Experiences in New York

Over the past 12 years I have had to travel on occasion as part of my job.  In August 2012 I had to travel to New York to work at a large bank.  I always look forward to these trips, because I use them to seek the Lord and to share the gospel with others.  The way I see it, I could watch endless episodes of TV shows and sit in my room or go and pursue others with the good news.  Believe me its much more thrilling and living on the edge to share the good news!

Picture of me with Ironman in NYC...I got to pray with Ironman in the middle of Broadway.  Hey, did anybody know that Ironman's real name is Stephan!

I thought this would be a fun blogpost to share some of the experiences I had while in New York and pursuing others with the good news.

On the ride into the “Big Apple” I started talking with my cab driver.  He had an unusual accent so I asked him where he was from.  He told me Bangladesh.  I didn’t know exactly where that was so he told me his country shares a border with India.  Not knowing much about Bangladesh, I asked him was his country primarily Hindu and he said no, it is a muslim country.  I made small talk with him about what life was like in Bangladesh and asked him questions about his family.  As he was talking, I was asking God to please help me share the gospel with him.  

So I started talking to him about the difference between what Christians believe and what Muslims believe.  I told him about Jesus and how both Christians and Muslims believe Jesus came from God.  He had a lot to say about that subject, but it was good to get him talking and thinking.  As I talked to him, I felt my own inadequacy, but I called on God and trusted that the Holy Spirit would help me be a witness to this man.  I asked him if he had any assurance that when he died, he would be in heaven.  He told me no.  I then explained to him the big difference between Christianity and Muslims is the assurance of salvation.  This was a wonderful segway into telling him what Christ did on the cross.  I asked him if he wanted to be assured of where he would live for eternity.  And he said, “Yes, I do”.  Hallelujah, I led him in the sinners prayer and he was born into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  All the while, we did this while driving through the streets of NYC...and no accidents!  Ha!  As I was getting out of the car he told me how happy he felt.  He was smiling and filled with joy!  He then said to me, “Don’t tell my other muslim cab drivers, they’ll kill me if they find out what I did.”  God will help him, I know!

One afternoon for lunch I asked the Lord to give me a divine appointment.  I wanted to meet with the Lord.  Whether this was an appointment to share Him with others or for God to just meet with me...it didn’t matter to me...I just wanted to be at an appointment with God.  So I prayed and asked Him to lead me. I started walking and after several blocks and passing several lunch spots I turned into a local sandwich shop. After getting the sandwich I sat down and to my amazement there was a guy singing and playing guitar in the shop. He was playing the secular song named Hallelujah! Lol! I knew I was in the right place then. I asked God to give me a word for the young man playing the guitar. And He did. So I told this young man what the Lord gave me and he just sat there in wonderment.  I told him about what brought him here to NYC and what God was about to do in his life.  I prophesied to him that God has called him to be a worship leader and that he would be going through a course of events very soon to change his life and bring him into the destiny God has called him to.  He wants me to correspond with him. Very cool!

One night I walked the streets around Broadway and prayed with a few people God led me to.  Nothing remarkable happened that I saw...but isn’t that the wrong way to think about this.  I think from heaven’s perspective its remarkable that anyone is sharing anything about God’s kingdom.  We never know what God will do with the seeds that we sow.  Sometimes we are in the process of sowing and sometimes we are in the process of reaping.  A farmer doesn’t always reap...he can’t.  If nothings been planted, nothing will grow.  So I look on these times as planting times.  I got to plant much more when I was there than I got to reap.  But that’s ok...the jobs in the Kingdom Farm all pay the same...Eternal Life and Joy Unspeakable and Fullness of Glory!!

One young woman I will always remember.  She was sitting on the sidewalk with a sign saying, “Hungry, Poor, Homeless, Need Help!”  So I stopped to talk with her.  I knelt down and shared as best I could of God’s love and what He’s done in my life.  She seemed distracted.  I think I must have been distracting others from helping her, so she was ready for me to leave...I don’t know; maybe she just wasn’t ready to her about the Kingdom.  She was 21...and looked very depressed.  I gave her some money and prayed for her.  What will happen with her?  I keep praying for her.

On my last night in New York, I prayed and was spending time with Jesus in my room.  And on this occasion, the Lord gave me a vision.  In it I saw Jesus standing on the sea and looking at me as I sat in a boat.  He didn’t say anything, but as I looked into His eyes I clearly could see a message in His eyes.  He said to me “Come walk on the water with me.”  Oh my, how that has affected my heart.  God is calling us out of our comfort zones!  He’s calling me out of my comfort zones.  But don’t be afraid, He will catch you.  Come walk on the water with Jesus.  His eyes won’t turn away from you...he’ll keep you...you might sink a little but he’ll not let you drown.

Confirmation of August 17, 2012 Post

On Sunday my family and I went to
All Nations Church in Fort Mill, SC. Pastor Chavda spoke briefly before having his wife come and speak. Pastor Chavda spoke of the privilege we have to live in this age as we will experience the greatest out pouring of God's spirit to ever occur on the earth. I was so thrilled because both he and his wife were emphasizing this point which was the subject of my August 17 posting. Go God! And get ready!!

Revelation - Part 1

The advance of truth in the church is correlated to revelation God brings to the church.  For example, Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 35-108) once received a vision of angels singing in alternating chants.  He then took this and helped introduce antiphonal singing in the church - alternating choirs singing back and forth.  This type of singing is the foundational notion for what we call stereo music and surround sound.  Yet in the ancient Hebrew tradition, this type of singing was performed with psalms and other scriptural writings.  Ignatius helped restore this gift God gave to the church and man through revelation from God.  

Before Martin Luther, the church was stuck in doubt regarding the security of salvation.  There was tremendous darkness on knowing who was saved and going to heaven, and how one could attain this.  But from Luther and many others in his time the proclamation of the doctrine of grace and the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross came forth.  Now, the majority of protestant churches proclaim and live by this truth.  And all the time, these truths were evident in the scripture, but not understood...revelation was lacking.

It wasn’t until Paul came along that the gospel became actively proclaimed to the gentiles; yet it has always been God’s heart to do so...see Jonah, Solomon, Daniel and Moses for examples.

God wants to break through with more of His life in the church and in your life particularly.  God’s truth is advancing.

I’m witnessing in my life time the restoration of God’s power in the church.  God has always intended for His body (the church) to be His representatives on the face of the earth.  He has always intended that His body operate in love, joy, peace, etc. as well as other attributes of His spirit...healing, visions, miracles, prophecy, signs and wonders.  For whatever reasons, doubt and unbelief have kept a majority of the American church ignorant of God’s available life.  But that is changing; more and more the body of Christ is being restored to evident truths in the scripture.  There are several churches and individual ministers in America operating in power gifts.  It has become more common for each city in America to have a group of believers who operate in some degree of these power gifts.  That couldn’t be said 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 150 years ago, etc.  In fact this type of language or practicing of God’s power gifts a few hundred years ago would have incited riots and accusations of heresy.  Hey, that doesn’t sound too far off of what Jesus was accused of.

I believe what we are witnessing is the beginning of the resurgence of what God released 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost.  And yet, what was released then was just the “first fruits” of the full manifestation of what God intends.  Why do I say first fruits?  As a body, we have yet to enter into the fulness of what Jesus commanded when He commissioned his disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, and make disciples of the nations.  There are several instances in the scripture as well as throughout the progression of the church where a truth was introduced and gave immediate blessing, and yet the fulness of that truth didn’t come out until many years later.  Christ is an awesome example of this.  The idea of innocent blood being shed for guilt to be removed was introduced by God in the garden of Eden.  Yet the fulness of what God intended was released much later when a babe was born in a manger and then later crucified in innocence for the remission of sins.  As mentioned earlier, God has always intended for the gospel to be preached to the gentiles however the fulness of this revelation didn’t occur until Paul came on the scene.  And in many ways, this ministering to the gentiles is still being expanded today. 

I feel bad for those who have been around ministers who have abused the “power gifts”.   But to encourage those who have been hurt, God has never abused anyone...He is perfect and right in all His ways.  There have been some major abuses and many minor ones...but in some ways this to me is a normal outcome of a church growing and stretching and learning.  Luther wasn’t perfect in his doctrine, but he began the process of entering deeper revelation.  We are in the process of birthing deeper life and if we’ll hang in there the harvest we reap will be more than can be imagined.

How can we participate in what God is doing?  By asking God to open our eyes...by hungering for more of Him...by reading again what God openly proclaims in His word...and by not being stubborn.  God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.