Africa-Never The Same Again! (added 8/19/2011 10:07:06 AM)

Well I just got back from a couple weeks in Africa.  Wow!  What a life changing time!  I led worship for The Love Africa Conference in Kabwe Zambia for about a week and then went to do village ministry in Mpulungu which is at the north tip of Zambia on Lake Tanganyika(7th largest lake in the world-it's huge!)  It was an amazing time of stepping out of my comfort zone, preaching in a village church through a translator, pouring into and encouraging the OM field leaders, ministering to prisoners in the most inhumane jail cells I've ever seen(in which about 20 surrendered their life to Christ!), speaking, singing, and showing the Jesus Film to hundreds of villagers(where dozens of people gave their life to Jesus!)

But if I had to tell the most amazing moment of our time in the village on the lake, it would have to be Lucy.  Lucy is a 20 something year old mom in the village.  She had just had her forth child which is now a month old.  Lucy came up to our nurses during our clinic time, and told them this story through a translator:  "Every time I bend down and pick up a bucket of water, something begins to fall out."  Sorry if this is too graphic for some, but this is a story that needs to be told.  So the nurses checked her out and found out that it is actually her uterus that is falling out!  Lucy was told right away that she must come back with us to the city and we must take her to the hospital so they can operate immediately because if something isn't done, there is a GREAT chance that she will die.  At first they said no, but after talking with her family, they agreed to let her go.  A few hours later while we were showing the Jesus Film and hundreds were watching it, a few members from our team found Lucy and asked her if we could pray for her, and were able to.  In their prayers they asked God to SUPERNATURALLY HEAL Lucy.  After that prayer time, everyone went about their business for the rest of the evening.  The next morning we were loading the boats for our two hour journey back to Mpulungu, Lucy decided that she was not coming.  The OM field leader Chris went and talked with them and convinced her to come.  Her husband and one month old daughter came as well.  As soon as we got back, Chris and one of the nurses loaded them up in the van and took her to the hospital.  The nurse who checked her out in the village was there to assist with the check up and treatment.  But this time something was very different.  As they were examining her, they found that GOD HAD ALREADY COMPLETELY HEALED HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  God had pulled the uterus back up where it belongs and attached it firmly in place!!!!  Hebrews 13:8 is coming to mind right now "He is the same yesterday, today and forever!!"  Is God amazing or what???!!!  And that is not the end of the story.  Lucy's husband had always been very physically abusive to her, did drugs and wanted absolutely nothing to do with God.  So as Chris was driving them back from the hospital after just witnessing the miracle, he asked them if they knew Christ as their Savior.  Lucy's husband then threw his guard and all his roadblocks down and answered Chris by saying, "No . . . but we want to!!!"  So Chris led them both to Christ right there in the van!  NOW THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE GREATEST MIRACLE!!!!!  Someone surrendering their life to Christ is the greatest miracle of all!  God used a temporary miracle(temporary meaning: Lucy's body is eventually going to quit and die) to open the door for an EVERLASTING miracle to take place = SALVATION!!!!

God so desperately wants to confirm His Word with SIGNS that follow! (Mark 16:20)  Because of this, this African village will never be the same again.  1 Corinthians 4:20 says "The Kingdom of God does not consist in words . . . . BUT IN POWER!!!!"  Our job is to die to self, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and always and in every situation and decision ask Father this one question:  God what do YOU want to do here?  Then . . . OBEY!  It's that simple.  Free of fear, free of man-pleasing, free of all the junk and lies of the Enemy that would keep you from obeying and having that child-like faith!

I hope this testimony has encouraged and strengthened your faith. I pray this also challenges you to believe God for things you've never dreamed possible before.  All glory to Jesus, we don't want to touch His glory.  It was not us that healed Lucy, it was Jesus.  The cool thing is, He CHOOSE TO USE US, because of our obedience to ask in faith, believing He can do all things according to His will not ours, the power of God flowed through this little team in a remote village in Africa to heal Lucy's body, and most importantly, bring her and her husband into a relationship with the Savior!  And here's an even cooler thing . . . . . HE WANTS TO USE YOU TOO!  ARE YOU READY?  HE'S WAITING FOR YOU!!

Blessings and Favor be upon you my friends as we follow our Leader!
Jeremy

1  Comments     View Comments Add Comment
OUR SECRET LIFE . . . (added 9/6/2010 11:19:58 PM)

EACH ONE OF US LEAD A SECRET LIFE.

A LIFE NO ONE IN THIS WORLD KNOWS BUT YOU.

EVEN IF I FOLLOWED YOU AROUND 24 HOURS A DAY FOR THE REST OFYOUR LIFE, I COULD STILL NOT SEE INTO THIS SECRET LIFE OF YOURS.

NO AMOUNT OF MODERN SCIENCE CAN SEE INTO EITHER.

THIS SECRET LIFE OF YOURS IS YOUR THOUGHT LIFE.

NO ONE CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE THINKING AS YOU DRIFT OFF TOSLEEP EVERY NIGHT.

NO ONE CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE THINKING WHEN A GOOD LOOKINGSOMEONE WALKS BY.

YOU COULD BE LOOKING RIGHT AT ME, AND IT MIGHT LOOK LIKEYOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION, BUT YOUR THOUGHT LIFE COULD BE SOMEWHERE ELSE COMPLETELY.

WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT OR THINKING OF SOMEONE OR SOMETHING WITH BADOR UNHEALTHY THOUGHTS, REMEMBER THIS:  HEBREWS4:13  NOTHING IN ALL CREATION ISHIDDEN FROM GOD'S SIGHT. EVERYTHING IS UNCOVERED AND LAID BARE BEFORE THE EYESOF HIM TO WHOM WE MUST GIVE ACCOUNT.”

IN THAT SITUATION GOD WANTS FROM OUR HEART, NOT FROM A RELIGIOUS MINDSET, FOR US TO SAY, “MAN I WANNAPLEASE THE LORD WITH MY LIFE AND MY THOUGHTS.  AND BECAUSE OF THAT I AM NOT GOING TO THINKABOUT SUCH THINGS."  HERE'S THE TASK:  "and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5

GOD WANTS US TO BE PLANTERS OF GODLY THOUGHTS IN OUR IN OURMINDS.  HERE'S A COOL THANG THAT THE LORD SHOWED ME USING THE WORD "PLANTER" WITH PHILIPIANS 4:8

HERE'S A GOOD TEST TO SEE IF THE THOUGHTS YOU ARE RECEIVING  "PLANTING" IN YOUR MIND ARE THE ONE'S GOD WANTS YOU TO.

P=pure

L=lovely

A=admirable

N=noble

T=true

E=excellent or praise worthy

R=right

THE THOUGHT THAT COMES TO YOU IS NOT THE SIN, WHAT YOU DECIDE TO DO WITH IT DETERMINES THAT.

MANY BLESSINGS TO YOU MY FRIEND!

JW

0  Comments     View Comments Add Comment
Your Words have POWER!!! (added 6/1/2010 12:59:07 PM)

I've been learning lately about how much power our words hold.  We've all grown up hearing "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me!"  This is one of the Biggest lies the Enemy has convinced us into believing, even from childhood.  Our template for life is not catchy little phrases and tradition, our template is The Word of God!!!  We measure everything and hold everything up to the Truth of God's Word.  And God's Word says "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  Proverbs 18:21  "3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  James 3:3-11

As the Body of Christ we must know that are words are furthering the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of this world.  We must speak love, life and blessings not curses.

1  Comments     View Comments Add Comment
LOGGING TRUCK (added 5/10/2010 8:56:08 AM)

I really sense the Lord wanting me, for my first blog, to share a great analogy/story that tackles the age-old question, “Am I Really Saved?” God does not want us to be shackled by doubt any longer. When we doubt, James 1:8 says that we are unstable in ALL that we do. So try this one on for size.

Imagine I am singing at a large youth conference and I show up about an hour late. My stage manager is very upset with me and is asking where have I been. So I begin to tell her and everyone around the story about how I got a flat tire on the way. I got out of the car and began to take the flat off, and as I did one of the lug nuts rolled out into the middle of the interstate where I had to run after it. I pick it up, and immediately when I stood up I saw that there was a 30 ton logging truck going about 80 miles an hour about 10 in front of me. The truck ran over me, and because of that it took me a little longer to get the spare on and get here on time, so that’s why I’m late. My stage manager looks at me and says, “That’s impossible! It’s impossible for you to have an encounter with something as large as a logging truck and not be permanently changed.” So my question to you is this, what’s larger, a 30 ton logging truck or God? How is it that so many of us can say that we are saved and have had an encounter with God and yet we are not permanently changed? When you invite Jesus in your heart and He gives you the promised Holy Spirit, you will be changed, you will be different than what and who you were before you meet Him. The basic truth is this: God will make a difference in your life. I heard a great quote from David Nasser the other day that says, “Jesus did not come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people alive!” This is the affect Jesus has on someone’s life that surrenders all to Him. You were once dead in your sins but now you are alive in Christ. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you?

Luke 6:44 says for each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. Is there fruit of the Holy Spirit coming out of your life? Are the passions and desires of your heart in a consistent pattern of transformation? Are you daily dying to self so Christ can live through you? I am so thankful for my “logging truck” experience with God, and I’ll share it here on a future blog. But what about you? Has there been a “logging truck” moment in your life? If so, use this analogy/story with others who might doubt their faith. If not, His arms are wide open and He wants you to come as you are to encounter Him.

May the Lord quicken our ears to hear His voice, our mouths to speak His truth and our feet to walk in faith trusting Him in every step! His blessings on you my friend!

0  Comments     View Comments Add Comment