No Division Between Secular and Spiritual:
Greetings to all of you, and thank you so very much for praying for us. Recently I have been very impressed by the thought of David's Tabernacle being restored. This all started by doing a
3-day prayer focus from Chuck Pierce Ministries about removing the hostility in our minds so the creativity God intended can be released.One of the readings focused on the "Tabernacle of David" in Amos 9 and Acts 15. Earlier this year, I had done a lot of meditating on David's Tabernacle.
He really did a bold thing in that he completely ignored the veil. Moses' tabernacle had a veil,
dividing the holy place from the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter behind this
veil, and that just once a year. In the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, which was
the place where God's presence dwelt.
David moved the Ark of the Covenant from Obed Edom's house and brought it to Jerusalem, and set it in a tent. He would go there to worship. Imagine that? Just walking right in to the presence of God. No outward preparation, or protocol, just walking into the presence of God! Later, when Solomon built the temple the veil was restored, and that system remained in place until Jesus died on the cross and the veil was torn in two. Of course this signifies that through Jesus, we have immediate and unlimited access into the presence of God.It struck me that many of us have veils of our own that we have erected. Without meaning to, we divide things into spiritual and secular realms. We say that this activity is ministry, while that one is not. We even divide time: this is worship time, but this is not. The truth is that God wants all to be one. In other words, we are always to be worshippers, always to be ministers, always to regard ourselves as in the presence of God. When we think this way, then we are allowing the Tabernacle of David to be established.
Then comes a very powerful promise. When we live and think this way, multitudes will then begin to seek the Lord (Acts 15:17). I think that one of the keys to entering into the great worldwide evangelism that Jesus so longs for is precisely this. Our job in these "last days" is to live in the presence of God. As we model it and live it, many, many, many will begin to seek the Lord.
Pray for Russia!
RUSSIA - Thank you for praying for Russia. This nation is coming more and more into the news in recent months. It does seem that the "bear" is rising, and the window of openness is closing. Many churches are discouraged and are finding growth a hard thing. They really need prophetic activation. Below is a report from Gregory, a Russian who coordinates for me for CI Russia.
"Yesterday we finished the Level 1 activation seminar with Pastor Dima (Word of Life Church) in Khabarovsk city. Praise God we had a good time during sessions. There were about 40 people each night. Some people from other churches have visited to watch and even try do the same. I am happy to see how this church moved (including the pastor) into the areas of Spiritual Gifts. I realized how it is important for pastors to be involved in activation, and suggested to both that they train with us. It works in such cases much more effectively! Giving personal prophecy revealed to people its profitability, and by doing this many more people loved to listen the Voice of God and to speak it. From now these church leaders want to be a part of activation work!!! We need to make a schedule for September to hold a bigger seminar with people from other churches. Thank you for your prayers! May God bless you!"
- Gregory -
Moving Ahead in Korea:
KOREA - Not only was our Marketplace conference very successful in Korea (July 14-18), but the Lord also began to impress us to believe for our own 1000-seat meeting place. Every time we hold a conference we have to rent a special hall, which is very inconvenient. Our current facility seats, at best, 150-200, so we are asking the Lord for a larger place. It will be easier to do conferences, as well as we can enlarge our monthly seminars there.
And yes, the conference was very successful. The business/marketplace people are so hungry to move ahead in God as well as to become ministers in the marketplace. It was great working with Larry Bizette (who heads the CI Business Network) and Rich Marshall (president of ROI International and author of God@Work I and II) for those days.
Japan Update: Radio Ministry, Rise of Occult in the Church
JAPAN - I continual to feel that we are so very, very close to revival in this nation. On July 21st I did a seminar at our Tokyo church (which is growing rapidly). Many have gotten saved through prophetic ministry and have been baptized. We are also nurturing those who want to plant house churches and many are stepping forward to do this.
Now let me ask you for prayer for two important things:
1. RADIO MINISTRY - already some of our ministers are on the radio, and Japan Alive in particular is getting good publicity through radio broadcasts. Also, I strongly feel we need to do daily short broadcasts and after a short explanation, pray over the air for common problems. Please pray this gets launched.
2. RISE OF OCCULT in the CHURCH - perhaps in a later edition, I will do a detailed report on this. But growing numbers of ministers are beginning to preach that idol worship and/or ancestor worship is OK (because it is a cultural thing). I heard of one pastor who told one of his congregation that he could not endorse a certain book because it spoke out too strongly against idolatry. The author of said book was a former highly-acclaimed fortune teller who had gotten saved and who wrote in her book wrote how idolatry had really hindered her. Needless to say, this "spirit" will greatly weaken the church.
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