Plus the Ease of Moving in God’s Will

God keeps adding to my testimony. Yesterday, he did something extraordinary.

My dad was an atheist from 1943 until this winter. He was contemptuous of Christians. God changed him recently, and he forgot his doubts. We began praying together every day. This week, I started playing Derek Prince audio for him at the assisted living facility, and to my surprise, he loved it.

I started doing this three days ago. I played audio from a few short videos. I couldn’t do it day before yesterday, because my dad was asleep when I arrived for my visit.

Yesterday, I had problems when I went to see him. He was halfway undressed for bed. We always sit outside during my visits, and it was cool, so I tried to find one of the two new jackets I got him. I couldn’t find it. They were gone. I couldn’t find the new T-shirts I got him. I had to settle for taking him to the ALF’s activity room, where it was warmer.

I should add that our visits have been changing. He used to talk a great deal. He would ask me the same questions over and over, taking up time so I didn’t have to think of ways to keep the conversation going. He stopped doing that a few days ago, and he also stopped eating the cookies and brownies I brought him. I didn’t know what to do. The questions and the food had been helping us pass the time. Derek Prince’s videos replaced the questions and food. When my dad stopped talking so much, it gave me the opportunity to play audio for him.

We got to the activity room, and I set up the bluetooth speaker. I played a bunch of videos. I wondered how far I could push my dad. Could I get away with videos that were 5 minutes long? How about 10? How many could I play before he objected?

I played something like 45 minutes’ worth of video. He leaned his head back, and his mouth fell open. He looked lifeless. I actually looked at his chest to make sure he was breathing. When I saw that he was breathing, I wondered if he were awake.

When it came time to stop so we could pray, I went to him and nudged him. I asked if we were asleep. He said, “I heard every word.” He had been resting in God’s presence.

God is really taking over for me. This is how successful ministry works; you don’t have to push it. You don’t have to chase unwilling people down and beg and bribe them, the way most–MOST–big churches do now. God will put people in front of you when they’re ripe. He will show you where to cast your net. If you have to beg and bribe, you are out of God’s will, plain and simple. You are not pleasing God. You are disobeying him, and your ministry is not sanctioned.

This is so much better than flailing away with ministry ideas I came up with on my own. That’s what most people do. They may fly off to Africa, on missions God has nothing to do with. They may open orphanages God doesn’t want them to open. Then they struggle and suffer, and instead of realizing God isn’t on their side, they glorify themselves. “I do it all for God.” “Christian life is so hard, but I refuse to quit, because I’m so holy.”

If you have to do all the work yourself, why would you glorify Jesus? Why would he want glory for things he didn’t do?

I’ve been involved in all sorts of carnal ministry ideas that went nowhere. Never again.

In other news, I’ve been writing about the meaning of the word “worship.” Modern Christians think it means playing loud music and nothing else. The Bible does not say that. It describes worship in other ways, including prostrating oneself and lifting one’s hands. Well guess what? I just found a Derek Prince video in which he agrees with me.

He mentions several physical acts which constitute worship: bowing, lifting the hands, and kneeling are examples. I’ll post his video here.

Prince encourages people to kneel. I don’t like kneeling because it’s uncomfortable and impossible to do for long periods, but I will listen to Prince. I still don’t think God wants me to kneel so long it becomes uncomfortable and distracting, but I will do it if God tells me to.

God tells all of his servants the same things, through the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible for two believers to disagree by the Holy Spirit. Impossible. There is no such thing as “healthy debate.” If we disagree, one of us is wrong. “Healthy debate” is like “Christian pride.” It’s an oxymoron, and belief in it demonstrates dangerous ignorance. God told me worship involved physical movements and positions, and he told Derek Prince the same thing. It’s true, and it works.