God’s grace is on you!

Okay family, in this last installment concerning spiritual warfare and how to wage it effectively, I want to look at fasting. Yes, going without food, not for health purposes which is fine, but for spiritual reasons. Again, this will not be as in-depth as you would like but there is nothing stopping you from doing a study for yourself, is there? If you check your Bible concordance you will find scriptural references on fasts and fasting. Study these out and you’ll see some amazing results were accomplished. The main reason we don’t enjoy fasting is because we enjoy food even more. That may not seem like a real deep revelation but think about it.

Food is flesh driven and the devil, as I’ve stated before, comes at us through our flesh and our thoughts (body and soul). Flesh is flesh and always will be, but thoughts can be either carnal or spiritual depending on where our head and heart has been lately. What happens when you overeat? You turn into a slug and pass out, usually in front of the tv with crumbs or sauce on your chest. Food coma. Then you wake up heavier than you were before you ate, and mad at yourself. And the cycle of keeping you under “the spell” has gained strength. “I know I haven’t prayed this month, but I’m too tired. I think I trundle on into bed. Oh look! There’s a Burger King commercial right there on women’s mud wrestling! Perfect timing! And thank you Lord, the Whopper’s on sale! Honey, I’ll be right back!” Oh brother…

Back to serious Kingdom business; again, I’m going to see if I can muster Denise to address this issue because she has studied fasting in depth over the years. Fasting is a very powerful asset in spiritual warfare because it takes the enemy’s #1 gate of entry out of the equation: the flesh. The Greek word for fasting is “nesteuo” and simply means abstaining from food. Again, that’s why we don’t like it. When your flesh shuts down, which could take up to 3 days or more, the spirit realm opens up, becomes more clear, and you become increasingly sensitive to God’s voice. Let’s look into Acts 13. In verse 1 through 3 we see that some, we don’t know how many, prophets and teachers set themselves apart for the purpose of fasting and ministering to the Lord. In other words, they wanted to hear from God. They sought out His direction and will, and decided to shut the voice of the world out so they could “tune in”, if you will. The scriptures do not tell us how long this went on, but in verse 2 the Lord began to speak: “Now separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them”. Sweet. When is the last time you witnessed anything like this in your prayer meetings? Hearing true prophetic instructions has a much better opportunity to occur when we take the time, which I know is precious these days, to sanctify ourselves to the Lord through prayer and fasting. I know it’s not easy and takes a tremendous amount of discipline, but look at the results it reaps. In verse 3 we see where they laid hands on them and sent them out into the world. It only took five verses for them to recognize the enemy and strike a sorcerer blind. When the sorcerer’s buddy (the Procounsel) saw this he decided it would be a good idea to ditch the sorcerer and stick with his faith in Jesus. The sorcerer was trying to proselyte the guy into witchcraft. Paul and Barnabas put a quick end to that nonsense. But notice in verse 9 that it says Paul was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” That means his faith was activated, released. Because of their fasting and prayer they possessed “now faith” (Hebrews 11:1). “Now faith” gets results. Yesterday’s faith is like stale bread; it doesn’t go down so well. When the prophets and teachers were in prayer and fasting it is hard to imagine they weren’t praying in the Spirit as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians that he “spoke in tongues more than” anybody else he met. Imagine what we could accomplish if we regularly scheduled in times of setting ourselves apart, not to ask Him for any material or financial gain, but just to hear from heaven. A specific time of fasting, praying in the Spirit and waiting on the Lord to speak. Wow, think of the possibilities! The Acts of the Apostles once again could sweep through our nations! Or, we could just sit back and think “No, it’s too hard. And seems a bit radical to me” I’m not into that kind of thing.” Jesus is the biggest radical to E-V-E-R walk the earth!  He set the bar and challenged us to raise it. And what is the majority, not everyone certainly but the majority, of the church doing? You tell me.

I don’t expect every believer to suddenly say they are going to heed what I’m saying and develop a desire to become a factor in the lives of others. As strange as it may seem they just don’t have the “want-to.” They just seem to be content to go to church, give occasionally and then go home. I know I’m not the brightest light bulb in God’s house, but it makes no sense to me. Denise has told me over the years “Honey, it’s just not in every man” to be what I want to be. To do what I want to do. To take wild chances in order to further the influence of God’s Good News. To try things that have never been tried before. To say things that people don’t always want to hear, but need to anyway. Looking back over the past 25+ years I can see why, at least in my own opinion, I could have been a much better pastor. Most people can’t handle being challenged every week so they look for something more comfortable, but I can’t change. It’s just who I am. It’s the way I’ve been wired. And I can’t believe I was the only one God wired this way. I won’t. Call me crazy, but I believe everything Jesus said.

If you have an inward call to become one of God’s dependable prayer warriors then purpose to live a Godly, pure, sanctified life. Keep the influence of the world to a bare minimum. Meditate His Word. Therein the power lies to release your faith! Couple in fasting and praying in the Spirit with waiting in His Presence, patiently waiting to hear His voice. Who knows what He will say to you? Who knows what He will do through you? Only He knows for sure, but I’ll bet He’s willing to share that information with you. But you, like the prophets and teachers in Acts 13,  must do whatever is necessary to get yourself into a position to allow Him access through your spirit and into you soul (mind-will-emotions).

To my dear sister who asked me to address “Spiritual Warfare”, it’s certainly not complete but I hope this helps. Thanks for asking. Now, let’s do whatever it takes to get out there and make a difference, For Him. Until next time…

Godspeed!

Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip

An abundance of grace is yours!

Listen, I’m not stupid. I know this subject has long been a “hot button” issue in the church. And rightly so, the devil hates it and he will fight truth until his final fate befalls him. I don’t mean, or even want, to be divisive but I will not water down the truth to appease man. The entire gospel message is divisive and always has been. You will notice that Jesus had to go outside of the “established religion of the day” to spread the truth. And so has every other person who wanted to see the truth revived since the time Jesus walked the earth. Unfortunately, almost every past revival has eventually turned into a religious denomination. John the baptist’s into the Baptist religion.

The Apostle Paul’s into Catholicism (according to the Catholics), Martin Luther’s into Lutheranism, John Wesley’s into Methodism, heck, even the free-spirited, world-touching Azusa Street revival of 1906 turned into the Assemblies of God denomination. Kenneth Hagin’s Word/Faith ministry of the 60’s and 70’s now has it’s own church affiliates as does Buddy Harrison’s which is called Faith Christian Fellowship. Remember, they all started because they caught on to what God was doing in their time, but they soon over-organized, set up their guidelines of affiliation and put their brand of believing into a tightly wrapped package. In the 80’s I used to regularly bring in a brother from Tulsa, Oklahoma to minister. He was an independent who operated in the prophetic/evangelistic gifts. But then he joined up with Faith Christian Fellowship. That was the last I saw of him. Why? Because they began to control where he went and I wasn’t affiliated, so I was out. Was God happy about that? I’m thinking, no. They turned into a “non-denominational denomination.” They suffered the same fate as those who went before them. Listen. the devils thought is that “If I can keep them divided, I can control their power.” Except for several “short spurts” we fondly call ‘revival’, he’s done a pretty good job. God told me years ago, when I Pastored a non-denominational church to never join or affiliate with any other church organization. He told me “That’s when you’ll stop growing spiritually. You will only go as far as they go, or at best as far as they’ll let you go.” Yes, I do belong to a local church and make myself accountable to my Pastor I believe that’s critically important. Although my Pastor is accountable to other Pastors, as well as our church board, we are truly an independent, nondenominational body of believers. The Holy Spirit is free to minister as He chooses and our leadership is truly open to whatever is of God. I pray it stays that way because as long as you remain independent you have a shot at participating in the end-time revival that is certain to come. Fresh waves of God have NEVER come through a denomination or even an affiliation. EVER. They can’t. Present day Pharisaical leadership won’t allow it; “We don’t do it that way.” Problem is, the Holy Spirit does!

If you choose to not believe and receive what the scriptures plainly teach concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit, then so be it. Whether you are open to speaking in tongues is up to you and does not mean you are not a born-again child of God. It has nothing to do with your salvation. Jesus and I will love you just as you are. :^) The only requirement for salvation is that you become “born-again” as Jesus said in the third chapter, verse 3, of the gospel of John. (No, the baptists didn’t coin the term “born-again”, Jesus did). You must admit you are a sinner and accept God’s Son for the remission of your sins. No sane person should reject that kind of love, but sadly, many do. Go figure. That’s pride on steroids!

Okay, back to spiritual warfare. Engaging in spiritual warfare without living a Godly life can be dangerous. Living “in the Spirit” is not a game like “World of Warcraft” (for those of you gamers out there). Delving into spiritual things you do not understand can be devastating. Over the years I have seen many people who were not living a Godly lifestyle, outside of 2 hours on Sunday morning, “fight the devil” to try and get answers to prayer. When they fail to receive they blame God, His Word or their Pastor. This is nonsense. They may be fighting (praying) hard, but they are not releasing their faith. They are “praying scared.” They’ve had their head and heart in the world all week long and then expect to exercise their authority over the enemy on an “in need” basis. Let me say this again; worldiness stifles the releasing of your faith! It creates doubt and unbelief in your soul. Faith is released from your spirit, through your mind and out into this realm. When you’ve been filling your mind all week, month, year, with philosophies that oppose the Word of God and then try to release your faith, well, it’s just not going to be productive.

The “key”, if you’re into “keys”, to a fruitful life can be found in the fifteenth chapter of John. Here you will find out how to be sure your faith can be released. It’s called “abide.” Let’s look at this; verse 4, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, NEITHER CAN YOU, unless you abide in me.” M-e-d-i-t-a-t-e this until you get it. herein lies the answer to effective spiritual warfare. Notice He didn’t say “Visit me when needed”. No, He said abide. Abide means ‘remain’. Once you cut a branch off of a tree it dies. Period. The leaves may stay green for a short while, but it’s essentially toast. It’s over. No more fruit will be forthcoming. Why? Because it’s source of fruit-bearing is eliminated from it’s life.

Now let’s look at verse 7; IF you abide in Me, AND MY WORDS abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”. What!? Read it again. Much of the body of Christ is living a carnal life. And they wonder why their prayers aren’t answered. If you live a lifestyle that is, for the most part, cut off from fellowship with Jesus and His Word, I would suggest you don’t try and irritate the devil. He will hand you your head back on a platter. Always remember; the key to your success is not you, it’s Jesus! Don’t put Him on the back burner of your schedule, pigeon-hole Him somewhere and expect to “walk as He walked.” I admit this takes a diligent commitment but YOU CAN DO THIS! If you want to…

Last point in this e-pistle; verse 12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you”. This is a huge stumbling block to many. They are harboring unforgiveness. Whoops. That’s a big no-no to God. He said we are to love others “as He loved” us. How is that? Unconditionally. After all He has forgiven me for how could I possibly think that I have the right to not forgive someone else? Notice also that this is a “commandment”, not just a “good idea”. Unforgiveness is a cancer to your soul and will stop faith dead in it’s tracks. God will not tolerate unforgiveness under any circumstances. Look at Mark 11:25, “And when you stand praying, if you have ANYTHING against ANYONE, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive your trespasses”. Can Jesus make it any plainer than that? Do you mean to tell me that after all God has forgiven you for you still think you have the right to hold unforgiveness against someone else for something they’ve done? You’ve got bigger problems than they do.

We’ve got people wanting to be effective ministers for Christ who are walking around with bitterness in their hearts. As I have previously stated. I can’t change the world, but I CAN change me. And it’s my responsibility to change me. Then and only then can God be confident to entrust the “true riches”, the ministry of His good news, to me. Spiritual warfare begins and ends with you. It revolves around how you live your life, not on yelling, screaming, spitting, or crying. Are you walking in God’s kind of love? Are you truly abiding in the vine? Or are you wanting to stop by occasionally to try and pick some fruit off of it? Still love me?

Until next time…

Godspeed!

Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip

By Your Side

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don’t turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I’m not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I’ll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don’t fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world’s sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I’ll never let you go

(Chorus 2x)

A great debate that is coming up on Saturday April 4th at Biola University. William Lane Craig will debate world renown Atheist Christopher Hitchens. This should be spectacular. It is sold out but one can pay to view it as a live stream from your computer. Here is the info:

Live Broadcast:

Saturday, April 4, 7:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time
(8:30 pm Mountain, 9:30 pm Central, 10:30 pm Eastern)

Re-broadcasts:
Sunday, April 5
4:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time (5:00 pm Mountain, 6:00 pm Central, 7:00 pm Eastern)

Wednesday, April 8
5:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time (6:00 pm Mountain, 7:00 pm Central, 8:00 pm Eastern)

Deadline for sign up:
Monday, March 30, 11:59 pm PDT.

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Take Three Easy Steps . . .
1) Just log on to the registration web site: www.apologeticsevents.com/debate
2) Agree to the terms, pay the viewing fee, and receive a code to log into the broadcast
3) Use your equipment to put it on a nice monitor, screen, or projector, invite everyone at your church, and enjoy!

www.apologeticsevents.com/debate

FAQ:

Do I need special equipment?
All you need is a computer with a high-speed broadband internet connection! Simply hook the computer up to a big monitor or projector to share with your group! (See system recommendations on the website: www.apologeticsevents.com/debate.)

Who can watch?
Anyone! We encourage you to find an audience. Whether it be your friends and family, your church small group, your non-Christian friends, or those in your community.

Can we charge admission to the viewing at my church or venue?
Of course! In fact, the debate would make a great fundraiser. How much you charge is up to you!

How do I watch?
Once you’ve paid the fee, we’ll send you a code and log on information. At the time of broadcast, you’ll be able to log on and view the feed at the site: www.apologeticsevents.com/debate.

See the site for more FAQs!

www.apologeticsevents.com/debate

ABOUT THE DEBATERS

William Lane Craig, Ph.D.
Dr. Craig is one of the world’s leading contemporary philosophers and holds the position of Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Birmingham, England and a D.Theol. from the University of Munich, Germany. He is the author or editor of numerous cutting-edge works in philosophy, theology, and apologetics.

Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens is one of the best known controversial writers and critics in the media. He has been a columnist for Vanity Fair, The Nation and Slate. He is also a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times Book Review and the Atlantic Monthly, among other publications.

www.apologeticsevents.com/debate

For more information please contact:
The Christian Apologetics Program
Biola University
13800 Biola Ave
La Mirada, CA 90639-0001
Phone: 888.332.4652 (toll free)
Mailto:apologetics@biola.edu

I attended a debate at Northwest Missouri State University on March 18th. The premise; did Jesus rise from the dead? This debate involved William Lane Craig and Richard Carrier. I had really hoped for a good debate. I wanted to leave with something to think about. Something that would require me to research and dig deep to fully understand. I must say I was disappointed. Now, my disappointment was not with Craig rather with Carrier. I have often hoped somebody would give Craig a run for his money.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I hoped someone would make a point that he had trouble explaining or might even say, “Great point, I will have to look into that”. No, that is not what I heard. Rather, a commercial for Carriers two books and a crazy concoction that everybody in the early Christian church hallucinated and therefore are not credible, interrupted and followed up by more commercials for his books. Basically, Carrier wants to be an atheist so he is. That pretty much sums him up. The funny thing is many times I have heard it said that Christians naively believe what they want. Christians are ignorant to blindly believe as they do. I think all people believe what they want and then look for proof. Carrier needs to keep looking!

Here is a link to the debate on youtube ….

In this third installment in this series I want to take a little closer look at praying in the Spirit or praying in tongues as some refer to it. Although there are several references to praying in tongues throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles, Paul gives his most in-depth coverage of this new weapon in the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Why not get a good Bible concordance and look up the word “tongues” or the phrase “pray in the Spirit” and do a study on your own? As a side note; for those of you who have been taught that praying in the Spirit passed away with the original twelve apostles keep in mind that when Paul was instructing the church in this epistle at no time did he indicate this phenomenon was for “apostles only”, nor did he tell them it was a temporary gift to the church just to give it a ‘head start.” And I can guarantee you the whole Corinthian church was not made up of apostles so that’s why they were allowed to speak in tongues. Why do we swallow some of this stuff? Again, where IS that barf bag?

Concerning the previously mentioned “yelling, screaming, etc.’ that some do when interceding or warring in the Spirit we must consider that in verse 2 of this chapter it specifically states that when we pray in tongues we are speaking “to God”, not the devil. And from what I can gather from the study of the scriptures, God is not deaf. Although I know the devil has the ability to imitate praying in tongues, I also know he doesn’t understand them. Praying in your “prayer language” is an awesome stroke of God’s genius in giving us a way to pray His will into the earth without the devil even having a clue as to what’s taking place. Praying in the Spirit bypasses our carnal understanding which oftentimes is in conflict with what God is trying to accomplish. It states in verse 2 that when we pray in tongues we are praying “mysteries.” A mystery is something we don’t have an answer to. Look at verse 14; it says “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” It’s clueless. But in the previous verse it tells us that it is also possible for the Lord to give us an interpretation of what just transpired during our Spirit-led prayer time. The need for interpretation is preferable in public assemblies, otherwise everyone stands around thinking “I wonder what that was all about?” It profits no one. However, when you are in a time of personal prayer, alone with God, interpretation can be rare. Much of what you may be interceding for is none of your business anyway. If God wants to clue you in, He will by giving you insight. I honestly believe He withholds information from us because we feel a need to get in the middle of what He is doing and screw it up. This is an authority issue, but God does not just do whatever He wants in the earth. He turned the authority of ruling the earth over to man and He works through us to accomplish His will. That’s why He had to send His Son as a man. Yes, Jesus was, and is, fully God, But He was also fully man. and being a man is what gave Him the authority to control earthly things. Although He was forthright in stating that God was His “Father” (which at the time was considered blasphemy) He usually referred to Himself as the “Son of Man.” I believe He did that for two reasons; 1) He was drilling it into our thick heads that we too would be able to do what He did and, 2) He was reminding the devil that man did in fact have control over him as God originally intended. The time for man to once again walk in fellowship with his Creator had come! For those who believe and receive God’s plan of salvation their sins were forever forgiven! He was announcing that, for the devil, the party was over!

Another thing I want you to notice is in verse 4; “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…” It means you build yourself up. In Jude verse 20 it says you “build yourself up in your most holy faith.” Of course the devil doesn’t want you doing that so he will naturally lie and tell you “it isn’t for today.” Unfortunately, much of the church swallowed that line and are therefore a non-factor in the earth. They’re powerless and clueless, comfortable in their passivity. They do their religious duty on Sunday thinking they are better than those who don’t attend church. Bless their hearts. I love them, they are my family in Christ but when I need help, wisdom, insight, deliverance, etc., I want someone who knows how to pray the will of God in power. Wouldn’t you? I’ve been told many times over the years that I have a “prophetic bent” because of the way I minister and I don’t mean to sound harsh but, come on, to me this stuff is common spiritual sense. If God is real and we are in a spiritual war as the scriptures tell us then I suggest we get this thing figured out so we can win and get out of here. Heaven is our destiny!

Because we are building ourselves up in faith when we pray in tongues I can understand how our emotions will sometimes cause us to declare, proclaim and even demand the will of God into any given situation. It is not unreasonable to think this could be expressed in a bold, loud manner. After all, we’re being fired up! As you mature in spiritual things your senses become exercised to the point where you can discern between good and evil (as explained in Hebrews 5:14. Look it up. No,seriously). The Holy Spirit will let you know what is of His Spirit and what is not. We all make mistakes as we grow in God so be patient with the younger believer. God bless them for their hunger for more of God! Zeal can cause mistakes as I well document in my book “Reflections of a Failed Church: A Candid Look Behind the Curtain.” (Pray with me that it gets edited soon!) God can mature the hungry over time, but the apathetic are much harder to deal with. Peter’s hungry, zealous spirit got him in trouble from time to time but he learned from his mistakes and turned out pretty good, I’d say. That, my friend, is the grace of God in the believer. He will help you swim in deeper waters if you’re not afraid to dive in.

There is no way I’m going to be able to do an in-depth teaching on this subject through my e-pistles but there are a couple more points I’d like to make that will be forthcoming. In addition to what I want to further show you there is the subject of fasting. I will touch on this as we go but my wife would do a better job with this. She is a prayer warrior and when she prays the devil moves over. Is she loud? Yeah, usually. Who is she yelling at? I’m not sure but I’m going to say the devil because she gets results! It’s true that God is not deaf and when we pray we are speaking to Him, however I could see where, when we pray His will through the Spirit, He would become righteously angry and remind the devil what a loser he is. I can almost hear Him say “Get behind my children, Satan!”. And that probably wouldn’t be a passive suggestion either. Maybe I can someday convince Denise to write an e-pistle to you concerning fasting coupled with praying in tongues. She has a lot of testimonies in this area. A memory like a steel trap! But as far as the loud, shouting, crying and so forth you may witness, follow your spirit. God will show you what He’s a part of and what He’s not a part of. Listen to Jesus and pattern your ministry after His. I’ve had people say “Well, no where does it say that Jesus prayed in tongues.” True, but the new covenant had not been established yet. He hadn’t been crucified and resurrected. The advent of the New Covenant was confirmed when He successfully paid the price in full and sat down with His Father. He told us He would return to the right hand of His Father and THEN send the Holy Spirit to the church. That’s when the gift of tongues was given to the church. Study the Book children! While Jesus walked the earth He had His flesh disciplined to the point where He accurately heard and obeyed the voice of His Father. He knew what the Father’s will was in every situation. He also fully understood His authority, and the power behind it, again as a man, over demonic forces. He showed us the way. He is our example. Now it’s our responsibility to work out, with fear and trembling, the salvation that’s within us. It’s an ugly, nasty world we live in, yet Jesus said “Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world!” We can, too. But it’s going to take a commitment to His Word, prayer, fellowship and yes, courage. You can do it!

Until next time…

Godspeed!

Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip

When I received this request to address the issue of spiritual warfare one of the specific areas of confusion mentioned was concerning all the “yelling, screaming and crying” that sometimes goes on. The author of the question was wondering why she had never felt compelled to actively participate in that type of thing. I want to address this reverently because there is a danger of throwing the entire meal out because of one hair. I enjoy reading and researching Church history, particularly powerful revivals and what started the fire, and I find only one clear common thread; holy living and hunger to see God at work in the earth. This almost always will lead to fasting and prayer. This almost always leads to the collision of two worlds, heaven and earth, resulting in salvations and undeniable miracles. Some of these revivals were short-lived while some spanned a decade or more.

They would almost always begin to falter as men tried to put the Holy Spirit in a religious box (“This is the way He moves and only this way.” Or “This is what we were doing last time He moved mightily.”) or people got outside of the Holy Spirit and tried to lead God, or they got just plain weird. When the Lord moves you will sometimes witness “strange” happenings, but never weird or bizarre. The word “strange” simply means unfamiliar, unknown or unseen (Funk & Wagnalls). I remember the first time I saw someone lift their hands in a service at Christ Lutheran Church in Irvington, NE and thought “Wow, they’re radical!”, so just because it’s new to you doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it means it’s unfamiliar to your personal experience. Having said that, I have seen some things go on that were indeed weird and filled with religious devils having a religious orgy with peoples brains and emotions. It’s usually time to head for the door because you are heavily outnumbered! Some Pentecostals seem to think that the louder and weirder you are the more God moves. Baloney. Sometimes I think even He heads for the side door, if He was there to begin with. Love them, always, but leave them.

Let’s break this down; most of these kinds of reactions (yelling, screaming, etc.) take place in prayer sessions where believers are praying in tongues. Now some of you will say “See! I told you it wasn’t for today!” Sit down. How people handle things has nothing to do with whether or not it’s from God. We humans have a pretty lengthy record of fouling things up. If it’s in the scriptures, it’s for us, the church. I’ll probably repeat myself several times throughout this teaching, but accuracy always boils down to Jesus and your current fellowship with Him. Sometimes I think that people are convinced that the louder they shout the more scared the devil gets. Umm…I’m thinking no. Volume doesn’t impress him, authority does. When he is controlling portions of your life (conduct) then I doubt you’re going to tell him what to do and when to do it. When you are the one in authority you don’t have to scream. You merely have to “say the Word.” Look at Matthew 8:5-11 & 13. It’s a little lengthy but hang in there with me. “Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ The centurion answered and said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.’ And his servant was healed that same hour.” (New  King James version)

Only speak a word and as you have believed, so let it be done for you. Family, that’s authority. Notice that Jesus didn’t have to scream, lay hands on the guy so forcefully that He knocked him down. He didn’t even directly address the devil! He simply said “Go your way and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” That is (should be) the ministry of the believer today. That is the level of ministry He desires for you and me to have. But this kind of authority, and these kinds of results, don’t come because you yell, scream or cry. They come from a relationship with Him based on holy living, communion with Him and meditation of the scriptures. Doing these things will cause your “believer to believe”! And when you believe, you trust His Word. That’s when stuff happens.

Now, yes there are times when you will be moved to tears or what I like to call commanding, forceful prayers. There are some people who are too nice to the devil; “Devil, if you would, I would appreciate it if you would leave my sister alone. In Jesus Name I pray.” YIKES! No, when you’re in authority there is nothing wrong with letting those forces opposed to the will of God know it. There are times when I am in prayer or intercession and my voice will noticeably raise in volume or force. The devil is a pathetic, self-deluded loser and it’s okay to remind him of that from time to time. Out loud. There are also times when I will weep uncontrollably, more these days than ever before in my life and ministry. Then there are times when I’m praying for someone where emotion in any form is not a factor at all. The key to prayer and intercession is: WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT INSTRUCTING YOU TO DO at that moment in time? How is HE moving you? That, my friend, is the single most important element in prayer and only comes through consistent fellowship with Him. Don’t rely on the power you used to flow in. It must be fresh, daily bread. “Now faith!”

As I write, the Holy Spirit continues to give me additional insights into this important subject. I’m not attempting a second book here, and I like to try and keep my e-pistles somewhat short so I will end this one. We will continue this subject shortly. I love you.

Until next time…

Godspeed!

Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip

Recently I received an email request to address the issue of spiritual warfare and, more specifically, “What’s the proper way to do it?” Before I begin let me emphasize that for some reason we humans tend to put spiritual things into “keys” or “steps” or ‘formulas’. Stop it, stop it , stop it! This may be the most important statement I make in this e-pistle; any kind of ’spiritual warfare’ you engage in must be based on your relationship with Jesus Christ and not on your knowledge of Him. This is possibly the biggest mistake we as believers can make. The devil is not threatened by our knowledge, he is however devastated by our relationship/fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Religion doesn’t phase Satan, in fact, he invented it. Religion was the framework to keep us out of real communion with our Savior. The deception lies in that if we “do” the things our religion requires then we must surely be in God’s good graces. (Where is my barf bag?) As we look at spiritual warfare keep in mind that my insights are not necessarily in order of importance. The only thing that’s really important is that you hear His voice and respond in kind. In other words, follow Him.

In my 25+ years of ministry, 18 of which I served in the capacity of Senior Pastor, I’ve witnessed and participated in all sorts of prayer gatherings, both spontaneous and scheduled. Although I truly believe in corporate unity in prayer (see Acts 1:14), the most powerful times I have ever experienced have come when it’s just Jesus and me. Personal time with Him is the most important and effective time of prayer we can have. If we see to it that this is a priority then corporate times of prayer can be much more powerful. It doesn’t take near as long to fillet the flesh off before we can clearly hear His voice. Although God will indeed repeat Himself to drive home a certain truth, if we keep hearing the same thing over and over and over it’s more than likely because we are not hearing anything new from Him. Where there is no “fresh” word from God, there is little power present. It carries the same characteristics as religion. Sounds good, but no one is changed.

If you are baptized in the Holy Spirit then you understand the power associated with praying in tongues. If you’re not, and believe it’s not for today, then you’re left up to your own wisdom of what God should do and how He should do it. Good luck. But on the other hand, praying in tongues does not guarantee success either. I believe there is a prayer language that comes from the Holy Spirit and is extremely effective, but again must be relationship/fellowship based. Tongues can be mimicked. The devil will try to imitate anything that is of God in an effort to throw the immature of course. Denise and I experienced this kind of situation early on in our Christian walk during a “twig meeting” with the “Way International.” Fortunately, we sensed it was not “our Jesus” and got the heck out of there. The Holy Spirit will always guide/warn you if you are listening!

Let me say that if you are not living a pure and Godly life any spiritual warfare you engage in will most likely be ineffective. Results will be “hit and miss” at best. Chances are you are not going to be able to cast a spirit of alcoholism out of someone while you’re addicted to nicotine. However, God is merciful, miracles do happen and the “gift” of faith can play a major part in someones deliverance. But to experience God’s best we must make an honest effort to cleanse ourselves from corruption in any form. We are not earning anything, we are placing ourselves into a position where unbelief is purged and the faith we already possess can be released freely.

As is my custom, a 10 minute e-pistle is turning into a 3 day conference. I will address praying in the Spirit (tongues) in further detail in my next e-pistle as it has many facets to it. Allow me the grace to put in a plug for these “Truth From The Hip e-pistles”; if they are a blessing to you and are helping you grow in grace and understanding why not take a moment to share them with others? Print them out and pass them around, forward them to those on your email list, or better yet, encourage your friends to email me at truthfromthehip@gmail.com and sign up for themselves. Or go for the gold and give them to your Pastor! All previous revivals started “outside the lines” of organized religion. Who knows, maybe, just maybe, God wants to use you to start a fire that will burn throughout your generation. Only believe!

Until next time…

Godspeed!

Rich Glenn
Truth From The Hip

Happy Monday to you and blessings from the Lord! Yesterday after our church service I was speaking to a lady about how frustrated I was Christmas Eve. Instead of being able to attend Victory Church’s Christmas Eve service, as we had planned, I ended up taking Denise to the emergency room at the Fremont Area Medical Center for what turned out to be a very painful ear infection. My frustration originated from the fact that Jesus told us in plain language that we would “lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18) For those of you who believe healing passed away with the original twelve apostles I suggest you seriously consider where you are getting your teaching and study the scriptures for yourself.

Choosing to believe that God does not heal today is a very sorry excuse for not being willing to pay the price to “walk as He walked”, as we are commanded to do in 1 John 2:6. I say this in love, but come on people! Wake up! I have experienced far too many healing miracles, both to me and through me, to believe less, and so have countless others throughout the years. Does everyone prayed for receive healing? No, but I’m working on that. :^) Do yourself a favor and study the lives of Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake and other brothers and sisters of great faith. You’ll be amazed at what God is doing! Anyway, back to my point; after our episode at the hospital I had a heart-to-heart with the Lord. I asked HIm why we aren’t experiencing more healings, blessings, miracles, etc. in the church. His answer to me was that the church, in general, was carnal and does not always have His will in mind. We are not living the separated lives we should be living. Plain and simple. We have within us the very spirit of Christ and we are expected to continue the work He started while here on the Earth. (See Acts 1:1. Keys words ‘began to do..’) We were told to “occupy” until He returns all the while carrying on His ministry. He then instructed me to study Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Church, which I intend to do in depth during 2009. The Corinthian Church was being rebuked and instructed for many of the same things we see so rampant in the body of Christ today. Let’s take a look… Paul begins by mentioning that there are divisions in the church. Bad start to a ministry. We see this very same problem today, not only in the differences between the various denominations, but also amongst the different non-denominational, Word, Faith, independent or whatever you want to call them, churches. “Our church leaders follow, Kenneth Copeland” some will say. “Ours follow Fred Price,” We follow Kenneth Hagin and are a Rhema affiliate.” “We follow Chuck Smith.” “We teach Joyce Meyer and give heavily into her ministry.” “We are an Andrew Wommack satellite church.” “We are a Faith Christian Fellowship affiliate.” The list amongst “independent” churches could go on and on. I remember some 20 years ago giving, from the pulpit, a word from the Lord concerning this potential problem. It wasn’t difficult to see it coming. I’m not saying these churches don’t have good things to offer because they do. What I am saying is that we have, surprise-surprise, eventually have found ourselves in a situation we sought to be free from some 30 years ago when independent churches started springing up. Once you align yourself with any particular persuasion that is when you will stop growing in the spirit. No one Christian party has all the right answers and does everything the right way. I would like to think that as we go we are getting closer, but we’ll know when we’ve got everything right when we see the ministry of Jesus in active in every gathering, complete with signs, miracles, wonders and salvations. That’s how He works. Please, I don’t mean to condemn, I only want to encourage us, as the body of Christ, to renew our focus to Jesus and only Jesus, not “our church.” You’ll find a similar situation as recorded in 1 Cor. 1:10-4:21. The church had just begun and was already divided because some were following (affiliating themselves with) Paul, some Peter and some Apollos. See what I’m getting at here? Unfortunately, we are just as divided today. There is one major reason for a lack of corporate power. We are still a divided body. Secondly, the Corinthian Church was corrupted by immoral conduct, lawsuits against one another, strife, drunkenness (even at the communion table), incest, adultery, fornication, you name it. Yet, they were still operating, or attempting to operate, in the gifts of the Spirit! You will notice God did not withdraw the gifts from the body there in Corinth, but they sure weren’t getting the results they expected. It was a mess. The gifts were evident, but they were certainly not operating as they should. Why? The church was immoral! We know the gifts are still in operation today but are we seeing the same results as recorded in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles? No? Why not? This shouldn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out; much of what Paul had to deal with in the Corinthian Church is going on right now in the body of Christ. It’s shameful. And we wonder where the power is? I don’t know where you stand or where your comfort level is, but as for me I am not satisfied with the lack of power in my ministry as a believer. I know there’s more. I know He wants to draw me into a higher, more powerful level of witness. It’s not up to God, it’s up to me. And it’s up to you. If you want to live a low-level, harmless Christan life while here on Earth that’s your decision. If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord ands Savior you’ll get to heaven, but I guarantee you’ll be disappointed when the Lord shows what you could have accomplished FOR HIM while here in this life. He won’t condemn you, but He might say something like “Gosh, you missed out on a lot of fun.” :^) The letters of Paul to the Corinthians contain a lot of practical instruction for the church and this wisdom certainly applies to us today. We will see more faith released into a very needy people as we begin to purge ourselves of the influences of this world. Worldliness oppresses faith! Godly living allows faith to be released in time of need! There are many things in my life that are not necessarily “bad”, but they are time consuming and influence my thoughts away from Christ. They bolster unbelief because they oppose God’s way of thinking. I know that what I’m addressing is not easy to hear, but I’ve got to believe there are some of you who have that lion, warrior spirit and are fed up with lackluster results when you pray and when you minister. That’s not the ministry of Jesus, that’s the result of a religious attempt at pleasing God and looking hol;y while you do it. Smith Wigglesworth said “They call it “The Acts of the Apostles” because the apostles acted.” I can’t change the church and I can’t change the world. But I can change me. And that’s all the Lord is asking me to do. I don’t want a “healing ministry.” I don’t want a teaching ministry. I don’t want an evangelistic or apostolic ministry either. I want to minister as Jesus ministered. I want to make myself available to God to be used in any type of ministry at any time He chooses to use me. I want the ministry of the believer. I pray you do, too. Until next time… Godspeed! Rich Glenn