Ever Needed Help?

So many of us need help in so many ways.  Me first.   So, the whole family is in TF Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island headed back to Orlando.  Been in New England  for a week.  A family wedding.  A family cancer visitation.  A 6 year old young girl with cancer visit trip. One of those tough weeks in ministry looking at the misery Satan had caused.  My youngest daughter is an extremely outgoing person.  She can engage anyone….well, like my wife.  So, my daughter is in line waiting to board Southwest and there is an older lady, maybe 70 years old standing nearby.  The lady looked distressed.  My  daughter says hello and then just asks the lady why she is going to Orlando.  This is a dangerous question because I just want to get on the flight and get home.

This older New England woman is traveling to Orlando to visit her brother who recently had a heart attack……  Life can be pretty tough sometimes.  The prognosis for the brother was not good.  I tried to disengage myself,  but my daughter would have nothing to do with that.  She asked the woman if we could pray for her there in line in the airport.  So, guess what we did…..?

You would have thought it was a “scene” but what it really was, well,  a wonderful time of sharing, praying and just feeding into a woman who wanted to be ministered to.  You ever needed help?  The Holy Spirit filled the area…..and it was a sweet time.  The scriptures say that we should be ready in season and out of season.…..in the airport and out of the airport. (ok I added this) My daughter began to quote Isaiah on being healed.  You see, God wants us to minister to each other. Engage others as they need our help.  Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to those that need help….they may be on your “list” or not.    Don’t miss an opportunity……. So, you ever needed help?  I have and do..

 

Breast Cancer… Spread Hope

So this buddy of mine for 25 years, he was a narc and deep undercover….comes to me after many years.  Once you are a cop and much less, manage narcs,…..they are a strange group.  But this guy was as good as gold.  He had the gift of gab,…was just a pristine guy and knew his stuff…great teacher and fantastic cop.  I am out of the business now, but was a cop for over 20 years….managed a lot of functions in a big police agency in Florida.  Then God just turned my life upside down.  And my cop buddies….worked with me and for me,….did not know how to handle the new person I am.

He hears I gave my life radically to God….comes to me and talks for 45 minutes…..wears me down (a cop interview technique) and asks me if I am a preacher and know God now……  OK.  I have grown to know that this is one of those times for God.

His wife has cancer….he needs prayer…..I know him…he knows me…..this is the way God works!!

His wife went through hell with kemo and radiation.  I can’t imagine.  But I know that God is bigger than cancer.

Look….if a friend of yours needs prayer…..stop what you are doing….don’t worry about what you used to be….your old reputation….your old self…just pray for them and pray …. you…  against breast cancer.  It might be  bad…. but God is over and above this…..  He is able to do more than we can do….  Trust Him.

My buddy called me today…..well, texted me….  His wife’s cancer is now gone.   Could be kemo…no doubt… prayer don’t hurt.  Give it a try.   Spread Hope.  It never hurts.

 

Speaking in Tongues finds Nadia Bloom!

 Tongues Finds Nadia

Ok.  You think I am a nut…but listen and watch the video closely. 

The rescuer says that praying in tongues …… in the spirit….. led him to Nadia.  That God led him to Nadia.

Jesus Christ said this.  If you do not believe what I say… then believe because of what you see….what I do…. my works..  This is recorded in John 10:37-38.  Jesus was saying this….. I can tell you that God told me and I can say it….just like this rescuer… James King…..  But words are hollow.  

James King said that God told him to pray in the spirit…in tongues…. he did it …  he believed…. he acted… he went out and found Nadia Bloom….. on the 4th day…..   same amount of time that Lazarus was in the grave…. another story for another day…. 4 days… 

I could go off here on so many teachings….and I want to ….

But listen to me.  God spoke to a man and his wife.  They listened.  They stepped out on what God told them to do…. went where God said….. saved Nadia.  Jesus says I come to save the lost.  Simple stuff.  Step out on what God says. 

louie

 

My Crap

 

I have not really known what to do.  I have had my rear end kicked all over the place the last 10 days.  I have had difficulty at work with an employee that I am not sure wants to be there.  And there are multiple processes to deal with as a result of this. 

 I have had a bunch of difficulty with a child that is working hard at school but we have been in disagreement.  It ended  up one night with a very unsatisfactory reaction by me (I lost my temper).  So I use unsatisfactory reaction to describe my utter failure as a dad and my extreme disappointment with myself as a result of my loss of control. 

 I have even had difficulty with an 83 year old dad that I really really have always had a great relationship with but I got rebuffed this last 10 days by him.   I am not sure who is wrong there but the older I get the more I realize it does not matter who is at fault….. that is really meaningless.  What matters is what happens and how I (I wanted to say we and include you in it) react.

So, I was at home tonight reflecting on my many failures and my many shortcomings as a boss, dad and son.  And of course, feeling sorry for mysel and just how crappy I am sometimes.   Then I had an occasion to talk to my buddy Pete. 

James 5:16 says that we should pray for one another.  Galatians 6:2 says that we should bear one another’s burdens.  Pete stopped what he was doing and said he was just going to pray with me and for me.  That is what he did.

It seems like I am always trying to minister to someone else, trying to share the Lord, trying to see how many folks I can lead to Christ….and then,….when I am just spent……I recluse and hide because I do not want anyone to see just how vulnerable I am.  I get in a hole and closely examine my failures.

Pete met me tonight in my vulnerability. ….  in my loss….in my failure…and just….well, prayed for me.  Pete is not a blog reader….(that is not a bad thing) and may never know how much he helped…. but he helped me tonight.

Thanks Pete.

louie

 

Stage 4 Melanoma…The Boogie Man

 

The Boogie Man…..that person under the bed…..that thing that will eat you alive….that bad thing that will dismember you……      I have never seen it but I am sure it is deadly.  That is what melanoma is and especially Stage 4…where it has spread from the skin, through the lymph nodes into organs.  The Boogie Man.

I have never seen melanoma……I was a motor cop for over 14 years  (22 years in the job total) and in the sun in Daytona Beach, on the beach on a motorcycle as well as all over the city in a short-sleeved shirt in my early life….before sun screen was known as necessary. 

A very close and good friend has stage 4 melanoma.  I do not know what it looks like but it looks in my mind….. like the boogie man.  This guy is one of the strongest men in the Lord I have ever met.  Full of faith, full of love and a prophet….so much so that when he speaks….I can actually see in my mind what he is saying. 

He told me today that God will heal him.  I was sick one time.  The doctors thought I had leukemia.  I just could not see myself as being dead.  My wife and I prayed about it,….they got into my bone marrow and my liver and ….. well, I did not have it.  My friend does have this advanced stage of melanoma.  He does not see himself as dead….nor does his wife….and I don’t either.

You want something today to be grateful about…..be glad you are not in my friend’s predicament…..  He said his steps are being ordered of the Lord.  I believe him.  On this Monday….curse melonama in my friend in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  Join us today in believing with him that he is healed through the stripes of Jesus. 

Oh,…. You are too by the way….  Saved, healed, delivered….Just complete. 

Tell me about it.

louie

 

Perseverence Must Finish Its Work

 

James 1:4 says that “perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

I wonder if I am lacking anything because I sure have been through an awful lot…..I have had children chronically ill…..then, by the grace of God…they just pulled out of it……   After doctors telling me I will have to live with an immune deficient condition that….before they were even teenagers,…they had numerous surgeries (over a dozen each)  and over 20 hospitalizations each…..then all of a sudden…..  Healed.  Answer to unending prayer.  My wife and I just…..hung in there and prayed. We never stopped.

So, I thought I was through all this…..then my oldest daughter has a son with some seizure problems…….will have them all his life….according to the doctors….then…all of a sudden…..he has them no more…and the doctors are baffled…..now,…another grandson who has challenges, fibromytosis, extreme bundling of muscles in the neck, reflux so bad he can not keep anything down, bending of the back, neck and now hearing challenged…in only a few months of life……………..I see some maturity not lacking anything….some perserverence wanting to finish its work…yet again in my family. 

I used to fear this sort of thing.  I dreaded it.  Now, I realize that my God is so much bigger than 2 immunosupressed children that I spent every penny I had to keep them alive….. I now realize that my God is bigger than any seizures that can come against my first grandchild…..and after a few sleepless nights and a multiple hour hike…..I saw tonight that my God is bigger than fibromytosis on my other grandson….and I got this impression after seeing my mother in a hospital after having heart issues…..Tonight!!

It is just so amazing how God can reveal Himself.  A mother in the  hospital, a set of grandsons in turmoil and a healing, loving, soothing God to tell me that He has this in control. 

Perseverance maybe is not a load of fun…..but it must finish its work…..then….maturity….   Let it finish its work….so me and you can be mature.

louie

 

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

The very first chapter of Mark is chocked full of interesting stuff.  Read it, it is so neat.  You quickly see that Jesus is on the move, is shaking and baking, is in demand…. is healing people all over the place…….and that everyone in the whole city is coming to him.  He was in Capernaum, which was an international trade route.  It was a big city on the edge of the Sea of Galilee.  It was like, Miami.  Big, bustling, business, happening and on the edge of the water……alluring, sexy. Caliente…..hot (I love south Florida).

In verse 32-33 the record states that all the sick came to Jesus for healing and that the whole town gathered at the door.  Everyone in the town was there……at the door.  It was a lot of work for Jesus.  He needed some time away…  A vacation, a 3 day weekend, a cruise….a time on the AT, and early out, time alone.    Here is what he did, when faced the night before with a lot of ……..well,…….stuff. 

Verse 35 says that very early in the next morning….while it was still dark….yep, before the alarm…..Jesus got up, left the house (where all the people were the night before and were probably camped out waiting for him) and he got up,…went to a solitary place…………where he prayed.

You got stuff crushing in around you?  You have an endless group of people wanting from you?  You have people at your door….creditors, neighbors, bosses, workers, family, friends, kids…, employees……. just stuff coming at you?  Jesus got up early in the morning……..went off alone ……  and prayed. 

I put my ipod down…… sat on my porch and just prayed….all alone at 5am.  I do this often.  Jesus did too.  You want to start off your day right?  Get out somewhere alone….by yourself…..and pray.  Please try it.  Jesus did. 

louie

 

Swine Flu Fears

So, Swine Flu is being given almost historic notoriety.  A pandemic.  Swine Flu is present in Mexico and especially in Mexico City.  When  you read the alerts, the papers, the news….it can cause some anxiety.  I am preparing to travel to Los Angels this week and see that there are cases in California. 

I have had friends call me up and joke with me about it but then some serious friends that are really concerned.  They want me to wear a mask, to cancel my trip, to “really think about it”.  I have.  I am on a plane Thursday morning early. 

The bible deals with anxiety like this.  It says in Philippians 4:6 to be anxious for nothing but in everything, with prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace that passes all understanding will guard or protect your  heart and mind  in Christ Jesus.

Swine Flu is just one more thing to worry about,…behind the economy, behind a nuclear Iran, behind the stock market, behind your health, behind the next Virginia Tech, behind the next car jacking in your neighborhood, behind your job….. the list goes on and on. 

The bible teaches about not being anxious.  Try, just try to give thanks in all of this mess and let your requests be made known…..to God. 

louie

 

With Man This Is Impossible

I posted a couple of days ago on Bernie Madoff, With God All Things Are Possible,..but I just had to come back to this….because with man…..this is impossible….so I wanted to just post about this in my life.

In about 2001, God began to speak to me about being in debt.  Now, we were not upside down at all.  We had a nice house in a gated community that we dearly loved.  We had a couple of vehicles that we were well in line with value and debt ratio.  But God was speaking to me about getting out of debt.   Now, he was not speaking to my wife….but I began to pray about this and wanted to see if God would speak to her too……and after some time He did.

We put our house up for sale….in faith….got our asking price……after some time……found a builder that built our current house…..for the amount of money we had…cash.  When we move in….I sat in the house the day after we moved in…looked around and realized that our house was paid for…….  We followed suit with our credit card….we only had really one card….and we paid it off…..then we had two vehicles….paid off one…..and now the other is left with a very minor balance….and we controlled our spending…..just put a cap on it….

I would have never felt that this was possible… but we found what God was saying to us….me first..then my wife…..and we just sort of trusted Him to work it out….and He did….  We are now able to give so much more to so many different thing that need giving…   We were able to move her mother into the house….she is now gone ( 🙂  ) and we ended up adopting a  young boy that we never could have done if we were burdened with debt.

Y0u see,…with man, our power, our intellect, our ideas, our means…..this is impossible…. but with God….all things are possible.  We may not have the cash that my friend Bernie has….. but we surely do not have the problems.

cool…  louie

 

Jimmy Page 2

Jimmy was a homeless guy that I spoke about in a previous post.  He gave his life to Christ a couple of weeks ago.  After Jimmy’s salvation, he asked me to pray for him.  He wanted a job, he wanted to be productive but he had no education and no phone and no address.  We went outside away from the crowd inside and we prayed.  As I was praying for Jimmy, the Lord gave me a word for Jimmy. 

Jimmy had  made a radical change in his life to come to know Jesus.  It was as if Jesus said that I have been waiting for you and I have a job for you.  I was hesitant, as I am when I feel the urging from the Lord, as I learn more and more to listen to Him and hear what He has to say to me.  I want to make sure it is God and not me.  I could feel the urging of the Holy Spirit telling me about a job for this homeless, uneducated, no address, no phone number guy……..and it was a clear voice…  “Jimmy, I have a job for you.  You have labored by yourself…without me…but now, rest now in Me and I will bring this job to pass…..in 14 days..”  So I told Jimmy this……I know…….you probably think this is mumbo jumbo…..that there are a lot of Christians without jobs today.  I know this.

I got a call this morning on the way to church from my buddy Mike Ellis’ cell phone.  Seemed strange…..but Jimmy was on the phone.  Mike let him call me and tell me about the job he had, the place to stay he had and the food he had.  Jimmy is now going to church with my buddy Mike at Port Orange First United Methodist, ……  they have a homeless ministry…..to turn around folks like Jimmy. 

cool stuff.   Jimmy Page 2.  God is awesome.

louie @ lmercer6@cfl.rr.com