The Holy Way "

God Has a Purpose For Mankind 

God has a purpose for mankind - - - that is, that we should be real people with a will and mind of our own, and at the same time, live a life that is the result of our relationship to God. We lose that relationship and fall back into the old ways of death when the life we live is based upon the old nature and man's values and beliefs. When Jesus lived as a man on the earth, the life He lived was the result of His relationship with the Father. In John 14:10,11 we read where Jesus said, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me, does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." If the Church really becomes united and perfected as God wants it to be, there are some basic truths that we must recognize and follow. We are built up and grow spiritually by reading the Bible and listening to God's anointed teachers and preachers. But we should recognize the fact that God's purpose is not just to build us up as individuals but to bring us into a relationship with Him where He uses us to accomplish His purpose in the earth, and we become a channel for Him to work through. Whenever we become wholly involved with self and what we know and what we want, we lose the very life that Christ came to give us. 

I have noticed a great stirring in the Body of Christ. The stirring seems to have to do with drawing closer to God. At present, the stirring is manifesting itself in a very uneasy way. Almost as if there is a breaking loose that is taking place. I believe that this breaking loose is going to lead to a great release of the Holy Ghost in the Body of Christ. The uneasiness occurs because many believers are not yet used to worshiping the Lord in the freedom of Spirit and Truth. The breaking loose takes place when we assume the responsibility of the priesthood of all believers and worship the Lord, as He desires to be worshiped:  John 4:23. Among many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, a spirit of control has blocked believers from worshiping in the freedom of the Holy Spirit and freely ministering in His power. The many gifts that the Lord has bestowed to His Body are finding their full expression within small group gatherings. Some of these small groups are not so small anymore and still in some of the larger ones, there is an order and dignity that can only be inspired by the presence of God Himself. At the same time, some of the smaller groups that are forming still struggle with luggage that they have brought in from their past religious experiences. These folks find the love and freedom of Jesus to be a healing balm that is drawing them to that place of abiding and listening in worship. For years this stirring in the Body has been heralded as "the new thing" that God is "birthing" in the Body of Christ, and I believe this to be a very apt description. The birth pangs are growing closer and closer together. The time for the birthing is near. We have arrived at the moment of positioning, positioning in the Spirit. The time we are in is similar to the positioning that took place in Matthew 26:36. "Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray"". The Church is arriving at its own Gethsemane, which besides being a physical location in Israel, is also a word that means "oil press". It was the place in the olive grove where the ripe olives were taken to press out their precious oil. It was the place where Jesus went to 'press' into His Father at what was the most crucial time of His ministry. Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray. He knew that His hour was near and he went…to 'press in' to God. There must have been a great pressure on Jesus to escape the coming cross, but He 'pressed into' God so that God could 'press out' His will through Jesus. The Church, the Bride, is in such a crucial time, such a crucial position. Perhaps this "crucial" time has been part of every generation, but this is our time, the time we are in. We, as the Body of Christ, are in a like position to that of Jesus. The ripe olives have been brought to the press. We are called to "Press In" to God so that He can "Press Out" His will through us. In the Church today, there is a growing sense of this need as many are spiritually discerning it. The Church is being called more than ever before to worship in the freedom of The Holy Spirit. It is imperative then to: Praise God until the Worship comes, Worship Him until the Glory comes, then  sit in the Glory until God speaks…at  that time do whatever  He says.

Warm greetings in the wonderful love of our Lord Jesus Christ from me and my family at Ngawi.

It is so wonderful to read your news again and hear of the fire in your heart to serve the Lord until the end. It seems to me the fire that the Lord put in my heart gets bigger and bigger. It pushes me to win the lost even more than before. 
        
We now have about 210 active members in the church plus 70 kids. There are also about 50 inactive souls. Right now we are planning to enlarge the building so we can hold more people. A few weeks ago, I was taking count, and found that 70 Moslems, adults and children had converted to Jesus over a period of 18 months. A good score I guess.

One thing for sure, this world is not getting better, but much worse. We must be alert that our own hearts are not tied up to the things of this world, but only to the heart of the Lord. We must walk in His paths in fear and reverence, so when He comes again, we will be found only doing the Father's work.

Ella, Grace, Priscilla and myself are all fine. The Lord has blessed us and keeps us safe in His arms of love. We love you and long to see you.                                                                                 

It seems the Lord is showing me. As it is with the union of a man and his wife, there is excitement, passion, love, tenderness, highly charged experience of sight, sound. touch, smell, taste.

So with a spiritual experience --- excitement, passion, love, tenderness, highly charged experience --- 1. Sight of The Lord. 2. Sound of His voice. 3. Touch of His anointing. 4. Smell of His presence. 5. Taste of who He is.

Now the Lord wants to take us into the realm where the five senses are not in play.  This is where the rubber meets the road. 1. Do you love me when you do not see Me? 2. Do you love Me when you do not hear My voice? 3. Do you love Me when you cannot touch Me? 4. Do you love Me when you do not sense My presence? 5. Do you love Me when there is no stimulation of any of your senses?

Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you,  to you and the staff for such a glorious weekend. It meant very much to me to have been there. I am still in the afterglow of it. What a beautiful meeting place the Lord has given to the ministry.

Had an interesting event happen to me on Tuesday afternoon. I was running some copies at the copier at my job and all of a sudden was filled with longing for all of you. It was a very intense feeling, and at first, I could not understand why I was feeling this to the degree that I was. It was more than just missing you'll. I just believe the Lord is doing something between us all. I feel as if I have known all of you for a very long time -- that you are family. Because I have lived in community before in YWAM and other places, I felt so at home there among everyone, and miss community life very much. In YWAM, one of my job duties was to be placed as a supervisor in the kitchen and I cooked for 90 people! Even the kitchen situation last weekend was an "at homer" for me.

I do not want to wait until August to see all of you again and to be with those who are so committed to the presence of the Lord. I have no one here to worship the Lord with in such a way --- just me and Jesus. My distance is not far but what with traffic at the end of the day, it takes a long time. Please let me know what I can do about this and when I could come. I believe you told me once before that you prayed twice a day. What times? If there is ever a way to join you, I would like to do that, if I may. I also plan to visit the NC fellowship, if I am able to do so when that time comes. Do you know if they will have a July and August meeting? They meet on the lst weekend of the month and you'll meet on the 3rd. Please put me down automatically for August!

I have been reading the material that you gave me and it is very good. Thank you so much again for last weekend. Blessings upon you. 

HOLY CONVOCATION 2002.  Holy Convocation will take place at the Claggett Center, in Buckeystown, Maryland, July 14th through July 19th, and is fully booked. We do know that many of you will be with us in the spirit, by The Holy Spirit.  We also covet your prayer, and afterward, hope to hear from you what the Lord impressed upon your hearts. 

BONDING WITH THE BODY. On the first weekend of every month, a small team has been taking off  from Bealeton, Virginia, for a Saturday night prayer meeting with the Chapman's and others, at Moravian Falls, NC. This has proven to be a very worthy endeavor. If you are interested in being part of this gathering, just get in touch with Herry or Dolly to make the arrangements.