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TESTIMONIES
Revelations 12:11 And they overcame him (the Accuser, the Devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Testimonies updated as God directs. Check Back!
TESTIMONY 1: ARROW OF DELVERANCE
TESTIMONY 2: O FOOLISH GALATIANS
TESTIMONY 3: FINDING A CHURCH HOME
TESTIMONY 1: ARROW OF DELIVERANCE
II Kings 13:14-19 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till you have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, you should have smitten five or six times; then you would have smitten Syria till you had consumed it: whereas now you shalt smite Syria but thrice.
READING PSALMS
Before my wife and I got married in December of 1995, we attended Water of Life where we heard Doyle Davidson teaching that reading Psalms out loud is prayer and that we should pray without ceasing. I had been reading Psalms prior to that, but not out loud and only about five Psalms at a time. (That way in a month I would read the whole book of Psalms. Thank God Jesus loves us enough to deliver us from our religous hearts.) After Mele heard Doyle teach this, she would sit down and read 30 or 40 Psalms. She would say: "You know, I can feel the presence of the Lord" But I would think to myself you: don't need to read that many Psalms. Shortly after we were married, the Lord spoke to me and told me to read 10 Psalms; so I started reading 10 Psalms every day in addition to other types of prayer. I didn't see much results from reading just 10 Psalms. After a while, I started reading 20 Psalms, and still did not see any earth shaking results, so I went back to reading my 10 Psalms every day.
In late 1999 or early 2000, we listened to the Preachers that Doyle had on his TV show, who were talking about how reading Psalms made a difference in there lives. After listening to these folks, I realized they were not just reading 20 or 30 Psalms at a sitting, but 50 Psalms, or 100 to 150 Psalms. After this, I started reading 50 Psalms every evening after work; and on the weekends 100 to 150 Psalms a day. That's when I started seeing results that I could attribute to reading Psalms. For example: the company that I work for has a contract with a major oil company. This oil company has merged with a larger company and is moving most of the people that I worked with to Houston. My job was scheduled to terminate in June of 2000. One night, late in February of 2000, I woke up about 1:00 am and could not go back to sleep. I got up and went downstairs and read 60 Psalms out loud (It took about an hour) and then went back to bed. The next day back at work, an unexpected meeting was called. I was asked to attend that meeting. I found out that a project had come up for our client (the major oil company) that may require several people to stay for an indefinite amount of time. I was asked to stay on until the project was approved and then finished. Thank God!
I beleive the Lord has been showing me that reading Psalms is like the King of Israel striking the arrows on the ground: They are like Arrows of Deliverance. For me, reading ten Psalms was like smiting the arrows on the ground once. Reading 30 Psalms was like smiting the ground three times and will get you a few victories on any given day. But reading 50 or 60 Psalms, when the Lord requires it, will cause you to smite your enemies till they are consumed.
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TESTIMONY 2
O FOOLISH GALATIANS
Galatians 3:1-5 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received you the spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministers to you the Spirit, and works miracles among you, does he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:10-14 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hanged on a tree: That the blessings of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
O FOOLISH AMERICANS
I went to visit my sister, who lives in Krum, Texas. We sat down at her dining room table to visit and I noticed she had the Ten Commandments hung on her dining room wall. I said: “Sis, do you know that believers are not under the Ten Commandments?” My sister replied that she believed that the Ten Commandments are good guidelines for living or something along those lines. I asked if she had her Bible handy and she brought it to me.
I turned to the book of Galatians and read to her from chapter 3, verse 1. I began reading: “O foolish Galatians,…” My sister immediately interrupted me and said in a rather heated manner: “Are you calling me a FOOL!!!” I said no Sis, I was just reading to you from Galatians chapter 3, but maybe the Spirit of God is trying to convince you of something. I said let me put this a little differently, and I began Galatians 3:1 again: “O foolish Americans…” She did think this was much better; so I began again: O foolish sister of mine…” My sister interrupted again, but I said to her: Sis, this is not my main point, let me finish these few verses and I read to her the first 14 verses of Galatians chapter 3.
I think most of America is in the same boat as my sister was: Taught in church or by mom that the Ten Commandments are good guidelines to live by. Well Jesus Christ of Nazareth came preaching to Israel and told them to repent and believe the Gospel, which is the death, burial and resurrection, I Cor.15-4. When Jesus came to Israel, the Jews were living by the Law of Moses; many still do. Jesus told them to: "Repent, and believe the Gospel!" Mark 1:15.
Paul asked the Galatians (calling them foolish) who has bewitched you that they should not obey the truth? The truth is the gospel - the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He asked them, did they receive the Spirit by the works of the law (the Ten Commandments) or by the hearing of faith? Paul compared the law (that’s the Law of Moses which includes the Ten Commandments) to the flesh in verse 3. Faith comes by hearing the Gospel. The law brings a curse, if you are under it. I Timothy 1:9-10 says that the law was for the rebellious and disobedient, not for a righteous man. The righteous believe and live by the Gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you are not trusting in, adhering to and believing the Gospel for your life, then you need to repent, and believe the Gospel.
When Paul said that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, he was talking about what Jesus did on the cross: the death, burial and resurrection…that’s the Gospel. The blessing’s of Abraham come by believing the death, burial and resurrection, not the Ten Commandments.
Well, back to my story, my sister and I had a discussion about this matter; and I did not get to far in convincing her of anything that day. But, I can’t save my sister; I can’t even save myself. Salvation came by Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross; believe the Gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I will ask anyone that reads this to consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things! (II Tim. 2:7).
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TESTIMONY 3
FINDING A CHURCH HOME
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
FINDING A CHURCH
In the early 1990’s I attended Word of Faith Church in Farmers Branch, Texas. I had attended this church since the mid 1980’s except for one time when I got turned off by one of Bob Tilton’s money raising schemes and had attended a Assembly of God church in Dallas for about a year. I determined that the pastor at the Assembly of God church, while likable, was also lukewarm. I returned to Word of Faith, because I believed that at least Bob Tilton had a zeal toward God (it turned out to be a zeal for money).
I met my first wife, Pat, while attending Word of Faith Church. We dated off and on over several years. Pat had moved to Lewisville and was attending a church in Lewisville when we got married. After marriage, we began attending different churches, looking for a church home we both could agree on. We attended Baptist churches, Methodist churches, Lutheran, Assembly of God, Charismatic and Bible Churches. We checked out all kinds of churches. We finally decided that a Bible church in Lewisville seemed all right, and that we would attend four times and then make a decision about whether to attend there or look elsewhere. After two visits, Pat decided she did not like it. I said: "Hey, we were going to give it four chances", but she would not listen. After that I was frustrated with going to all these churches, and I told Pat that we were going to stay home and watch Kenneth Copeland on Sunday mornings and that would be our church until the Lord showed us where to go. I had prayed and laid the problem of where to go to church at the feet of Jesus. As far as I was concerned, we were not going to go to any other churches until God showed us which church to go to.
During this time we had a problem however. Pat had developed a tumor in one of her breasts. She wanted to trust God that he would heal her. She had been to meetings in which big name ministers had prayed for her, but she still had the cancer. The problem worsened and we agreed that she needed to see a surgeon. At one point doctors declared her cancer free, but that did not last.
As far as finding a church home, Pat did not want to stay home till we heard from God, but decided to find herself a church. I told her to go if she wanted, but did not go with her. She found a little Pentecostal Church in Lewisville and begin attending there. She wanted me to go with her, but I did not. Later when her cancer continually worsened I started attending with her, not that I believed it was God, but to humor my wife. (When your wife is suffering and nothing you do has worked, there are a lot of things you will try.) I liked the people I met at the small Pentecostal Church; (they were a lot less pretentious than the people I met at Word of Faith). Pat’s cancer continued to worsen, until she could no longer attend church. She quit her job and became bedridden. On Labor Day weekend of 1994, Pat went home to be with the Lord.
The death of a loved one is stressful but, with God’s help, I got through this time. As far as a church home after Pat’s death, I continued to watch Kenneth Copeland on Sunday mornings. In June of 1995 one Sunday morning Kenneth said something that I did not agree with. He said: "Only a fool thinks that the Ten Commandments are not pertinent." At this time my understanding of the Law and Grace were not what they are now, but I did know that Galatians 3:13 said that Christ had redeemed us from the curse of the law. I also knew that the Bible says that he who calls his brother a fool is in danger of hellfire (Matthew 5:22). So Kenneth had two strikes against him as far as I was concerned: 1. Calling a brother a fool and 2. Applying the ten commandments to believers.
It was just a few days later I happened to turn on Doyle Davidson (channel 29 at that time in DFW) and heard him say that believers are not under the law, that the law was for the disobedient. That caught my attention. I know this was God getting my attention. I started watching Doyle Davidson on TV, which came on at 8:00 am on Sunday’s at that time. The next month, July of 1995, I picked up my girlfriend – Mele (who I married later that year) and told her we were going to church --> Water of Life Church in Plano, Texas. We have been attending Water of Life since and an apostle, Doyle Davidson, has been laying a foundation in our lives. That foundation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (I Cor. 15:1-4, Rom. 1:16).
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