The scriptures referred to the fact; the harvest is ripe and the workers are few. I believe there are many that would like to be laborers in the field but they feel inadequate. If this is the case, what is lacking in those that would like to do more?

I know the only reason Pauline and I were able to step out into the harvest and be fools for God was; He gave us the faith; He gave us the boldness; set us free from the fears of what other people would think; or what the church would say and what the rest of our family would think and say.

We have tried our utmost to encourage people to be fools for God. With some we have succeeded.  We accomplished this by example. We laid hands on the sick for healing and encouraged folks to join us and many did. We took authority over demons and cast them out and encouraged others to join us and they did.

Jesus said; “Follow Me!” That could mean many things; such as; do as I do; be led by the spirit; walk in my footsteps; do and say only what the Father shows you; do all the things I have done; lay down your lives for one another; or follow my example.

One thing you must have to follow Jesus is faith. Do you have faith? What do you have faith for?

From what I have seen through the years of ministry, we have faith for some things and not for others.  For example we might have faith for someone else to be healed and not have faith that I can be healed. I might have faith that the church has authority over the evil spirits and not have faith that I have authority over evil spirits. Maybe you believe there is healing power in the church but you don’t have it.  What I find then is I have faith and unbelief.

Jesus knew He had the authority. Jesus knew he had healing for the people. Jesus knew he could set the captive free.

To follow Jesus into the harvest we must have faith that we as an individual can do all the same things. Cast off all the unbelief; stir up your faith and believe; I have the authority over demons; I have healing in my hands; I can set the captive’s free; I can bring people into the kingdom of God; I have everything I need to be a worker in the harvest. I can do all the things Jesus did. Do not allow unbelief to stop you from being fruitful.

If you are a listener, you are going to learn to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice more often just before you speak than any other time in your life.

Why would this be? We are His spokesman! If we listen, He will direct our words and conversation. Have you ever felt uncomfortable in a conversation? I expect you have. As a Christian, our speech should be edifying and uplifting. Our words should be filled with grace and love. The reason we are uncomfortable is because we should not be in that conversation.

The Lord knows what we are going to say before we open our mouth. That is when He says; “Don’t say that!” Then if we will listen, He will impress us with what we should say. I really come to appreciate the fact that God wants to be involved in my conversations with the people around me. When I allow that to happen, life flows right out through my month to bless the people around me.

A strange thing happens in our speech: We are very bold to minister death and condemnation in our speech and very timid to minister grace and healing. I remember Paul praying, asking for boldness to speak as he should.

If we think we have reached some great height in our spiritual walk, and have not learned to have some control on our tongue and speech we are wrong and are not seeing things very clearly.

Life goes on! We all seem to have our share of good times and bad times, expect both.  It is fun to make plans and do the things you want. However, it doesn’t always work out that way because other people have plans too. I remember when we were going to Israel, our tour agent told me things will go wrong but don’t allow it to ruin your trip. Make the best of it and enjoy your trip. I encourage you in the same way. Make up your mind to enjoy life every day, even when things are not going your way.

There are opportunities around us every day if we will only see them. To see them we must stop worrying about what someone else is doing or accomplishing or what their abilities are. I must see what my abilities are and what my opportunities are and take advantage of them. God forbid that you become a ward of the government or of the state to make all your decisions and take care of you all your life. What a sad dreadful state to live in all your life.

My dear children I know that some of you are finishing school or college. You have many years to do great things, to accomplish things that no one else has ever accomplished. Do not be intimidated by the future or filled with fear. In my lifetime so many things have happened that no one dreamed would ever happen. I never dreamed Pauline and I would be helping to make hundreds of lives better through evangelizing and the healing ministry. I never dreamed I would write several books that would help people. I never dreamed we would travel over much of the world and bringing other people with us. I wonder what you will accomplish that you never dreamed you would.

Don’t expect things to stay the same. They are constantly changing. Our best laid plans have a way of going astray, take that as an opportunity to make new ones. Don’t take that as a defeat, but that God has something better for you than your best laid plans.

We live in a time of great change. You can’t stop this change. It is happening all over the world. God is involved in this change. It is going to happen and we live in a very exciting time. Our nation is changing, the Arab countries are changing, Europe is changing, China is changing. It is very important to be aware of this change. Don’t resist it but take advantage of it. There are going to be many opportunities if you can get outside of your box. Some people will be able to break free from there little boxes, many people will not.

My dear children I want to leave you with this thought: Some people do not believe in God; some people hope there is no God; I tell you, there is a God! Down through the ages, nations, governments and religions have tried to take the place of God and failed! Only God can be God! Don’t ever let anyone be God in your life, but God!

I think of you every day and pray for you all the time.

You’re Loving Father

As we continue on in our spiritual journey, it is very important for us to see we are more than body and soul. We are also a spirit.  Even as we have to care for our body and soul, we must care for our spirit. If we do not, our spirit becomes weak and anemic; in turn our soul and body suffers as well.

It is important to know there are many different kinds of spirits in the world. Some are good and holy and others are evil and wicked. Some of them want to help you and bless you. Others want to possess you and use you. We must become knowledgeable and wise in regard to spiritual beings.

We all have the choice in our lifetime to decide for good or for evil. Some choose, like Satan did, to be our own god instead of recognizing the true God. It is important to see that when Satan made that choice he moved into darkness and lost something very important. If we make the wrong choice as he did, we also lose something. We begin to go into a greater darkness. There are some folks that turn to the Lord Jesus and they come alive spiritually but they do not continue on in their spiritual walk and go back into darkness. The foolish Galatians are an example of that.

When we begin walking and living as spiritual men and women and then are deceived into going back under the letter of the law that kills, we are going back into darkness and suffer loss. This is happening to many Christian people today. They are not aware they are losing their peace, love and joy. When you loose your peace, love and joy and become critical, judgmental and unloving, take a good look at what direction you are going; into darkness, or into the light?

One of the things that should be increasing on our spiritual journey is awareness of God’s presence with us and in us. If that is not happening we should ask the question; “why not?”

We can be so busy in spiritual activity; doing things for God, praying, fighting the enemy, looking for all the answers, that we don’t have time to just enjoy His presence.

I have been involved with many Christian people from a lot of different backgrounds and churches. It seemed there were not many of these folks that had really found a place of peace and rest in Jesus Christ. I say this because they were looking for it and wanted it. They were struggling for it but had not entered into it.

I am reminded of the song that always blesses me; “I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses”. The person that wrote this song had found the answer. I think also of Martha and Mary, when Jesus was teaching, Martha was too busy to sit at his feet. Mary was the one that was blessed. She took the time to enjoy His presence and to listen.

Another song I like; “Blessed Assurance”. We need another song; “Blessed Awareness Jesus is mine.

I have met a number of folks that like to stop in a church everyday. Why?  They enjoy the peace and rest they find there. Maybe some of you should try it! You might become aware of His presence and find peace.

The Lord has given us everything we need to protect ourselves in these attacks. Our faith must be stirred up and actively applied in each attack. We are to set our mind on the things above not the things below; meaning we are to think positive and not negative. We must remember that old things are passed away and all things are new!  We are a new creation; our sin issues have been taken to the cross, no condemnation now.

Many times the attack will come in the form of thoughts tormenting your mind over and over again like a broken record. Go into prayer; pray in the spirit with all your mind and heart. Use the gift of tongues; that gift is to edify you, it will if you use it.

Another way to defeat the enemy; just praise God for everything you can think of including your problems. Do it with all your heart and spirit. Lift up your voice in song, praising God. And as you do something wonderful happens, the victory becomes yours, your mind, emotions and spirit are lifted up. You are brought right into the Kingdom of God within you and your peace and joy are restored and the Holy Spirit  fills you.

You already have everything you need to do this, the rest is up to you!

Another thing I have noticed. The magic words have an affect on God. Of course when we use the magic words, hopefully there is some measure of gratitude in our hearts. You may ask the question; “What does this have to do with spiritual growth?”

I must confess there are times when it is difficult to speak the magic words. When I am the center of the world I love to have other people thank me, and it is difficult for me to thank others. I now realize that humility and the magic words go hand in hand.

One of the things we need to be on guard for in our spiritual growth is spiritual pride.

It is the opposite of humility and our “thank you” loses it’s magic.

At the beginning of our spiritual journey, when we first meet Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the magic words come very easy. As we become more spiritual, it is easy to become more demanding and less thankful.

Listen to me people! You will receive a lot more from God by being humble and thankful than you ever will by being prideful and demanding.

This is a statement you might have made! I have heard it several times in the past couple of years. These people were not speaking about a place. They were referring to some argument, hashing over some old thing that made them miserable, that robbed them of peace and joy.

In Col. 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

It seems that at times our thinking can be our worst enemy. It can rob us of joy and drag us right down into a pit. We need to recognize when our thinking has become our enemy and talk to ourselves with authority, saying: “No! I am not going there! I refuse to dwell on those issues”.

Other times, people will bring up things that are better left alone. In that case we need to speak to them firmly and say; “No! I am not going there!” There are times when we need to add wood to a fire to stay warm and there are other times when we need to put the fire out because we are getting burned. Some people, Christian and non-Christian, never learn to control the fire.

James 3:5-6 speaks of this: “So also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boast of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell.”

If we think we have come to some higher level of spiritual growth and still have no control on our thinking or our tongue, then we have deceived ourselves. Have we learned to set our mind on the things above?  And learned to say to ourselves, and others. “No! I am not going there!”      

The next day I shared this dream with Pauline and two other friends and right away they said; “Stinking thinking! As I thought more about this dream I realized it was speaking of the natural mind. Like “animal thinking” instead in contrast to the spiritual mind, like the mind of Christ.

Two days later I had another dream. The earth was coming to an end. They were loading the people on to space ships and sending them to some other planet. Someone came up with the idea of using airplanes by putting rockets on them to try to save the ones left behind. Pauline and I were a part of that group. They loaded us onto an airplane to send us out into space hoping we would make it.

The dream changed, we were on a ship on the ocean. We came to an island and the ship stopped there for some reason so Pauline and I got of the boat to check out the island. We walked way to the other end of the island and then came back. Just as we got to where we could see the boat, what looked like a whirlwind grabbed the ship and rolled it over and over and it sank. We realized that everything we owned was on that ship, and we had nothing but the clothes on our backs. Then I thought, “I have my credit cards”, then I remember the earth was gone and so were all the banks. We had nothing.  I turned around and started walking and thought, “What will we do now?” I turned to Pauline and said, “I know what we will do. We will preach Jesus Christ and him crucified! The dream ended.

As soon as I woke up I started thinking about this dream and I knew that both dreams were talking about the same message. Then a scripture came to mind, 1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”.

Another scripture came to mind Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  

Why was Jesus Christ and Him crucified so important that Paul left everything behind to preach that message?

I remembered a little incident that took place a couple of years ago. We were in a restaurant having lunch. A man was waiting on us and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said yes. He is standing right over there in the lounge. I was in a Mexican restaurant and many of them are named Jesus. I also remembered being in Egypt and the people there made a point of telling us that Jesus spent some time there. They believed in Jesus as a prophet but not as the Christ that was crucified.

This made me think of a scripture reading in 2 Corinthians 11:4  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

Then I realized what was so important about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it was the sin issue.

What does stinking thinking have to do with Jesus and Him crucified? Many Christian people believe they are going to continue to sin and fail over and over again. They do not understand that Jesus died for their sin and not only that he set us free from the bondage of sin that we do not have to continue sinning any longer.

Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 

We have no excuse to fall into sin anymore because Jesus Christ and the Cross, and the helper, guide and teacher, the Holy Spirit is here to lead us out of the darkness into the light, so that we can walk in holiness and godliness.  Peter did such a wonderful job of laying out the path for us in 2 Peter 1:1-9

         ^Simon Peter, a ^bond-servant and ^apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received ^a faith of the same ^kind as ours, ^by ^the righteousness of ^our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

         ^Grace and peace be multiplied to you in ^the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

         seeing that His ^divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true ^knowledge of Him who ^called us by His own glory and ^excellence.

         ^For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become ^partakers of the divine nature, having ^escaped the ^corruption that is in ^the world by lust.

         Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith ^supply ^moral ^excellence, and in your moral excellence, ^knowledge,

         and in your knowledge, ^self-control, and in your self-control, ^perseverance, and in your perseverance, ^godliness,

         and in your godliness, ^brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

         For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor ^unfruitful in the true ^knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

         For he who lacks these qualities is ^blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his ^purification from his former sins.

As long as I keep professing that I am a sinner, I will continue to sin. When I begin to believe that Jesus has totally dealt with all my sin; set me totally free from sin bondage; and start believing that I do not have to live in sin anymore; I become a free man. I then have the greatest peace and joy I have ever known.

It is so easy to think ill of ourselves and not be aware of how gifted and talented we are. Do not be quick to put yourself down, others will take care to do that. I often think of what a tough hide people must have that are running for office. I don’t envy them at all. We live in an interesting and challenging time, a time of great change in the world and in our country.

We have many people in the media and politics that are expert at manipulating your thinking. Don’t allow them to have their way with your mind or emotions. I knew a man that was in a responsible position and people would come to him and tell him you need to do this and you need to do that. Another person would come to him and tell him just the opposite. This man would listen to what they had to say and agree with them; “yes this is a need to be taken care of”. He didn’t get angry or argue with them, he just listened. These folks would go away happy. They had told this man what to do! He would then consider what these folks said, then would decide what he thought was best and that is what he would do. He was a wise man and had a lot of friends!

I knew another man, he was a pastor. There were some in his church that wanted change, others wanted everything to stay the same. Sunday morning he would have a very orderly service with songs from the old songbook. This made some people very happy. In the evening he would have a very different service with the new music and a very open pulpit. People could share and testify. This too made some other people very happy. Both of these men were wise and did some thinking for themselves for the benefit of all.

I know there are times we need to make a stand one way or another! But many times that is not the case. It is better to keep an open mind knowing there is a better way than taking sides.

Dear children, even in difficult times there are opportunities. Jobs are not so plentiful but there are jobs if we can be flexible and ask for the Lord to guide and direct our footsteps. Help from our government is fine. I don’t think government was ever intended to meet all our needs. Government cannot do everything for us, a lot of things we need to do for ourselves.

My dear loved ones, I encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus and you will not be disappointed.

You are in my prayers every day,

Your Dad