I was flabbergasted that the man thanked me so profusely. After all, I was only being facetious when I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked God to heal him of his deep addiction to pot. “Dear Father in heaven, please help this poor soul to escape the addiction to marijuana.” As usual, the prayer was short and sweet. He had closed his eyes to pray in unison with me, saying “Amen and Amen!” Afterward, the man, with a bewildered look on his face, exclaimed, “Thank you, Jim; thank you, Jesus, for the deliverance! I’ve been praying about this habit for years!”
After his initial reaction, I invited him for a sit-down during which he told me he was a Christian but had not been able to kick the pot habit that he had had for years. Then he showed me his cell phone, on which he had Bible verses to prove he was a believer. So, I told him how important it was to have an intimate relationship with God, one in which he could share his aspirations and problems, and not just a “religious” or conjured-up view of God.
Later, back home, I reviewed the situation while reading the verse of scripture where Jesus said, “…if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” Is that what happened? Maybe – just maybe.
I would never claim to be a so-called healer since we have plenty of them here in America – phony, jaded, and otherwise. That position is above my pay grade. My calling is to be a witness for God and Christ Jesus. (This is because of pity for my fellow man.) It is not to make a spectacle or name for myself by claiming special powers.
Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me that even pastors and deacons are devoid of real spiritual power and are unable to deal with such matters. The Holy Spirit is sorely lacking in the Christian church, and I’m not talking about speaking in tongues or being slain in the spirit (which do nothing to advance the kingdom of God). We Christians talk about love but seldom show it. We talk about God but can never prove it for lack of the Holy Spirit’s power, and to think we have the audacity to call ourselves pastors, deacons, and even Apostles! When in truth, they need a money-paying job and seek recognition as well. Hence, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me,” says the Lord.
We in the know must repent and cry out to God for His Power to infuse us in these, the last of the last days. All too often, in church, we only receive a sermon that has no impact on our lives whatsoever, like sermons about places, history, and non-existent love. If they truly had love for their fellow man, they would be out scouring the neighborhood for lost souls and not only preaching to captive audiences. They sanitize blood-bought salvation with rituals and manmade ideas and philosophies instead.
With the rapture so close, now is not the time to shirk our responsibility to our Savior Christ Jesus and our fellow man. We have a lot of catching up to do. Now is not the time to vacillate with so many people not knowing which way to turn in our upside-down world.
I know my thoughts and evaluations offend some, but I’ve been around long enough to know when a pastor or deacon is pussyfooting around or pulling my leg. The fruit of their lives bears witness to the shallowness of their hearts.
With that in mind, I call all Christian men to rise and act like men of conviction and courage. We need soldiers of the cross like never before. We must put on our helmets of salvation, strap on our swords of the Spirit, hoist our shield of faith, put on our breastplates of truth, and, like the Bible says, have our feet shod with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Albeit there are some willing men out there in the Christian community, like the person who wrote to me recently, who don’t know how to begin being a warrior for Christ. His wimpy pastor had never taught him, but likely knows where Samaria is.
Dear Jim,
I read your article on your trip to MI (I live in MI). I enjoyed it but more marvel at how you approach people. I struggle with that aspect of my faith, finding it easy to talk with believers and encourage them and even pray with them, but struggle with bringing up conversations with non-believers. Your article on Rapture Ready encouraged me. If I come to mind during a time of prayer, please ask God to strengthen me to be more bold. Even as I write this, I am afraid of how I will be challenged when God answers a prayer for my boldness. I love Jesus so. He is my all in all, and I want to serve HIM as He directs.
I owned a retail store and often would be prompted to pray for someone in the store, and rarely would I respond to that leading. From this, a sense of guilt arose. I have really come along in sharing what God has done for me with believers, and I feel this is something valuable for the kingdom, but truly, I want more boldness to share with someone who is not a believer.
I have this sense that our time is short and Jesus’ coming to gather those who believe is imminent. I also have the repressive sense of how the road to hell is paved and easy to travel, and I stand in a crowd and look at all of the people, and I get a clear feeling of how lost people are. This sense of hell is powerful to me, and the thought of eternity there (in hell) is a burden that can only be answered by my having more courage to share. I enjoy reading what you share. God Bless.
My answer was and is,
First and foremost is appropriating the Holy Spirit – ask for His help. Know what you believe and don’t go off on a tangent trying to prove it. People don’t have time to hear what you think about anything, so I keep things short and sweet – namely, the Gospel in a nutshell. For it, they don’t have an answer. And for God’s sake, don’t get preachy. Always remember it’s about the other person and not you. Also, if you see someone hurting, ask if you can pray for them. In all my years of ministry, I’ve never had anyone say no.
YBIC
Jim Towers
You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com. You can also find me on my newly restructured website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com, which now features the Gospel and videos of worldwide events taking place in the present time, as well as proof of God’s existence and the reality of Biblical places, and Moses himself.