What a journey!  After nine years in the desert we are once again breathing the refreshing salt air beneath the sunny blue skies of our beloved south Florida.  I don’t think I will ever take “green” or “water” for granted again as long as I live!  We have returned to a familiar place, but to a changed place.  The first decade of the 21st century has transformed south Florida into yet more of a cosmopolitan hub.  I can hardly wait to dive into this vibrant eclectic mix of people, culture, music, art, food, and of course spirituality.

If there has ever been a prophetic moment to demonstrate the good news of JESUS Christ to the nations, this is the time and south Florida is the place!  Joanna and I along with our children and a few “love warriors” look forward to discovering our part in the rich mosaic of this truly blessed community…a community of nations amidst a sea of dreams.

Sunday, May 29th at 10:30AM (EST) we will be streaming our first Transformation LIVE service on DreamChurchTV.  Join us for this powerful time in the presence of the Lord and invite your friends network to the party.  We look forward to having you with us.  Have a safe and blessed Memorial Day Weekend.

You’re a Champion…

Pastor Ralph

Each day we awaken to a visible world which operates flawlessly by invisible forces.  The tides, air pressure, winds, temperature, precipitation all affect global harvests which affect global economies which affect every person on earth.  But as usual it is God who makes the first move.  He spoke the worlds into existence by the breath of His mouth.  He set everything we see in motion and then He gave us the stewardship over it.

Since we are created in the image of God He wants us to follow His example of creation every day of our lives.  He wants us to create.  How?  With our words.  And not just any words, but with inspired words.  Words that paint the world you want, not the world you have.  Words which pre-play successes, not re-play failures.  Your words create your world.  They are seeds which come back to you in the form of blessings or curses.

As the architect of your life you develop your personal metropolis.  What does your “life-city” look like?  Is it filled with huge bridges, tall doors and super highways?  Are there beautiful gardens, prosperous neighborhoods, lush parks and elegant buildings?  Perhaps your city is different.  Some people have a city which looks more like a ghetto overrun with weeds, pot holes and graffiti-sprayed walls.  Other cities lay in rubble like some of the mid-east desert cities we see on the news.  And still others may have a Gotham City; dark, mysterious and threatening.

Your words and subsequent decisions have created the city you live in today.  But regardless of the present condition of your city, you remain the creator, the Mayor if you will.   Now please listen carefully.  If your city is in trouble, it is not too late to begin a new city-wide re-development and infrastructure program!  You can change anything and everything.  How did NYC go from being one of the most dangerous cities in the world to the #1 SAFEST big city in the US?  The Mayor, (Giuliani at the time) made a decision.  He decided that it was time to clean up the city.  And he did.  You can too.  Use your words.

Today your words are attracting some people and repelling others.  Your words are attracting opportunities or keeping them afar off.  Begin building the kind of city you want to live in every day.  It’s your life and your choice.  PRG

Here’s a question.  “Do you see JESUS?” If you do, your life is about to change!  Stay with me.  Colossians 1:15 says that He, JESUS is the image of the invisible God; that He is the visible representation of the invisible Father.  Think about that, the invisible became visible.

So many people ask the question, “Are we the only life form in the entire universe?”  “Is there life anywhere out there?”  The answer is, “Yes, most definitely!” But it is not what some may think.  The out there I am talking about is the invisible spirit-world.  And that world is much more active and dynamic than our 3D world on earth.  JESUS is proof.  He came from the spirit realm, not in some inter-galactic cruiser, but in the womb of a woman.

And to be clear, in no way am I implying that JESUS is some kind of Star Wars type creature from another galaxy.  But I assure you, He is not from earth.  Nor was He conceived by the Seed of a man (See Gen. 3:15).  He is the living Son of God, sent from a very real place called heaven.

The eternal Son of God left His throne in heaven to come to earth as Adam II.  It was the only way God could satisfy the debt which Adam I incurred for all the rest of us.  JESUS came to make us ALL RIGHT after we had become all wrong!

But JESUS came not just as our Savior and holy substitute for our sin-sick lives; He also came to show all people that the invisible can become visible!  So in Hebrews 12:2 we read, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” Again, look at Him, (the tangible manifestation of the invisible God), who is also the Captain and our greatest example of faith.

There He is.  The living God, and you can touch Him! In other words, if you can believe who He is, you can experience anything you saw Him do, beginning with salvation.

Look at Christ’s life in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  He is the visible expression of the heart of our heavenly Father.  JESUS did only what the Father instructed Him to do.  And we saw the results; salvation, healing and deliverance.  Those acts have never stopped happening for those who see Him!  There is no reason not to believe that they will happen for you?

Therefore, JESUS told us in Mk. 9:23 “…all things are possible to him who believes.” And Romans 8:32 sums it all up with one question.  And careful now, your answer to this question is the key to the abundant life which you were created to possess, and it is this, “…will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?”

If your response is, “Yes!” then let it be unto you according to His Word.  For the JESUS you see and believe determines not only your eternal dwelling place, but the quality of your life on earth, right here, right now.  See Him and rejoice!

PRG

Look at what JESUS did in Mk. 11:14 – He cursed the fig tree and his disciples heard Him.  In the next verse it says they came to Jerusalem.  What happened?  After JESUS spoke to that tree, He just walked away knowing that His Word had accomplished its mission.  He walked over that faith line and moved on.  He had not one more thought about it.  How is the tree going to die?  Will it just dry up?   Will somebody pluck it out?  Who cares?  The Word was spoken in faith.  It is Done!  Let’s get going…

Had Peter not noticed the withered tree the following day, JESUS would have walked right by it without any mention whatsoever.

You see that tree was not finished when it withered, it was finished the moment JESUS turned to walk away.  At His first step.

Proclaiming God’s Word of faith through our mouths, then moving on without a care as to how the manifestation occurs is the most fun we get as believers on earth!  It works, because the LORD Himself is standing right next to us to back up what we speak.  Remember, we hear our own voice speak the Word, but that is not what the [fig tree] hears.  Your Mountain, hears the voice of JESUS.  And He cannot be denied.

So be certain you are in agreement with God, speak the Word, and move on.  It Is Done!

You’re a Champion.   PRG

I call Psalm 119 the greatest chapter in the Bible because each verse makes a reference to God’s Word, His Ordinances, His Statutes and Precepts.

It’s God’s Word on God’s Word!

Psalm 119 is for Quitters!

For people who have at last quit worrying, quit complaining, quit stressing, quit straining and quit doing things in their own abilities and understanding.

Psalm 119 is for people who are ready to allow God’s Word to settle the struggle!

Psalm 119 is for people who are ready to confide in what God said.   And that’s it!  What God said…

And that’s right – most people have to come to a place where ONLY what God said will do, which is why verse 71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn your statutes.” Not that I may fear and complain…

You see, when we have confidence in His Word, nothing on earth can shake us, at least not for very long.   Verse 122 says that God will be surety for us, meaning His Word is our pledge.  So if your “track record” is not so great right now, that’s fine, your co-signer has perfect credit, the oppressor is stopped and you will be all right!

But perhaps one of the most powerful truths we can dig out of Psalm 119 is in verse 133,  Establish my steps and direct them by [means of] Your word; let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

God’s Word will place us on the right path and point us in the right direction every time!  And here’s why.  No Pollution!  Iniquity has NO Dominion over you.  The Word keeps your eyes focused on the source of life, blessing and power.

There is no guessing when you are led by the Word of the Lord.  Wisdom, Favor, Courage and Increase are all in your prosperous future.

Psalm 119 – Declare it out loud.  Meditate it.  Work it.  Your present and your future will be glad you did.

What comes first, giving or receiving?  I’ll answer with a another question.  What would you have to give if you had not first received something?  Receiving comes before giving.  It always has.  It began when Father God breathed into the nostrils of that dirt-shaped man, and he became a living soul.

We received Christ’s love in order that we may give it back to others.  The Bible says that  He [JESUS] came to His own, but His own did not receive Him, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. How long have God’s people being doing anything we believe could pry a blessing out of God’s hand,  when actually the Lord has been raining down abundance all around us; more than we could ever handle.  He’s still here among us and doing everything He has always done.  But so many receive Him not.

If there is anything we must learn to do as believers, it is to RECEIVE from God! Jer 9:20 says, “…And let your ear receive the word of His mouth…” What good father is not ready to bless his children whenever he possibly can?  Our God did not save us to make things hard for his children.  He invites us to receive His goodness.

God is always talking, blessing, healing, comforting, loving, nurturing, assuring, laughing, encouraging, teaching, and yes, sometimes correcting.  But the correcting is simply to position us to receive all that He wants to do for us every day.  How many times in scripture do we read how God spoke, but the people would not listen?  Nothing has changed.  God is till trying to be the ‘above all you can ask or think’ God of abundance while we settle for the crumbs of our own limitations.

Romans 5 tells us that those who receive the abundance of grace…will reign in life.  We read that He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness…that all things are ours.  And here’s the mind blower, God was showering His people with abundance in the Old Testament thousands of years before Christ! (Dt. 28:47).  It’s very clear dear friends.  God’s love and His blessings are too much for us to manage on any given day.  The question is, “Will you receive?”

Here’s my confession –  “Lord, make me a joyful and grateful receiver of all you have for my life today.  Not just for what I need, but what I desire, and better yet, for what I am too limited to know to ask!  Thank you.”

I am a Receiver!  How about you?

JESUS said, “…For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure [deposit] of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure [deposit] brings forth evil things.” What JESUS was saying is that the substance of our inner reality [heart] will over the course of time begin to spill over and come out of our mouths as words.  Those words spoken today create our future tomorrow; so that whatever we allow our inner reality to become will eventually grow to be our destiny.  Think about that.  You and I determine the quality of our life each time we decide what we allow to be deposited into our hearts.

Is your life upside down right now? Stop thinking about it. That’s right, stop!  One may respond, “But this mess I’m in is all I can think about…”  Not true.  It’s just that you have been depositing so much of [your mess] in your heart, [through your thoughts and words] that you are now being flooded with the very thing which you hate.  Why are we surprised when the thing we think about all day comes to our door?  What we dislike intensely will come upon us!  It’s a spiritual law.  When a human being hates, we make a vivid picture in the subconscious mind which then develops into our present reality.

Why does money not show up at our door daily?  Because we never think about money arriving, we see it leaving.  Rather than “Money Cometh,”  most people’s reality is that, “Money Goeth!”  We think about bills arriving.  So of course, we are greeted with more bills so that we can see our money leave.  Mission accomplished!  But we hate that mission, ahh, read on.

We’ve got to change the picture, right?  Well, not so fast.  Actually, the picture will change on it’s own.  It has to in response to how your present picture was created.  Because your present subconscious picture is the byproduct of your response to, your mess, right?  So as long as you keep pushing back and resenting your miserable state, the picture becomes even more vivid.  Remember Led Zeppelin?  If your song remains the same, so will your picture.  So here’s you’re exit strategy from hell, dear one…

CHANGE YOUR SONG!  “Bless the Lord Oh my soul and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name.”  Start saying it now, don’t wait.  Declare it in the midst of crisis and calamity.  It drives the forces of darkness crazy. When you change your song (confession), the picture changes. It is never the other way around.

The spiritual law at work in our God-breathed universe is this:  Humans speak their world into existence.  So rather than bemoan your present state over and over, begin to rejoice in the midst of your circumstances; begin to “pre-play” your future with your words.  Thank God for this opportunity to once again prove His Word and His faithfulness in your life.  He has never left you, and He is not going to start now!

Sure, at first it sounds strange to say things like, “It feels so good that all our debt is canceled and wiped away…”   But don’t worry, the more you say it, the more you believe it and the more the picture changes.  The Lord will then begin to work for you and through you in natural and supernatural ways.  Ideas, opportunities and miracles will begin to flow as your life begins to conform to the new debt free picture.  You WILL be free!

Want out of the hole today?  Drop the shovel of complaining, hatred and anger and begin fashioning your ladder of escape by speaking the Word of God with faith and purpose.  Watch how quickly your new future is birthed.  And moving forward, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

You’re A Champion!  — PRG

Our culture is possessed with The Look! Today, it’s not the color of your skin (which is a good thing), but wait, that skin better be tight.

Tight skin is cool, but I have a question.  “What else do you have?”  You see, a McLaren F1 is a million dollar supercar.  Sweet!  And it shimmers on a showroom floor like few cars do.  But if it came with a Ford Fiesta engine, it becomes something else altogether.  It becomes…disappointing.  Some would say, ” A Cheater.”  A Deception!  For though it had all the appearances of a race car, it was not even close.

America is being cheated today because too many parents are buying into a glossy and shallow society.  It’s time to pay the price of building our children from within…by example.

Somebody is going to get their attention and become their number one influence.  Will it be you ?

We have a historic opportunity today.  An opportunity to lead from the heart.  And our audience is all ears.  Our future leaders should not be influenced as much by the culture as they are by mom and dad.  How they act on the soccer field should reflect what they have learned around the dining room table, not on Jersey Shore.   This commitment to our children should cause us to be the everyday mentors our young people are crying out for. 

Let’s develop a thought life rooted in the Word of God along with the principles of love, faith and the riches of  His grace.  As parents, when we commit to building our hidden parts, our children will see the results outwardly.  It won’t be long before they too will begin to hunger, not just for a fancy paint job, but for that powerful engine of character and honor which will propel them into the victory zone of life all of their days on earth!

God is a God of order.  He makes everything right and appropriate.  He loves it when everything fits.

God has filled the earth with abundant resources.  For instance, crude oil from beneath the earth.  Where do we drill for it?  We drill in the exact place where He put it.  And where do we place those mammoth wind turbines?  We put them wherever He makes the wind blow. Fisherman fish certain waters at certain times of the year because they know that the precise fish, crab, shrimp or other sea life which they desire will be there.  These are just examples of how some people cooperate with God.

Whether you acknowledge God, go to church or not, your spiritual “handle,” is irrelevant.  From Atheist to Zen and everything in between, everybody acknowledges the earth’s  cycles, seasons as well as the meteorological and geological patterns that are all around us.  We respect these patterns and we use them to our benefit.  We have also learned that disrespecting “mother nature” can lead to disastrous results.

Think about it.  Is not science simply the discovery of the vast power which surrounds us on earth?  Every advancement in human history, from the wheel to the microchip has come from a discovery.   It is man harnessing the potential within a God-made substance.  Once a scientist discovers a “constant” in nature or in a compound they become 99.99%  certain that the same  results will occur every time the same conditions are present.  It is a constant. They are convinced.  And as a result of relying on these certainties, our world has become a much more glorious place to live.

If we can rely so heavily on the unchanging laws of nature and see the consistent benefits of doing so, we must not hesitate to take the same stance with God’s Word!  For God’s Word is the only constant on earth that is 100% reliable, 100% of the time, to 100% of those who believe it.  For it was His Word which created the world when He spoke by the breath of  His mouth (Psalm 33:6).  Once a person makes God’s Word their own, they will never lack any good thing in this life or the next!

When you and I begin to cooperate with God’s Word, we will  become more certain about God’s love and His promises toward us than those who rely on the Farmer’s Almanac.  We will experience blessing and multiplication upon all we put our hands to.  If we don’t doubt the seasons, how can we doubt the very Word that created them?  Let me challenge you to believe that the God who created the earth also created you to experience the abundant life JESUS promised.  Put God’s Word in your heart, then on your tongue.   Now release that Word with faith and watch what God does.  What YOU SAY will come to pass.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17

This is not an anti-gay diatribe by another “hate the sin, love the sinner” style preacher.  I want to begin by saying that I truly understand that many homosexuals have heard or sensed something very real within them which they sincerely believe was a signal that they were gay.

Yet it did happen again,  just a few weeks ago.  A young college student, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge in New York.  What a heartbreak.  Another bright kid, nothing but opportunities and fortune ahead of him, here no longer.   Life, just too complicated at eighteen.  And it’s not just Tyler.  But many other gay teens are choosing suicide, nationwide.  Did this young man jump off that bridge because his roommates dishonored him?  No.  He did it because he was confused, confounded, humiliated.  Why?  Let me explain it this way.

I have never met a member of any ethnic or “religious” group who had to warm up to who they really are.  In my case, I am an unapologetic Christian American.  I would never limit wearing JESUS to just my shirt sleeve.  I wear Him all over, especially on my attitude and my outlook on life.  I never had to get used to being a Christian.  And I have never had issue with anyone who does not understand or appreciate my devotion to Christ.  Nor am I offended when people scoff at my particular brand of Christianity   or deride my Savior.  I am just as confident and secure in who I am and who my God is as I am in being an American living in the USA.  I am happy, even eager to tell anyone that I am a flag-waving, Christian patriot, anywhere in the world.  And so would most reading this blog.  Why?  It’s like breathing.  It’s natural.  There is no shame in being who you know you are.

Let’s get to truth.  If an offense could be taken today, it will be with this statement, not with me.  It’s not my statement, nor my word.  I simply believe it.  Any offense would have to be with God, whose Word I take from the New Testament book of Romans, Chapter 1, verses 18 through 32. (New King James Version) Here is an excerpt:

“…because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful…God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves…to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error…”

Yes, there are young people who feel something, hear something or have a desire they have never had.  No objection.  But it is a false reading.  A deceptive bluff.  You don’t have to believe it or submit to it! And why is this such a leap?  Remember the first drag on a cigarette?  We thought we would die.  Every nicotine addict I know wishes they had gotten a clue on that first try.  Why can’t we apply this to the kid who “feels” he’s gay? Imagine if people gave in to every rogue thought or act they “felt” like doing.  It would be chaos.  Homosexuality is a choice.  And for some, it is a very tough one because of the high level of deception involved.

Those who hold to this belief are not anti-gay or against any lifestyle choice.  We must resist the notion that standing on Truth is being “intolerant.”  Would we call someone intolerant because they resisted a person who prefers straddling the lines on the freeway?  “I just don’t feel right when I drive in between the lines…I need to straddle them” A moral society must have at it’s bedrock, undeniable truth in order for it’s citizen’s to prosper.  This has always been America’s secret.

We must question anything that our minds and bodies tell us they “feel” if it goes against truth.  And that is really the crux.  Truth.  The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is neither God-designed nor God-inspired.  And to say that God sanctions and looks with favor upon homosexuality is nonsense.  It is unnatural.  It is a mixture of what God made as natural and then something else joining in (The deception).   That fatal flaw will forever produce mixture.  Thus the shame, the uncertainty, the acting out along with the increasingly loud, loud voice to defend it.  But truth settles every dispute.  “We don’t get to choose what truth is, nor can we change it. We just get to accept it or deny it. And, everybody finds out in the end what the TRUTH really is.”  If your truth gets you where you want to go, congratulations, you made a wise choice.

Yes, it has taken far too long for our nation to recognize that we indeed had a birth defect called slavery.  We are doing much better.  But those attempting to place homosexuality in that same status are misguided.  The evil within legit racism, and I must say legit because our present culture will label you a racist if you accidentally pull out in front of the wrong person in traffic!  The evil within legit racism is marginalizing and devaluing another human life on the basis of something they have no control over, namely, the color of their skin, or their ethnic genealogy.  Never has there breathed a human being with an option in either.  Which is why I contend that the greatest form of racism is abortion.  When we deny life, not the right to vote, not a better seat or a superior job, or even human dignity, but when we deny life itself to a person, who through no fault or choice of their own came into existence in the identical manner as the rest of us; can this be a depiction of anything other than our worst selves?

America has begun to line up with the Bible when it says,  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28.  Simple, right?  We are ALL equal in God’s eyes in every way.  And that is how it works.  When we get into agreement with Him., life is more enjoyable and productive for everyone.  However, God will not reverse Himself because we are screaming for Him to give us what we want.  He loves us too much to do that.  He is our Father, after all.  Any dad who gives in to the lesser wisdom of his children will certainly regret it.  Of course, God has no regrets.  And neither will we if we stay submitted to His Word.