So You Want To Be Famous??

This Morning I Was Meditating On Matthew Chapter 4.

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.” Matthew 4: 23-25 NKJV (emphasis added)

As I was meditating I heard these words: "SO YOU WANT TO BE FAMOUS???"

We have many today that want to be famous, especially on Social Media. Many are acting like a secular marketing firm as we: "Build Our Brand".

Notice in Verse 24 that His Fame went throughout...

What was it that caused His Fame to be spread?

·         He went about all Galilee TEACHING in their synagogues.

·         He was PREACHING The Gospel Of The Kingdom.

·         He was HEALING all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

As Rev. Kenneth E. (Dad) Hagin used to say: “The ministry of Jesus was Teaching, Preaching and Healing.” If His ministry consisted of these three components, ours should too. It was those three things that caused him to be Famous. Perhaps, if we did what He did, we will get what He got.

Teaching is an Explanation of truth whose intended purpose is Education. Preaching is a Proclamation whose intended purpose is Motivation. Obviously, we know what Healing is. Both Teaching and Preaching are Required to accomplish the ministry of Jesus! It is not a case of either/or; but both/and that we need. Without the Teaching and Preaching, it is hard to have the Healing.

It is also of note that Jesus was NOT PREACHING the Gospel of Salvation, but He was Preaching the Gospel of Kingdom. Most of us preach the former, not the latter. The Kingdom is the Dominion of the King or the King’s Domain. The Kingdom is governed by Kingdom Laws, not worldly, human, man-made laws. The Gospel of Salvation is a part of the Gospel of the Kingdom, but not the Totality of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Jesus came to Establish His Kingdom but is Building His Church! Our mistake has been that we have been trying to fit The Kingdom into the Church, which is backwards, because the Church is part of the Kingdom.

I believe our Goal is not to be Famous on earth but in Heaven and Hell. Too many of us are like the seven sons of Sceva: (Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?) Hell does not recognize our authority. Jesus said that there would be those who claimed to do things in His name, and His reply would be: “Depart from Me, I don’t know you.” How tragic to be a “Believer” and have Jesus say I don’t know you. You are not living by My Kingdom Laws. You are not Teaching and Preaching My Message.

There was an old Country song with words that said: “I Was Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places.” Too many have been looking for Fame in all the Wrong Places. We don’t desire to be known by men, but by Heaven and Hell. Hell should Fear Us and Heaven Endorse us! Yes, I want to be Famous…in Heaven and Hell.

Our Motives Matter

I visited a church this morning and the Pastor asked a Question in her message about motives. It is one that I have often thought about. She was speaking in the context of doing supernatural signs or moving in the manifestation gifts of the Spirit. My similar thought has been: Why do we want to do these things?

Is it so people will look at us? Is it to draw attention to us? Do we want folks to see how spiritual we are? I can assure you the answer to these improper motives is clearly NO! There are only two reasons that I can find Scripturally for moving in these manifestations:

1. That people may believe on Jesus.

2. To minister to and meet the Needs of the People.

Apart from these two, anything and everything else will have some element of pride in them, and we all know what that leads to.

Jesus was clear in John 14 that we should believe the He was in the Father, and that the Father was in Him, or else, we should just believe because of the works that He did. If His word wasn't enough for someone to believe, then what He manifested would verify what He said so folks might believe.

Repeatedly we find Gospel accounts where Jesus was moved with compassion and healed their sick. It had nothing to do with Him, it had everything to do with the compassion that moved Him.

One of the prayers that I regularly pray before going out to minister is: “Lord, meet the needs of the people!” That is really the crux of what we do and why we do it! So that people might believe and that they might have their needs met. Anything else is suspect and needs to be questioned. Face it folks, Our Motives Matter!

He Who Has An Ear…Let Him Hear

Jesus spoke to seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. To every one of the seven he had the same admonition: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” New American Standard Bible This would indicate that we can hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, but that it is also possible that we would not hear what the Spirit is saying.

Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians tells us: “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without meaning.” 1 Corinthians 14:10 King James 2000 Bible We must have ears to ear His Voice! Notice Jesus said: “Let Him”. We must allow ourselves to hear what the Spirit is saying. Are we hearing the Spirit or are we hearing one of the many other voices that is speaking?

Jesus also said: “Take heed how you hear…” Luke 8:18 New King James Version as well as: “Take heed what you hear…” Mark 4:24 New King James Version.

Again, I ask whose voice are we hearing? Is it what the Spirit is saying to the Church, or is it one of the many other voices of significance? If there was ever a time to fine-tune our spiritual hearing…it is now! Based on some of things that we see and hear being released in Ecclesia, it is evident…we are not all listening to the same Spirit!

How can I make such a statement? Just look at some of the posts that we see on Social Media and it is evident. I often say that the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and with Social Media, out of the abundance of the heart the fingers type. If you want to know what people are hearing…just look at what they are typing!

This one thing I do know…there is one message that seems to be a hot button that Holy Spirit is speaking right now! It was confirmed to me again just yesterday at a Regional Conference while talking to some other Leaders I did not really know. What I am hearing, they are hearing. It is being echoed all over the Body: “That They May Be One!” Are you Hearing It? That is the cry in the Spirit!

It is time we come together regardless of Race, Gender, Generation, Doctrinal Stream or Doctrinal Camp. It is time for Cross-Pollination in Ecclesia! It is time for the Body of Christ to be the Body of Christ! Not a Fragmented, Divided Body; But a Whole, United Body!

He Who Has An Ear…Let Him Hear!

Convergence Of The Ages

A few nights ago, I was attending a special Regional Meeting that an Apostle friend of mine was hosting. During a time of open free-flowing worship Holy Spirit spoke up inside me and said: “This is a Convergence of the Ages.” I immediately reminded Him that James Goll had released a ‘Word’ a few years back about the convergence of the ages. To which He replied: “Son, you don’t understand…”

Upon pressing Him, He explained to me that what Brother Goll was referring to was a convergence of all the moves of Restoration that the church had been through; like – The Voice of Healing, The Latter Rain, The Charismatic Renewal, The Word of Faith, The Prophetic, and The Apostolic, all coming into a culmination of one Last Day move where they would all be flowing together.

He went on to explain that this convergence of the ages was about the Generations or age groups of people; like – Teens, 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s etc. So as opposed to just Restoration Moves converging together, which I believe we will and are seeing, this Last Day move will also include all the ages of people converging together as well.

At this point I was quickened with the thought of the mighty Mississippi River. How it is a powerful, flowing river. Yet there are many streams and tributaries that flow into it or converge into it. It is as all these streams converge into it that it’s flow is so mighty.

So, it will be with this Convergence of the Ages. As all the Generations begin to flow together they will be just like all those streams and tributaries flowing into the Mississippi, It will not just be a flow of the 50 somethings, or the 40 somethings, or the 30 somethings; it will be a flow of every generation coming together and flowing together as one in a mighty flow of Holy Spirit in the earth. The Convergence of the Ages is upon us.

Where Is The Middle Generation?

When we look in the Old Testament we see the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. Abraham The Patriarch…the First Generation, Issac the Son…the Second Generation…the Middle Generation, and Jacob…the Grandson…the Third Generation.


God is always Multi-Generational. Here we see three generations. In the New Testament we see Paul, Timothy & Faithful Men. Paul The Patriarch…the First Generation, Timothy the Son…the Second Generation…the Middle Generation, and Faithful Men…the Grandsons…the Third Generation.

Where are the Issacs & Timothys in this Hour? Where is that Middle Generation that carries from the Patriarchs and Generals that have gone before us and pours into the Jacobs and the Faithful Men?

About three or four years ago, something dropped in my spirit that was never there before. It said: “What my Father has done for me…I MUST DO FOR OTHERS!” All my life I watched Leo Fram, my both Natural & Spiritual Father pour into not just me…but many Sons and Daughters.

I grew up with this example. Then one day…it was like the title of a movie came alive inside of me: “Pay It Forward!”

We are living in a Season of Shift and Transition as the Patriarchs & Generals are going home. Over the last 15-20 years or so many have gone home including: Kenneth E Hagin, Oral Roberts, TL Osborn, RW Schambach and of course most recently Billy Graham.
It is time that the Issacs and Timothys rise up and take their place bridging the gap from the Patriarchs who have gone home to the Jacobs and Faithful Men. It is time to impart what these Generals have imparted to us and impart it to those coming up behind us!

Again…Where is the Middle Generation?

That They May Be One

It is an amazing thing to me how Scriptures that have been in the Word of God forever, somehow, sometimes, take on more relevance and authority in our lives than at others. Depending upon the season in God we are in will determine what Holy Spirit will emphasize and stress to us individually for that season. What He stresses to me may be different than what He stresses to you. I believe that what He stresses will be in accordance with what our assignment is in that season.

Currently, I am leaving one season and stepping into another. My old season was overseeing a local church. My new season is to work with Leaders across the Body of Christ and bring Regional Alignment. There is one Scripture that Holy Spirit has had his finger on in my heart as I fully enter this new season.

“…That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21 NKJV

Here Jesus was praying what we call His High Priestly prayer; praying for us who would believe down the road because of what the Apostles of the Lamb did. This of course was right before going to the cross for us. And what was on His mind was our unity! Selah! Let that sink in!

So often we in the church blame the devil for things, but this not one that we can blame him for. We have done everything that we could to keep this prayer from coming to pass ourselves! We have divided over race, over stream in the body, over doctrinal camp, over gender, over denomination, over age…anything and everything we could divide over we have.

I have found in my almost 39 years of ministry that we only associate with those in our clique, circle, or group; and never venture beyond it. How is that fulfilling what Jesus prayed for? Isn’t it time we started fulfilling what He prayed for? We have Apostolic Streams, Prophetic Streams, Word of Faith Streams, Classic Pentecostal Streams, Deliverance Streams, Kingdom Now Streams, Dispensational Streams, and so forth…you get the idea. With all these different streams…folks won’t venture outside of their own stream. Leaders from the different streams will not even talk to each other.

We can forget about Cross-Pollination occurring if we can’t even get Leaders to come together. This must change! It is time that we learn to put these things aside. If the Leaders can’t come together, there is no way the people will ever come together. It is time for New Relationships! It is time for New Alliances! It is time to get out of our cliques! It is time Leaders Come Together and fulfill Jesus’ Prayer…That They May Be One!

MOTHERS & FATHERS OR BROTHERS & SISTERS

Trends in the Kingdom come…and trends in the Kingdom go. There is one fad today, and another fad tomorrow. The latest trend gathering momentum in the Body of Christ is Spiritual Mothers and Spiritual Fathers. Don’t get me wrong at all, I fully believe in, support, endorse and work towards the furtherance of this concept…I am a product of it. It is the basis for a Group on Facebook called Apostolic Teaching Fathers Group that I am one of the administrators of.

Lord knows we have had a tremendous shortage of “True” Mothers and Fathers in the Faith. Surely the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth have rung true for many in our day as they have dealt with and been in bondage to an orphan heart. This verse has become a rallying cry of sorts: “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers…”

That being said, I must ask the question: are we really looking for a Mother or Father in the Kingdom? Many say that they are, but words and actions are two different things. A Spiritual Mother or Father is very much like a Natural Mother or Father, in the sense that most times they have been where you are and where you are going; and they know what to do, as well as what not to do. Because they love you, they pass on to the Son or Daughter the wisdom of their experience, in the hope that said Son or Daughter will heed their counsel and advice.

We do the same with our children in the natural too because we love them and want to spare them the headache and heartache we have gone through. So it is in the Kingdom with “True” Mothers and Fathers. Many say they want a Mother or Father, but what they really want is a brother or sister who will rubber stamp their every decision, regardless of whether it is a good decision or not. Too many don’t listen just like Natural Children don’t listen, and then end up in hurt and harm because of it. A Mother or Father, whether Natural or Spiritual will correct; which is a sign of their love, not of cramping the Son or Daughter’s style. So…Do you want a Mother/Father or do you want a Brother/Sister?

Alignment & Ruach

I believe most Believers are familiar with the Prophetic Encounter of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. I want to draw some things from that encounter.

Recently we hosted a Regional Leadership meeting here in NJ, where we gathered Ascension Gift Leaders, both men & women, from across the Region. During that meeting one of the Apostles present quoted from this same familiar text, before prophesying to the dry bones, that they would live and begin to come together.

Later in the meeting right before we dismissed I called for Ruach (Breath of God, Spirit of God) to breathe on us again.

I believe we are right in the middle of these two simultaneously in our region. Bone is coming together to bone, there is a rattle of bones as God brings us into alignment (Apostolic). He is also breathing a fresh wind (Prophetic) of His Spirit into us in this season. Fresh wind is coming to our dreams...even some of our old dreams that we forgot about or gave up on.

Coming into alignment is one thing...which we must do...but having the Breath of God is what will empower and make the alignment have impact! We need both the Alignment & the Ruach together! So often we in the church have settled for an either/or mentality...where God wants us to have a Both mentality.

For years folks in the church fought over whether we were "Word" people (we must be sticklers for the Word, teach the Word, preach the Word) or were "Spirit" people (we just want a move of the Holy Spirit). Why do we have to choose? Why is it either/or? Why not both? Can't we teach & preach the Word and have a move of the Holy Spirit at the same time?

In the text of Ezekiel 37 there was the time where Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the bones, that they might come together. This is a picture of the Alignment that God is doing in our day, which is an Apostolic Function. But after the bones began to come together, they had no life in them, and Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy again to the Ruach (breath, Spirit), that they might come alive. This is a picture of the Breath or Wind of the Spirit which is a Prophetic Function.

If Apostles and Prophets together are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), how do we expect to have a solid foundation, if we are arguing which function is more important…the Alignment (Apostolic) or Ruach (Prophetic)?

Even now some are picking sides over which is more important. The Alignment (Apostolic) or The Ruach (Prophetic)...when the truth of the matter is we need both at the same time! They were designed to synergistically work together! Let us not settle for either/or and embrace both Alignment (Apostolic) and Ruach (Prophetic) at the same time.