Here’s a good word from Bill Yount which was posted on the Elijah List this past week.

Enjoy!

Pastor Arlen

2010: A Year of Germination of Seeds that Have Been Planted Over Many Years
John 12:24 Verily, Verily, I say unto you except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

It’s as though these Seeds were Shouting, “Our Season of Death is Over!”

In the Spirit I am hearing a sound I have never heard before. It’s a sound from seeds that God had planted through us that have died inside the stony hearts of many people. There had been a long season when these seeds were not heard from at all. They were silenced by death. But in spite of death, these seeds now were beginning to groan as though death itself could not keep them any longer. The very life of Christ within these seeds was now beginning to overcome death and I saw a sprouting taking place that seemed to begin to shake the gates of Hell off its hinges! It’s as though these seeds were shouting, “Our season of death is over! Hallelujah, we are now coming alive!” Seeds that had died with unfulfilled dreams of God inside of them were now beginning to come alive, worshiping their Creator, as they were beginning to sprout.

“Fields of dreams” were coming true! Seeds that were planted many years ago up to this present day were beginning to germinate. Seeds we had sown of the Word of God, acts of kindness and even smiles were bringing in a harvest as germination was taking place inside of many for whom we had forgotten and given up hope.

Pregnant with God’s Dream!

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Both of our daughters are expecting our first two grandchildren a month apart this year. We have been saturated with ultrasounds. Ultrasounds are amazing to look at. You begin by seeing something so small at first, and then the little members of the body begin to grow. We can’t figure out how that happens, but it’s the seed that makes it all happen! I believe this year will be a year of record-breaking germination taking place in the wombs of many women…even a year of surprise babies!

To germinate means “to begin to or cause to grow, or sprout.” When a seed falls into the ground and dies it looks different as it begins to sprout and surface. Many ministries, jobs and dreams that have seemingly been terminated will begin to germinate and spring forth suddenly, appearing different with new dimensions this coming year. The enemy is not cutting anything away from you, but God is pruning us all to look to Him for everything.

Don’t focus on your dead dream, dead job or dead ministry; listen to that seed that is now groaning to come forth in newness of life. Some jobs that have been terminated in one place will germinate in another place. Your gift will make room for you. Your gift has outgrown the room you were in! You will now need a larger room for your gift. The place where you get pregnant with God’s dream is not always the same place where you give birth to it.

Seeds Have Died Forever (so you thought)!

Many seeds that have been planted inside of us by the Holy Spirit and have seemingly died forever (so you thought) are now beginning to make a noise and groan. Even things that we “thought” God had told us were over…aren’t.

Twenty-five years ago I had co-written a song with a brother, which was recorded by several people, and was a blessing to many. After several years the song seemed to have finished its course of being heard. Once in a while I would type in the name of the song to see if its season was really over. I became convinced that the song had a certain season and that was it. Just two months ago, I typed in the name of the song on the iTunes store and up came the song “It’s All Taken Care of, Thanks to You” just recorded by Claudelle Clarke, the queen of Reggae Gospel music from Jamaica who has been singing for forty years now. I contacted her, and since the publishing company I had signed with closed down fifteen years ago, she was unable to find the authors of the song. Sometimes when our name is overlooked or forgotten, God often uses a seed we planted to cause others to reap blessings where they did not sow and to take it further than we ever could.

In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not become weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

I am learning it’s when I feel like fainting—is when I am actually doing well from God’s point of view, and that a seed that I have sown is beginning to groan and sprout somewhere in some place, or in somebody, or in some nation!

Bill Yount
Blowing the Shofar Ministries
Email: theshofarhasblown@juno.com

Consider these 8 levels of intimacy.
What level describes each relationship in your life?
What level describes your relationship with God?

Levels of Intimacy:

1. Cliche- “How are you?”  “Fine”
2. Facts- “It’s been so cold lately.”
3. Opinions- “I don’t care for the weather.  I prefer the rain.”
4. Feelings- “I can’t believe our UH football team.  I’m so disappointed.”
5. Affirmation/Confrontation- “You really have God’s heart.”  “I don’t think you handled that situation with your son too well.”
6. Forgiveness & Reconciliation- “I’m so sorry.”  “It’s fine, let me give you another chance.”
7. Dreams & Disillusionment- “I believe my life calling is to be a missionary.  Will you be on my team?”
8. Spirit to Spirit- A deep intimate and often unspoken connection between two people, like a husband and wife.  This connection is sometimes shared among a worship team.

Authority comes from intimacy.  Parents will be able to speak into their children’s lives because of the depth of relationship.  Grandparents will do the same, but their authority will come through intimacy.  In a similar way, our intimate relationship with God will determine our spiritual authority to speak to issues and address life situations.

If indeed authority comes from intimacy, then it would be wise to monitor our intimacy with each other.  We would also be wise to intentionally increase the intimacy with some relationships and perhaps decrease the level of intimacy with others.  But the bottom line is that it takes intentional effort to improve any and all relationships.

I want to propose to you that God is working in the Church to bring all of his children to the highest level of intimacy.  That is what true church family is about. He is also longing for us to become more intimate with Him.

Please also note that God starts His relationship with us at Level 6: Forgiveness and Reconciliation.  While we were still sinners, God sent his son to die for us, forgive us, and reconcile us back into a right relationship with Him.

Hope this challenges your thinking as we March toward the New Year!

Pastor Arlen

Well, here I am.  I’m taking the plunge.  So, I produced this brochue to start a computer training, repair, and upgrade business.  Of course this isn’t a full-time deal for me.  But I’m praying that it’s a door opener.  And asking for referrals from all my friends and family.

I’ve been fixing and creating all kinds of computer solutions for a while now.  Recently, I’ve been getting more requests and consulting with more churches and ministries.  So I thought it was time to take the plunge.  Here’s the brochure if you’re interested.

Computer Flyer

Blessings to you all!

Arlen

So much has happened since my last post, and I don’t have time to unpack it all.

Suffice to say, we need to blur the lines between the secular and sacred.

That being said, I will be starting a Computer Repair business.  I’ve done so much of that pro-bono and every time I do, people tell me that I should do it as a business.  I believe there needs to be and will be a blurring of the lines between the secular and sacred.  And I believe God will provide for ministries in unusual ways.

All that being said, look in a few weeks for me to put something together for 2010 in the area of computers.  It’s been a great hobby, and no I don’t want to change careers, but I want to be a part of what God is doing.

I believe he’s mobilizing all the speciallists to transform  communities.

I am one of His Specialists and I will be a part of this new season.

Blessings,

Pastor Arlen

Tiffany Ann Lewis:
“Are You Willing?”
“For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.”—Lamentations 3:33

Recently, my dear friend and intercessor had a dream and when she shared it with me, the Lord immediately bore witness of it to my spirit. In the dream, she was at church and heard the prayers of the saints saying, “Lord, if it’s Your will, heal so and so.” The Lord replied, “I am willing. Are you willing?”

Beloved, the Lord is willing, it’s not an issue. You see, it would have been enough if Jesus had just died for our sins by offering His Blood to redeem us from the curse of sin and death, giving us eternal life. But on the way to the Cross, He willingly endured a beating on His body and “by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus didn’t have to offer His body for the beating; the sacrificial animal was not beaten, its neck was quickly slit to end its life. On the night He was betrayed, fully aware of the prophecy in Isaiah 53, Jesus took the bread and the wine saying, “THIS is My body, THIS is My Blood…do this in remembrance of Me.” His Blood was for the remission of sin and His body was for our physical and emotional healing. Two separate functions in the one Divine sacrifice. May that alone thrust us into willingness like we have never experienced before.

“Let it be to me according to Your word.”—Luke 1:38

Are we willing, like Mary, to give ourselves over to the King and be co-laborers with Him and do the even greater things than He did? Most would enthusiastically say, “Yes!” However, when it comes time to actually laying hands on the sick in the market place, at the office, in front of friends and family, and Lord, have mercy…even in the church—many shrink back in fear and say, “Lord, if it’s Your will…”

In Luke 13, Jesus saw a crippled woman who had been bent over for 18 years; He called her to Himself and healed her. The ruler of the synagogue was indignant, not because He healed her but because He healed on the Sabbath. Jesus replied, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (vs. 15-17).

Jesus tells the ruler to think of it. Just think of the suffering this woman has endured being crippled and bound by satan for 18 years. Here she stands, bent over, in front of Jesus; and not only is He willing to heal her, but He willingly does it on the Sabbath. Think of it. Think of the people you know who are bound by satan, suffering, and in desperate need of a touch from God. Are we willing to get out of our comfort zone, past our old way of thinking and let go of whatever traditions or ways of man that hold us back from allowing the Lord to use us to bring His Kingdom onto this earth as it is in Heaven?

Put Your Hope in God: The Same Spirit that Raised Jesus Christ from the Dead Now Resides in YOU

Beloved, what are we afraid of? Are we afraid of offending the people around us? Are we afraid that the sick won’t be healed? Are we afraid that those bound by satan won’t be set free? Are we afraid that those bent over won’t be made straight? You see, if we pray and it doesn’t happen, we’ll be disappointed, feel embarrassed, feel like a failure, or worse, our faith may even be challenged.

With these fears brewing in our minds, it’s easier to pray, “Lord, if it’s Your will…” This is how we rationalize it in our minds. If we pray with that phrase as our safety net, then we won’t get our hopes up, and if we don’t get our hopes up, then we won’t be let down. But our hope is in God, it doesn’t have anything to do with us, but it has everything to do with Him. Unfortunately, the devil is trying to get us to lose sight of this. It’s a very subtle shift, but may we hear what the Spirit is saying.

In Acts 5:12, Scripture tells us that through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. Hallelujah—that’s just what Jesus said would happen (see John 14:12). Unfortunately, look at the response of the people toward the apostles: they esteemed them highly. Many were added to the Lord, however, none dared to join the apostles. Instead, they brought the sick onto the streets in hopes that Peter’s shadow would pass by and heal them. Did they not know that the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead now resided in them, too?

There are several different views among the commentators as to what went down in this passage of Scripture regarding Peter’s shadow and the healings that took place. Regardless, Peter wasn’t the source of the miracle; Jesus was, and still is. There is no room for elitism among Believers. Such thoughts lead to feelings of inferiority and takes our focus off Jesus and puts it on ourselves and others.

Jesus told us that if we believe in Him, we will do these greater things. Beloved, believing in Him means that we believe He has done it all. Believing in Him means that we can’t screw it up and we can’t conjure it up, because it’s all about Him. It means that we know that we have nothing to add or subtract from the finished work of the Cross in order to gain our salvation or to see a miracle manifested. He has done it all, and all He is asking us is, “Are you willing?”

He is Willing and Thinks We’re Worth It

I find it interesting that the only place in the Bible where we see the phrase, “Lord, if You are willing…” is coming out of the mouth of someone stricken with leprosy (Matthew 8:2). Beloved, for the Hebrews, leprosy was a dreaded condition which left its victims ceremonially unclean—that is, unfit to worship their King (see Leviticus 13:3). To make matters worse, anyone who came in contact with a leper was also considered unclean. Because of this, the lepers were isolated from the rest of the community so that the members of the community could maintain their “status” as worshipers.

This is heartbreaking, yet I believe there is a spiritual connection here. Many people feel unworthy, like spiritual outcasts, so to speak, when their prayers appear to go unanswered. “I didn’t pray enough, I didn’t fast enough, I didn’t read my Bible enough, etc. etc.” These mentalities put it all on our end. Enough is enough, Jesus did it all.

Beloved, all God is asking us to do is to be willing to stretch out in faith and touch the Kingdom of God that is at hand. He is looking for willing vessels through which He can manifest the finished work of the Cross on earth as it is in Heaven.

Are you willing? Are you willing to keep waiting on the promise the Lord gave you 10 years ago even though there is no evidence to support it in the natural realm? Are you willing to keep laying hands on the sick as they continue to get sicker? Are you willing to believe for the unbelievable? Are you willing to do what God has asked you to do, even if it seems to make no sense to your natural mind? Are you willing to pray when all hope seems lost?

“But, Sister Tiffany, I have and nothing happened.” Don’t let that stop you. We don’t always understand it when the miracle we’re praying for isn’t manifested, but please don’t believe the lies of the enemy that tell us God is unwilling and we’re unworthy.

God is willing, so willing in fact, that Jesus willingly left the comfort zone of His heavenly throne to come to earth as one of us. He willingly bore the sins and sickness of the world and willingly laid down His life for us. Just think of it—stop and think of it, selah. Jesus told us to remember what He has done and why He has done it. All for the sake of love, because He is willing and thinks we’re worth it.

God is willing and He is asking us to be willing; to be a willing vessel through which He can manifest Himself to and through. My life verse is, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24), yet I find myself now praying, “Lord, I am willing; help my unwillingness.”

We thank You, Lord, for Your willingness. Amen.

Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing with the Flame of the Lord Ministries
Email: Tiffany Ann@tiffanyannlewis.com

Tiffany Ann Lewis is a worship leader and speaker whose heart has been passionately awakened by a God who sees us in our shortcomings and loves us in spite of it all (Ezekiel 16). It is this message of Hope, God’s burning love for humanity, that she desires to share through word or song wherever she goes. Tiffany Ann has been ministering for over 10 years in prophetic worship throughout the Body of Christ. She worships with her family at Northway Church in Malta, New York, where she serves on the worship team.

Hi Friends,

Yes, God is alive and well in Japan. Yesterday (Wednesday morning) I was asked to minister at Yokohama Grace Bible Church.

I felt the Lord really wanted me to honor the pastors and the church because the presence of God is so strong at the church. When I was there the day before I could just feel His presence.

So I honored the church and it’s leadership. Then I explained Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 47. It’s the vision where a trickle of water gets deeper and deeper as Ezekiel goes farther away from the church. It’s an end times vision of the church taking the presence of God to the communities we live in.

I spoke about honor and receiving a prophet’s reward. The message was well received. Then I closed with a time of ministry.

There were about 30 people in the service and surprizingly when I asked people who needed prayer or had pain in their bodies to stand, about 20 of them stood up. I knew the Lord healed several of them so I had them check to see if they were healed. About 4 sat down because they were healed. That’s good because I knew we needed more people to pray for those who still needed prayer.

I had the people who sat down and those seated pray for those who remained standing. Another 6 more were healed after praying once or twice.

By the time I left, one woman was still being touched by the Holy Spirit and only 2 still needed more ministry.

Praise God!!!

Thanks for your prayers. I’ll continue to post the good reports of what God is doing here in Japan.

Blessings!

Pastor Arlen

PS- it might help to learn a little bit of Japanese, and I suggest this excellent website to assist you.

Hi Friends,

Yes, God showed up again. I ministered at New Life Chapel in Okinawa. I have never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so strong in Japan before. It was a wonderful time of ministry.

I had the privilege of giving a message about honor and ordinary ministers. Then we just asked the Holy Spirit to show up.

• I prayed for a liver condition and the man said something lifted when we prayed. I saw it lift too.
• Prayed for a family surrounded by suicides.
• Prayed for stress and tension from work.
• Prayed for a better job for one man.
• Prayed for a boxing match. (hey, we can pray for anything)
• Prayed for boldness.
• Prayed for cancer in a friend and unforgiveness.

We just had a great time of praying for everything.   

Here’s a picture of the beautiful church.

The center building is a mausoleum. The church felt the need to tell the community that they honor their ancestors even if they don’t worship them as Buddhists. They even have an annual service to honor their family members.

After the service, the pastor blessed me by taking me to Okinawan Soba. Here’s my food and a picture of Uchimura Sensei’s lunch.

Blessings!

Pastor Arlen

PS- it might help to learn a little bit of Japanese, and I suggest this excellent website to assist you.

Aloha friends,

Please note the following change of physical address. Really only the suite number has changed due to a confusion at the Post Office.

Our New Address:

1001 Kamokila Blvd. #187
Kapolei, HI 96707

Blessings,