Seated Together With Him

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17).

This was written by a man (the apostle Paul) who had been shipwrecked, beaten multiple times, snake-bitten, living in a 4' x 8' cell in the Mamertine prison in Rome and under house arrest the rest of the time, ostracized by his brethren, fleeing for his life, left for dead, and yet he says "our light affliction." But note the result..."it works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." He told the church in Rome, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

The revelation of that glory is not "when we all get to heaven." It is NOW! The Weymouth translation says, "For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a preponderating, yes, a vastly preponderating, and eternal (age-enduring) weight of glory."

For the past 200 years, we have preached a futuristic gospel. In other words, we don't get anything until we die and go to heaven. Out of that mentality was birthed the idea that if we just hold on tight, someday "in the sweet bye and bye," Jesus will come and rapture us out of this "nasty-now-and-now." I admit, life is often a scary and bumpy ride, but Jesus said, "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21, emphasis added). The question then is, "When are we seated with Him? Now or later?"

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3, emphasis added).

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places (realms, dimensions) in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:6, emphasis added).

"Jesus Christ...has made us kings (a kingdom) and priests to God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever" (Rev. 1:5-6, empasis added).

To the church at Smyrna, Jesus said, "Be you faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10). Did it ever occur to us that the death He is talking about there, may not just be physical death, but death to the flesh?

I like Adam Clarke's commentary on this:

“Here is a most remarkable expression: Jesus has conquered, and is set down with the Father upon the Father's throne; he who conquers through Christ sits down with Christ upon his throne: but Christ's throne and the throne of the Father is the same; and it is on this same throne that those who are faithful unto death are finally to sit! How astonishing is this state of exaltation! The dignity and grandeur of it who can conceive?”

Kings seldom go out to battle. They sit in ruling authority and their orders are carried out by others who do the fighting for them (Heb. 1:14). In a kingdom, the king's word is non-negotiable; it is law! When kingdom sons finally realize who they are, they will rest in the "finished work" of Jesus (John 19:30; Rev. 21:6) and instead of being in combat with satan day after day, they will simply enforce Kingdom law in their situations (Ezra 7:26).

“I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).

Young’s Literal Translation reads like this,

“Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the Heavens” (Matt. 16:19).

When I pray, I do not beg or plead for anything. It has been and always will be the will of God that His "Kingdom come" and His "will be done in earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

Graphic by Peter Olsen, used with permission (http://www.peterolsenart.com)

 

Kingdom Truths

It has been said that people always criticize that which they do not understand. Milton Hall said, "Your ability to learn depends partly on your ability to relinquish what you’ve held."

Well-meaning people will occasionally caution me to be careful of those who teach the "Kingdom message." A lot of them do not really know what the "kingdom message" is, but after some discussions about it in their consortium of friends and other ministries, their misgivings were exacerbated, so they came to the conclusion that it is in error.

The message of the kingdom is not new. John the Baptist’s message was simple, “Repent…for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). The Weymouth New Testament says, "Repent…for the Kingdom of the Heavens is now close at hand."  Young’s literal translation reads, “Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.'’ Immediately following His baptism by John and His temptation in the wilderness, the scripture says, “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’" (Matt. 4:17). His commission to the twelve disciples was, “As you go, preach and say, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’” (Matt. 10:7)

Many Christian believers do not understand the kingdom, largely due to our Americanization of the Gospel.  Citizens who have never lived under a monarchy or in a kingdom (the king’s domain) have difficulty wrapping their minds around the concept of a kingdom.

The problem is that, as Ern Baxter once said, "For more than 170 years another Gospel has been preached, the Gospel of postponement, which is a bastard Gospel." Most have made the kingdom of God some mystical something or other and basically because they cannot understand it, they have made it a “longing-for” term rather than a present reality. That lack of understanding is further compounded by people’s concept of what the Kingdom of heaven is. I hear many preach or teach about it as a destination, a planet where God and the angels live, or the place where we go when we die.

The kingdom of heaven is easily understood if one understands the etymology of the word “kingdom.” Kingdom is a compound word for the phrase, “king’s domain.” Wherever a king rules and reigns is that king’s domain. The term, “kingdom of heaven” is literally “the kingdom from heaven” or more literally, “the king’s domain from heaven.” It is interesting to note that the thief who was dying on a cross beside Jesus, was cognitive of kingdom language because he said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” I hear many preach that the thief was asking to go to heaven with Jesus. The truth is that following His death, Jesus did not go to heaven, but rather He went to hell and “preached to the spirits in prison.” He did not ascend to the place called Heaven until forty days following His glorious resurrection from the dead. No one can be sure as to where and when this thief got a revelation of what constituted the kingdom of God, but he knew that Jesus was coming into a kingly domain that he wanted to be a part of.

The Kingdom of God is where God has dominion; it is where He is sovereign

The Kingdom of God includes every realm that is under the complete rule and reign of God. The realms of heaven are under the sovereign rule of God as well as the earth (Psalms 103:19; Psalms 47). The Kingdom is governed by the very nature of God, such as; Love, peace, righteousness, and justice (Rom. 14:17). It is full of creativity, wisdom, joy and life. There is no death, lies, arrogance, deceit, or hatred. The Kingdom is eternal, which means it is ‘now’ as much as it is future (Psalms 145:13).

Bringing Heaven To Earth

The Kingdom of God is invading the earth through the sons of the King. The earth has been given to man to have dominion – it is his domain, given by God, to rule in a way that reflects the greater Kingdom of God (Psalms 115:16). After his resurrection Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). Jesus had won back authority over the earth from Satan (Rev. 1:18). What was lost in the Garden of Eden had now been recovered by the first-born Son, the first of many who will come after Him (Rom. 8:29). Now the sons of the King are exercising their God given mandate to have dominion over the earth and bring the atmosphere of heaven to earth (Matt. 6:10).

God’s Invasion Strategy

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of Heaven, He was not talking about a distant destination. The kingdom of heaven (or literally, the kingdom from heaven) is the earthly realm of the universal kingdom of God. It is the colonization of the kingdom of God. Heaven has invaded the believer, who becomes an agent of change on the earth. As a believer you are seated in heavenly places with Christ ; you are in the King’s domain (Eph. 2:6). You carry the Kingdom within you (Luke 17:21). Wherever you go, whomever you speak with, whatever you do, you influence the world around you with the atmosphere of heaven. The Kingdom is infiltrating every sphere, wherever believers are in society. From political leaders to scientist, business people, social workers, entertainers, educators, mothers, dads and children. Every Kingdom-carrying believer is invading the world around them with hope, love, peace, and joy as they destroy the works of the Devil just like Jesus did (1 John 3:8).

The Kingdom is not limited to the Church; the Church is only part of the picture (Matt 13:1-52). The Kingdom is much more expansive and far reaching than our Sunday services or prayer meetings. The Kingdom is advancing wherever you go.

So 'go' into all the world, pulling on the resources of heaven to conform the earth to heaven’s likeness (Mark 16:15). It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom (Luke 12:32); it's what the world has been waiting for!

"Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'" (Matt. 6:9-10, ESV, emphasis added).

 

Give It Up

“Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9).

The word, “honor” in Hebrew is “kabad” (kaw-bad), which means “to be heavy” i.e., "numerous, rich, honorable; causatively, to make weighty, be rich.”

Honor is not something that can just be accomplished with words. You can say, “I honor you” to someone, but true honor has substance and must be manifested.

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? said the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, that despise my name. And you say, Wherein have we despised your name?” (Malachi 1:6, AKJ, emphasis added).

We use Malachi 3:10 every Sunday morning to collect the tithe from the people in a church service. However, the book of Malachi was not written to saints; it was written to preachers! “And now, O you priests, this commandment is for you” (Malachi 2:1, emphasis added).

How is it that Abraham and Jacob understood the tithe, even before it was incorporated into the law? When Abraham returned from his battle with the kings in the valley of Siddim, the Scripture says that,

“…Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, …met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Hebrews 7:1-10, emphasis added).

For countless years, the tithe has been not only misunderstood, but misplaced and often misapplied. Some people will randomly visit churches and decide that while they are there, they will pay their tithe. The problem with that is that there is no spiritual relationship there. The kingdom of God is governed by and through relationships.

The majority of believers think that their tithe goes into their local church, and out of the congregation’s tithes, a pre-determined portion or salary is to be given to the man of God who oversees the flock. The truth is that the Lord’s tithe was intended for the support of the ministry! “God set apart the tribe of Levi…to stand before him in the ministry…” (Duet. 10:8, DRB, emphasis added). The offerings of the people, not the tithes, were supposed to take care of the church property, etc.

People change churches today like they change their wardrobe. They go to one place for a while and then they go to another place for a while, and wherever they go, they tithe to that particular church. How can you reap a harvest if you are scattering your seed?

There is not one scriptural precedent for tithing to a Church or denomination! I reiterate, the Lord’s tithe was intended for the support of the ministry! The Levites were given the tithes of the people, and the Levites were to tithe to the ministering priests!

The bigger tragedy is that thousands of pastors today are tithing back into their own churches! That doesn’t even make any sense. It is like taking the money out of your left pocket and putting it into your right pocket. That is not tithing; that is re-investing.

Remember, the direction of our giving must always be “up.”

“…observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth” (Hebrews 7:4).

“…without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater” (Hebrews 7:7).

The direction of the anointing is “down” (Psalm 133).

It is a misplacement of the Lord’s tithe, for pastors to tithe “down” into their congregation or to a denominational headquarters. Tithes belong to the apostolic headship that God has set in authority over them. Thereby, connection is made to the headship, so the anointing can flow downward, in due order.

The problem is compounded even more so, as statistics show that the majority of preachers do not tithe. For some uncanny reason, they believe that “the buck stops here” and they are “the end of the line.” However according to the Scripture, the blessing upon the tithing of the people in a congregation is totally contingent on the leader’s obedience in “tithing on the tithe.”

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 18:25-31, emphasis added).

Millions of people around the world tithe to their local church on a weekly basis and yet wonder why they are not being blessed. It is because the pastors are not obeying Malachi 3:10. It is only when the pastor “tithes on the tithe,” that the Lord will count the people as having given ALL to Him! Simply put, if the pastor does not properly tithe on the tithes that he has received, the people will not be blessed!

We must understand apostolic authority in the kingdom of God. The high priest of the Old Testament is equivalent to apostleship in the New Testament. The author of Hebrews called Jesus "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession" (Heb. 3:1). Both of these terms denote an overseeing father in ministry. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man (mature manhood), to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we from now on 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; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16, emphasis added).

It is shocking to realize just how far removed we are from God’s original intention and purpose. Men have organized religion after corporations. They have substituted presidents for apostles, vice presidents for prophets, field representatives for evangelists, counselors for pastors and professors for teachers. We are two millenniums removed from the birth of the Church and we have still not fulfilled Jesus’ ultimate plan for the Church that He said He would build (Matthew 16:18) and that was for it to build the kingdom of God in the earth (Matthew 10:7)!

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever” (Psa. 133:1-4, NASB, emphasis added).

Impartation does not come by just hearing many different preachers say wonderful and powerful things in many diverse settings. Certainly we need the benefit of all of the five-faceted ministry for our maturation in the body of Christ. However, Elisha and Elijah demonstrate to us that true impartation of the anointing only comes by faithfully following a man of God (2 Kings 2:1-14) who is a “father” (2 Kings 2:12, emphasis added).

The apostle Paul said, “For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (I Cor. 4:15, emphasis added). Paul was a father in ministry to Timothy and Titus. Timothy was circumcised by Paul for the sake of the ministry. A true son in ministry will submit himself to the spiritual authority of and covenant himself with the man of God. Those with no fathers are bastards.

“But if you be without chastisement (discipline), whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:8).

Everyone in the kingdom is under authority. First and foremost, we are all under the authority of our King, Jesus. Secondarily, we are under and accountable to apostolic authority. There can be no maturation of ministry without it.

Find an apostolic ministry that you can submit to in the Spirit. When I say, "apostolic," I am not referring to a denomination or a particular belief system, but rather the nomenclature of the five-faceted ministry (Eph. 4:11). Be willing to let that ministry person speak truth and revelation into your life and, when necessary, even bring correction, or cut away (circumcise) your “flesh” so you may be holy, honorable and useable in the ministry. After carefully considering the maturity and longevity of that ministry, then give of your honor up to that ministry. That is how impartation works. The anointing always flows down from headship.

There is a terrible apperture in the household of God. Ministry fathers have not been given proper honor. There are those who say that I am their “father” in ministry. However, don’t call me your “father” unless you are willing to honor me and covenant yourself with me. Remember, honor has substance. It is more than just the mere expression of words or laudatory notice. I have spent a lifetime, raising up “sons” (a non-gender term) in ministry. I have prayed with them, wept with them and taught them powerful and glorious truth from the Word of God. I have even walked with some of them through dark and rocky places in their lives and relationships. Yet, only a very few of them show any honor today, and most, even sporadic at that. Many good men of God are suffering today in a breached order that does not give honor where honor is due.

“I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6, emphasis added).

Kingdom Relationships

“Everything in the kingdom of God is governed by and through relationships” (Apostle Richard Wright, “Not Many Fathers;” Copyright, 1993).

While I was in prayer early one morning in November of 2010, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “I will assimilate you with great men and people of like faith.”

I received the word of the Lord with joyous expectation but at the same time I began to process this locution to my heart.

My wife, Caroline, and I have a rich heritage. We have been blessed to know and rub shoulders with some of the greatest men of God of the twentieth century. Caroline grew up under the ministry of Jack Coe. She attended his church and his school in Dallas, Texas. She saw first-hand, the miracles wrought under the hands of this mighty man of God. Not only that, but she witnessed the ministries of men such as William Branham and others whom God superlatively used in the post-war Healing Revival of the late forties and early fifties.

Caroline and I attended many meetings of God’s miracle man, A. A. Allen. What a powerful man of God he was! We both loved him so much. I recall the last meeting we ever saw him at before his untimely death in 1970. He was preaching at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Worth, Texas. Caroline and I got there early so we could get a front-row seat. When he came out on the platform before the service, he saw me and walked to the edge of the platform (where I met him) and we spoke together. I introduced my soon-to-be wife to him and asked for his blessing. He came off the platform, laid his hands on us and prayed as only Bro. Allen could pray. It was a great service that night, and on the way home, Caroline said to me, “Brian, we will never see Bro. Allen on this earth again.” I was shocked! “No!” I replied, “You are mistaken.”

A few months later, it happened just as my precious wife had discerned. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of his sudden passing. I couldn’t believe it! I immediately called Miracle Valley and the office staff there confirmed it. I felt like my world was going to fall apart. I wept long and bitterly. Although I had never got to spend as much time with him as some others had, I knew him enough to know his heart and still remember the kind words he always spoke to me, whether it was in his home or sitting on his platform.

Our trek in ministry has often been like a roller coaster ride. For the past many years, I often felt like I was floundering, looking for that connection that would give asseveration to the call of God upon my life. During those seasons of ministry, at intervals I hooked up with various denominations and aligned myself with them so as to have a sense of correlation to or being a part of something other than my own. In most instances, much to my chagrin, I had to compromise my doctrinal stance which distressed my situation even more so. Like a corporate graphic depicting its progress, there were highs and there were lows.

Caroline and I have been in full-time ministry together (as husband and wife) for over forty-one years! Each of us respectively were involved in ministry before we were married. Together we have traveled the length and breadth of this great nation as well as Canada, preaching revivals and building churches. We have seen phenomenal moves of God, some that touched entire communities for the kingdom of God!

However, during all of the years of traveling, singing and preaching, we always felt somehow “disconnected.” Although, during those years, I was at times ordained with various major denominations, there was no relationship; only the sense of belonging to a religious system that lent some credence to what and who we were.

A few years ago, in desperation, I re-joined a major Pentecostal denomination. As I filled out the application forms for reinstatement, completed the examinations and was interviewed by those in authority, everything inside of me was screaming, “Don’t do it!” but I followed suit in spite of what my heart was telling me. This last-ditch attempt failed miserably and after only a year with the denomination, I finally said, “I’ve had enough,” and defected.

Alone again as a freelancer, I sought the face of God for direction. How the Holy Ghost orchestrated everything was strange and certainly inexplicable at first. In our “wilderness” wandering, Caroline and I felt ourselves drawn to apostolic settings. You see, I was raised in that environment, but in my ministerial journey I had surrendered some of my foundational credo to the theorems of the denominations that I served. Furthermore, although I had some powerful ministry fathers as a boy, my early experiences in apostolicism were not all “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

I remember telling some dear friends of mine at a Bible study that I was conducting, “I’m not sure what’s going on in our lives. All I can tell you is that we are on a journey.” I am pretty sure most of them did not understand what I was talking about, not because they lacked intelligence, but because it was mysterious to us as well.  The Holy Ghost was up to something, but we just had not figured it out yet.

As the past few years ensued, the Holy Ghost drove me back into the Word of God with intense study and prayer. The Lord instructed me to read His Word like I was reading it for the very first time and put aside some crendenda that I had been programmed to accept as truth. What it did to me belief system was of such enormity that for all these years I have kept silent about it. I knew that revealing what I had discovered, could potentially alienate friendships and ministerial relationships.

Even though I have read and studied the Bible since I was a child, with amazing clarity, the Spirit of God began to once again reveal the Book that He had authored and the impartance of it totally transformed my spiritual posture! The illumination of truth brought me back to the verity that God is one and not a trinity of persons (Duet. 6:4; Eph. 4:5; I Tim. 3:16). My eschatology changed from one that ends in defeat to one of glorious and ultimate victory! The book of Revelation became a new book to me. No longer was it a presentation of mystical and futuristric cataclysmic events such as an antichrist who is supposed to rule the world, together with a great tribulation that will plunge this planet into utter chaos and a secret rapture to pluck us out of here before all hell breaks loose.  Alternately, it became the glorious revelation of JESUS CHRIST and His victory over evil. I also discovered that, contrary to what many in old traditional Pentecostal settings have taught, you cannot dress up the flesh and make it holy. Holiness is the nature of God within in your spirit; not legislated legalisms for dress or adornment.

The word of the Lord to me back in November began coming to pass! One of the first persons to call me was a profoundly anointed man of God who has played the Hammond organ for some of the greatest preachers who have ever graced this planet! He has ministered in 58 countries of the world and is considered a friend to hundreds (perhaps, thousands) of preachers. I was thrilled to hear his voice on the phone, and as we conversed, we immediately became friends. Since that day, he has encouraged and edified me over and over again and he has yet to hear me preach (2 Cor. 5:16)! Other renowned men of God began calling me and speaking affirmation into my life. Since then, the Lord has not only been assimilating us with seasoned generals of God, but also associating us with those of like precious faith.

Most people in this postmodern era of Christendom do not understand the importance or the necessity of relationships in the Kingdom. Everyone just sort of “does their own thing” and sees no need for that divine connection or accountability to apostolic headship. “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:21).

Apostle Richard Wright from Milwaukee, Oregon called me a few days ago. His pleasant spirit and averment was so uplifting. In his book, “Not Many Sons,” he writes, “Before we ever become a man or woman of God, we must first become sons and daughters!” (page 21). He further talks about “Redefining Family” and says “that even though Timothy was an apostle, he still needed a father” (page 27). Paul was willing to be a father to Timothy, and he a son to Paul. “Timothy’s circumcision changed his identity from his natural father to his spiritual father” (page 26).

Jesus redefined “family” when His disciples said, “Behold Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You” (Matt. 12:47, NASB). Jesus “answered the one who was telling Him and said, Who is My mother and who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand towards His disciples, He said, Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12: 48-50, NASB).

In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul wrote that Timothy had a “kindred spirit” and “you know of his proven worth haw he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father” (Phil. 2:22). The word “proven” is the Greek word “dokime,” which means “the process or result of trial; proving.” It means “a specimen of tried worth.” Their relationship had gone through trials and tests, but unlike Demas, who forsook Paul (2 Tim. 4:10), Timothy had proven himself faithful.

“Sons do the work of their fathers. They have the minds of their fathers and the same burdens. It is the goal of fathers to raise up their sons to carry on with the vision…to carry on their message when they themselves cannot be present. There was an impartation, not only through the laying on of Paul’s hands (2 Tim. 1:6), but there was an impartation through demonstration as Timothy watched Paul’s life and ministry…as Timothy observed Paul during times of trials, beatings, shipwreck and imprisonment, as well as times of ministry” (Apostle Richard Wright, “Not Many Sons;” page 30; Copyright, 2000).

The older I get, the more I realize just how vital kingdom relationships are. No man is an island. We all need each other. God has given each one of us a ministry that is necessary to the spreading of the kingdom of God in the earth. However, of necessity, we must repair the breaches in relationships (Malachi 4:6), so the will of God is done “in earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

When Deborah, that great judge of Israel, sent for Barak to help her defeat the Canaanitish king, Jabin, who had launched a harsh oppression on the people of God, he replied, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go" (Judges 4:8). Deborah said, “I will surely go with you…”

For The Love Of A Preacher

I love preachers. Although, through out my fifty-plus years of preaching, I have been hurt by a lot of preachers, I still love preachers! Even when I see a preacher mess up, I will take up for him and try to help him get on track, because God gave me a love for the ministry. Too many wounded soldiers have been kicked aside because others didn’t think they would ever rise again, or else they didn’t think they were worth the time and effort to carry out of the battle zone and be revived. You can ask my wife about the times we have been sitting at a restaurant table and when someone would start talking negatively about a preacher, my anger would rise, and to the chagrin of those who wanted to hear more, I would shut down the discussion in a heartbeat. Even my wife has done so a number of times. In fact, I have a message called, “For The Love Of A Preacher” which I have been called upon to preach on numerous occasions in support of preachers. Why is that? Because, whether right or wrong, the ministry deserves honor and respect. There have been a few times, I am saddened to say, that even we have been caught up in the same spate of being critical of a preacher. However, after having done so, the Spirit of God has chastised us and explicitly ordered us to “Never do it again!” In most cases, these men (and women) have sold themselves out to the ministry and elected to live by faith and by doing so most of them do not live normal lives with normal jobs and normal paychecks, but they are servants to the people. Almost everyone makes mistakes (I have made my share), but that’s all a part of the learning and growing process which applies to every believer, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13 NAS).

When talking about how men deal with emotional pain, I often liken it to a man who is hammering a nail into a piece of wood. All of us, at one time or more in our lives, have missed the nail and hit our thumb. The pain is excruciating, but the first thing we do is cover the wounded thumb with our other hand. That does not numb or even alleviate the pain, but it covers it.

It has been a very trying time for all of us. I am a man of prayer, and I say that without reservation, but lately there have been mornings that I have sat in my “prayer chair” and the words just wouldn’t come out. I didn’t know what to say. At times like that, I always pray in the Spirit (in tongues), but sometimes I couldn’t even do that. All I could do was groan in my spirit. Of course, the devil would taunt me and say, “You sound like a fool,” but I recalled the scripture that says, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…” (Rom. 8:26 NAS).

I hope you will allow me, please, to briefly indulge you with a little transparency. In 1997, our son, Donnie, Sr., had an experience with God at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. He was so gloriously changed that words fail me to give it adequate description. We were pastoring a church in Red Oak, Texas at the time, and he would go up to the church alone at night, turn on the sound system and for hours he would walk back and forth across the platform singing the Brownsville worship songs that he loved, all the time worshiping God with all of his heart and soul. What a change! In the services, he would dance before the Lord without inhibition; his arms outstretched to God in full and complete surrender. Then, some of the very people who I pastored, made comments about his style of worship and he got wind of it. I tried to “nip it in the bud” and get him to ignore it, but the damage had already started. Some of the people in the church would not associate with him because of his “baggage,” and so slowly but surely the enemy used that to divert his course. In the months that followed, I remember, through blinding tears, appealing to him to hold fast to what God had given him and not allow the ignorance of these modern day Pharisees and religious “wanna-be’s” to interrupt what God had started. But, he had seen it just too many times. As a child, he had heard the lies told about us. He had often heard me brutally attacked by deacons and elders and to this day it is still too much for him to process.

I realize that at the end of the day, the decision to live for God is ultimately his, and I cannot spend the rest of my life blaming others for where he is at today. However, at the same time, I do believe that his blood will be on their hands, come Judgment Day. His mother and I love him and will not give up hope for his total restoration, deliverance, salvation and infilling of the Holy Ghost!

To add insult to injury, the number of open doors for us to minister has not been sufficient to meet the needs. I know we are in tough times economically and I also realize that most pastors are very busy just keeping everything functioning in their respective locales. However, we make our living by ministering. It has been a constant battle just to stay afloat. We literally pray every day, “Give us this day our daily bread.” In fact, things became so desperate for us, that a few months ago, to keep from losing everything, my wife and I did the unthinkable; we pawned our wedding rings just to try to pay the bills. We have both shed tears over that because those rings represent our covenant (of 41 years thus far) with each other. We are currently facing an astronomical financial need and are now grappling with that! I began preaching when I was but a child, so I have literally preached all of my life! At this time in our lives and ministry, instead of preparing for retirement, we are continuing to try to busy ourselves, not for our future, but for survival.

Perhaps you can now understand my introversion just. I love being with preachers. I love what I do. I would sooner preach than eat, but in my case, I have to preach to eat (smile). Revelation knowledge is being poured into my spirit like liquid gold and I long to give it out. That having been said, if you see me and I do not exude the usual rhetoric or comedic style that I usually exhibit, do not take it personally. The Bible exhorts us to judge no man according to “the flesh.” Just pray for that person that the sufficiency of God’s amazing grace will carry them through the thing they are dealing with. Will Rogers once said, “The best way out of difficulty is through it.”

I hope you will not just read this post and then lay it aside as the blather of yet another “begging preacher.” All I ask is that you pray with us for God’s continued grace as we walk through this storm.

 

A Spiritual Journey

‎Life is a journey. The life  of the believer is a journey into Truth (John 14:6). Over my fifty plus years of ministry, the Lord Jesus has taken me through stages into a deeper revelation of Himself. I remember when God began uprooting, revamping and changing my belief system.  It shook me to the core.  At first I wasn’t sure what was happening to me.  I vividly remember where I was about the time it began.  I was teaching a Bible study in a home near us every Tuesday night on a weekly basis.  We most often had a full “house.”  We were into our 5^th year of doing this, when suddenly, occasionally while I was teaching, I would find myself questioning some things I had just said.  I kept it inside, but the struggle was intensifying with each ensuing week.  Finally, one night, I leaned back in my chair and looked at the precious people who had gathered to hear me teach, and simply said, “There is something happening to me right now that I can’t explain. The angel of the Lord called the seed of God in Mary ‘that holy thing’ (Luke 1:35 KJV). She didn’t know what it would look like or what color its hair or eyes would be.  All she knew at this point was that what she was carrying in her womb was a ‘holy thing’.”  I went on to say, “I am unable to give you details right now for two reasons.  #1, because I don’t quite understand what it is that is growing and moving inside of me, and #2, I’m not sure that I am at liberty to share what it is that God is doing in my heart. The Bible says, ‘the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him’ (Psalm 25:14 KJV). All I can tell you is that I am on a journey.”

I wasn’t quite prepared for the impact that this journey would have on my life and even in our relationships with people who had become what I thought were some of our dearest friends. One night, some weeks later, after I had spoken with unyielding apostolic-prophetic authority, the Bible studies ended abruptly. I grieved in my spirit for a long time after that denouement. Regrettably, some of the people who I had invested 5 years of my time, energy, strength and study into, now distance themselves from me, which still causes me to sometimes lurch in bewilderment. I am not sure that I ever got over it, because in the process I feel like I lost fellowship with compatriots of the same ideologies. 

I have sought after God since I was five years old.  As boy, while other kids were out playing sports, etc., I was shut up in my room, praying and poring over God’s Word.  Over the years, I got to know God through His Word.  At the same time, my belief structure was being formed by the men and women of God who impacted and influenced my life.  We all do the same thing. The fact is that most people believe what they believe because of what they “picked up along the way” during their spiritual journey.  Some of it was truth; some it was just the “doctrines of men.” In retrospect, I will say that I do not believe for a moment that anybody set out to deceive me.  They taught what they taught because that’s all they knew.

We have come to this shoal in time, two millenniums removed from the cross, and I am seeing a shaking in the church world.  Unfortunately, many Christians are calling it “spiritual warfare,” when in fact satan is not responsible for all of the tumultuous upheavals that are taking place. Psalm 50: 3 declares, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” God is shaking us!  God is trying to get us to rid ourselves of some stuff that He never gave to us in the first place…stuff that we just acquired along the way! Some of what the church tenaciously holds on to today as “sound doctrine,” is really an amalgamation of stuff that we learned from others along the way.   The Word of God declares, “…The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32). That knowledge of God only comes from intimacy with Him in fasting and prayer and seeking after Him. 

I am an itinerant minister, and I will occasionally find myself embattled with religious spirits that are rampant in a few of the churches that I speak at.  Whenever I tell a church body that a lot of what has been coined as “spiritual warfare,” is often nothing more than a spiritual frustration that was initiated from God, some people get all “up in arms.”  The Charismatic word-of-faith mindset that we have assimilated over the past twenty years, does not allow for process, and so what we do is go on the offensive against anything that might try to shake us loose from embedded beliefs!

These days we hear everybody talking about the HARVEST. However, let me ask you, what have we sown to get a harvest? So much of what has been sown is mingled seed. What kind of harvest will we reap from that?  “Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:19 ESV). We need the pure seed of the Word of God and not the product of men’s ideas.  “…The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11 AKJ).

Some years ago, my younger brother, Arlen, had an encounter with God at the Toronto Revival.  It so revolutionized his life that he has never been the same since.  I recall that in the wake of that experience and even up until our mother’s passing over a year ago, he would call me from Canada and we would have lengthy conversations in which he would describe to me the “rumblings” of change that were effecting in his spiritual journey.   It was interesting because, although we seldom talk to each other, what he was experiencing, I was as well.   It was and is a metamorphosis, if you please.  My siblings and I have a rich Pentecostal heritage. We were blessed to have two very godly parents.  We were not only “raised in church,” but we were taught the art of seeking after God in our home.  Some of my most memorable experiences with God occurred to me as a child in our living room as we bathed and basked in the presence of God.  The same holds true of Caroline, my beautiful wife of forty-one years. She, as well, grew up “in the presence of God.” She received spiritual impartation from some of the greatest men of God of the twentieth century, men such as Jack Coe, A. A. Allen, William Branham, etc.  As we began our journey together over four decades ago, it had already been prophesied over us that we would embark on a spiritual journey together that would often take us into “unchartered territories,” and so it has been.

When that alteration began in my life, it challenged my doctrine, my eschatology, my approach to ministry, even my relationships with people.  I began to search out God’s Word, praying constantly that I would hear only what He said and carefully filter out what men have taught us to believe. Truth is what God says; religion is what man says God said. I remember telling the Lord, “This can’t be happening! I have believed a specific way about certain things for years! I have even taught it to the people who you entrusted to my oversight in ministry.  Now, what do I do? How will I face the music? What will my colleagues and friends think? They will surely think that I am unstable or slipping off into some false doctrine. I dare not tamper with what men have tenaciously held to as truth!” And then the Lord reminded me that Saul of Tarsus (before he was converted and became the apostle Paul), had wreaked havoc on Christians by stoning and imprisoning them, all in the name of what he believed was truth! And yet, when Ananias prayed for him (Acts 9), the scales that fell from his blinded eyes brought physical sight but the scales that fell from the eyes of his soul, brought spiritual insight and a powerful incomparable revelation of Jesus Christ!

There is a program on television called, “Hoarders.”  It is difficult for me to watch because I grew up in an immaculate home where clutter and disorder were almost considered cardinal sins.  My mother believed that “cleanliness was next to godliness” and we all lived by that rule.  Whenever  I watch that show, I can relate it to many well-intentioned Christians that I know, who over the years accumulate so much religious “stuff,” and simply will not let go of it at any cost!  At the same time, we are all crying out for revival and then wonder why revival is not coming.  It is because we have too much baggage from our past and anytime God does a “new thing” in the earth (Isaiah 43:19), we drag the religious holdings from our past into it. The real truth is we don't want God messing with our stuff! Like the church at Ephesus, we say, 'I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17 NLT). 

The past eight and a half months since Caroline's stroke has affected our lives on so many levels.  It has become a desert place. Deserts are dry, empty waste places and the craggy mountains are not vacation spots.  Our wilderness journeying has taken much away from us, only to bring us into a revelation of God unlike we have ever known!  The voice of God is calling from behind the veil for us to "come into His presence." Sadly, because so many think they have "arrived," they will lumber along week after week with the mindset of "this is how it's done," and go through the same motions that churches and preachers have pretty much done for the past century. Consequently they will not follow the “proceeding Word of the Lord."

Bishop Noel Jones has said, "God is never recognized; He is only revealed." What an awesome statement! That revelation of God will not come until, like Moses on the backside of the desert, we are stripped of the modus of Egypt (a type of old systems and ideas), remove the shoes of religious comfort from our "walk" and behold our God as a consuming fire! It will be a humbling process indeed. At that point, our rhetoric will change from, "Look who I am" to "Who am I?"

The superficial form of powerless religion and churchanity that presently exists and exalts itself will not accomplish God's purpose in the earth.  In a vision, the Lord recently revealed to John Kilpatrick (the former pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola) that church systems and many television networks and ministries, as we know them, are going to be shaken to the core. Some will even collapse and fall because God never was in that or had any part of it.  We have glorified men and not God, and the word of the Lord clearly says that "no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Cor. 1: 29 KJV).

That having been said, the church needs to stop minimizing its strength by majoring on those things that could divide us and unite ourselves with the common thread that unites us all and that is JESUS! While some people’s eschatology has the church escaping this planet in a mysterious rapture, I believe that this is the hour of the unleashing of God’s power in an unprecedented manner! The Church must be born again (Galatians 4:19) until Christ is formed in us!

I believe that every true man or woman of God should come to that place. The worship song that we often hear sung, says, “Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, may it be like You. You are the potter; I am the clay. Mold me and make me; this is what I pray.”

CHURCH, we need to PRAY!

We need to seek God’s FACE and not His hand!

We need to pray for a REVOLUTION that will produce a REVIVAL in all of us!

It will come at a great price, but the outcome will be an unprecedented manifestation of God's glory in the earth!

“Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again” (Job 34:32).

"…I have put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, You are my people" (Isaiah 6:1-8 AKJ).

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).

My journey continues.

A. A. Allen the Miracle man