By Jim Towers
I was flabbergasted that the man thanked me so profusely. After all, I was only being facetious when I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked God to heal him of his deep addiction to pot. “Dear Father in heaven, please help this poor soul to escape the addiction to marijuana.” As usual the prayer was short and sweet.” He had closed his eyes to pray in unison with me, saying “Amen and Amen! Afterward the man – with a bewildered look on his face, exclaimed “Thank you Jim, thank you Jesus for the deliverance!! I’ve been praying about this habit for years!”
After his initial reaction, I invited him for a sit down during which he told me he was a Christian but had not been able to kick the pot habit that he had had for years. Then he showed me his cell phone on which he had bible verses to prove he was a believer. So, I told him how important it was to have an intimate relationship with God; one in which he could share his aspirations and problems and not just a “religious” or conjured up view of God.
Later, back home, as I reviewed the situation, while reading this verse of scripture where Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered together and ask anything in my name -I will do it.” Is that what happened? Maybe – just maybe.
I would never claim to be a so-called healer since we have plenty of them here in America – phony, jaded and otherwise. That position is above my pay grade. My calling is to be a witness for God and Christ Jesus. (This because of pity for my fellow man) – it is not to make a spectacle or name for myself by claiming special powers.
Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me that even pastors and deacons are devoid of real spiritual power and are unable to deal with such matters. The Holy Spirit is sorely lacking in the Christian church and I’m not talking about speaking in tongues or being slain in the spirit – (which do nothing to advance the kingdom of God.) We Christians talk about love but seldom show it. We talk about God but can never prove it for lack of the Holy Spirits power, and to think we have the audacity to call ourselves Pastor, deacons and even Apostles! When in truth, they need a money paying job and seek recognition as well. Hence, “You honor me with your mouths, but your heart is far from me.” Says the Lord.
We in the know, must repent and cry out to God for His Power to infuse us in these – the last of the last days. All too often, in church we only receive a sermon that has no impact on our lives whatsoever, like sermons about places, history and non- existing love. If truly had love for their fellow man they would be out scouring the neighborhood for lost souls and not only preaching to captive audiences. They sanitize blood bought salvation with rituals and manmade ideas and philosophies instead.
With the rapture so close – now is not the time to shirk our responsibility to our savior Christ Jesus and our fellow man. We have a lot of catching up to do. Now is not the time to vacillate with so many people not knowing which way to turn in our upside-down world.
I know my thoughts and evaluations offend some – but I’ve been around long enough to know when a pastor or deacon is pussy footing around or pulling my leg. The fruit of their lives bears witness to the shallowness of their hearts.
With that in mind, I call all Christian men to rise and act like men of conviction and courage. We need soldiers of the cross like never before. We must put on our helmets of salvation – strap on our swords of the Spirit – hoist our shield of faith – put on our breastplates of truth and like the Bible says, have our feet shod with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Albeit there are some willing men out there in the Christian community – like the person that wrote to me recently who doesn’t know how to begin being a warrior for Christ. His wimpy pastor had never taught him, but I’ll bet he knows where Samaria is.
Dear Jim,
I read your article on your trip to MI (I live in MI). I enjoyed it but more marvel at how you approach people. I struggle with that aspect of my faith, finding it easy to talk with believers and encourage them and even pray with them but struggle with bringing up conversation with non believers. Your article on Rapture Ready encouraged me. If I come to mind during a time of prayer, please ask God to strengthen me to be more bold. Even as I write this I am afraid of how I will be challenged when God answers a prayer for my boldness. I love Jesus so. He is my all in all and I want to serve HIM as He directs. I owned a retail store and often would be prompted to pray for someone in the store and rarely would I respond to that leading. From this a sense of guilt arose. I have really come along in sharing what God has done for me with believers and I feel this is something valuable for the kingdom but truly, i want more boldness to share with someone who is not a believer.
I have this sense that our time is short and Jesus’ coming to gather those who believe is eminent. I also have the repressive sense of how the road to hell is paved and easy to travel and I stand in a crowd and look at all of the people and I get a clear feeling of how lost people are. This sense of hell is powerful to me and the thought of eternity there (in hell) is a burden that only can be answered by me having more courage to share. I enjoy reading what you share.
God Bless
My answer was and is,
First and foremost is appropriating the Holy Spirit – ask for His help. Know what you believe and don’t go off on a tangent proving it. People don’t have time to hear what you think about anything, so I keep things short and sweet – namely the Gospel in a nutshell. For it – they don’t have an answer. And for God’s sake, don’t get preachy. Always remember it’s about the other person and not you. Also, if you see someone hurting, ask if you can pray for them. In all my years of ministry I’ve never had anyone say no.
YBIC
Jim Towers
You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com. You can also find me on my newly restructured website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com which now features the Gospel and videos of worldwide events taking place in present time, as well as proof of Gods existence and the reality of Biblical places, and Moses himself.