Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (14 page)

These are things I was never taught in Charismatic Christianity. But when you study it out, you will find the truth, historical and factual evidence, plus good common sense to produce an overwhelming verdict to abstain from drinking alcohol.

For many years I have been a student of church history. I’ve studied countless revivals that have taken place in America and around the world. One consistent thing I’ve noticed amongst many observations is that when a full-blown move of God’s Spirit comes to a town or a city, the liquor stores are the first businesses to be impacted. The bars, saloons, and liquor stores lose their customers. You would think if drinking alcohol were endorsed by God then logically the liquor business would flourish during revival. But when there is a genuine move of God’s Spirit, the exact opposite takes place—the drinking establishments empty out because their customers have now gotten a taste of the new wine of the Holy Spirit and nothing else compares. There are also no detrimental effects of consuming large amounts of the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

After a period of time, the Lord began to deal with me about my beer drinking. Along with destroying my brain cells (I need all the ones I’ve got!) it gave a wrong appearance. So I made a firm commitment one night in prayer that I would no longer drink beer. I didn’t have to make a commitment about wine because I’ve never liked the taste of alcoholic wine. As I made my commitment, I knew it was a settled issue.

The next day I was walking back from a bicycle shop where I had been looking at getting a new mountain bike. As I was walking home on the sidewalk, I was sweating profusely in the scorching heat, beneath a mid-day sun in the middle of summer in West Texas. It was hot—real hot—and I still had about
two miles of walking before I would get home. Suddenly, I noticed a pickup truck pull up next to me and the driver rolled down his window. He slowly drove next to me and spoke through the window, saying, “Whew! It sure is a hot one today, isn’t it?” I said, “Yeah, that sun’s really beating down on me.” He said, “You sure look thirsty, I’ve got something for ya’ to cool you off.” Having said that, he reached down and opened up a medium sized cooler that he had sitting in the front seat next to him. The cooler appeared to be packed with ice but he pushed his hand down into the bottom of it and pulled out a very cold can of beer. He said, “Here man, have a cold one on me!” For a few seconds I was shocked. Never before had anyone ever offered me free beer, much less when I was hot and thirsty. I said, “No thanks, I don’t drink, but I appreciate the offer.” He said, “Okay,” and he drove off on down the road. The devil will test you to see if you mean business with God.

You have to ask yourself the question, “Is my drinking really necessary?” Aren’t there hundreds of other options of beverages to choose from besides those containing alcohol? The government of love should determine everything we do in life. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus; we no longer live for ourselves. What would you think of me if after a meeting you saw me go out behind the back of the church and drink down a tall glass bottle of beer? What if you saw me in the pastor’s office smoking a big cigar before I was to go out and minister to the people? Wouldn’t that send up a big red flag for you questioning my character? It sure would for me if I saw those who consider themselves to be a men or women of God doing
that. You would think, “If those people do that in public, what must they do in private?” There’s enough opposition as it already is without going out and doing things that deliberately stir up problems. Others are watching you. Can you say with a clear conscience what Paul told the church in Corinth?

Even as I was writing this very chapter, I received an unexpected knock on the door at midnight. This took place just as I finished writing the above verse mentioned by Paul. The “divine interruption” lasted a little over an hour, but now that it has been taken care of I can continue speaking with you. I believe the Lord wants me to share what just took place so you will expect the unexpected and be prepared.

Having heard the knock on the door, I went to answer it and found two young men standing outside, cold and slightly shaken up. They told me they had just lost control of their truck and crashed over the side of the road down a steep embankment. I went to the back window of the house and far down below I could see their truck off the road and in a very precarious situation where it looked like at any moment it could slip all the way down to the bottom of the ridge. The truck had gotten stuck on an old stump which prevented it from barreling down a ridge that had a steep vertical drop of several hundred feet. They were not hurt and were blessed to have gotten out of that mess without any injuries, especially since they were not wearing any seatbelts. We called the highway patrol, but because the house in which I am writing is way back in the rural mountains of North
Carolina, I knew it would be almost 30 minutes before they would arrive.

Because at this time it is winter with sub-freezing weather, I put them in my truck and drove down to the accident site and sat there in the truck with the heater blasting to keep us warm while we waited for the highway patrol. This gave me plenty of time to share the Gospel with them. Their ages were 18 and 20 and they belonged to a Baptist church, but they were not serving God. All I did for 30 minutes was minister to them the love and power of God. I explained to them how God’s angels had protected them from serious injury. They listened to every word and were deeply thankful for my help.

When the highway patrol arrived, I had a good talk with the patrolman and then turned the young men over to his care as they then waited for the wrecker to pull the truck up from the ravine. Amazingly, the young men didn’t have a scratch on them and their truck was totally fine except for a slight bend in the front bumper where it had caught on the stump. Before leaving, I was able to pray for those young men. The power of God touched their lives as they yielded their hearts to the Lord and were encouraged to serve the Lord with renewed passion. The Lord turned a potential deadly plan of the enemy into a divine appointment for blessing.

You have to be ready, because you never know when the Lord might call upon you to minister to somebody. What would have happened if I had been up late writing and drinking a six-pack of
beer? Could I then effectively minister in a time of need? If I had been drinking, what would the highway patrol officer have thought of me as a minister of the Gospel with liquor on my breath? It’s important to think about the bigger picture in life. It’s not about any of us demanding our way or insisting upon our rights. I’m all for freedom, but our freedom should not hinder others or be a stumbling block to them.

The reverential fear of the Lord is going to come back into the Church. I’m not talking about legalism or a list of “you can’t do this” and “you can’t do that.” We just need to live right and walk close with the Lord. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will help us remove the slack from our lives and tighten up those areas that need special attention.

The things I’m talking about now are where the rubber meets the road. Reformation is coming to the Church. Fiery revivalists are going to begin appearing on the scene. You hardly hear any preaching in the church today against sin. Such topics are not popular, but change is coming. Revivalists walking in a Charles Finney, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards anointing will soon come on the scene. When they preach, their messages will not center around motivational topics such as, “God has Called You to be a Champion,” or “Seven Steps to Success.” Instead, their messages will carry the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. After these messages, you will not want to go to the church coffee shop and get a latté. You might just want to go lay down somewhere and try to assimilate the fire from Heaven.

Endeavor to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, which uplifts your brothers and sisters in Christ. Be a good example at your work. Put forth 100 percent effort in all that you do so that the Lord is glorified. Mantles come to those who are qualified for the position, not to those who are just sitting around hoping something will happen.

It is important to remember that just because a person operates in the gifts of the Spirit does not mean that person’s life is pleasing to the Lord. God’s Word tells us in First Corinthians chapter 13 that we can do all kinds of wonderful things, but if we don’t have love we are nothing. Make sure the person you follow walks in love and is genuine in service to the Lord. This one area of the love walk has got to be one of the biggest areas that the Church must improve in. Arrogance, elitism, pride, bickering, quarrelling, and backbiting are running rampant in Charismatic circles. These insecurities and carnal expressions must be replaced with the pure love of Christ. We must overcome evil with good.

Many years back when I was just newly filled with the Holy Spirit, I experienced something that helped me better plan for my future. For months I would listen to a prophet who was a well-known minister on the radio. I loved his preaching. He was electric in his personality and had tremendous gifts of the Spirit take place in his meetings. When he came to my hometown to hold meetings in a local church, I even rode my bicycle twelve miles each way to see him minister. (I didn’t have a car at that time.) To me he was the greatest minister I had ever seen. In my heart I so wanted to be like him.

One day as I was on my way to work, I stopped by the doughnut shop to get a doughnut. This wasn’t a normal habit of mine because at that time in my life I rarely had the extra money to buy a doughnut and coffee. But sometimes you still have to treat yourself, so I went inside the doughnut shop and got in line and then, to my shock, I noticed standing right in front of me in the line was the famous prophet! I was overcome with joy, but I managed to act normal and I said “Hello” to him. I told him how much I appreciated his radio program. He thanked me and then turned back around. He ordered his doughnut and went and took a seat. I ordered my doughnut and went to find a seat but they were all taken. This minister was sitting by himself and I thought to myself, “This is the chance of a lifetime.” I summoned my courage and I went over and nicely asked him if I could sit at the table with him.

He slowly responded, “Well, I guess.” He didn’t seem too excited about his new guest, so he picked up his newspaper and began to silently read. I tried to ask him a few questions about the things of God, but he seemed completely disinterested in me. He would give me a one word answer and go right back to reading his newspaper. After about ten minutes he got up to leave. His final words were, “It was nice meeting you. Good-bye.” Those two sentences alone consisted of 95 percent of our conversation at the table. Basically, he didn’t give me the time of day. I can’t say I was devastated by this, because by this point in my life I had already grown numb to such treatment from religious leaders. It seemed the only ones the church leaders took interest in were the ones
with deep pockets. However, that conversation, or lack of one, instilled something in me that is a core principle of my life.

Love is the greatest thing. James said in his epistle that if you put a rich man on the front row and at the same time make the poor man stand up in the back of the church, then you have committed sin. I like James. He let it rip and he could not be controlled by the big givers in the church. He was controlled by the Word. Since that day at the doughnut shop, I’ve always tried to be a person who, through the love of God, can connect with anyone, regardless of that person’s condition. Whether they are rich or poor, black or white, or of any other background, I want to be a person who cares about others. Paul said:

My wife and I try to connect and work with fellow ministries that exhibit strong characteristics of the love of Christ. We might not all agree eye to eye on every issue, but that’s not the point. We might make mistakes because none of us are perfect. But I tell you right now I connect with those who major on the majors. And love will always be a major connecting point. Walk in love. Take the road less traveled. In the end you will walk in the mantle destined for you and your calling will be fulfilled.

1.
Snake in the Glass
by Dr. Bruno Caporrimo. This book gives a detailed view of Old and New Testament wines. It describes the history, production process, and
chemical composition of what Bible wines actually were. The author spent eleven years studying Bible wines and did his doctoral dissertation on this subject. Website:
www.echipministry.com
.

Ask the Lord and trust Him to reveal to you the mantle that He has planned for you to receive. Don’t try to figure out with your natural mind what mantle God has in store for you. You can’t figure out spiritual things with natural thinking. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you through the inward witness in the direction He has for you to go. Some people think you can go out and choose a mantle much like you would choose food at a grocery store. It doesn’t work that way. However, choosing a mantle is much like choosing a spouse.

When I was single and wanting to get married, I let the Lord pick my wife for me and I sure got blessed. Not only is my wife beautiful, but we are best friends as well. Our marriage was made
in Heaven and I received God’s best for my life. It sure pays to let God reveal to you His best choice. Of course, it takes setting aside time in prayer to get a clear leading of the Holy Spirit concerning God’s perfect will in matters, but it is time well spent.