Another great thought from Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke via his Facebook page

James says, “Every good gift … comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17, NKJV). As the NJV puts it, God “does not change like shifting shadows.” The sun causes a shadow as it turns and the shadow moves. When there is no shadow, the sun is directly overhead at its zenith. God never casts a shadow at all, because He is always at the zenith. And He never shifts from that perfect position. The light of God is ceaseless, not temporary, and always fully radiant.

His is the everlasting light that we are to eternally reflect. Our faces should not be veiled, as His glory will not pass away. We are being changed “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18, NKJV)-we are given more and more glory! Hallelujah!

~ BY REINHARD BONNKE  (03/08/2010)

I am a native Floridian and I have been through many hurricanes, but 2004 was by far the most active hurricane season I have ever experienced in my life.  Although I am originally from Port Charlotte (a town in the southwest), I was living in Tampa Bay at the time.

In August we watched with nervous curiosity as a tropical storm off the coast of Africa began to gain strength and started barreling toward us.  By the time it swept down into the Gulf of Mexico it was a full-blown hurricane with winds topping 100 miles per hour.  All of the weather forecasts predicted that it would make landfall in Tampa Bay so we began to make preparations; buying water and batteries, barricading windows with plywood and bringing outdoor furniture inside.  We became concerned when we saw that the winds were approaching 150 miles per hour as the inevitable moment of impact drew near.

Suddenly, while only about 100 miles away, hurricane “Charley” took an unexpected, unpredicted and abrupt easterly, 90 degree turn and made a beeline for Port Charlotte…the town where I was born.  I called home to make sure that my family was aware of the danger they were in.  Before the power went out, they had been watching the same news channels that I was watching and they also thought that Charley was headed for Tampa Bay.  The whole city was taken off guard and it was literally a matter of minutes before the eye of the mammoth storm would pass directly over them.  They had not made any pre-storm preparations.  No windows were boarded.  Provisions were not stockpiled.  This category 4 hurricane devastated the town to such an extent that when I arrived the following day, places I had known since childhood were totally unrecognizable.

Some have scoffed condescendingly at the words of Jesus to Nicodemous claiming that his assessment; “you cannot tell where the wind is coming from or where it is going” is an outdated statement.  Science, they say, has made this opinion invalid.  Doppler radar, satellite imagery, fancy gizmos and computer gadgets have made the weather as predictable as can be in our day.  But I remember that afternoon in August when every prediction was off by at least a hundred miles.  And we all learned that the words of Jesus still hold true today.

The wind is unpredictable and it is untamable.  You can’t confine it to a prescribed pattern and you can’t hold it to preconceived expectations.  It does what it wants and asks no one for permission.  And if you think you have it figured out, that is just when you will be terribly surprised that the wind is not your subordinate.  It can turn and change direction on a whim and if you are not ready it just might catch you by surprise.

I heard of a man today who describes his church as “Charismatic friendly with a seatbelt”.  He has apparently preapproved a way in which the Holy Spirit is allowed to move in his Church.  He has issued a permit for a particular sort of spiritual activity but requires that it remained buckled in at all times.  We wouldn’t want anyone flying out of their seat and going through the windshield.  Everything must be done according to our definition of “decently and in order”.

Those who have become familiar with the Holy Spirit know that this is simply not the way it works.  In fact the more we know about the Holy Spirit, the more we realize that, “The wind blows wherever it pleases.  The moving of Holy Spirit cannot be prescribed or predicted.  I have heard preachers encourage their members to “let God out of the box”, but I have news for those precious Christians.  God was never in their box to begin with.  If you have a box, the only one inside it is you.  And if you have a seatbelt, you are the only one wearing it.

How dare we think that we can tame this mighty hurricane of God that has been blowing through the earth since the day of Pentecost!  He is the sameSpirit that hovered over the primordial chaos before creation.  He is the same Spirit that spoke to the fathers through the prophets.  He is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.  He is God in action on earth.

Are you disturbed by abuses in the Charismatic church?  So am I.  But I am most supremely concerned about those abusing the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He is not a water spicket to be turned on and off at will according to our preferences.  He is the limitless ocean of God’s infinite power.  A gnat is more formidable commanding a hurricane than we are commanding the Holy Spirit.  Its high time we get back in our place and say HAVE YOUR WAY HOLY SPIRIT!

We don’t command you.  We don’t define you.  We cont control you.  We don’t limit you.  We yield to you and we honor you Great Holy Spirit of God!

Oh, see us on Your altar lay,
We give our lives to you today,
So crown the offering now we pray:
Send the fire today!

This is a picture of me taking a picture of the coolest instrument ever (see the picture from my camera below)

This has got to be the coolest instrument ever. Best I can tell, it is made from wood that is attached to horns by pieces of leather and played with mallets like a xylophone

Local "mammas" preform a traditional ceremonial dance. A fascinating cultural experience.

This is what I do while I wait...I blog - for YOU!

Imagine walking into your room on an EXTREMELY hot day to discover that this is your air conditioner

Following the example of Zacchaeus they got the best seats in the house

The view from my room in our hotel in Abuja

Press Conference

Awesome glasses!!!

Jacko hard at work on the crusade ground

You can't buy this kind of advertising!

Filming a greeting for the folks back home

(Most Pictures by O. Volyk)

#5. If Something Sounds Too Good to be True it Probably Is

Have you ever been sucked into a get-rich-quick scheme that turned out to be a scam or thought you were getting the deal of a lifetime only to discover it was all a hoax?  If so you have probably learned the hard way what the old adage declares; “If something seems to good to be true, it probably is”.  But some have made the terrible mistake of applying this maxim to the Gospel.  One gentleman explained that he felt the Christian way of salvation is too easy and anything so easy could not possibly be true.  But his confusion was evidence that he had completely misunderstood the Gospel.

I recently saw a documentary on Dateline NBC about a man who was kidnapped for ransom in Mexico by a group of anonymous criminals.  He was stripped naked and stuffed into a small box where he was hardly able to move.  There in that box he lay helpless and hopeless for more than 200 days waiting for redemption.  Meanwhile his wife worked feverishly day and night selling personal effects and begging for money.  This poor woman’s life was a perpetual nightmare during those many long hard months, but in the end, through great sacrifice, she paid the ransom and her husband was released.

The reality is that this prisoner did absolutely nothing to facilitate his own redemption.  He literally lay in a box for several months unable to even stand on his own two feet.  Yet, no person in their right mind would ever suggest that his ransom was an easy matter.  Such a suggestion would be an insult to this entire family who would all say, “You could never imagine the incredible price we paid”.

This story is an amazing, modern day illustration of the Gospel. The human race was captured by Satan and bound in sin.  We were helpless and hopeless; completely unable to save ourselves. But God looked upon our plight with great compassion and said, “deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom” (Job 33:24).  That ransom was Jesus Christ and because He loved us, He stepped in, willing to pay any necessary cost for our redemption.  The cost was great and it was ultimate.  Jesus paid our ransom, not with dollars but according to Mark 10:45, He gave his life a ransom for many.  He took our place and suffered the unimaginable nightmare of the cross.  We will never be able to understand the price He paid for our redemption.

It is true that we contribute very little to our salvation, but what can a naked prisoner locked in a tiny box do to ransom himself.  If someone does not act on his behalf he is doomed.  And that is exactly what Jesus did for us.  To describe our salvation as easy is not only ignorant, but profoundly insulting.  Salvation is free, but it was not cheap.  It is free for us because Jesus paid the enormous debt that we could never pay.  And this is why I say that the Gospel is not too good to be true.  Actually it is too good to be UNtrue.  That is why we call it, “The Good News”.

#2. God Helps Those that Help Themselves

This adage was suggested by “Peter” yesterday in the comment section of the first part of this series.  Help me build the list by suggesting similar adages for the series.

I have often heard people say, “God helps those that help themselves”, but scripture teaches the opposite.  Jesus said, “…they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  Jesus came for the ones that could not help themselves and it is the same today.

My family and I live in Orlando; a city famous for Disney World and Mickey Mouse.  My son, who was four years old at the time, desperately wanted to go to Disney and was begging me to take him.  I explained that it cost money and he told me with great confidence, “I have money dad.”  Of course his entire fortune probably didn’t equal a single dollar and anything beyond that was completely beyond his ability to understand.  I tried to explain to him that tickets for our family would cost hundreds of dollars, but he could not see the problem.  To him money is money and he has some money…therefore he can buy tickets to Disney World.

Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men in the world and after giving billions of dollars to charity he said, “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.”  Giving to charity is certainly a wonderful thing to do and I applaud Mr. Buffett for his generosity.  His contribution will certainly earn him a place in the Gunnies Book of World Records but unfortunately; it will do nothing to earn him a place in Heaven.

“All our righteousness” the prophet tells us, “is as filthy rags”.  Even the best we have to offer; our entire life’s fortune of good deeds and charitable contributions is as insignificant as my sons few pennies against the huge cost of admission to Disney World.

Several months ago I hailed a taxicab in Los Angeles and while en route to the airport I began to talk to the driver.  He was a religious gentleman who was more than willing to discuss faith and eternity.  He explained to me that when he dies and stands before Allah he is confident that his good deeds will be sufficient for him to earn a place in Heaven.  I was amazed at his self-assurance.  It sounded a lot like my 4-year-old son saying, “I have money dad”.  Unfortunately, when this man stands before God rubbing together the two cents of his entire life’s fortune of righteousness and realizes that he does not have enough to pay the price of admission to Heaven it will be too late for him.

This year at Christmas I decided to do something really special for my son (who is a little older now).  I not only bought him a ticket to Disney…I bought him an annual pass.  Now he can go anytime he wants.  He is not just a one-time guest there…now he is like a little citizen.

This is the good news of the Gospel; we were totally unable to help ourselves.  We would have had no chance of getting to Heaven.  But through the blood of Jesus God, our Father, has purchased eternal life on our behalf and offers it as a gift.  And it gets even better!  Through Christ we are not only offered admission like a guest at a theme park, we have been offered permanent citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.  We have been offered adoption into the Divine family to become sons and daughters of God.  We have been offered direct access to God through the blood of Jesus and so much more.

All of this has been offered as a free Gift to we who are helpless on our own.  What a wonderful God.  He helps those who CANNOT help themselves.

I was visiting a church recently and a gentleman got up to make some announcements. During the course of his speech he went on to quote a passage from Scripture that I still haven’t been able to find.  “Like it says in the Bible”, he declared, “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes”.  Now I think this is good advice (especially since by the time you judge him you will be a mile away and have his shoes) but I’m quite sure that it is not in the Bible.

Have you ever noticed that when a phrase becomes a familiar adage or has a proverbial ring to it, somehow it seems like it must be true or even scriptural? But just because something sounds true doesn’t make it so.

This morning I was just thinking about some old adages that the Devil must love.  Over the next few days I will list a few that I think must be his favorites.  Maybe you can help me add to the list.

#1.  What You Don’t Know Won’t Hurt You

This story was written in Christianity Today (1993).  Alila stood on the beach holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking toward the river’s edge. She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby’s feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly as she stared out across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.

Native missionary M.V. Varghese often witnesses among the crowds who gather at the Ganges. It was he who came upon Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her breast. With compassion he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong. Through he sobs she told him, “The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart, so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges, my first born son.” Brother Varghese’s heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept he gently began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through Him her sins could be forgiven. She looked at him strangely. “I have never heard that before,” she replied through her tears. “Why couldn’t you have come thirty minutes earlier? If you did, my child would not have had to die.”

In Second Kings 7 we read that the city of Samaria had been surrounded and besieged by the Syrians who were basically waiting to starve the Samarians out of the city.  The situation within the walls was so dire the Bible says that a donkey’s head was sold for 80 pieces of silver, and a quarter of a piece of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.  How many of you know, that when you are eating horses heads and dove’s dung, you are hungry!!  In fact the people were so hungry that the Bible tells one story of two mothers who were fighting because they had eaten the one mothers child and then when it came time to eat the other mother’s child it was nowhere to be found.

Then the Lord intervened.  In the middle of the night, God caused the Syrians to hear a sound like a mighty army riding towards them and they were so afraid that they ran for their lives and left all of their things behind.  Outside the walls there were thousands of tents filled with food and wine, clothes and money.  Meanwhile, inside the walls people were dying of hunger.

And then the story goes on to tell about a group of lepers who decided that since their lives weren’t worth much anyways, they might as well take their chances and venture outside the walls in search for food.  When they saw that the Syrian camp was completely deserted, they found themselves in the middle of a smorgasbord that makes Golden Corral look like a soup kitchen.  As they were gorging themselves, one of the lepers looked up at his friends with guilt written all over his face.  He put down his half-eaten turkey leg and said, “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace…” (v.9)

The adage “What you don’t know wont hurt you” is simply garbage. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” the prophet cried (Hos. 4:6).  What Alila didn’t know cost her the life of her son.  What the Samarians didn’t know was starving them to death.  Food was available to them, but they didn’t know it.  Nourishment was available, but they didn’t know it.  Salvation was available, but they didn’t know it and they would have all died of starvation if those old lepers hadn’t realized that it was wrong to keep this “good news” to themselves.  The truth is that what don’t know could kill you.

This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. (John 17:3)

Today there are more than 3-billion people in the world that have never heard about Jesus Christ.  What they don’t know will not only hurt them but send them to Hell.  What are you going to do about it?

Ministry today is often viewed as a profession, a career and an occupation.  We have been reminded quite often that “the laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7) and that we should not muzzle the ox when he is working (Deut 25:4).  When I preach about the call of God into the ministry, the first thing that most people think of is a paid position and the first question that they have is about financial support.  It seems that most people automatically connect ministry with a paying full-time job and I wonder sometimes how much interest there would be if there were no possibility of financial reward.

When Malachi was sent by God to Jerusalem shortly after the temple had been rebuilt, he was appalled by the apathy of the people and especially of the “clergy”.  He made the observation that the priest seemed to be motivated by what they could get out of their service rather than by sincere love for God and a desire to build His Kingdom.  “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nothing?” he asks.  “Neither do you kindle fire on my altar for nothing.  I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts; neither will I accept an offering at your hand.” (Mal 1:10)

I have no problem with ministers who make a living from their work in the ministry…I am one of them in fact.  But if financial remuneration is the incentive and motivation for ministry, there is a real problem.

I started preaching when I was 14-years-old and ever since then, in many different capacities I have always worked in “the ministry”.  Most of the time I have been in ministry it has been totally volunteer and has even cost me dearly.  I have had to work secular jobs to support my family.  Even as a senior pastor I took no salary and never felt entitled to anything.  If there were no money in ministry I would still be doing it today and for the rest of my life.  Why?  Because I love Jesus and because it is what He has called me to do.  I cannot imagine not ministering.  Ministry is not my job…it is my life.  I AM a minister…it’s not just what I do.  I am amazed sometimes to think that today I am able to make a living doing something that I love so much.

Jesus told his disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4:34).  He was saying, this is my reward…this is my remuneration; to do the will of God”  And then he gave this exhortation, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27)  As ministers we work not for money or for food, but we work for Jesus.  Money will follow ministry and as you seek first the Kingdom of God all these things will be added to you.

Click HERE to read the article at Charisma News Online

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/26349-evangelistic-crusade-draws-800000-in-nigeria-

Christ for all Nations Fire Conference in Numan, Nigeria with over 45,000 people in attendance

I was so touched tonight by the testimony of one Muslim man who was instantly healed of severe chronic pain that had plagued him for many years.  He said, “There are many Muslims here tonight that know me”.  I asked him if he had received Jesus as his Savior and he replied, “YES, I have received him with both hands.”  He went on to tell me that he has great joy in his heart, which he never had before and I could see it on his face and hear it in his voice…he had been truly born again.  He finished by saying, “I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ!”  Praise the Lord!

We saw many incredible miracles tonight, including many blind and crippled people, a little girl with leprosy and others, but the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of salvation.  Salvation is so much more than mere mental ascent given to a few doctrinal statements; it is a supernatural and miraculous phenomenon.  A person whose spirit is dead unto God and eternally separated from God suddenly is resurrected from sin and death and made spiritually alive and born again into the divine family.  Hallelujah!!  Though we have seen millions of people receive this miracle, it never gets old…it is always remarkable and we thank God on our knees.

This morning was also the final meeting of the Fire Conference and the Holy Spirit fell touching the thousands of people that church workers that packed the stadium to capacity (see the attached picture).  But the Holy Spirit is not just for clergy, He has come for every child of God.  That is why tonight we also prayed for the massive crowd and once again there was a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit and an acute awareness of his extraordinary presence.  There is no doubt that Numan has received out of HIS fullness!

Tomorrow is the final meeting here in Numan and I am sure that Jesus has saved the best for last.  Thank you for your continued prayer.

Christ for all Nations crusade in Numan, Nigeria

Woman who was totally blind was healed at the Christ for all Nations crusade