Armed and dangerous!
Greetings folks and welcome to our SUPER-SIZED blog posting for September and October!! Thanks for checking in on us again, sorry It’s been a while between blog updates! ‘Blog’ - it’s a funny word isn’t it? Anyway ..
So we’ve been in the United States for about a month and a half now, which is midway through our total trip! It seems to have gone quick, but then so much has happened too! We have been totally blessed, all our plans and bookings have all gone .. well, according to plan. : )
However on the way to Dallas, we almost got stuck in LA .. because the lines for the security screening were so long we actually missed our connecting flight to Texas! But all was well, the airlines found enough space on the next/last flight out an hour later. Favor!
We arrived as a group of 5, with 3 fellow JGLM co-laborers (US spelling - we’re in America!) We rented a vehicle that had to be big enough for all of us plus our luggage, as the public transport system in Dallas is not great. The vehicle we ended up with, ended up being pretty huge! And I was driving! It had been a while since I’d driven on the right hand side of the road but it went swell ..
The first hotel we checked into was pleasant and the service was great. It ended up being a favorite of ours and the group. We all had the special that night in the hotel restaurant, a humungous beefy cheeseburger! Kind of average unfortunately - but this would only be the first of many .. The hotel put on a pretty good breakfast buffet and we did a pretty good job of filling up so that we wouldn’t need to eat much else for the rest of the day! At least we tried to anyway! The first thing we did on day one was visit the media center of John G. Lake Ministries - the ‘nerve center’ of the ministry, where messages are filmed and uploaded onto ustream and JGLM teachings in the form of dvd’s, cd’s, books and manuals are sent out to the four corners of the globe. We were greeted and welcomed by friendly JGLM staff, whom we got to know a lot better over the next few weeks. They were busy preparing for the JGLM annual conference at that time, so we didn’t stay long. In the evening, the group was invited out to a classic Texas steakhouse/grill for dinner.
The next day, one of the JGLM team took all of us out for a historical tour of the pentecostal church in Dallas. We saw a church where Maria Woodworth-Etter led a healing revival in the early 1900’s. We drove by the home of John G. Lake’s daughter in law, the one who held the secrets to John G. Lake’s healing ministry in Dr Lake’s very own Divine Healing Technician manual and who safe guarded it until she bequeathed it to Curry Blake after her passing. We also visited Jack Coe’s grave site and much more!
After a few days our team hit the road for Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we had a lovely Mexican dinner with Gary Carpenter, a minister of the Gospel whose teachings some of us had looked into at various stages of our Christian walk. We had hoped to also catch Dave Roberson who Gary worked with, who’s book on praying in tongues we were all very familiar with, but alas, Dave was not in town .. We had pancakes for breakfast in the morning at IHOP (the International House Of Prayer .. I mean, Pancakes!) And then we drove back to Dallas ..
We drove straight to the hotel where the JGLM annual conference was commencing that evening. The JGLM conference was awesome! There were some great speakers and some really good teaching given and the worship band totally rocked the joint! We got to meet a whole bunch of cool people from around the world who are learning (just like us), how to live, walk and do the things Jesus did .. and greater! (John 14:12) We also got the opportunity to meet Ps. Joe Funaro, a minister of the Gospel, whom we would meet up with later in our trip in Denver, Colorado ..
After the conference we spent some more time hanging out with and getting to know the committed team at the JGLM media center. Cher and I put our applications in for the Bible school course, we bought the four ‘required reading’ books and we also got our selves a copy of a Wuest Bible translation. Our Aussie counterparts went up to Arkansas for some meetings with Gospel ministers, Todd White and David Hogan. After they returned, we had the chance for a few more good laughs and late night chats together before they departed back to Melbourne .. : (
As ministers of reconciliation (reconciling or uniting Man to God through Jesus) we believe we should always be making opportunities and looking for opportunities to minister God’s love and power. On one occasion we were at the coin laundromat and just such an opportunity presented it self .. We were approached by a deaf and mute man, he came with a written sign, asking for money. We gave him some money but then offered to pray for him. He went away with improved hearing and speech and knowing that Jesus really did love him .. : )
Our next adventure took us back to Tulsa for a free conference with Dave Roberson’s ministry. We met some lovely people, heard some good teaching and were inspired by their emphasis on the importance of praying in the Holy Spirit/tongues! Dave ministered in the gifts of the Spirit and many people testified of having been healed! Glory to God! The church also organized a food handout to struggling families. I was struck by the ministry’s generosity, integrity and humility and the fact they were absolutely not a ‘money grabbing’ ministry unlike so many in the U.S. In fact we have been blessed in the States, that we have dealt only with ministries that, first and foremost, trust in God for their continued existence (and purpose!) and do not push, ‘squeeze’ or manipulate people to give financial offerings or tithes.
While in Tulsa we also visited ORU (Oral Roberts University) and got some snaps of the beautiful grounds and the other worldly prayer tower there ..
Our next stop was Denver, Colorado! We saw some of the enormous ‘Rocky’ mountains from the plane! On the ground, the sky was blue and the air was a little cool and there was no snow anywhere (except for on the tops of the mountains in the distance) but on the second day snow fell and was on everything! And then it melted by midday! Anyway, first up in Denver, we sat in on a day and a half of free lectures by Chuck Missler. I really like some of his groundbreaking findings from his study of the Bible and related research but I did find his doctrine/teaching to fall short in some key areas. Nevertheless, we ‘discern the spirits’ and eat the ‘meat and spit out the bones’ .. (By the way, we are Christians - not cannibals, in case you were worried!)
We had rented a car to get to Chuck Missler and we held on to it for our journey up into the Colorado Rockies! My dear grandmother (Oma) had put me in touch with some of my extended family in the mountains, in place called Breckenridge. And so we had a nice timeout with family we had never met! They were wonderful to us and we had a great time. They have a big, beautiful house just seconds from world renown ski runs and resorts. We did a beautiful day trip driving through to the peaks of the mountains and to Aspen and back. Thankfully peak season hadn’t hit yet and it was still quiet and the snow was light on - though in Aspen there was no snow at all. (It was a lot warmer, almost a totally different climate, due to it’s lower elevation.) Before we left we blessed our hosts with a sampling of some of my world famous crepes! : )
My wife did an amazing job of booking and reserving all the flights, hotels and rental cars for our U.S. stay (without hardly a hiccup!) and on our return to Denver we returned the rental car and settled in to our new hotel, just a few minutes walk from the church we would be visiting during our stay in Denver! During the planning of our U.S. trip we made a decision not to go to South Africa with the JGLM team for the familiar series of healing and new man seminars, but to seek out some personal discipleship and training with Ps. Joe Funaro, who had been recommended to us by our lifeteam leader and pastor in Melbourne. We were not disappointed. Ps. Joe powerfully preaches a liberating, no holds-barred Gospel of the Kingdom of God. His aim is to see Christians realize the full purpose of Christianity - to become mature sons of God, to be fully equipped for the work of the ministry and to grow up into the fullness of Christ. To be and reveal Jesus to the world. His handle of the accurate teaching of God’s grace and the Bible’s message of ‘Christ in you’, is I believe, unequalled by any. We have been warmly welcomed into the congregation and have been learning and growing in leaps and bounds! Especially with the JGLM Bible school course on the side! Feel free to check out some of Ps. Joe’s sermons online at: www.lifedominion.org or www.dominiongraceministries.com
We have been truly blessed with the input of so many Godly men and women - not just in the U.S. but also in Australia and our prayer is that we will put it all into practice, making it a lifestyle, allowing the Word of God to become flesh in our lives, as we walk with and relate to our Father God each day, each step of the way .. So that the earth can look a little more like Heaven and that all people can know that there really is a God and that Jesus, His Son, is the way to Him ..
Thank you for tuning in and may the love of God fill you with all joy and hope!
Lots of love to you all,
L & C
P.S. We’ve seen some brilliant films and doco’s while we’ve been in the States, if you haven’t seen them yet, I encourage you to - End Of The Spear ; Lord, Save Us From Your Followers and The Cross and The Switchblade .. very inspiring!! : )
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