In chapter 13 of the gospel according to Mark, Jesus instructs disciples of all generations about the signs of His return. In Mark 13:33, after describing the signs, He winds it all down to this: ”Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”
Why did He tell us to watch? For at least two reasons.
First, Jesus wants us to watch so we will see and know the signs of the times. We’re now seeing signs of what He referred to as the “beginnings of sorrows” in Mark 13:8 and Matthew 24:8: wars and rumors of wars, nations and kingdoms rising against each other, earthquakes, famines, and troubles. The beginnings of sorrows will usher in a string of prophetic events culminating in Jesus’ return.
Disciples of Jesus should not be surprised by His return. We’re supposed to watch so we will see. In Matthew 24:37, Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. How is that significant? Noah knew a flood was coming. No one else even knew what a flood was. But Noah knew because the Lord told him, and Noah prepared – despite the ridicule of his family and neighbors. If Noah knew, so will we even as the rest of the world sits in darkness!
In fact, in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, the Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit tells us that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. But in verses 4-5 he tells us that day won’t overtake us as a thief because we are not in darkness, but are children of light.
We should not be surprised! In John 16:13, Jesus announces that when the Holy Spirit comes He will reveal things to come! Every Spirit-filled believer should be turning inwardly to see what the Holy Spirit is revealing.
Why should we watch? So we’ll see and recognize the signs of the times.
There’s a second reason for us to watch. Jesus told us to watch – and pray! We must watch so we’re thoroughly equipped to pray to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, effectively and with great precision.
If we as members of the Body of Christ step up, keep our eyes open, and pray with power in these days, great things will happen in the earth. Will you take your place? Will you watch and pray?
I’ve started preaching a series on the prophecy the Lord spoke through me for 2010. This past Sunday, I preached about the attitude we should have during the coming time of intense judgment.
Our attitude must be one rooted and grounded in love. Love is our commandment. Love is how people will know we’re the disciples of Jesus. If we judge other people, we won’t be loving.
Jesus put it to us this way in Matthew 7:1-2 (NKJV):
Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
In the New Living Translation, verse 2 is translated like this: “Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged.”
That’s really sobering. If we don’t want judgment to be piled on us, we must refrain from judging others. If we’re critical in judging others, then when it comes time, we’ll be judged critically. If we exercise mercy, we’ll receive mercy. James put it this way:
Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13 (NKJV)
In fact, Jesus told us that even He didn’t come to judge (the same Greek word can be translated “condemn”), but to save. (See John 3:17 and John 12:46-48.
That doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye to sin, or equate sin with righteousness. After the last of the adulterous woman’s accusers dropped his stone and walked away, Jesus didn’t turn to the woman and say, “OK lady, go ahead and keep committing adultery. It’s not a big deal. Adultery is as good as being committed to your covenant of marriage.” No, He gave her instruction in righteousness. He told her to go and sin no more. He didn’t do it to be judgmental. He was loving, encouraging, and helping her to stay close to God and live in the Blessing instead of the Curse. He was helping her avoid judgment.
We must also be absolutely brutal with ourselves about our motives when we see people whose life decisions will lead to judgment, and we’re prepared to say something to them, or to someone else about them. Are we preparing to wag our finger in disapproval? Or are we really trying to encourage them in their walk with the Lord?
And if someone’s conduct does lead to judgment, and they fall, are we poised to say, “I told you so?” Are we at the ready to tear them down and preach at them? Or will we step in and encourage them and help them to be restored. Galatians 6:1-5 gives us our instructions – restore them gently, don’t be puffed up about our own righteousness, but examine our own work.
Here’s the bottom line. If we act like Jesus, we’ll love. If we act like Jesus, we’ll grow and develop and live in the fruit of the Spirit. And if we act like Jesus – if we love instead of judge, minister instead of condemn – then as judgment rains down all around us, we’ll be kept safe. If we really act like Jesus, we’ll win people to Jesus by the thousands, because they won’t be able to resist His love.
Let’s resolve to intensify our efforts to live the life of love this year. Let’s be radical for Jesus. Let’s love people instead of judging them. When we do, we’ll unleash the power of God, and lives will be transformed – including our own!
“’What about 2010?’ says the Lord. What will the year 2010 hold? 2010 will be a year of judgment. It will be a year of judgment for the nations. It will be a year of judgment for churches. It will be a year of judgment for people. But you need not fear because remember what my Word says: Judge yourself and you will not be judged. So you must judge yourselves that you be not judged. 2010 will be a year of judgment and my Word says that judgment begins at the House of God. There will be judgment in the Church and you will see and there will be revealed things that are happening in the Church – in the Body of Christ – that are not pleasing and are not consistent with my Word. There are some who are high who will be brought low, and there are some who are low who will be brought high. 2010 will be a year of judgment.
2010 will be a year of sifting. There will be sifting among the nations. There will be sifting among churches. There will be sifting in your life. There will be sifting of people. And as I prayed for Peter I pray for you that your faith fail not.
Do not put your trust in man, but put your trust in Me, says the Lord, for I will not allow you to fail. If you put your trust in man, you will fail. 2010 is a year where you need to stay close to Me because those who stay close to me will not be judged. And if they are judged they will be judged righteous because of the blood of Jesus. If they are judged they will be chastened, but they will not be brought down, they will not be brought low, they will not be touched, they will not be brought low. Keep yourself close to Me and you will have nothing to fear.
Pray for the mountains of Israel. Pray for the mountains of Israel. Watch and pray. Watch what is happening in the Middle East. And what people call the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not what I call them. Keep your eyes on Israel. Remarkable things will happen in 2010. I have said it, says the Lord, and it will come to pass. But pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and pray for Israel. Watch and pray.
Do not be discouraged. There will be times of judgment in 2010, but you, if you stay close to Me, will not fall into judgment. You will rather find yourself in your wealthy place, in your spiritual wealthy place. So I say to you, fear not! And I say again, fear not! If you are my sons and if you are my daughters, then be led by my Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit that searches the deep things of Me, says the Lord, and you will never fail.”
What a weekend it was. Court Street in Athens, Ohio, was filled with costumed revelers for the annual Halloween block party.
This year was different. Sure, there were plenty of people who were drunk. As always, we saw silly, offensive, and clever costumes. Loud rock bands played at both ends of Court Street. What was different?
402 people received Jesus! In the midst of the revelry, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was offered in love, and 402 people responded.
How did it happen? Riley Stephenson, Minister of Evangelism for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, trained and led teams from Abundant Life Church into the fray. Danielle Dallas and Kelly Cates, two experienced members of Brother Riley’s soul winning team, dove in as well. The Holy Spirit moved, and lives were changed forever.
This was a snatch and rescue mission. Jude 23 (NLT) says this: “Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren’t contaminated by their sins.” That’s what Brother Riley and Sisters Danielle and Kelly helped us to do. They trained us to overcome fear and live a “lifestyle of evangelism.” The lives of those who prayed will never be the same. We will never be the same.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that soul winning is only for the five-fold ministry, or for people who have a special calling. If you’re a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you’re called to be a soul winner. In Mark 16:15 (NLT), Jesus made it about as plain as He could: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.” That includes you. It includes me.
If you want to know more about what to do, check out Brother Riley’s web site: www.rileystephenson.com. His site has lots of great materials. Also, his YouTube channel (rileystephenson) is chock full of great videos, including a few from this last weekend’s Halloween. Or contact us at Abundant Life Church. We’ll hook you up with our new evangelism director, Lola Reardon.
Become a soul winner. Someone’s eternal life is depending on it!
Yesterday I posted a blog about Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ 2009 Southwest Believers’ Convention and the New York Times article covering it. I want to be sure that what I wrote is not misinterpreted.
I’m not condemning the Times or the religion professor who is quoted in the article. That’s not an appropriate response from a true follower of Jesus Christ, and that’s not what my response was intended to be.
Matthew 5:44 (NKJV) says this:
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
As one who considers himself one of the Copelands’ spiritual sons, I consider an attack on the Copelands to be an attack on me. What must be (and is) my response? To love, to bless, and to pray. And when a contrary thought pops up, it’s my job to cast it down, and to love, to bless, and to pray.
I pray for the Times reporter, for the religion professor, and for all those who have been so critical of Brother and Sister Copeland. Will all of you who confess Jesus as Lord you join me?
My family and I made our annual trip to Fort Worth for Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ Southwest Believers’ Convention. As always, we had an awesome time. I highly recommend it for anyone who seeks a week of outstanding preaching and teaching, glorious praise and worship, and intense immersion in the Word of God. We were also blessed to reconnect with old friends and to make new friends.
We were also blessed to learn that 2774 people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus as a result of the work of Riley Stephenson’s evangelism team, which swept the streets of Fort Worth during the week before and the week of the convention. The Word of the Lord will not return to Him void, but will accomplish His purpose! (Isaiah 55:11).
On Saturday, though, I read an online New York Times article about the convention. Not surprisingly, it highlighted pictures of ushers carrying stacks of offering buckets and of a woman placing an offering on the steps of the platform, and included digs about the speakers’ preaching about prosperity and divine health, and the manifestation of health and prosperity in the speakers’ lives. The article also quoted a religion professor from the University of California, who attended the convention to do “research” on Word of Faith preachers. He gave his opinion that the preachers were irresponsible because they barely acknowledged the current economic downturn, and because they suggested that people continue to tithe and give while expecting a financial return from the Lord.
Let me flip open my Bible. It says that the tithe is holy to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:30, 32). My Bible tells me that the Lord considers it robbery to withhold tithes and offerings. (Malachi 3:8). The Lord also invites us to test Him and His promise that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for the tither, and that He will rebuke the devourer for the sake of the tither. (Malachi 3:10-11).
Jesus Himself preached the hundredfold return on giving (Mark 10:29-30) and that the giver will receive “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” (Luke 6:38).
Obviously, the Times article didn’t include any such scripture references.
The Times article also missed the the theme of Brother Copeland’s messages during the convention: remaining clean of covetousness. In an awesome series of teachings, Brother Copeland taught from Luke chapter 12 about covetousness, and about maintaining a right relationship with money and things. Just like Abraham, we’re supposed to be blessed for the purpose of being a blessing!
I love to tithe and give. It’s an honor to be able to tithe and give. The day I stop tithing and giving will be the day I go home to be with the Lord. And because the Blessing of Abraham has come upon me (Galatians 3:14), I can be like Isaac and thrive in famine. (Read from Genesis chapter 26). If I thrive, I can be a blessing to people who are hurting, and to ministries that are spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
We already have our hotel reservations to return to Fort Worth next year. In the meantime, I plan to implement what I learned at this year’s convention. I and my family will continue to tithe and give, and to be obedient to the Lord as He instructs us. I’ll probably preach to Abundant Life Church in Athens some of the things I learned in the convention. When next year’s comes along, the Lord will have provided more than enough for us to attend and to be a blessing to other people along the way.
I thank God for Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and to the other speakers at each year’s Believers’ Convention. My family and I are blessed to have heard them!
(If you want to see and hear the teachings from the conventions, you can find them online: http://www.bvov.tv/kcm/ondemand/2009swbc.php. Also, you can see the side and back of my bald head in the picture above).
This last week a really great couple moved to town. They’d visited the church once, and I’d had the chance to be in touch with them by Facebook. Wonderful folks.
One of the guys in the church stepped up and offered to help them move in. His mom, who also is active at Abundant Life, made food for them.
People try to over-spiritualize love. Jesus said that no one can have greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13). That may mean dying, but it doesn’t have to. It could mean lifting couches instead of fishing. Or making food instead of going shopping.
Doing something useful for someone else when you’d rather do something else is a great expression of love. God’s love isn’t a squishy feeling two teenagers feel. It’s something active.
Here’s the word the Lord gave me. “Love isn’t love until it gives or does something for someone else.” So go do something for someone or give something to someone. Don’t do it with a frown. Do it with a smile. And when you’re doing it, don’t take the credit for being a do-gooder. Give the Lord the credit. Tell them God loves them.
I can guarantee you. You’ll never have more fun than when you’re living the Love.
Janet and Craig Watson.
Today I received a Skype call from my dear friend, Craig Watson, the pastor of Eagle Christian Ministries in Durban, South Africa. Cherie and I have a covenant relationship by divine appointment with Craig and his wife, Janet, and we are becoming closely knit together in the Spirit. Craig and Janet have been in Athens and have ministered at Abundant Life Church. Talking with Craig via Skype (a free computer to computer “telephone” call) with web cams was like being in the same room with him.
Craig shared with me that his greatest passion over the last many months has been to live in the presence of God. For years he has enjoyed daily fellowship with the Lord. Lately, though, he has been hungry for the Lord’s presence, and has begun to spend each Wednesday morning in prayer and fasting before God. The result has been striking. Craig has experienced wonderful times of fellowship and received extraordinary revelation and anointing from God.
To Craig’s flesh, taking Wednesday morning to seek God seemed like a big sacrifice. In addition to pastoring, Craig and Janet operate an international logistics business that is thriving in famine. Time is not something he possesses in excess. But he made the quality decision to make time to seek God, and has reaped enormous rewards, both in the Spirit and in the natural.
Craig reflected, and I agree, that we’re not “professional preachers” delivering a joke, three points, and a story. We shouldn’t preach just to preach. Instead, we need to preach from a position squarely in the presence of God. The presence of God and the anointing that accompanies His presence makes the difference between just a nice message and a rhema word from God that will change the lives of the hearers, open blind eyes, heal bodies, bring deliverance to the captives, and cause miracles to occur. Like Moses, we should not preach or do anything unless the presence of the Lord goes with us. (Exodus 33:15).
In your own life, seek the presence of God and let it transform you. Make a quality decision to spend time in the Word of God, being quiet before the Lord, and hearing His voice. In your marriage, your job, your health, and every other part of your life, seek first His kingdom – and His presence – and everything you need He will supply to you. (Matthew 6:33). And when He supplies it, it won’t be by small degrees. It will be exceedingly above all you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20) and according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
Seek His presence, and let Him transform you!
The Rev. Van Crouch preached at the church last Saturday night and Sunday morning. He made a point that resonated with me. Where you go to church can mean the difference between life and death. He declared that Abundant Life Church is one of those places where you’ll find life and not death.
Why does it make a difference? How your life goes will depend on your position with the Lord. If you’re built up in the Word of God and prayer, your faith is maturing and developing, you have a vibrant life of worship, you’re spending time with God, you’re walking in love, you’re living right, and you’re surrounded by people who will love you and stand in faith with you, then you’re going to live an overcoming life. It’s a spiritual fact.
If you barely give God the time of day, you’re not reading your Bible, if you think God’s making you sick, taking your money, breaking up your truck, leading you out of your marriage, and wreaking havoc in your life to teach you something, and you’re surrounded by people who look at life that same way, then your prayers will be powerless and your life will be a wreck. It’s a spiritual fact.
It matters where you go to church. Go where the Word of God is preached – and believed. Go where faith is preached, and people will pray in faith, expecting their prayers to be answered. Go where the pastor preaches that God is a good God, and that He wants you to prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers (3 John 2). Go where love is practiced, and joy is abounding and not sorrow. Go where God is lifted up, and worship is an integral part of church life. Go where the life of God is manifest.
I’m honored to pastor Abundant Life Church. Rev. Crouch is right. We ARE the kind of church where you’ll find life and not death. We’re a Spirit-filled, word of faith church, regional in scope, international in reach. And we’d love to see you some Sunday morning at our 10:00 service and our 7:00 Wednesday evening Bible study. You’ll find people who will love you and stand in faith for you. You’ll find intense praise and worship, and you’ll find God present in the church. I hope to see you soon!!
On April 15, while taping the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast with his guest David Barton, Brother Kenneth Copeland received this word from the Lord:
This is the time that has been prophesied about, and at stake here is not only your welfare in the land, but also My move in the end times of a ‘Great Awakening,’” saith the Lord. “And it is that awakening that will save this land and others like it. For it is the time of the coming of the Lord, and you will rise up and you will be My name and you will be My power and I will manifest Myself through you, and many shall come and say, “Surely He is the God of all good.”
Sister Billye Brim had delivered a similar word a few months ago. Both words bear witness in my spirit.
We must pray for our leaders as we are admonished to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-8. But political leaders are not the salvation of the United States. The Lord is the salvation of this nation. More than anything else, we need people here and around the earth to be convicted of sin and righteousness, to be awakened to the Lord, and to turn to the Lord for salvation.
We in the body of Christ need to be praying and standing in faith for a Great Awakening! Don’t be moved by what you see. Pray, believe you receive, and stand in faith for this great end-time move of God!