From Jim and Michael. . .

(What follows is an excerpt from a word given at the close of a Sunday morning service.)

[Jim] One day, God gave Samuel a mission. He told him to stop doing what he was doing because He had something else, something different for Samuel to do. Go to the house of Jesse. After Samuel had finished what God had sent him to do, he told him to go home. You're finished with this task.

In my mind today, I see a white board with things written on it. Some of these things have been on there for some time. I want to take one of those things off the board, the one that says we are a church that involves itself in missions. I want to erase that and replace it with we are a missional church. We're always on mission. We are like a light set on a hill.

We've been in a season where, for any number of reasons that really don't matter, we've gotten under our baskets.

I was praying for someone the other day, and all of a sudden I remembered two years ago when I was with Clay Rowe standing at West Point on the Hudson River right where the chain the Americans used to block the British went across the river. Had the chain not been across the river, we would probably be British now instead of American and would probably be saying, "God save the Queen."

To get ready for this, all up and down the Hudson were places built for signal fires. The second the British started up the river, our guys lit the first signal fire. When the guys at the next hill saw the signal fire, they thought signal fire. The British are coming. Light the fire. And they kept lighting the fire, lighting the fire, lighting the fire until it got all the way to West Point where they armed the guns.

We've been in a season where, for any number of reasons that really don't matter, we've gotten under our baskets. We've covered our lamps sometimes because we needed to, sometimes because we weren't sure, or sometimes because we didn't know who we were, but it really doesn't matter. The Lord is now saying it's time to take the baskets off of the lamps. It's time to be who you are in Jesus wherever you are. You are a mission of the Lord everywhere you go. JUST BE WHO YOU ARE IN JESUS! Do this and you will be a light that will send forth His glory. That's all He cares about.

[Michael] During our dark times as a fellowship, there were some who quietly came to me and wanted to know when I was going to pull out and start another church. I said, "Not until the Lord tells me to." Well, the Lord never told me to.

The incredible thing about this fellowship is that it works. It may not work on paper. It may not work according to church growth and the model and all that other stuff, but in the kingdom it works. We're the bumble bee. We should not be able to fly, but boy, we're flying. It's God who makes it work.

I want you to understand something. It's not about two old guys up front. It's about everybody here. It's just like Jim said. Take the cover off and let the light shine. You are light. You are salt. It's not if you're light and salt. The scriptures say that you are the light of the world. ou are the salt of the earth. Not that you might be or hope to be or could be - you're that already. So be that. Be the light. Be the salt. Be revelation and flavoring. Be revelation and preserving. What an incredible time to be alive.

We're the bumble bee. We should not be able to fly, but boy, we're flying. It's God who makes it work.

[Jim] Sometimes in church language we talk about what's the target group. We don't have to try to be unique and have our market share. All we have to be is ourselves. That's unique enough. It's a subtle thing because it's not like we have to be proud of it or defend it. We may have to explain it, and that's okay. The church is good at that and always has been.

John Wesley told everybody in his day to just go catch on fire. Have a romance with Jesus. And when you're ablaze, walk out into the marketplace and the street. They will come to the fire. You can't do that in your soul. God doesn't want you to do this as a soulish thing. And don't do it just because it's a good idea. Just turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

There is always something to get our minds off of Him. There is always a leaky faucet or something that tempts us from looking up. The church is at her finest when she is looking Godward because then our father knows what we ask for before we ask it, and He is willing to give to His children whatever His children have asked. He won't give us stones or snakes. He'll give us bread and then fill the jar with oil.

A Prophetic Message - Part 3/3
From Michael . . .

In August, I shared that God at this point in time was in the business of beginning to shake everything we know. I used Hebrews 12: 25+ as the text of this teaching. See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking . . . His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised saying, "Yet once more I will shake the earth and also the heaven . . . removing those things which can be shaken . . . so that those things that cannot be shaken may remain."

God says that He is going to shake everything and that the things of the temporary nature that we have placed our trust in will be shaken to pieces. The only thing that will remain will be the eternal things of God.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. Our works will be tested by fire, and that which is built on hay, wood, and stubble will be consumed while the eternal works we have done for Jesus will remain.

The bottom line is that we are called to turn a profit for the kingdom of God. I'm not talking money; I'm talking lives. The profit entrusted to us is to win for the Lamb the rewards of His suffering.

While I was watching the news coverage about the hurricanes that have recently ravaged our coasts, God gave me a picture. It wasn't something I asked for; it just came. Feel free to weigh everything I say. Take it before God and let Him reveal what He wishes to reveal.

The picture I saw was about the Superdome. People were running to it to escape. It had become a place of refuge. Who plays in the Superdome? The Saints. All of these people were running to the home of the saints for refuge.

When they got there, it didn't turn out to be a safe place because God ripped the roof off and let it rain inside. These people ran there to escape the fury outside, but what they found was chaos.

I believe that God is showing me in this picture that we had better get ready because we are soon going to have people coming here seeking refuge. However, this is not going to be a safe place because God is going to uncover all of us. When I say safe, I'm not talking about a threat to our lives. I'm talking about safe in that we can no longer come in here and hide our sin. The presence of God is about to be manifested in our midst to the degree that we're all going to be undone.

I thought that it was unusual that the storm surge ranged from 28 to 30 feet high. In scripture, 28 usually represents eternal life while 30 usually represents the blood of Christ. So, we had this massive wave washing in bringing out all of the refuse, the waste, and the garbage for everyone to see. It was messy and ugly, and I think that is what God is about to do.

When I say these things, I find myself saying who am I to be saying these things? I'm nobody. But then I read the Shepherd's Rod from last year for 2005, and it said that the Gulf Coast region would become a beacon, a lighthouse, something used by people to find a place of shelter and steer away from the dangerous rocky shores.

God seems to be putting all of this into place. The Superdome is a symbol of man's strength and ingenuity, the best man could build. Yet God says, "I'm not impressed. I'll rip the cover off that baby and rain into it if I want to." Our plans are futile in His eyes.

The people ran to a place built by man's strength, man's ingenuity - the home of the saints. That may just be the best possible place to be in. If people come here for someone else to get a vision for them, then they can forget it. But if they want to come here and connect themselves to some people who are trying to find God and do what He says and worship Him and grow and deal with their character issues and become a people who are known because the presence of God follows them around into the marketplace and the hospital rooms and the schools and the homes and doesn't just show up during their services, then they are welcome.

I want us to be known as people who have the presence of God on us which leaves an aroma that intrigues people and makes them wonder what is going on. I want us to be known for loving God and loving people. What greater thing could we have said about us?

This shaking that God is going to do is going to produce spiritual refugees who are going to need spiritual food, spiritual shelter, and spiritual clothing. They're going to come looking for these things, asking for them. Don't be surprised if we suddenly find ourselves chased down by people wanting to be saved. When this happens, we definitely do not want to be like FEMA. We want to be prepared. We want to be a people who can hear God and move in an instant on His orders.

I don't fear what this will cost. I don't fear the logistics. I fear that we might miss it. If God is calling us to do this, He is going to fund it, empower it, and equip it. All we have to do is walk it out and be diligent.

While we are receiving spiritual refugees into our midst, we cannot grow lax in taking care of ourselves. We still are responsible for our own relationship with Him. As we grow, we can give away what has been given to us. We need that close communion with God so that we can hear and act without hesitation. Most importantly, we need to see as God sees. Our biggest problem will be judging the outside. We need to be an enfolding people. If people choose not to stay, then so be it, but I do not want them to be driven away.

Look at Matthew 9: 35+. Jesus was going about all the villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease. Seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Notice that Jesus was moving. We are going to have to be on the move, maybe even have search and rescue teams. We're going to have to have some people who can drop what they are doing to go at a moment's notice. We don't want anyone to perish. Jesus was also teaching. We have got to invest in hearing God and knowing His book. He proclaimed the gospel. We proclaim the truth of God by telling what He has done for us. Our lives are the message. He healed. I think we are going to see an increase in the power and the manifestation of God in the area of physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental healings. I think God is wanting to do complete healing of the total package. He felt compassion on them. Even with what we see God doing and what we are going to see God do, we are going to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of what we see which tells me that we need to turn to God even more in those times.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There are seeds that have been planted over years that will suddenly break forth in harvest, seeds that we may have walked by every day and not noticed. All of a sudden, we are going to see the potential for an incredible gathering. We need to be in constant prayer that God would raise up workers and show us and help us to equip others to participate in this.

All of the time we hear people say things like my preacher really fed me today, I'm going to get fed tonight, etc. That's all wrong. In John 4:34, Jesus says that His food is to do the will of Him who sent me. That's how we are fed, by doing what God says do. When we go to church or to Bible studies, we're not getting fed. We're simply looking at the menu.

By actually participating in what God is doing, we are fed. That's when we're replenished. That's when we're energized. If you have never participated in somebody being saved, buddy, hang on. It will blow your socks off. ou'll be so high that we'll have to tie a rope to your ankles to pull you down and you'll float around all night. It's addictive to see God fall in the midst of a people and begin doing stuff.

We're also going to fall under the scrutiny of some people. We'll be criticized for our deeds and our actions, but that's okay. Look at Isaiah 8: 9+. Be broken, O people. Be broken and shattered and give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted. State a proposal, but it will not stand, for God is with us . . . Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel says the Lord of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.

We are going to become the ultimate sign and wonder, and the lives of the people who are changed will be added to that. Together we will be walking signs and wonders in a world looking for something real. How awesome is that?

It isn't about getting it right or getting it wrong. It's about loving the ones who will come to us, loving God, and letting Him do His work.

"The moral obligation of the resurrection of Christ IS A MISSIONARY OBLIGATION. It is the responsibility and the privilege of carrying the message and telling the story, of praying and interceding, of being involved personally and financially in the cause of Jesus' commission. How dare the church relegate this missionary imperative to the sidelines. Because Jesus IS ALIVE, there is something for us to do for Him EVERY DAY."
– Tozer