Category Archives: Teaching

Woe Is Me (Pt. 1)

In the entertainment crazed society we live in, very few people, even Christians, will endure a message of what they consider ‘gloom and doom.’  They would much rather hear some cleverly told story containing a lot of humor!  Nevermind that we are living in the days that demand a sobriety and a vigilance to understand and be ready for the events of Revelation.

As I begin a series of blogs titled “Woe is Me”, I guess I feel the need to try and preempt some of the negativity to such a serious subject.  I felt the same way back in the mid-nineties when I was given the message that was contrary to what a lot of people had been preaching, including myself, of the prosperity gospel. Continue reading →

Stock Market tumbling, what’s next?

Wall Street had its worst day today since the 2008 financial crisis that put the United States into a financial calamity that we are still in today! We are in the days that the book of Revelation told us would come before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no way the Antichrist can take control without a time of crisis so bad that millions of people will sign up with him just to get food to eat. Continue reading →

The Dream of a Young Evangelist

We recently celebrated my 50 year Anniversary in Ministry and what a celebration it was!  There were many people from years gone by that surprised and delighted me on the show!  It seems nearly impossible that it’s been that long, yet I can remember some things as if they were yesterday.  As a young Evangelist, I would hold revivals from Tuesday through Sunday night and then travel on Monday to the next location.

Quite often, after preaching and being in the anointing at church, I would turn on late-night TV to unwind.  There was very little to watch at that hour except Johnny Carson.  I remember listening to everything they would talk about; most of it gossip, politics or entertainment news of some variety.  It didn’t take long for me to be completely annoyed by all of the frivolous things that passed for late-night talk show content.  I remember thinking “why doesn’t someone talk about Jesus?”

It was this small, yet profound inspiration that led me to break new ground in a revolutionary Christian talk show – so that Christians could have an alternative to the world’s ‘babble’ and more people could participate in talking about Jesus!  I began on “The 700 Club” and eventually moved into pioneering “The PTL Television Network.”  PTL inspired the birth of countless other Christian talk shows.

Before long, there was an abundance of Christian programming and those who knew Jesus could now rejoice because they had an alternative  to the world’s ‘babble’.  Now that’s what I had been inspired to do  as a young Evangelist!  To see and hear so many people talking about Jesus on television was the height of my life’s dream – not only for the Christians, but for those who were to become Christians by hearing the Gospel!

Today, the dream lives on.  The times we are living in have brought many people to Christian television seeking answers for this prophetic age just before Jesus returns again.  Even the unbelievers are looking for hope.  While a large part of the world still fiddles away their time in the mindless, meaningless pursuit of trivial things, there is a beacon of light being broadcast through the darkness.  The Gospel is still being preached, the lost are still finding their way to Jesus, and the dreams of a once-young Evangelist are still coming true.

On Being a Bondservant of Christ (Pt. 10)

Part Ten

Jesus Made Himself of No Reputation

Compared to God, mere men have no reputation at all.  They are just men, and no matter how great the achievement or how lofty the accomplishment, they are still just men.  Yet they strive to be considered ‘great’ and they often are driven to accomplish mighty feats of building or business or intellectual supremacy or, quite often, acts of charity.  Why?  Often, it’s to be known and admired by others.

Jesus addresses this pride in men with the following scriptures:

Matthew 6:1 “Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 6:16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Matthew 23:5 “Everything they do is done for men to see…

Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

Consider how Jesus’ actions and behaviors contrast with the religious crowd:

  • Jesus did many miracles yet he said “don’t tell anyone”
  • He washed the feet of his disciples
  • He ate and drank with tax collectors 
  • He received the woman with a checkered past and an alabaster
  • Welcomed little children
  • He was fully God – yet He humbled Himself to be shamed, beaten, and spit upon (Isaiah 53)
    • Shameful and degrading thing to be crucified
    • Worse than a common criminal

Jesus spoke of the hypocrites that prayed so that they would be seen. “For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matt 6:5).

You can substitute anything else besides pray, whether it’s their good works, giving, spiritual gifts or preaching.  “They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues” (Matthew 23:6). They lived to be noticed and seen as more important than others. Speaking of the Pharisees in John 12:43 “for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

We always need to be careful of the traps of being sought after and put on a pedestal. Once pride sets in it becomes harder to return to walking in humility and letting God use you as He once may have.

A real servant is busy doing God’s work whether he is noticed or unnoticed. He doesn’t care if anyone watches him. His reward will be later.

This same mind (attitude) that Jesus had we are to have for one another- “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion” (Rom 12:16). Jesus ate with the sinners, the less fortunate, and the needy. He enjoyed their company compared to the rich and important people. He purposely did not eat with the kings or leaders unless they had an open heart to listen.

Jesus made servanthood an absolute requirement for leadership. To be a servant one must let go of their own significance and be willing to serve others at their own expense. In Matthew 20:26-28: “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave–just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This was the example He gave us in the apostles and others in the Church.  It was the example we need to live by.

Being a bondservant of Christ is a station in life that is proven through our service to His Church.  When we love as Christ loved, we will see the unredeemed through His compassionate eyes and we will love them as He did.  Jesus said “if you love me, feed my sheep.”

Serving Christ is much more than the “form” – it’s love in action and a heart attitude of humility that makes us want to be like Him – a bondservant of Christ.

On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 1
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 2
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 3
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 4
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 5
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 6
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 7
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 8
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 9

Famine in the Revelation Days

Famine is spoken of in the Bible as an increasing and accelerating sign that Jesus is coming soon.  We can certainly see it in our news headlines, particularly recent headlines, with the food crisis in North African countries that produced a very poignant plea from the President of Somalia for immediate help.  But, there is another famine that is even more deadly coming soon.  It’s the famine of the Word of God, which feeds the soul. 

The third horseman is riding. “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius . . . and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (6:5–6 NKJV) The rider of the black horse carries with him famine and economic collapse, signified by the weighing scales and the exorbitant prices for food.”

Imagine, if you can, how famine might affect our own nation. Your worst nightmare could soon be a reality.  Intensifying the effects of famine brought on by the galloping of the black horse will also be economic chaos and inflationary prices, which is what is indicated by the phrase “a quart of wheat for a denarius” (Rev. 6:6 NASB). In biblical times, a denarius was equal to a day’s wages. The implication is that we could spend a day’s wages for a loaf of bread.

But there is another kind of famine spoken of in the Bible that will be prevalent in the Last Days that is even more destructive.  How can it be more destructive than the famine that kills the body, you may ask.  Because the famine I am speaking of can kill not only the body which is temporal but can also kill the soul, which is eternal.  The other famine I’m speaking of  is a famine of the Word of God.

In the Times we are living in, there is an acceleration of events in the world which are quickly taking away our right to our very expressions of our faith as Christians.  These campaigns and events are quickly bringing about an atmosphere of antagonistic persecution of our very right to practice our Christianity.  We are being told not to mention the name of Jesus in any speech or prayer or other public setting.  Our lawmakers are quickly bowing to the powerful antichrist spirits that are busy influencing the masses to call evil good and good, evil. 

“‘Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God , “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11)

God’s work of proclaiming His Words through His ministers, as well as through the mass media, may one day be prohibited, perhaps through persecution, governmental regulations or a combination of these and other factors.

There’s a reason why the scriptures exhort us to “hide the Word in your heart” and to “eat the Word”.  One day there will be a famine of those Words that we take for granted now, and we may have only what we have hidden deep down inside to sustain us through tough times. 

Let’s be sure we have the Word of God deep down inside us, where we can carry it with us always and where it can feed our souls in times of  famine.

Treasures in Heaven

Most of us want our lives to count for something.  When you are a Child of God, your life on this earth takes on a greater cause than just accomplishing something in the natural.  A Child of God is not satisfied with accomplishments – a Child of God wants to store up treasures in Heaven where moths and rust cannot corrupt them.

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:19-21

We recently dedicated our Prayer Center here at Morningside to Evelyn Campbell, aka “God’s Girl” who passed from this life into the arms of Jesus in 2010.  Evelyn was and is an inspiration to me and an example that all of us can follow.  Evelyn’s legacy was that she loved Jesus and believed in people – and lavishly poured out encouragement on everyone with whom she came in contact.  She was a pastor’s wife and she was my friend.

Evelyn was one of the first people to buy a condo here at Morningside.  I remember how excited she was to pick out the exact location of her new home so that she could watch all the goings on here on Grace Street from her balcony over the Cinema.  She wanted to be a vibrant part of the community.  When Evelyn died, she left her entire estate to this ministry – at a time when we desperately needed it!  She believed in us and she put the sum of her life’s work into keeping us alive.

As we embark on the vision of Lori’s House here at Morningside, we have a ‘knowing’ that we are on the threshold of something very sacred and near to the heart of God.  There is a sense of purpose and unity in the grace it takes to give and sustain innocent life.  This grace is uniting more and more of us in the business of keeping people alive in these last days.  It’s bigger than buildings or ministries or television broadcasts.  It’s about souls – the only eternally significant treasure we can invest our lives in and know that we are doing the Lord’s work.

In the dark night of my soul, when I was in prison, the enemy came after the last shred of my will to live when he said “it’s all gone – everything you’ve worked for – everything you’ve built – your life has counted for nothing – you’re no good.”

Then I began to get pictures of people, some teen-agers, some children, some adults.  With the pictures came the encouragement that these were lives that were saved through the various ministries at Heritage USA – most importantly, the home for unwed mothers where babies were born and cared for and their mothers supported and trained in a vocation that could support them.  It was a vibrant community that loved and supported each other and protected and loved innocent children.  The devil is a liar!

We can see from the signs of the times that Jesus will come soon.  He is coming for a Church that has his heart and is lead and motivated by love.  They will be about their Father’s business – and no business is more perfect than caring for the orphans (James 1:27).

Cindy Jacobs recently prophesied these words from the Lord:  “Where is my justice league?  Where are my super heroes that will administer my justice?  Morningside is meant to be a model.  This is far greater than just Lori’s House.  This is a prototype and a movement.”

Now do you see why we need more Evelyns in these last days?  We need people who are willing to give all they are and all they have for the work of the Lord.  These are the ones who go beyond their own search for significance and understand that the real treasure is in the life to come – eternal life with Jesus.  These are the ones who resonate with the call of justice for the innocent.  These are the ones who store up treasures that moth and rust cannot corrupt.

Will you be a part of this justice league?  The call is going out – the gauntlet is being thrown down.  It’s time to redeem the time.  It’s time to be a part of something bigger than yourself.  It’s time to get behind something that has eternal significance.  We need you and God needs you.

Greatness Comes From the Valley

When you think of the greatest inspirations in music, or in a sermon, or in a book, or in a testimony, you rarely think of those inspirations coming from the mountaintop of life, though the mountaintop provides some encouragement. But greatness comes from the valley of a life lived in triumph through the face of trouble and adversity. Greatness comes from the dark night of the soul experiences in the valleys of life. The only thing that can speak to the sorrows of others is the fellowship of their suffering.

BeBe Winans was with me this week on the occasion of celebrating my 50th year in ministry. BeBe is a friend who loves at all times, and a brother born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17) He is a man that is priceless in his loyalty and his integrity. Though he has spent a great deal of his life on the mountaintop, BeBe knows what it means to struggle in the valley. Through BeBe’s songs, you find his testimony.

On the show BeBe told of a time when he was with the renowned poet, Maya Angelou and she offered this advice: “BeBe, promise me that you will learn to enjoy the struggle.”

Simplistic? Yes, but be very sure that there is more wisdom in those few words than many long, flowing dissertations and even countless books written by those who have not been in the valley and know not its struggles and its triumphs. It’s in the valley that the Word of God becomes your rhema. It’s in the valley that you are given the understanding that in your weakness, He is strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

During the show, BeBe sang a song by Donnie McClurkin, “Stand” which he and CeCe have performed many times. A key line in the chorus of this song says “after you’ve done all you can… Stand!” You can’t sing this song with the fervor and believability BeBe sings it with – without having been to the valley. If you didn’t catch this show on our ‘live-streaming’ internet, be sure you watch next week when it airs on regular television programming.

BeBe told me “You have been an example and a blessing to me and my entire family.” It doesn’t get any better than that, except to hear: “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant.”

The Comeback Center

My friend and colleague, Dan Betzer, lovingly calls me the “Comeback Kid.” He does this because virtually everyone in the Christian community, save a precious few, had counted me out when I went to prison back in 1989. But God didn’t count me out – He counted me in! And Dan was one of the few friends who didn’t count me out either – he stood closer than a brother.

So, the comeback that I have had in ministry for the Lord is so that others can be encouraged when they have had a setback. I tell people every day “if I can make it, anybody can make it.” And, as another close friend, Bishop Ronnie Webb says, “if you’ve had a setback, get ready for a comeback!” Jesus will use the weak and the downtrodden! (Hebrews 12:1) Bishop Webb also likes to say “don’t quit right before your breakthrough. Right before your breakthrough, there’s a breakdown.” No truer words were ever said!

We need encouragers in the Body of Christ. The power of life and death are in the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) People have the power to speak life to you, or death… but God is all about life. The prophetic word of encouragement is always about life; life to your vision, life to your spiritual gifts, and life to your ministry and mission.

We are just getting started here at Morningside as a “Comeback Center” for people who have been beaten and bruised. You don’t get disqualified in God’s race! You can come back! That’s why Jesus died for us!

I remember calling out to God in prison and saying “never in my life have I ever had a desire to hurt anybody! How could I be here (in prison) for building something to bless people?” The answer was quick: Jesus said, “they killed me!”

Until we are willing to know Jesus, not just in His resurrection, but in the fellowship of His suffering, we can never minister the resurrection! (Philippians 3:10)

Lori tells of a time when she felt forgotten by God. God sent a prophet to prophesy to her that “God has not forgotten you!” Do you think He cares about us? Do you think He knows what we’re feeling? Many of you know my signoff phrase “God loves you, He really does!” But not many know that this phrase came from a time of ministry to a woman who was told she had sinned so bad that she couldn’t be saved. The prophetic word that God loved her broke the back of that lie and she was delivered!

YOU have not sinned so badly that God can’t forgive you! I didn’t – Lori didn’t – this precious lady didn’t – and YOU didn’t either!

God is close to the brokenhearted. You can come back! Come back today – He is calling you and He will not turn you away. He is waiting with open arms for you to come back to Him – and you will not be disqualified by anything in your past.

And when you come back, remember that there’s a “Comeback Center” in Blue Eye, Missouri called Morningside that will welcome you home!

Love,

Jim

On Being a Bondservant of Christ (Pt. 7)

Part Seven

“What Reputation?”

1998

“I’ve had a dream of marrying a preacher or minister – someone to share my vision, someone who’s not threatened that I have a ministry of my own but who wants me to partner with him in God’s work. Over the years that dream has seemed pretty remote at times. Just a few months ago, I finally let God put that dream back in my heart, even though I knew it would take a miracle. I’m a woman with a very checkered past, and that past is part and parcel of my ministry. But marrying someone like me could ruin a minister’s reputation…” I stopped, suddenly unsure and embarrassed that I had revealed so much of what lay deep inside my heart.

“Now, isn’t it interesting,” Jim said, “that I don’t have a reputation left to ruin. Not a shred of respectability.”

We both burst out laughing.

Excerpt from “More Than I Could Ever Ask” by Lori Bakker

When I first surrendered my life to the Lord, I was petrified that ‘church people’ would find out the full extent of my sins, especially the abortions, and then they would want nothing to do with me. But, in order to bring about my full healing and restoration, it wasn’t long before the Holy Spirit arranged a full disclosure of what I had done – first, to my own soul – and then quickly to others from whom I was destined to receive ministry. God had already forgiven me, but He wanted to begin a healing process – one which I would eventually minister to others.

At that point in my life, I was unaware of the full extent of the ministry into which the Lord was calling and directing me. In fact, the Master’s Commission program I had become a part of was fully focused on discipleship – and I had a lot of learning to do to become the vessel that God could use.

It was 10 years in this program that taught me how to be a servant first – that prepared me to stand up under the weight of my calling. You see, what my leaders and mentors knew was that the enemy’s plan was to make me a ‘shooting star’ by launching a spiritually immature woman into a high-profile ministry too soon – too much, too soon – and consequently, shipwrecking the plan of God.

No, that wasn’t going to happen to me and they made sure of it.

My first task in Master’s Commission was learning what it meant to serve – a concept foreign to much of today’s ‘self esteem’ driven teaching. I didn’t get to jump on into the pulpit to preach – I got to jump into a bus and drive to the inner-city of Phoenix!

(continued)

On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 1
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 2
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 3
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 4
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 5
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 6
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 8
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 9
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 10

On Being a Bondservant of Christ (Pt. 6)

Part Six

“The Flesh is Weak”

In my last blog (#5) we talked about a good reputation being a requirement for a leader in the Church.  Now we’re going to examine what a good reputation means, and how one can achieve it.  Remembering again that the things of the Kingdom are usually just the opposite of how the world works.

Religion represents the appearance of things and the ‘form’.  Remember when Jesus called the Sadducees and Pharisees white-washed tombs?… full of every unclean thing.  He said they long to appear righteous and they make sure everybody sees them when they pray.  Yet Jesus called them out in their folly.  In today’s religion, we might know someone who loves to be seen and heard and thought of as super spiritual.

But Paul got real about his own flesh in this passage:  “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:14-25).

Religious people will often seek the squeaky clean looking, never sinned (or never got caught) and wouldn’t admit it if they did – crowd to represent them in a ‘church’.  What matters most is if they look good and if they have an unsoiled public reputation.

There are precious few truly discerning Christians out there, and even fewer who are mature enough to restore a God-ordained leader if he does sin, yet this is what the Bible says to do (Gal 6:1).

Some religious circles believe that if a leader is caught in a sin, (s)he can be forgiven and perhaps remain in the Body, but can never return to a leadership position.  If that were true, David would never have led the armies of Israel to victory, Peter would have never preached at Pentecost, and Paul wouldn’t need to talk about his ‘thorn’.

But a bondservant of Christ will never quit because he belongs to the One who chose him, called him, and ordained him.  Proverbs 24:16 says “A righteous person may fall seven times, but he gets up again. However, in a disaster wicked people fall.”

Should we be concerned about what others think of us?  Yes.  But if we sin and fall short, we have an advocate with God our Father, who is Jesus and He is interceding for us right now.  And guess what?  Other truly spiritual people will do the same thing.  They will pray for us, speak life to us and help to restore us to right standing with God.

Yet, more often, those who fall into sin are talked about, shunned, shamed, and shelved.  Some are even given the left foot of fellowship by religion.

We have already established that a leader in the Church in the Last Days must be a bondservant of Christ, giving up all of him or herself and laying down their lives in service to Jesus.  Can a leader and bondservant of Christ sin and still be a leader in the Church?  Certainly not willfully and using the grace of God as license to sin.  But leadership within God’s Church is not based on qualifications and a sinless track record.  As I’ve said before, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

What God has ordained, let no man put asunder.  I love that line in the traditional marriage vows.  And here’s how it applies in the Church:  if you were conceived in the mind of God, birthed and brought forth in the Last Days for ministry in the Lord’s Church, and yet you have been buffeted by Satan and consequently failed in your flesh, even repeatedly, if you repent and receive God’s Amazing Grace – you are still who you are.  Your identity in Christ cannot be taken from you – and your gifts and callings are without repentance.  In other words, when God gave them to you, He was not and is not sorry He did so, and will not ‘take it back’, and neither can any man take it from you.

However, there were some things David could not do because of his sin.  The Bible says that God would not let David build the temple because he had innocent blood on his hands.  There are consequences to your sin that only God can administer.  But God loved David and never took back David’s anointing to lead Israel.

In the Last Days, the true bondservants of Christ will be distinguished by one characteristic:  THEY WILL NOT QUIT – THEY WILL NOT GIVE UP.  If they fail, they will get back up again and again like David did and seek God’s forgiveness.  That’s why David was described as a “man after God’s own heart”.  He knew how to repent… and he never, never, never gave up.

They lead because that’s who they are – and they are not under bondage to what others may think of them.  They play to an audience of One.  They go forward because they can do nothing else!  They are compelled by the Spirit of God within them to serve in the Kingdom – they are bondservants.

Let the reputation that we honor be the one of which we can say “They never gave up on God – and God never gave up on them.”

I promise we will get to Christ making Himself of no reputation.

(continued)

On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 1
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 2
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 3
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 4
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 5
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 7
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 8
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 9
On Being a Bondservant of Christ – Part 10