Our Prayer — A Second Touch

September 10, 1971 from church newsletter

OUR PRAYER – A SECOND TOUCH

For several weeks we’ve been praying that God would give us a “second touch,” a new wave of Revival that would make the last year and a half seem “dull and monotonous.” The week before Labor Day we felt “God was up to something.” One family cancelled a Labor Day trip to be in the services Sunday because they felt something was gong to happen. And He didn’t disappoint us! Without any doubt, it was one of the most Spirit-empowered services ever and we Praise Him for those who were saved and those who affirmed the Lordship of Jesus in their lives. AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME! God has only begun to work in our lives.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:6

THE DEEPER LIFE VERSUS EVANGELISM

More than one preacher has warned me of emphasizing the “Abundant Life.” It kills, they claim, the people’s incentive for witnessing. They cited several churches as examples. But…

If the DEEPER LIFE doesn’t result in EVANGELISM it isn’t the DEEPER LIFE.

The Deeper Life or the Abundant Life or whatever tag you give it, it is the Spirit-Filled Life and in John 7, Jesus said the Spirit’s fullness will produce ‘RIVERS OF LIVING WATER” that FLOW OUT OF US!

If there is no outflow there is no in filling.

If all you do is soak it up without squeezing it out, you’re soaking up the wrong thing.

The mighty surge of witnessing among our members proves they have “the real thing”. Three of those saved last Sunday morning were witnessed to outside the four walls of this church.

I thank God daily for the many who have discovered the Abundant Life in Jesus and for the overflow that spills and splashes onto others.

Would you believe? One of our members just phoned to tell me about a woman who was saved yesterday through her witness. That’s what I am talking about! That’s squeezing out what you soaked up; that’s the result of the true Abundant Life.

 

©2003 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.

Read It And Reap

The Bible is God’s seminary where He equips the believer for effective service. Nothing can take the place of faithful reading and study of the Word. Here are some practical suggestions on reading your Bible.

1. Read the Bible REGULARLY. If we fed our physical bodies with the same regularity we feed our spiritual bodies, most of us would have died of starvation long ago! Don’t let the sun set on a day in which you have not spent time alone with God before the open Word. You must gather the manna fresh every day.

2. Read the Bible ALERTLY. A fresh mind is essential. Don’t give God the drowsy dregs of a busy day. Choose a time when your mind is fresh and alert (or as near to it as you can get!)

3. Read the Bible SYSTEMATICALLY. If you read Leviticus 11:3, then Revelation 5:7, then Psalm 15:4, don’t blame the Bible if you come away confused. You don’t read any other book that way. Pick out a book (Philippians, for example), start with chapter one, verse one, word one and read through the book. You’ll be surprised at how much sense the bible can make when it is read sensibly.

4. Read the bible with VARIETY. Use different translations. The old English of the King James often obscures the real meaning of a passage to modern readers. Some good translations are the Charles B. Williams New Testament in the Language of the People, The New American Standard Version, The New International Version and The New English Bible.

5. Read the Bible PRAYERFULLY. Pray before you read it, asking God to give you something to live by that day. Pray as you read it, turning the Scriptures into prayers and praises.

6. Read the Bible EXPECTANTLY. God rarely disappoints us; He usually gives us exactly what we were expecting. Approach your Bible study expecting God to meet you and speak to you through His Word.

7. Read the Bible OBEDIENTLY Unless it is obeyed, the Bible will be a closed book to you. God never reveals truth simply to satisfy curiosity or to scratch our intellectual itch for facts. Revelation requires response. As God speaks to you in your reading respond with an obedient heart. Before you open your Bible commit yourself to obey everything God will say to you as you read. And it is obedience that keeps a daily devotional time from becoming an empty ritual.

 

 

©2002 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.

Words Of Warning For Times Of Blessings

(1)  Don’t get hung up on the blessing, but the Blesser.  Let’s not seek the GIFTS BUT THE GIVER.  Don’t seek an “experience” but CHRIST HIMSELF.       Once it was the blessing,             Now it is the Lord;       Once it was the feeling,             Now it is His Word.       Once His gifts I wanted,             Now the Giver own;       Once I sought for healing,             Now Himself alone.

(2)  God has greater blessings in store.  “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”  God is merely getting us ready for greater displays of his glory.

(3)  The key is “Praise to the Lord.”  In every case where our people have entered into this attitude of the Lordship of Christ, their immediate reaction has been “praise” and “thanksgiving”.  Their prayer life undergoes a revolution–it is mostly praising God for His goodness.

(4)  Don’t talk about the church.  Talk about Jesus.  It isn’t our church or the denominational program that’s bringing this about, it is God.  When people ask you about it, don’t tell them how great our church is.  Tell them what Christ has done in your life.  The only thing the Holy Spirit is interested in is GLORIFYING JESUS.

(5)  Don’t try to help the revival along–don’t try to force it or make it happen.  Just get out of the way and let God do what He pleases.

(6)  Let the revival overflow the banks of your life and spill  over on others.  Nothing kills this kind of revival quicker than the attitude that God is blessing us just to be blessing us.  That’s the big mistake Israel made.  Every day make yourself available to God and He will use you to witness to others of Christ.  You’ll find you won’t have to go looking for people to witness to.  Just make yourself available, then go about your daily routine and watch what God does.

(7)  Expect the Devil to work.  He will prey especially upon weaker Christians.  Thank God that the devil is working.  This means that he fears what God is doing.  An army never attacks a defeated fort.  A thief never robs an empty bank.

(8)  Expect criticism and misunderstanding.  Many Christians will feel like a “stranger at a family reunion” when you tell them that Jesus is real and Lord in your life. Because some will resist any spiritual upheaval in their lives, they may be critical of what God is doing.       We are certain to be misunderstood, and much of it will come from church members.       But every such incident is an opportunity to show that Christ really is Lord of our lives.

(9)  Just because this is happening to others doesn’t mean it will automatically happen to you.  You don’t experience revival by osmosis.  Unless you are willing to come to grips with your own sin and the Lordship of Christ in your own life, the revival will pass you by.

Revival is happening.  I want to be a part of it, don’t you?

 

 

©2002 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.

 

A Place Shaken

On the last Sunday in April 1970, God moved into our midst with a power that can only be described as EARTHQUAKE POWER, a power that transformed the countenance and composure of our church.

SHAKEN WITH AN OVERWHELMING AWARENESS OF GOD’S PRESENCE.  Without a doubt the greatest thing that’s happened is this:  JESUS HAS BECOME REAL.  God is no longer something we pray AT, but a FATHER we pray TO.  The actuality of the INDWELLING SPIRIT has become a REALITY.  MILKSHAKE RELIGION has become an EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE.

SHAKEN WITH UNBROKEN UNITY AND HARMONY.  “One heart and one soul.”  The fiery heart of the Holy Spirit melted differences and welded hearts together in a loving fellowship that grows sweeter each time we meet to worship.

SHAKEN WITH SUPERNATURAL POWER FOR LIVING AND WITNESSING.  God has consistently done “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”  We’ve seen things happen that two years ago we would have never believed.  People who never witnessed before (never had the course!) found themselves gossiping about Jesus wherever they went.  Sinful habits and attitudes have been conquered through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We’ve come to know that IF IT ISN’T SUPERNATURAL, IT’S SUPERFICIAL.

SHAKEN WITH OVERFLOWING LIBERALITY.  Until Revival came, our church had never met a budget in it’s history!  Then the Holy Spirit revealed a FIXED LAW OF HEAVEN!  WHEN A MAN’S LORDSHIP IS RIGHT HIS STEWARDSHIP WILL BE RIGHT!  The issue isn’t “Will you tithe?” but “Is Jesus Lord?”.  With no budget drives or pledge campaigns of any sort we have met our budget and finished the year with no unpaid bills–and have tripled our giving to WORLD MISSIONS.

SHAKEN WITH A KNOWLEDGE THAT IT IS GOD’S DOING.  What has happened in the past two years, the increased growth in every single area of church life, is not, I repeat, is not, the result of hard work, clever programs, keen administration, intelligent leadership, etc.  It is the result of God’s Spirit breathing new life into these old bones.  And nobody knows this better than this pastor.  God forbid that we should ever glory in any of these things.

“To God be the glory, great things HE hath done.”

 

©2002 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.

God Gave Us Real Revival In Aurora, Colorado

From the very first day I felt God was going to do a deeper work than ever before. Every evening service was packed out, with extra chairs in the aisle and people sitting in the foyer. In the morning services (where most of the women work, etc., you know, all those reasons “we can’t have morning services”) we averaged about two hundred. Friday morning we had 250 and Saturday morning over 300.

On Saturday night (you know, the night no one will come) the building overflowed and so did the Holy Spirit. It was one of the greatest outpourings of God’s Spirit I’ve ever witnessed. But the best was yet to come!

Saturday night I’d preached on “The Spirit-Filled Life.” Sunday night I followed with “The Spirit-Filled Home” and the fire fell on that service in a way I’ve rarely seen. Even before the invitation was given people were jamming the aisles. What a sight to see husbands leaving the choir and going to find their wives in the congregation, married couples kneeling at the altar and experiencing for the first time spiritual victory in the home, people being saved, Christians repenting. It was an evening of DIVINE DISORDER AND HOLY HILARITY!

Monday morning I preached to the Denver Pastor’s Conference on “The Filling of the Spirit,” and the power of God was again indisputably present.

I FELT YOUR PRAYERS AS NEVER BEFORE. The special prayer groups that met every night, the Wednesday night prayer service, the 24 hour chain of Intercessory Prayer at the church–all of this reached the throne of God and He answered!

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW…and flow and flow and flow.

 

©2002 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.