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Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sunday Wrapup

Double Cheeseburger with Bacon and Jalapenos from a local Food Festival

Find the cat in this picture. He really is there. Answer at the bottom of this post.
Click to enlarge photo



Flower Girl goes rogue during wedding ceremony

 Portofino, Italy

1928 MGM Logo shoot





The dumbest thing I have ever seen anyone do. This guy jumps without a parachute into a net on the ground. 

His wife and child were there on the ground.

How do you market religion to the worker who has everything? With startup buzzwords, a slick website and catchy music.

The cat is on top of the middle wood pile, second log down.

"Say something nice."

This Is Legit, that Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (86 CE – 161 CE) had the most peaceful reign of any ruler in antiquity. 

There is no record of any major events or conflicts during his 23 year reign.

He was a skilled administrator and was praised by his contemporaries for his effective style of governance.

America Uses Stealthy Submarines To Hack Other Countries' Systems (washingtonpost.com)

When the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump asked Russia -- wittingly or otherwise -- to launch hack attacks to find Hillary Clinton's missing emails, it caused a stir of commotion. 


Russia is allegedly behind DNC's leaked emails.

But The Washington Post is reminding us that U.S.'s efforts in the cyber-security world aren't much different.

(could be paywalled; same article syndicated elsewhere From the report: 

 The U.S. approach to this digital battleground is pretty advanced. 

For example: 

Did you know that the military uses its submarines as underwater hacking platforms?

 In fact, subs represent an important component of America's cyber strategy. They act defensively to protect themselves and the country from digital attack, but -- more interestingly -- they also have a role to play in carrying out cyberattacks, according to two U.S. Navy officials at a recent Washington conference. 

"There is a -- an offensive capability that we are, that we prize very highly," said Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, the U.S. Navy's program executive officer for submarines. "

And this is where I really can't talk about much, but suffice to say we have submarines out there on the front lines that are very involved, at the highest technical level, doing exactly the kind of things that you would want them to do."

The so-called "silent service" has a long history of using information technology to gain an edge on America's rivals. In the 1970s, the U.S. government instructed its submarines to tap undersea communications cables off the Russian coast, recording the messages being relayed back and forth between Soviet forces.


 (The National Security Agency has continued that tradition, monitoring underwater fiber cables as
part of its globe-spanning intelligence-gathering apparatus.

 In some cases, the government has struck closed-door deals with the cable operators ensuring that U.S. spies can gain secure access to the information traveling over those pipes.) 

These days, some U.S. subs come equipped with sophisticated antennas that can be used to intercept and manipulate other people's communications traffic, particularly on weak or unencrypted networks.

 "We've gone where our targets have gone" -- that is to say, online, said Stewart Baker, the National Security Agency's former general counsel, in an interview. 

 "Only the most security-conscious now are completely cut off from the Internet." Cyberattacks are also much easier to carry out than to defend against, he said.

***

From the Odyssey files:

 
Government Brain Invasion.


The network that the military uses to communicate with the subs around the globe is one of the most successful sophisticated encrypted resources of all time.

Only one major problem.

Apparently human beings can pickup on the communications.

Not audibly as you would normally hear with your ears, but in their skulls.

It sounds as if were coming from inside your head.

To those sensitive enough to notice, it is exactly like a very fast Morse code key that they are "hearing."

It is dim and very faint so most people start to notice it when they have their head on their pillows at night and it is quite.

The signal can go for days and then suddenly go silent for a time before starting up again.

The governmental spin doctors have been working real hard to get those who are aware of the signal to believe that it is a medical condition much the same as Tinnitus.

And that you need meds to control it as if it were possible.

If you check out some of the Tinnitus forums you will see that there are people out there without a clue as to why they are getting the Morse code signal.

Some describe it as hearing "Typing."

The very low frequency of the military source signal resonates in our skulls.

You may be one of the unfortunate ones who can pick up on the signal without even being aware of it.

Tonight, when it is quite and you are in bed, concentrate on listening and see if you are picking up on very fast Morse code.

Most people are receptors but are not even aware of it until someone points it out to them.

Just for some added bonus interest here are a few fun links:

The Lilly Wave.

 http://disinfo.com/2012/12/conspiracy-theory-with-jesse-ventura-season-three-episode-7-season-finale-brain-invaders/


Another aspect of electromagnetic brain invasion.

As always we are only reporting what is out there on the net and make no assertion as to the verasity of these things reported here.

We only want to mention the data to you for fun and your enjoyment.

Oh...by the way...

High-Frequency Electro-Magnetic Pollution Remover

:-)

So where do you stand in your political leanings? Step right up take this test and we will guess to your amazement where you are on the political scale of things..


27 strange non-political scenarios will appear.

 Please respond honestly and alone and we'll guess your brain's political ideology.

Note: if you are using Safari on iOS, you may need to scroll to see all options. There are 5 responses for each scenario.


START TEST

Saturday, July 30, 2016

How Do You Get Into The Ministry If Your Hearing God's Calling?

Are You Being Called Into The Ministry?

What is a call to the ministry? 

 A call to the ministry.


Let's see what the scriptures show us that the above link doesn't go into...


A. God hath set some in the church. 

There is indeed a divine call.



1 Corinthians 12:27

King James Version (KJV)

27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

28And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

1. Ephesians 4:11 says "Jesus gave."

 This passage says "God set."

2. Notice this Corinthian passage calls the Body of Christ the Church.

 The Church is the Body of Christ.

 The Body of Christ is the Church.

Not a congregational brand name church or a brand name fellowship or a geographical place or building.

 Not organizations.

 People have always become loyal to their brands and organizations.

B. God sets ministry gifts in the Church- not man.


1. There is a vast difference between God's setting some in the Church- and man's setting some in the Church.

2. A study of Church history reveals how down through the centuries various groups have endeavored to get back to what they call New Testament practices.

They've set up organizations which often were something man manufactured- something in the flesh, something carnal.

They "called" and "set" people who had no divine calling into certain offices.

This is unscriptural.

God does the setting.
God does the calling.


C. You do not enter the ministry- any phase of it- just because "you" feel it is a holy calling and you'd like to respond.


1. You cannot make yourself a ministry gift.
2. It is dangerous to do something just because "you" want to do it.


D. You do not enter the ministry because "someone else" tells you that you are suited for it.


1. Don't go because somebody else called you.
2. Don't go because your mother called you.
3. Don't go because your father called you.

There is a divine call. Recognize whether it is on your life and don't go out without it.


E. How can you tell a divine call?


1. You will have the conviction in your own spirit.
    You will have the witness in your own heart.

"You will know that you know."

2. God deals with man's spirit.

3. Learn to listen to your spirit.

A. Learn to listen down on the inside of you and you will know many things you don't otherwise know.

B. But if you are just messing along in the world, about half~dedicated, half~in~half~out, because you are living too much in the carnal area, carnality will dominate you and you won't be conscious of your spirit.

C. If you are fully dedicated and consecrated to God to do anything He wants you to do, you will become conscious of that something inside you.

d. There will be a divine compulsion on the inside of you.

F. The methods by which men are called are unimportant.

 But obedience to the call is important.


1. If methods were important, the Bible would emphasize them; it does not.

2. The Bible has much to say about obedience.

3. Sometimes God does move in extraordinary ways.

But this is not always the rule.

God can move supernaturally naturally in plain old ordinary ways.

A. Sometimes people will have visions.

 Paul did.


B. Prophecy. Ministry gifts are not set in the Church by prophecy.

There may come a confirmation by prophecy through others.

Acts 13

1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

Barnabas and Saul were not called by prophecy. They were not set in by prophecy or by man. God just confirmed something by prophecy.

1. If a so~called prophecy does not confirm what you have in your own spirit, forget it.

G. Seeing a need is not a call to ministry.

1. If we are not careful, we slip into the attitude of the Church in general that seeing a need is a call.

 This is not scriptural.

THIS IS NOT A DIVINE CALL.

2. Naturally, as Christians we see a need, we are concerned about that need and will endeavor with all the ability we have to minister to that need.

That is scripturally correct.

But it is not to be confused with the divine call to the ministry.

H. An anointing evidences a divine call.

Some who are not currently in ministry are very anointed beyond your average Christian and others recognize it.

I. If God didn't call you to full time ministry, don't try to get into it; you will be a misfit.

J. Knowing that you are divinely called settles the matter once and for all. 


There should be no confusion on the subject.

I am not moved by what I see.
I am not moved by what I feel.
I am moved by what I believe.

Learn what spiritural things are, they are more real than natural things.

Learn to look to your spirit.

Your spirit will tell you.

Your spirit will tell you things your head doesn't know.... 

 

 My friends and i have discussed the question "How does one get into the ministry?"

 

We have over the years seen some get into the ministry in very simple ways.

 

 Greg Laurie, who I had the honor of witnessing coming to Jesus Christ out on the lawn of our high school during a Friday lunch, is a good example.

 

 He had the call from the beginning of his walk with God.

 

He was eager and ready to share Christ with anyone.

 

 He went to a baptismal service at the beach one summer night.

 

He did not know that he had arrived early and thought that he had missed the event.

 

 He saw a lot of people hanging out so he stepped out in faith and addressed them collectively with great boldness.

 

 The Spirit of God moved.

 

Then he began to share in home bible studies.

 

Eventually God opened the door for him to take over a fledgling ministry which grew into what it is today, "Harvest ministries."

 

I was once asked by my son to participate in one of his friends home bible studies.

 

The friend was having trouble with cocaine and sexual purity in his Christian walk.

 

He had repented and figured that if he had a weekly bible study in his home he would walk the straight and narrow.

 

It was on Mondays that he started to have the Bible study in his home.

 

There was the friend, my son and his wife and myself initially.

 

Just the four of us.

 

We all faithfully attended every Monday.

 

Eventually a few people trickled in.

 

We didn't advertise or promote.

 

Next thing I know the living room is getting full of people who started attending.

 

The friend converted his garage into a meeting room.

 

He put in a professional drop ceiling with lights, carpeting with thick padding,  well painted dry wall.

And he made a platform area with amplifying equipment.

 

I figured the young men should get used to mics since they may get called into ministry and would be used to them early on.  

 

The meeting after a year was starting to over flow with people.

 

Word about the home Bible study was getting out in ways that only God knows of.

 

We had visitations of the Holy Spirit and supernatural things during those meetings.

 

One young visitor to the Bible Study got saved and ended up leading a Bible study on his college campus with over 3000 students in attendance weekly


Then Satan stepped in and my son's friend back slid and chose to go back to his old ways.

 

We disbanded the fellowship because it was his and in his home, he led the Bible study.

 

And the fact that when confronted the friend outright said he was choosing the sin over walking with God.

 

So it was over.


But the main principle here was if you want to be in the ministry then get in ministry.

 

Start a home bible study.

 

 To give you a idea of how we do it:

 

Our format was first to sit around fellowshiping while people were still arriving.

 

 

 

 

Then worship.

 

Then teaching of the Word of God.

 

More worship afterward.

 

Then we would put a seat in the middle of the room, asking anyone who needed prayer or a Word from God to sit in it.

 

Everyone would gather around the seated person and lightly lay their hands on them after the person had expressed their needs or reason for sitting in the "Hot seat/Love seat".

 

We would pray over them in turns while being open to what ever we felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to share with them.

 

Since this event took place after the above steps, most Christians were tuned into the Holy Spirit and were quite sensitive to His leading.

 

Words of wisdom and knowledge with prophecy were common during this time.

 

 Every single time, with out fail, the one prayed over would be comforted and edified.

 

They always would remark upon the deep sense of peace that permeated their soul after being prayed over. 


We totally attribute this to God, none of us has the ability to do this for anyone.

 

This is how one can easily enter ministry with out any life changing upheaval.

 

I have seen brothers enter the ministry at this level and go on to establishing churches.

 

It baffles me how otherwise intelligent brothers who believe they have been called to the ministry can't grasp the simplicity of this at all.

 

They agonize over how they have been called but nothing ever happens for them, no open doors as it were.

 

Year after year they believe that they are called but God never does anything with them.

 

God can't really open any doors for them yet because they are unprepared for the ministry they were ultimately called for.

 

Greg Laurie used to quote Bob Mumford from his sixties book "Fifteen Steps Out."

 

  ( Another great book of his is Take Another Look at Guidance: A Study of Divine Guidance as always we here have no financial interest in recommending books. )  

 

The quote Greg used is, "You can't steer a parked car."

 

If these stuck, "called" brothers would step out in faith and start a home Bible study then God could begin to steer them in the right direction with open doors of opportunity.

 

We tell them this, but quite frankly they just don't get it so they live a miserable life knowing that they have been called but nothing is happening.


What did Jesus own brother James tell all of us?

 

 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:17

 

Why expect anything to happen if we don't even have works?

 

Oh man James was tough, he goes on to say, 

 

" 18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” 

 

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.…

 

Every one in ministry at this exact single moment has a testimony of how they got started out in ministry.

 

Bob Mumford's books share his journey into ministry.

 

They didn't just step out on a stage and kazam they were instantly in the ministry.

 

Unless they took over daddy's church and were given the opportunity by default.

 

It takes time and effort to start out in the ministry.

 

 
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin,..

 Zechariah 4:10 

 

To sit around expecting some miraculous open door to suddenly appear one day for you to be in the ministry is not how it happens at all. 

 

You have to bloom where your planted, it begins right where you are standing.

 

That's right.

 

 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you...

Joshua 1:3 

 

Believe in your calling first.

 

That is where ministry starts.

 

Then believe that God has given you the right to have a Bible study where you are standing.

 

Either in your home or the home available to you for a Bible study.

 

God is giving that Bible study to you and will bless it!

 

Be faithful to it.

 

One Monday night no one showed up at my son's friend's Bible Study but myself.

 

That didn't stop me from attending.

 

I was there every Monday for an entire year and watched God grow it.

 

I honestly believe that friend of my son would have been able to start his own church, the crowd had grown so big before Satan tempted him and successfully took him out.

 

All of this is so simple.

 

Start a home Bible study.

 

Be faithful to it.

 

Don't despise the small beginning.

 

And watch God miraculously add people to it until the day comes when you will have to rent space in a nearby church or store front.

 

This is how Pastor Brant Baker of Shekinah Fellowship started out in ministry.

 

This is how you also will start out in ministry.

 

Your faith doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you have no works!

 

No wonder why your confused and bewildered about your own calling that was so very real when it came but now seems only a distant memory.

 

You have to begin small, you have to start a home Bible study.

 

No getting around this small formality.

 

God has to grow you, get you used to people in a ministry/ministering capacity.

 

Cause you to know how to deal with the issues of ministry.

 

You have to learn to feed His sheep on a weekly basis and be disciplined.

 

You have to be able to dig into the Living Word of God and set forth spiritual nourishment for others as well as yourself.

 

All of this just doesn't happen without you stepping out and starting that home Bible study.

 

America sends no one out into the field of battle without bootcamp training.

 

 This is where your transformation from civilian life to the Army world begins—from bidding farewell to your civilian clothes, getting your Army haircut and getting ready to become physical fit for service.

 

Rarely will you find someone in the ministry who did not start with a home Bible study.

 
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. 

 

Indeed, you are still not ready.

1 Corinthians 3:2

 

Personal growth comes with the experience of having a home Bible study.

 

You grow up into the ministry there.

 

If your called and have not even started a home Bible Study, you are missing out on the all important gateway to full time ministry.

 

Just ask anyone in ministry.

 

The bulk of them will confirm these words to be correct.

 

Get off that high and mighty attitude that hinders growth and quit despising small beginnings.

 

We all have to take baby steps before we can walk.

 

Everything starts with a small seed.

 

If that seed never touches good soil it will never bear much fruit.

 

Seeds wrapped in a napkin are of no use to anyone.

 

Bloom where your planted and start a home Bible study now! 

 

Grow up in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 

 

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  

 

When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 

 

  12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.…

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 

 

There will be uncertainty, it will be uncharted territory for you at first as you stumble your way around.

Sometimes you need to step into the Jordan River, like the priests of Israel, before God will part the waters.

And sometimes you need to wade into the Jordan seven times, like Naaman.

Only God could miraculously heal Naaman's leprosy, but he would have forfeited the miracle if he hadn't positioned himself for it by repeated obedience.

So while some miracles take only a single step of faith, others require multiple attempts.

But whether it's ankle deep or waist deep, you've got to wade into the Jordan River.

Sometimes you've got to do the natural before God will do the supernatural.

But in due season you will grow into the ministry and you will be ready when God opens up the door of opportunities for you.

Because your faith will be associated with your works.

And one day you will realize that you are of a certainty in the ministry. 

You will then be a blessing to many for you will have gone through the boot camp of God!


So don't hesitate, get that home Bible study started in obedience, you have stalled for way to many years O called servant of God. 

I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You have been chosen of God and called of God.

I set forth before you the path that you will need to take in order to be the man or the woman of God that God would have you to be.

This is the time for growth this is the time to set aside those things that so easily beset you.

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, let us throw off everything that hinders and let us strip off every weight that slows us down, the sin that so easily entangles.

 And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,


 Hebrews 12:1

 Time for you to grow up, time for you to go to God's boot camp training program.

What are you waiting for?

You have the calling and you know it.

Now get out there and put forth the effort to get in spiritual shape for the ministry.

There is no better place to obtain spiritual fitness for the ministry than in a home Bible study led by you!

You are being called forth O man of God and woman of God to grow up this day.

You now have your orders from on high.

If this day you hear the voice of God, Be obedient, respond to His calling over your life.

You have been recruited into God's ministry, ordained not of man but of God.


 In this case, moreover, it is required in the stewards, that one shall be found faithful.

 1 Corinthians 4:2
 
 Remember God doesn't call capable men and woman to the ministry.

He makes capable men and women whom He calls to the ministry.

You will always need to go through God's boot camp training ground before you will truly be released into the ministry for which you have been called.

I know where of I speak.

This has always been the way of God and there can be no getting around it.

This is the process by which you will one day find yourself in the ministry for which God intends for you to function in.   

Make the decision to enlist in the home Bible study boot camp of God and be faithful to it. 

Or you can continue in your fairy tale existence believing that one day God will wave his hand over you and you will be instantly on the spiritual battle field without any training what so ever. 

Can you imagine the men and women of our armed forces having no training and being put in charge of others with no training?

Confidence and skill development in ministry does just not happen with out proper training.

Those who do endeavor to complete the course of God's training camp will one day see that moment of graduation and the doors of opportunity will indeed be opened by God Himself.

 Get motivated.

 And I run toward the goal to take the victory of the calling of God from on high in Yeshua The Messiah.

Philippians 3:14

If this message has resonated with you, would you please pass it on to others whom you believe are called to ministry.

It could very well be the nudge that gets them moving forward, that gets them unstuck.

The Church is in need of those ones that God sets in the Body of Christ.

But there is also the need for understanding of how God supernaturally uses home Bible studies to develop the growth of those whom God has called.

 All recruits must go through boot camp which is extremely challenging.

Home Bible studies are God's Recruit Training Depot.

 There is only one boot camp to turn men and women into able ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Isreal Has More Fresh Water Than It Needs California Should Pay Attention!

We in California could learn from them!


Israel has more water than it needs.

 The turnaround started in 2007, when low-flow toilets and shower heads were installed nationwide and the national water authority built innovative water treatment systems that recapture 86 percent of the water that goes down the drain and use it for irrigation — vastly more than the second-most-efficient country in the world, Spain, which recycles 19 percent.

 The Sea of Galilee is fuller.

Israel’s farms are thriving.

 And the country faces a previously unfathomable question:

 What to do with its extra water?

 In 2008, Israel teetered on the edge of catastrophe.

A decade-long drought had scorched the Fertile Crescent, and Israel’s largest source of freshwater, the Sea of Galilee, had dropped to within inches of the “black line” at which irreversible salt infiltration would flood the lake and ruin it forever.

Brant Baker And The Jesus Revolution



Brant Baker was born March 12th, 1948 in Santa Monica, California.


Brant accepted Christ in 1964, at a Billy Graham Crusade in San Diego, California.

I was present at that same crusade as a young kid.

 A man named Jim Prescott had helped out my fatherless family financially at a time that was critical for us.

He was a Christian and took my whole family to that crusade.

I accepted Christ 3 years later through the street ministry of Lonnie Frisbee in 1967 in a hippie hangout house in Newport Beach California.

 I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues at that time.

 Lonnie introduced me to Brant at his clothing store on 17th street in Costa Mesa California.

In 1968 Brant witnessed the first miracle of his life at a Kathryn Kuhlman service at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

By then my family was living in southern California, I was also present at all of those Kuhlman Healing services.

Shortly after that Brant Began attending Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and studied the Bible extensively under the teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith.

I also started attending Calvary Chapel the summer of 1967.

Following a youth rally in 1971, Brant received a vision from the Lord, to give out the Bread- the Living Word of God.

Several months later a small bible study, led by Brant Baker, started and grew rapidly.

 God told Brant that He would use him in a healing ministry, and gave him the scriptures, Jeremiah 33:3 as a promise.

The ministry expanded, with people receiving salvation, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, healings, and incredible anointed teaching from the Word of God.

In 1972, Brant was ordained in the State of California as a licensed minister of the Gospel, and Shekinah Fellowship was incorporated by the state as a recognized church organization.


The group took on the name of Shekinah Fellowship, intentionally meaning those who fellowship in the presence of the Glory of God.

While praying at his grandmother's bedside, Brant had an experience with the manifested Shekinah Glory of God and it marked him deeply.

 I have seen the Shekinah Glory during Brant's services at Shekinah Fellowship.

 I could actually see a physical white fog engulfing the room as the experience of a sense of Holiness descended upon everyone in what was a powerful manifestation of Almighty God.

 This happened quite a lot in the early days of Shekinah Fellowship.

Further expansion reached out to the surrounding area with outreach services, and a television and radio ministry.

In 1974, the "Body Ministry" became a major part of the service.

 Workers move among the congregation in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as Brant ministers from the podium.

 Many miracles were wrought as these vessels of God moved together in one accord.

 They became what was called the "Word~of~knowledge workers."

 A pattern that was seen at the Kathryn Kuhlman healing services.

There was great fruit.

 Thousands upon thousands, from every walk of life, every segment of society have found salvation in Jesus Christ through this ministry.

 Thousands more have been touched, blessed and healed by the miracle working power of God, so actively a part of the Shekinah Fellowship services.

In 1976, the West Coast Theater, 333 E. Ocean Blvd, in Long Beach, California, with a seating capacity of 1,800 became the home and administrative headquarters of Brant Baker, Shekinah Fellowship.

It was here that the corporation became "Brant Baker Ministries."

The Marquee out front reflected this declining change.

 It said in large black letters at the top "Brant Baker" and the next line under that in smaller letters said "With Jesus Christ" as observed by me one day as I drove past it.

 I recall thinking to myself at that moment, "This marks the beginning of the end for that ministry."

Because of the hunger for more of God among the multitudes, many phone calls and letters from all over the world have been received for Brant and the Shekinah Fellowship Team to travel.

In September of 1979, Shekinah answered a call to "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel."

The corporate office of Brant Baker~Shekinah Fellowship was located in Glendale, California, with a mailing address in Glendale, California.

Brant's vision for the ministry was that it would be an effective means of preaching the Gospel, bring about unity among all denominations, making people aware of their place in the Body of Christ, the Church, and the soon coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with confirmation of the Word, with signs and wonders and miracles following.

 "My place is to point the way to the one who can meet your needs.

 I can't do anything to help you, except to point the way.

 I'm no better than anyone else, I have no miracle working ability, but I believe that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever," Brant would say.

Brant Baker preached the uncompromising Word of God and expected to see miraculous confirmation of God's Word.

Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle.

 Thousands of people have been healed through Brant's ministry and tens of thousands have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

As a result, Brant had continuously received hundreds of requests to minister from all over the world.

Some of these request have taken the ministry across the United States and others have led to different parts of the world.

 In 1979, Brant and the outreach team traveled to the Midwestern part of the United States for two crusades in Des Moines, Iowa.

The first was for three days.

 Because of the great response, they were invited to return for an eight day "camp meeting."

This led to television and radio airplay of previously recorded miracle services.

In December of 1980, a visit to the Philippines brought forth a week of miracles.

 From the first press conference to the last miracle service, the people of Manila could see the moving of the Holy Spirit in Shekinah Fellowship.

This was a confirmation of the Word of God that was preached in each service.

 As Brant has often said, "My place is to point the way to the one who can meet your needs."

The trips to the Philippines, was sponsored by the Alleluia Fellowship in Manila.

In the spring of 1981, Shekinah Fellowship was asked to conduct a special week of services during Easter at Jerry Barnard's church in San Diego, California.

 No one could have known the impact of these services in the San Diego Area.

Due to live television coverage by the Christian Communications Network, thousands were touched by the moving of the Holy Spirit.

In response to the many request from churches and communities throughout the Western states, Brant traveled extensively, sharing the message God had given him.

Brant passed away November 26th, 1985, in a Glendale hospital.

 He was only 37 when he died.

A victim of aids.

Brant had lived a gay life style, but God chose him and moved through his ministry like He did with Lonnie Frisbee.

"Many of us in full time ministry can trace the beginnings of our work to those early days at Shekinah Fellowship.

Like the other Elders and Deacons, I was unusually young for the ministry - 17, in fact! - when I came on staff in 1972, and I marvel at the level of work and responsibility we took on at such an early age.

 But we'd come together with incredible zeal, a striking variety of gifts, and a conviction that Christ was coming soon, so we charged ahead, certain of our calling.

 And who but a bunch of bold, naive, Spirit-filled kids would have dared to do it?

I will always remember Brant as one of the most engaging and passionate men I've ever known. When I attended his funeral I felt a sense of loss that's with me today, as he etched himself on my life, and on so many others, indelibly."

It was a Saturday night.

The auditorium was dark accept for the flood light that was focused on the long haired young man.

He had a guitar and was about to share a song with all of us.

There was an expectancy in the atmosphere of that place.

 It was good to be there.

The man started to sing a plaintive song, "Adam, where art thou?"

The Holy Spirit was present and smeared all over that song as it was being sent forth by this young man of God with simplicity.

There was another young man of God sitting at the keyboard of the piano on stage.

He sat quietly in the dark at the periphery of the spot light as the song was being sung.

This team set the table for what was about to happen, but that is another story.

What I want to focus on here is the song that Randy West shared with us and Joe Dallas who was the piano player.

"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"

This was not the call of the police authority, but the call of yearning love.

A father's love for His own.

 God's question to Adam still sounds in the ears of every sinner:

 'Where art thou?' 

It is the call of Divine love which offers redemption from sin.

It is the call of sorrow, which grieves over the sinner.

It is the call of Divine love.

To each and everyone of us the call is reiterated, 'Where art thou?'

It was not Adam who sought God, but God that sought Adam.

 No coincidence that your eyes are upon this text at this very moment! 

Sure you think that your doing ok, that you are not included in this cry of God's heart.

 You are exempt from this because your full of Xtian activities and such and above this state of Adam.

Scripture tells us that, "There is none that seeketh after God." Rom. 3:11

It was God who sought out and called Abram while he was yet in idolatry.

 It was God who sought Jacob at Bethel when he was fleeing from the consequences of his wrong doing.

 It was God who sought out Moses while a fugitive in Midian.

 It was Christ who sought out the apostles while they were engaged in fishing, so that He could say , "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you."

It was Christ who came to seek and save that which was lost.

 It is the Shepherd who seeks the sheep, and not the sheep that seek the Shepherd.

How true it is that, "We love Him because He first loved us." 

The Deity stooping so low as to care for and seek out you and I, the dust of the earth.

You have come here, just now, because God Almighty has desired to knock upon the door of your very life. 

To rejoin you in His love.

Now Adam, who heard the voice of God, reacted in a curious way.

He and his wife "hid themselves" from Him.

Will you hide yourself also?

 Man's conscience then did not bring him to God-for there must be the work of the Holy Spirit- they were terrified and ran away from God.

 They sought to hide themselves. Are you also hiding?

He was Holy, they were sinful, consequently they were afraid of Him and sought to hide themselves.

Most are uneasy in the presence of God and wish to hide from Him.

They become uncomfortable in their sin, so they seek to flee from Him.

When God sought out Adam and brought him face to face with his guilt, he was given fair and full opportunity to confess his sin.

"Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" 

And what was the reply?

How did Adam react?

Instead of a broken hearted confession of his sin he excused himself- "And the man said, The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." 

 It was the same with Eve:

 "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?"

 And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

 Attempt was thus made to shift the responsibility upon others.

Are you doing this just now?

It was not working, it was unavailing and man stood face to face with a Holy God and was convicted of his guilt and unspeakable shame.

 And just as it will be at the Great White Throne judgment day.

1. The discovery that something was wrong with himself.

2.The effort to hide the shame by a self-provided covering.

3.Fear of God and an attempt to hide from His presence instead of confessing his sin but seeking to excuse it.

This scenario has not changed much through out world history.

But salvation is provided by God Himself!

Mercy desires to spare the offender and because justice demands death, another shall be slain in his place.

 The death of the Son of God is shadowed forth in the very act of God upon Adam and Eve.

He clothed Adam and Eve with skins, and in order to obtain these skins animals must be slain, life must have been taken, blood must have been shed!

And in this way was a covering provided for the fallen and ruined sinner.

The application of the type is obvious.

The Death of the Son of God was shadowed forth.

 Because the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for the sheep God can now be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Adam and Eve were entirely passive, it was the Lord God who furnished the skins, made into coats and clothing them.

We see the same in the parable of the prodigal son. when the wanderer had taken the place of a lost sinner and had owned his sin, the grace of the Father's heart was displayed.

 "But the father said unto to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." Luke 15:22.

The prodigal did not have to furnish the robe, nor did he have to put it on himself, all was done for him. And so it is with every sinner.

"For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the grace of God." Eph. 2:8

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isa. 61:10.

Let us come to our senses and come to God, just as we are, and allow Him to cloth us with Christ.

Christ Jesus our salvation, our covering from our sins. Our Redeemer.

Romans 3:24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Colossians 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Hebrews 9:12
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Thessalonians 4:14
 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

You can have confident assurance that if you died today, you would go to heaven.

Confess your sins to God and ask Christ into your life, believing that He died for your sins and rose from the dead.

That service in 1973 with Randy West and Joe Dallas has stood out in my mind all these many years, because it was the heart of the Father that they shared with us kids...

They were anointed servants of God in a powerful way, smeared with the oil of the Holy Spirit, speaking a message that is timeless of salvation for all who hear.
 
Funny thing though, I can not for the life of me recall what the pastor, Brant Baker, shared with us that particular evening...hmm...

Brant is with the Lord now, that anointing- in all of its Glory and all of its power- has not disappeared forever.

"When I first came to a service I knew that is were I belonged.

 It was in a small store and we all sat on the ground and listened to him preach.

We soon moved into a foursquare Church.

Many people started to attend the Sat night services and it soon grew to fill the large church.

The choir was wonderful.

I remember Joe Dallas at the piano and the various singers.

 I remember that before each service Brant would be waiting on the side of the stage praying , eyes closed or raised, hands folded or uplifted to the Lord.

As we all sang worship to God the room would fill with a cloud of Gods presence.

 It could literally be felt and seen.

There were many healings that I saw, and I can testify to one that I saw before my eyes.

I was on stage with Brant and Randy West, while people came up to testify of their healings.

 A lady came up and she was healed of a illness but her hands were still twisted from arthritis and as Brant started to pray for her , I saw her hands straighten out fully.

 Brant said, "did you see that" Yes, I did.

There were times when it was hard to stand next to him as you could feel the presence of Jesus ever so softly.

We all Loved the Lord and looked only to do his will."

 I walked down the aisle 40 years ago, was at least 6-8 feet away from Brant, he looked right at me, held up his hand, said, "In Je..." and the next thing I saw was my blue Nike Cortez shoes as I raised my head off the floor.

Sweetest nothing that ever was had swept my conscious self away like a feather and I was out on the floor for a brief moment.

 I didn't plan it.

I certainly didn't fake it.

I really didn't know what was going on: some friends who brought me to the service gently suggested I go forward along with everyone else pouring into the aisles toward the front where Brant was beginning to move through them: "In Jesus name...In Jesus name..."

Then the afterglow service and the presence of the Holy Spirit so powerful.

Exquisite warm liquid light.

The guy next to me was trying to get me to join the chant the rest of the room was chanting.

Everyone was speaking in strange languages.

 But for me it wasn't happening and I was not about to fake it.

Then the Holy Spirit.

 Oh man I can never forget.

 "Lord," I said in my thoughts, "any more and I won't be able to keep my knees from giving way."

I was left standing.

 So gentle.

 So like God.

Liquid love and light running all through me and I was left standing.

Authentic.

Unforgettable.

***

So where are the ones called to ministry of God's manifested power in miracles and signs and wonders?

Sure there are a lot of places hyped up emotionally and acting out soulishly.

All claiming to have what in actuality they have not.

One you taste of the real of God you can't settle for anything less than that.

You will be on a life time quest to find what you once knew was so real and so powerful.

Few in ministry can set aside personal gain, set aside wanting others to know them and about them, it cost a lot to be in a place of usability where "He must increase and I must decrease" so that the power of God can flow.

Come O man of God!

Come O woman of God!

If today you hear His voice respond to the voice of God.

Rise up and have faith.

Come forth in ministry!

Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Through whom you can do all things.

With man it may be impossible but with God all things are possible.

It's a beautiful day.

 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Isaiah 52:7

Our God reigns!