Two Eyes, Two Ears, Yet Can't See or Hear...

Ezekiel 44:5 (New Living Translation) says, "And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, take careful notice. Use your eyes and ears..."

I read this in my devotions today and it really stuck out to me. God tells Ezekiel to take careful notice using his eyes and ears. In todays Christian church we don't use our eyes and ears to take careful notice of what God is doing. Our eyes are to busy looking at things they were never meant to look at and our ears are to busy listening for things that they were never meant to hear. You know what I mean?

Our eyes are constantly scanning the horizons for those things that satisfy us. They are trained to see everything that we want to see and trained to filter out everything we don't want to see. But as soon as someone passes by that's attractive or something passes by that we want, our eyes are drawn right to it. The same way with our ears. They only hear what they want to hear. (I know, because when Bethany tells me to do something around the house, I always seem to not hear her right.) Anyone admit to that? But as soon as someone else is having a conversation about so and so our ears perk up and can pick up the slightest change in vocal tone. It's all about what they are trained to hear. And it's sad to say that the eyes and ears of the people who make up most of our churches are not trained in taking careful notice of what God is doing.

Look at Jacob in Genesis 28:16, he says how God was in the same place he was and he was unaware of it.

Oh Lord, may our eyes and ears be attentive to the move of the Holy Spirit. May we not miss out on what You are doing. Let us all take careful notice of what You are doing here in Ford City and Kittanning. May we not miss the smallest detail that You change. Give us eyes that see into the Spiritual realm, that see what You see. Give us circumcised ears that hear in the Spirit, that are attentive to the smallest whisper of Your powerful voice. We don't want to miss a thing. I don't want to miss a thing. Do it in all of us Lord. Amen!

One more thing...

Here is a picture from Ford City's, See You at the Pole. God is doing great things but there is still much more prayer to be done.

Check This Out!

Our noon time prayer and fasting has been going on for almost one month. During this time the mayor of Ford City has stopped in for prayer. We have also had a testimony from one business saying how things have been improving for them and they thanked us for our prayers. Awesome! We are believing in God for miracles, signs and wonders, and just an all out move of the Holy Spirit here in Ford City and Kittanning. That God would release His peace and property as we call out to Him. Prayers are already being answered and I believe that there will be countless testimonies as we continue to pray. In fact, we are so excited about what God is doing that we are going to continue to pray throughout October.

Disclaimer: I want to encourage people that we don't get focused on turning this into something that it is not. I picture it like this... riding a horse bareback. Now I've never ridden a horse so I can't tell you from experience, but I just feel that we need to ride what God is doing bareback. We are not, I repeat not, getting weird or anything. I just want to see the Holy Spirit continue to have His reign in what we are doing. To many times we start out riding the horse bareback but before to long we put a blanket down on the horses back, then we get the saddle out, then we add the bit in the mouth, and pretty soon we have what we always have. But sometimes what we always have had just isn't the best or nearly enough. We want to ride this horse bareback and let Jesus lead the horse where He wants it to go. I hope you are seeing what I'm saying here. We want the Holy Spirit to direct and lead this the entire time. May mans fear and flesh be defeated and Christ have full reign.

I have an enthusiasm about what we are doing and I'm praying for sustained enthusiasm in me and in all of us. May we not die down, get tired, throw in the towel, until the gates of Hell have been stormed, torn down, and the powers of darkness defeated! Come on!

It's GREAT!

It's great to be the pastor of the New Life Center. I enjoy everyone who calls this church their home. We are truly seeing "new life" come to many hearts in this church, and in the churches in this community, and I believe we will continue to see God do even greater things. I want to encourage each of you to continue to pray and examine yourself. All we can do is examine ourselves and see where we are at with God. Ask yourself if there is anything you need to repent of. God will bring it to light. Ask God to seek out every crack and crevice where sin might be hiding and bring it into His marvelous light so that it can be dealt with and done away with. We do not want to give Satan a foothold that would keep us from experiencing the life that a relationship with Jesus brings. If there is anger, then forgiveness is the answer. If there is guilt, then confession and restitution is the answer. If there is greed, then giving is the answer. If there is jealousy, then praise is the answer. Remember Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Also, please take time this week to read over Ezekiel 37 and through the book of 1 John (it's only 5 chapters). There are many powerful truths in those scriptures that will challenge us. Be blessed in all that you do this week. May it all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

Fear...

What fears do you have? Wednesday night I shared a fear of mine. (I'm not trying to be disgusting.) I shared that I fear driving long distances with others because I have to use the bathroom a lot. Most people don't like to make to many stops so this brings about fear in me which just makes me have to go to the bathroom more. Unless I'm driving because then I know I can pull over whenever I need to.
The response of the people... laughter. They thought my fear was funny. As I thought about this yesterday, I thought just how funny our fears are to a MIGHTY God who is bigger and greater than any fear. I'm not saying that He is laughing at us but that if we truly look at what makes afraid it usually isn't much. We fear spiders, around here they are not to big. We fear the dark. We fear snakes. These things have all been learned because of things we've heard or seen on tv or in movies. We need to truly look at what we are afraid of and start letting them go. Our fears are not to big for God. They can only hold us back from going places that are far away and require multiple hours to get to. My fears will not hold me back. Take them away Lord and let there be bathrooms all along the way.
So what are you afraid of? Let's get rid of the fear in Jesus name!

OHANA is UNITY which means POWER!

My vision is to be an OHANA. OHANA is Hawaiin for family and family means no one is left behind or forgotten. It is a thought that came from the movie Lilo and Stitch but it is a powerful thought.
I just got done with an hour long prayer session that I've been a part of with 5 other churches. We have been gathering each weekday of September and fasting and praying for our community. God gave me a vision of sending out letters to community businesses repenting of not being a more community minded church and asking them for specific prayer requests which led to praying throughout the month of September (and will lead us to praying through October). We sent out over 70 letters and got back 8, which I consider a tithe. And we've been praying for them and for our churches. The power that has been present and released in the ministries of the pastors has been awesome to see. We have pentecostals praying with methodists praying with presbyterians praying with nazarenes. And we are not holding back. This is pray in tongues, pray out loud, cry out, prophecy, don't hold back prayer to God. We are serious about what we are doing. And we believe that Ford City and Kittanning are going to change. In fact, Ford City's mayor even stopped down Monday and we were able to lift him up in prayer. God is breaking down strongholds that need broke down because we are all apart of His OHANA. No one should be forgotten or left behind. He is bringing His family together and I am blessed to be part of His movement in this community.
Satan, we're tearing down strongholds by the shed blood of Jesus! Watch out! We are an OHANA and where there is unity... there is power.

I think I shall blog...

I am going to begin to blog my thoughts for others to see and comment on. I can't wait to see what kind of conversation can be generated on here for God's kingdom. Stay tuned... for more.