Brad's thoughts

Socialism

2011-12-01T17:17:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: I copied this off of a friend's Facebook post, and not sure who wrote it, very good read.

OK, I just saw and read this and thought it to be worth sharing. Please, refrain from negative comments, but I would love to hear your opinion.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, ...a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on)
Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

What China needs...

2011-03-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

I just returned from beautiful San Jose, California. When you live Michigan, anywhere that is warm and sunny is a great place to visit during the winter months. I had a meeting with some church leaders while there.

My flight out was a long one, I had few choices from Grand Rapids on Sunday afternoon. So I had to go all the way through Houston, Texas, which is almost the same distance from Houston to San Jose as it is from Grand Rapids to Houston. The good thing is that I get plenty of mileage points.

The trip to Houston was a divine connection though, God's providential Hand was at work. I sat next to a man from China, who is now living here in the U.S. and was looking at other job opportunities. He has a PhD in his profession. However he is a worshiper of Buddha, but was very open to Christianity and has even read the New Testament through once as God has put many Christians in his life. Even though he said that Christianity made more sense than Buddhism, he was bound by tradition. That is a common answer by many people who don't know Jesus, their traditions keep them from the truth and it is bondage. However, even churches today are bound much in the same way, its called religious bondage. Traditions do not make closer to God, only your relationship will.

As we talked and I witnessed to him about Jesus and the power of God, he told that once he had a dream while living in Missouri. In the dream the earth was being destroyed, buildings were falling and even the earth itself was being shaken and destroyed. He said that he tried to run from the danger, but could not run fast enough and then someone in the dream told him to pray to Jesus and he said that he did and when he did he was "taken up in the air," and that he was no longer in danger. Hmmm, sounds like something the church believes and teaches.

Even with me witnessing and this powerful dream I could not get him to budge and I hope that when you read this that you will pray for him and his family to receive Christ into their hearts.

During the course of our conversation he also mentioned how bad China has become morally. That the young girls are prostituting their bodies for money and that the divorce rate is very high now, and that many of the men have multiple lovers and that it is becoming a status thing to have many lovers and that since many in China believe in nothing, that money is now becoming their god. In his own words to me were "you should go and help China, China needs Christians to help." I was stunned when he said this. He was so resistant to the Words of God, yet he recognizes Christianity as something that can help his country.

I wonder how many people in the world see the same thing? Two things stood out to me, 1. Was that this could be God speaking to me through him, 2. That we as Christians have a great responsibility.

Please pray that all of us who know Christ will obey the will of God and fulfill our calling in Him.

The prayer ministry of the church

2010-12-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Matthew 18:15-20

¹⁵ “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
¹⁸ “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
¹⁹ “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Today one of the most neglected ministries in the church is prayer, there is a lack of purpose and strategy. The key word here is "ministry," prayer needs to be the top ministry in the church. It needs to be given the most attention and the highest of priorities. I am talking about going beyond just our prayer closets and actually getting corporate prayer that is effectually fervent, that has purpose and is strategically laid out by the 5-Fold ministry leadership of the church.

Prayer is the one thing that can and will change everything. Our programs are not enough to answer the problems of our communities and beyond. For example, if a church begins a successful food bank that feeds many families each week, though its a viable program and is effective, it is not enough to stop hunger in that community. Even if you had enough food to feed everyone in your community and even give them healthy foods, you would not solve the hunger problems like malnutrition. Even when people are given what they need they still make bad decisions. So even if you give someone very healthy food, they must then make a decision to eat that food.

Another example is AA (Alcohol Anonymous), even though this program is readily available in almost any community and they are very effective, you still have the problem of free choice or free will and people must make the choice to go and attend, but even if they go there is still the problem of deliverance. AA makes you admit that "you will always be an alcoholic," however the Bible makes it clear that if God sets you free that you are free indeed, and that we are new creatures in Christ. God brings total deliverance, but that can only come from God. So what AA say is probably ok for them because its man intervening for man and man cannot deliver man from his problems, we can only put band aids problems that need full medical attention, but when we pray and God intervenes through our prayers then there is total deliverance.

In the aforementioned scriptures there are several principles. There are two sections to this set of verses, first is how deal with people within the church, the second part deals with three important principles:

The power of the church to be able to bind and loose, basically what the church does on earth affects the heavens, this principle reveals to the church the great deal of responsibility that God has placed His church. He is waiting for His church to do what needs to be done on earth so that Heaven can get into the earth. Watchman Nee says this in his sermon "The Prayer Ministry of the Church" "Hence, if the church decides to consider a man a Gentile, God in heaven will consider him a Gentile also. If the church considers a man a tax collector, God in heaven will consider him a tax collector also. In other words, God will do in heaven what the church does on earth. If the church considers a brother a Gentile and a tax collector, God in heaven will consider the same brother a Gentile and a tax collector."
The power of agreement...God does not intend for us to do this alone, but corporately, together
The power of the corporate church (unified in purpose), people of God getting together in His Name

The goal of prayer is to pray God's will on earth as it is in Heaven. First we must find God's will and then we must pray it. God's reveals His will to us a couple of ways, first is through His written Word, secondly is through the Holy Spirit, which He can manifest it us through prophecy, a word of knowledge, a dream or vision, many other ways. Many of us find God's will for ourselves but we fail to find the will of God for a local church.

God needs His church to begin to pray His Will on earth.

“What then is the prayer ministry of the church? It is God telling the church what He wants to do and the church praying on earth what God wants to do.” Watchman Nee

“When it was laid upon George Mueller’s heart to pray for anything, he would search the Scriptures to find if there was some promise that covered the case. Sometimes he would search the Scriptures for days before he presented his petition to God. And then when he found the promise, with his open Bible before him and his finger upon that promise, he would plead that promise with an open Bible before him.” The Power of Prayer by R.A. Torrey

God's plumb line

2010-12-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

Amos 7:8-9

Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
   And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:

      “ Behold, I am setting a plumb line
      In the midst of My people Israel;
      I will not pass by them anymore.
       The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,
      And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.
      I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

Of course most of us know what a plumb-bob and plumb line are used for, and that is to keep something vertical and/or to find the vertical of something. Being out of plumb would mean that something is not vertically aligned. A plumb line can also be used as an inclinometer, which can determine whether something is level.

In the verse above God is speaking symbolically and allegorically with the plumb line. His Word is our plumb line. Just like the plumb line in the world that determines the vertical, so does God's Word as it determines our spiritual vertical in regards to our relationship with Him.  It determines if we are plumb with God. You can't change what has been written, even Jesus Himself said several times that scripture must be fulfilled, He knew that whatever had been prophesied must take place, thus indicating that what had been written was truly inspired of and by God and that it is unchangeable.

Whatever is out of plumb must be either fixed or torn down and rebuilt. If the foundation of a building is out of plumb then that foundation must be torn down and rebuilt before it can be plumb, otherwise whatever you build on top of a foundation not plumb will itself be out of plumb. Therefore if we don't have a solid foundation that our faith is built upon, that is God's Word our Rock, then we will not be plumb in our spiritual walk with God.

God's Word is unchangeable and is the truth. Facts don't change the truth. The fact that we live in a day that science is having breakthroughs daily doesn't change the truth that God is our creator. The fact that it is accepted now even among some churches that it's ok to live with someone while not being married doesn't change the truth that God does not condone that behavior and considers it sin.

Many churches today have caved in to social pressures because of influence or fear and have openly validated sin in the church, leading themselves and all who hear their message astray. These churches have no power and only exist as a religious social club and count on their good behavior to society as their acceptance to God, but by denying His Word they have denied Him and have become an apostate church.

Like it or not, the church in America is quickly deteriorating, but a remnant church is beginning to emerge out of the fog of apostasy, that church is a church who is on fire and is burning for God with all she has. The spiritual battle lines are being drawn. There is now a church on the horizon that will operate in much power of the Holy Spirit, a church who has not compromised their faith for social pressures or fear of man or the devil, and is beginning to shine.

Prophetic Summit 2010

2010-11-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

2 Chronicles 20:20 says “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

I wanted to take a few minutes and tell you about what I felt about this years 2010 prophetic summit, first of all I didn't know what to expect, but at the same time I had a strong spirit of expectancy. This year's conference was more prolific than last year's, I seemed to have more direction as to where God wanted to go. As I prayed about the conference it seemed that the over all theme would be "reformation." As I was talking with Pastor Butch Deer, one of our speakers, he had already faxed in a copy of his notes to be typed and one of the underlying themes was reformation, so I took that is a confirmation.

The speakers were Apostle Barbara Yoder, Apostle Tim Sheets, and Pastor Butch Deer. When you think prophetic conference or summit, most people think right away about eschatology, what is going to happen in regards to what is written in the book Revelation and/or Daniel, but that was not the purpose of this conference, the purpose was to hear God's voice for now and then respond, just like King Jehoshaphat did in Chronicles. Though there was not a lot of actual prophecy given, there were a lot of directives given via the preaching and exhortation.

Apostle Yoder felt strongly that "the machine of ministry and/or the church is being dismantled," meaning God is taking away the old wine skin, so if there is going to be a new wine skin then that must mean that there is new wine coming to the church!

Apostle Sheets really promoted reformation of the church and that Christians need to get active. He also ministered heavily to the leaders and pastors about not quiting. That the only way it's over is if you quit. Apostle Sheets carries such a powerful anointing and it was noticeable throughout the conference, and he stayed and preached for me on Sunday and the anointing of God so powerful all through that service and it was one of the best sermons I have heard preached. He is definitely in the top 5 of all ministers I have heard preach.

Pastor Butch ministered also ministered on reformation of the church, but he also ministered on Saturday about some of the difficulties facing the church, and what may lie ahead for the church in the near future. He did touch on some eschatology on Saturday.

During the round table time we had on Friday, we had about senior 15 pastors there, along with many other key leaders, which I thought was a great representation for western Michigan. Some of the pastors drove up to 7 hours just to attend this conference.

Several points that I thought were important, or repeated, or relevant, or just something we need to get that came from the conference:

We need to do something, to be active not just hearing God's Word but acting on it. Too many Christians are not doing anything.
The old machine of the church is being dismantled. The way that we have done things in the past is going to change, traditions are going to be removed and make way for the Lord to move within His church.
There are prayer movements going on now, people need to get involved.
We need to look at our adversity differently, look at it as an opportunity, as a mission field, don't be afraid.

I walked away from this conference feeling that there is so much that needs to be done. The church is the key to this country, there is no politician who can fix this country, most all politicians are driven by what keeps them in office, so they are mostly people pleasers and will do what it takes for the moment to keep them in office.

The church on the other hand is supposed to be only concerned about what God wants. If we do what God tells us to do then you can expect that He fulfill His end of the contract. The problem is that the church is not standing up for God's Word, we are adapting the unchanging Word of God to fit our situations. Instead we should be believing on His Word during difficult times or situations.

The church cannot conform to this world but must reach the world for Christ. I remember hearing as a teenager about "peer pressure," and how we should not give into that type of influence, especially when our peers are wanting us to do something bad. Today the church is no different than the teenagers when it gives in to social pressures and it afraid to stand up for what is right, namely God's Word.

Today the church has turned into something that no different than an organized social club, under the banner of religion. There is no power in the church because we don't call upon the One who can deliver us and change us, but we cave in to the pressures around us, but we are the ones who supposed to be putting pressure on them, through prayer and faith.

Matthew 11:12 states, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Where's the violent force of prayer and repentance that is so needed in the church today? I can only feel that God will do what it takes to wake His church up to prayer that shakes the heavens.

What if the church decided that now is the time to wake up and shake the heavens, to reach out into the heavens through prayer and repentance, then what would happen to our future? The future of America is in the Hands of God, but what God does with America will be decided on how the church responds in this difficult time.

Oh God, I pray that You wake up Your church, and put a fire in her to pray and to intercede for this nation, and that the church would have a heart to repent. I pray that You send revival and a great spiritual awakening to the church, help us Lord.