Dear friends\brothers&sisters\fellow ministers in Christ,
I want to share with you the word of the Lord as given to me for 2010 this week in prayer. I believe if we will put these 3 words in practice with fresh zeal and purpose this new year (and even decade) will be the greatest we have ever seen in the history of the church. (all 3 come from 2 Chron 6-9)

1. Prayer- 2 Chron. 6-7 “Then Solomon prayed…” WOW! Wouldn’t that be something if the church returned back to prayer both privately and corporately? The intense seeking of God’s face that is not a token gesture or a religious ritual. The type of prayer that Elijah prayed that caused the rain to come after a 3 year drought. The kind of prayer that Hezekiah prayed when God added 15 years to his life. The bold and disciplined kind of prayer Daniel prayed when he opened his window toward Jerusalem and prayed for restoration of Israel in the face of the lion’s den. The type of prayer that Jesus lived in His life and ministry (ending with His prayer at Gethsemane and Calvary). May God began to breathe a fresh wind of His Spirit upon the remnant of saints and churn within us a insatiable desire to be with the Master!

2. Work- 2 Chron. 8 God has called us to work for Him. Not for salvation but because of His glorious grace found only in Christ Jesus. The harvest is so great and the time is now! Be a laborer for Him that is mature and equipped for every good work. You will not nor can not accomplish this mandate without being a disciple! I see 2 things given to us for this mandate. First it says, “It took Solomon 20 years to BUILD…” We are not working to form our own little kingdoms or for the sake of our own personal needs but, like Nehemiah’s wall, we are all to build the same Kingdom and must do so under the plan of God’s Word and the supervision of God’s Spirit. Second, “Solomon also FOUGHT…” God has called us to fight the good fight of faith and walk in the victory of Calvary. Don’t wrestle against people and mistake the battle as being in the natural. Fight against your adversary the devil with the mighty spiritual weapons and armor that we have been given. The time to build and fight is NOW! Don’t wait for perfection but be daily discipled so that you may step out into the arena of battle you are called to.

3. Wisdom- 2 Chron. 9:7 How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your WISDOM! Now that greater communion with Jesus and the assignment of the Father are in focus we can move to our personal lives. It is time for the people of God to step into the wisdom of God for our lives. God has given me 5 words that articulate the new level we must all aspire to.
a. Health- vs. 4 She was amazed at the food on his tables. It is time for us to take care of the vessel that we have been given so we can be fruitful for Jesus and live a long life of service for Him. Don’t be super-spiritual or ignorant concerning your body and the importance of physical well-being.
b. Order- “organization of his officials” There is a desperate need for divine order in the lives of believers. From proper alignment with spiritual authority to time management we can all move to another level of effectiveness in Christ.
c. Look- “Their splendid clothing” Don’t think that as a believer you can look like a slob and be an ambassador of reconciliation! (you can but wont be very effective) Take initiative to be presentable and not excusing your outward appearance. This is not to bring attention but to keep from being a distraction as a witness of Christ. Would Jesus be sloppy? NO! Take pride in your witness for Christ and be excellent in every area of personal hygiene, clothes clean and ironed, and presentable hair cut.
d. Sacrifice- “and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord” Don’t just give God what is left over or what is convenient for your schedule. Be willing to make sacrifices to be at church EVERY Sunday and be a part of serving Him in ways that have been “impossible” up till now. He demands our best and the best never comes without sacrifice!
e. Stewardship- vs. 9,12 “The she gave the king” “King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for–gifts of greater value than the gifts she had given him.” This is a year where God’s people are going to learn how to give extravagantly. You will never out give God! Even though the queen gave Solomon the largest gift ever given she still walked away with more! What a picture of what God wants to do in your life this year to come! This is all so you can continue to be a blessing and support world missions so Jesus’ matchless name will be heard by the waiting billions.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, bring us closer to you, help us work hard in the harvest fields, and give us supernatural wisdom in our lives. Forgive us for complacency in any of these areas and give us renewed passion for You and the work You have given us. Continue to pour out your unmerited favor and blessing on our lives and use us despite ourselves. Deliver us from apathy and release us into priorities of truth and righteousness. Remove all distractions to the life of humility and holiness. Destroy anything that would preoccupy our energies and attention from the ultimate goal of eternal life. Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven in 2010!!!

Couldn’t have said it better myself! This ridiculous show has boldly proclaimed to be about idolatry and has definitely followed it up! The church ought to take a note from them and get bolder about who we are and what we are going to do. Other than the obvious choice of lesbian Ellen Degenerate for a new place on the judges panel (coming this new season) there is something that has greatly offended my spirit and grieved the Holy Spirit in our nation. The open display of Adam Lambert’s homosexual kissing and other insinuations (that I will not even mention, Paul said not to even speak of what the wicked do Eph. 5:12) on national television. Upon being asked about his open display of abominable wickedness he stated, “It’s time for America to quit being so homophobic and get over it!”

Im going to say right here and now that i will NEVER get over it! There will never be point where i accept men kissing men or women kissing each other. I didn’t accept it when Madonna and Brittany Spears did it and there will never be a tolerant bone in my body for the sin that angers God the most. Yes, the most! He hates murder but He is pushed to rage and violent destruction over sodomy (just look for the town and see how God felt). I think it is prophetic that Sodom is buried under the Dead Sea where no life can exist because those who persist in homosexuality without repentance will end up buried by God’s eternal wrath and will never see the light of His glory.

Today is a day of mourning and grief for me to see the state of our nation as it makes great strides to degradation and the exaltation of wickedness. For you young people reading this (the audience i am writing to) please know that no matter how cool, funny, or “gay” the media and Hollywood would try to make homosexuality it is abominable! God despises it. Read Gen. 19 and see the wickedness of the men of Sodom toward the angels of God. There was total disrespect of all divine authority and the result was the total judgment of all involved.

Many of you who read this blog would definitely agree with me but the sad thing is that many of the “men of God” today are so busy trying to kiss up to everyone in order to get a bigger ministry or church that they refuse to speak out on this most dangerous sin in our nation. Any man of God who refuses to stand up for righteousness and even kowtows to the forces of darkness for sake of relevance and tolerance should be completely ignored and disregarded as sent by God (even if they say, “its not my ministry or its not my place to judge”). It is our place to judge sin as sin according to the Word of God. It is ultimately a sign of the pagan agenda the enemy has been sowing in the minds of our youth since 1967. I reject it! I refute it! I stand on the Word of God and boldly declare that as long as there is breath in this body I will oppose the spirit of sodomy and any other spirit of the enemy that would try and destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. Oh, and preachers, don’t think that the gay agenda will stop with rights. Once they get their way with their so-called rights they will turn their full attention to destroying anyone and everyone who opposes their lifestyle. They do not want tolerance! They want approval and applause and will stop at nothing to get it. They know God despises their lifestyle so they demand the approval of man.

I close this blog by saying that every prophet in the OT had one message, RETURN to GOD! This is my heart today. We cannot just point out the bad but must continue to preach the message of Jesus, REPENT, for the Kingdom of God is at hand! Mark 1:15

Hosea 9:8 The prophet is a watchmen over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God.

Rom. 13:1 EVERYONE must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
Here are some thoughts from this Scripture that have been in my spirit lately:

+ We all must submit to the authority of the govt whether we are Christian or not, agree or not, vote or not, have opinions or not.

+ The fact that is comes from God doesn’t mean that everything they do or don’t do is a reflection on God. (like a show airing on a network that is definitely using the network for exposure but doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the network)

+ Those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. This phrase has been very misunderstood. Many have used this to justify the views and policies of someone that is not godly or being led by Biblical values. When this was written Nero was emperor of Rome. You think God would have chosen this murderous, perverted maniac as His man? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! So what does this mean? God has placed man in the position of govt on earth going all the way back to Gen. 1:28 when He gave dominion or rulership to Adam. So we honor the position of leadership even when we don’t necessarily respect the views or character of the man. After Bill Clinton committed adultery in the White House we did not then get to stop honoring him as President. We may have been disgusted with his character and poor decisions but we did not then stop honoring the position he was in.

+Right now we are in a time where many things are happening in our government that either contradict the Word of God (like the dogmatic advancement of “gay rights”) or make me uncomfortable personally (like the proposed govt takeover of health care). This doesn’t give license to dishonor or quit praying for those in government BUT does not mean (as many religious and liberal would try to condemn) that we have to agree or keep quiet concerning our views, values, and even opinions. Many brave men and women died to give us the right to have an opinion in this nation. We as Christians cannot err in either dishonoring those in government NOR by being super passive and not voicing our values and views by voting and being aware of what is going in local, state, and federal government. (many good-hearted believers have disconnected from what is happening in government and excused themselves from what is going on to shape our future by the excuse that “the Lord is coming soon.” This logic is irresponsible and presumptive!)

++ So what should we do? Glad you asked! We should pray for all those in authority (1 Tim 2:2) and ask God to give them wisdom and hearts that seek after Jesus. Secondly, we should be aware of what is going on in our nation and be sure to vote, voice our Biblical values, and talk to our fellow Americans about the state of our nation before God.

Prov. 11:11- Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.

For all of you wondering why I have not been writing as much lately, it is because (other than being busy, praise God) I am in the middle of writing my first book on discipleship. I know, i know, thank you! Im excited! As of right now, I am about a third of the way done and look to be finished by the end of the year. Please pray for me as i write that the Holy Spirit would envelop this work and powerfully anoint it by His Spirit. I will admit that while writing it the anointing has been so strong at times i have had to jump out of my writing chair and dance, shout, and praise the Lord with jubilation at the goodness of His presence. There is so much work to be done in the area of maturing the Body of Christ and I believe that this book will help spur many to aspire to the high calling of a radical disciple.
Thanks for your prayers and support, I truly treasure them! Joel

Ps. I cant wait to sign a book for so many of you that i love so dearly. That will be a dream come true!

Yesterday was a tremendous moment in time for Bethany. We held our annual gathering of all services and campuses called Bethany United. This years gathering was themed “For the glory of God”. His presence was there in a mighty way. Dad preached on how we should live our lives for His glory and not for ourselves. It is humanism that comes in and causes us to think that God exists for our happiness instead of us existing for His glory. Boy, what a message for the church of today!

Yesterday’s gathering was a small picture of what the Lord is doing all over the nations of the world in uniting His Church for the final harvest of souls. When we are able to lay down our differences, preferences, and pre-conceived ideas for the sake of the Kingdom of God and the glorious King, things that we never dreamed possible can take place.

It was a great joy for me to see the beautiful variety of young and old, black and white, rich and poor coming together for the cause of Christ and under the banner of the local church. Sadly, not many churches have come to such a place of Kingdom awareness that they could gather and be so well represented by every sector of society. It should be our prayer that this happens more and more!

Psa. 133:1- How wonderful and pleasant it us when brothers live together in harmony!