Tuesday, September 29, 2015

#99 Manageable Units


C. Peter Wagner: "Although only a relatively few intercessors may be called upon to participate in large-scale prayer efforts, God is calling multitudes of intercessors to engage in warfare praying for the cities of the world.

Some cities as such are small enough areas to be manageable. I believe my own city of Pasadena, California, is an example.

A prayer effort called "Pasadena for Christ" is underway and it very intentionally includes only the city of Pasadena, and a small annex called Altadena. Neighboring cities such as Arcadia, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena and San Marino are different and will be developing their own prayer strategies.

This, of course, is a form of spiritual mapping that will resurface frequently as we go through the six rules. (see #97  Thinking Strategically)

I am one of the participants in an exciting gathering of pastors and other Christian leaders in the "Love L.A." prayer meetings led by Jack Hayford of Church On The Way and Lloyd Ogilvie of Hollywood Presbyterian Church.

We meet three times a year and have had as many as 1300 and a few as 400 in the meetings. These meetings have had several important benefits.

They have built the spiritual morale and faith of hundreds and hundreds of pastors across denominational, racial, sectional, socioeconomic, and church size barriers.

Recently, several thousand people from the churches represented gathered for a citywide prayer meeting to pray for revival, unity, and the social problems of Los Angeles.

However, the most important result of these larger meetings, in my opinion, is that they have stimulated the formation of smaller gatherings in areas of the greater Los Angeles basin.

The advantages of these regional meetings is that the prayer efforts can be directly focused on the specific needs of each region. At this writing, I have in my hand a list of 13 regional prayer groups in the San Fernando Valley, 12 in the San Gabriel Valley, 5 in San Bernardino County, 3 in the Antelope Valley, 11 in Los Angeles 7 in the Long Beach area, 5 in Orange County and 7 in the South Bay area.

Not all of these will become effective warfare prayer units for taking their cities, but it is a significant start: Some of them will. Their effectiveness will increase not only as they target specific cities, but also as they discern the smaller units of their city."

(Google image and emphasis added)


#99 Manageable Units
By C. Peter Wagner
(pp. 164, 165) Regal Books




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Father,
I want to be one of those who seeks 
Your blessing for my town/city.
I ask for guidance in connecting
with others in our area, so we can 
become more effective in our praying.
May Your will be done in and through us,
to where my area will feel the effects 
of purposeful praying! 
 ask this in Jesus' Name. 
Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Jer. 32:17 b "And there is nothing too hard for thee."

Today’s quote: K. P. Yohannan - "Therefore, the first requirement 
in prayer is that we come close to God. The more we sit at His feet and look into His eyes, the more our prayers will reflect His mind. Thus, the more we become like Him—the more reality there will be in our prayer lives. We must start to love the people and things He loves—and hate what He hates. As we go deeper into the heart of Jesus, we will pay according to His will because we will know His will."  (Taken from p. 120 of THE ROAD TO REALITY, Coming Home to Jesus from the Unreal World)

Some thoughts today: A leader must have guidance from oversight of what it is to be accomplished. In a team, someone's in charge, so things will have order and vision of accomplishments.

~ The vision of the purposes of God is what is necessary in proceeding with a ministry. We're not doing something for God to impress people. If it doesn't have God's blessing, it will not have His anointing.

~ Ask God to speak expressly to your leaders, so they'll have His direction and enablement in what their efforts are to be. Ask that they'll have a heart-to-heart talk with the Father. Are we building our own kingdom, or His? 

10/1st- Thursday’s post:  #100  Christ for the City
C. Peter Wagner
3rd- Saturday's post:  Banish Worries
Lisa Buffaloe
4th- Sunday evening's post:  Rescued!
Russell Fralick 
6th- Tuesday's post:  #101  Christ for the City
C. Peter Wagner


A popular post:  Releasing Evangelistic Power C. Peter Wagner: "I believe we will not be too far from wrong if we regard Artemis of the Ephesians (#56 Artemis of the Ephesiansas a territorial spirit and see the possible relationship that weakening her had to do with the evangelization of the territory she dominated.

Certainly the "word of the Lord grew mightily..."

  
This happens once a year.
Let's enjoy the scenery!



Sunday, September 27, 2015

I Speak the Desires I Have for Thee (& Jean's request)



Lee Forbes speaks, as from God:

   
I'll speak the desires I have for thee
When once we meet on bended knee
And there I find the heart that's thine
Is ready to be wholly Mine


For often you have asked of Me
What does My heart desire of thee

While yet you hold control and sway 

Of all you do and all you say 

But if you truly want to know 
What I desire to fully show 
The hopes and plans I have for thee 
Then you must give your all to Me 

For limits that a man may set 
Determines just what he will get 
To know of what I've done for men 
And how much more I've planned for him  

For how can one begin to see 
My limitless eternity 
If he will in his box remain 
Where everything remains the same 

From dawn of every passing day 
Til dead of night I hear you say 
Oh Lord please show me what to do 
While constantly I'm calling you 

To let your heart and soul and mind 
Without restraint of any kind 
Be wholly and completely free 
Abandoned only all to Me 

And then I can begin to show 
What I have planned for you to know 
Beyond all things you now might see 
When you give all your heart to Me 

That realms of glory will be yours 
And peace and joy with Me of course 
As our hearts are entwined as one 
And heaven's kingdom has begun 

To open wide for you to see 
What lies ahead for you to be 
As you like Christ My blessed Son 
Reflect how God can live in one 

Who daily meets Him on his knees 
Obeying all from Me he sees 
Revealed so fully in My plan 
Through scripture truth in holy hands 

 Inspiration from
Matthew & Psalm 119:11, 105




Lee Forbes August 21/15  
  
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     Father, I love that You're wanting us to look to You for Your very best plan for us.
    May we examine our ways today, to see what it is we may be doing to hinder Your impressing us with Your thoughts.
    If there's the sin of disobedience, make it plain, so we can confess what is displeasing to You, and make it right.
    I pray for forgiveness for my disobedience to what I know to be what Your Word teaches. Cleanse me now, and enable me to hear Your Voice clearly in the way to go, and the thing to do.
    I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.
    
Today’s Bible verse: Zech. 13:9 b "They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

Today’s quote: Patrick Wilber: "The sequence of our experiences, each appended in a cooperative fashion, are woven as a single thread into a material that manifests the essence of our individuality, but is not tailored nor designed by us.  

   Each span of thread, complete with its ups, downs, twists, and turns, combines with itself to form an intricate tapestry---precise, fine art.  Are we at fault for our experiences?  Some yes, and others not.  Are we able to take credit for the style of tapestry that we are being made into?  No, not at all!  

   We are no more defined by our experiences than the tapestry is defined by our own will or perception of good or beauty.  The tapestry is purposed, planned, and completed beyond our dimensions of linearity and limitation, beyond our ambitions, and beyond our successes and failures.  

   The best we can do, and perhaps all that we can do, is to press on when told to, turn when told to, and take on weight when told to.  The best we can do is to yield to the Master Artisan's hand---to His Plan; moreover, we should dust off the lies about our identity and value, and instead go forth unshakably and encouraged to discover into who we are being made."

Some thoughts today: Find something skillful to do for God and look for his anointing. If you love to do it, it won't be hard to serve Him.

Valor - insight to hold your ground. 
    Prudent in speech - taking thought about what to say. 
    Being diplomatic is knowing when and how to spend time 
    with someone.

~  Take your stand on what God's Word states, and be sure to take time to "build up your most holy faith" (see Jude verse 20)


29th- Tuesday’s post:  #99  Manageable Units
C. Peter Wagner
10/1st- Thursday's post:  #100  Christ for the City
C. Peter Wagner
3rd- Saturday's post:  Banish the Worries
Lisa Buffaloe
4th- Sunday evening's post:  Rescued
Russell Fralick


A popular post:   Habits of a Healthy Mind David McCasland tells us: "There is much said today about improving our health by developing habits of optimism, whether facing difficult medical diagnosis or a pile of dirty laundry.

Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, a psychology professor at the university of North Carolina, says we should try activities that build joy,.."


Looks inviting...




Saturday, September 26, 2015

How to Have Peace


Jennifer Benson Schuldt: The Kampii Chapel of Silence in Helsinki, Finland, stands out in its urban setting.

The curved structure, covered with wood, buffers the noise from the busy city outside.

Designers created the chapel as a quiet space and a"calm environment for visitors to compose themselves." It's a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Many people long for peace, and a few minutes of silence may soothe our minds. Gut the Bible teaches that real peace—peace with God—comes from His Son.

The apostle Paul  said, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). He now sees us as Christ presents us"holy, and blameless, and above reproach" (v.22).

Having peace with God does not ensure problem-free living. However, it does steady us during difficult times. Jesus told His followers, "In the world you will have tribulation," but He also said, "in Me you may have peace" (John 16:33).

     Father, we long for Your peace in the midst of our turmoil. Please help us to rest in You."  (Taken from Our Daily Bread, 8/1/15, by Jennifer Benson Schuldt)

(Used by permission. Google image added.)

Today’s Bible verse: Ps. 29:11 "The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace."

Do You Fit In?

  "Have you ever put together a jigsaw puzzle?  If you have, then you know that each piece plays an important part in the picture. Each piece is made a little differently in shape and in picture from any other piece.  No other piece can take its place.  I think each of us is a piece in the giant jigsaw puzzle of creation.  God gives us each talents and qualities that no one else can quite duplicate.  God has a special job for each of us that no one else can do quite as well as we can.  Just as no other piece will fit where a jigsaw puzzle piece belongs, no other person can do the job God designed just for us. 
  Unless we live as God meant us to live and do the job He designed us to do, we also will never be truly happy because we will never fit in where we truly belong."  Do You Fit In? By Debbie McEwen

Today’s quote: James H. Cagle: "Those Christians who've lost the thrill, passion, and excitement of following Christ because they've gotten out of fellowship with Him and are instead discouraged depressed and live in doubt can experience that thrill, passion and excitement again by starting to believe and obey God again.  Obedience brings victory to the Christian.  And it's that victory that attracts sinners to Christ."

I'd like for you to click on the "email address" on my blog, to receive these regular posts. I'd then appreciate your letting me know you've done this, so I can remove the emailing of the notices to you. I believe it would help me with getting the Faith Messages out in a secured, reliable manner. Thanks!

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Some thoughts today: Without vision, hope is absent.

~ Do you just "put in your time" in God's work? He wants to give you a vision. You may, or may not be able to do what He's called you to do, but His anointing makes it successful.

~ The results of what you do for God are up to Him. Trust that He's working through your efforts for the Kingdom. You do your part, and He'll do His.


27th- Sunday evening's post:  Without Thee I Would Lose My Way
Lee Forbes
29th- Tuesday's post: #99  Manageable Units
C. Peter Wagner
10/1st- Thursday's post:  #100  Christ for the City
C. Peter Wagner
3rd- Saturday's post: Banish the Worries
Lisa Buffaloe


A popular post:  One Beautiful Moment Julie Ackerman Link shares with us,“One snap of the shutter, and there it was…one beautiful moment captured in time for eternity.

 The late summer sun reflected in the breaking wave made the water look like liquid gold splashing onto the shore..." 



Prints of real flower and fall leaf cards and bookmarks, along with several framed real flower arrangements, (including a 1940c. framed real flower arrangement), will be offered at my table next week, on the 3rd of October, at the Fall Bazaar at the community building in the Madrid Park! Lunch, baked goods, an elephant table, and an auction table will be available, too. We hope you'll come over and see what we have to offer! 
Check out my crafts: Samples of Jean's crafts


Thursday, September 24, 2015

#98 Rule #1: The Area


C. Peter Wagner: "Select a manageable geographical area with discernible spiritual boundaries.

A common tendency for beginners is to select a target area too large for warfare prayer to be very effective.

I do not mean there won't be occasions when God will call some to pray for the large-scale things, especially when the prayers are focused on critical issues.

I believe, for example, that God used the prayers of Dick Eastman, Gwen Shaw, Beth Alves and many others I will never hear about to bring down the Berlin wall and the Iron Curtain.

I believe God is using Hector Pardo and Christy Graham to open Albania to the gospel. I believe God used Cathy Schaller to depose Manuel Noriega.

I believe God used John Dawson to lower the crime rate in Los Angeles during the 1984 Olympics. I believe God used my wife, Doris, and Cindy Jacobs to turn around the economy in Argentina and to encourage the Argentine government to return 150,000 hectares of land to the native Indians.

Let me explain. I do not think the prayers of any one of these individuals or the group they prayed with bore a one-to-one cause -and-effect relationship to any of these social changes.

But the individuals I named are all personal friends whom God uses powerfully in prayer. I know each one prayed very specifically for the situation described, and each one testified after a particular season of prayer that they sensed something had been changed in the spiritual realm.

The secret behind the effectiveness of these high level warfare pray-ers is simple. Before they prayed, these intercessors sought and discerned the will of God, determined the kairos or divinely appointed time, and then obeyed God's call to pray according to His will.

Each of them knew that any number of other intercessors were also hearing from God and praying the same way. When they sensed they had the victory, it did not mean to any of them that they had single-handedly brought down the enemy forces.

But they knew they had a part, even though a small one, in the final outcome. They might not have scored touchdowns, but they might well have made firstdowns."

(Google image and emphasis added)


#98  Rule #1: The Area
By C. Peter Wagner
(pp. 163, 164) Regal Books






    Father, I ask that You help us discern Your will for us about what the burden is You've given us. May we examine carefully the given needs, and begin to pray accordingly in Your time and in the manner You reveal.
    May our thoughts be Yours, as to what we can accomplished for the Kingdom in saving precious souls in our area. Please make Your plan plain, and open doors that will provide the help we'll need to accomplish Your best for us.
     I ask this, trusting in the Name of Jesus, amen. 
      
Today’s Bible verse: Ez. 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh."

   I'd like for you to click on the "email address" on my blog, to receive these regular posts. I'd then appreciate your letting me know you've done this, so I can remove the emailing of the notices to you. I believe it would help me with getting the Faith Messages out in a secured, reliable manner. Thanks!
   Also, if you'd rather not receive the notices at all, please let me know, as I'm paring down the long lists...

Today’s quote: Dr. Charles F. Stanley - "Your salvation should be a reflection of Jesus everywhere you do. As you work it out among your friends and family, on the job or in school, and even with strangers, God's Spirit will energize you to  make a difference and impact others—that is, to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16). [Taken from IN TOUCH, a publication of In Touch Ministries - April 2014]

Some thoughts today: Are you willing to be inconvenienced? Spent for the kingdom? Have fruit for your efforts?

~ We'll be rewarded for our obedience to God. Plant what you can and believe He will give the increase. God doesn't expect the same return in the various Kingdom efforts.

~ We're to expect to have a harvest where we sow. Labor with the hope of fruit. God sees us a successful in His sight, when we follow His guidelines for our particular ministry efforts.


26th- Saturday’s post:  How to Have Peace
Jennifer Benson Schuldt 
27th- Sunday evening's post:  I Speak the Desires I have for You
Lee Forbes
29th- Tuesday's post;  #99  Manageable Units
C. Peter Wagner
Oct. 1st- Thursday's post:  #100  Christ for the City
C. Peter Wagner



   
  A popular post:   Present but Not Fully Checked In Michael Brooks shares with us, "But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. 
They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region." Acts 13:50


"I think this is an interesting sequence of events:.."  


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Autumn




Autumn’s the grandest time of year,
With countryside painted in colors galore.
Red, golden, and silver leaves falling;
Piling up high on the cold forest floor.


Spring brought life from the dead of winter;
Summer brought fruit and harvest of grain.
Autumn brought majesty, by woods adorn;
‘Til winter’s cold winds remove it again.


The forerunner of "Ole Man Winter";
It gives the warning he’s on his way.
Giving the sign and miracle of frost.
Telling us snow is soon on the way.


It is the time the creatures move
That they may survive the winters rage;
To deeper burrows and warmer climes,
As the geese sing their chorus across the stage.


It is a thoughtful time of year.
The harvest is in, and hearts are free,
To stand in awe at its brilliant splendor,
And thank the Creator who let it be.


To compliment the fields bright dress,
The sun comes forth in scarlet array.
Its royal blue with red makes crimson,
With lace sewn on by end of day.


The sun travels low, and from an angle.
Beams its rays through azure skies,
Through the shedding, moaning maples,
That send their leaves out far and nigh.


Autumn clothes the fields like nobles.
And crowns the hill; with gems it‘s adorned.
Golden pumpkins, and shocked russet corn,
Precious treasures waiting to be stored.


In autumn the chilly northerner blows
That’ll bring the change we longed for so.
Summer is past, the year is ebbing,
Now we can rest and watch the show.



Autumn’s the time to take a long walk,
In evening; with others, or all alone.
Down a meandering woodsy path,
Through the grand finale, before its gone.


Out of chimneys, wood smoke boils;
Then through the elms like mist it comes;
Finally settling like a light-blue blanket,
In the twilight, as families gather home.


Autumn  by James H. Cagle



(Used by permission, with pictures added)

Happy Autumn Day!

Tomorrow's post:  #98  Rule #1: The Area


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

#97 Thinking Strategically

C. Peter Wagner: "As we look at the world, it is only natural that our attention is first drawn to nations as target units.

That is why I so strongly support James Montgomery's DAWN (Discipling a Whole Nation) Movement, a brilliant strategy to catalyze the Christian forces in each nation to evangelize their country by multiplying churches.

A more advanced set of target groups are unreached peoples, and missiologists are discovering within each nation fairly large numbers of diverse people groups, many of whom are virtually untouched by the gospel.

The other unit we need to look at when we develop evangelistic strategy, as I have mentioned, is the city. John Dawson says that if we are serious about discipling nations we must grasp their reality.

    'That means the gospel must transform the spiritual,
     philosophical and physical life of a nations's cities.'

He then gives a challenge, which I echo:

     'Let's lift up Christ's banner in the dirtiest, darkest
     places. Let's take on the giant of the impersonal, 
     looming city.'

The most sophisticated strategy for evangelizing a city we have at the present time is Edgardo Silvoso's Harvest Evangelism. (#13 Drawing the Battle Lines), In chapter 1, I told of Silvoso's first experiment in the city of Resistencia, Argentina.

Through effective warfare prayer, the number of evangelical believers in the city doubled over the course of the Plan Resistencia. (#15 Plan Resistencia ).

As I write, the city of La Plata is the current focus of a three -year effort, and I look for similar results there. 

It may not be long before numerous other cities in Argentina are involved in similar efforts for evangelization, prayer, spiritual warfare and church multiplication in their cities.

It has the potential for transforming a nation to a degree rarely seen in Christian outreach ministries of the past.

My wife, Doris, and I have been working very closely with Edgardo Silvoso in these cities, and from this experience, along with many other citywide prayer movements we have been directly or indirectly involved with, some rather clear guidance for this type of warfare ministry are emerging.

I call these Six Rules for Taking a City. I suspect there may be more than six rules, but I do not suspect there are less. My best advice is not to leave out any of these six rules if you are serious about making a permanent spiritual impact on your city."

(Google image and emphasis added)

#97  Thinking Strategically
By C. Peter Wagner
(pp. 162, 163) Regal Books





SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT about VIABLE OPTIONS, a local pregnancy-counseling center in Canton, NY. It will soon be open for counseling women who are pregnant, who want the facts about abortions, and what other choices are available.

From now through Friday, the 25th, your donation will be matched $ for $ by someone! Click on the VIABLE OPTIONS notice on my sidebar and give generously, please. Little lives, as well as the mothers' are at stake. We want to help them make the wisest choice available to them, and support their decisions with lots of love.



Father,
I ask for strategic-thinking where I may
be most effective in my own ministry.
Enable me to consider Your directions 
prayerfully, and to search Your Word
daily for Your help.
Remind me that in prayer movements 
I have been directly or indirectly 
involved with, some rather clear guidance 
for this type of warfare ministry are emerging.
Open our eyes to the possibilities of
what You can do in and through each of us.
I ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.


Today’s Bible verse: Is. 52:10 "The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."

Today’s quote: Dr. Charles F. Stanley - "Drifting can be subtle and hard to detect. Six questions can help you assess whether your enthusiasm for God remains strong:

  1. Do you have joy in the Lord and a desire to serve Him, share the gospel, and help others in need?
  2. Do you spend time in the Word daily?
  3. Do you pray, knowing that God is listening and working in your life?
  4. Do you faithfully attend church and tithe?
  5. Do you experience joy, peace, contentment, and hope in Jesus?
  6. Do you stand firm in your godly convictions?
If some of your answers recently changed from 'yes' to 'no,' your fire may be diminishing. Acknowledge this to the Lord, and ask for his help in fueling your passion." (Taken from p. 34 of IN TOUCH Daily Readings for Devoted Living for July 2015).

Our thought today: God's goal for us is to actually act out our faith.

24th- Thursday's post:  #98  Rule #1: The Area
C. Peter Wagner
26th- Saturday's post:  How to Have Peace
Jennifer Benson Schuldt
27th- Sunday evening's post:  I Speak the Desires I have For You
Lee Forbes
29th- Tuesday's post:  #99  Manageable Units
C. Peter Wagner


A popular post: Gospel for Asia  K.P. Yohannan "Did you know that in order to change the world, God always searches for an individual who is radically committed to Him? 
   Let me share with you how you can influence and impact your world in a greater and more exciting way that you ever imagined. I think you will understand clearly after you read the following true story of a young couple in Nepal- As the witch doctors left their house,.."