dickbraswell

TRUE STORY

In 1982, God sent a prophet to our small rural church and it was prophesied that we were to begin searching for a new location…. The one we had occupied since the church was established had become inadequate to accommodate the people and park the cars that were now coming.

We were in the vortex of the Great Charismatic Revival.  Our Christian School was bulging at the seams as well.  So, we began to challenge our folks to see the invisible… “did you see our new campus when you drove up this morning?  Did you see our new auditorium?  Did see our huge gymnasium and our new classroom building?  Did you notice the paved parking lot that will take care of our parking problem?” “Did you see all those people rushing in to find a seat?”  “Did you see all those new students enrolling where they can read the Bible, Pray and worship God?”  The people caught the vision.

After a few weeks, a Spirit-Filled real estate lady took me to a new location approximately 7 miles south of where we were.  It was an open field, of several acres, where a corn crop had recently been harvested.    We made an offer to purchase (even though we had no money at the time) and it was accepted.  Now we had an impossible challenge. 

We borrowed a large flat-bed trailer, towed it to the new site, got our worship team together and I preached to a crowd of folks standing in a muddy corn field.  And I said, “did you see our new campus when you drove up this morning?  Did you see our new auditorium?  Did see our huge gymnasium and our new classroom building?  Did you notice the paved parking lot that will take care of our parking problem?” “Did you see all those people rushing in to find a seat?”  “Did you see all those new students enrolling where they can read the Bible, Pray and worship God?”  

One year later, on that site, we moved into a new 1000 seat auditorium. 

Three years later, on that site,  we moved into the new Faith Academy Classrooms and Gymnasium.

Today the Church and School campus encompasses approximately 100 acres and is debt free.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE GOD

Word for Today:  September 10

Something Big is about to happen.

There are indications everywhere.  There is a witness in the heart of every turned-on believer.  You feel it.  God is moving.  The earth is responding.  The world is waiting.  The church is expecting.  This is the hour.  Something Big is about to happen.

God is trying to get our attention.  Nature is convulsing.  The world is tettering on the edge of the unspeakable with rumors of nuclear horror.  Nations are confused.   Leaders are groping for answers.  We have never been in a place such as this before.

In the midst of cataclysmic conditions, something good is happening.  There is a drawing toward God.  The Holy Ghost is reaching into the hearts of men (all kinds of men) and drawing… attracting… pulling them toward God.  It is relentless.  It is miraculous.  There is Hunger.  And this Hunger is indicative of the Divine Plan and Purpose of God in this hour.

You feel the drawing.  It (your relationship with Jesus) is not like it used to be.  It is changing.  There is a dissatisfaction that is driving you to seek His Face and to be conformed more and more into His Image.

The things of the world are becoming less and less important to you.   The very reason for our existence is coming into focus.

All things are coming together.  The signs are everywhere.  The world is waiting.  Nature is groaning.  Believers are expecting.    (Rom 8:19)

Something Big is on the way

Word for Today: September 9

They may be in the Far Country.

But they Remember.  Just like the prodigal son… they remember how good it was to be in Father’s House.  What they have tasted they can never forget.  And they will return.   You know some of them.  They may a part of your family.

As this universal Pull of the Holy Ghost covers the earth… they will come home.  Again.

What they want the world cannot satisfy.  The flesh is too shallow.  The pleasure is too temporal.  The peace is too fleeting.  There is unrest.  There is dissatisfaction.  There is turmoil in the soul.  There is unhappiness and stress and anxiety.

The backslider will come home.  The wayward will return.  The prodigal will “come to himself” and return to Father’s House.

And we will celebrate

Word for Today:  September 7

Something is about to happen.  It’s got to.

There are indications everywhere.  There is a witness in the heart of every turned-on believer.  You feel it.  God is moving.  The earth is responding.  The world is waiting.  The church is looking.  This is the hour.  Something is about to happen.  Something Big.

The Holy Ghost is reaching into the hearts of men (all kinds of men) and drawing… attracting… pulling them toward a confrontation.   A spiritual happening.  It is relentless.  It is miraculous.  There is Hunger.  And this Hunger is indicative of the Divine Plan and Purpose of God in this hour.

You can feel the drawing.  It (your relationship with Jesus) is changing.  It is deepening.  There is an inner dissatisfaction that is driving you to seek His Face and to be conformed more and more into His Image.

The things of the world are becoming less and less important to you.   The reason for your existence is coming into focus.  Your purpose for “being” is that in this time of His Visitation, you may Know God and Glorify God.

All things are coming together.  The signs are everywhere.  The world is waiting.  Nature is groaning.  Believers are expecting.    Rom 8:19

You are changing.

A Spiritual Reformation is at hand

Word for Today:  September 5

Emotions, feelings or the Word.

Religion has taught us that we can experience the power of God only occasionally.  We have been taught that sometimes God just lets bit a little of heaven come down and bless us.  We have prayed and stayed and fasted and repented and preached and prophesied and spoken in tongues in order to get the power to come down… the fire to fall… revival to happen.

We have been led to believe that every once in a while God will give us a little dab of glory just to keep us going.  We have been taught that the Christian experience is a series of peaks and valleys… ups and downs… drought and abundance…. times when we are hot and times when we are cold.

Where did this come from?  It came from our emotions and our feelings.  It came from our soulish man.  It is not the way it is in the Spirit!

God is the same.  Jesus is the same.  The Holy Ghost is the same.  The Word is the same.  His Eternal Purpose is the same.  When we walk in agreement with His Purpose, we are the same!  There is no “variableness” in Him or in us when we fulfill our part in His plan.

We can live in the Anointing

Word for Today:  September 3

The approaching Renaissance.

We are on a collision course for a Moral and Spiritual Renaissance.  And this is good.  Finally, it seems that many are realizing that there is a deadly sickness among us.  An infectious sickness that will ultimately bring about the destruction of our nation if it is not treated and cured.

Many are ready to do something.  Many are coming to the conclusion that our only hope is Revival.  I believe that this is you and me.  Us.  The Church.  The believers in our city.  In our Nation.

We must never be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem.  This sickness is “not unto death” but I believe an excellent opportunity for God to be Glorified.  This was the case when Lazarus died (John 11).  He did die, but Jesus turned the tragedy into triumph.  I am confident the same Jesus can and will turn our moral tragedy into a great Triumph.

Never underestimate the power of the minority.  Martin Luther King, Jr. proved this point.  (“I have a dream…”)

Gideon and his 300 proved this point.

The Nation of Israel continues to prove this point.

We may be in the minority, but we have God.  And God has us.

That turns the table and changes the equation

Word for Today:  September 2

Be a healer

I’m not talking about laying hands on the sick.  I’m talking about healing relationships.  Healing divisions.  Healing differences.    Building bridges and not walls.  Take down the fences and open the gates.

Our past religious traditions have built enough walls, we are called to tear them down and build bridges in their place.

According to the Word, believers are living stones.  We are to be collectively built up into a Spiritual House (not houses, plural) but a House (singular).

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house…   1Pet 2:5

In the past we have been divided, and put in piles…. separate piles.  Different piles.  Race piles, culture piles.  Diverse piles.  God wants us to be One Pile not many piles.

• We have had Baptist piles
• Methodist piles
• Catholic piles
• Presbyterian piles
• Pentecostal piles
• Episcopalian piles
• White piles
• Black piles
• Hispanic piles
• Asian piles
• Native American piles
• Rich piles
• Poor piles
• Educated piles
• Uneducated piles

God is calling us to One Pile so that He can build a Spiritual House… and that is what happens when we make a determined effort to heal broken and bruised relationships.

Be a Healer

Word for Today:  August 30

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1Cor. 4:2

There are so many times pastors are tempted to quit or to compromise when they see many of God’s Army who have defected and gone AWOL.   But when we see those who are Faithful… those who have remained steadfast and unmovable… our hearts are encouraged and we know that we must persevere… we must go on.

We cannot quit.  These are members of Gideon’s Three Hundred… they never stop to consider the opposition, the magnitude of the problem, or the impossible odds… they simply stand.  They stay.  They stick.

One individual has often done what a whole congregation was not able to do.  One family has often done what an entire nation could not do.  One church has often done what an entire denomination could not do.

Gideon’s three hundred easily did what the fearful Twenty-two thousand who departed in a hurry for home, could not possibly have done.

Folks, hundreds of years have passed since Gideon’s time, but the Three Hundred still remain.  The brotherhood has been perpetuated and their spiritual posterity continues to live.  The tenth leper who returned to thank Jesus for his healing was a member of this band.

The 120 who took time to leave the stuff at home and the work at hand to head into Jerusalem and wait for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost belonged to this band.   Paul and Silas, singing and praising God with bloody backs, locked in stocks in a midnight prison, were members of this band.

Thank God for those who are “Found Faithful.”

They are in the Gideon Group

Word for Today:  August 29

It matters.

It really matters what and how you believe.  You can’t just believe anything and everything and expect to live life to its fullest.  If you do not Believer Right you move into the realm of death.  If you do not Believe Right you will constantly be defeated and overcome by demon forces.

Jesus said to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus:

I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live;  and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believeth thou this?  John 11:25-26.

Do you Believe?  What do you believe?  How do you believe?  In whom do you believe?  Be sure you believe right.  Ignorance is no excuse.  False doctrine and flawed teaching is no excuse.  Religious tradition and denominational doctrines are no excuse.  Believing right is believing:

• That the Bible is the Word of God.
• That Jesus is the Son of God.
• That Jesus Died on the Cross for the sins of the word.
• That Jesus went into hell and defeated the devil.
• That Jesus rose from the dead in the fullness of His Resurrection Power.
• That He is Alive.  Now.  And forever.
• That He has empowered His Church to do His Work on earth.
• That He is returning to claim His own and establish His Eternal Earthly Kingdom.

Believing this really matters.

It will determine where you will spend eternity

Word for Today:  January 28

Restoration

Restoration of the Image of God is an established fact that takes place at the time of Conversion.

To be “in Christ” is to be “out of” Adam.

The restored Image (Righteousness) is what God sees when He looks at us.  Our death-doomed nature has been changed.  We have been “re-gened” (regenerated) with the genetic signature of our Heavenly Father.  God does not look on the sin of our “old man”, in fact, He does not even see them.  They have been removed as far as the east is from the west.  God does not remember them anymore.  (Psa 103).

The image of the Old Man is what satan wants us to see and what Religion shows us and keeps before us.  Any image that is less than the Image of God is to be “cast down”… “casting down imaginations…”   (2Co 10:5).

As we Act on the Image of God (our Righteous Nature) in us the Word becomes flesh.

We should See (know and be aware of) the Image of God that is in us.

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear:   (blepo:  see what you hear).   (Mark 4:24)

When we see the Image of God in us we develop a concept of Righteousness… we become aware of our Righteousness and boldness and confidence is produced.

We are never to “cast away” our confidence.  (Put aside our concept of Righteousness).

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. (Heb. 10:35)

Do not allow your “heart” to condemn you!

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  (1 John 3:20)

If you are Born Again, you have been Restored!  That which sin destroyed has been reestablished and transplanted into your spirit and you are now a “New Creation.”

Restored.  Recovered.  Redeemed.  Renewed.