PRAY CENTRAL
FLORIDA
Dear
Fellow Prayer Warrior, September, 2007
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. “The Call” with
Lou Engle is coming to Central Florida in February, stay tuned for details or
check it out on their web site – www.thecall.com.
The Greater Orlando Christian Film
Festival is back! See below for information. The start of the prayer training at the Worship
House of Prayer that was featured in our July newsletter was postponed from
August to September 15th, so you still have time to get in for the
fall. See below for details. Also, September
27th is the annual See You At The
Pole day. More than 3 million students from all 50 states will gather
at school flagpoles all over the country. Some will sing, some read Scripture,
but most importantly, they pray. They pray for their schools, for their
friends, for their leaders, and for their country. Their web site, www.syatp.com has some great promo resources.
Greater Orlando Christian Film
Festival – October 18th – 25th
Many of you reading this newsletter have been involved
in this festival over the years. You have brought lost friends and seen them
saved, you have been counselors and prayed with people to be saved or
re-dedicate their lives to the Lord, you have been in the prayer room crying
out for the souls of the lost, and you have enjoyed seeing some great movies
for free! Let’s do it together again! This years free movies include “Facing
the Giants”, “Pilgrim’s Progress”, “Hidden Secrets”, two “Vegge
Tales” and many more. For those who aren’t familiar with this outreach, there
is an altar call for salvation after every movie and many people are saved at
nearly every showing. To volunteer or see all the movies and show times visit www.greaterorlandochristianfilmfestival.com
or call 407-581-6243. This year’s
Festival will again be at the Regal Cinemas Winter Park Village 20.
Prayer Training
at the Worship House of Prayer starts September 15th
[Taken from a Worship House of Prayer e-mail, with minor
edits]
September begins our
prayer training for everyone who desires to lead a WHOP prayer watch as a prayer
leader or worship leader, or be on a WHOP worship team. The training is
also for all church leaders and worship teams. We will meet together for a
total of four Saturdays, teaching and activating your prayer gifts each
Saturday. The first training Saturday will be September 15, 9:15am-5pm. [Then
two in October and one in November]. For details and to register go to www.worshiphouseofprayer.com and click on “training”.
Ongoing
Prayer Themes - please include some of these when you pray for the city -
An increase in the manifestation of God’s supernatural
power – healings, signs, wonders
Wisdom and blessing for our president and other
national, state and local elected officials
God's redemptive purposes to be fulfilled in Central
Florida
Unity of the Body of Christ and purity in the Body and
in relationships between leaders
Pastors to pray together and lead their churches into
praying with other churches
Vision Orlando, Space Coast Prayer Network and Deland
pastors
The scourge of abortion to be removed from our city
Homeland security
Israel and the peace of
Jerusalem
See page 2 for Current Prayer Events
An E-mail version of this
newsletter (with more stuff!) is also available - send me an E-mail to sign up.
See this newsletter on the web at www.christiansnet.com/praycf/praycf.htm.
George Kern, 405 East Jersey St., Orlando, FL 32806, 407-245-1132,
praycf@juno.com
PRAY CENTRAL
FLORIDA
Page 2 September,
2007
Please verify the event
details with the contact person or web site before attending.
For
additional Christian events see the Z88.3 events web site - http://zradio.org.
September 12th – 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. - Central
Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce
Networking Luncheon at the Sheraton Orlando Downtown. For more info call
407-290-1943 or visit www.cfchristianchamber.com.
September 13 – October 12th –
30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus. www.30daysprayer.com.
September 27th - See You At The Pole– Students pray at
the flag pole at their school, www.syatp.com
October 18th – 25th – Greater Orlando Christian Film Festival – many Christian movies
each day, bring lost friends and volunteer. 407-581-6243, www.greaterorlandochristianfilmfestival.com.
November 1st – 4th – Releasing of Eagles Conference.
407-574-3309, www.thebridgeorlando.com.
November 11th –International
Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
www.persecution.com/idop
February 2nd – “The Call” with Lou Engle comes to
Central Florida. www.thecall.com.
Daily – various times
– Worship House of Prayer - get a
taste of IHOP without having to fly to Kansas City. Location: 120 W. McKey St., Ocoee. Web site
for info and schedule: www.worshiphouseofprayer.com,
or call 407.877.5970, ext. 201.
Weekdays –
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – all day worship and prayer hosted by Love of Christ Ministries (Mack McCambridge). Location: Faith World church, Orlando. Call
407-292-0966 for info.
Tuesdays – 6:00 a.m. - Sanford Ministerial Fellowship -
Pastors Praying for Sanford. Info: Jim
Bradshaw - 407-322-4371, jimbrdshw@bellsouth.net.
Tuesday and Friday mornings – Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship.
Fellowship and bible study breakfasts and monthly evening meeting. Contact Joseph Shaia for info -
407/682-3216.
Tuesday
evenings - 6:00 p.m. – Community Healing & Prayer Service. All Saints Church, 338 East Lyman Av. Winter
Park. Call 407-647-3413 for info. www.allsaintswp.com.
Tuesday
evenings - 7:00 p.m. - Servants of the Most High Interdenominational
prayer group meets in the Longwood area. For more info, call Maureen at
407-332-7286.
Second Tuesday – 6:30 p.m. – Aglow – women’s fellowship and prayer
meeting for Apopka/Ocoee. Contact: Rhonda, 407-884-0238.
Thursday Evenings – 7:30 p.m. Oviedo Healing Rooms - Healing in the Name of JESUS through the Power of GOD's Presence and Prayer. 145 W. Broadway Blvd., Oviedo. Call
407-529-7111 for appointment (suggested but not necessary) www.OviedoHealingRoom.com.
Friday evenings – 7:30 p.m. – International
Concert of Prayer – prayer for Orlando, USA & the world. At Greaterlife Church in Oviedo, call Pastor Jeff Good for
information at 407-365-5950.
First Saturday of month - Prayer for Muslims -
10:00 a.m.-Noon, Orlando. Peter Shadid - 240-6272.
Peter has a team reaching Muslims in
Kissimmee and can train people for outreach in Orlando.
Second Saturday of
month – 9:00 a.m. - KNEC (Kingdom Network Empowering Communities) –Orlando.
Contact: Bishop Helligar – 407-299-6677.
Second and Third
Saturdays – 5:00 a.m. City-wide Prayer
Meeting. Hampton Inn at 7448
International Drive, Orlando. Sponsor:
Pastor Mary Norman, 321-276-5352.
Second Saturday of
month – 4 p.m. - Pray for the Troops
– Location: WHOP - 120 W. McKey St., Ocoee.
Info: www.lzrussell.org/PrayForTheTroops,
or call Greg at 407-327-4422.
Third Saturday of month – Prayer for the Persecuted
Church. Longwood. Email amystrang@aol.com.
Pray Central Florida – Praying for Central
Florida and encouraging the Church in Central Florida to pray
And
here is the extra stuff you don’t get with the snail mail version...
=================================
(1) Cityreaching
Conference Call Sept. 20
(2) Feast of Tabernacles presentation October 7th
(3) 40 Days for Life
(4) Iraq
Prayer Surge – September 15th, prayer one minute each night and Day
of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem – October 7th
(5) CBN video of “The Call” Nashville
(6) National
Leaders Retreat with Pastors John Mulinde and Mark
Daniel – October 15 – 18
[The retreat is in Leesburg]
(7) “My
King” (by the late SM Lockridge)
[This
is a powerful multimedia presentation of the famous sermon]
(8) POLL TURNS LIBERALISM ON ITS HEAD
(9) Conviction Of Sin Annointing
(10) The Great Metamorphosis - Being Transformed As We
Soar
*NPPN -
NATIONAL PASTORS' PRAYER NETWORK - US
A
Ministry Network Of The Mission America Coalition
OUR
VISION-
Identify
And Encourage Pastors' Prayer Groups In Cities And Communities
Across
America So That Pastors Lead Their
People
Into Praying For And Sharing Christ With Everyone In Our Nation.
Subscribe
to the NPPN: http://www.nppn.org/subscribe.htm
*************************************************************
(1) Cityreaching Conference Call Sept. 20
From: "Newsletters @ CityReaching.com" <fhcadmin@eli.faithhighway.com>
To: praycf@juno.com
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 14:30:45 -0500
Subject: Cityreaching: Hear what God is doing in our world
Cityreaching Conference Call Sept 20
Special guest, David Bryant, will share
about The Coming Christ Awakening and City Transformation on the next cityreaching conference call Sept. 20 at 11 a.m. Eastern
time. You are invited to dial in and participate on this monthly call.
Email info@cityreaching.com requesting the dial-in number to join the call.
There will be time for question and answer following Dr. Bryant's presentation.
*********************************************************************
(2) Feast of Tabernacles presentation October 7th
From: "Maureen Bravo" <maureen@ruii.org>
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2007 14:23:32 -0400
Subject: "Feast of Tabernacles" presentation 6 PM, Sunday, Oct 7th - FREE!!!!!
Barry and Lana Portnoy
are producing yet
another wonderful presentation
of the Fall Feasts of
Israel!
“Feast of Tabernacles”
6:00 PM Sunday
October 7th
Calvary
Assembly - 1199 Clay Street - Winter Park
Special Guest Artist
Paul Wilbur
FREE! FREE! FREE!
********************************************************************
(3) 40 Days for Life
40 DAYS FOR LIFE
National pro-life campaign begins in September
An aggressive nationwide campaign, which will kick off September
26, 2007, is focused on 40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of
round-the-clock peaceful vigil at abortion facilities, and 40 days of
aggressive community outreach. The significance of 40 days comes from examples
in sacred scripture where God transformed individuals, cities, and nations in
40 day periods. "Just think of the transformation God could accomplish
when individuals and communities across America unite this fall for 40 days of
prayer and fasting, pulling out all the stops to end the violence of
abortion," said Shawn Carney, spokesman for the 40 Days for Life campaign.
According to Carney, the campaign has already proven successful in seven communities
in Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and North Carolina. "The first 40 Days for
Life that was conducted in College Station, Texas exceeded all of our
expectations," said Carney. "In just 40 days, over 1,000 new pro-life
volunteers were activated; more than 25,000 households were reached through a
grassroots door- to-door effort; local, state, and national news was generated;
and most importantly, the local abortion rate was slashed by 28%."
Read more at Pro-Life Breakthrough
INTERCESSORS FOR
AMERICA
P O Box 915 Purcellville, VA 20134
Fax 540-751-0984 ifa@ifapray.org
web: http://www.ifapray.org
******************************************************************
(4) Iraq Prayer Surge – September 15th, prayer
one minute each night and Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem – October
7th
IRAQ PRAYER SURGE - NOW!
JOINT PRAYER MEETING ACROSS AMERICA
September 8, September 15
8-10AM EASTERN
You are invited to a "joint" prayer meeting for the purposes of:
UNITY among God's people.
REPENTANCE for the sins of the Church and America.
INTERCESSION for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
We have invited the Members of the United States Military &
Men for Nations for conference call updates. After 30 minutes, we will end the
conference call for prayers of repentance & intercession.
In approximately 2 weeks, General Petraeus will give
the highly crucial "troop surge" assessment (the current key strategy
of Operation Iraqi Freedom) to the United States Congress.
What will be the content of the report concerning the "troop surge"
and the Government of Iraq led by Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki? How will Capitol Hill respond? Will
President Bush's resolve remain strong? Can our prayers make the difference?
Do you believe that God is poised to bring a MIGHTY REVIVAL to the Middle East
and the GREATEST AWAKENING to America? If your answer is "YES!", you
are encouraged to join us on 9/8 & 9/15.
For more information, see the Prayer Surge Now website
Please gather in your prayer cell groups and connect with us for the first 30
minutes of the joint prayer using the conference call number & access code
Conference Call Number & Access Code: 1-712-432-9998 & 526-338-#
If you cannot get through, please use: 1-605-772-3900 & 399-430-#
Please invite other prayer groups to join us
ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT:
PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF THE UNITED STATES,
OUR TROOPS, OUR CITIZENS
From praying friends of IFA
During WW II, there was an adviser to Winston Churchill who
organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a
prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England,
its people, and peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.
There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If
you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time 8:00 PM
Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and
spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our
citizens and for peace in the world. Someone said if people really understood
the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be
speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.
ISRAEL | MIDDLE EAST
Pray for advisers and leaders to be raised up to give the President wise
counsel regarding decisions and actions taken in the Middle East, with
particular emphasis on recognizing and supporting God's purposes for Israel.
Ask the LORD to raise up government leaders in Israel (and worldwide) who
will not seek to "divide the land," and who would recognize the
unique significance of Jerusalem in God's end-time purposes
Ask the LORD to break every threat over Israel, to watch over His word:
"And [ Israel ] shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and
plant vineyards; yes, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed
judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall
know that I am the LORD their God." (Ezekiel 28:26)
Pray that the Palestinian Arabs will come to faith in Christ and embrace
God's end-time purpose for Israel; Pray that the Lord would send forth laborers
to bring in the appointed harvest from the whole of the Middle East.
A SPECIAL INVITATION
TO PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2007
From Robert Stearns and Dr. Jack Hayford,
Co-Chairmen,
Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem
Dear Praying Friends,
Please take a moment to read and pass on this urgent prayer update.
We are just days away from a powerful moment, when millions of Christians in
every nation across the planet will join in faith and unity to pray together for
the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
This massive prayer initiative, one of the largest in Church history, has now
been reported and referenced by major news outlets around the world. The
Jerusalem Celebration of the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem will be
carried live into 192 nations on God TV.
Literally, in every corner of the planet, churches are preparing to stand in
agreement with Psalm 122, and with one another in hope, and pray for God's
presence and peace to flood the streets of Jerusalem, and minister peace to all
of her inhabitants, Jew and Arab alike.
The First Sunday of October, October 7th, has been designated as the Global Day
of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem by well over 1000 global Christian
leaders. Leaders of influence including, Jack Hayford,
Paul Cedar, Dick Eastman, T.D. Jakes, Kay Arthur, Myles Munroe, Jane Hansen,
John Hagee, Ravi Zacharias, Michael W. Smith, Chuck Pierce, Sunday Adelaja, and Joyce Meyer are just a handful of those all
around the world who are in unity calling for focused, united prayer on this
day.
If you have any questions or need further information regarding the Day of
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, please contact the DPPJ office at 1-800-
51WINGS or visit www.day topray.com .
May the Lord's Shalom rest over each of you,
Robert Stearns
Dr. Jack Hayford
INTERCESSORS FOR
AMERICA
P O Box 915 Purcellville, VA 20134
Fax 540-751-0984 ifa@ifapray.org
web: http://www.ifapray.org
**************************************************************
(5) CBN video of “The Call” Nashville
PrayerNet Newsletter
Alice Smith - Editor
Eddie and Alice Smith Ministries
7710-T Cherry Park Dr, Ste 224
Houston, TX 77095
www.usprayercenter.org
www.teachmetopray.com
1-800-569-4825
August 22, 2007
2. Thousands
of young Americans repent and pray for revival
An estimated 85,000 young American Christians
packed a stadium in Nashville on 07-07-07 for 'The Call', a massive revival
rally to pray and repent for the sins of the nation. Initiator prophet Lou
Engle and his team called the church in America to 'recovenant'
with Jesus. A next, similar event is planned for September 1 in Las Vegas, the
gambling capital of America. CBN produced a video report.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/191522.aspx
*************************************************************
(6) National Leaders Retreat with Pastors John Mulinde and Mark Daniel – October 15 – 18
[The
retreat is in Leesburg]
From: World Trumpet Mission America <SCordner@wtmamerica.com>
To: praycf@juno.com
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 17:32:47 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: August 2007 Newsletter
National Leaders' Retreat . . . . . . . . October
15-18, 2007
We're
very excited about the upcoming retreat. We have people coming from a number of
cities in many different states! The purpose of this retreat is not only to
learn, but to be in an environment with others of like mind—those with a
heart's desire to be surrendered and set apart—those who are willing to lay
down their lives and do whatever is necessary to see God move and bring
transformation to this great nation of America. Come and let's meet together,
pray together, and seek God as a nation. We can never be satisfied with where
we are with the Lord, there is always another level of surrender, a deeper
walk, and a greater depth of knowing Him—we can never exhaust the Great and
Awesome God!
Our heart is to bring the body together for God. This retreat is not only for
the traditional leader, but anyone who has a heart for what God is doing and
who God will use. Most people that God used in the Bible were not people with
standing or position; they were people who had a heart that He could raise up
and mold into a leader for Him and His work. We are looking for people who have
a stirring in their heart, who are hearing God's call, and who are willing for
God to use them to lead their family, their neighbors, their school, their
business, their friends, their church, or any others into the presence of the
Lord for His purposes in our nation.
Our prayer for this retreat is that God will bring His people together, stir a
fire, and awaken spirits as we pray for one another and see God at work. We
hope that people will leave the retreat with an understanding that there are
others they can turn to for support and encouragement, knowing that God is not
only working in their own community, but across the nation.
If you feel God has given you a heart for your community, then you have a place
in this retreat, and we welcome you. We encourage you to register as soon as
possible; after September 17, a $25 late fee will be charged for each
registration.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone who has a heart for revival and
transformation. Click here for more information and for
registration! - http://wtmamerica.com/wtm8_040.htm
************************************************************
(7) “My King” (by the late SM Lockridge)
[This is
a powerful multimedia presentation of the famous sermon]
Do You
Know Him? He is my King!
Randy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66tt1tDfD1k
*************************************************************
(8) POLL TURNS LIBERALISM ON ITS HEAD
More bad
news for liberals: Youth cite family and faith (not government or
the
"village") as paramount to happiness. According to a recent
Associated
Press-MTV
poll of young people ages 13-24, spending time with family
topped
the list as the greatest source of happiness. Ranking second was
spending
time with friends, and time with a significant other garnered
third
place. Additionally, nearly half of the respondents gave high marks
to
religion and "spirituality," vague though the terms may be.
Furthermore,
belying
the gloom and doom predictions spouted by the Left, a full 62 percent
of
respondents foresee their happiness increasing in the future.
On the
losing end were sex and drugs. Even money failed to win the prize
for a
high happiness quotient. Naturally, these results pose a problem for
the Left
as its raison d' tre is to gain support by promoting
sex under the
guise of
reproductive education, guaranteeing monetary equality via income
redistribution,
and undermining the family unit through homosexual-rights
crusades.
With
traditional family values proving their staying power, what's a liberal
to do? As
politics goes, if you can't spin something in your favor, don't
spin it
at all. In other words, expect a whole lot of silence about this poll.
Stand For
Your Second Amendment Rights!
Visit the
Patriot Shop:
http://PatriotShop.US/
"The
Patriot Post (PatriotPost.US)"
*************************************************************
(9) Conviction Of Sin Annointing
TOPIC:
Conviction Of Sin Annointing
http://groups.google.com/group/apostlesroundtable/browse_thread/thread/e7d400e03b2a3e53?hl=en
==============================================================================
== 1 of 1
==
Date:
Fri, Aug 3 2007 8:33 pm
From:
Apostles Roundtable
Conviction
Of Sin Annointing
by Terry
Somerville
Over the
years I've seen some amazing miracles. But the one act of God
I long to
see is a general conviction of sin. The power behind the
great
revivals was always conviction of sin.
Men like Finney and
Wesley
recount how the Holy Spirit would grip people with such force
that they
would be in agony until they repented. "They fell as if shot
by a
canon" "they cried out with an
awful cry". They would wrestle
down
their wicked hearts until they yielded them to God. Our
desperately
sin sick church needs this anointing today.
And when
he comes, he will convince (convict) the world concerning sin
and
righteousness and judgment: John 16:8
WHAT THE
CONVICTION ANOINTING DOES
Ive occasionally
seen this conviction at work in power. We had just
completed
a tremendous time of inter-church prayer
and I received an
unexpected
call to come quickly to the home of a woman who
occassionaly came to our church. Her unbelieving common law
husband
was
rolling around moaning and sobbing on the floor. "He's been like
this for
hours" she said. He was crying that he was a sinner, that he
didn't
deserve anything from God. Then he would yell that he was
falling
into hell. It took us twenty minutes to
convince him he
wasn't in
hell yet and God would save Him. He gave
his life to Jesus,
and was
gloriously changed!
The
conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit is
not the pathetic "guilty
conscience"
we see so often today at the front of the church. YECCH!
NO! That is mere confession, not dealing with the
heart issues behind
the
sin. Charles Finney said the
"fountain of sin needs to be broken
up"
meaning the heart. The conviction of sin
anointing brings a
desperate
agony. The Holy Spirit exposes the true state of the sinner.
The Holy
Spirit deeply convinces us this way:
1.
CONVICTION OF SIN
The Holy
Spirit makes it plain that " I am" guilty of sin. We know
exactly
what sins are involved. It is personal,
It is specific. The
Holy
Spirit, who knows the secrets of mens hearts, exposes
my motives
and
innermost self and makes it clear that my heart is basically
selfish. "The heart is wicked above all
things."
2.
CONVICTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Holy
Spirit also makes it clear to me what
righteousness is, and
what I
should have done. I know exactly I see
it clearly and agonize
that I am
not righteous. I know that God alone is righteous.
3.
CONVICTION OF JUDGMENT
The Holy
Spirit convinces me that I am utterly guilty and deserve to
be judged
and condemned. I agree completely with God. I am condemned
in my
sin. There is no no means of escape except by grace.
CONVICTION
+ REPENTANCE = RESTORATION
GODLY
SORROW LEADS TO REPENTANCE
Now I
rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led
to
repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you
might
suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces
repentance
leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow
of the
world produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:
9,10
Under
conviction it is time for you to agree with the Holy Spirit no
matter
how sorrowful it is. Let Him show you the
true condition of
your
heart and see how you have made yourself , and your feelings
first. Your heart is the soil for the seed of his
word and the weeds
must come
out, the clods broken. Let your heart be broken down as you
see the
true condition and heed the call of the Holy Spirit to come
and be
reconciled.
GODLY
SORROW SAYS:
I have
sinned.
My sinful self life, is alive in my heart and resists God voice and
will. I
am more concerned for what I want and feel than what God
wants.
I have no
excuse and deserve condemnation.
My HEART
is completely broken down. Self is crucified.
TRUE
REPENTANCE SAYS:
I agree
with God, against myself (above)
I now
trust in Christ alone for my righteousness.
I now
turn and begin a life of obedience to
the Holy Spirit from the
heart By faith I begin to live producing
"works fitting repentance"
Acts
26:40
SIGNS OF
AVOIDING CONVICTION OF SIN
Adapted
from Charles Finney
Conviction of sin is not pleasant because it comes
against your self
life. It
demands that you agree with God against yourself. Your self
nature
tries to escape conviction because it is a death sentence. The
wicked heart has many escape plans.
1.Self
Pity - expressing sadness, regret, and
being sorry for getting
"caught".
Cries of "You don't
understand" are common when urged to
deal with
it. It is self in full bloom, and may
involve crying and
distress
and willingness to pray, but it is not repentance
2.Anger -
with Self , the preacher, or with God.
This is very common
with a
carnal Christians and is an epidemic in Canada.
You may go
from
church to church, accusing others, but
never resolving your own
sin. It's the "I'm sad so you're bad"
syndrome. This view of
Christianity
is based on selfishness, and you will never have peace
with God
unless you repent.
3.Avoiding
the Subject. - Frequently , when convicted, you will focus
on another subject or distraction, to occupy the mind. You can
become
entrenched in it for years to avoid the issues with God. This
is like a
child shouting "I not
listening!" with his fingers in his
ears.
You need
to focus on your heart condition before God.
4.Justifying Self.- This is arguing your case against the
Holy
Spirit
with excuses, or saying sin really isn't sin, or that it
doesn't
apply in your case. It is denial of sin
pure and simple.
Frequent
sayings are "everyone does
it", or "that doesn't fit
me."
It may
become a religious denial of sin - re-interpreting the bible to
fit the
sin. Whole churches and denominations
are devoted to this
today.
You need to agree with God that you love sin more than Him.
5.Religious
Self Righteousness - In trying to deal
with your feelings
of
conviction you may throw yourself into religious activity and
attitudes. This is
the old self's outward attempt to
say "look,
I'm OK,
without dealing with the heart. Common sayings include "God
knows my
heart". You may even compare and accuse others, and use
bible
verses to do it. But your heart is unresponsive to the Holy
Spirit.
6.Resolutions.
- Overcoming sins by will power, to try harder, to do
it right.
The hope is this will make the conviction go away. But
failure
awaits since the heart is unchanged. The sin is in the heart.
WHEN
MINISTERING TO SOMEONE UNDER CONVICTION
Conviction.
of itself, is no value. It must produce Godly sorrow and
repentance.
Recognize
- they are fighting against the Holy
Spirit.
Do not
minimize the conviction so that they leave it behind. Don't
say
"Oh it will pass" or "You'll be alright" Don't let them
off.
Ask them
what's going on inside, to identify the issue. Urge them to
repentance.
Press
them to agree with God against themselves.
Blessings
Terry
Somerville
***********************************************************
(10) The Great Metamorphosis - Being Transformed As We
Soar
TOPIC:
The Great Metamorphosis - Being Transformed As We Soar
http://groups.google.com/group/apostlesroundtable/browse_thread/thread/96dd209eb4e1ccb8?hl=en
==============================================================================
== 1 of 1
==
Date:
Fri, Sep 7 2007 6:45 am
From:
Apostles Roundtable
The Great
Metamorphosis - Being Trnasformed As We Soar Above
Our
Trials -
Rick Joyner
"There
is no greater freedom than knowing we are in the will of God."
The
Church is the Lord's Body, and what He does, He will do through
His
Church. If we want to be a part of what God is doing, it is
fundamental
that we find our part in His body and begin functioning in
it.
We must
also acknowledge that there are many ways in which the
contemporary
Church reflects the ways and organizations of this world
more than
the Kingdom of God. However, the Church is going through a
most
radical transformation at this time. It is so radical that the
only way
to describe it is metamorphosis, which we have discussed
before,
but we need to build on this thought a bit, so I will review
it
briefly here.
Metamorphosis
of the Church and Our Mindsets
Metamorphosis
is the process that a caterpillar goes through in the
cocoon
where it enters as a worm and leaves a beautiful butterfly. The
Greek
word that is the root of this word "metamorphosis" is the word
translated
"transformed" in Romans 12:2:
And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is,
that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
A
caterpillar is a worm that crawls along the earth, conforming to all
of the
contours of the earth, but a butterfly soars above the earth.
This is
the transformation that is needed in us, and as it is
specifically
stated in this verse, the transformation must take place
in our
minds by the renewing.
Our minds
have what are called "mindsets." A mindset is the setting of
our mind
so that when a word is spoken, we form a certain, definite
impression.
For example, when the word "Church" is stated, many have a
very
definite impression of it. For most of us, the Church is in its
caterpillar
state-the worm that is still conformed to this world.
However,
that mindset is about to be changed and renewed. Those who
see
prophetically already see the Church differently. She is about to
become a
very Heavenly creature, and those who are still looking for
her
crawling along the ground may miss her as she soars by overhead.
Mindsets
can be good and bad. There are mindsets that we should have
about
such things as the Scriptures being the Word of God which cannot
be
changed. However, there are a lot of mindsets which are in fact
spiritual
strongholds--bondages that need to be broken. These are
broken by
a transformation that is in fact a metamorphosis, which is a
process.
I know many people who get revelations, but that is just the
beginning
of a transformation in our thinking which points us in the
right
direction. Real transformation is a process that requires faith,
patience,
endurance and focus.
Metamorphosis
requires going into a cocoon, which is very confining.
Even
after the transformation has taken place, the cocoon is very hard
to break
out of. In fact, breaking out of the cocoon is often the
greatest
struggle a butterfly will ever go through. However, if it
were not
for this great struggle, which strengthens the butterfly's
wings, it
would not be able to flap those big wings and fly.
It is
noteworthy that Paul was, "strengthening the souls of the
disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying,
''Through
many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God'" (Acts
14:22).
The mindset that many believers have today would make that
message
anything but "strengthening" and "encouraging," but for the
spiritually
mature--it is. The Greek word "tribulations" basically
means
"pressures" such as the confining pressures of the cocoon. We
are
strengthened through those constrictions and pressures that the
Lord
allows to come upon us so that we will be able to soar above this
world.
Those who want to avoid these trials will be confined as worms
to the
earth.
There are
many Christians who have stayed on the course, making the
most of
their trials, and they will soar high above the earth. There
are many
Christians who have not had the wisdom or maturity to do
this, and
they will always crawl. This is a demarcation which will
become
increasingly striking in the times ahead. Shortly after that,
all
Christians will be soaring because those who have not been
transformed
will not be able to remain Christians.
When the
Lord was asked about the signs of the end of the age, He
replied,
"Woe...to those who nurse babes in those days" (see Matthew
24:19). I
would translate this as, "Woe to those who have kept their
people in
immaturity." For this reason, Romans 12:1-2 is critical for
us to
hear:
I urge
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a
living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual
service of worship.
And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is,
that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Not
Conformed to this World
To
present our bodies to the Lord as living and holy sacrifices is our
spiritual
service and worship. The body is the temple of the Lord, and
as Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, if we continue to defile it, we can
expect it
to be destroyed. The sins of the body have consequences that
will
destroy the body. That should be motivation enough, but a higher
motivation
is a love for God so great, that we want to please Him in
all
things.
We must
resolve not to be conformed to this world. If we do not care
more
about what God thinks of us than what people think of us, then we
are not
worthy to be His bride. That is why Paul said in Galatians
1:10,
"If I were still seeking to please men I would not be a bond-
servant
of Christ." The degree to which we are ruled by the compulsion
to please
men, to be acceptable to men, is the degree to which we will
have
departed from our service to Christ.
As the
Lord Jesus Himself stated in John 5:44, "How can you believe,
when you
receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory
that is
from the One and only God?" The answer of course is that we
cannot
believe and have true faith if we are still seeking the glory
of men.
The word for "glory" in this verse could have been translated
"recognition."
Our minds cannot be transformed if we are still
conforming
to this world by seeking the glory or recognition of men
rather
than the recognition of God.
However,
the great promise in Romans 12:1-2 is that if our minds are
transformed,
we will be able to "prove what the will of God is." There
is no
greater freedom than knowing we are in the will of God. This
allows us
to soar high above any of the conditions or problems of this
world.
This is how Paul and Silas soared in worship even when they
were in a
dungeon. No dungeon could hold their spirits. If the things
of this
world are still holding us down, then we have not been
transformed.
It is
interesting that during the teenage years, there is more
pressure
to conform to what is considered "the norm" than probably at
any other
time of life. This is precisely the time of life when our
true
identity and purpose should be becoming clear, and this pressure
from the
world seems to be especially strong at this time to keep it
from
happening. This is also the time when many yokes of bondage are
placed on
people that keep them bound their entire lives. When you see
a
generation breaking out of this, willing to be different, having
such
vision and focus during these years that they cannot be seduced
by the
ways of this world, you can be sure the end of this age is near
because
the Bride is here.
So what
about folks that are older? Certainly there will be Joshuas
and Calebs from the previous generation, but there is also hope
for
all who
are still alive to be a part. There is a renewing that will
renew us.
We can become young again. That the Bride is "without spot
or
wrinkle" (see Ephesians 5:27) speaks of her being pure (without
spot),
and she does not age (no wrinkles!). We can be made young again
in the
Lord if we will repent and determine that we will not be
conformed
to this world, but rather be transformed. If we are still
living,
it is not too late, but we should not waste another day.
We also
need to decide if we are going to let all of the previous
wounds
and disappointments determine who we are, or if we are going to
be like
Christ, using the Cross to determine who we are, seizing the
opportunity
to die to ourselves and rise above this world and live in
resurrection
power. We cannot be resurrected unless we have first
died.
Rick
Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
info@morningstarministries.org
http://www.morningstarministries.org
***********************************************************
Pray Central Florida – Praying for Central Florida and
encouraging the Church in Central Florida to pray.
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this Pray Central
Florida monthly prayer newsletter send an E-mail to praycf@juno.com