On thur. of this week we held a tremendous day of strategy and impartation hosted by myself and dad. Our guests were men of God who have planted works in the last year or are planning to in the next couple of months. We had NYC, Birmingham, Orlando, and New Orleans represented. This event was something that signals a shift in what I believe God has called us to to as a ministry. Planting churches is something we have been doing for years and doing quite effectively. Having seen over 15,000 churches planted since 2001 around the world it is something that God is using our local church to do in a dynamic way. Now I believe that we are moving into a season of planting locally and nationally. As God sends anointed young men to us for training and sending we are going to see the spirit of Bethany multiplied around our region and nation. What an exciting prospect to know that the years of faithful ministry and integrity will be exploding all around us in the form of new churches!
The early church was all about planting and building local churches that could be light houses and launching pads for more works of the same DNA. The apostles of the book of Acts understood the power of the local church and were extemely effecient in expanding the Kingdom in this God-given way. I know that Bethany is called to be an Antioch church in this hour and model the NT way of apostolic explosion.
Matt. 16:18-…upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not stand against it!

Dear friends and fellow believers, Amy and I would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful time with all your friends and family. We so appreciate and value the body of Christ around us and know that without you we could not have made it the last couple of months. We have so much that we are thankful for and the biggest thing is all of you! Where would we be without each other!
Amy had a successful trip to Houston and received a good report that all is on track. We are believing that when she goes back in Dec. that things will be completely turned around and health springing forth speedily in her body. Many blessings and much love to all of you from Amy and I and don’t eat too much!
Isa. 58:8- If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead your forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

After seeing the latest attack on the body of Christ, coming by way of the Senate Finance Committee investigating 6 major televangelists, I believe that the church better be prepared for just about anything these days. We are definitely moving into some dangerous waters when the govt. feels it has the liberty to call ministries into account for how they spend their money. Now, in a way, it makes sense that when you buy a 23,000 dollar marble top toilet with donor money that someone should look into what is going on but when any govt. entity feels compelled to police the church it is a dangerous sign. We already have the IRS breathing down every churches neck and this evidently is not enough.
I see the problem as 2 fold, you have on the one hand preachers who have lost touch with reality and are living life at a standard that is really beyond reason. On the other hand you have a secular society that is hungry for any argument against the church and is armed with information from religious spirits known as “watch dog groups”. Between these 2 things I believe it may not be long before we see the govt. stripping churches of their tax exempt status and bringing financial persecution to the church in a way that we cannot even imagine right now.
Of course, this may one day be necessary to wake up the slumbering, sin infested church and cause her to return to early church form. God forbid that we would need that kind of motivation to simply follow the NT and become light in the darkness for our troubled nation. So what is the answer? First, we need preachers with big budgets to return to reality by having some true accountability in their oversight and the body of Christ to rise up and quit supporting anyone without proper accountability (no matter how anointed they are!) and become a united voice to our nation and govt. saying we reject your talons from meddling in our business. Next thing you know they will be telling us we can’t send money overseas without being taxed!
I pray today that God would awaken His church to the seriousness of the hour and that the sleeping giant of govt. would not be unleashed to incorrectly manage and regulate the church. Seems like we left England to get away from that!???
2 Cor. 2:17- You see, we are not like those hucksters- and there are many of them- who preach just to make money. We preach God’s message with sincerity and with Christ’s authority. And we know that the God who sent us is watching us. (I am not accusing the 6 directly who are being investigated but think we should stay clear on the perspective of the Bible.)