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Michael E. Stringer II, "Revival According to God's
Word" Psalms 119:1-136, 136-172 is on
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March 23, 2011: "A Long Time Coming" I just read my last post to this part of the website,
and I laughed first then cried second...why you might ask? Well, if everyone remembers, it was 5 days after the post
in 2009 that my house burned to the ground, and now I look back at what the Lord was teaching me just days before and I marvel
at His infinite wisdom and prophetic vision in this life. Life is finally back to normal; and yes it may seem completely
weird or abnormal but it has taken in fact almost 2 full years to recover and re-organize. And let's not forget
that the Lord saw fit to give Laurie and I our second set of twins 7 months ago, two weeks before we were supposed
to move into our new house...man does the Lord have a phenomenal sense of humor. The good news is that because of the
fire I now have plenty of room for all of you as you have need. If any of you ever want to come and stay, pray
and get in the Word together a lot and just have some face time, I encourage you to do it and be revived.
Well, so where do I start after a two year hiatus from writing here? That's a question I have spent much time considering
and a question that has not been easily answered, however, I will answer it now with a gentle reminder of where we started
long ago, and a reminder that all of us should read and remember daily in this life as shepherds, leaders:
Titus 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which
is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised
long ages ago, 3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in
the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our
Savior, 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 For
this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,
6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children
who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God's
steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine,
not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, loving
what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to
exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. 10 For there are many rebellious men,
empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are
upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. 12 One of themselves,
a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true.
For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and
commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who
are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 They profess
to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good
deed. We are to be bond servantsà
The word doulos means, in the most literal way, the giving up of the will in submission to the will of another; a slave who
is owned by the authority and sustenance of another. We are his bond servants and yet He calls us friends.
He could have left us for dead, chained to the wall of sin, He broke our fetters loose and set us free, oh glorious
day!! We are to minister
for the faith of those chosenà We minister to build up the faith of those whom God has chosen
to save, to encourage growth; think about it, when was the last time that you planted a flower or a garden not expecting to
see it blossom and yet this is what so many people are doing in the Church. I read a report just today
on foxnews.com that in 10 countries religion itself will cease to exist in the next 100 years if models continue their current
patterns. This is why it is imperative that we as investors impress the need for radical relationship instead
of residual religion. Religion is born from relationship, never forget that. Gardens
need watering, weeding, and lots and lots of waiting. We must plant, water, weed and wait in order to see
the growing heart fruitful in discipleship. We are to minister for the knowledge of the truth which produces
godlinessà What ever happened to absolute Truth? What happened to the reality of
holiness as the standard? What happened to expectations without fear of retaliatory bitterness or anger?
Jesus Christ demanded all that He knew the disciples could never be while He was here, so that they would be all He
called them to be when He was gone (in physical presence of course). He must increase, we must decrease;
and this increasing must bring about certain produce or production a.k.a. godliness. Godliness here means
reverence, piety towards the Father, to give Him the respect He is due. If we don’t model truth,
if we don’t become the virtue of godliness then the world will say that if Christ is not working for us it will never
work for them. Live, preach, exist in and model absolute truth: the fact that God is
Truth absolutely, that His Word is written inerrantly, that His grace is offered infallibly, that His plan is perfected immeasurably
and that His power is presented infinitely without any inadequacy. We talk about this all the time:
His Word is enough. We
are to minister in the hope of eternal lifeà Proverbs 10:11a says, “The mouth of the righteous
is a fountain of life.” Our mouths should be a fountain of life for those who observe our behavior
and lifestyle. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls.” Where has this verse been lately in pulpits?
The grace given, Spirit driven fruit that God produces in us will be the very thing that is the tree of life for the
spiritually malnourished and divinely discontented. Have you ever been so thirsty that you would drink
anything? That is where most of society is today and drinking anything is what they specialize in.
I had a guy tell me just the other day as I was witnessing to him that he thought all the religions should just get
together and be one beautiful tree with many branches all working for the glory of God. When I asked him
which part of Jesus each religion would get or even give up, he was speechless. We believe what we
believe not solely because we were raised to believe it but moreso because we have experienced the Truth of what we now preach
daily on a personal basis. We experience the hope of eternal life on a daily basis. My
challenge to my church this year has been “to look for the hand of God” every day in every moment, no matter what.
Our people have found this treasure box of hoping for the privilege of seeing Jesus move and work and then joining
Him as He provides opportunity for we did not come to be served but to serve. If we are wise then we will
win souls by the Father’s grace, mercy and divine appointment. Statistically only 1 out of every
92 people will accept Christ in face to face evangelism. That’s a lot of nos to get to one yes, but
the question is are you integrible enough to pray for the other 91 in the meantime. We are to minister in His
proclamation, His Word, His Promise at the Proper timeà Isaiah 40:8 says the grass withers, the flowers fade,
but the proclamation of our God stands forever. II Corinthians 6 says that now is the day of salvation,
the acceptable time is now. Hebrews says that God is not slack in His promises concerning us and II Corinthians
says that in Christ God’s answer is yes and amen. Brothers, there can be no proper time without proclamation,
God could use a rock to speak but He chose you: Go to the Potter’s house in this area of your life,
be reborn in your calling to share the Gospel daily, Proclaim. Well that’s part A of the update, I will post part B soon!!! Check
back and know that I love you all deeply and I’m praying for His kindness to lead to your heart to repentance and growth!!!
Part B will be posted by Saturday night.
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