Category: Book Excerpt

(Below is an excerpt from Pastor’s book, “How to Find Life in Dead Situations”)

As you see God’s promise come to pass, know that all the glory must go to God.  I know the angels must weep when God does such wonderful things, but men start taking the glory.  Sometimes we forget Who it is all about.  It is all about glorifying Jesus.  Our songs, our praise, our worship, our giving, our preaching, and our teaching – it is not about me being glorified or you being glorified – it is about Jesus being glorified.

Jesus said, “. . . This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” (John 11:4). Every time I talk about what God has done for us, whether it is on an airplane, in a business meeting, or having casual conversation – I start speaking of what God has done for the church I pastor.  I can see it bringing nothing but glory to God.  God works everything out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). God is faithful!

I do not have a total understanding of everything, but I know God is faithful and He has a plan.  I know that all glory must go to God for every victory that we receive.  Jesus said that Lazarus’ sickness would not result in death. “. . . but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4).

(Below is an excerpt from Pastor’s book, “How to Find Life in Dead Situations”)

Only believe!  Five times in this passage we find the words believe or believeth.  The Word of God tells us over and over again of the power of belief.  Fear not!  Believe only!  We believe God through faith.  It all starts and it all finishes with faith.  Everything we do that pleases God is by faith.  Our salvation is by faith.  The infilling of the Holy Spirit is by faith.  God supplies our needs by faith.  We pray in faith.  In fact, if you cannot do it in faith, you are just wasting your time.  You have a good marriage through faith, or you come to a better marriage through faith.  Household salvation is by faith.  It is all by faith.

You may be reading this right now saying, “Well, preacher, you have a lot going for you.”  Let me tell you, I could take you back to times in my life when I did not have one, single, solitary thing going for me except my faith in God.  When you find out that God is all you have left, you find out that God is all you need.  Take everything, but let me hold on to faith in God.  Let me hold onto believing God.  Belief is the hand of faith that gets a grip on the promise of God and will not let go.

If you are living by the opinions of others or what the news media says, then you do not know what to believe.  Every time you turn around there will be a different voice.  Faith lays hold of the promises of God and gets such a grip that it will not let go.  Eleazar in 2 Samuel 23:9-10 had such a grip on the sword that when the battle was over, his hand could not be pried from the sword.  Notice, the man had a strong grip, not a casual grip.  Until the battle was over, there was a grip that defied imagination.  No matter what comes, what voice says this or that, let the belief of our heart reach out and lay hold of the promises of God.  Believe that God is bigger than every dead circumstance and big enough to see us through.  Only believe!

It all starts and finishes with faith.  Jesus said in verse 15, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe.”  There is some strong meat here.  Jesus said, “I am glad . . . that I was not there.”  The first thing I want to do when a friend is in trouble is to be there.  I want to be there in tragedy.  I want to be there in a time of loss.  If it is possible, I would like to stay there, but Jesus said, “I am glad . . . that I was not there…” He was glad so that they would use their faith.  Sometimes, we get all wrapped up in our emotions and we forget to use our faith.  Faith is the best friend you will ever have.  Your earthly best friend may have had an off-day and talk you out of your faith.  When faith is your friend, get a lock on God’s promise and you will come through difficult circumstances on the high side of victory.

Some of the strongest faith people I have ever met in my life are in the pews of the church; they are not necessarily on the platform or on television. Some of these people are up in years and I hear the faith that comes out of their heart.  They are unheralded giants of faith, and you like them, need to hold onto your faith when you have nothing else to hold onto.  When you cannot see, your eyes must look beyond your dead situation and you must begin to see as God sees.  Hold on to that – it is so precious.  It will bring you through.

(Below is an excerpt from Pastor’s book, “How to Find Life in Dead Situations”)

Sometimes God’s silence is a good thing.  We have a little problem in that we think we have to understand why everything happens.  I am here to tell you, there are some things for which we do not have the answers.  Only God has the answer.  I remember when my precious Bible school friend, Sam Smith’s young son passed away in his sleep.  He was only 25 years of age, a body builder, strong, handsome and just going to his first pastorate.  That was a rough one.  No one knew he had any disease.  Dr. Kenneth Hagin and I were the two that conducted that memorial service and I will never forget the wisdom that Dr. Hagin spoke on that occasion.  He spoke from Deuteronomy 29:29 that the secret things belong unto the Lord.  There are some things we will never know until we are in the presence of God and there are other things that God does choose to reveal.  I have certain things that God has spoken to me, but in other areas there is silence.  I have found out that when God speaks – listen, but do not try to break the silence of God.  Sometimes God is quiet.  Sometimes the greatest men and women of God throughout the Bible did not hear from God at the moment they desired.  They eventually did, but it is not wise to try to force a word from God.

In John 11:6, when Jesus had heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was and it was four days until He finally arrived on the scene.  Why?  It is none of our business!  There is one thing that you can believe; it is all going to come out all right.  I would rather Jesus take four days and everything come out all right than we force something prematurely and mess things up.  Everything is beautiful in God’s time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  God is going to work everything out that you have truly committed into His hands.  I see people getting antsy and taking action when they should be waiting and listening.  When this happens people can really mess up their life and sometimes someone else’s.  Even the sisters of Lazarus sent a message to Jesus saying, “. . . behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”  They were trying to put the pressure on Him, yet Jesus stayed away two days.  Sometimes God is vocal; sometimes He is silent.  “Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already” (John 11:17).

There have been times that I wanted to see God act and it just did not happen at that time.  Some things happened later, just not when I expected.  A number of years ago I was crying out to God for something that I thought God had missed a glorious opportunity to do immediately. God spoke to my heart and said, “I am going to do it.  And if you will just be patient, I am not only going to bless you, but I am going to bless five other people in the process.”  Now isn’t that better for God to be able to bless five other people in the process than for me to get what I wanted from God?  See, this is very practical, and it is very wonderful.  God’s timing is important.  We just need to let go and let God have His wonderful way!

Do not try to break the silence of God, but also never forget that Jesus really does love and Jesus really does care.  In fact, the shortest expression in the Word of God is John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”  Somehow we think that Jesus was not capable of that, but Jesus wept.  The Bible also tells us that on two different occasions, He groaned.  His heart was touched.  Maybe in Lazarus’ case He was touched because of the grief that surrounded the situation.  Maybe He was touched because of the sisters and the fellowship He had enjoyed in their home.  I do not know what all the motivations were.  Maybe His weeping and groaning were because of the unbelief that surrounded Him.  Whatever the case may be you really have to believe that Jesus does love and care.