What Are YOU Looking At?

Take a look at the image to the left.  Can you discern what your looking at?  While this can be incredibly fun, when your dealing with visual puzzles, it becomes all too important when your talking about what you have "fixed your gaze upon" or what your focused upon.  The seventh point the Lord shared with me in my pursuit to the answer to the question:  "Where is the Power of the Holy Spirit?"  Was simply put.  We must develop Spiritual insight!  The development of Spiritual Insight for the Follower of Jesus includes three very important elements.

First, we must develop "Spiritual Eyes" to see what the heart of an issue is.  Second, we must develop "Spiritual Ears" to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church.  And third, we must have a "Renewed Mind" so that we can think like Jesus thinks.  Let's take a look at these individually.

First, in order to effectively engage the culture around us, and the Church world in desperate need of revival, as Christ's Followers, we have to be able to discern the TRUE nature of the problems we are encountering.  What the "root" problem a person is dealing with.  What is the sin(s) that are hidden and causing the problems.  What demonic strongholds we are encountering, and what territorial spirits are active and at work where we are ministering!  This requires "Spiritual Eyesightt."  Seeing things for what they are, and not necessarily how they appear.  For example, we lock our doors at night because we hear of such horrendous crimes that are committed against innocent people in home break In's.  We may say:  "Wow has the times changed!  I remember when I was a kid, you go leave the house and leave the door not only unlocked, but open, and no one would bother your house!"  Today, a parent of a child would be crazy to let their child go out and "roam" around the neighborhood to a friends house.  However, when I was young and after my chores were done, I headed out to play baseball, basketball, football, and ride my bike all over the place, and there wasn't the level of danger and concern that there is today.  I would NEVER consider that for my children today!  Now, we can look at this and say:  "Wow, has crime increased!"  And that would be true.  But, for the Spirit-Filled Follower of Jesus, the truth of the matter is that we are dealing with a society that is spiritually bankrupt, empty, addicted, and devoid of hope!  Much of the reason this condition exists, is because the current Church of Jesus Christ hasn't OFFERED them much hope!  We have given them RELIGIOUS "Feel-Good" platitudes, that do very little to fill an empty heart!  Spiritual Eyesight sees not a violent degenerate evil filled society, but a society that is DESPERATELY needy and hungry for the Good News of Jesus Christ!  Not the good news of religion!  Not the good news of programs!  Not the good news of denominationalism!  But the live saving, hope-giving, future-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, the ONLY truly "Good-News" that this fallen world has ever had!  THAT'S SPIRITUAL EYESIGHT AND INSIGHT!!!

Second, we desperately need "Spiritual Ears" to be able to hear what the Holy Spirit is telling the Church.  How we should handle a situation.  Who He is wanting us to minister to.  Which direction He, the Holy Spirit, is going.  And the discernment of when He is calling the Church to repentance!  On many occasions, the Lord spoke in terms that could only be understood from the enablement of the Holy Spirit, and upon us having our "EYE" focused upon His agenda and will, and our 'EARS" attuned to the communication of the Lord!  Let's take a look at a few Scriptural examples:

Galatians 5:25 NLT.

"Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives."

1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT.

 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lordtold him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lordwas not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Romans 8:14 NLT.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."

And Jesus said...

Revelation 2:7 NLT.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God."

Are we, His Body, listening to what His Spirit is saying to us?  Are YOU listening?

Third, we must have a 'renewed mind."  Listen to the Word of God in Romans 12:2---  "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  This is done by a "process" of developing intimacy with God.  First, we basically "give" permission to the Holy Spirit to transform our minds.  How does He do that?  Through the study of the Word of God.  Through prayer.  Through meditation upon the Lord and the things that pertain to His Kingdom.  Through worship of the Lord.  And, through obedience and application of what we have learned through all of these!  Then,and only then, will we begin to see our minds and thus our "thinking" transformed to the pattern of how CHRIST thinks!  We will begin to understand things from the Lord's perspective!   And we will begin to "respond' to various scenarios with the same type of love and power of that Jesus would!  We begin to THINK like our Master and Lord!  So, to answer our opening question:  "What are YOU looking at?"  My prayer for you is that your answer is.......... JESUS!

With the posting of this post, we now conclude the topic of "Where is the Power of the Holy Spirit?"  I hope that these have been a blessing to you!  If they have, please leave a COMMENT at the end of this article.  God bless you as you find the promised power of the Holy Spirit that was promised by our Lord for a Body that is doing HIS will!

Mobile Blog Page!

Good Morning to all of you who follow my Blog!  I am very pleased to announce that we have just launched a Mobile version of our Blog!  This will enable those who view our Blog from a mobile device such as a:  Smart-Phone, iPod, Tablet, or E-Reader the ability to have our blog site fit on their device, making it much easier to view!  The web address is the same, simply type in our address in you browser (ReclamationMinistries.blogspot.com) and the page will be able to determine whether you are viewing from a computer or a Mobile device.

Thank you for viewing and for the comments you send me.  We appreciate them all!  God bless you!

Pastor Steve Gardner

What Are You Hungry For?

As I sit down to write this blog entry, I can hear my wife Kelley in the background talking to my Mother-In-Law Marilyn about Thanksgiving dinner which  is next week.  I must admit, the menu I have heard them discussing sounds absolutely wonderful!  It is a more recent tradition of ours that at Thanksgiving, Kelley will make me a "once-a-year" treat that I am completely crazy about.  She got a recipe from the Rachel Ray show that has become one of my favorite holiday traditions!  Here it is:  2-cloves of garlic, a jar of green olives, Ricotta cheese and cream cheese.  Put it all in a Food Processor, blend it together and serve it on Melba Toast!  Oh Yeah!!!  Ok, for some that may not sound like that is something they are hungry for, but for ME,...... I can't wait!

Let me ask you another question:  "How "hungry" are YOU for a genuine move of the Holy Spirit?"  I don't mean some contrived, pumped-up, manipulated THING we generate and then slap the label "REVIVAL" upon.  I mean a genuine "MOVE" of the Holy Spirit that melts peoples hardened hearts, causes people to want to align their will with God's will, and generates an all out renewal of genuine passion for Christ, and compassion for the lost!  THAT type of "MOVE" of the Holy Spirit is rare and few and far between!  Well, to be completely honest with you,........... I am VERY "HUNGRY" for THAT move of the Holy Spirit,  genuine ....... REFORMATION!

I believe another major key in answering the question that this series of blog postings has been addressing entitled:  "Where is the Power?"  Is that the Followers of Jesus have got to begin to pursue a genuine "outpouring" and "move" of the Holy Spirit like were talking about above.  When in our hearts, we become SO tired of the status quo!  So fed up with that which is "PUMPED-UP" and "PRIMED" and absolutely tired of seeing the Church of Jesus Christ completely MISS the point of what we're even here for!  When that kind of hunger is present in a Believers life and we begin to cry out to the Lord to send us genuine renewal and reformation, and "HUNGRILY" pursue it, I believe we WILL see it!  OK, someone may ask:  "Why do we have to "HUNGRILY" pursue the move and power of the Holy Spirit?"  The answer is really quite simple.  When we as the Followers of Jesus begin to pray and cry out to God, and begin to seek an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that changes our hearts and converts unbelievers hearts, we are demonstrating something very needed in the Church today!  We are demonstrating to God that we desire HIM and HIS will more then ANYTHING and EVERYTHING else in this life!

OK, so why would God want to see this type of "hunger" from His people?  Because, when we begin to develop this kind of "hunger" for the move of the Holy Spirit, things begin to happen in our lives.  First, even though we may begin "hungrily" seeking the Lord quite mildly at first, as we are in the process of seeking Him, and over time, our hearts begin to change.  We go from seeking God in a mediocre type of way to "hungrily' pursuing Him!  Passion for Him begins to develop within our hearts, and we begin to change!  Now, we are not just going through a spiritual exercise that we have committed to, but our hearts, which have now changed, begin to cry out to God for genuine renewal and reformation!  Secondly, as we are being transformed through intimacy with Christ, we begin to "SEE" things from His perspective.  His passion becomes our passion!  What He desires we begin to desire!  We, as the Apostle Paul said, are being transformed into the image of God's Son!  Thirdly, as we seek the Lord with this type of hunger, people around us begin to see what God is doing in our hearts and it serves as a type of motivation within the Church.  The Church begins to transform as one person who is visible to the rest of the Fellowship of Believers is transformed!  it has a type of "spreading" effect like fire, but in this case, what is spreading is a "hunger" for God  And Finally, as we begin to "hungrily" seek the Lord like this, we begin to see God move.  The Lord promised us that if we "hungrily' seek Him, He will certainly respond to us, and we will "find" Him.  We will experience Him and know Him in a deeper more intimate way!  Listen to what the Lord said about this in Jeremiah 29:13 --- "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart!"

The change that takes place within our hearts, within our churches, and ultimately within our communities as we "hungrily" seek the Lord and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon His Body once again, is so desperately needed RIGHT NOW in our churches, our families, and in this world!  Yes, I can't wait for that special Thanksgiving treat my wife makes, I'm so hungry for it!  However, so much more than that, I am genuinely "HUNGRY" for the move of the Holy Spirit, and His power to be unleashed upon His Church once again!  Dear Reader,........ "WHAT ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR?"

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread!

What is it about prayer that is so hard?  Why, when we as the people of God, think about spending time with God in prayer are we suddenly engulfed with the enormity of work that prayer entails?  Why do we have to "schedule" prayer time?  Why are we forever reading about prayer, studying about prayer, attending seminars on prayer but not doing very much praying?  I truly think there are two reasons for this strange enigma that surrounds prayer.  But before we get into these two reasons, let me remind the reader that we are discussing the answer to the question:  "Where is the power of the Holy Spirit?"  This was a series of messages that the Lord gave me we I asked Him that very question in prayer.  Now, I apologize for the delay in getting this next installment of my blog posting out, as it has been a while.  However, I have had a bout with pneumonia and bronchitis which left me very weak and tired.  So, feeling a "surge" of energy today, I am continuing with this series.

The first reason I believe we battle to pray is a spiritual one.  I believe the devil will do absolutely everything he can to keep the people of God  from praying!  We see this in the Gospel's where the enemy had successfully turned the Temple of God from being a House of Prayer into a den of thieves.  Ironic isn't it, that what was attacked and subsequently altered was the element of the Temple that made it a place of prayer?  The devil absolutely knows what could happen if the people of God in America went from passivity to pro-activity concerning prayer!  In fact, one of the elements that has been missing from our church, has been the element of our church being a "House of Prayer."  I am glad to say that we are on the road to correcting that!  My wife Kelley, has started a time of prayer on Thursday Nights at 7:00 pm.  It has become the "focal point" of our weekly services seeing God so powerfully responding to our prayers!  Truly we are seeing the powerful truth in what the Lord said in James 4:2---"You have not because you do not ask God!"  When the people of God begin to truly become people of prayer, and our churches become "houses of prayer," then we will begin to see God moving powerfully and miraculously in our families, churches, and communities!

The second reason we battle to pray is because it IS a DISCIPLINE!  That means it's..... WORK!  And if we will be honest with ourselves, the Church in America is NOT used to Christianity and living out our faith to be issues of work!  We prefer comfortable, soft, mild, "just go to church and I've done my spiritual service to God," Christianity.  But truly, this perversion of the faith, is NOT Christianity at all!  Within Christianity, there are several "DISCIPLINES" that are necessary in maintaining the intimacy and power so many of us are hungry for!  Prayer requires more then what many are willing to take the time for, and that's EXACTLY why we are so devoid of the power of the Holy Spirit in the American Church!  The initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit was preceded by 50-days of prayer by the people of God!  For approximately 2-years, the founders of the Church of God (Cleveland, TN.) prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a "movement" was birthed!  Can we ACTUALLY think that we will experience the kind of power that we have all read about in the New Testament Church and in the historical documents of the early Pentecostal movement ANY other way than the way Believers have been seeking His power since Pentecost?.............  ABSOLUTELY NOT!

My prayer for each and everyone of you who read this blog is that you will begin to become praying people.  The people of God who are seeking deeper intimacy and power with Him, to impact this world for Christ, available to us all............. THROUGH PRAYER!

Move Over Holy Spirit,... We've Got This One!

So, we have been answering the question:  "Where is the power in the Church today," and we have discussed some very important answers.  Now I want to move onto another answer the Lord gave to me in response to that question.  This one has to do with our relationship with the Holy Spirit.  I pray that the Lord will open the spiritual eyes of those who read this blog to the truth being taught in this post.

I want to tell you two brief stories involving two Traditional Pentecostal churches here in America.  These two churches are in two very different parts of the United States, and minister to two very distinct cultural groups.  Both churches have been in existence for quite some time, and both churches identify themselves as Pentecostal.  As a large part of mine and my wives ministry is in ministering to struggling and hurting Pastoral couples, I had the opportunity to discuss personally these two churches with their Pastors.  The first Pastor was with me on a Pastoral retreat, and one morning very early, as we were both sitting on the porch of the cabin reading our Bibles, this pastor turned to me with tears in his eyes and said:  "I read of all the miracles that Jesus and His Disciples did, as well as the early Church, and my question to you Steve is this....... Where is the power in the Church today?"  Having just concluded a series of messages by that same title, I was utterly "blown-away" that I was being asked that question!  It actually served as confirmation to me that what I was contemplating and praying about, and had developed a sermon series out of, was INDEED the direction the Holy Spirit was taking me!  And NOT only me, but many other Ministerial Leaders who were asking that very same question!  I went on to ask him why he would ask me that question, and his reply was this.  He said:  "I have been pastoring my church now for over two years now, and in those two years, we have NOT seen ONE move of God, had ONE message and interpretation in tongues, nor had one person show any kind of vibrancy during the worship time!"  My heart was heavy as I watched my brother Pastor weep over the lack of the move of the Holy Ghost in their services, and what was even worse,........ NO ONE in this Pentecostal church even MISSED it!

The second story is about a Pastor I was talking to who relayed to me a story of how the Holy Spirit actually broke into one of their Morning Worship services.  This was something my friend had been seeking God for since he got to this church.  The Lord moved in a WONDERFUL way and no sermon was preached nor needed to be preached that day, as the True Senior Pastor of that church (Jesus), began to draw people to the alter in repentance, worship, and commitment!  Now understand, this was a Pentecostal church where this Pastor was pastoring and had been for many years, and this was the FIRST breakthrough move of the Holy Spirit they had had at that church since he had been appointed there.  This Pastor was excited, until one of his long-time members and leaders in the church approached him after the service and said:  "If this is the way our services are going to go, then we'll be leaving!"  When this Pastor asked him how he could POSSIBLY feel this way (remember....... were talking about a PENTECOSTAL church here), after a wonderful move of the Holy Spirit like that?  His reply was:  "We are WORD people!  We don't want all this MOVE OF THE SPIRIT STUFF, we just want the WORD!"  WOW!  This absolutely discouraged this pastor who felt like they had FINALLY broke through to a genuine move of God! 

These two stories could be dismissed as non-typical representations of the Pentecostal movement, if it were not for the fact that statements like this are made by pastors and laity alike, quite often in pentecostal churches, not to mention the denominational and non-denominational churches who have NEVER had a move of God like we are referring to here!  So, here you have a Christian Tradition, namely Pentecostal, which originated in this kind of Holy Ghost Fire, now reporting that moves of the Holy Spirit are increasingly RARE in their services.  So, why is this happening, and where is the power?  In answering this question, the Lord revealed to me yet another reason why the Church here in America is NOT experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit that is supposed to be the "norm" for us.

That reason is............. Because we have OFFENDED the Holy Spirit, and we are in DESPERATE need of repenting for it!  Now the reader may say:  "Steve, how have we offended the Holy Spirit?"  The answer is, we have offended the Holy Spirit by acting like we do not need His move; His presence; His power; His direction; nor His leading in our services!  By our attitudes, we have assumed a posture of ...... "WE'VE GOT THIS COVERED HOLY SPIRIT!  WE KNOW HOW TO DO CHURCH!  YOU CAN SIT THIS ONE OUT, AND WE WILL CALL ON YOU IF WE NEED YOU!"  And, in response, the Holy Spirit has left many of our churches alone to do their own thing, and the SAD thing is.............. Many NEVER noticed He was GONE!

So, if you are one of those people who notice that things in the Body of Christ aren't EXACTLY right!  Or, you feel like their is something DESPERATELY missing in the Church today!  Or, if you feel like there just HAS to be MORE to being a Christian than what you are currently experiencing, the answer to this dilemma is quite simple and straight forward!............. We, the Body of Christ, need to desperately repent of offending the Holy Spirit!  A very good friend of mine, Steve Chelette, commented on my last post and suggested the need for a 'Solomn Assembly!"  I am in COMPLETE agreement with him!  We need a Solomn Assembly to come before the Lord in genuine REPENTANCE and cry out to Him once again to send the power of the Holy Spirit upon this desperately impotent Church!  And I believe, that once we genuinely DO THAT, and LIVE in that genuine repentance, completly depending on the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the things that Jesus did (you know, ....... our Great Commission!), that we will once again experience a FLOOD of power from the Holy Spirit to accomplish our divinely given task before us!  Without this type of repentance and refilling of the power of the Holy Spirit, we are just "PLAYING CHURCH," we are NOT "BEING THE CHURCH!"

---God Bless You!

As an adendum to this blog post, I want to direct the reader to a sermon the Lord gave me concerning the "state" of the Spirit Filled movements.  That sermon is entitled:  "The State of the Pentecostal Movement" and can be found by clicking on the following link and looking under the July 2011 sermon section.  You can either listen to it, or download it to save on your computer, to listen to at a later time.  Both are free, and I believe it will minister to you.  The State of the Pentecostal Church

Why Do You Want the Power of the Holy Spirit?

NOTE TO READER.  The following is taken from my original blog posting entitled:  "Where is the power?"  I begin this post by re-stating it, for the sake of continued "focus" upon the topic we are dealing with.  Stated now here from my original post:

 "Where is the power of God in the Church in America?" My answer to this perplexing question that vexed my soul was simple........... "I don't know!" But "I don't know" did not suffice!  I began to earnestly seek God for the answer. And one day, God spoke! What He told me can be summed up like this: "I will reveal to you the answer to your question, but you will have to understand that your question requires multiple answers that I will only reveal to you one at a time."

This brings me to the 3rd, answer the Lord gave me in response to this prayer.  And that 3rd. response is........ "Why do you want the power of the Holy Spirit?"  Now while this may seem like a very unimportant question, we have to make a very important point.  God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit for very specific purposes!  The power of the Holy Spirit operating through the Followers of Jesus, is the "piston that drives the engine of God's distinct purposes!" 

The power of the Holy Spirit is ONLY given to those whose agenda's are aligned with the agenda's of the Lord!  Now one might ask:  "Does God truly have an agenda for which He readily pours out His power upon those who are committed to that agenda?"  And the answer is ....... YES!  Let's take a look at God's agenda, for which He will give power to accomplish, as detailed in Scripture.  First, is Acts 1:8 --- "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  NLT.  Second, is Mark 16:15-20 --- "¹⁵ And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.^{[a] 18} They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”  ¹⁹ When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ²⁰ And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs."  NLT.

God's "agenda," upon which He pours out the power of the Holy Spirit upon, is the proclamation of His Gospel and the advancement of His Kingdom into all the earth!  It's very straight-forward and "matter-of-fact" Biblical truth.  God gives INCREDIBLE power, even the power to accomplish the miraculous, to His people who are fully committed and ENGAGED in fulfilling HIS agenda!  He is NOT in the business in "FUNDING" the programs and agenda's of men and women, whose focus is upon themselves or merely "religious" expressions.  Knowing this truth from Scripture then forces us to ask ourselves the question:  "What is OUR agenda in the Church of Jesus Christ in America?"

Now before you get angry with me and accuse me of "picking" on the Church, let's take a moment to be a little reflective and real!  What is in the agenda's of many church's in America that would require the power of the Holy Spirit poured out upon, to accomplish it?  Where I live and minister in the Knoxville Tennessee area, we are overrun with churches all around us!  In fact, within a five mile radius of my church, there are approximately 264 Christian churches! ........... Did you hear what I just said?.............. 264 Churches that name the Name of Jesus within a 5-mile radius of my church!  While that is an incredible statistic, the problem is that I have not heard of ONE of these churches, including my own, that is experienceing an Azuza type revival!  Not even ONE of these churches has advertised a revival of the "God-kind" where lives are changed by the unprecedented POWER that had been poured out upon the church!  And with ALL the churches in Knoxville, we STILL have one of the largest number of homeless I have seen in 28 years of ministry!  We STILL have "METH" drug problem that is borderline "epidemic!"  Why have these issues NOT been dealt with?  Because unfortuantely most, if not all, of what the Church of Jesus Christ is doing in Knoxville, does not require the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish!  Why is this the case?  Because we are too focused on OUR "agenda" and not focused on GOD'S "agenda!" 

The Lord has witheld His power from many of the churches in America, and sadly, most have NEVER noticed it!  Everything they are doing can be done, and quite nicely done, WITHOUT the power of the Holy Spirit!  The state of the American Church reminds me of a Biblical story in the Old Testament.  Its found in the book of Judges 16:18-21--- "Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come back one more time,” she said, “for he has finally told me his secret.” So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. ¹⁹ Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him.  ²⁰ Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!”  When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him.  ²¹ So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison."  NLT.

We have been stirred awake with the cry.......... "Church, the devil has come to capture you!"  And like Samson, we have arisen to 'SHAKE" ourselves as before, unfortunately, we did not realize that the LORD had left us!"  How sad!  How very very sad!  Why would God pour out His power upon a Church that has been lulled to sleep in the lap of the seductress called religion!  And why would He pour out His power upon a group of people that function just fine, in all their religious functions, WITHOUT the power of the Holy Spirit?  So, I ask you again:  "Why do YOU want the power of the Holy Spirit?"  Is it to accomplish God's agenda in this world?  Or, is it to add a little "SPICE" to a dull man-made religious program, with the focus upon self?  Only YOU as an individual Follower of Jesus, can answer that question.  And oh by the way, the story I shared with you about Samson doesn't end there!  Verse 22 of Judges 16 says something VERY amazing and quite appropriate for the Church TODAY!  It says:  "But before long, his hair began to grow back!"  And in the darkness of prison, grinding grain in the shadow of the pagan idol god dagon, Samson prayed a prayer:  "Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time!"  Brother's and Sister's, it's like I can hear that SAME prayer being prayed by many hungry Followers of Jesus in America!  "Oh, Soverign LORD, remember YOUR Church, YOUR Bride, ONE more time, and send down YOUR Holy Spirit POWER upon YOUR thirsty followers!  We are tired of grinding grain in the dungeon of that pagan god religion!  We hunger to be YOUR Bride; YOUR Virgin Bride!  We long for YOUR agenda!  We long to be holy, pure and righteous in YOUR sight! And,......... WE LONG FOR THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, POURED OUT UPON US ONCE AGAIN!

Why do YOU want the power?

God Bless YOU!

That Thing!.......Part 2

OK, at the risk of sounding like I'm over simplifying this, let me take this one step at a time and spell it out completely. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 4 and verse 1-2, the Bible says this: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where He was tempted by the devil." Then in that same chapter, in verse 14 we read: "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside." Follow the pattern: 1) Filled with the Holy Spirit. 2) Led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to defeat the devil. 3) Returns from the desert to begin ministry, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

That "THING" can be defeated by engaging it within the power of the Holy Spirit! Now while I'm assuming that many or most of the people who read my blog are at least open to the Pentecostal/Charismatic beliefs, the truth of the matter is that for many Believers, we have tried and tried to defeat the devil, and that THING in our life, within our own power and on the merits of our promises to God to NEVER commit that sin again. The problem with that, even though it is admirable, is that it shifts the focus of the power from the Holy Spirit to us and our promises!

Perhaps the truth behind that "THING" or those besetting sins, is that we endeavor to engage in spiritual warfare, which is necessary when engaging in ANY ministry, completely devoid of the power of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we fail because the "foundation" of our promises to "do better" is based upon our efforts and not the "efforts" and empowering of the Holy Spirit? Now I sincerely believe that even when we are "filled" with the Holy Spirit to live this Christian life and do ministry, there will be times of "re-filling." We have to continue in a place of life and ministry within the power of the Holy Spirit, which requires us to be in a process of being "refilled" from time to time. And there is NOTHING that needs a fresh dose of the infilling power and presence of the Holy Spirit, then a Follower of Jesus who is about to do battle with the devil in the wilderness!

So, the question may be asked: "In the HEAT of the battle of the temptation of that "THING" in my life. When I am in the middle of the desert! How do I acquire the power of the Holy Spirit to defeat the devil like Jesus did?" Assuming that one has been baptised in the Holy Spirit (As I believe it is a second definite work after salvation), then the process for going into the "desert" and defeating the devil over that "THING" in your life becomes the "coupling" of your desire with the Holy Spirit's power! It is the working of volition with power! When you find yourself in the desert and engaged in battle over that "THING" in your life, then it works likes this: Your desire is that you choose to love the Lord and be obedient to Him more then you want your sin, and then you PRAY! What kind of prayer do you pray? Something like this: "Holy Spirit, you empower me and fill me, and Jesus promised that you would be my Comforter! I need You RIGHT NOW to comfort me in the heat and agitation of this temptation! This temptation is irritating to me, and to be honest, part of me wants it! Please comfort me, and by your comfort and ministry, empower me to say to this "THING"....... "Get behind me!"

There IS victory for the Follower of Jesus! And once you have beaten the devil over that "THING," then, and only then, will you be ready to "return from the desert in the power of the Holy Spirit!" Remember, immediately following His return from the desert, Jesus declared in the Temple that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 61, publicly declaring that first, Messiah had come and second, this was the beginning of His earthly ministry! And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, having defeated the devil in His life and returning in the Power of the Holy Spirit, NOW begins to validate the veracity of what He is preaching about the Father and His Kingdom, by verifying it with miraculous signs! And all of this was done through the power of the Holy Spirit! The SAME power the Church of Jesus Christ desperately NEEDS, if we are ever going to once again influence culture and society for Christ! Every Believer, and especially those who are on the forefront of the battle over the souls of people, NEEDS the power of the Holy Spirit! But, the Holy Spirit withholds the FULL manifestation of His power from those who are still harboring "secret sin; besetting sin;"....................... "THAT THING!" There IS freedom! There IS deliverance! Because there is AVAILABLE POWER through our Comforter, the Holy Spirit! Power to go into the desert, defeat the devil over THAT THING, and then return in the power of the Holy Spirit! Then and ONLY then, will the Church of Jesus Christ in America rise from the ashes of revivals past, and infuse our world with the life changing power of the message of the cross! Then and ONLY then, will we once again be a Church that brings glory and honor to Christ!

That.......THING!!! Part 1

Over a period of several weeks the Lord began to speak to my heart and reveal to me the multiple answers to my singular question: "Why don't we see the power Jesus promised here in America?" The answers to that question came over a period of several weeks's and I am going to give them to you, the reader, one at a time as well. This will give you the time to prayerfully consider these answers; prayerfully consider how they apply to your life; and hopefully, through repentance and by the Holy Spirit, put them into practice in your own life.

The first response from the Lord to my question of "Where is the power?" actually kind of surprised me! It wasn't what I anticipated could possibly be "AN ANSWER" to this perplexing question. However, what the Lord shared with me, as the first reason we do not see the power of the Lord in most of the Followers of Jesus here in America, is because we need to go to the desert and through the authority of the Lord, and by the Holy Spirit, defeat the devil over THAT THING in our life! Ok Steve, WHAT thing in my life are you referring to? I'm referring to .....THAT thing! You know,........ THAT THING! That thing (sin) that you just can't seem to get victory over. That one sin that just seems to keep haunting you, and calling to you, and defeating you! That sin that you keep going to the Lord and confessing and repenting of! That sin that you beg God to forgive you of and that you PROMISE to never do again, until you find yourself stooped in it's mire once again! And then the GUILT comes! Oh man, how the guilt comes! You KNOW what I'm talking about, and if your reading this, and this is resonating with your heart, YOU have been Divinely appointed to read this blog!

Ok, before we go any further, let's take a look in the Bible to our reference for this answer to my question. It's the temptation of Jesus, and it's in Luke 4:1-21 NLT:


1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[a] 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[c]”

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[d]”

12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[e]”

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[f]”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

We are not going to take the time here to go over all of the truth that can be drawn-out of these verses, but I do want to share 3 things with you that stick out very blatantly: 1) Immediately after being filled with the Holy Spirit at His baptism, Jesus is led into the wilderness to do battle with the devil. While there, He is fasting, and after He becomes very hungry, tired, and spent, the devil attacks. And he attacks Him at the areas where he perceives he could be vulnerable! First is hunger. Second is fame. Third is His belief in the Father (who Jesus really is). The devil attacks Jesus with temptation, at the very places He would be most vulnerable! He still LOVES using this tactic on you and I, and has become quite proficient at it. 2) The second point is that only AFTER Jesus had defeated the devil in regard to those THINGS that He could be weakest at, did Jesus return to Galilee to begin to minister God's Kingdom. Notice the text says AFTER He had defeated the devil, He (Jesus) returned to Galilee. But He didn't just return. He returned "filled with the Holy Spirit's power!" 3) Jesus then goes to the temple and declares that He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 61 and leaves from there and begins to do miraculous events which support and validate the Words of the Father and His kingdom are TRUE! Are you getting the connection? Why would God the Father mandate that God the Son MUST go into the desert in a weakened condition and in this weakened condition, do battle with the devil? The answer is to show you and I that we can defeat the devil no matter what our condition, not within our own human power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit! C'mon, make the connection! It was only AFTER Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him filling Him with His power, that He was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to first become weak, and then defeat the devil and his temptations. Only then, did Jesus go back into His hometown and begin to do miracles that validated His preaching!

So, how does this apply to Believers in America and our apparent lack of power? Simple, we are holding onto that THING, our "pet sins!" The sins that the devil attacks us with when we are weakest and most vulnerable. The sins that keep causing us to stumble and never quite reach our potential. Those sins we cry, confess, and repent over and over and over again! And the problem is, as humans, after awhile of not defeating these sins, we simply begin to peacefully coexist with them. We live for the periods of closeness to God and victory between the periods of defeat. And this my friend, is why we don't see the power of God manifested for many believers here in America. The "hidden" "besetting" sin renders us impotent in our kingdom battle against the devil and his forces! How can we bring "freedom" to those who are in bondage, when we ourselves are in "bondage?" The devil laughs! Ok Steve, what's the answer? The answer is: "Go into the desert, not in YOUR power or YOUR might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, do battle with the devil, and DO NOT return to do ministry until you have defeated him and are ready to return and proclaim the Kingdom of God, validated with the power of the Holy Spirit!

In part 2 of this first answer to our question of "where is the power," we will delve into "HOW" we acquire the Power of the Holy Spirit to defeat the devil in the wilderness and overcome once and for all, ........... THAT THING!

Where is the Power?

I have a confession to make! I am very very eager to see the Followers of Jesus operating in power, to where "signs and wonders" and the "miraculous" are very evident in our ministries! There, I've said it! Yes, I am hungry to see the power of God operating in and through His Body to reach this world by validating what we preach with the miraculous. As a person who believes in and practices the charasmata (the gifts of the Spirit), I wonder if we, His Church in America, have ever really seen the full potential of what God can do through a Spirit-empowered people? Now, this is not a "Pentecostal" or "Charismatic" thing, this is a Body of Christ thing. Let me explain.

A few years ago, my wife and I had the wonderful experience to go to the country of Belize. Now for those of you who no nothing about Belize, it is Central America below Mexico, and used to be known as British Honduras. The country is tropical, with a mix of jungle and coastal areas,... mostly jungle. The economy of most that live there is very poor. Just living and feeding your family is a full time job for the majority of the people of Belize. While there, we had the privilege of going to about 9 churches for the purpose of holding services to strengthen and encourage both the churches and their Pastors. While ministering in Belize, we experienced varied and incredible displays of God's power! It was as natural as breathing. Now while this was an incredible blessing to be used by God in such displays of His power, it also had another unexpected effect on me and the team that was with me. That effect can be summed up in the following question: "Why don't we see these kinds of power displays in the United States?" This question continued to play over and over in various ways in my mind. And the sad thing is, I had no answer! I was plagued by the question: "Where is the power of God in the Church in America?" My answer to this perplexing question that vexed my soul was simple........... "I don't know!" But "I don't know" did not suffice!

I began to earnestly seek God for the answer. And one day, God spoke! What He told me can be summed up like this: "I will reveal to you the answer to your question, but you will have to understand that your question requires multiple answers that I will only reveal to you one at a time." The very first thing I believed needed to be established was the answer to a "sister question" to the question "where is the power" and that question was: "Should we as Christ-Followers EXPECT there to be powerful displays of the miraculous to accompany our preaching and testimony of Christ?" To say "YES" from a Pentecostal suppositional postition would have been easy. But I wanted to answer that question from the only source I would trust....... THE BIBLE!

Two Scriptures came to mind as I contemplated the above question. The first one was found in John 14:10-14 in the NIV it says this: "Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Philip had asked Jesus to reveal to them God the Father. In response, Jesus mildly rebukes Philip for not seeing the Father in the Son. He said that His words were the Fathers words. And His work were the Fathers work. Then Jesus says two very foundational things: First, He says believe that I am the Son of God, and that when you see me, you see My Father, or at least believe on the miracles that I have done which "VALIDATE" the words that I have spoken! Then He says something very incredible: "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father!" In other words, Christ was telling His Disciples and all of His followers, that we would be doing the miraculous works that Jesus had been doing, and oh by the way, because I am going to My Father and sending the Holy Spirit as another Comforter, you will do even GREATER things than these miracles you have seen me doing! WOW!!!

The second Scripture that was immediately brought to my attention was found in Acts 2:42-47 which says in the NIV: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Another WOW moment! Power from Jesus was promised in Acts 1:8! Power was delivered in Acts 2:4! And power was demonstrated to validate the veracity of the Believers preaching of Christ in Acts 2:42-47! The "hidden" pattern of normalcy for EVERY Christian Believer was beginning to take shape in my mind! And even though I have spent most of my life as a Pentecostal Believer, the normalcy of the miraculous following the proclamation of the gospel, was beginning to become new and alive in my heart.

Now that the validity of the miraculous accompanying the preaching of the gospel had been established by Scripture, the question "nagged" at me even greater....... "Where is the Power Christ promised for the Church in America?" In contrast to this overwhelming promise and display of power for the Church, we Followers of Christ in America had some really great dinners! Some wonderful "Christian Concerts!" Uh,...... Well, we also had some really VERY spiritual Campmeetings! Well ok, it was just a rally for those who were already Followers of Jesus, but WOW was it great! Great music and great preaching that made all of us Christians feel better, and hold on for just a little longer! I can't help but wonder about all of the things we the Church in America is doing and expending all of its energy on, if that might not be the answer to why we are not seeing the power Jesus promised displayed through the miraculous? I mean, it doesn't take a LOT of power to have a Fellowship Dinner! Maybe, just maybe, we don't have the power the Lord promised because we are NOT doing ANYTHING that would require the power of the Lord? Just saying!!!

Well anyway, over the next several weeks I will post on my blog the answers the Lord gave me, one by one, to the question "Where is the power?" I hope that these posts will be a blessing to you, but most importantly, I hope they will convict your heart to seek Christ in all of His glory and power for the purpose of advancing His kingdom into all of the world!..... ENJOY!

"The Call of the Artist"

A long time ago, and in centuries past, A meeting occurred, a strategy to last. It was easy to see, this Church would be trouble, To completely succeed, the devils efforts must be double. And, so with the skill of a master deceiver, The devil launched an attack against every Believer. We must reduce their weapons, if we are to win, They are much too mighty against our strongholds of sin. “Get them to divide the things God was giving, The things the Lord meant them to use, in this world they were living.” The sacred and secular, the two we will divide, The talents they’ve been given, we will get them to hide. To see the world they live in, as a much hated place, Instead of a world that's in desperate need of God’s grace. We must get them to turn their back on their creativity and skill, The things they could use, for the disease they could heal. The Art’s they must go, with their banter and rhyme, They are just a distraction, for which we haven’t the time. Paintings, and music, and even the dance, We will certainly live holy, and leave nothing to chance. It really doesn’t matter what God would want them to do, We will play to their self-righteousness, oh, what a fool! They’ll hate all the things they could use for the Lord, They’ll say it’s not righteous, as they misinterpret His Word. The sacred and secular, God never meant that divide to occur, For He is the Lord, and to Him we should confer, How far does His redemption reach into the night? To what should the Church, purify with its true Light. Call those things evil, and tools of sin, And never redeem the things in humanity, which lie deep within. The Artistic, the Creative, they are just a distraction, The folly of the world, against which, we must take action. Repent! We scream with self-righteous fire, The passion you feel, is just an evil desire. Don’t use the arts, or any creative skill, They are lies of the devil, and your walk it will kill. Instead withdraw into your own little world, Sing your Christian songs; let the holy banners be unfurled. We will not be like them, we say in our pride, And the candle of truth, from them forever we hide. Oh, how we feel so righteous, in our self-centered glee, As we call for the world to repent, and become like me. Leave the art, the dance, and even more, Forsake all your talents, and walk through this door. Into a world that is ever so bleakly painted gray, And then wonder why we have no revival, like in the good ol’ day. The devil laughs, this was much too easy, I’ve got them to believe that culture is sleazy. They bought into the lie, with its righteous holy sound, And the world continues on, in their sins they are bound. Because the Bride of Christ, took the gifts of the Groom, And locked them forever away, in a dark isolated room. And failed to use what God, meant to convey His pure light, And left the world staggering in the darkness of night. But, we’ve stood for holiness, we cry with self-righteous joy! We’ve never partaken of his tricks or the evil one’s ploy. Oh, but my Bride, what have you done? You’ve failed to redeem it, for the glory of my Son. I gave you the tools, the truth to them you were to carry, And the talents I gave you, instead you did bury. You hated the art, thinking you were so right, But I your God am the Artist, who painted the stars into the night. I gave you these things to show the world true life, Instead in self-righteous glee, you caused chaos and strife. You belittled the ones I gave special gifts to, You said “the things they do, oh we will never do!” We will live holy and pure, and honor the Lord, Withdraw from the people, the culture; the world. You have failed to realize this whole world is mine, My Son took ownership from the devil, in My perfect time. And commissioned you to go into all of the world, Redeem it by my Spirit, and proclaim my Holy word. Instead you had dinners, and parties galore. Instead of a Bride, you became a cheap whore! You are not what I planned to give to my Son, Come back to me my people, unite and be one. Embrace the gifts I gave you, with thankfulness and glee, Redeem this world completely, by showing them Me. Do not despise what I’ve given for you in this life, Represent and redeem, and be to my Son, a pure wife. Let your light so shine into the darkness of night, Get back into this battle, this war, and this fight. Use all the gifts I gave you, to proclaim my dear Son, And be ever so faithful, ‘til you hear Me say “well done!” And never call what I have made, evil and unclean, Use it for My Kingdom, let my Grace now be seen. And then once again you will see the people begin to come, To hear of my mercy, and by faith accept My Son. Here once again, I give you the tools, Don’t fall for false righteousness, don’t be the devil’s fools. His lies he will intensify, because he knows his time is short, He’ll try ever so hard, my Word to contort. But stand by My Spirit, and upon my True Word, Proclaim it in power, with beauty unfurled. To the Bride I am calling, use all that you’ve got, Never cease from your commission, never quit, never stop. I will soon be here to get you, and bring you to me, And then, oh my child, such dancing you will see! Such joy and gladness, I’ll have for you there, But remember my prayer, as it is in heaven, so here. Embrace what I’ve given you, the culture and art, Employ the gifts I’ve given you, it is time now to start. And I will use you once again with my Holy Spirit’s power, You will see my mighty works, as I reveal Myself each hour. Yes, the devil met with his demons, the Church to destroy, I laugh at his efforts, for I have turned around his master ploy. And now my People, they have begun to see, The things I have given, I have meant for them to receive. The talents they now consecrate, the gifts I have given, Will be used by my Spirit, to lead many souls home to heaven! And what will you do with this poem you now read, Will you accept it, embrace it, and to its truth now heed? Will you begin to see all things belong to our Lord? Both the sacred and secular can be redeemed by His Word. Will you now never again, His gifts to despise, Instead in His power, as the Church now arise. And not withdraw from this world to which we have been sent, But teach them the truth, and how to repent. Use now the gifts that the Artist has given, Represent Him now upon this earth, as in heaven. And pray His Kingdom come, until our work here is done, And one day we will celebrate and dance, in the Joy of the Son! ---By Pastor Steve Gardner