachers that stand, who tell only stories and jokes. Run like you've never run before. Run from those that are only after money and they use one gimmick after another to get your money. One foolish thing after another to get your money. Run!"

God is going to get the attention of us. He is going to shake "everything that can be shaken." We should be on our face brothers and sisters. Great times of shaking are coming. Are we standing firm on truth of God or are we allowing the world and its cares to choke our spiritual life? God is going to raise up a new modern breed of preachers that will be uncompromising and unrelenting in their proclamation of the heart of God.

Hear this blunt blaring word from the late Dr. Joseph Parker:

Oh, ye white-faced, weak-kneed believers! Believers in what? Ye shifty speculators, stealers of prophetic mantles! go, drink yourselves to death, and go to your proper devil! Ye are not the Church of Christ, might well be the speech which ascended Pauls might deliver to us, as we reshuffle the theological cards, and rearrange our credenda, and modify and dilute our doctrinal positions and enthusiasms.

Let us also hear one of Mr. Ravenhill's often quoted lines: "Our pulpits today are occupied with puppets rather than with prophets, with organizers rather than with agonizers." Does that smite? It is true! Let us start praying to see God revive, restore, renew and revolutionize the Church as we know it. We need a mighty touch of God's Spirit and men that will speak with that anointing from heaven. God is raising a new breed of preachers in these last days. Oh how we need them!

-SOURCE: www.sermonindex.net

“The Former Things Have Come to Pass”

(This post is the second part of the series, Now I Declare New Things! )

Isaiah 42:9
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.

Isaiah 43:18,19
Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

There are two vital truths we need to extract from these passages of Scripture regarding "the former things." The first and most obvious is that the things that used to be, "the things of the past," are now completed and are now passed. That is to say, they are history. In speaking of someone who has died, we use the euphemism that they “passed away.” That is precisely how God wants us to regard the modus operandi, or ways of operating or doing things, that are of the past — as “the former things” — particularly at those junctures when He begins announcing, “Now I declare new things! Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth!” And this can apply either to individual believers or the collective church. God is at those times acting as a spiritual attending physician, pronouncing "the former things" dead, deceased. Yet, at the same time He is also acting as a spiritual obstetrician, delivering the newborn, "the new thing" that God is birthing, which will replace the former or passe' thing.

Simultaneously, at that juncture, we have the stark dichotomy of the lifeless corpse of the deceased, whose heart has ceased to pump the warm blood of life, and has already begun to grow cold and to undergo the death and decay process, and at the same time we have the vibrant embodiment of new hope and all the effects of new life surging through the veins and arteries of the newborn, the new thing. The new thing has indeed sprung forth and we cannot help but be aware of it. Its cries and whines demanding our attention ensure that we are aware of it.

The only thing we can do with the deceased at that point is embalm and bury it. Otherwise, all we’d be doing is propping up a lifeless corpse merely for appearance sake or for the sake of our emotional well-being. Soon, like it or not, we must come to grips with the cold reality that the former things have passed away — they’re dead, deceased, departed — and no matter how much we would wish it so, they are not going to be revived. We must begin to grasp and deal with the immutable fact that they're simply not coming back. Their span of existence on this earth, whether it be "the former things" — scenarios, circumstances, methods, paradigms — or people we've known or loved has concluded.

As all of us who knew and loved my Dad, Larry Lambert, had to do in the aftermath of his Homegoing last June, somehow, when the last note of life has been played, we must all come to deal with the truth that, in the here and now, cessation of life is an integral and inextricable part of life. We must hearken unto and take solace in the Divine Wisdom that —

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven — a time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Ecc. 3:1-4)

God is now saying to many maturing believers, "The former things have come to pass, and have indeed passed. The new things that have come are a passageway of promotion unto a higher dimension of the Spirit into which I am leading you."

At some point, the sooner the better, like David with the loss of his infant son, when cessation of life has come, we must cease mourning over the deceased, wash our face, and rejoice in the God of Life who always gives a Solomon, in one form or another, to replace the deceased. I and my mother and surviving siblings personally experienced such Divine consolation in my reunion, seemingly "out of the clear blue," with my daughter thirty-three days before my Dad's Graduation. Dad and grand-daughter never met in person before Dad's passing, but they were united in and by the commonality of the indwelling and enveloping Holy Spirit. What solace God in His abundant mercy has brought me! He gave me my Solomon.

Then, when death has come, when the last trump has sounded, we must allow death to be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:55)! It's only a cessation of life in this here and now temporal realm, but not in the there and then eternal realm, for in that realm there is no death, but only life eternal; there is no sorrow or mourning, but only joy and celebration; there is no crying or pain, but only laughter and peace. So when the passing from the temporal to the eternal has transpired with finality, we must commit our attention and energy to the newborn, the "new thing," that has been birthed and is alive and has not departed but is present, for it is now our progeny, our seed, the means God has ordained for producing our future posterity. At that point, there really is no choice; life cannot be produced by the dead. Only living things can engender living things. Dead things — that which has passed away, passe' things — cannot produce anything, for they are impotent, barren, lifeless.

Whenever God takes you into a new thing, there’s always an old thing to leave behind — an entire set of circumstances and settings, trappings, systems, models, methods — that have exhausted their usefulness, are now outmoded and obsolete, and will not be useful in the new thing, i.e., the new phase, the new paradigm, the new dimension.

Unfortunately, sometimes that which must be left behind also includes people, relationships. Some just will not or cannot make the trip, for various reasons. In some cases it is necessary for us, the person moving on, because we need a new and different kind of provision in the new phase, that those old relationships simply cannot provide, and sometimes it is because WE are a new provision to the new relationships that are formed in the new phase. Yet other times it is because of issues in the lives of the former phase people that prevent them from properly relating to us in the new phase. But, unfortunately, parting company with people who are incongruous and inharmonious with the new phase God is taking you into is part of the process of pursuit of God and His plans and purposes. Moving into new dimensions, of necessity, always entails the founding and forging of new relationships, and a forgetting of what lies behind in order to reach forward to what lies ahead (Plp. 3:13), particularly in the case of those things that lie behind that are entirely incompatible with and therefore adverse to the things that lie ahead, i.e., the new dimension into which we are transitioning.

Notice the associating of the word “now” with the word “new” in all these passages in which God is speaking about declaring and doing new things. This is the part people commonly neglect to recognize. When God decrees something new into effect, unlike other matters especially in personal prophecy over individuals, He always intends it to be “effective immediately!” And, indeed, in the realm of the spirit, it IS effective immediately when He decrees, declares, proclaims, speaks it! Certainly, He is demanding that we behold it, see it, look at it, give our attention to it, immediately. In the Isaiah 43 passage, He reinforces that truth with the Divine inquiry, “Will you not be aware of it?” What God wants us to understand from these passages is that beholding, giving our attention to, acknowledging, pursuing, walking in the new thing that springs forth with God’s declaration and proclamation is not optional, but mandatory, compulsory. If we are to continue our pursuit toward Him, being conformed into His Image, being transformed from glory to glory into the glory of His Image (2 Cor. 3:18), and walking in intimacy in His manifest presence (glory), and if we are to position ourselves in the “place” where His favor and provision is being poured out, we must walk in the new thing that He has decreed.

That is what He means when He follows up the 18th verse of Isaiah 48 with what He says in the 19th verse: “I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Wildernesses and desert experiences almost always precede a “new thing” God is about to do in our inidividual lives or the collective Church. But, eventually in those seemingly aimless wanderings in the spiritual wilderness and slow trudgings through dry spiritual deserts, when mentally we know He is with us but our soul is parched and thirsting for a fresh infusion of the Water of the Spirit, He makes a roadway in the wilderness where roadways do not normally exist and a river in the desert where rivers do not normally exist that leads to His Precious Presence. But, at that moment—when the roadway in the wilderness or the river in the desert appears—we are in a dilemma, a fork-in-the-road crisis! For, now the pathway has been illuminated—by the lamp unto our feet and light unto our path—and now we must choose, either to follow the illuminated pathway toward God and the next juncture He has ordained for our life, or stay on the path we’ve been traveling and remain in the familiar and friendly surroundings of the wilderness or desert we’ve been sojourning in, continuing to reap the same results we've been reaping! All the while we are neglecting to walk into the new thing, the blessings it holds are held in abeyance.

The second, somewhat more obscure, meaning we need to draw from God’s declaration, “The former things have come to pass,” is that the reason that the former things came in the first place is so that they can in time pass. That is, they have come in order to pass. It is vital for people who are intrinsically resistant to change and set in their ways to understand that many circumstances and situations in life that develop were never intended by God to be permanent, but have come in order to one day pass. Generally, we are more amenable to that aphormism when it involves the passing of things that are not so good, and especially things that are bad. But, what we need to understand is that it is also true in the case of what we consider "good things."

The saying, “All good things must come to an end,” is more apropos than we realize or want to acknowledge. Human nature does not want “good things” to end. But, sometimes that is the will of God. Sometimes the good, especially the good with which we have become comfortable and are comforted by, is the thief of the better or best. Thus, sometimes good things must come to an end in order that we can advance into better things. Oftentimes the ending of good things is actually a precursor or pathway to promotion. Often what appears to be grevious is in reality graduation, and what appears to be trouble is in reality transition to a better place or higher dimension. We must be willing to let go of the status quo to move into the place in the Spirit where God wants to take us.

“This too shall pass!” is a concept that can carry great consolation, encouragement, and hope when we are traversing through trials, troubles, and tribulations. Just knowing that everything in this life eventually passes can be a source of great strength and assurance. It is inevitable that our journey of pursuit of God will take us through “high water,” so that we can come to know the God who is a strong tower that the righteous run into in the time of trouble. Sometimes it is our own Sea of Galilee raging storm experiences, so that we, like the Apostles of the Lamb, can experientially know the Omnipotent Jesus who has the power to calm the raging storm with a two-word command: "Be Still!" Or, a Red Sea experience to introduce us to Jesus the Deliverer that Moses and the Israelites met following their deliverance from Egypt. Primarily, these kinds of crises come into our lives to drive us closer to God, to force us to come to know Him and His power and provision in a new, more spiritually advanced, dimension.

Virtually every set of circumstances and scenarios we traverse through in our own trek through the wildernesses of life toward God and His Kingdom are merely temporary. Usually they happen for our teaching, training, and testing in preparation for further spiritual advancement along the continuum of being conformed into the Image of Christ and being transformed from glory to glory. Not recognizing this is a source of needless despair and despondency for individual believers.

Moreover, one of the most problematic tendencies of Christians is to set as permanent what God intends to be only passing. It is the spirit of religion that engenders that kind of misjudgment and misunderstanding of events and circumstances. A characteristic of religiosity is obsession with preserving the past — what once happened, what God did in another era, and the status quo — rather than “press(ing) on,” a la Philippians 3:14, to possess as our present possession what God is doing today in our midst. The attitude God's Word prescribes that we have is: “THIS is the day (today) that the Lord has made; I will be glad and rejoice in IT!” In fact, Paul said that in order to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” we must “(forget) what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead!” If Christians acted as if God is truly the “I AM,” contrasted to the “I WAS,” our personal lives as well as our churches would be a whole lot different than they are!

The various phases of our journey are only temporary, but rarely, especially at the intrusive inception of adverse circumstances — times of trouble, trial, tribulation, and temptation to despair — do we perceive them as such. Indeed, one of the most effective weapons the enemy of our souls has in his arsenal to use against us is discouragement and despair. Whenever adversity hits our lives, our first reaction typically is to despair and become discouraged, because we presume it is here to stay and defeat us, instead of something that has come to be overcome and to pass, “for in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37, KJV).

Often, our first reaction to trouble is to be highly offended. It’s as if we say, “What is this?! How dare you come into my life! Don’t you know who I am?” Well, the truth of the matter is that Satan brings these things into our lives and God allows him to bring them into our lives because they both — God and Satan — DO know who we are! Satan authors it to test our mettle; God allows it to prove our mettle through Him and Him through us. Difficulties come into our lives so that we can advance into the dimension in which we indeed are "MORE THAN conquerors" by appropriating the powers of Him who loved us and overwhelmingly CONQUERING those difficulties via His Power and Might operating in and through us (cf., Rom. 8:31-31)! Remember, God will not allow any temptation, test, trial, or trouble to beset us beyond what we are “able” — able not merely to withstand, but to overcome!

So, why does God make such a big deal about pondering and recalling passe matters, saying, "Behold, the former things have come to pass; do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past?" It is that we cannot possess as our present possession what God is doing now in this time — the dimension of His Power and Presence He is manifesting now in the present — from where we have been, what was, and through what has been previously; i.e., "the former things" that have come to pass! We can only possess as our present possession what God is manifesting now, at the present time, by forgetting the former things, by “not call(ing) to mind the former things," and by not “ponder(ing) things of the past,” in order that we can “Behold” (look at, gaze upon) and “be aware of” the new thing God is doing! In other words, we cannot operate in a new dimension until we leave the former dimension and move into it.

Passe' things (former things, things of the past) are dead things, things that have passed away. Living in passe', obsolete, outdated modes, methods, paradigms, and dimensions is living in the flesh realm, which is the realm of the dead, the lifeless, the deceased, being infused with death. It profits and produces nothing, Jesus said. He also said to let the dead bury the dead, the lifeless, the deceased. But, Spirit-led believers must separate themselves from the flesh realm and move on into the "Land of the Living" — the dimension where God lives and where all things are alive and living, being infused with the Zoe-Life of God.

God is now saying to many maturing believers, "The former things have come to pass, and have indeed passed. The new things that have come are a passageway of promotion unto a higher dimension of the Spirit into which I am leading you. Come and follow Me!"

"Now I Declare New Things"

Isaiah 42:9
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.

Isaiah 43:18,19
Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 48:6-8
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, `Behold, I knew them.'
You have not heard, you have not known.

The above Scriptures indicate so clearly that our Father God is a God of new things! When it comes to paradigms and patterns, the fact of the matter is humans tend to be much more conservative than God, including with respect to the status quo, and indeed are often resistant to the change God wants to bring about in various aspects of our lives. God is the God of new things! He is forever breaking the molds and casting new ones. In the arena of the establishment of His Kingdom on Earth, He is constantly declaring "new things" before they spring forth.

God speaks In these passages about “new things." In the first, He says, “I declare new things” and that He proclaims them to us before they spring forth, which means, before they come into existence, or before the new things He is about to initiate show up in our lives. In the second, He proclaims, “I will do something new” in our lives. Then, in the third passage He declares that He proclaims new things, even things that have been hidden from us previously of which we had no knowledge or understanding, and that they are created at the moment He proclaims them and that they were non-existent prior to that moment, so that we cannot boast that we knew anything about them or even heard about them prior to their coming into existence in our lives.

God speaks of new things repeatedly in His Word: new wine, new moons, new growth, new things, new strength, new song, new name, new heart, new spirit, new covenant, new tongues, new garment, new commandment, new creature, new self, new man, new and living way, new heavens and new earth, New Jerusalem—just to name the most salient. He not only talks about new things, but also, as alluded to previously, about re-newing things, meaning He takes old, obsolete, outdated, outmoded, passé things and somehow transforms them into new. Again, all this tells me that new things are God Things!

Thus, we can see from these and many other passages of Scripture that God specializes in new things! Declaring new things is something God does recurrently or repeatedly. Moreover, whenever God says, “I will” as He does in the second passage, we can safely deduce that whatever it is that He says He will do is indeed His will, since He never does anything contrary to His will. Thus, we can be assured that decreeing, doing, and bringing forth new things in our lives is within God’s will. The question is then: why are change and new things so contrary to our will as humans, generally speaking?

God specializes in declaring and doing new things! And, yet so many people specialize in old things or the status quo! God has an affinity for the new, and humans, by and large, have an aversion against it. In American culture especially, we venerate, if not idolatrize, the status quo. We like things to be as we have always known them to be in our lifetime. We dread and are threatened by the least prospect or semblance of change. We all but canonize the person who lived at the same house, woke up every morning at the same time, drank his morning cup of the same brand of coffee from the same coffee cup, made in the same pot, drove the same route to work and back to the same job, and ate the same few varieties of meals, on the same plates using the same silverware—for forty years! (Then, the irony of it all is that to that person who in his own world insisted on making time stand still, we pay tribute with the gift of a gold watch, as if he even has a need for a watch, since for him time already “is no more!”) Salt of the earth, grounded, good people, we call them. And, God help the preacher who dares to stand up before the congregation of the dying faithful and even suggest that something in the church needs to change or that it needs a transfusion with new blood.

We have almost a national obsession with preserving the memories of those and that which has passed, contemporaneous with such a barbaric contempt for the new that has yet to live that millions are unceremoniously murdered and their remains strewn about refuse landfills like discarded chicken parts and flushed through the sewers like human waste. We construct elaborate monuments to immortalize the dead. We spend billions of dollars on museums and such things as presidential libraries, Smithsonian Institutes, Halls of Fame of various genres to preserve memorabilia and memories of departed people and artifacts of passé cultures. Treasured “antiques” and venerated “historic” structures are valued many times higher than their modern counterparts. A plethora of books and magazines filling our national libraries and booksellers’ shelves are devoted exclusively to reminiscing nostalgically and longingly of days gone by, eras past. All this underscores our collective proclivity of living in the past.

God declares that He will shake everything that can be shaken, as of created things, in order that only those things that cannot be shaken shall remain (Heb. 12:25-29). Yet, people shake in terror at the mere thought of those things that can be shaken being removed and the treasured status quo changing!

Why is that? Two words, insecurity and idolatry! We make huge investments in the status quo. We are vested in what has been, what has already transpired, rather than in what will be and what is becoming. Without even realizing it, our security, our hope, our faith, all become wrapped up in the status quo—our own world we have worked so hard to create. It gets to the place, though few ever see it, where we are trusting in that status quo— the world we have been the creator of—rather than God, the true Creator! It takes little thought to see that that is the very essence of idolatry. Only the deity we are exulting is not some wooden or stone object representing some strange, mythological false god, as do the heathen of foreign lands, but rather it is ourselves, as the "creator" of the world we have fashioned and which we are venerating. So, the form of our idolatry is literally that of self-deification.

And, then along comes God, and says, “Behold, I will do a new thing!” Talk about shock and awe! Such a concept just does not compute or comport with our thinking and our ways. “A new thing?!” Wait a minute! Doesn’t that mean change? Change?! “New?!” Instinctively, subliminally, we know the inference of the word “new” is that what has been is now old, outdated, outmoded, worn-out, obsolete, uneffectual, passé, and has passed away. How can that possibly be? we ask. And, even more pressing, “Then, what now?!”

The Kingdom of God is replete with paradoxes. Give to get, sow to reap, die to live, lose to gain, all of these concepts on the surface seem contradictory, but in God’s Kingdom the seeming paradox produces the desired provision. Such is the case as well regarding the dreaded “C” word — CHANGE — the mere mention of which causes angst, anxiety, and apprehension to course through the veins of many people, and triggers tangible tremors of trepidation, repulsion, and resistance, through most congregations of professed “believers.” Most people recoil from and are repulsed by the very concept of change. Yet change is what the Kingdom of God is all about. Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, change has been required for remedy, recovery, restoration, and renewal. Human nature detests change; Divine nature relishes it. While God emphatically declares His own personal unchangeableness with regard to His Nature, “I, the Lord, do not change!” (Mal. 3:6) nevertheless, the Kingdom of God is all about change—bringing forth into existence “new” things, renewal, restoration, or returning things to their original, pristine state.

In this hour, God is declaring, decreeing, proclaiming, doing new things—in individuals lives, families, in the church, and in the world. The old things, the status quo, are simply not going to be effective or productive anymore. Where you've been and where you are now is not where you're going. And you're going to have to be willing to leave behind the familiar and friendly in order to lay hold of your future, your destiny. Your destiny is not in your past or even your present, but in your future. To apprehend your destiny, you must let go of and cease striving to preserve all that is comfortable and comforting—the known—and embrace the new and the unknown thing God is doing in your life. It's new to you, but not to God, for with God there's nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9,10). It's unknown to you, but it's always been known by God, for He is omniscient.

If change has come to your life or is in the offing, there is nothing to fear! You are simply experiencing transition—the place between the promise and the Promise Land. Sure, change instrinsically entails upheaval, turmoil, and feelings of disorientation, but as FDR so eloquently said in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself!" And fear is a spirit that you have authority and power over!

Remember: nothing can happen in your life unless God allows it. He is God; let Him lead and simply follow. As high as the heavens are above the earth so are His ways above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts! Change often feels like trouble, but feelings are unreliable and will absolutely lie to you and decieve you. It's not really trouble, it's transition, to take you to a new dimension of the Spirit so that you can move closer to your destiny! God is simply moving you to higher ground, so that you can see the enemies and obstacles in your way that are/will attempt to deter, distract, and defeat you on your way to the Promise Land. "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us," (Rom. 8:37) for we are "more than conquerors" (Ibid; NIV).

Beloved, we simply cannot go down for going up. We cannot go under for going over. We cannot lose for winning. I've read the end of the book, and guess what? WE WIN! The devil is already a defeated foe! He's just trying to intimidate and bully you to deceive you into believing he's winning. But, the fight is already over, the adversary was already KOed and is out on the mat, and the referee has already counted him out! Hallelujah! Raise your hands in victory and triumph, YOU ARE THE WINNER!

In the next post, we'll talk more about this matter of the new things God brings about in our lives, what times of transition are all about, and how to navigate through the tumultuous seas of change. Stay tuned!

The Gains and Pains of 2006

For me, 2006 has been a year filled with both tremendous loss and gain. Yet, I've learned and am learning that, in the end, both will somehow result in blessing, and that the God who causes all things to work together for the good, in time, will turn every ostensible tragedy into triumph. I've also learned and am learning that while in the midst of the ferocity and fog of all-out war, when the enemy is pressing in with full force and vengeance against us, we as spiritual warriors who have already been declared more than conquerors, often don't "feel" like conquerors. In the throes of war, no one feels triumphant. While under vicious attack, until victory is achieved, one never feels victorious.

Personally, this year, I have experienced the extremes of the emotional spectrum, as well as everything in between. At the very apex of the blessings side, on May 3rd of this year, I was reunited with my daughter, Angela Marie, who was suddenly snatched away from me 38 years ago when she was only six months old and I was a mere teenager at the age of 19. I will be writing more on this incredible miracle in the months ahead, to include a book she and I plan to coauthor. Suffice it to say, Christmas came in May for me this year! No gift I could receive at Christmas could possibly top the gift of my daughter and her love for me and my love for her! I am already rich beyond measure!

But then, a little over a month after that emotional high, I experienced the loss of my Dad, who passed away on June 6, 2006. If you knew Dad, or even if you didn't, I invite you to read the Tribute I wrote regarding him and his life at: http://www.slm.org/slm/Tribute.html ... it's quite profound and inspirational. A few days before his homegoing, he and his first grand-daughter, Angela Marie, talked on the phone, and were able to tell each other they loved each other. Of course, they both wept. Angela was privileged to attend the burial service in Trinity, Florida. I wish they had known each other here; each would have enjoyed and been so proud of the other. Mom and Dad, along with me, though independently, had both faithfully prayed for 38 years for the reunion that took place on May 3rd. When Dad got the news the next day, he said to Mom, "Now I can go home to be with the Lord." Thirty-three days later...he did. What an unexpected and unfathomable surprise God gave the Lambert clan before Dad went Home! We are all truly and profoundly blessed and enriched by it!

Also this year, I have been totally meritlessly, mercilessly, and causelessly maligned, falsely accused, persecuted, libeled, slandered, betrayed, exploited, extorted, robbed, afflicted, scorned, ridiculed, and in a nutshell, severely abused in every way possible -- psychologically, emotionally, physically, and financially -- nearly all of which was perpetrated through human agents. It all has brought a lot of pain, but after 30 years in ministry and 58 years of living, frankly, I'm fairly used to having to endure such things.

Notwithstanding, one thing I learned many years ago, but am still learning daily, is that the wars we wage and are waged against us, truly are not against and by flesh and blood alone. Don't get me wrong, I know as much as anyone and more than most, that being spirits, Satan and his diabolical cohorts cannot do anything unless they find and successfully elicit the cooperation and perpetration of human agents through whom to do it. I say I know this more than most people do, one, because of my three decades of laboring to set captives free through deliverance, but, two, because so laboring on the frontlines to liberate people from demonic bondages and training others to do so as well makes me a prime target of demonic attack myself, as anyone who obeys the first tenet of the Great Commission by actually casting out demons can attest to. Begin to do real hand-to-hand warfare against devils, and a red target will suddenly and miraculously appear on your back! Nevertheless, SOMEBODY has to truly be one of those "believers" as Jesus called them in the Great Commission -- "them that believe in my Name," and fearlessly brave the onslaught of the enemy to rescue those who need rescuing from the death-grip of Satan! At the risk of being further misunderstood as being immodest, I can say in all truth, I have been doing the best I can now for thirty years to be one of those believers who will stand up and stand in the gap to stem the torrential tide of filth and evil flooding from the bowels of hell against mankind and especially redeemed mankind, i.e., believers.

The battles have been indescribeably ferocious. Not every one, at least in the temporal realm, appeared to be won. Moreover, there have been many casualties and losses suffered from the fog and hell of war. Nevertheless, within there is not even the flicker of a thought of backing up, backing off, backing down, compromising, or capitulating. Never! It's nothing but, "Damn the torpedoes! Full-steam ahead!" It's CHARGE! CHARGE! CHARGE! Charging the perilous cold crags of Normandy to establish a beach-head for the launching of a mighty counteroffensive! I am planning to do more in the coming years than I have ever done against the strongholds of Satan in the lives of God's people!

When I was in the Army during the Vietnam era, from time to time I was given temporary special assignments for which in addition to my regular pay I was paid additional compensation on what is called a "per diem" (meaning, per day) basis. Well, over the course of my ministry, in order to make a point, I've often joked that if I were paid on a "per demon" basis for every demon I cast out of people, I would be a multimillionaire. The point is: I've cast multitudes of demons out of multitudes of people during my ministry, starting with the very first time when in the middle of my meeting a man suddenly pitched out of his seat onto the floor and began writhing around on the floor like a serpent, making eery hissing sounds and flicking his tongue in and out like a snake.

I was so angry and chagrined that this guy was messing up my meeting and that God let this happen! Silently, after calming myself a bit, I asked the Spirit what in the world was happening and what I was supposed to do. To which He calmly replied within my spirit that this was a demon manifesting through the man, that it was happening because of the anointing that was present that causes demons to manifest just like I had read in the Gospels they did during Jesus' ministry after being Baptized in the Holy Spirit, and that what I was to do was to command that the demon leave the man. In righteous indignation, I did! Then, it did! That is, the demon departed screaming out of the man with a blood-curdling scream, and he got up, totally delivered and in His right mind, just like when Jesus cast them out of demonized people.

Since the moment I was saved there has been three anointings that have operated through me. The strongest anointing has been this anointing that causes demons to manifest. The next strongest is a prophetic anointing. And the third, is an anointing for miracles and healing. In all candor, it is only in the last couple years that I have come to be okay with that order. For years, the first anointing made me mad, because it kept causing the devil to show up in all kinds of places and at times that I had other things I was trying to accomplish that were the furthest from deliverance you could get.

For years I would get so angry that the devil would manifest in my meetings and mess up the meeting. I could never have nice, neat, peaceful, "orderly," meetings like all the other preachers I saw, because the devil would manifest through a bunch of the people in attendance and mess it all up! During the years I was conducting prophetic seminars to instruct about the prophetic gifts and office as well as the coming prophetic and apostolic movements, before they did in earnest, people in attendance, sometimes scores, sometimes a hundred or more, would be lined up to receive personal prophecies, and I would be prophesying over them in a very systematic and orderly manner, one by one. Many times while everyone was being wowed by the profundity and power of the prophecies, all of a sudden an outbreak of demonic manifestations would begin to occur in the meeting room or sanctuary, sometimes concentrated in certain sections, sometimes here and there, sometimes in the line of people awaiting prophetic words. Again, that would make me so mad I wanted to personally "slay" all those people who were manifesting "in the flesh," forget the Spirit! In those moments I didn't care if I became one of those preachers people accuse of knocking people down when they layed hands on them. I really did want to knock them down...and out!

Fortunately for those who need me to minister deliverance to them, I've gradually gotten over my anger about this anointing that God chose to place upon me and operate through me, resigned myself to the fact that it's God's prerogative and election of how He wants to use me, repented for my self-centeredness and the selfish ambition that made me want to do something other than what God wanted to do through me, and learned to just go with it and let God be God through me. Certainly, I've also learned and am still learning that the gifts and callings of God are indeed without repentance or revocation, whether in the negative or positive vein. Once He puts an anointing upon you, you can kick and scream all you want, but an immutable precept of how He operates is that He's not going to take it back or take if off of you. Now we can refuse to yield to and be cooperative with His will in it, but that will only mean that it will become an albatross around our neck rather than a source of blessing to ourselves, those to whom we are related, and those to whom we minister.

At the start of this present year of 2006, we launched a new web portal called DeliveranceNow.Com as a vehicle through which those who need deliverance can find information about deliverance and be connected with deliverance ministers who can minister to them. We felt inspired and called of the Lord to undertake this outreach even though we knew it meant greater expense for which funding would be required in addition to the funding we need for all the other aspects of this ministry. We still believe in that outreach and have no intentions other than to continue it for as long as God provides for it. Multitudes, just in this country, much less around the world, need real, effectual deliverance, but there are few places where it can be found. At the beginning of this year I posted a prophetic word about the matter of deliverance and that it was God's desire to bring deliverance out of the background and into the forefront in the Church. In that article I said,

A vital element in this purification God is bringing forth in 2006 is — deliverance. Until now, the relatively few churches and ministries who claim to recognize the validity of genuine deliverance ministry, wherein demons are actually cast out of people, relegate this absolutely vital aspect of the ongoing ministry of Jesus to a backroom down the hall next to the restrooms and broom closet, metaphorically (but sometimes, literally) speaking. Even those acknowledging the occasional and (to them) aberrational need for deliverance of some "poor soul" — usually only the extreme cases — keep it at arm's distance and treat it as a hush-hush matter not to be discussed openly among the congregants, and regard those individuals who deal in this verboten activity of casting out demons as being somewhat "a bit off-center," unorthodox, and outright "weird." This is how the vast majority of even Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal churches regard the matter of deliverance, despite the fact that casting out demons was the preeminent aspect of Jesus' earthly ministry, the first thing He commissioned the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb to do when He first sent them forth, and it was the first priority of His five-faceted "Great Commission" (cf. Mk. 16:17).

In 2006, God is bringing deliverance out of the back room and into the front room; out of the darkroom and into the Son-room; out of the bathrooms and into our living rooms; out of the broom closets into our prayer closets; out of the out-house and into His house and your house!

The next move (emphasis) of the Spirit in the Church Jesus is building, is an emphasis on deliverance — casting out devils. "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1). The season for purification of the Church has come. The time for widescale deliverance of God's people, as an initial step in effecting that purification, has come. God's faithful servants who have, in the face of contempt, scorn, and derision, maintained their passion for deliverance and continued to diligently labor "to set the captives free" — their TIME HAS COME!

Now that we are at the end of the year, I believe this more than ever! People need deliverance! The Church is the only source of deliverance. It's time for leaders to begin to take seriously the Great Commission and its first tenet in particular. As my Dad, Apostle Larry Lambert, would often say, "Somebody needs to cast out some demons!" Who is doing that? Not many! For years when I spoke on this topic in churches I would ask the congregation to raise their hand if they were a believer. Most hands would go up. Then I would ask those who had cast any demons out today to raise their hand. No hands would go up. Okay, then, this week? No hands. Okay, how about this month. No hands. This year? No hands. Ever? Once in a while one or two hands, but usually, none. Then I would say, "I thought you all said you were believers? Jesus said that believers would cast out devils. Who lied, Jesus or you?" Of course, that usually did not go over well, but I had their attention to proceed speaking about the absolute necessity for every believer of deliverance.

Eighty-five percent of Jesus' ministry, according to the Gospels, involved casting out demons. In the incident of the Caananite woman's daughter, who kept prevailing upon Jesus concerning her daughter who she said was "curelly demon-possessed" (Mat. 15:21-28), Jesus said deliverance was "the childrens' bread." By extension, this meant spiritual Jews, i.e., believers! Jesus never cast a demon out of anyone who had not first professed a belief in Him as Lord and the Messiah. Jesus said that when demons are cast out of a person, the void must be filled with the Holy Spirit, lest the demons return with seven others each and the person then be seven times worse than he was before. Only believers who have been infused with the Holy Spirit at regeneration, or the New Birth, are valid candidates for deliverance. Deliverance is only for believers!

The Church, by and large, despite the fact that the same Dunamis-Power of the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus when the Holy Spirit lighted upon Him in the form of a Dove when He was baptized in water by John The Baptist is available to ever Born Again believer (and there is no other kind), is so impotent that 500 trainloads of spiritual viagra wouldn't phase it. As one preacher said, the entire charismatic-pentecostal church doesn't have enough power combined to blow their nose!

And, no wonder Christendom, as a whole, is powerless! The truth of the matter is that most people who attend church would say they are infused with the Holy Spirit, and many Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals would claim they are also baptized in the Holy Spirit, yet many in reality are devoid of the Kingdom of God. Why? Because Jesus said, "If I cast out demons by the (prophetic) finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!" (Lk. 11:20). The Kingdom of God, which is the authority of God (Rev. 12:10), cannot come upon people until and as the kingdom of Satan is cast out of them, which only happens when demons are driven out by force, which is the only way they ever leave once they gain entrance.

As a result, people can only manifest the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their lives commensurate with the deliverance they have experienced from the influences and bondages from unholy spirits. For example, evil spirits of anger, bitterness, resentment, and so forth, that have a stronghold over a person's life, believer or not, will keep that person from being able to walk in the Spirit so as not to carry out the desires of the flesh as we are instructed to do in Galatians 5. It just can't happen with any consistency! Those evil spirits (demons) that are maintaining a strong hold or influence over that person's soul (Greek, "psuche," the derivative of "psyche"), which is composed of the mind, will, and emotions, will interfere with and powerfully constrain that person from being able to freely walk in the fruit of the Spirit, which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22). Thus, the Kingdom of God is only manifest in the life of a believer to the degree he or she is delivered from evil spirits. And there are only three kinds of people in this world: 1) those who need deliverance, 2) those who've had deliverance, and 3) those who are lying.

We, in this ministry, are going to do all we can possibly do in the coming year and years to bring deliverance to the forefront in the Church and to teach and train other believers how to set captives free, in accordance with the word the Lord gave me for 2006. I believe every Church leader needs to do the same. I hope you personally do what you can to facilitate the fulfillment of this word as well.

One thing you can do to help in that mission is to forward this message to church leaders and other believers; just click on the email link. You can also read the entire prophetic word for 2006 concerning deliverance at: http://www.slm.org/prophetc/articles/2006.html.

I have also published a book that is a primer on the matter of deliverance, entitled, Deliverance From Demonic Powers, which you can read about and order at: http://www.slm.org/pubs/dlivrman.html. It is available for immediate download as an Ebook as well.

Peace On Earth?

One of the things I love about the Christmas Season is that for a few days and weeks at the close of every year virtually the entire world is confronted with the belief held by millions throughout time that two-thousand years ago a Baby was born in a lowly manger who was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all Mankind. "You shall call His Name, Jesus," the angel of God instructed His human parents, which means Savior, for He would save the world from their sins. His Name would also be Immanuel, which means, God with us; and that He is! for all those who receive Him, are infused in their human spirit with His very Life, His Being, His Spirit, the Divine Nature.

There are some other aspects of the Christmas Season that still make it a very special time of the year, despite its annoyingly overt commercial exploitation. For one, it is by far the most protracted of all the holiday seasons, and with its proximity to the turn of the new year, it has become not just a day of celebration as with Easter and Thanksgiving, for example, but several weeks of celebration. Another aspect that distinguishes it from the others is the fact that it is the only holiday season that is celebrated to some degree in virtually every country of the world by at least some of its citizenry. Then, one of the most unique aspects of the Christmas Season is that it is celebrated with its own extensive and ever-expanding collage of season-related music playing almost ubiquitously in the background in both public and private venues for days and weeks as people throughout the world go about the events and traditions that have become a part of the landscape of the season.

As grating and even offensive as the super-commercialization of the Christmas Season increasingly becomes, in a sense, I can see that in the end, God being Sovereign as He is, it is He and His people who have the last laugh. What an irony it is that the season that has been set aside to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, is the most crucial, and in many cases, pivotal financial period for retail merchants great and small around the world. It is its commercial value that undergirds the global tradition of Christmas celebration and commemoration. Our sovereign God, even uses the root of all evil—the love of money—for His own purposes, commandeering each year even the secular system to dramatically proclaim to the whole Godless world that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die in their stead in order to redeem "whosoever will" from the sin that separated all humanity from Him. Throughout the days and weeks culminating each year, the message of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration is conveyed in word, song, and various art forms. The sovereignty of God is truly awesome and awe-inspiring.

Perhaps the most familiar refrain of the master-collage of Christmas-related narratives, poems, songs, melodies, tunes, and orchestral odes is that of "Peace On Earth and goodwill to men."

What a pious-sounding adage and noble longing—"Peace on earth and goodwill to men!" Who in his right mind could be opposed to the prospect of goodwill among all men and greater peace in any segment of human relations than that which currently exists?

But, if "peace on earth and goodwill to men" was the primary purpose of the Christ-Child’s birth two-thousand years ago as the Christmas carols proclaim, why has so little of it transpired on Earth since then?

This never-fulfilled proposition of peace on Earth has for ages been prime fodder for the naysayers and critics of the Gospel, who point out the very obvious fact that to this day wars and all manner of conflict among men have not only not ceased, but rather have increased. Indeed, the fact is that Man has never achieved peace anywhere, at any time on the Earth. There has never been a time in the history of the world when peace was ubiquitous on Earth, i.e., the absence of all conflict among nations or peoples. Rather, nations have always been at war, either against one another, or against themselves in the form of civil wars or internal conflicts.

The fact is, as annoying as the question of why peace on Earth has never existed in the history of mankind is to many Christians, it is nonetheless a valid and fair one. Why hasn’t there been peace and goodwill in the affairs of men through the last two millennia? Is the prospect of peace on Earth really even a scriptural concept? Even more pertinent to our real lives, is it a viable possibility?

Well, to uncover the answer to those questions, we must separate the holy from the profane, the true from the fictitious, and the mythical from the factual. The short answer is: there is a genuine peace that is spoken of repeatedly in Scripture and is an underlying theme of the Gospel of Christ. But then there is also a fallacious and counterfeit peace the Godless seek that is a deception and false hope.

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Charismatic Captivation

Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don't know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.

Horror stories of authoritarian abuse and exploitation and psychological enslavement in certified Christian churches abound. From time to time, particular isolated incidents have erupted in highly publicized news stories. However, those high-profile cases really are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth of the matter is, I know from my thirty years of ministry, ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is widespread in certain sectors of Christendom in this country. And, it is vital to understand, I am not talking about radical, fringe religious sects and cults, but well-respected church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans, individuals and families, of every race, education level, station, and walk of life.

Though religious predomination is certainly nothing new, and hyper-authoritarianism is by no means limited to the Neo-Pentecostal branch of the Church, it has, however, especially flourished in the Charismatic and so-called "second, third, and fourth wave" (i.e., Neo-Pentecostal) groups since it was infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of that branch of the Church in the early- to mid-seventies. Moreover, it is the Charismatic branch of which this ministry has been a part since its inception, which gives me not only the "right" but also the duty to bring reproof of error and errancy in that realm (2 Tim. 4:1-5, et al.).

This kind of "Charismatic captivation" is prevalent among Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches and groups primarily as a result of widely-taught and -accepted hyper-authoritarian doctrines and practices first introduced in the 1970s by an alliance of five ministers who rose to prominence, and spawned what became known as the "Discipleship/Shepherdship Movement." Those doctrines and practices remain an integral part of the governmental foundation of many churches and groups yet today.

This elite ministerial Quintumverate had somehow concluded that the newly-created and burgeoning branch of the Church generated by the Divinely-orchestrated Charismatic Movement birthed in 1960, was in disarray and needed to be "organized." Somehow they also determined it was they God had appointed to accomplish the task of "organizing" the Charismatic church. The purportedly inspired and Bible-based organizational structure they advocated and eventually instituted was virtually identical to the modern pyramid marketing structure so popular and prevalent today. The "Fab Five" placed themselves at the top of the pyramid of interrelated Charismatic leaders, which quickly expanded into a "down-line" of thousands of "submitted" ministers.

In the mid-seventies the entire matter of this "movement" erupted into a highly-publicized international controversy. The result of the maelstrom was that the relevant doctrines and practices were repudiated and denounced by many well-known church-leaders, and the ministers who invented and promulgated them fell into disrepute.

However, despite the controversy and the public chastisement, those ministers and their followers initially remained unbowed and undeterred. They defended themselves, as well as the hyper-authoritarian teachings and practices and philosophies of church-government they advocated. For many years afterward, they continued to teach those patently false and unScriptural doctrines, and to develop what came to be an expansive multi-level "network" of ministers and churches. Though, it was now done less overtly, and there was a concerted and deliberate effort to take the whole matter underground to lessen as much as possible the negative effects of the controversy and to give the appearance of repentance.

The unfortunate consequence of that move toward covertness and esotericism was that instead of being eradicated, those patently false doctrines and Scripturally-prohibited practices were infused into the very fabric and foundation of the Charismatic/Neo-Pentecostal Church at-large, and are still espoused and practiced by many churches and groups in operation today. This stems partly from the fact that many of those ministries are headed by leaders who were a part of that network, and adopted or adapted many of the doctrines and governmental philosophies advocated by its principals.

Many church-leaders themselves do not realize their leadership methodology is actually a hybrid form of hyper-authoritarianism, and amounts to domination and control. The proper role of human under-shepherds is to lead people to the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and teach them how to be His followers, in submission to Him and His authority. Hyper-authoritarian leaders, instead, lead people to themselves, and indoctrinate them to be their followers, in total submission to them and their authority.

In essence, these dominating shepherds teach they are the church members' Lord, Master, and Savior. They indoctrinate congregants to believe the spiritual leaders of the church themselves are the members' "spiritual covering," and any member who ever leaves the church will be "out from under" their "covering," be without any covering, and experience terrible curses and consequences as a result. This false hypothesis of "absolute submission," with which subjugatees are incessantly indoctrinated, is the bedrock of such authoritarian doctrines. That, coupled with the enslaving organizational authority structure in place in the groups where these unBiblical doctrines are espoused, is primarily what makes these techniques and mechanisms effectual and effective. And, it is chiefly the spiritual and psychological needs and problems of attendees of these groups that makes them vulnerable to such unauthorized domination and control as well as exploitation.

The mechanisms of psychological manipulation, domination, and control employed in these groups are virtually identical, to those employed by certified cults. Indeed, the stark truth is that many of the groups and churches who employ these techniques and mechanisms are themselves at the very minimum quasi-cults, and in some cases, bona fide cults.

The abuse and exploitation occurring in groups where these hyper-authoritarian systems of governance are instituted come in various shapes and shades. In a nutshell, the "dumb sheep" are taught they cannot trust their own judgment or ability to receive direction from the Lord for even the most mundane decisions of their lives, but must rely instead upon the supposed transcendent wisdom and superior spirituality of their human "Shepherds." Typically, submitants must obtain the approval of their group-gurus regarding virtually all domestic matters and decisions; matters of romance, such as who members date and marry; health and insurance matters, employment and career matters, and most of all, regarding every detail of members' personal finances, which requires their leaders' approval for practically every significant expenditure.

Relentless programming with this premise along with constant bombardment with belittling derision leads to spiritual and psychological paralysis for submissive adherents. Gradually, as the hidden web of religious witchcraft is woven, and their natural resistance to such domination and control is dissipated, docile submitants eventually become the unwitting and helpless psychological slaves of self-aggrandizing church-leaders and their grandiose plans for the building of their private, personal, earthly kingdoms.

In these groups, the "authority" of the "shepherds" is absolute, sacrosanct, and inviolable, that is, without reprisal. Any semblance of anything other than total and unquestioning obeisance to the desires and counsel of the chain of leaders is considered rebellion and insubordination, and simply is not tolerated. Members live under the constant threat of being branded with the Scarlet Letter "R" for "rebel," openly denounced and shamed from the (bully-)pulpit, and consequently shunned by their "covenant-community" as well as the threat of excommunication (which is rarely exercised except in the case of the most outspoken dissidents, because they don't want to lose the members and their financial support). Moreover, members are indoctrinated to accept the leadership-set agenda and mission of the group, regarding which they have little real say, as their personal burden and responsibility, and to commit their time, talent, and, most importantly, their tithe to its successful completion. The oppressive maltreatment and mistreatment to which members of these cult-like groups are subjected seems to me to be the spiritual equivalent of the hard-taskmastery of the Israelites during their centuries of captivity under the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Remember the call of Christ Himself, "If therefore the Son shall make you FREE, you shall be FREE indeed!" (Jn. 8:36); as well as Paul's echo of Christ's call, "It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1).

It is my deepest desire and heartfelt prayer that all those who name themselves among the Brotherhood of Christ will give heed to the reproof and admonitions presented herein, and take the actions necessary to liberate the Children of God from the oppressive captivation of men, for all believers are called to be SONS of God, not SLAVES of men (1 Cor. 7:23).

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[This article is adapted from the book, CHARISMATIC CAPTIVATION, by Dr. Steven Lambert. The book exposes the widespread problem of authoritarian abuse in Neo-Pentecostal church-groups, and explains how it became infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal church arising out of a false movement known as the Discipleship/Shepherding Movement (1970-77).]

The Purification Has Begun

Purification is the byword of 2006! During 2006 God will begin to bring forth a new emphasis on purification of the Body of Christ, individually and corporately. And, purification entails deliverance.

2006 will mark the 100th Anniversary of the so-called Azusa Street Revival, and the Pentecostal Awakening that God brought forth at the turn of the 20th Century. The Winds of the Spirit blew repeatedly during that one-hundred-year period bringing forth the Pentecostal, Healing, Charismatic, Prophetic, and Apostolic Movements. But, what the Church has failed to recognize is that none of these refreshings, renewals, or revivals, whatever you want to call them, were an end in themselves, but rather just a part of the continuum of restoration God is bringing forth in the Church Jesus is building (Ac. 3:19-21).

Each of these emphases that transpired since 1906 were vital elements in the restoration that God has been taking the Lamb's Wife through in order to prepare her for the return of Christ to claim her as His Eternal Bride. The Pentecostal movement initiated a renewed awareness regarding the imperativeness of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Yet, that Truth was and is not an end in itself, nor a panacea by any means. Rather it was one piece of the spiritual puzzle, so to speak.

The Pentecostal Movement spawned the Charismatic Movement, which brought a renewed emphasis and revelation concerning the Gifts of the Spirit, which inure from the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. But, the Gifts of the Spirit are likewise no end or cure-all in themselves.

Out of the Charismatic Movement came the Prophetic Movement of the 1980s, restoring the function of the prophet and bringing attention to the prophetic gifts whose preeminent role is to edify the Church and speak edification, exhortation, and comfort into believers' lives (1 Cor. 14:3,4). Yet, the raising up and establishing of prophets and prophetic gifts was not the ultimate purpose and goal of the Prophetic Movement.

The company of prophets God raised up during the last two decades of the previous millennium disclose, declared, and decreed things in the Spirit required for the most recent movement, wherein the Apostolic Dimension is arising in the Spirit realm, to be birthed. The apostolic function has been reestablished in the Spirit realm, and a new Apostolic Ambience is gradually manifesting. But the pertinences of the apostolic emphasis likewise are neither an end in themselves or self-completing.

Rather, all these emphases, and the "special effects," so to speak, that have arisen from them, are vital elements of the Master Plan of purification of the Bride of Christ God has been effecting from before the foundations of the Earth. From the beginning of time God has been doing one thing overall -- preparing for Himself a people, redeemed humanity. From before the foundations of the Earth, the Christ was slain, in order to redeem and purify a people who were "qualified" by grace through faith to live in eternal communion or relationship with God.

Not all professing to be Christians will have a part in the final chapter of that Master Plan. There will be a separating -- the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares -- before Jesus returns to claim the Church He is building as His Eternal Bride. In the end, the Bride of Christ will be comprised of a remnant of individual believers. The Church Jesus claims as His Bride will be a remnant Church comprised of only on-third of all those claiming to be a Christian Church or group of churches. The Prophet Zechariah saw it in the Spirit:

"And it will come about in all the land," declares the Lord, "that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; and I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon My Name, and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

Refining, purification is the essence of God's Master Plan of the Ages. God has been carrying on the process of purification of a people for 6,000 years since He breathed the Breath of Life into Adam. The Church that Jesus said He was building is the entity He shall return to claim as His Eternal Bride. It is not those who profess to be a part of that Church who actually are, but rather only those who bear the fruit of the Kingdom of God, and thus of whom God says, "They are My People -- the people whom God is preparing through purification for Himself.

A vital element in this purification God is bringing forth in 2006 is deliverance.

Until now, the relatively few churches and ministries who claim to recognize the validity of genuine deliverance ministry, wherein demons are actually cast out of people, relegate this absolutely vital aspect of the ongoing ministry of Jesus to a backroom down the hall next to the restrooms and broom closet, metaphorically (but sometimes, literally) speaking.

Even those acknowledging the occasional and (to them) aberrational need for deliverance of some poor soul -- usually the extreme cases -- keep it at arm's distance and as a hush-hush matter not to be discussed openly among the congregants, and regard those individuals who deal in this verboten activity of casting out demons as being somewhat "a bit off-center" and weird. This is how the vast majority of even Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal churches regard the matter of deliverance, despite the fact that casting out demons was the preeminent aspect of Jesus' fleshly ministry, the first thing He commissioned the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb to do when He first sent them forth, and it was the first priority of His five-faceted "Great Commission."

In 2006, God is bringing deliverance out of the back room and into the front room; out of the darkroom and into the Son-room; out of the bathrooms and into our living rooms; out of the broom closets into our prayer closets; out of the out-house and into His house and your house!

The next move (emphasis) of the Spirit in the Church Jesus is building, is an emphasis on deliverance -- casting out devils.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1). The season for purification of the Church has come. The time for wide scale deliverance of God's people, as an initial step in effecting that purification, has come. God's faithful servants who have, in the face of contempt, scorn, and derision, maintained their heart for deliverance and continued to diligently labor to set the captives free -- their TIME HAS COME!

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