Peter Wagner has released this AMAZING update from his recent trip to China. He has given me permission to pass it on to you.
Do you insist on getting your own way? Do you consider it a victory when you do and a defeat when you do not? Yet victories come at a price, and sometimes the price is greater than the value obtained. A stubborn and willful demeanor can get results in the short term by belligerence and overbearing. Yet in the long term this will drive people away from you. The final cost is the loss of things that are priceless. My word says it is better to suffer wrong than to sue your brother in court. Even short of legal action there are proper and improper ways of addressing disputes. It is in your own interest to take a long term view and consider yielding now to have a better future for yourself.
Are you familiar with the concept of an acquired taste? Perhaps there are things that you did not care to eat as a child. Your parents may have insisted that you eat it against your will, saying that it was good for you. You can grow to genuinely enjoy these things as an adult and seek them out. This is an acquired taste. Are there activities of the Kingdom that you do not naturally enjoy? Are you in a dilemma because you know they are good for you even though you have no innate desire to do them? I ask you for obedience. If you purpose in your heart to obey me and attend to prayer and the study of my word and worship and all the things of my Kingdom then you will develop an acquired taste for righteousness and genuinely enjoy these things.
4-8-12 7:55am Blessed Holy Lord Jesus, You are risen!!!
Yes, Ben, I am risen! I have victory over the grave! I have set My people free to worship Me in Spirit and in truth! Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! For you are mine and I am yours! Rejoice, and again I say rejoice, for I am the deliverer of My people! I am! I am the Lord, says the Lord, I am the one who set you free! Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice forever more! I have brought victory, I have brought freedom! Rejoice - rejoice in Me! I am the Lord God - I have set you free!
Have you ever asked someone to do you a favor? This is asking for a one-sided single act of kindness. Yet favor has a broader meaning. I grew in grace and favor with God and man. This is favor as a state of being rather than a onetime act. My ultimate act of favor for you was the sacrifice of my life for your redemption. This was a one-time act in that it was sufficient for all humanity for all time, and was one sided in that I loved you before you loved me and died for you while you were yet ungodly. Now you have obtained favor with me and can experience it continually. Your favor with me is permanent and eternal. I want you to know and walk in the grace of your redemption.
When you proclaim the gospel message, do you make it clear to your audience that you are not recruiting for your church? You understand that salvation involves citizenship in my Kingdom and this is the primary thing. Church affiliation is secondary. Even if you understand and affirm this, the average person walking in darkness may not understand the distinction and may be wary of your intentions. It is up to you to make this clear. They will need discipleship, but they may get it at another place. Even if they have issues with the church you attend, I still want them in my Kingdom.
Question from a Searching Pastor: Several in my congregation have asked, “Where in the Scriptures are we told to ‘picture’ or visualize Jesus, since both 2 Corinthians 5:6, 7 and 1 Peter 1: 7, 8 say that we don’t see Jesus?" Obviously Hebrews talks about "'fixing our eyes on Jesus" but what does that mean? Any advice you can give will be much appreciated.
I have promised to return and you can count on me. You want to know when it will happen and I do not tell you. I don’t tell anyone else either, so don’t follow those who claim to know. If one says Christ is here, or lo, Christ is there, do not believe them, and neither should you believe those who predict the day and hour of my return even if they are sure of themselves and have an argument from scripture. Yet you are not to be indifferent in this matter. I spoke parables about virgins waiting for the bridegroom and about servants managing their master’s estate until he returned. These are strong messages to be diligent because you know I am coming even if you don’t know when.
Heard of pink slime lately?
Do you know what Genetically Engineered Foods/GMOs are?
Do you know that the FDA does not mandate GMO foods be labeled?
Are you prone to taking sides in an issue? Everyone involved in a dispute is eager to recruit you to their side. The more support they can generate, the stronger their position. Yet if you do so you are alienating the other side and adding to the strife.
