INFORMATION PAGES

Friday, December 31, 2010

What is the CRITERIA?

The Bible is the most fascinating book ever! If your one of the one's who believe it, it's words hold answers to mysteries, extraordinary events, help in times of need, and such encouragement that is beyond anything that has ever or will ever be found in any counselors office! The Bible declares certain things to be true - and then it's up to us, the reader, to believe or disbelieve.

I happen to be one of the one's who believe. You could ask my why, and my simple answer would be that I've experienced first hand some of the things written about actually occuring, either in my life or in someone else's close to me. There is no other explanation for some of the things I've seen, heard, felt, done and experienced except that the words in the Bible are in fact TRUE.

Having said all that, brings me to this blogs main point. According the the Book that I believe to be truth, in IICorinthians chapter 5 verse 20, it states:

"Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ..." and goes on.

I ask the question, "Am I one of these 'we'?" In looking at the context and the previous "we" statements of this book, I would logically concur that yes, I am one of the "we" referred to here. That would mean that I could truthfully say that I am an Ambassador for Christ. In fact, I have said that very statement on many occasions. Now I find my question is, "How is it possible for such a flawed, imperfect being as myself to represent the Perfect, Sinless Christ?" What qualifies me, if indeed I am qualified. What is the CRITERIA USED TO DETERMINE IF ONE IS AN AMBASSADOR OR NOT?

Sometimes, I get things right, I say the right things and do the right things, and I have no trouble at all saying with feeling that I am an Ambassador for Christ. Am I still an Ambassador when I put my foot in my mouth? When my temper flares? When my impatience shows it's ugly head?

Sadly, my conclusion is a resounding yes. I am still even in those times an Ambassador. Just not a very good one! In fact, a very poor one indeed! Since I am so very far from perfect, should I give up the idea entirely and retreat quietly to a corner, never to be heard from again lest I give a bad impression of the Lord yet again?

NO! Indeed a hearty NO is in order here! Sometimes I give a bad or wrong impression but slinking off to a corner is NOT the answer! I continue to give the best I'm able, trust God to keep changing and growing me, and keep being an Ambassador for all I'm worth - because HE'S worth it! HE'S worth the effort and time and trouble of continuing to try to get it right!

Romans 8:1 tells me there is NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus and IJohn 3:20 assures me that even if my own heart condemns me God is greater than my heart! This is hard for me to accept, but since I believe the Bible, why won't I believe this too? Having met the CRITERIA, which is to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) then I am good and truly an Ambassador. Sometimes a better one than at other times, but one all the time, just the same!

Keep this in mind as you welcome in the New Year! May 2011 be for all believers, THE YEAR OF THE AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST!

I pray 2011 finds me representing Him well more often than not! May you find it to be the same as well. GOD BLESS YOU!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Resolutions, solutions or SURRENDER?

A New Year brings with it the sense of "new beginnings" and "new possibilities" and an opportunity to "wipe the slate clean and start over." Most of us make resolutions of some sort - which we seldom carry out to their conclusion. I guess we're not as "resolute" as we'd like to think we are!

Others of us are viewing the New Year as a solution to some of the issues from our pasts. Let go of all that is behind us and press forward - or just ignore what's gone by and hope for something better in this future we're facing. Not a real solution at all, but a temporary reprieve maybe!

May I suggest something more radical this year? Instead of resolutions - have you ever tried SURRENDER? No excuses. No false starts. No failure to complete what you started. Just srrender to the Gracious, Kind and Loving Holy Spirit of the Living God who loves you so much He died for you.

Surrender to His Love. Surrender to His Grace. Surrender to His Kindness. Surrender to His commands in obedience and you will discover all the changes you've resolved to make in the past and failed at, He is more than able to lead you to and through.

Surrender requires more on your part than simply "letting go and letting God." That isn't surrender, that is quitting! No, true surrender that results in blessings requires your participation. How do you participate? You FOLLOW the leading of the Holy Spirit. How do you do that? You OBEY Gods Word. No, not "10 things to post of the fridge and forget about!"

Two things - just two things that you need to give your attention to in order to receive His full attention.

1. Love Him (GOD) with all your heart, mind and strength
2. Treat others with the same love and concern you want for yourself

As you make even the slightest attempt to do these two things, you'll be further ahead than 90% of the rest of the world in completing your New Years "Resolutions"!

Bless you this New Year!
Clay & Marie
Turn The Tide Ministries

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Holy Day Greetings

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A STRONG FAITH!

Signing out for 2 days - but never signing off till all have heard the ETERNAL message of salvation!

2011 TURN THE TIDE MINISTRIES

* to REACH the hearts of people with the message of Gods Grace, Hope and Healing for all

* to share Christs LOVE and MERCY with everyone

Please check out our original Christmas song from our "The Christmas Bee" play:
www.turnthetideministries.com

BLESSINGS!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Dear Father in Heaven,


Our hearts break when our children are threatened, and we know You understand
this better than any of us - for it cost You the agonizing death of Your Only Begotten Son Jesus in order to redeem the rest of Your children that had gone astray from You by sin and unrighteous behavior.

Phylicia's parents are facing an enemy they can't see - and they are using the weapons of warfare they are familiar with - doctors, hospitals, chemotherapy, and drugs.

Lord, at this very moment in time, I ask You, from the great depths of Your mercy and grace to grant to Phylicia and her parents the weapon of Prayer.

I pray Lord, that as they call out to You and ask for Your intervention, Your healing, that You will hear them and have compassion and mercy on them, and pour out Your Gift of Healing upon the physical body of Phylicia - completely shrinking the tumor that has grown in her head, showing Your awesome love and grace to this family, and then Lord, I ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior, that You completely remove this tumor and all of its effects upon this young girl, and show Your mighty Power to save - not just to Phylicia and her family, but to all they will share the testimony of healing with - that the Love and Power of the Almighty God in Heaven would be made known upon this earth through this.

Father, Thank you that You are and will always be our ever present help in time of need, and thank you for hearing and responding to this prayer, because of what Jesus did on the cross for me and for all who will call upon His Name.

Amen.

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Christmas Bee Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2082814&id=1600113791&l=c98e30d9ea

Copy and paste if link does not work

2010 Production of the original outreach play:

THE CHRISTMAS BEE!

(This script can be purchased for use with your church or organization by contacting Turn the Tide Ministries.com or email: turnthetideministry@live.com)

Friday, December 17, 2010

Oh! Those old Christmas songs!

We just came from Worship practice for this Sunday, and almost our entire roster is going to be Christmas songs, all the "old" stuff we hardly hear anymore. As we were practicing, I stopped and really READ the words we were singing - all the verses, not just that famous first verse.

THESE SONGS HAD TO BE SPIRIT INSPIRED! The words are incredible words of worship and praise to God the King! They are not simply "Christmas songs" but truly are inspired songs of worship, some of them better than any stuff that passes for "worship music" at many churches nowadays.

I'm not saying we shouldn't do "new stuff" - we should, definitely move on to new stuff that suits our generations - BUT - it shouldn't be watered down stuff. New shouldn't mean "less spirit inspired". God is still the finest Creator and He still is in the music business - He invented the music business!

I may be putting this a bit awkwardly, but what I'm trying to say is - to move closer to God, we must seek Him! His purposes, His desires, His heart and not our own.
Consider the words to the second and third verses of the well known: It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold, peace on earth, good will to men, from heavens all gracious king, the world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing!

Verse 2: o ye beneath lifes crushing load
whose forms are bending low
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing!
o rest beside the weary road
and hear the angels sing!

verse 3: for lo! the days are hastening on
by prophets seen of old
when with the ever circling years
shall come the time foretold
when peace shall over all the earth
it's ancient splendor fling
and the whole world
give back the song
which now the angels sing!

Take your time, consider these words - they are marvelous words, speaking of OUR need to come to Christ as Savior, give our heavy burdens to Him and take His yoke which is light, follow the narrow path which leads to LIFE EVERLASTING (climbing way) find strength to continue in His promises in spite of the hard times life brings our way, trust in the prophesy of scripture which tells of His second coming, and the look forward with joy to the day WE STAND BEFORE HIS THRONE OF GLORY PRAISING AND WORSHIPPIING OUR LIVING KING!!!

O may we experience the JOY of TRUTH this Christmas season! That is my prayer for our world and the people of my generation!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tide Turning Tales Updates

Merry Christmas to everyone!

As we celebrate the Coming in the Flesh of our Lord and Savior - remember what an act of love it was, knowing He also planned His Sacrifice for us as well.

This Saturday (18th) and Sunday (19th) our Sebastian Community Kids will be performing the original play (written by Clay Krebs, Directed by Marie Krebs)

THE CHRISTMAS BEE!

Please keep our kids in prayer! They will ALL be joining the new youth group we are forming at the Word of Life Church of God here in Sebastian this January! This will be a first for them - and for us, too! Clay and I have done a lot of different ministry over the years, this is the first time for a Youth Group.

If you have useful, Godly advice, we welcome it!

We are AMAZED beyond words with what the Lord has done in this past year! After Christmas, be sure to come back to this site for a recap of all the wonderful events He has orchestrated, that He may be Glorified & Worshipped, and that we all may be encouraged in His love and grace.

We've got The Christmas Bee book with CD of the four original Christmas songs available, if anyone would be interested. Turnthetideministry@live.com to order
your copy. $20 donation to TTT Ministry covers book, CD and shipping to you. Thanks to all who help support this work by ordering!

Changing lives one at a time...Sharing the message of Gods Grace, Hope and Healing for all.

Clay & Marie Krebs
Turn the Tide Ministries.com

Monday, December 13, 2010

God in the details...

For anyone who does not think, know, BELIEVE that GOD IS... and that He cares about the small details of our lives, chew on this...
yesterday, my husband pulled out our winter clothes from the storage in the back of our RV - and most of our things were just fine, except a bag full of my winter tops! All ruined, all mildewed!!!

Boo hoo!! Never said a word to anyone!! Today, my Mom said to me just as I was getting ready to leave after taking her to her Dr.s appointment, hey, I have something for you! Guess what it was? In all the colors of the rainbow, my size and my style!! YEP! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD WHO PROVIDES ALL OUR NEED!!!

Thank you my Loving Jesus!

Do you have an encouraging story of Gods provision? PLEASE SHARE IT WITH US!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE!

We've put some of our favorite songs on CD!
These are all original tunes written by Clay
and Marie - listen to a sample of 2 of them
on our website: www.turnthetideministries.com
ENJOY!
EVERY DAY - MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE UNTO THE LORD
FOR HE IS GOOD AND HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER!

HOPE

HOPE
Last Sunday I delivered a sermon on HOPE. Just for fun and because I was inspired to do so, I came up with 21 different acronyms for H-O-P-E. I'll share a few of my favorites at the end. (What can you come up with that describes what HOPE is?)

Hope can be a very hard subject to describe and share with others. We all think we know what it means, but have you ever tried to define it? Words to truly describe what it is to "hope" are difficult to find. We come close, we're even satisfied with our definition, but did we REALLY convey what is meant by HOPE? We have a tendency to view hope with a slightly negative connotation. As in, we HOPE something or such and such will occur. We're not 100% CERTAIN.

Faith, likewise is something we in our hearts may truly understand yet find very hard to fully, substantially define for another to grasp. Faith and Hope are not simple subjects. They are "intangible”. You cannot point to them, like a car for instance, and say, there!, that is Hope or that is Faith.

In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament of the Bible, chapter 11 and verse 1 reads: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the way to get to Hope - and neither of these can be reached except through Jesus Christ! That indefinable intangible can only be understood, ascertained and received via the Holy Spirit. We, in our flesh without the Spirit, can not fully comprehend. We can get very close, but not get all the way there without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We can "HOPE" that we're going to heaven, or that God loves us, or that something in our lives will happen or change or whatever it is we’re “hoping” for - but there's always that negative aspect to deal with - our HOPE at that point has an element of doubt to it. We aren't utterly certain. The only way to a completely certain, absolute positive HOPE is the Hope found ONLY in salvation through Jesus Christ.

This isn't the most popular option, I know. This is also one of the most offensive statements to a good number of people. I know. This can even be a dangerous point of view to express in our current culture. I know. None of that changes the truth. You can twist words, call it "my truth" and dismiss it. It still won't change THE TRUTH. The dismissal by the Romans and the Jewish leaders 2000 years or so ago did not change THE TRUTH of who Jesus was then, and dismissal by us today cannot change THE TRUTH of who Jesus is now.
Want HOPE for the future? HOPE for your children? HOPE for our country or culture or even just HOPE for our own lives right now? HOPE IN JESUS!

HOPE is:

Holding Onto Positive Expectations (which will cause you to)
Have Outrageous Profuse Enthusiasm (which you will then be)
Healed Of Perpetual Error (which leads to)
Having Only Peace Everlasting!


May this Christmas Season and all of the New Year be a fantastic time of HOPE in your life!
Peace, Love and Joy in the Holy Spirit!
Turn the Tide Ministries

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Just exactly WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?!?!?

WWJD? Or WWGHMD?

WWGHMD? Not as catchy as WWJD? But perhaps a bit more accurate. I remember when the popular What Would Jesus Do? first became known. Like most people, I thought “How clever. What a great standard to set for living life!” I also noticed that although it sounded very good and noble, when faced with actual tough decisions about our own behavior, the application of that standard wasn’t occurring as much as we’d like it to and was in fact, a bit hard to accomplish! It seemed almost like many folks felt like we had a “get out of jail free” card, in that the standard was so impossibly beyond our reach it wasn’t even worth trying for. After all, Jesus was perfect and sinless – two things none of us are! So even though we might ask the question What Would Jesus Do? our actual behavior was more in line with What is most comfortable for US to do?

It’s human nature to hang out in the comfort zone of our lives, to do what’s easiest for us, what’s most convenient. Since we cannot meet the standard of Jesus’ behavior, there’s no point trying and the whole thing becomes an exercise in futility. What if we asked a wholly different question? What if we asked What Would God Have Me Do? in any given situation and weighed our actions based on scriptural responses we are capable of by applying self-discipline to our actions? Now we’ve got a life changing standard we CAN live up to if we choose to!

Although I can’t manage to put aside all my emotions and thoughts and wants and desires as a flesh and blood person and always come up with the perfect behavior for every situation I face, I can set a standard to apply the wisdom of Biblical principles and some old fashioned self-discipline and behave in the best possible manner I can manage in any given circumstance. Romans 8:29 tells me clearly that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. So this character shaping is a work of the Holy Spirit working in me to mold and make me as God desires me and you to be. This isn’t a work of the flesh, by the flesh and for the flesh. This is a spiritual work only He can accomplish. II Corinthians 3:18 shows that we are a work in progress by the statement of the Apostle Paul “But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image….” Which would lead us into a discussion of sanctification, a topic for another day.

I’m also aware of, teach and believe Ezekiel 36: 25-27 GOD puts His Holy Spirit in us, God writes His statutes on our hearts and moves us to obey, so there certainly is that element of Jesus living through us, Jesus working through us. However, that must also come into agreement with other verses of Scripture such as Proverbs 16:9 and 20:24, both of which indicate a unity in the two actions – we planning our actions, taking our actions while those plans and actions are directed by an Almighty God.

When you are faced with a choice, a difficult decision that hinges on how you react or behave in a certain set of circumstances, definitely consider what Jesus would have done and weighing in what you CAN DO to best represent your Lord in the situation to the best of your ability, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you by faith into the right behavior. Allow Gods grace to cover you but don’t use grace as an excuse for poor behavior! After all Jesus did tell us that the works that He did, we would do also and GREATER WORKS!! We have no excuse and with the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we need no excuse!

This is certainly a simplified way to look at what is actually a very complicated situation-mans behaviors- and yet, I continue to preach and adhere to the principle that God intended to simplify all this as much as possible so we could “get it”! He loves us that much. He wants us to GET IT!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Thank God for the Struggles!

I thank God for all the struggles in my life both past and present. Those struggles are what kept me seeking, kept me pressing in to Him, kept me humble, kept me from thinking I could live “my life” without God, without obeying him without submitting to Him. I think about the times I “did it my way” and what mess ensued! Even with my best heart intentions I fell so far short it’s a joke to claim I “did my best”! At my absolute BEST I did the absolute WORST! Poor judgment, bad decision and outright SIN has been the result each and every time I failed to ask Gods guidance and then obey His commands! I’m still struggling with things! Still struggling with each day, each activity, each decision. Don’t we all struggle to “do whats right’? Only now, I know to take these struggles to my Heavenly Father and ASK HIM what to do! Then OBEY what He commands rather than doing what seems right to me at the time. The contrast in the outcome is startling!



Doing what seems right in my sight usually means what seems easiest, most convenient and will have the most advantageous outcome for MYSELF. Since I am not omniscient and don’t know the end from the beginning, the unfortunate results are that I hurt others by my choices whether I mean to or not, and in the end it turns out not to be the best thing for me, either!

Being so fully aware that I am not able on my own not only keeps me pressing in to Him, it keeps my ears sensitive to hear His commands which leads me into His will for me instead of my will - and that's always better! Trusting that there are no "coincidental" occurances when I walk by faith and being obedient to His command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel have led to the best days of my life!



Today, I met several new people as I boldly reached out with the Gospel and offered to pray for each of them. Two of them I am certain will become lifelong friends and ministry partners. Never would have happened if I hadn't kept my ears AND my heart open to GOD! And the new soul that just received Christ? All heavens is dancing on that one! What joy obedience brings! I highly recommend it.



The struggle we resent? It leads us to bigger better things, makes us stronger and brings the greater glory to God the Father. Struggles, I think I'm starting to appreciate them! Hope you will too. Be encouraged - Christ is coming soon!



We've added 2 of our songs to the website for you to sample, and if you'd like to help support this ministry work, we have CD;s you can purchase! The songs take a moment to download, so be patient! www.turnthetideministries.com

Friday, November 5, 2010

Dashing forward...

Just got off the phone with my protege', prayer partner, best friend and all around special big sister - who took the time to remind me why we're out here on this road! How easily we get caught up in unimportant trivial matters when great things are actually at stake - the hearts and souls of men and women who have yet to hear the Gospel of Christ!!! Thank you Kathleen!!

Two songs from our new CD's have been posted on the website. Check out the songs - buy the CD's to support the ministry, and GOD BLESS US EVERYONE!

www.turnthetideministries.com

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Training Ground

Welcome to Gods training ground-the World at Large! I am amazed at the
things God shows us on a daily basis. As you read His Holy Scriptures and ask His guidance He speaks about your own hearts, your relationship to Him, your relationship to the Body of Christ and His church and your RESPONSIBILITY to the lost souls who have not heard the Gospel to the end that they believe it and receive salvation.

It would be so much easier to just be responsible for yourself, but God made us relational creatures and we are not able to escape our own natures. (That's why He had to make a way out of sin on our behalf, but that's another blog altogether!) As relational creatures we have to understand not only THAT our actions and reactions effect us and others around us, but HOW we and others are effected.

When we are younger and less mature, we "act" without giving much thought to how it effects anyone except ourselves. We must not stay in that place, never growing up to the place where we think BEFORE we act about how the action we take will effect other lives. For example, the Apostle Paul said he becomes all things to all people so that he might win some to Christ - that takes a lot of forethought and understanding of how others behave, how we can behave in accordance with THEIR WAY OF THINKING RATHER THAN OUR OWN so that our actions will then achieve our goal- reach them with our way of thinking. In our case, that "way of thinking" is Trust and Faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

It's a mindset. A manner of thinking that then dictates actions. More often than not, it also means we have to deliberately put aside our personal wants and desires, and even our needs in order to reach out to others with understanding, kindness, LOVE and the Gospel Truth of Salvation.

The training ground that best suits this change of behavior isn't a controlled environment, but the World at Large! Actually dealing with people, deliberately putting their need and want ahead of our own and following through so we then see the result - a way into their hearts! If people see you put them first, they are far more likely to listen attentively to what you have to say.

I've heard it put this way- people don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care. It can't be just words - it must be actions! Actions speak far more eloquently than words ever can. We cannot just tell them of Christs love and grace, we must SHOW them Christs Love and Grace!

This reason alone is a very good reason to get outside the four walls of our churches and obey Jesus' command:
Go into ALL THE WORLD and make disciples of all men! (MATTHEW 28:19-20 FOR THE EXACT QUOTE!)

and may God Bless you in your endeavor to obey Him!

Monday, October 4, 2010

UPdate: Walk by FAITH!

WOW!! I know, I start that way a lot, but let's face it, there's a lot of WOW in GOD! This week, I received such an education in walking by faith and not by sight, I just couldn't NOT share it with others! So here it is:

The situation was LOOKING kind of bleak. It looked like ministry just wasn't happening. It looked like we were not having any real effect on anyone. It looked like we had somehow gotten out of Gods will and were missing His blessings. It looked rather grim to be truthful, and my prayers were showing less and less strength as each day wore on. I was still praying, but the trust and faith seemed to be wearing a bit thin! If you've ever been there, you know just what I'm talking about!

Then my eyes were opened! My spiritual eyes first, THEN by faith, I saw in the physical what was already going on in the spiritual realm!

Sure, things "looked" bleak to my naked eye-but they were far from bleak - and that's what walking by FAITH and not by sight is all about! In ONE conversation with someone seemingly unconnected to all our "ministry efforts" - God opened my eyes to see! Ministry WAS happening, we were having a GREAT effect on LOT'S of people around us, we WERE in the middle of Gods will and doing what He called us to do and the blessings, though unseen for a while were RIGHT THERE!

Christ was received as Savior by several souls, a new opportunity to hold church services for almost 300 new people has opened up to us and outreach efforts are yeilding tremendous harvest to Gods eternal Glory!!!!

How many times have you heard, "don't believe what your eyes see, trust what God said in His Word." Well, I can encourage all anew - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your steps."
WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

STAND

S - staying put no matter the cost or circumstances, until God Himself moves us on!
T - Trusting His Word and His character, not what our eyes see and our ears hear!
A - attitude kept firmly in line with TRUTH!
N - No weapon formed against me is able to prevail or MOVE me from His WILL for me!
D - determined to follow Him and obey Him

Oh, there's LOTS of other things we can put in here, these are just a few that jumped into my mind this morning. What would YOURS be? (Ephesians 6:13-14)

Friday, September 24, 2010

Lee Iacocco- REALLY??!!!???!

I just received an email which supposedly was a posting by Lee Iaccoco, blasting this economy, this President and this Congress-both houses, thank you. I don't know how real or not this post is or isn't, but one thing I will say - the call in this email for every Patriotic American to WAKE UP, SMELL THE SMOKE AND FIGURE OUT THERE REALLY IS A FIRE RAGING OUT OF CONTROL (my words, not the emails) is certainly for real. I usually reserve this blog for posts about our ministry, our walk with God and relationship with Jesus Christ the Savior.

Well, this is about all those things and more!

I've gotta be truthful here - I honestly don't believe that the America I know and LOVE can be saved! Economically, I believe we've been doomed by very poor management of our resources for so long, it's as hopeless a case as any third world country has ever faced.

HOWEVER - I do believe that the PEOPLE of this country are SAVABLE!!!
It isn't popular, but it sure is the TRUTH - there is most emphatically a CREATOR, GOD, Who has set this whole world up according to His own plan and purpose. We, the very creature He created, have separated ourselves from His perfect plan through SIN- living according to our own will and desire rather than His.

You may ask yourself at this point - WHY SHOULD I CARE? WHY SHOULDN'T I JUST LIVE MY LIFE THE WAY I SEE FIT? The answer is actually pretty simple, theologians everywhere please forgive me for this opinion, but IT ISN'T COMPLICATED!

You can live the way YOU want. And you can pay the consequence of that choice, both now, in what you reap to yourself by your actions and words right now on this earth, and also ETERNALLY - by what you reap to yourself by your actions and words. Every person is CREATED by a living God and therefore, like it or not, subject to the rules this God set up. Since WE are not the Creators, we don't get to set the rules!

You can ignore Him and His rules, claim you don't 'BELIEVE" in them, rant and rave all you care to against them - and it still won't change the TRUTH that He created this whole thing - the earth and all that's in it and on it, each person, the whole galaxy and every part of it - and He can do with it JUST AS HE PLEASES IN SPITE OF YOUR UNBELIEF.

Unbelief did not stop Jesus from coming the first time, and it won't stop Him from coming the second time. ETERNITY will not disappear just because you don't want to deal with it.

YOUR CHOICE: Eternity in the presence of the Living God who loves you and WILL accept you by a simple confession of faith in Him, or Eternity spent in (His description, not mine)torment and darkness where there is misery and gnashing of teeth.

It isn't popular, but it is THE TRUTH. Salvation from SIN and HELL is found ONLY in Jesus Christ. There is no other way, no other truth and NO GETTING OUT OF IT BY IGNORING IT.

America may very well be on Her way to destruction - but you don't have to be!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Whose Report? Part Two

Aren't we just the same as those Jewish people? We "spy out the land" - and we see the evidence of God - we see the truth of His existence, of His involvement in our lives - and then our flesh rises up and BLINDS us to that truth and convinces us of a lie instead! We become convinced that WE ARE NOT ABLE to do as God has instructed us to do!

Now here's the thing - THAT'S THE TRUTH!! WE ARE NOT ABLE! He is the One Who Able! He works IN US, to will and to do of His good pleasure! He makes us New Creations in Christ! he leads us in paths of righteousness.
HE DOES IT, NOT US! Ezekiel 36:25-27 was highlighted for me some years ago, and it was an epiphany, to realize that God does it - we just yield to His work!!

We go and do and He brings the increase - He causes us to triumph - HE ORCHESTRATES THE VICTORY!!

Many years ago, I heard someone teach that FEAR is simply False Evidence Appearing Real. That has stayed with me, and when I see things, I measure them according to what the Bible tells me is truth, and not according to what my eyes are thinking they see. Not easy, but makes a difference in how I live, so my life is more surrendered to Him and less surrendered to this world.

Fear will defeat us everytime. Keeping ourselves at the feet of Jesus "de-feets" fear! Without "feet" - it can't take us anywhere! We don't deny the realities of our circumstances and situations, we simply hold those realities up to the truths of Gods promises. when our hope is in Him rather than the things of this world, FAITH overcomes the supposed worldly realities. We simply don't put our hope and trust in "reality", we put our hope and trust in Christ alone! his truths, His promises!
Then our FAITH has FEET and will take us to victory through Christ!

Praying your faith has feet to take you to His plan for your life!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Whose Report Will We Believe??

The story found in Numbers 13 is one very interesting story. God has told His people He is providing them with a land, flowing with milk and honey, and that they will occupy cities they didn’t build, and live in houses they didn’t construct and eat of the land from fields which they did not have to toil in and plant… and all they had to do to receive all this was, well, just GO UP AND TAKE IT. Yea, they’d have to fight, yea, there were already people living there, but God promised to deliver all of it into their hands and all they need do was open their hands and receive.

So, they get to the land, and sure enough, there are cities, great cities, really nice cities with fabulous fields full of good food, plenty of grazing land for their flocks – and just like God told them would be there, there were pagans already occupying the territory.
So they sent a dozen men to go on into the land before them and tell them what was what. And the men came back, all having seen exactly the same things, and sure enough. The land flowed with milk and honey in abundance, JUST LIKE GOD SAID, and there were cities and houses and planted fields, JUST LIKE GOD SAID, and there were people already occupying the territory, JUST LIKE GOD SAID.

Everything was just the way God said it would be, everything. No deviation from what He had told them whatsoever. SO HOW COME THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE THE REST OF WHAT GOD HAD SAID TO THEM? How come they didn’t believe God would deliver the people into their hands and give them the land JUST LIKE HE SAID?????

Aren’t we just exactly the same? We believe Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead – but we don’t believe “by His stripes we were healed”. We don’t trust that “your Father knows what you have need of before you ask”. If God be for us who can be against us. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us!.

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Updates

when God begins to do a "work" in your own heart, one you've asked for, submitted to, but it's still a struggle in the flesh, it's hard to encourage others and be real upbeat about everything! We've asked the Lord to take us deeper, separate us more completely from the things of this world, and increase our desire and compassion for the lost. WOW! He's answering, and I am telling you the truth, our flesh isn't liking it very much! YET... in the spirit, we are rejoicing for He is showing us things we've not seen before. We are understanding His written word as if we've never even seen it before, and peace? No, not the false peace of flesh needs, but the "peace that passes all understanding", that we have.

Our prayer life has grown by leaps and bounds, and folks will tell you, I was no slouch in the prayer department before this Great Adventure began! Through the growth of our prayer life, we are learning - we aren't there, but we are learning - not to regard our "reputation" or our EGO, but to regard the Lord alone! Tough, but WORTH IT!!! We'll keep you posted, you keep praying for us!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Is He Lord in "your" life?

Funny thing happened when I was praying - I was asking God to do some things in "my" life, and was meditating on His word, and some of the things He has already promised to do, when this thought seemingly from nowhere appeared. It went something like this: "my life?" Is this truly my life, if it is conducted as He instructs, as a living sacrifice? If I truly believe that I was bought with a great price, His blood shed on Calvary for me, isn't it now "His life"? Since He paid for it, doesn't it belong to Him? Isn't it just a loaner now, and He is gracious enough to let me do what I want with it, even if I choose NOT to obey Him?

I spent some serious time thinking, praying and thinking some more about this, and here are some of the things I thought. I hope they may spur you to deeper considerations along this line, and encourage you in your personal walk with the God who created you.

If I say I trust Him, and this life is His to direct as He see's fit since He bought it, and He wants the very BEST for me - why should it be hard to obey Him? Shouldn't it in fact be now very EASY to obey Him?

Faith becomes a little easier to consider, too, when it's no longer applied from an uncertain position of "my life needs", but now applied from the sure position of "This life You Bought" needs...

Since this is now His life, which I get to live, but is provided for by Him - it's like having a very well off Daddy, and He owns this grand mansion, lands, cars and more than plenty in every category. Sure, there are always going to be those who don't like my Daddy, so they won't be all that nice to me, either. However, He is my Daddy, so I have FREE USE of all that's His and He will make sure there's gas in the car because He doesn't want His car stuck on the side of the road. And there will always be heat for the house, because He provides for the need of all He owns. Do you see where I'm going with this? If it is no longer "my life" but truly His life I'm living for His purpose, He will provide now and forever for what is needful. No worries, no fears. Even if(WHEN, really, for these bodies are temporary!)this physical body ends, ETERNAL life with Him continues!

It's a can't lose situation! As if there weren't already lots of benefits and NO DOWNSIDE to surrendering "our lives" to the one true God, here's a perfectly logical and reasonable insight into why it makes so much sense!

Now, I'm not talking about religious activity - that's for another blog entry!

Religious activity is NOT a substitute for RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR! We've got to have that part down first. Recognize we are sinners in need of a Savior, accept the salvation offered by Jesus' shed blood, repent of our sins and ask forgiveness, receive that forgiveness, and the work of the Holy Spirit begins!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

PRESS FORWARD!

The last couple of weeks have been incredible. At our regular Tuesday morning service at the nursing home, we've witnessed a SECOND breakthrough which is very
exciting! I reported a few blogs ago about the woman who had been attending the services, and began talking again after almost a year of silence! This week, she is not only talking, she is talking about learning to play the DRUMS at the ripe age of
80 something (maybe even 90 something! I didn't dare ask!) She has a new lease on life itself - now that she knows she has eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord! She isn't thinking in terms of how much time has gone by, but in how to BEST use the time in the flesh on this earth she still has and how to GLORIFY her Savior with it! Praise God, how wonderful is His name.

What an encouragement to all - not to waste another moment on the time that has gone by, but to grab hold of every second that is to come and make the very most of it that we are able to! There is no limit to what can be accomplished when we are submitted to the Holy Spirit and His work in us! Why can't she learn to play the drums? Why couldn't YOU start again - new and fresh in the Lord? As the Apostle Paul put it - "forgetting those things that are BEHIND we press FORWARD..." As my
51st birthday approaches, I find I am excited about all that is yet to be!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Taste and See that the Lord is Good!

As Clay and I continue to seek the Lord about our direction for ministry, the Lord remains incredibly faithful, showing us the way, one step at a time and blessing us mightily along the way! It seems that every single day, He brings us further wisdom, shows us His way a little more clearly, and grants us greater understanding of things we previously thought we knew and understood!
This week, He showed us that even if someone else has begun a work and it’s fire appears to be glowing just fine on it’s own, we are still responsible to work the works He has called us to and contribute to, not just warm ourselves at, the fire of another. And when there is adversity, we are to shake it off and continue.
In Timothy we read the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It’s wonderful to hear great sermons and learn from others, but it is
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR KNOWING HIS WORD FOR OURSELVES!

More and more we are aware of the NEED in the heart and soul of those who call themselves Christians to FEAST on the LIVING WORD regularly in order to be satisfied and full in the Holy Spirit. Those who do not even call themselves Christian, IF they feast on His Holy Word; will find themselves changed as well, for His word is a Banquet of LIFE!

Friday, July 30, 2010

WHEN THE PRAISES GO UP...

the Glory comes down!! (an old hymn I used to sing)



And it is the truth! Tuesday we went to Palm City Nursing and Rehab Center - and

we were met with such enthusiasm - by a woman, who, according to the nursing

staff there, hasn't spoken a single word in almost one year!



Geraldine saw us coming in the front door, and she began to sing out very loudly-

"you are here to sing to me, m...e......me! Praises to God! you are here to

sing to me, m...e... me!"



It was wonderful and encouraging and joyful and we did rejoice!!!!



Sometimes, you go through all the motions, doing what God instructed you to do,

and you wonder, am I making any difference?



To Geraldine, the hour or so we spend with her, singing and sharing the word of God

with her, is having profound effect on her physically and spiritually! Where once, there

was a sense of waiting - waiting for her to "pass on", there is new LIFE as she praises

God with us every Tuesday morning!



WHEN THE PRAISES GO UP! THE GLORY COMES DOWN!

Praise God Almighty, His word is a HEALING word! Daily reading of the word of

God is not drudgery! Daily reading of that living word brings LIFE to us! Just

ask Geraldine and the folks at Palm City Nursing and Rehab Center.



Till next time, Remember NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION, GOD CAN TURN THE TIDE!!!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Keeping in TOUCH!

It amazes me in this technological age of INSTANT messages and INSTANT
information just how BUSY we all are!! It seems there STILL aren't enough
hours in each day, even if we skip all the "small things" - those very things
that make LIVING any fun at all - to do everything we THINK we need to
do.

This very morning, I took time to sit and send a text message to each one
of our children, just to let them know we are thinking of them and love them.

God, too, waits patiently to hear from each of us. It isn't because He needs
to know our thoughts or catch up with what we're doing. He already knows!
It's because He knows how DESPARATELY we need to know HIS thoughts and
catch up with what He's doing!

TAKE TIME EVERY SINGLE DAY TO READ A LITTLE OF HIS WORD, PRAY TO HIM
ABOUT YOUR NEEDS AND THE NEEDS OF OTHERS YOU ARE AWARE OF - AND -
TAKE A MOMENT, JUST A MOMENT, TO LISTEN TO WHAT HE HAS TO SAY TO YOU!

Praying for EACH of you regularly and without ceasing, that you might KNOW HIM!

God bless you! HOW GREAT ARE YOU ALLOWING GOD TO BE IN YOUR LIFE TODAY?!?!

Clay, Marie and JackDog!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Divine Timing!

We all know that feeling, waking up and realizing without even looking at a clock that we’ve slept past the time we intended to get up! It didn’t make any sense, I had set the timer same as I did each night before a work day. So, I just made the best of the situation. Once I was in the car and on my way, as is my custom, I greeted the Lord and sought direction for prayer.

Kathleen, my dear friend and beloved sister in Christ came to my mind. As I began to pray for her in earnest, I heard my own voice begin to thank God – THAT SHE PRAYS FOR ME! Hmmm, I thought that seemed a rather selfish thought where did that come from? And then I saw it.

On the highway in front of me, everyone slamming on their brakes and slowing down. As I rolled slowly past the 10 car and tractor trailer truck that had been involved in this crash, I distinctly heard the Holy Spirit “Kathleen prays for you and the result was you were kept from this. You would have been in the middle of this mess if you’d left the house on time this morning.”

God is always watching out for His children. We won’t always know why or what the outcome of certain things are, but we can always trust that He is in control and knows exactly what is best for our lives. I am one very thankful child that God not only allowed me an extra 20 minutes rest on Tuesday evening, but kept me from further harm.

Ahhh- sweet surrender that gives room for the Spirit to have it’s perfect way. Opening line from the new song we’re writing…



Blessings to all of you! PRAYER IS POWERFUL! DO IT DAILY, CONSISTENTLY AND NEVER DOUBT IT’S EFFECT ON YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS!

Friday, July 9, 2010

HOLD ON

In Genesis we find the story of a young and in this case, foolish man named Esau.
Esau had been out working in the fields and came in hungry. His twin brother, Jacob, had spent that same time cooking - a delicious lentil stew! Esau requested some of the stew, and Jacob, never one to miss an opportunity, SOLD the bowl of stew to his brother for his brothers birthright. See, Esau was the firstborn twin, and therefore according to custom of the times, his "birthright" was that he was entitled to his fathers estate and titles and blessings.

Without giving a thought to the actual cost of the stew he was purchasing, Esau callously agreed to an exchange that would detrimentily affect the remainder of his life, and future generations of peoples as well. The Bible tells us that Esau "despised" his inheritance. It had no value to him, for he never considered what it really was. A promise to him. He disregarded the promise, and it cost him the benefits of that promise.

Then we find in I Kings _________ the story of another man by the name of Naboth, who also had an inheritance. Like all the Israelites at the time God brought them into the promised land, Naboths ancestors had inherited from the Lord a piece of land that was theirs by birthright, as the chosen people of God. Eventually, Naboth inherited that piece of land, and he planted and harvested and sacrificed to the Lord his God from the increase of that land. He was thankful for the land, so grateful to God in fact, that when the King of Israel, Ahab, came to him and wanted to purchase the land, he told the King no. When the King persisted, even offering Naboth another piece of land instead, Naboth VALUED the inheritance he received, recognizing the blessing of God that was given to him, and he turned the King down, knowing that it might cost him. Certainly the Kings good will, and as it turned out, his very life!

We, too, have an inheritance that is ours by "birthright". When we acknowledge our need of a Savior to deliver us from our separation from God, a separation caused by our own sin against God, when we admit it and declare Jesus Lord of our lives we become Sons of the Living God, and our inheritance is ETERNAL LIFE.

Our behavior-obedience or disobedience to the Lords commands, found in the book we call the Bible-determine how we value our inheritance. Do we "despise" it, devalue it, like Esau did, and sell it for momentary fleshly pleasure and desires? Or are we like Naboth, recognizing the worth and refusing to let it go?

When we are offered "alternatives" to obeying God, alternatives to living according to Gods standard, will we value our inheritance and say "NO" to those alternatives? Or will we decide that we are going to do whatever "feels" good to us for the moment, whatever we "feel" is the right thing? The choice always belongs to us, but so do the consequences and outcomes.

If we want the full benefit of our inheritance, made available to us through Jesus Christ, we need to value it enough to protect it, HOLD ON to it and not let go even when the way seems hard. When things just don't seem to be going in our favor, HOLD ON and put your trust in the God who created the universe and declares that He loves you. HOLD ON when the ways of sin are offering a "different" piece of land. HOLD ON when someone offers you a bowl of lentil stew for a price and your starving. HOLD ON to the inheritance you have as a son of God!

If your not sure you are a "Son of God" - HOLD ON! Here's what you need to know:

We have ALL sinned and come short of the Glory of God - confess to God that you are a sinner and in need of His Salvation.

The ways of a man seem right to him, but their end is destruction - admit that God knows more than you do, so doing things His way makes sense! He says you need to "born again" or "born from above" - which simply means, a "spiritual birth" needs to take place. (see John chapter 3 for Jesus' declaration concerning this)

To be born of the spirit, confess Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead! (see Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10)

MOST churches will assist you with understanding what is taking place in your heart concerning the things of your inheritance. (I say most, for some DO NOT TEACH THIS TRUTH WHICH IS FOUND IN THE BIBLE!)

iF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, WE'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AND HELP YOU IN ANY WAY WE ARE ABLE. www.turnthetideministries.com or turnthetideministry@live.com or you may call 1-720-261-1790. GOD LOVES YOU AND HE IS FOR YOU SO HOLD ON!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

the WOW factor.....

As we are reading sections of Old & New Testament and a Psalm each day, God has been using it to teach us deeper understanding of principles we've learned in the past, but need to re-visit from time to time, to keep them fresh in our HEARTS, and bring us farther along in our walk with Him.

As we read about the Israelites, the truth highlighted is that of obedience. Now, before you dismiss that lightly, stop and meditate a moment on this idea. We are quick to say "we obey God" and in the BIG and OBVIOUS ways, that is most likely true. However, in the not so obvious ways, in the seemingly insignificant ways it would be a good idea to examine our own hearts to determine what's really there. We will probably be surprised to find that often, we simply make our own decisions and choices and go our own ways without ever ASKING GOD WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO! For one who has declared that Jesus is LORD - which means He is essentially "our BOSS' in ALL matters, not seeking is the equivalent of disobeying.

The absolute GREATEST thing any of us can ever do in the Kingdom of God is to do what God has specifically made, formed, created and CALLED us to do! Not what the neighbors are doing, what the Pastor tells us to do (though he/she may have very good ideas in that department!), not what our parents or our children want us to do (kids, I'm not talking about obeying parents in that sense and you know it! :0)- the greatest thing isn't doing what others are doing and succeeding at - it's doing just precisely, exactly, specifically what God Allmighty purposes for YOU as an individual to do in the Kingdom!

My personal experience just this MORNING is filled with MIRACLES - because in this one instance anyway, I got it right, and did just what God told me to do - and as a result, I've experienced a MIRACLE from God! Want to know the specifics? Sign up for email updates and get all the details! www.turnthetideministries.com
Meanwhile, know this: God loves His creation and has plans and a specific purpose for each and every one of us!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Always a "new thing"

We are learning, FAST, that "ministry" as we've always defined it no longer
fits in this new setting, which is outside of what would be considered "normal". Having given up living in one location with the intention of 'permanent', given up career employment and ownership of our own business, given up living in a house even, the things that used to constitute ministry, we are finding, are not applicable. Every step of this "Great Adventure" has been a learning experience and opportunity to grow in Christ, and provided greater means of outreach to others to share the message of salvation. In other words - all very exciting stuff!

For that reason, we find continually the need of praying and earnestly seeking Gods direction and now most specifically, His definition of ministry. We started off doing the things that "worked" in the past - seek out likeminded believers, set a foundation in the local church, share music and the message of salvation - and when it went "flat", we were shocked, surprised, frustrated - and then JOYFUL! - as we came to understand that God was doing a NEW THING in us and through us. We did not give up our supposed "everything in this world" for no purpose - but for His perfect purpose and that required some changes - first in us, and then we would be prepared for Him to work through us.

Even doing the evangelism activities of the past were not the "right" moves
anymore! Only by seeking the Lord and His specific direction for how 'ministry' is
to be defined and accomplished will be acceptable at this point in our walk.

Allelujah, what a creative God we serve! At first, we were a little taken aback, and even a little put out that what had always worked before no longer worked! Things were no longer simple, and we no longer felt capable and adequate. To have come this far, and find it didn't "work" like we thought it ought to work was a bit of a shock to our systems! And that is the point!! God sometimes needs to shock our systems to get us OFF OUR THOUGHT TRACK AND ONTO HIS!!

We did not give up all and head out for a "Great Adventure" that was simply more of the same old, same old! God is far too creative, and His message far too precious and those souls who need to hear are far to important to settle for "normal" in this endeavor. WHAT WERE WE THINKING???!!!?!?? Aren't I the preacher that stood in the pulpit and boldly declared to everyone that God never changes but He changes us CONTINUALLY?!?

No change=no growth=no life!

Praise God we don't have it all figured out yet and PRAISE GOD we will NEVER have it all figured out! We will always rely on Him, always pray to Him, always call on His name and seek His guidance and operate by FAITH IN HIM!

Life, created by God, designed by Him to be a truly "GREAT ADVENTURE"!

Stay tuned for all the Tide Turning Tales to come!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

God speaks, are we listening?

In the Bible, we are told to be "led by the spirit". Have you ever wondered what that meant? I've given that idea a LOT of prayer and thought and I've discovered something I hope you'll find useful. God speaks to us in MANY different ways, that's not a new revelation. Sometimes it's that still small voice we've heard about, sometimes the way circumstances push us, often it's His word as already written - He just brings it to our attention in a new or insistent way, and sometimes He speaks audibly. I'm learning that once we start desiring something that He has instructed us to desire, He can be very creative in how He brings it to pass. For instance, He may speak in one of the ways I've listed above, or He may speak VOLUMES to us in the simple act of our obedience to Him in one area, which He then uses to tell us other things.

I have also experienced recently the use of what we might call dejavu. There have been two occasions in the last two months where I've a distinct sense of having been here and done this before. The second time it happened, I prayed and asked God if it meant anything - this sense of having already been here and doing what I'm doing, and I knew He was confirming for me that I am in the right place! We are the one's who limit God, He is limitless! He is so creative, coming up with different ways to communicate with Him are no problem to Him at all. Through out the Bible, He is constantly telling us He's doing new things, different things, creative things.

God is always speaking to us, are we always listening?

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Yea, it's been awhile....

We've been so gloriously busy with the DOING of the Lords work, I've hardly had time to think about writing about what we're doing! It's been a wonderful time these last several weeks, lets see if I can catch everyone up.

Clay & I were examining our hearts, praying mightily for Gods direction and trying to continue moving ahead without doubt or fear. We were wonderfully reminded by the Holy Spirit, that God gave us very clear directions before we ever left Colorado - that we were to "do the insignificant". I've become very aware of how easily we get caught up in doing the things we think are important, the things we decide are worth doing and it usually has something to do with US - our feelings, our needs our desires our standing our abilities our our our- I think you get my point.

At the same time, we've been experiencing this "sense" that God is always on top of everything AND YET we cannot simply take that for granted - our need of Him and His intervention in our lives is too critical! So, we should be assured that God is in control and have FAITH of that fact, but not be arrogant, smug or overconfident - this keeps us pressing in to the Lord, growing in Him, on our knees in prayer - this overwhelming knowledge of how greatly we are in need of Him. Jesus said, you are the branches, I am the vine. How true!! We "sprout leaves" so to speak and bear fruit BUT we cannot do these things without the sustenance we get from the SOURCE! We know this, yet it bears remembering with humility!

So, I said all that to say this ( I have such a talent for making a short story LONG)
all the lofty, spiritual, deep, theological, meaningful and awesome principles from the Bible work in our everyday, hum drum, ordinary lives in such a critical fashion when we are obedient to the Lord and stay aware of His moving in our lives. Take the Amp incident. (no spelling mistake, I said "amp")

A lot of what Clay I do involves the music we bring to people. Our original worship music is a blessing and opens many doors for us, allowing us to then share the gospel with many souls. We had been invited to participate with a public event taking place at the Ft. Pierce Marina. It wasn't a "Christian" event, but one of the sponsors liked our music and it opened the door for us to be invited. As the event got underway, Clay & I began to practice and unknown to us, clouds were rolling in. Long story shortened, an electrical surge blew out our amp. Uh-oh! Memorial Day weekend, nothing open - what were we going to do? We found a music store - but they wouldn't even get to look at the amp til Wednesday! We'd tried putting in a new fuse, hoping that was the extent of the problem - but no luck there! Every time we turned the amp on, it blew the fuse immediately! So we left it at the music store and began to pray.

God worked some very interesting things in our hearts over the next week. We began to see some areas in our hearts that needed attention, some important pieces of our relationship with the Father that we'd been a bit neglectful of. We began to pray in a more concentrated, more submitted sort of way. I'm not sure I can find the words to exactly describe. God was calling us to come in deeper with Him. Clay had a realization - YOU DON'T ENTER THE HOLY OF HOLIES UNLESS YOUR RIGHT WITH GOD BECAUSE YOU CAN DIE IN THERE! WOW!! There's a thought we can all chew on for a good long while! The thing was, we became aware that we are being called into a more intense place. Those who have made a committment to pray specifically for us often receive requests from us to KEEP PRAYING. Prayer is so important and changes things drastically here on this earth and yet we can often get neglectful about prayer. We are VERY AWARE of how much we need constant prayer!

Back to the AMP-
so we call the music shop on Wednesday - they haven't had time to look at it, never mind tell us whats wrong and can they fix it. We are getting a little panicky since we have limited funds and need that amp. At the Tuesday Worship service we do in Palm City, we went with acoustic guitar and me speaking LOUDLY, which thankfully I'm pretty good at. Thursday, they still hadn't looked at the amp. Friday, they still hadn't looked at the amp, and we went around to several other places, just checking, and NO ONE ELSE in the area repairs amps. Saturday, they still hadn't gotten around to even opening the back panel to check if the whole thing was completely fried or not! Now here's the cool thing - sometimes we think we're going to do one thing and God has other plans. There was a business down in Ft. Pierce that Clay was interested in applying for work. When I asked him if he wanted to go on Saturday, his answer was unusual, but I believe led by the Spirit. He said, yea, lets go and do some ministry down there. Ministry? At a job interview? Ok, I was up for it. But then we got there and the job wasn't ANYTHING Clay would be interested in doing and we started to head back to Jensen Beach, but guess what? We were just down the street from the music store! So we decided to stop in and we weren't sure what we were going to do, but we were getting just a little frustrated with the situation.

The same young man who originally waited on us was there, and just as polite, but still, they hadn't even LOOKED at the amp!! The owner of the shop came in just then, and we VERY politely inquired as to the possibility that he might LOOK at the amp, and tell us if it was hopeless or hopeful at the very least. This led to a dialog, which led to a conversation, which led to all of us sharing our hearts about the state of things in general and discovering that we all had some very definite thoughts in common. At that point, the owner indicated that his hesitancy had a lot to do with his belief that the surge would have burned out the circuits, and getting parts would be more expensive than the amp was worth - BUT - he did have this other amp, similar but different, that he would let us have for a truly reasonable amount of money (and then Clay asked for a deeper discount AND HE GAVE IT TO US!). After some more happy conversation and sharing and having made ourselves some new friends, we took our new but gently used amp home. Plugged it in, and guess what? The sound is cleaner and crisper than our original amp!!

Romans 8:28 ...and we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose...

God is GOD in the ordinary everyday things. We needed a new or at least a better amp, and He provided it. From what seemed like a bad situation, He brought about GOOD. In our routine lives, He is AT WORK! We can be assured that God is EVER FAITHFUL, but we cannot take it for granted! We must continually acknowledge our need of Him and His love and grace and mercy in our lives. It may seem like we know these things, but if we are not careful, we will get complacent about them and we weill suddenly find ourselves in tough spots and wondering where God is in all of it - when all the time, He's right there and we've NEGLECTED this most important thing!

I know this has been a rather long post, but it is our sincere and earnest prayer that the truths shared here will encourage others and help others to recognize that however well things are going right now, we still need God on our side! You know that scripture that says "IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?" Don't forget that first, and very important word: if. IF God be for us... Are you absolutely certain that God is for you? The message today is as simple and straightforward as it was thousands of years ago: repent and be saved.

Gods great blessings to all, and may you all know His love today!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Just one conversation....

Just one conversation, just one prayer can change someone's entire universe! I know it did for me, one persons prayer for me changed the course of my life for all eternity! Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian possesses. That's why the devil fights so hard to deceive us into thinking its useless. Tries to lull us to sleep whenever we settle in to pray - tries to get us to think there is no power, no purpose to the time spent asking, seeking, knocking on the door of heaven.

This week, Clay and I were definitely experiencing some opposition! We even started to wonder if we were in the right place, doing the right things, had any purpose at all to our "Great Adventure"! We were downright oppressed by a certainty that we served no purpose, had "missed" God, were spinning our wheels and going nowhere!

I'm sure you've all felt like that, too. BUT GOD..... oh, how I love those words! No matter whats going on, no matter what we're doing, no matter what our eyes see, our ears hear, our hearts feel, those words set all things right!! BUT GOD...

We felt useless, BUT GOD had a use for us. We'd been "under the bridge" several times now, sometimes with the guitar, sometimes in fellowship with the Jensen Beach Christian Church, serving breakfast to all, sometimes bringing sandwiches and water to the homeless and alcoholics who hang out at the pavilions. This time, we were walking Jack, letting him play and chase the sand crabs and the lizards- just walking along, no thought or purpose in mind, feeling a little "depressed" even, as we had just come from two events we thought were God opening doors, yet fizzled and faded. I felt like " we may have seen an open door, but we sure tripped over the threshold!"

As we sat on the wall watching the water for these cool fish that jump into the air, which I'm trying to capture a picture of to send to Grayson and Noah (our Grandsons), along comes Eddie, one of the homeless we've spent a little time with. Carrying the everpresent beer, he stopped to say hello when I greeted him. I invited him to sit and visit. For some minutes, we simply listened to his tales, deflected his several requests for money (we'll give them food, but won't give them money to spend on alcohol and drugs)and kept the conversation general. Then, led by the spirit, I began to press him a little - gently, ever so gently - about his relationship with Jesus. He claims he's saved, that he knows the Lord, yet there is no reflection of it in his life, as the drink leads him on a merry go round of jail, sobriety, freedom, drunkeness and usually back for some jail time due to pan handling (apparently not legal here) and disorderly conduct.

As we continued the conversation, I responded to the Holy Spirit pressing me to press him a little harder, a little harder, a little more specifically, until Eddie broke, broke down and began to cry, began to open his heart to the love of God, which he just couldn't believe! How could God love him, this drunken and disheveled man who lived his life in such opposite manner of a Holy and Just and Righteous God? So we shared with him, how much God loves him, what it meant, really meant, that Jesus died on the cross FOR HIM, specifically to forgive his, Eddies, sins and set him free! We prayed, powerfully, for this man who's heart had broken, finally allowing some light of truth to illuminate it.

We'll continue to pray, and hope you our readers will too. How easily it seems TRUTH gets choked out by the woes and hurts and pressures of life. People need PRAYER to stand fast, stand strong and let their faith build, so their lives begin to change under the Hand of the Almighty. Eddie, when that change is rooted and grounded, will be one who can reach many more for Christ. Pray for Eddie, and all like him. Pray for laborers, who will GO OUT INTO THE FIELD AND FIND THESE LOST SOULS!! They hide and are hidden from our everyday view most of the time. We must not get weary - but continually seek the lost and by the leading and power of the Holy Spirit - share the saving grace of Jesus Christ with them, because that's what our Lord commanded us to do.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Back to the Israelites....

In considering the GREAT deal of time spent preparing for and then executing all the many sacrifices and rituals and ceremonies that God required of His people, we could easily begin to feel like "it's too much!" why would anyone want to put themselves through all that? And then have everyone around them hate them! And why? Have you ever asked yourself WHY Gods chosen people have been so hated down through the centuries, even into today? Have you ever really considered the reasons?
At this point, you might think I have an answer, but I don't. In fact, quite the opposite. I find the more I learn about God, His character, the principles in the Bible, instead of answers, I have more questions!

This is what I've come to as a result of spending time considering the "plight" of the Israelites:
1. They are a GREAT example of the fraility of the flesh that plagues every single one of us without exception
2. Our need of reminders about how desperately we NEED to stay in contact with God our Heavenly Father constantly is, well, constant!
3. The extraordinary LOVE and PATIENCE God the Father has toward us is way, way, way beyond our comprehension!

Even with all the ritual designed to keep them always in mind of WHO they serve, the Israelites managed to forget or at least put it aside, more often than not. They followed after other gods who were not gods at all, but manmade images with no power of any kind except to cause them to sin against the One True God.

Aren't we just exactly the same? We think we've designed a ritual for walking a Christian walk, only to discover just how vulnerable, and needy, and fallible we really are. So whats the answer? Saul, whom God changed to the Apostle Paul gave the only possible answer a very long time ago, and it hasn't changed at all:
GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More on that later...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

OPPORTUNITY

God has so graciously opened doors for Clay and I to share the glorious gospel of salvation in many avenues we never would have thought of on our own. In addition to these opportunities, He has been opening other doors as well. It amazes me how this great God works! Clay has always thought I should "play" his keyboard - adding drums and bass guitar to his guitar for the original Worship songs we've written. The first time we tried - uh-oh! Disaster! A little prayer, a little trust in the Lord, and one tiny unseen "tickler" help sheet from my wonderful hubby, and we sound like an entire orchestra instead of just us two! All the glory goes to God, for without Him, none of this would be possible or happening. Saturday, May 22nd, we've been invited to participate in the Port St Lucie Christian Church neighborhood outreach Pig Roast picnic - where we will sing and share the salvation message. Clay will debut his newest worship/evangelist song called "A voice crying in the Wilderness". If I knew how to do the You Tube, or put video on the web here or Facebook, I would put it out for all of you to hear. It really is phenominal and Spirit inspired!
Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for the OPPORTUNITIES God is providing for outreach! Blessings upon you in Jesus Name!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Such a loving God!

In our daily reading of our Bible, we are once again going through the "Israel experience", as I like to call it. It consists of humanity at it's best, and worse! There are so many lessons applicable to our lives today. Remembering that the Israelites were actual, real, live humans with thoughts and emotions and desires and hopes and dreams and hurts and families and jobs and the struggle to relate to and obey the God who called them out to be His own people - whew! I find myself at times so overwhelmed with the details of it all, I just have to shake my head and throw up my hands and thank GOD that He doesn't give what is deserved - annihilation in most cases! - but that He gives GRACE! Oh, Grace! That joyful, freeing, free gift! Holiness is the requirement - GRACE is the loving gift.

The sheer amount of sacrifice that was required to keep the Israelites right with God is astronomical. There were morning sacrifices, sin sacrifices, peace offerings, pledge offerings, special offerings and ritual cleansing offerings, monthly, weekly, daily sacrifices plus all the Occasions and Festivals and Feasts and Remembrances!

As Clay and I were talking about it, we wondered "Why would God require such frequent sacrifice? When did the people have time to do everything else life required of them, when did the Priests have a moment? So many animals sacrificed!" It seemed excessive to say the least, until we looked at the bigger picture. God parted the Red Sea and delivered the people from return to Egyptian slavery, and the Israelites response? Whining and complaining about something as simple as food! Let's face it, they could have taken care of that themselves. They could have planted, hunted or even gone to neighboring land and purchased. There were options! They did the right thing in that they turned to God, but they did it the wrong way - acting like they were entitled - had the right to His provision. The funny thing is, they did! He intended to care for them. It would have been nice if they'd asked with faith, received with joy, been grateful and loving toward the Lord for His provision. They weren't, as we often aren't.

All those sacrifices? Totally necessary to keep the people REMEMBERING!! To keep them focused on the God who loved them. We humans have a very short attention span! How quickly and easily we forget the things done for our benefit, and how selfishly we demand more, More, MORE!!!
We’ll continue to develop this idea over the next few days or so…..
Til then, keep this thought in mind and heart – GOD IS FAITHFUL, TRUSTWORTHY, STEDFAST AND HE LOVES YOU!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

A different Kind of Lifestyle...

Most people find a "comfort zone" and stay there. Humans, we're creatures of habit and a comfort zone is, well, comfortable! Take the church thing as an example. Many find a church and then stay there - forever. I've always admired those people, truth be told, I've just never been able to be one of them! God put something else in my heart, and I've got to be true to what God has called me to. So when you tell people your going to do something, they naturally ask "with what church?" People can't imagine doing something outside of what they are comfortable with, and I understand that. I don't want to live that way, but I understand it. When we began to tell friends and family about this "missions trip" we're on, they asked, "with what church?" Hmmm... Gods church? Is that an acceptable answer? The bible tells us that WE are the church of God. Wherever we are, that's where the church is, or should be.
It's a different way to live. Outside the "norm" and outside the conventional lines. In a way, this IS our "comfort zone", doing the different - seeking new ways to connect with people, new ways to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and new ways to be a living sacrifice as Romans calls us to be. Sometimes, I must admit, it's a little frightening, not having conventional things to "fall back on", but mostly, it's so very exciting and the most wonderful adventure life can be! We never know what might happen next! Maybe, nothing. But maybe, EVERYTHING!!
As long as God keeps opening doors, we'll keep walking through by FAITH, and enjoy living DIFFERENTLY.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Learning never stops!

I don’t ever want to give the impression that Clay & I are out here doing what we’re doing because we’ve got it all figured out, or somehow, we’ve arrived (whatever that means!) or that we’re not still learning as we go! If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s to expect the unexpected! God may do something the same way he did it before, or He may do something completely and totally unrelated to what we’re thinking and He will do things completely different as it suits His purposes and will. We’re looking at things from a disadvantaged point of view all the time – mostly our own narrow point of view! – and God is always looking at things from the greatest point of view! He knows already exactly how to work all things together for good! He knows the end result and how to get there in such a way so He brings along others who hadn’t even known they were signed up to take the ride! AMAZING!
The biggest concern Clay & I have then is to listen for Gods guidance. I write that in the assumptive sense that when we hear His voice, we will obey! In our prayers we are learning to ask for His solutions and ideas and not ours. That sounds simple, and most of us would say that of course in our every prayer we are looking for His will and not ours to be done. Without offending any, may I suggest that you take a closer listen to your prayers? I say this because I discovered it in my own prayers. I think I’m asking and seeking His will, but in honesty, my prayers are more along the line of, “ God do this and do that for me as I desire it to be done”. Tough to admit that for certainly I want to think I’ve achieved some kind of Christian maturity after all these years, but God pointed that out as a learning experience and if there is one thing I know for sure it’s that He’s never wrong!
The point is not that we haven’t arrived, I think we can agree that “arrival” won’t take place until Christ returns and gathers His saints and so shall we ever be with the Lord, for then we shall know even as we are known, but the point is being open and yielded to the Holy Spirit so we can keep growing! As long as we are “teachable” God will continue to teach us and grow us up in Him, as the Apostle Paul talked about in Ephesians. So keep learning and growing in the Lord! It’s true, that saying I learned many years ago. The more I get to know about the Lord the more I realize there is to know about the Lord! Keep it simple sugar, but keep pressing in to Him for more and more!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Grace and other blessings…

I well remember the day I was frustrated over something and cried out in my frustration “Oh God, when will I get this right and be a reflection of Jesus instead of this sinful lump of clay that I am?” God, in His great and infinite patience answered me, and I will never forget the simple answer He gave. “I designed your journey to last your whole lifetime. Are you finished living?” “NO!” I cried, and began by His mercy to accept that quite often, even though I am aware and learning and in many cases know the principles, and even teach them to others of living a sacrificed life before the Lord our God, there would always be further lessons to learn.
This week, I’ve learned quite a few of them! If you’ve read Clays blog entry, you’ve an idea of how God has been directing our steps. Over and over in this past month I am reminded of Hebrews 11:6- those that come to the Lord must believe that HE IS…… Those 2 words are bigger than I’ve ever considered them before, bigger than when I taught them as BIG WORDS. Bigger and of more significance than we can begin to wrap our heads around. HE IS. Before time was, HE IS. In the beginning, HE IS. Well, I’ll save that musing for another time. So here we are, picking our way through this new lifestyle one step at a time and a need arises. A tooth at the back of my head decides to make itself a nuisance. My husband, bless his cotton socks, asks a local pastor we’ve met if he knows a dentist. He does and gives a number. We call and as Clays blog indicates, we are blessed by an office full of Believers who want to be a blessing to these little old believers. While the hygienist is setting up and taking xrays, we share stories. I tell her about our adventure, she tells me how she came to Christ, and then she shares her pastors name and number with me.
On the way home from the dentist the Lord disciplines me about His grace. See, the dentist decided to bless me and correct my tooth ache NO CHARGE. I was UNGRACIOUS (ouch!!!!!) and insisted on paying at least for the xray cost. God spoke to my heart and told me that’s how I was treating His grace! I need grace, I want grace, I seek grace, I ask for grace and when He freely gives me grace, I then, OUT OF PRIDE (sin), try to pay for it!! OW! OW! OW! How it grieves my heart to know that I have stepped on the toes of my loving Father and He forgives me. Grace is free, NO CHARGE. I will be apologizing to the dentist and his staff when I see them next, and I will accept with GRACE the grace they’ve chosen to show me as a free gift from God.
I could easily continue this blog post, because God went on to do some wondrous things on Thursday, but I don’t want to tire everyone out with reading! Stay tuned! I’m telling you true, GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING AND I’M SO THANKFUL CLAY AND I ARE ALONG FOR THE RIDE!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

CLAYS BLOG TIME

Update 4/12/10 Clay speaking:

What marvelous things the Lord is doing. I started writing a book called “Walking in the Miraculous” with the idea of waking up every morning and asking the Lord, “What is on YOUR agenda today?” And then fulfilling that very thing. Well, that seems to be what is happening in the life of Clay and Marie Krebs. We headed down to Port Saint Lucie, Florida hoping that we had heard the Lord correctly, our goals not clearly defined as of yet. We had some ideas and we were set to start with those unless and/or until God directed or redirected our steps. I’m a firm believer in the idea that it is easier to steer a moving vessel as opposed to one that is docked. So one prays and seeks to hear from God and moves forward on what you think is the Lord’s voice and direction. How grand it is when you see God working things out in what can only be described as Divine.
I know that Marie has updated everyone on most everything so I won’t bore you with the details, however, I feel inclined to remind everyone of the highlights:
- We arrived in Port St Lucie the middle of March expecting to park in my brother-in-law, MC’s driveway only to find out that they were moving to a new location. And, although, MC had good intentions to make the necessary changes to accommodate us it was clear that God was doing something different.
- God lead us to an RV park in Jensen Beach where we set up with all the hook-ups for our RV. Praise the Lord where we were to park was solved.
- On that same day Marie and I were biting at the bit to begin the ministry that God had led us down here to do. The first chance we got we set out to find where we were to start. Marie received a vision about a house church and driving down the road we saw the church from her vision.
- After talking with Pastor Carlton Smith from Jamaica at that house church, we were invited to do some music for them. Being unsure of what exactly God was doing there we became hesitant to commit ourselves.
- We found a 1995 Nissan Pickup for $500.00 on Craig’slist and we are seeking part time employment. We are believing that God has it all under control as He is the great Orchestrator of our lives.
- Our searching led us to look into a part-time cleaning and laundry job which turned out to be at the Palm City Nursing Home. While Marie filled out an application I talked with the activities director and set up ministry there Tuesday nights at 7pm. We were able to pray for Ed, a man with gangrene in both of his feet and we are believing God will heal him.
Which leads me up to the latest piece in the puzzle that God is so wonderfully putting together in our lives as we seek to do His will. We saw this little yellow church in Jensen Beach and decided to attend on Sunday. We showed up Sunday morning expecting to attend their breakfast they had advertised on their sign out front and then sit through a nice little sermon probably amongst 20 or so attendees. What a pleasant surprise to show up and find out that they were on their way out to the park next to the water to serve breakfast to the homeless and we were invited to join them.
There we were at the park under a pavilion as they served breakfast to about 10 to 20 homeless that make their homes there sleeping under the bridge and on top the park benches. We fellowshipped with some of the “members” who came along with Pastor Jerry sitting next to those needing a bath and smelling of cigarettes and alcohol. But they listened as Pastor Jerry led us in song and then a simple message from the Word of God. After a baptism in the river he blessed us all and sent us on our way. Marie and I introduced ourselves, telling him that he’s doing exactly what we had come down there to do. He invited us back to the little yellow church.
We sat there with Pastor Jerry for about 3-4 hours talking about all things that God is doing. How that the previous pastor had handed Jerry the keys to the building and said, “It’s yours.” And he proceeded to continue in the venue in which he started, ministering to the homeless. Their facility is open almost all the time as they feed whoever is hungry. They have a house where they can house the homeless if they are willing to submit to prayer and the reading of the Word.
I’ve had a vision of doing exactly this throughout the United States, setting up (I was calling them bonfires) everywhere as the Lord leads so that we could consume as many souls for the Feast of the Saints in which Jesus told us to go into the Highways and Byways in order to compel them to come and dine.
Where will God take it from here? All I can say is: tune in tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel. We’ll keep you informed as it progresses. What an exciting life!


4/21/2010 I feel like I’m “dum-de-do-de-do-ing” along as God orchestrates Marie’s and my life. God says “Go here.” And I respond, “Okay - dum-de-do-de-do-ing” along as I go. We are truly walking in the miraculous as God is directing. We set out on this missions trip with a little money and we are coming to an end of those funds and panic is starting to creep in. How will we pay our rent? Our financial obligations? Get food? What about dental?
I’ve got some dental issues and so far they haven’t caused me enough pain to have to retain a dentist, but two nights ago Marie’s back upper tooth started to pain her. It was abscessed. We went to Pastor Jerry, because I figured since he worked with the homeless he probably had connections to dentists. I was right and he directed us to Dr. Yates. We called and explained to him the problem. He called a prescription into the local grocery store pharmacy and we went to pick up the antibiotics. They were free. No charge. We were astonished. We set up an appointment and went there today.
Marie questioned them about their fees for a tooth extraction and was told about $300.00 with the x-ray. We could not afford that and we wanted to reset the appointment so that we could do some research on what other options we might have. Before we could leave however, Dr. Yates wanted to see Marie. She went in and she was told that it would be free of charge. Come to find out that the entire office is filled with born-again Christians and they wanted to bless us.
Marie and I couldn’t accept that and offered to pay for the x-ray and they took $25.00 from us. Later Marie repented before God for stepping on His grace. We pray for grace and when God gives it to us we feel we can’t accept it and push it away. The thing is - none of us is worthy of His grace. None of us measure up - ‘There is none righteous, no not one.’ There is no amount of work that we could do to pay for His blessings that He gives for free.
Last night at the Palm City Nursing home Marie gave a message called AWE, A Worshiping Existence in communing with the Lord of all creation. Only God can orchestrate such happenings. How can we doubt Him with such miraculous things taking place in our lives daily? There are daily things that happen and we, in our “dum-de-do-de-do-ing” along miss this or that and fail to give Him glory.
Marie and I are currently reading Numbers in the Bible and we just read about Children of Israel complaining and wanting to go back to Egypt when they are seeing God working in the Miraculous daily, i.e.: Manna, the cloud by day and the fire by night, not to mention the Glory of the Lord appearing above the Tabernacle from time to time, the earth opening up and swallowing up Korah and his bunch, water gushing out of the rock. How soon they forgot all that and still murmured and complained and walked in unbelief.
We look at them and shake our heads thinking “if I had been there I would never have doubted.” Oh? You think so? My brother Jay has a song called “Same Thing” - I would’ve done the same thing if I was there. We seem to think we’ve learned from their mistakes and we’re above all that, but here we are walking about in His miraculous world and we still doubt Him.
Walking in the Miraculous means learning to hear His voice - EVERYDAY. Seeking to do His will above our own - EVERYDAY. Learning to turn right when He says so, or turn left as He leads us, to stop, to go, looking for signs of directions - EVERYDAY. We, as human beings, desire things to be orderly, but I am convinced that God works in the chaos. He works at His best when things are in disarray.
This reminds me of the movie Crimson Tide when a fire breaks out in the mess hall and the Captain, played by Gene Hackman, decides to run a drill during the crisis. His Senior Officer, played by Denzel Washington, thinks that it would have been more orderly to deal with one crisis and then run an emergency drill. Washington questions Hackman’s decision, however, the Captain explains that war is not pretty or convenient and it doesn’t play by the rules or wait until it’s turn, no, it is the very opposite. As is this world that is ruled by sin.
When you sign up as a Christian you have entered the war-zone. (Truth be told, your in the war anyway!!) There’s a war going on. A battle over our souls. Too many want the fire insurance without having to deal with the ugliness of the war-zone. I’m afraid that option is not available. Either you are a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. And if you have signed yourself to be one of His then you are obligated to be in the fight. And it is not pretty, or orderly. It doesn’t play by your rules. It is messy, obstructive, dangerous and yes, deadly.
When we decide to Walk in the Miraculous we throw ourselves into the middle of that cesspool of turmoil and learn to swim to shore. We step out of the boat, like Peter, and walk on top of the chaos with our hand firmly in His. Marie and I find as we wake up and try to put some kind of order to our day that ultimately, it is as He determines it to be. And then we stand back at the end of the day in AWE, knowing that we had very little to do with the miraculous things that went on, only that we happened to be at the right place at the right time and even that was because HE directed our steps.
Yesterday, April 21, Marie and I met with Pastor Carlton Smith of the Divine Anointing Worship Center. We wanted to clarify what God was doing in our lives and make sure they knew that just because we weren’t attending Sunday Mornings with them that we were busy doing what God had called us down here to do and that was to work with the homeless and that He did not call us down here to Florida to simply join a church and sit in the pew. We had a very good meeting with them and made sure that he and his wife knew that we were available to help them with any outreach they would like to attempt or do.
While we were in the meeting, Pastor Smith decided to call the local TV station that covers local events and Marie talked with them and explained our mission here in Florida. They gave us another number to call and I wanted some time to pray about it before we start calling a secular TV station and sounding our own horn. I would rather the works that we do to speak for themselves. We prayed with the Pastor and his wife and then went on our way knowing that God is doing things. We’re unsure of exactly what, but we are all open to what He will do.
Pastor Smith is a good man. He demonstrated that when he called and left a message for me to call him and I returned his call this morning. The TV station had called him back and asked who we were and who we were working under and he told them that Turn The Tide Ministries was working under the Divine Anointing Worship Center. He had called me to let me know that he had provided covering for our ministry so that they don’t think that we are some lose cannon out scamming people. He went on to make sure that I understood that he was not trying to tie us down but on the contrary wanted to give us the freedom to go and do what he knows the Lord is doing through us. Again, another example of God covering for us as were “dum-de-do-de-do-ing” along. God is so in control.
Pastor Smith also wants to pursue a book company that he knows so that we might get my books published. We’ll see how all that turns out. But if it’s anything like God has already showed himself powerful in doing then I’m sure it will be like everything else - MIRACULOUS.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

AWE

AWE

A
Wonderful
Experience

How would you describe AWE? Does God AWE you? Does His Majesty and Holiness inspire AWE in you? I know it does me! I am in total AWE of Him, His grace, His goodness, His Mercy that I don’t have any business receiving and He just keeps on giving to me anyway! That AWE is not based on Him giving me anything and everything I ask for, no, that would be too easy. Christianity is NOT that easy! Surrender, commitment, OBEDIENCE, dieing to SELF, living for others, giving and trusting and being vulnerable and transparent. NO! NO! NO! Christianity is not easy and not for the timid!
Awe is based on Who He is, who I am, and our relationship. Yup, you heard me, relationship-not religion or a religious experience, but an ongoing, evergrowing, continual relationship with the Creator. The more I get to know Him, the more I realize I don’t know Him at all, and the closer He draws me, the closer I desire to be. The more I see, the more I realize there is so much yet to be seen. He is beyond our comprehension, and yet He wants us to know Him! Since that is so far beyond our ability, it has to come directly from Him in a form that is more than I am – and that form is Spirit. God is Spirit. Not ‘a’ spirit, He IS SPIRIT and those that want to know Him must do so in SPIRIT.
Yet, He relates to us on our level, too. In our flesh, He speaks to us, fellowships with us, spends time with us, makes Himself known to us, answers our prayers, shows us in tangible ways His great love for us. Just when I need Him most, He always shows me that He’s there, He’s always been there, and He’ll always be there. I’ll bet you can relate to that, I’ll bet you’ve experienced it. And what does it inspire in you? I’ll tell you what it inspires in me – WORSHIP. Pure, unadulterated, JOY filled WORSHIP of my Creator, my Savior, my God! Hebrews says that those who come to God must believe that HE IS. He is. Not that He is this or that, not that He is this way, or like this, or about that. But simply, finally, fully, always and in totality – in completeness – He IS. Hmmmm….wrap your thoughts around that for a moment or two. He…..IS. Why has satan, that old devil, put so much effort into getting people to “think” they don’t believe in His very existence? Could it be for this simple reason? Could it be this easy?
Could it be that we don’t have to have all the theology down, all the doctrine perfect, the whole Bible memorized, and know the names of all 12 disciples in the order in which they were called? We don’t have to have our lives all cleaned up and shiny and perfectly in order? We don’t need to pay money, attend every church service ever invented, recite prayers by rote, and NEVER< EVER have a bad day or say a cross word or think a mean thought or stumble or even worse FALL or my heavens even commit a SIN- God forbid!!
Is it possible that what He desires, seeks, asks of us, is that we acknowledge that HE IS? And then some? And that He rewards those who go a step beyond that and actually seek HIM?!? Could it be, that AWE, might be about WORSHIP after all? To know His word is to know Him. I could site lots and lots of bible verses, I know them, I’ve been trained to teach and preach them. And I LOVE preaching His Word. Here’s an interesting thought I’ve been kicking around: the more I get to know His Word (and I highly recommend it to everyone!) the more in AWE of Him I am at how simple He keeps things, and how complicated we human beings make them. (I’m automatically thinking of scripture reference in ICorinthians here!)
Is awe of Him a form of worship? When we appreciate Him, His word, His creation, His Gift of salvation…all of these things, then do our lives reflect, dare I say it… Him? When we are struck deep in our heart and soul by all He has made, and the wonder of it, the majesty of it, the beauty of it, the perfection of it all – and we acknowledge that HE IS, does awe translate to:

A
Worshipping
Existence?