When God Didn’t Tell Me About The Fire

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This past weekend was the Portland Healing Revival, a conference that Hearts of Fire Ministries hosted (I’m on staff), featuring Ivan Roman and Todd Bentley, with worship by Angela and Michael Pinkston and the Unfiltered Worship Band. The conference was awesome, and God showed up in a big way, touching hundreds of people with His love and glory.

Running a conference requires a bit of planning on the front end, a lot of work during the event, and a little bit more on the tail end. For this particular event, it involved me going Sunday morning to drop off a bunch of our ministry equipment at the church where we store it. I met another ministry associate there, and the two of us unloaded my truck in a short time. As we finished, Todd and his assistant pulled up, as he was speaking at that church that morning, so we chatted with them for a few minutes, then helped her set up his product table while he went to meet with the Senior Pastor. I had promised my wife I wouldn’t stay forever, so I only stayed for one worship song (after greeting some friends), then got in my truck to head home. As I got in, I saw I had left one of our staff badges on the seat of the truck.

Annoying.

I had literally just taken everything else inside, and had forgotten the badge in the vehicle from two nights prior. I felt this nudge from the Lord to “go take it inside and put it where it goes.” I mentally balked, as we will be holding our monthly Catch Heavens Flame meeting at that church this weekend anyway—I can just return it then. Keep in mind, I’m still parked literally right outside the building, and where the badge goes is probably not more than sixty feet from where I am sitting.

I felt this nudge yet again, and the message that the Lord communicated with it was “Be a good steward and put the badge where it goes.” For some background, good stewardship is important to me. I firmly believe we as believers need to be responsible with the things we have been given, whether a job, house, ministry, family, the earth, or anything else. It’s scriptural, it’s right, and it’s important. After hearing that, I got up and took the badge inside, put it with our storage, and left the room to leave.

That’s when I smelled the smoke.

When I arrived at the church someone had told me they were having a potluck, so I headed down the hall toward the kitchen to see what might be burning. I continued smelling smoke all the way across the eating area as I passed the tables, then rounded the doorway into the kitchen where crock pots were lined up along the counter. At this point, I couldn’t smell the smoke anymore and I wasn’t sure why. I sniffed at each electrical outlet a slow cooker was plugged into just in case that was it, but they were all fine. I still didn’t see an obvious source of fire, so I kept walking along the counter and reached the stove. One of the burners on the stovetop was on for no discernable reason, as nothing was cooking on it. Strange, but no visible burning. Until I looked down at the oven and saw a tendril of gray-black smoke rising from the oven door that was slightly open. I quickly pulled the door down to see a large cardboard takeout box in the oven. To make things worse, the handle at the top of the box was touching the upper coils of the oven and was literally burning.

I grabbed some dry dishrags nearby and pulled the offending takeout container from the oven and put it by the sink, pieces of smoldering cardboard ash falling off the box as I did. After ensuring it wasn’t going to burn any further, and after I turned off the stove, I notified one of the pastors, showing them what happened so they would be aware, then got in my truck and drove home.

This entire encounter blew me away. Ten minutes later and the entire building could have been on fire. Everyone was worshipping upstairs, and it is unlikely anyone would have come downstairs for an hour or more. Six or seven ministries use that church, and we had just loaded most of the ministry’s equipment into the basement, so had the church gone up in flames, it could have been bad in all kinds of ways. What struck me the most though, wasn’t how God had gotten me there to stop a fire, but that when He did it, God didn’t tell me about the fire.

This encounter could be the beginning of a number of different preaching messages—about how God knows each of our individual ways, speaking to me about stewardship as the thing to get me to go back inside, about how the enemy wants to block our ability to hear in the spirit (God may have tried to tell six different people inside about it for all I know), or even the importance of following that still, small voice speaking to us. In reality, any and all of them are valid and valuable takeaways. God does know how each of His children work and what makes them tick. God also knows the enemy wants to prevent us from hearing from God, so He makes use of backup plans and side-routes to lead us to the goal anyway. God also speaks in ways that are both obvious, as well as in those quiet nudges that we have to learn to respond to. Regardless of which one speaks to you the most, I think we need to be reminded that God cares about every detail of our lives. There is never anything too small or too large for God to take notice of.

Whether it is being a good steward and returning a badge, or God watching over and protecting an entire church of people, nothing escapes His notice. We can be encouraged when we hear stories like this that in every situation God has a plan to turn things for our good. Bad things can and do happen, and those things are the work of the enemy, not some cosmic plan of God’s to teach us some kind of lesson. Yet, in spite of the enemy’s attempts to steal, kill, and destroy, God is committed to working in and through every situation to bring out our highest good. And that’s a promise we can take to the bank.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)”

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)”

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Pleasure In Miracles

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Recently the Lord has been challenging me and my beliefs about what He will and won’t do, and more specifically what He will and won’t do for me personally. I watched a video this past week about some friends of mine who have been receiving bread supernaturally from heaven, and who have sealed bottles of water turn into wine. This has been going on for a few years now, but while I enjoyed the video itself, I found myself getting hungry for my own encounters like this experience. Recognizing that God has done some amazing this both for and with them, I would like to have that happen too.

For those who are familiar with my writing, this may sound odd, as I have seen gemstones, feathers, and gold dust appear on numerous occasions. I have written two books on the subjects, Gemstones From Heaven and Feathers From Heaven, and am working on the sequel, Oil From Heaven, which should be completed later this year. Nevertheless, I have a hunger that is only growing in me to see the miraculous more and more. In spite of what I have experienced, I have much more that I have yet to experience. Furthermore, many of those things I have encountered have been temporary in some way. For example, the last time I recall having a gemstone appear was probably a year or so ago. While some might be saying “I’d be content with just one”, I’ll be honest, once it happens once you hunger for it again and again because it is just that spectacular.

Well, as I began praying about this, the Lord challenged me, saying “Your problem is that you don’t really believe I want to do it for you.” Whoa. That’s rough.

But it’s true.

In spite of the miracles I have seen to date, I have trouble believing it will happen again. It’s not that I think God doesn’t want to do them for someone—its that I have trouble believing God wants to do them for me. Why is that? What singles me out as someone so special that God doesn’t want to perform the same works He performs for others for me too? After all, the Bible says that God doesn’t show favoritism (Romans 2:11). If He does something for on person, He will gladly do it for another. So where is my problem then?

Clearly, deep down, I believe a lie about God’s nature, His love for me, and the good things He has for me. So how do I change my thinking (ie. repent) and begin to believe what He actually wants to do? I find that looking at the Scriptures is a good way to begin that process. What do they actually say?

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

The Bible says that it is God’s pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Are miracles part of the Kingdom? Certainly! If so, then God takes pleasure in miracles and delights in giving them to us. Are miracles “things”? Certainly! If so, then the Bible says that God will graciously give us miracles. The word for “graciously” there is the Greek work charizomai which means:

-to do something pleasant or agreeable (to one), to do a favor to, gratify

-to show one’s self gracious, kind, benevolent

-to grant forgiveness, to pardon

-to give graciously, give freely, bestow

God takes pleasure in miracles. He won’t just give them to us, but He will show himself kind and benevolent, freely bestowing them upon us! Lack and limiting thinking must go, and be replaced with a revelation of God’s favor toward us. In this process of pondering how I need to change my thinking, God brought my attention to his bread-miracles in the Bible. Think about what God did in the Old Testament—He caused a bread-like substance, manna, to appear six days out of every seven, with a double-portion on the sixth day, in sufficient quantity to feed every single human in an entire nation of people for forty years! When Jesus was speaking, he caused bread to appear that fed 4,000 to 5,000 men, not including women and children besides. We call that multiplication, but at some point the “multiplied” bread had to appear supernaturally. Is it really any different?

God wants us to experience miracles. He wants me to experience miracles. And He wants the same for you. It is time to expand our thinking, raise our expectations, and transition to a deeper belief in the goodness and extravagance of God. As we do this, I believe that we will move a step closer to experiencing the miraculous on a daily basis.

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The Validity Of Witnesses

I had a private discussion recently with another believer, and the nature of the discussion had to do with the scriptural validity of immortality through Jesus Christ. The other person’s underlying question was essentially “if we were supposed to live forever, then wouldn’t someone already be doing it?” There are a number of problems with this question, but one in particular deals with the validity of witnesses.

A common question, or rather objection, I hear about immortality is “who do you know who has done it?” Well, I suppose that depends on what you are actually asking. Are you actually asking do I know someone personally because if I did personally know them then you would believe? Because if I were completely honest, I don’t think that’s what people are asking at all. I think what they are really saying is a statement that sounds like a question, and the statement would be something like “It’s not actually possible, or it would be common, and you and I and everyone else would know people doing it and see it happen, so I’m simply going to ask you to show me the physical proof and when you aren’t able to, we can accept that I am correct in saying it isn’t possible.”

I remember once, years ago, when I was discussing the spiritual gift of praying in tongues. The person I spoke with was a cessationist (who believes that ended a long time ago), and he basically asked the question “do you know anyone who does it?” I answered in the affirmative, because while I didn’t at the time, I knew other people who did. Well, unsurprisingly his answer was “well, that can’t be, it must be through a demonic spirit.” He asked for witnesses, I informed him that I had witnesses, and he immediately invalidated their testimony. What good is asking for a witness if you decide that anything he or she says has no validity? The entire point of a witness is for them to share what they saw and heard. If you don’t like what they saw and heard, it doesn’t alter its validity—it just makes you close-minded.

I recall Jesus telling a parable that touched on this very thing. The story was about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. The rich man ignored the teachings of Moses and the Prophets, and ended up in a place of torment. In his request to have Lazarus go warn his family, the reply was, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:31).

At some point in time we have to decide whether we are going to accept the testimony of the witnesses given us. We actually have multiple witnesses of this very reality, that we can live and not die, but whether we will accept them or not remains to be seen.

Consider this: The Bible states quite clearly that both Enoch and Elijah did not die. Jesus died, but then came back to life, then after that proceeded to ascended to heaven still very-alive much like Elijah did. These three witnesses alone should be sufficient to say “this is possible.” If it is possible for some, then, it is possible . James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” While it might be far-fetched for some to accept that anyone can attain immortality, ascending to heaven without dying, if Elijah did it and the Scriptures are clear he was just like you or me, then we don’t have any excuses to keep us from accepting the possibility that we could as well.

Furthermore, there are others throughout history as well. Possibly the most well-documented is that of the Maharishi of Mt. Kailash, a hermit who Sadhu Sundar Singh met sometime in the early 1900s; this man spent his time interceding for the world. This man claimed to have been baptized by the nephew of Francis Xavier, a Catholic missionary who lived from 1506 to 1562 (Citation goes here). In other words, using insanely conservative math the man was at least 340 years old, and in reality was probably around 400 years of age. Either we believe the man who spoke to Sundar, or we don’t. Keep in mind that this man was a hermit who lived in the middle of a mountain and had no interest in contact with most of humanity. He gained nothing whether he lied or spoke the truth. This man referenced others who also were hermits on Kailash as well, although I don’t believe the Sadhu ever met any of them (As a side note, Sundar was born in 1889 and was presumed to have died in in 1929, but that remains unconfirmed as no one ever actually saw his dead body, and considering he personally knew an immortal . . . ). I once heard a story by a well-known charismatic preacher who was translocated by the Lord and met a Native American man who was over 200 years old. I have heard other stories as well, but again, it all comes down to the validity of witnesses. Are we willing to accept their testimony in spite of its rarity, or do we reject it because it isn’t common?

At the end of the day, isn’t that really what is on trial—whether or not God will do uncommon things? The way I see it, if the Bible tells us something is in the promises of God for us, it doesn’t matter if it is a common experience or not. We are promised spiritual gifts, divine healing, raising the dead, and much more, but there are many who have never heard anyone pray in tongues, never experienced divine healing, and have never seen nor known anyone who was raised from the dead. While some might dispute the validity of tongues for today, it is unarguable that divine healing and raising the dead are scriptural and are for us today.

In reality, the question we have to ask ourselves is “Am I going to let someone else’s experiences limit and dictate my encounters with God?” Whether someone else is successful or not at living forever has literally nothing to do with:

1) Whether God has promised it for us
2) Whether God has prepared it for us
3) Whether the Bible supports this belief and
4) Whether I can access it through Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter if we don’t see it now, nor if we look foolish going after it. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” Looking foolish for pursuing the gospel is frustrating at times, but not enough to stop me from going after everything God has for me. I don’t personally let anyone else’s success or failure dictate what I can experience in God—and neither should you! That’s the part where we walk by faith and not by sight. But here’s the cool thing: as we continue to walk in faith that “these signs will follow those who believe” and the evidence will eventually be there.

I discuss this and related topics in detail in my book “The Gospel of Life and Immortality,” available on both Kindle and in Print on Amazon.

Define Your Vision – Bring Your Future Into Your Present

A few weeks ago I spent a little time praying about the direction God is taking my wife and me regarding our ministry and another health-related business we are building. I have been feeling a bit lost of late, not sure how to proceed in any direction, in spite of having a list of items I could accomplish, all of which would “get something done.” Somehow, this hasn’t felt like what I needed, so I took a short walk and began to talk to God about it. As I walked past a bush on a path, the Holy Spirit highlighted it to me, and he said to me, “Define Your Vision.”

As I looked at this bush, Holy Spirit spoke to me—not just in clear words, but through an inner knowing in my heart what the message was, and the message was this:
“That bush has tiny little buds all over it, that will grow into branches, with their own buds and branches and so on. The seed doesn’t know exactly what is going to happen every step of the way, but that doesn’t matter. The seed contains within itself the blueprint for the entire bush and its growth process, regardless of what happens. I want you to define your vision, your mission, to be like the seed. Define the DNA of what you are doing and where you are going. Define your vision, your end-product, from the beginning—as you grow the vision will guide you on your path.”

Interestingly, this word the Lord spoke to me is similar to something He shared with the prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:2-3, saying:
“Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that he who reads it may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

There is something that happens when you define your vision—it creates a clear path. This may be part of why I have felt a little unclear of late as to where we are headed and where we are growing to. I do see God growing The Kings of Eden, and I am excited with where I see us going to this point, but how long can a visionless, planless thing sustain itself? Not far. I used to think company mission statements were stupid. Typically they are incredibly broad and vague, not offering specific ideas or concepts. Over the past few years, I have realized that a mission statement is often broad and vague for a reason—it is the outline, the outermost parameters of an organization, not the individual goals that define the path. Certainly goals are important, and planning is what moves you from one phase to the next, but if goals are a single step each, then the mission is the journey of a thousand miles.

A mission statement helps define the vision in valuable ways, but the main one is actually pretty simple, and very straightforward. When any new idea comes forth, you simply have to ask one question “How does this forward the mission?” There are trillions of great ideas in the world, but if a great idea doesn’t forward the mission, then it is not the right idea—or at least not the right idea for that group. For example, consider that a business is about the pursuit of health. While someone might have a great idea about how the business can help people enhance personal prosperity, unless it is somehow tied into health, it doesn’t match the mission. Mind you, it might be a great idea for another company, and that individual may even go on to form a new company with that idea in mind, but then he or she will design a mission and vision that match with that idea.

I personally believe this idea is applicable in far more areas of life than it might seem at first glance. You don’t have to have a mission statement for everything you do, but at least define your vision—get clear about those things that are important to you and those that aren’t. Figure out the things you want to focus most on in life, and purpose to make time for them. Identify those things that really are somewhat extraneous, and see how you can reduce or even eliminate them entirely. This even works when spring-cleaning, clearing out clutter to get ready to move, or with any other project. What belongings do you own that don’t fit with where you are headed? Define your vision, then dump the extra baggage! You will be glad you did.

There is something about putting definition to something, framing it and making it real in your mind, that gives it life and energy and helps it to spring forth into reality. If you have been feeling unclear about where you are headed in any area of life, take time to define your vision. We are in the process of doing that now, and I believe it will only help us as we move forward. I’m excited, actually, because I believe this is the beginning of many new things to come!

If you aren’t already subscribed to our mailing list and want to know how this vision and plan works out for us, fill out the brief form below to get occasional updates, as well as receive a free ebook on engaging angels as our gift to you. Be well, be blessed, and may you prosper in every way as you define your vision!

The Truth About Sin

As the son of an Episcopal priest, I was raised in a Godly home with parents who love the Lord dearly. I was taught the disciplines of scripture reading and regular times of private prayer, all of which have held me in good stead in my life. On the other hand, I was also taught some fairly harmful things about the sin and wrath and punishment that truly aren’t the heart of God. This was especially highlighted to me recently when I hit a problem and went into an emotional tailspin. In speaking with a close friend he reminded me of something I already know, but had forgotten—the truth about sin.

Many of us have been taught that sin is this horrible thing that separates us from God. He can’t look upon sin so he had to send Jesus to shed his blood and die to forgive us. The result is that when God looks at us, he sees Jesus instead. Basically, we got to put on Jesus-masks and Jesus-colored clothing to make God like us again. But that’s not how it actually is.

The truth about sin is that it kills us. The Bible is quite clear in both the Old Testament and New Testament that sin kills. Our loving heavenly Father doesn’t want us to die, or experience death, loss, and destruction in any area of our lives, so He sent Jesus to deliver us and set us free from sin and death. Nowhere in that gospel message is anything about God being unable to look upon us. In fact, in the Garden, the Father went searching for Adam and Even when He knew they had sinned so He could help protect and restore them. The Father’s wrath isn’t against mankind, but against everything that hinders us from His love.

The truth about sin is that it poisons our hearts. Sin in and of itself is a problem, but just as much of a problem is how it seeps its way into the deepest reaches of our hearts and whispers lies to us. It tells us that we are not good enough, and that we deserve judgment. We then begin to self-loathe and self-punish in our hearts for all of our failures, further letting death work within us. Not only that, but often those things we hate about ourselves are often activities that we are attracted to *because* of sin at work within us. Certainly the demonic realms are involved in all of this, but at the end of the day, sin entices us, accuses us, then kills us, bit by bit, day by day.

The truth about Jesus is that He isn’t half as concerned about sin as we are. He already paid for it all, for all mankind, for all time and eternity. There isn’t a single thing we can do now or in the future that He hasn’t already paid for. Sometimes it feels like when we first get saved we get set free from sin, but after we get saved there isn’t that same grace available anymore. Religion has taught us that when we sin it’s punishment time, and God is ready to put the smack-down on us. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We are told to come boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help (Hebrews 4:16). Our Heavenly Father wants us to come *to* him when we are in need, not hide from Him in our hearts. Jesus isn’t threatened by our sin because He already conquered it.

What does that look like? Ask Him what He thinks about you in the situation? If you are truly hearing the voice of the Father, it is not going to be condemning. Why? Because the truth about God is that He doesn’t condemn us. Romans 8:1-2 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” If we are in Jesus, then there is no disapproval or criticism from the Father. Jesus even said to a woman who had been caught *in* adultery (which means they literally saw her having sex with someone, not just suspicion or hearsay) and was about to be stoned to death “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). Jesus and the Father are exactly alike, so if Jesus doesn’t, then neither does He.

How might our perspective on things change if we stopped blaming ourselves when we sin? What if we stopped getting angry with ourselves when we mess up? What if we decided to change how we view ourselves and how we view sin? Instead of seeing it as “that evil thing that we are horrible people for doing”, what if we looked at it as “that thing that hurts me when I do it, so I have to get some antidote from Jesus when I get poisoned by it.” I believe God is shifting how the Church views sin—not because it isn’t harmful, but because God isn’t angry with us for it. The truth about sin is that it kills us, but God made a way through Jesus to set us free from the law of sin and death, to bring us into His glorious liberty!

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Acts of Love, Service, and Sacrifice

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Valentines Day is one of my least favorite holidays, albeit nowhere close to my distaste for Halloween. While the idea behind it is literally lovely, I have a hard time matching up with the commercialized push to “do something” for your spouse and other loved ones else you don’t truly love them. I am horrible at keeping up with holidays to begin with (Exhibit A: three feet from me is my parents’ Christmas present that I still haven’t sent them and its now the middle of February), so having a holiday that comes just two weeks after my wedding anniversary is a recipe for failure. With all the commercial focus on loving one another, I want to take a moment and consider how God demonstrates His great love for us—through acts of love, service, and sacrifice.

In John 15:13, Jesus spoke to his disciples about love, saying “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” In Ephesians 5:25-28, Paul speaks about how husbands should love their wives, saying “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” Jesus in John 13 even did a physical act of service, washing his disciples’ feet to demonstrate to them through both service and physical touch His great love for them. I find it interesting that in our commercialized world we are so focused on love as gift-giving of expensive items that we forget true demonstrations of love also include acts of service and sacrifice.

While it is true that each person has ways he or she gives and receives love best (check out The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman), God’s greatest gift of love was an act of service through personal sacrifice. And this wasn’t just an old sacrifice—it literally changed the course of humanity and shifted the balance in our favor, removing the death and decay from sin and ushering in the manifestation of abundant life God planned for us from the beginning of creation. However, it didn’t stop there. He gave us His Holy Spirit to continue that transformative work within us on an ongoing basis, speaking and releasing love to us every day. As it is written, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). If we want to consider how to spread that love best to one another, I believe it looks like every-day acts of love, service, and sacrifice, not as a one-time event.

These acts of love always have to be massive. How about the time when we don’t feel like turning the light off but our wife is also in bed next to us and doesn’t feel like it either. That time our wife wants a foot rub and we are exhausted, but instead of saying no, or even telling her we are tired, we just do it anyway. The time where for no reason whatsoever, and because of no special holiday pressuring us, we go out and get her some flowers or some other small something. That time we put down our electronic devices and purpose to fully listen to whatever it is she is saying without trying to solve the problem (guilty as charged). The time where we don’t feel like cuddling because we are tired, hot, cranky, don’t like it (not sure this one even exists), or whatever else, but that we hold her anyway (Mind you, these ideas can apply to women just as much as men, but I’m a dude, so that’s what you get). These are all little things, and the big things are good and important too, but it is acts of love, service, and sacrifice on a daily basis that truly do what God does–shed love abroad in our hearts.

If our job is to BE Christ to people, then we will look for ways to do that not just with our wives, but with our children, family, friends, and even coworkers. After all, in John 13:34-35 Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (emphasis mine). If all else fails, life happens, or the world falls apart, commercialization has no hold on the future, but we can never go wrong with acts of love, service, and sacrifice.

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If Jesus Were Here, He Wouldn’t Turn Them Away. I Can’t Either.

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Last week I was blessed to be able to help administrate the A Revelation of Jesus Christ event, hosted by Hearts of Fire Ministries. This was a two-day event here in Portland with David Hogan. While the event was amazing, and hundreds came and received a touch from Heaven, we ran into a problem. The church venue we normally use was unavailable, so we had to use a significantly smaller church. This meant that literally hundreds of people who wanted to attend were unable to get tickets—we sold out every seat we had and then a few dozen more we didn’t have days prior to the event. Keep in mind that at every event we do, we get walk-ins, and normally that would be perfectly welcome—we have space for everyone. But not this time. We were literally turning people away who came in-person to the event because we had no place to put them.

At one point I was put in an extremely awkward position by another staff member, albeit through no fault of her own—the entire registration process was awkward due to the popularity of the speaker and the lack of seats. This coworker asked me to “deal with someone” that needed to be turned away from the event because she was crazy busy dealing with other things. By all rights she was, and I was available, so having me deal with the problem was a good choice, but there was an issue: the “problem” was people. A man had brought his disabled, brain injured wife to the event. She is a fan of Hogan’s and has followed his ministry for years, but that wasn’t the major issue. What got me was the fact that she literally crawled her way into the building and across the floor to the registration table. I kid you not—I watched the entire thing. I would expect to see something like this elsewhere in the world, but not in the U.S.A.

So here I am, on staff with the ministry hosting a “Revelation of Jesus” event, and a disabled woman is crawling across the floor who wants to get prayed for by the speaker because she wants to be healed. And I’m the guy who has been designated to say “Sorry, no room at the inn. Move along please.” I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing one can do in that situation—I said a quick prayer in my mind to the God of the Heavens and the Earth: “God, I DON’T want to turn her away. What do I do? Help me.”

I began to talk to this husband who lovingly brought his disabled, wife to this event, and was just honest with him. I said “Sir, I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to tell you. We literally don’t have any more room to put people, so I just don’t know how to help you. However, I don’t want you to leave without your wife getting prayed for. Can we pray for her?” He was very gracious and happily agreed.

A few other believers, including Joshua Shaw and friends of Walk After Christ Ministries had at that time just bent down to pray for her. I had her crawl to an alcove on the side so people could walk around us, and we all continued to pray for her. After a short while, I left her in Joshua-and-Friend’s capable hands so I could take care of other administrative duties for the event, but I simply couldn’t find it in my heart to send her away. And neither could I send away the other people who came with canes and walkers and wheelchairs all seeing a touch from Jesus Christ, the Master Healer. Keep in mind that we were still out of chairs. I won’t say exactly what we did do, but it was a fire marshal’s nightmare.

Here’s the thing: I know that I lack in a lot of ways in life, but if there is one thing I am not willing to lack in, it is the love of Jesus Christ. The biggest struggles I have ever had in my life, with no exaggeration, have had to do with how to love people when they were exceedingly unlovable. Over the next day and a half, each time someone come to the event without a ticket, and they had some clear and visible disability, I simply couldn’t find it in my heart to send them away. From the first night with that man and his wife, and every time after, I could only think to myself:

“If Jesus were here, he wouldn’t turn them away. I can’t either.”

And you know what? God was faithful to my cry for help each and every time. Someone’s friend didn’t come the one night, so that woman gave the extra seat to the crawling-woman, who by the time she went to go to the sanctuary, was walking upright (Yaay Jesus!!). Another man who had a walker with a seat, he put it against a wall on the side of the auditorium and just used that as his chair. Various wheelchairs we wheeled up front and placed at the sides of the stage. One way or another, we made a way for people to stay, and God rewarded that faithfulness. One young woman regained mobility in a leg that she had lost movement in from a car accident, and began to walk. A teen girl began to feel new sensation in her leg and hip in spite of having become paralyzed from the waist down a year prior. A number of people were delivered from demons, many received a strong touch from heaven, and the Kingdom of God showed itself strong on our behalf.

I often don’t have the answers to life’s problems. I often don’t know what to do when things start getting out of control. But I realized something last week. There is a God who rules over the heavens and the earth who has all wisdom, all power, and all authority over every sickness and disease, pain, poverty, and problem. This God came to earth as Jesus to destroy the power of sin once and for all time, to remove the bondage to death and decay which as enslaved both mankind and all creation since the Fall. And this Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and will be forever and ever. If he wouldn’t turn someone away, we don’t need to fear that we will either, because as Jesus once said to Heidi Baker, “I died so there would always be enough.”

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When Our Prayers Go Unanswered

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Some of you who have followed my goings-on this past week on social media know that last Monday a friend’s husband died, and that since then we have steadfastly pursued his resurrection from the dead. I wrote an article about it last week here, titled Staying The Course To Raise The Dead. Well, the funeral was yesterday, and unfortunately he wasn’t raised. I’ll be honest, I’m rather upset about that fact, and I’m really not okay with it either. With that said, when things don’t go our way, and our prayers aren’t answered, how do we respond? What can we do? There are a variety of responses people have, but I think there are a few things we need to keep in mind in any situation when situations go wrong and our prayers go unanswered.

God Is Never Wrong

The first thing we have to remember is that God is perfect. Getting angry at God never solves anything, because the fact is that He is never wrong. Get angry at the devil, get angry at the situation, get angry at whatever, but getting angry with God is just silly. He’s the only one who can fix things anyway, and getting upset with Him only puts up another roadblock between you and the Ultimate Solution.

Unanswered Prayer Isn’t Necessarily a “No”

God and I discussed this failed-resurrection on the drive in to work last evening, and He said this to me: “There are far more things going on in the spirit realm that influence your prayers than you have any concept of.” Usually when prayers go unanswered people assume God actually *did* answer—but the answer was “No”. I am pretty sure that is rarely the case. Certainly it does occur, as it did with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8, but more often than not, what we assume is a No is actually God sending an answer that got waylaid along the way. Remember back to Daniel 9 where Daniel prays, and then in Chapter 10 where he fasts for three weeks, and after doing so an angel visits him. This angel explains that he had been held up by the Prince of Persia, a demonic ruling spirit in the heavens, and this angel had to get help from Michael the Archangel to break through the demonic resistance to get to Daniel. This entire process of spiritual warfare took 21 days to occur, during which Daniel remained in fasting and prayer. Consider what might have occurred if Daniel hadn’t fasted and prayed until the angel got breakthrough and showed up. Presumably, he never would have gotten his answer. I really like something that Apostle John Mulinde wrote titled “How Satan Stops Our Prayers: Combat In The Heavenly Realms“. Similar to what happened in Daniel 10, it outlines just a few of the things that occur in the spiritual realms that influence whether our prayers are answered or not.

God Doesn’t Cause Bad Things To “Teach Us”

One of the more irritating things I hear people teach others is that God either directly causes or passively and indirectly “allows” bad things to happen to us so that we can learn. Right alongside that is that He doesn’t answer our prayers because He wants us to walk through the problems and experience the pain, difficulty, and suffering so that we can grow. Often cited is Paul’s thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, where it is presumed God gave Paul an affliction of some kind in order to help him remain humble—which is basically the same as saying “to teach him a life lesson.” The Bible is full of references to God’s overarching goodness. No truly good God would engage in what is essentially abusive behavior to “teach” his kids to grow into maturity. This means that either God isn’t good, which is untrue, or that God isn’t abusive, and thus doesn’t cause or “allow” calamity to teach us lessons. I can think of a number of more constructive ways to teach my grandkids not to touch fire than holding their hands to a flame to burn them, thereby teaching them its dangers. Humans go to jail for that sort of thing.

I find it frustrating and difficult when prayers aren’t answered—I think we all do. But we have to choose the correct response to the situation. Sometimes all we can do is say “We’ll just have to get the next one.” It’s a highly unsatisfying answer, but sometimes that’s the only choice we can make (because I don’t consider giving up to be an option). Sometimes we have to continue to persevere in prayer, recognizing that if we continue long enough, we should eventually get the breakthrough. Sometimes we need to spend some time talking to God to learn what we should do differently in the future. While unanswered prayer doesn’t occur as a purposeful lesson, we can still learn from our experiences, and grow for the future.

At the end of the day, we must be rooted and grounded in the goodness of God, His love for us, and an understanding that even when our prayers aren’t answered how we want, we are sowing into a higher reality that we are pressing toward, and that our prayers never go to waste. As we continue forward, we will step into higher realms of power and authority, and eventually we will see things come to pass in a timely, and even easy manner.

Slowing Down for the Holidays

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Christmas is rapidly approaching, and with it comes a variety of other things that require my time and attention. Thus, I will be taking a brief break from the weekly blog post until after the New Year. All in all this has been a good, and busy, year. I published two books, Faith to Raise The Dead and The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling in the Spirit, the latter of which was a bit of a Spirit-led surprise, but which I am very pleased with. Already I have received messages from people who have found the book to resonate strongly with them and I am encouraged that it is accomplishing what it was meant to do. In other news, tomorrow and Friday (12/14 and 12/15) I will be doing a 2 day Miracles school on the Sonsrising Facebook page at 10am PST both days (or 7 pm Nigerian time). Come join us or catch the replay if you miss it.

This year we also managed to successfully launch the Divine Gem Essences in concert with Freedom Flowers, a set of gem essences derived from supernatural gems that the Lord has brought to our house. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I have been quite pleasantly surprised by the results. Sunshine and I both regularly use the Carnelian essence, what I call “motivation in a bottle”, to get things done.

In other news, I am excited to announce that my wife, stepdaughter, and I just launched our new health and wellness company, Sun & Sea Naturals, and are experiencing the learning curve that comes with it. Currently we are having a Christmas sale with the few products we have out so far. Take a look, and be sure to use coupon code Holiday3 at checkout to get in on the sale ($10 each becomes 3 for $25.99). We have many new things planned for the coming year, so be sure to “like” the S&S Facebook page here. We are planning to focus for now on essential oils, but are working to add some bio-field enhancing products, bath and body items, and more, with a long-term vision of becoming a general wellness clearinghouse. Please help us get the word out and share with your family and friends!

I am actively working on my Masters of Nursing Education, so I will be spending some of the coming weeks getting caught up on some of that work, as well as generally getting the house cleaned up. Sunshine and I have been gradually working on downsizing some of the “extra” in our house, moving old belongings out that simply don’t fit where we are at in life anymore, both making room for the new and decluttering and reducing the overall “stuff” energy in the house.

We also got a puppy this year (some of you may have caught my blog post earlier this year titled “How My New Puppy Healed My Heart“), and Rowan is not only growing like a weed, but we’re going to have to spend some focused time training her in the near future, as she is both huge and an energetic atom-bomb running around the house. She is a much-loved addition to the family, although she gets into everything.

My goal for 2018 is to publish 3 books, one on writing books, one on miracles, and one on the message of life and immortality. I hope to get at least one class up in the Immortality Academy, so prayers are appreciated toward that end. We are also hosting our first Kings of Eden event, the Portland School of Resurrection 2018, training and teaching the Body of Christ to have faith to raise the dead. You can find more information on our Events page. I am excited for what God has in store for us in the coming year, and look forward to experiencing 2018 with all of you! Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support, comments, and words of encouragement in the past year, and I pray this holiday season and new year carries immense favor and blessing to you all.

In Christ,

-Michael C. King-

The Mechanism of a Vow

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A few weeks ago I was jumping on our trampoline with the grandgirls, when one of them, playing make-believe, announced that she was vowing something. I couldn’t even tell you what it was, nor what pretend game she was playing, but I immediately stopped her, then explained to all of them that they are never to make vows under any circumstances. This is uncommon, and unpopular, but I find it very important, and very scriptural. Most people make vows when they get married—my wife and I did not. If people understood vows, I believe they wouldn’t make them, ever, and believe the reason most people do is because they don’t understand the mechanism of a vow.

To explore this subject we need to look at what a vow is, what it does, and why we shouldn’t make them.

What is a Vow?

A vow is a promise that carries spiritual weight behind it. It is best understood as a legal contract that requires payment. Vows are agreements to perform some kind of action, and the payment is the action that the vow states one will do.

Numbers 30:2 says, “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

A vow is a binding obligation that requires one to do everything that he or she has stated in the vow, as it says above. Some other verses related to paying vows are as follows:

Psalm 50:14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High;”

Psalm 66:13 “I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings; I shall pay You my vows . . .”

Proverbs 7:14 “I was due to offer peace offerings; Today I have paid my vows.”

What Does A Vow do?

Because a vow is a legal agreement, it carries weight of authority behind it. If the vow is fulfilled, the person is released from it. If not, they reap the consequences of failing to fulfill the terms of the contract.

For this reason Deuteronomy 23:21-23 says, “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.”

It is important to follow through and keep the vows we make, as they are legally binding in the spirit realm and the laws of the universe are designed to enforce the vows we make. A vow essentially creates a covenant between you and the cosmos, and the spiritual laws of the universe expect you to fulfill that which you have vowed. It is a bit like how nature abhors a vacuum—a vow is a bit like creating a vacuum, and nature expects you to fill it.

Why We Shouldn’t Make Vows

Jesus was very clear when he spoke about vows, as was James.

Matthew 5:33-37 says, “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

James 5:12 says, “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.”

The reason James exhorts people not to make vows is that when you fail to fulfill the vow, you bring yourself under condemnation because you have broken a spiritual agreement. Jesus explained that we are not to swear oaths or vows for any reason because we don’t have control over making anything happen no matter how hard we try. Thus, if we say something we should simply make an effort to keep our word without creating spiritually binding legal contracts. If we do, we are playing into the plans of the enemy, as they will attempt to prevent us from fulfilling the terms, placing us under condemnation and giving them an easy ability to attack us.

There are some other passages that give us wisdom in regards to vow-making, or rather not making them at all.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

Proverbs 20:25 – It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.

Malachi 1:14 “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the LORD of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”

These three verses show us that
1) it is better to not make a vow than to make it and fail it
2) It is foolish to make vows without knowing what you are getting into in advance
3) if you don’t follow through with your vow, you come under a curse.

Conclusion

When we understand that vows are a spiritual contract that legally binds us to either complete the vow or suffer under a curse which opens doors for the enemy to attack us via sin (the sin of breaking the vow), we will understand that making vows is foolishness. The mechanism of a vow is incredibly important. Consider the negative effects that can occur in one’s marriage if you make a vow that you end up breaking somewhere down the line. Will the judgments that the cosmos sends your way due to your actions help or hurt your marriage? How is making that vow actually going to help you be a good spouse if those things aren’t inside your heart already—and if they are inside your heart anyway, do you really need to make a vow?

Jesus and James both instructed people not to make vows for a reason. The simple solution is to not make them, no matter what tradition tells us we should do whether at a wedding or in any other situation. We must become people of integrity who are known for keeping our word. This is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit at work in our lives, and is our responsibility as sons and daughters of God.

How How To Get Free From Past Vows

Most people have already made vows sometime in the past, whether a “pledge” to a group or organization, even harmless ones like the Boy Scouts, or even to a nation. While personally I support my country, I don’t believe in pledges because they are simply a vow by another name. If you have already made vows and want to get free, it is usually fairly simple, and can be done in four easy steps through prayer.

1. Acknowledge that you made a vow

2. State that you repent (which means to change your thinking) from doing so.

3. Break agreement with the vow

4. Decree that the blood of Jesus makes it null and void and releases you from it.

In some cases, such as with Freemasonry, you may feel led by the Spirit to do more specific and in-depth prayer, but in most cases the above four steps should suffice. As with all things, pray as you feel led by God in the moment, and pay attention to other prompts you may feel such as praying over an article of clothing related to that group, or even destroying documents you may have signed your name to in a pledge. (Please note this does not apply to legal documents such as wills, mortgages, and such. I am only referring to those pledges and vows that are to groups and organizations, not legal agreements which are the equivalent of you putting your “yes” down on paper, and which you will need at a later date.)

You might pray this prayer or something similar:

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I have made vows to (the group or person you vowed) saying (state the actual promises you made if you can remember. If not, skip this part). I repent for making them, and choose according to your Word to no longer make vows, and let my “yes” stand alone. I break agreement and come out of alignment with those vows, and apply the blood of Jesus to cover and protect me. I decree that the blood of Jesus has already paid every penalty for breaking these vows, and I thank you Jesus for your shed blood that sets me free from every mistake. I receive the forgiveness and freedom that comes from you right now. Amen.

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