Read John Wesley’s Sermons

March 8th, 2010 § 0

John Wesley

When I was a student we were required to read the 52 Standard Sermons of John Wesley.  I not only had to read them in seminary, but also in college.  To say they made little or no impact is a bit rough, but they didn’t impact me the way they should have .  I guess that most of the stuff assigned to students (I recall 500 pages a night) just doesn’t sink in.

This week I was reminded of the sermon entitled “The Cure and Causes of Earthquakes.”  In school my professors aften pointed to that sermon as one that was pointedly non-scientific (they made fun of him).  This week I was reminded of it, and actually went back and read it.  It was a very thorough exposition of scripture regarding earthquakes–and I think pretty good.  I then went on to “The Means of Grace” which was one that changed my life 20 years ago.  Somehow I missed big chunks of it.

After these two sermons, I decided I was going to revisit Wesley for the rest of Lent.  His sermons are easy to follow.  An easy to read list of his sermons is in the sidebar to the right.

Get on fire for God and all men will come and watch you burn.  —John Wesley

The Tricky Part of Prophecy

March 3rd, 2010 § 0

Over the past two years the Lord has given me clear words about the death of Ted Kennedy, the earthquake in Haiti, and the earthquake last week end and the tsunami related to it.  Often when the Lord speaks, and I record the things He is showing me, it’s hard to know what is literal and what is symbolic language.  When the Lord speaks to you about a public figure dying, or earthquakes that could potentially kill millions of people, you have to handle these words carefully.

Both in Haiti and in Chile I have friends who have lost loved ones.  Certainly with the illness and death of Ted Kennedy, one has to be sensitive to the Kennedy family. Ted Kennedy was a local figure, and his funeral was held within walking distance from the 333 House of Prayer in Boston. Always when the Lord speaks through a prophetic word, the prophet has to continue to walk in love.  That is often a rough path.

Right now I am reading through Jeremiah, like I usually do during Lent.  Jeremiah was bearing bad news to people that he knew.  He lived with the people he prophesied against. That’s why he was a weeping prophet.  And he paid a price for being faithful with the word he received.  He was thrown in prison, and thrown into a muddy cistern.  There is a price to the prophetic call.  It’s hard to run ahead of the pack, and it’s harder to speak into situations around you where lives are being lost, impacted, or changed.

At the same time, the ministry of prophecy today is a ministry of LOVE and truth.  Jesus, the greatest prophet, was first moved by compassion.   Of course, He who was love incarnate referred to himself as the Truth.  If you are going to walk in the prophetic ministry, then you need to be prepared to follow His path–to the cross.

If you are willing to embrace the cross, then you are going to experience the glory of the resurrection.  But it isn’t a quick process.  It will take time and testing.  You will experience the furnace of affliction, you will be doubted, and mocked.  And eventually, truth and time will go hand in hand, and you will be vindicated.  Hopefully, your vindication will come in your lifetime.

If you can manage to bear the hard word, and bear it with love, then you have embraced the cross.  It’s a high calling.

Prayer, Fasting and Revival in New England

February 25th, 2010 § 0

This is an unprecedented time of prayer and fasting.  I have been pretty amazed at what God is doing all over the nation.  At this moment the following periods of prayer and fasting are occurring:

Lent in the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches.

The 40 Days of Life for the ending of abortion

The Root 52 Initiative by the Reformation Prayer Movement

The National Day of Collegiate Prayer

The 40 Days of Prayer called by JHOP Boston and joined by IHOP Kansas City and Lou Engle.

After praying for over 20 years, and being called a fool for fasting, it is amazing to see many prayer movements happening.  I never thought I would have so many prayer meetings to choose from that I would have to pick one!  Praise God.

The Lord is doing so much.

It’s time for Chicken Soup

February 22nd, 2010 § 0

I have a cold.

As luck would have it, Lyn’s friend Nathalie was giving her pointers on how to make stock this weekend, so I took that stock and made soup.

It’s not often that I take pictures of my dinner, but this was the prettiest pot of Jewish Penicillyn I have seen in a long time.  It tasted great too.

If you get close to the screen, you can catch a whiff.

Hmmmm, Ahhhh!

In the Bleak Midwinter

December 24th, 2009 § 0


Arranged by Harold Darke and performed by the King’s College Choir.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

The Revolution has begun. Part II

December 23rd, 2009 § 0

The U.S. Senate has made a decision that will not end well for them.

Read this from Steven Ertelt, and Life Site News.

“The Senate voted 60-39 along party lines on Wednesday to end the filibuster of the pro-abortion, government-run health care bill. The decision to end debate sets up the final vote on passage of the bill on Christmas Eve — allowing the funding of abortions as millions of Christians prepare for Christmas.

With Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson providing the final vote, 60 Democratic senators signed off on the cloture motion while 39 Republicans, with pro-life Sen. Jim Bunning absent, voted against it.

The Senate also agreed to moving up the vote on the health care bill from the evening to 7:00 a.m. EST as Republicans decided to no longer postpone the inevitable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the request came from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, but pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland let out a loud, exasperated groan when the presiding officer asked if anyone had any objections. The response led to laughter in the Senate, but no objection.

Sen. Pat Leahy, a pro-abortion Vermont Democrat, asked earlier if any Republicans would be open to voting on the bill today, but they forced Democrats to make good on their pledge to vote to fund perhaps hundreds of thousands of abortions on the day before Christmas.”

And this post from the American Thinker.

This is serious business.  The Democratic party has no fear of God and no respect for the American people.
Friends, get ready, history is about to happen.

Be Not Afraid.

December 23rd, 2009 § 0

from the Conrad Pickel Studio, www.pickelstudio.com

If you were God, to whom would youannounce your arrival?  CNN?  BBC World Service?  Fox News?  The United Nations?

How about announcing your arrival to a group of migrant farm workers?

That’s what God did.  He chose to send angels to shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  Those angels were sent to find the lowest of the low in ancient society.  Maybe you didn’t reliaze it, but shepherds eat, sleep, and live with sheep.  They smell like sheep. They were the ones voted most unlikely to succeed.  To the ones with the least influence, the least security, and the least to offer, the angel comes with a message.

Be not afraid, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

God is doing a new thing.  The old order of things is turned upside down.

be not afraid.

be not afraid, you will see all of your needs met.

be not afraid, you are not alone.

be not afraid, God is with us.

be not afraid, you have a Saviour.

be not afraid, God hears the cry of your heart.

be not afraid, for help is on the way.

be not afraid, for I am with you.

be not afraid, for I hold you in the palm of hand, and you are the apple of My eye.

Newsweek–God will have the last laugh.

December 9th, 2009 § 0

Today in my daily perusal of the interweb, I came upon this headline: 10 Brands that will disappear in 2010.

As you may recall, I blogged about Newsweek earlier this year, because they ran this triumphant cover during Holy Week:

decline-of-christian-america

My earlier comments are here.

You would think that liberals and tyrants throughout history would learn something. I think the decline of Newsweek is especially ironic given the revival that is happening in Kansas City, and the waking up that is happening across this country.  Watch out Washington Post and New York Times, you are probably next. (I wouldn’t be too surprised if Anderson Cooper, Bob Scheaffer, and a whole host of others go the way of the dodo soon either).   If you haven’t noticed, people are starting to figure out that the emperor has no clothes, and that you have been telling us all along he wore purple.  This time, they will shoot the messenger.

Check out Ed Driscoll’s analysis here.

O Sing to God

December 7th, 2009 § 0

I thought it would be a good time to upload a few musical moments from some old Christmas movies.  Here is “O Sing to God” from The Bishop’s Wife (1947) starring Loretta Young and Cary Grant, performed by the Mitchell Boys Choir.  It’s a tear-jerker in a schmaltzy Christmas romance, but I still love it.

Welcome WEZE listeners!

November 29th, 2009 § 0

Thanks for checking things out. You can find out more about me and what I do in the sidebars on the left.

Blessings!

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