April 2010

Some of you have been going through some very difficult, trying times. I want to offer you some fresh encouragement, which we all need at times. This is a reminder that God is always with you, always faithful, and always much, much bigger than anything you can face.

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears (troubles, anxieties, problems, impossibilities).” Ps. 34:4. “For the Lord has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Gen. 41:52.

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls,” noted Dr. Edward T. Sullivan, “every gate a pearl! Every entrance into the heavenly life is through a pearl! What is a pearl? A wound that is made in a shell, maybe it is a grain of sand, but it sets off all the repair resources to that spot. When the wound has been closed and the process of repair is complete, a pearl is found. The wound calls forth unsuspected resources of the shell and a beauty appears that would not have happened otherwise. A pearl is a healed wound! No wound, no pearl!”

When we are wounded, our Father’s resources are always ready to heal us. In our lives, misfortunes can be transformed into blessing and hurts changed into pearls of precious value. When the wounds come, quickly turn them over to your loving, all-powerful Heavenly Father so He can turn them into pearls. Be quick to do the two-way journaling and visioning so you can hear from God and see what He is doing in your calamity. Then allow Him to come to your aid and turn the wound into a pearl.

Every misfortune, every failure, and every loss can be transformed. God has the power to transform all misfortunes into pearls of great beauty. Out of life’s worst trials and inflictions may come our greatest rewards. No wound, no pearl!

I Believed I Was Well-Balanced
by
Joshua Smith

It may sound cliché, but this course really has changed my life. I come from an evangelical background rooted in Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian theology, and I believed I was well balanced with a good grasp of who God is. Dr. Virkler exposed that my variety of thought is all simply humanistic rationalism. I thank Dr. Virkler for his ministry, and I feel a “thank you” is also due to Dr. Sam Storms. If it were not for Dr. Storms’ book Convergence, I would have never taken this radically different class.

I began this class thinking it would be good to see how Charismatics think. I was skeptical of a class claiming to teach how to hear the voice of the Almighty. After all, I was taught that these things do not occur anymore. I have always held the belief that God could do these things, but He simply did not. Since I had recently completed Convergence, I was more open to what I may learn; and if the claims were true, I had everything to gain.

I once believed the Bible was a book that taught about God. God spoke to us through people and a time He chose to reveal Himself. To best understand God, we needed to understand the culture in which He spoke, and we could then derive principles from our understanding. I still believe this is true, but it is like believing that an acorn is a nut that has a smooth part and a bumpy part, and that squirrels collect them for wintertime. This is all true information, but incomplete. Now I see that the Bible is also an invitation to truly “taste and see that the LORD is good.”

With all the doors that are now open to me, the primary thing I am learning is to abide in Him. I am learning to obey Him in specific situations. As I tune to flow and walk with Jesus, I hear Him telling me things as simple as, “Say, ‘Have a good day’ to that person.” At first, I thought this was a little silly, but after obeying, I see that it seems to brighten the person’s day. I am still learning this obedience.

During a prayer meeting, God told me to go lay my hands on a man who had asked prayer for his marriage and himself. I told God that it would be a little odd to do that, especially since I had never seen anyone else do that before. God gently instructed me to move from doing what man expects of me to what He wants me to do. This is hard for me because I typically do what man expects of me. It is what I have always done. It has caused some problems, but it was comfortable. God is not comfortable with that idea. So, I am moving from doing what others expect of me to what God instructs me to do.

I asked God how he wanted to use dream and vision in my life for His Glory. This was His answer: “Jesus invited me down to the water again [this is the river of the Holy Spirit]. We look into the river, and I see our reflection. Jesus puts His arm around me, and I stare into the water. My reflection goes away, and I see only Jesus’ face in the water. Then His face moves to the center. I look past His reflection and see what looks like a cave. ‘What is this cave, Lord? How do You want to use dream and vision, Lord?’ ‘To get you out of the cave.’ ‘Lord, bring me out of the cave and into Your light. May I be forever changed and fearless for You. Thank You, Jesus, for speaking to me.’”

One of the dreams God gave me and interpreted for me was: “My dream involved a type of farming. We kept animals in the woods. We used the natural vines as rope and made animal pens using the trees. There was one kid who wanted to do things that were wrong and did not like me being around.” Another dream involved a space station. We had to go around collecting things to try to stop some bad guys. These dreams were connected somehow.

“Jesus, what do my dreams mean?” “They are one dream. Things are combined in your life that the world doesn’t think can be combined. You will get some grief from people because of this. The troublemaking kid in the dream is people who you think will know better than to criticize what I am doing in your life. It will come from all sides, but stay the course. Take refuge in Me and in this time together.” I have been taking much encouragement from this, especially when other Christians tell me that trying to talk to God is not safe.

I have tried a few different methods of stilling myself. My first journal entry was quite encouraging. I was simply sitting at my desk with the lights low, with no music, just quiet. This is what I saw after asking to hear the voice of Jesus: “I see Jesus on the side of a grassy hill wanting to spend time with me. I am invited to sit on the blanket with Him. No talking now, just quiet time together enjoying each other’s company. This is what John meant when he said he was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day, just being close to the Savior.” This is often my entry point to hearing from God. He has expanded this vision with a river flowing near the hillside. Lately when I attempt this picture, all I see is a very large Jesus. He has told me that He is growing inside of me. I am learning to abide in Christ and to let my roots grow down into Him so that I draw up His nourishment.

My Father often gives me daily encouragement and guidance. Once before a presentation I had at work I asked if there was anything He wanted to tell me for the day and He said: “Enjoy your presentation. Show them you had fun creating [the thing I was reporting on], and that you enjoy your job. The work I put before you is to be enjoyed. I am to be glorified in all you do. I am glorified when I am enjoyed.” That encouragement helped me with the presentation. It gave me boldness and confidence.

This class has truly changed my life. I enjoy my time of intimacy with my Father and draw much encouragement from it. Because of this time, I am able to be more kind and loving to my wife and children. I am much less a Pharisee than when I began. I am more loving and accepting of people with other viewpoints. I look forward to loving Jesus more with each passing day until that day He calls me home.

God Wants To Refine Us So We Can Handle Our Destiny
by
Dallas Freeland

When I decided to pursue the desire God placed upon my heart to continue my studies of God’s Word, I trusted Him to guide me to the place where He wanted me. As I began to research and look for this education, my spirit was suddenly excited when I saw Christian Leadership University. I knew that it was the right choice for me.

While taking CWG, I understood why God led me to CLU. There have been many confirmations, enlightenments, challenges, and convictions brought to me through this course. The connection between Mark Virkler’s struggles, his pursuit of hearing God’s voice, and my own experience helped me to connect with CWG and transform my understanding.

One of the many life-changing spiritual impacts is my move from rationalism to intuition. Being a left brained individual, I have always been very analytical which has held me back from the fullness of many experiences in my life, including my walk with the Lord. When I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, my born again experience was very radical and intense as I encountered the Lord in an incredible way. Immediately, the Lord began to speak to me in very real ways.

However, I had a very difficult time accepting the voice of the Lord as real. When I experienced God speaking to my spirit, I would immediately begin to analyze it through rationalization. This would always lead me into detailed analysis, which nearly every time would cause me to miss what the Lord was asking me to do for Him or for my growth.

Like Mark Virkler, I always wanted to have deep communion with God but never knew how. Through CWG, I have been able to understand my individual brain functions and the reasons why I operate as I do. I was able to apply the practical teachings of this course to move from rationalism to hearing the living God Who desires to speak intimately to me and share His love with me. This experience has allowed my faith to be increased by recognizing He had been speaking to me all along.

Through this confirmation, I have been lead into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus by way of my obedience that has been developed. I can look back and see many times that I was disobedient to the Lord due to my disbelief in the things that were being spoken to me. I was disobedient to God because of my lack of faith. However, now I feel I can walk in higher levels of obedience through the confidence and understanding of how God’s voice is received, flows, and is discerned.

As I journaled through this course, I was excited to hear God speak to me on issues regarding my future and the things associated with the desires of my heart and callings in my life. While God spoke to me in some of these areas, I was faced with moments of intense refining that challenged me to look at my life differently. I began to see God’s will for my family, especially my wife, through His eyes. The Holy Spirit, through my wife, had been speaking to me for quite some time to take a step back and look at some distortions that existed in my tunnel vision and selfish approach to the pursuit of God and fulfilling my preparation and call for pastoring.

The Lord was speaking to me about being a more graceful and merciful father to my children and a better husband to my wife. He showed me that I have to secure my household and have it in order before I can pastor. I must stop pressing toward the call of God on my life without bringing my wife along to build her up in her spirit and calling. So much of my pursuit of God has been without my family. Now, God is calling me to go back and bring them along. I believe through my journaling and hearing God’s voice in my present situation, God is preparing me for the things that are in my future. He knows exactly how to refine me to be the priest of my home and His House.

I have learned that God wants to share His love, purpose, heart, and future with us but also wants to refine us so we can handle our destiny through His ultimate plan of redemption, being conformed to the image of Christ.

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