Chiapas Mexico Trip Update

EThree months ago, at our (The College of Prayer International) annual leadership gathering here in Atlanta called iGNITE, God called me to Mexico. It was while we were praying for the nations. Right after hearing this, I went and told my friend, who is now our Director for Latin America, Luis Calderon. I said, "I'm going with you to Mexico". He got excited. The Lord provided the exact funds I needed and I began praying for this experience.

On my plane flight South last weekend, I was reading Scripture and praying, and I heard the Lord tell me very clearly, “Fred, you have been on trips before, but this will be far more significant and far reaching than any other. Prepare yourself.” So, I began praying the Lord’s kingdom come upon me and our team and over the Mexican state of Chiapas, where I was headed to serve. In my Scripture reading, the Lord gave me a verse that became my heart cry over the weekend. It is Acts 10:35, “God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” This spoke to me as I prayed that God would give me His heart for the people of Mexico. I saw this play out throughout the weekend as the Lord broke my heart for these beautiful people.

I served with a team of six. Luis Calderon, our Director for Latin America, led our team. In addition, we had a pastor from El Paso Texas, a pastor from Mexico City and two Christian and Missionary Alliance Missionaries from Guadalajara, Mexico.

On Friday morning, we visited the Voice of the Martyrs headquarters for the area. There is a couple who lead this ministry as they reach out to those who have been persecuted for Christ. Recent statistics prove that Mexico is on the rise in persecution and are now in the top 40 places for persecution worldwide. It was humbling for me to sit with people, who have been persecuted, and listen to their stories of what they have been through because of their faith in Jesus. One new friend (pictured above with grey plaid shirt), shared that when he gave his life to Jesus, he was not able to buy any goods in stores, he was pushed out of his homeland and forced to move out. Someone stole his 20 acres of crops and burnt down his house. Another friend (pictured in blue shirt), was going to be killed and God intervened and saved him. His enemies had poured gasoline on his feet, and while they were trying to burn him, they were unable to light a match. He was rescued! The persecution that is endured in this area is mostly at the hands of religious groups. This area is heavily Catholic and if anyone becomes born again, they will force you out of the community. I can’t express how moved I was to be with these people and hear their stories. We had 30 people from the persecuted church attend our training.

The primary reason we went to Chiapas was to complete our Year One training in the College of Prayer. We started Friday night and went over 4 hours. There were around 300 people in attendance. We experienced high worship, led by a youth praise team. Luis taught both lessons and facilitated response times. After both lessons, there were many who came to the altar to receive from the Lord. There were people crying out to God, weeping. These people are so genuine. I have never seen such hunger for God before.

On Saturday, we started at 9am and went until 6pm. We continued to see God move in the hearts of people, going deep with God during every session. The Lord was with me as I taught two lessons from our curriculum. I was the only one in the whole room who did not speak Spanish. The Lord gave grace and I had an amazing interpreter. The Lord moved in powerful ways. I taught on the Father love of God and many came to see Jesus break off the orphan spirit and to have their love receptors healed. Then after the lesson on prayerlessness, we had many come to repent of prayerlessness and receive the Holy Spirit to fill and ignite their prayer lives. It was overwhelming to see the Lord work in the lives of people as they poured their hearts out to Him. We finished the day with what we call a “tunnel of blessing”. All 25 pastors in attendance lined the middle aisle on either side and everyone else walked through slowly as we prayed blessings over these dear people. This went on for over 2 hours. It was incredible. The people loved it!

Sunday morning, we were invited to preach in a church. I preached on the parable of the persistent widow from Luke 18. Again, we saw the Holy Spirit poured out on our gathering as we experienced the presence of Christ. Many responded and came to the altar inviting the Holy Spirit to activate their prayer lives. In addition, many came to intercede for deep needs. As I stood on the platform and looked out upon these dear people, it felt as if Jesus was walking through the room. The presence of the Lord was thick. All glory to Christ!

This trip was deeply impacting on my life. To hear stories from persecuted Christians, to see the Lord use our curriculum and training, to see the Lord work in so many ways, it was incredible! I fell in love with Mexico and I want to go back. I fell in love with the people. I fell in love with what Jesus is doing in the nations. I am so thankful that He does not show favoritism. I now know why God wanted me to go on this trip. May God continue to pour out His Spirit in the last days.

Our Father and Fear

I was awaken in the middle of the night recently, by my children coming into our bedroom to find love and comfort. We were experiencing a loud thunderstorm in our area of North East Atlanta. I could tell it was bad when I discovered that all four of my kids decided to join my wife and I.

It was fear that led them to interrupt our sleep. They were afraid of what might happen to them during the storm. It was a difficult combination of being tired, being in the dark and hearing the wild storm outside their windows. All of this led to their fear. They began to ask questions like, “When will this stop? What if a tree falls on our house? Will we be okay?” I totally understood where they were coming from because I can remember, as a child, crawling under my pillow and covers when a major storm rolled through my neighborhood.

When we have fear creep into our lives, we need a way to deal with it. Fear can cripple a person. It needs to be dealt with. Fear can come in all shapes and sizes. We can be afraid of the future. We can be afraid of suffering. We can be afraid of something happening to our family. We can be afraid of sickness or death. We can live in fear of many things.

My children knew, that night, that if they came into our room, we, as parents, would give them a sense of security and comfort. They knew that the moment they walked into our room, they would have those things. They were right. When I woke up, I wanted to answer each of their questions and make sure that they were comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

I was reminded that night, as I laid in bed, of the love and care of our Heavenly Father. What my wife and I provided our children, that night, is what our Heavenly Father provides for us. He provides love, care and acceptance. 

Receiving the love of our Heavenly Father will help us conquer any fear in our lives. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no love in fear because perfect love drives out fear.” The moment we receive the love of the Father, it is as if we have a complete antidote for fear. Love and fear cannot operate in the same room. The Father’s love will drive out any fear that we have. He gives us a sense of security and self-worth that can conquer all fear.

Have you received the full extent of the Father's love for you? God wants to reach every area of your life with His love. As the song goes, He is a good, good Father, it's who He is. Paul says in Romans, "There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." But His love needs to be received. We need to open up every area of our lives, so that the love of God can come in and meet every desire we have to be loved and accepted. Our relationship with God begins as we understand that He is a loving Father.

Are you dealing with fear in your life? Receive the love of the Father. When you do, you will see the things of this earth grow strangely dim. He loves you.

2 of the Enemy's Biggest Lies

For those who are in Christ Jesus, we have an adversary, the devil. There are many descriptions of him through out the Bible. One of those is that he is a liar. John 8:44 says, "There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." From the early days of time he has been telling lies. You will recall how he appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden to officially launch his activity that would impact all of humanity from that point forward. He is the liar of all liars.

Sin separates us from our holy God. Sin starts with temptation, which is when the enemy will try to lie and persuade you to do something that is blatantly contrary to the Word of God. Therefore, the enemy will tempt us with lies that twist the truth in order to cause us to fall away from God. 

In this post I want to expose two of our enemy's biggest lies. Now, I realize that any lie is big, but these certainly have enormous ramifications if believed. If the enemy can cause you to doubt and lose faith, he wins. In my years as a youth pastor, these are two lies that I saw break the legs of many teens and would lead them to a crippled walk with God.

The first is that the Bible is too hard to understand. This has been the biggest excuse I have heard over the years for why young people don't read the Bible or have a personal quiet time with Jesus.  To this I typically respond, "Where are you reading, Leviticus?" Yes, some parts of the Bible can be hard to understand with no background explanation or teaching. However, there are plenty of books within the Bible that provide a buffet of easy-to-understand truth for the novice follower of Christ. 

The reality is, even though parts of the Bible were written 3,500 years ago, they are as understandable and life-transforming as the moment they were written. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The Bible can be understood by the newest of Christians and enjoyed by the veterans who have been reading the Bible for 50 years. If you find yourself struggling to understand the Bible, let me encourage you to start in the Psalms or the Gospels. The Psalms have truth for every emotion we will ever face, and the Gospels are filled with the action that took place in the life of Jesus.

The second lie that the enemy wants you to believe is that God does not hear your prayer. It is so easy to pray for something and then give up. It is so easy to pray and not see God work immediately or in the way that we have prayed, and then think that God must not hear me because it didn't happen the way I prayed. When God doesn't respond the way we have prayed, it is a natural response to lose faith and come to the conclusion that God doesn't hear. When this happens, we are falling right into the plans of the enemy. He wants to do all he can to discourage us. 

I have come to the place in my walk with Jesus where prayer is the umbilical cord that allows my food source, Jesus, to feed my soul. Prayer is my lifeline because it connects me with the source of life, Jesus. It is the gateway that unleashes the power of Jesus in my life. Without the power of Jesus, the Christian walk becomes too religious and pious. If your prayer life has become stagnant, it's time to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will ignite your prayer life. If there is something keeping your prayer life from taking off, the Holy Spirit will reveal that to you so that you can overcome it. God not only hears your prayers, He is constantly at work even when it is not exactly how we ask.

The enemy tries to drag us down. The enemy wants to guide us away from Jesus. Follower of Christ, drive a stake in the ground today, YOU BELONG TO JESUS. Don't allow the enemy a foothold in your life that begins with a lie. Declare the truth of God over your life. James 4:7-8 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Amen! 

Fresh Wine Skins

I have always laughed at the phrase, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." I have found it funny because I never thought I would get there. A young heart is always ready to adapt to change and conquer the world. Well, this last year, while turning 40, I have come to a full understanding of this idiom. I realize there have been a lot of things that I do in life because it's the way I have always done them. When I consider changing my ways, stubbornness reveals it's ugly head and causes my mind to slam on the breaks. 

The Lord spoke to me, recently, about several areas of my life where I have been stuck. Traditionalism has moved in and decided to camp out in each of these areas. I would not consider these areas of sin, but it has caused me to accept the status quo because of routine and comfort. The problem with this is that it will stunt any growth or put out any fire.

As I was reading Matthew 9, in the account of Jesus' answer about fasting, the Lord spoke to me about wine skins as it relates to capacity. I realized my ability to grow is directly connected to my capacity and willingness. We cannot put new ideas into old mind-sets. We cannot get new results with old behaviors. It is so easy to get caught up doing something over and over because it's the way it has always been done. Traditionalism leads to routine which leads to stagnant lethargy. If you allow a plant to go too long without fresh water, you'll begin to see the life taken from that plant. If you try putting new wine into an old wine skin, the skin cracks and breaks because of it's limited capacity. In our lives, if we slide into traditionalism, we will quickly have stale relationships, leadership, witness, prayer lives, intimacy with Christ and we will fee stuck in every area of life.

As I sat before the Lord and considered this and prayed, I also pray for you reading this, that if you find yourself in a place of stagnancy, simply ask the Lord for fresh wine skins. Jesus is the wine. He wants to take you to new places. He wants to give you fresh revelation. He wants to expand your prayer life. He wants to deepen your walk with Him. He wants to take you and your spouse new places together. He wants to empower you to be a stronger mom or dad or grandparent. He wants to embolden your leadership in the work place.

In closing, in this New Year, if you find yourself hanging onto the old as I have, let's ask God to do a new thing. Isaiah 43:18 says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." At the beginning of this year, the Lord gave me this verse. Now I can see why!

Lord, give us fresh wine skins to accommodate the new wine that You pour into us. Point out and reveal any hindrances that are keeping us from reaching new heights with You. We ask for increased capacity, In Jesus Name.