Showing posts with label fivefold ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fivefold ministry. Show all posts

Friday, September 11, 2015

A Startling Prophetic Vision About American Ministers

Mowing grass
(Flilckr )


If you take a complete overview of the leadership of the United States, you can see that there is a huge decline in moral standards across our land. So many key leaders seem to be pushing their agenda with personal gain in the forefront of their mind. I'm talking about the White House to the church house. 
Recently I have been praying for a renewal in the minds of Americans, a mindset that we just don't need God, but want God and His presence to guide us in life. As I watch different news clips on various social media outlets, I'm shocked to see what's going on in America and the mindset of the American people. Where is the ringing of the words by JFK: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Recently the Lord gave me a prophetic dream about his ministers in America. In this dream I had walked outside in the Texas heat to mow the grass. After I filled up the mower with gas I proceeded to mow in my systematic routine. When I started, a gentleman came up and politely took the mower from me and began to start mowing for me. 
Suddenly, I was very small and became like a blade of grass. The neat, or weird, thing was the blades of grass were all ministers of today. I knew some of them personally. I've seen some on social media and had no clue who the others were, but I knew they were all ministers in the fivefold ministry. 
Suddenly, the mower came our way and I began to lay down. I noticed some of my dear friends began to lay down as well, but others didn't. As the mower proceedes to mow over us in the dream, the people lying down were OK but the ones who didn't where cut by the blade. I instantly woke up and said, "Lord, what does this mean?" The Lord spoke to me and said, "Some of my ministers will lay down their life for me, lay down their agendas, lay down their personal goals but some will not. In these last days I will have a group of ministers who will walk in a higher anointing but it will not rest upon fleshly motives."
I felt the Lord said this is a prophetic picture of what is coming to the ministers of America. Repent for any fleshly motives because God is about to raise the standard. He is looking for a remnant that will lay down its life for the sake of the cross! Personal agendas are done with in these last days. God wants His churches and ministers back and to get back to these foundation of Christianity. 
It reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 9:23: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." James 4:8 reminds us, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (emphasis added).
Jesus Christ came to earth and modeled Christianity for us, the very word Christian means Christ-like. When Jesus was to be baptized it was done in the Jordan River, did you know that the mouth of the Jordan River going into the Dead Sea is the lowest geographical point on planet earth? You see, Jesus came from the highest point in all creation and dwells there today, the right hand of the Father. Jesus went to the lowest spot on earth He could find to be baptized knowing he would be raised to the highest point. We as believers must go to the lowest point, dying to the flesh knowing that God will increase the anointing upon our life. 
When in seasons of fasting it seems that we get to the end of ourselves and allow God to show us more of Himself. When Jesus was baptized He went straight into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and prayer. Can you believe the first thing the enemy tried to do was to get Jesus to turn the stones into bread? Right off the bat the enemy wanted Jesus to break His fast. The enemy doesn't want you go into the deep places of God. I personally want to come to the complete end of myself and walk in the fullness of God!
James 1:17 says that every good and perfect comes from above. When we operate in the gifts that God has given us in the anointing remember where all this came from. If you deliver a powerful sermon, give a life altering prophetic word or sing an amazing worship song, remember who gave you the gift and anointing. Sometimes we get use to these huge blessings and forget to always honor God with them. 
In this dream I remember so vividly some ministers standing and refusing to lower themselves from the coming blade; it didn't end well for them because everyone saw what happened. Some laid down and closed their eyes and had perfect peace when the mower passed them by. God is looking for a generation of ministers who will like Jesus find the lowest place they can go to so they can arise to the fullness of God. These last days' ministers will allow Christ to use them to reshape America and give complete glory to God.
Joe Joe Dawson is the president of Burn Texarkana Revival center and House of Prayer. Pastor Dawson also serves as staff evangelist for First Assembly of God in Texarkana, Texas, where he also is now the Tribe College/young adult pastor. Burn Texarkana has one revival/awakening service a month at First Assembly and also has Burn on the Road meetings in neighboring cites monthly. There are four Burn Texarkana prayer meetings each week! Joe is married to the love of his life, Autumn, and together they have three kids: Malachi, Judah and Ezra. He also serves on the leadership team of New Bread Revivalists Network.
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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Steve Hill: The Problem With Tumbleweed Believers


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Steve Hill: The Problem With 

Tumbleweed Believers


STEVE HIll
Last week, hundreds of thousands of tumbleweeds blew into Clovis, N.M., but didn’t blow back out. This small town was buried under an avalanche of tumbleweeds. Residents had to call 911 for help getting out of their homes. The problem was so big, the National Guard was called in to help battle the tumbleweed invasion. (If you haven’t seen this, click here and prepare to be astonished.)

Having spent several years in Texas, I know a little about these pesky plants. A tumbleweed is an unattractive, troublesome bush that rolls around, having snapped loose from its roots. It’s simply tossed about by the wind.
Paul referred to believers that behave like tumbleweeds in Ephesians 4:14 when he said, “We henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (KJV).
I continually meet believers who are "tossed about to and fro," and that concerns me because so often these dear people end up spiritually shipwrecked. Let me share with you a few thoughts about "tumbleweed believers."
1. Tumbleweed believers have not allowed their roots to sink deep into the truth.
There is nothing on Planet Earth that gets blown around more than a tumbleweed. Just a little wind, and off it goes. But these pesky plants don’t start out this way. When growing, a tumbleweed is firmly planted in the soil. But at the end of its growth season, it breaks loose, never to be planted again.
Spiritually speaking, this is what happens to many believers. They encounter a difficult test or trial, and suddenly they stop growing. My friend, you should never stop growing in the Lord! If you do, it’s just a matter of time before you begin to tumble in your Christian walk.
The reason Paul was so adamant that believers be established in the truth is because false doctrine was sweeping through the church, causing many to fall away. It’s no different today. False doctrine will blow you off course and leave you hundreds of miles from where you want to be spiritually. Becoming firmly grounded in God’s Word is one of the primary ways to ensure that you stay on course and remain spiritually strong and healthy.
2. Tumbleweed believers begin to roam when confronted.
Over the years, I have seen people who refuse to deal with their sin. In fact, a lot of pastors are afraid to talk about sin from their pulpits. Some even refuse to use the word. Why? Because people will pack up their marbles and leave if confronted.
My friend, we need to speak about backsliding and the devastating consequences of sin. These things will destroy you. However, those who don’t want to hear the truth will get offended, and off they go like a tumbleweed.
3. Tumbleweed believers blown by the wind are helpless to decide their own route.
Tumbleweed believers can’t decide where to go. They are in and out, this way then that way, totally at the mercy of the wind. They go whichever way it happens to be blowing today.
Believers who find themselves at a loss of direction need only look back to where they disconnected themselves from the kingdom. 
Are you spending time in His Word? This is important to keep you rooted in His truth! His word is a “lamp unto [your] feet, and a light unto [your] path” (Ps. 119:105).
Are you listening to the Holy Spirit? God sent the Spirit to teach, comfort and correct us. You should welcome His activity in your life and not run from it, for when He has come into your life, “he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
Are you connected to a body of believers? So many are in the habit of forsaking the assembly of the saints. They say, “I don’t need the church to make it to heaven.” But friend, you need the church to make it here on earth. 
This is precisely what Paul is saying in Ephesians 4. Christ gave us the church and the fivefold ministry gifts “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man” (Eph. 4:12-13, NKJV).
Feeling tossed around in the world? Get reconnected to His Word, the Spirit, and the body.
4. Tumbleweed believers spread their unwanted seeds at random.
One of the reasons farmers hate tumbleweeds is because each one has about 250,000 seeds that can grow in a wide range of temperatures. Imagine that. As a tumbleweed blows across the land, it scatters a quarter of a million seeds that potentially become tumbleweeds. So all year long, farmers have to put up with this nuisance.
How many tumbleweed believers do you suppose we have in America, rolling around the landscape of Christianity, spreading bad seed?
I can’t tell you how many unhealthy, anemic, cancerous individuals have come across my path attempting to scatter their bad seed in the garden of my life. Someone hurt them, so they want to plant that bad seed in my soil. They are bitter about an event that took place, and they want me to accept that seed of bitterness. The list goes on and on. Let’s not allow these seeds to take root. Shake off everything that happened in the past, settle in, and begin to grow again.
My friend, let us determine to allow our roots to grow deep in Christ. Know what you believe, and don’t let anything or anyone blow you off course. When you are confronted by an attack from the enemy, resist him. When temptation comes your way, stand strong. Let’s be believers who are deeply rooted, continually growing, and ever producing fruit for the kingdom.
Evangelist Steve Hill preached the Brownsville Revival for five years, is pastor emeritus of Heartland World Ministries Church and has authored 13 books, including Spiritual Avalanche. He can be reached at www.stevehill.org.
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