| July 2009 |
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Greetings all who wrestle for the Kingdom.
A Porpoise Driven Life
Before I get into the thought for the month I want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for our book release. It is out and beginning to sell. Locally you will be able to get a copy @ Parable Kregel Stores by next week and soon at the Rez Life Bookstore in Grandville. The $10.00 sale is only through our website and ends July 15th. Isaiah has a great blog post about someone reacting in a negative way to the book. You can read it at http://isaiahkallman.blogspot.com/2009/06/give-us-sign.html.
Gratuitous promotion over.
If you go to the bottom of this Update and read the quote Margie Brenner posted in Facebook you will see where the line of thought for this Update began.
Sometimes you can be doing the right things at the right time in the right way and it still is a hard place.
I have used a joke for years in my teaching that goes like this; I am a business consultant which means that my income can and does change radically from month to month as clients come and go. The result is some months we do very well and some months not so good. Basically business can porpoise in and out of financial strength. I guess you could say we are living the Porpoise Driven Life (with deep apologies to Rick Warren). The joke always draws a chuckle from the crowd as people can easily relate.
Whenever business is at the low end of that cycle, though praying and believing, it is less funny for us personally. It is difficult to understand.
Then there is the wrong number.
I got a call last month from a guy who had fallen 25 feet off a tower onto a cement pad and messed up his ankle and wrist. He was in the hospital and had dialed his Father’s number to let him know what was going on. My phone rang. The numbers are not even close to similar. As I spoke with this “wrong number” we realized that we had met in a business situation many years ago and he remembered who I was. I took the call to be an opportunity to pray for his healing (I know this shocks you all). I called for a supernatural acceleration of the healing in his body and hung up thanking God for the opportunity to pray for this man.
Then we heard ‘the rest of the story’.
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a friend and he mentioned a guy in his small group who fell off a tower and got hurt. Yes, the same guy. After the fall he reached around with his good hand to get his cell phone and call 911 for help. He miss-dialed the number but still was connected to 911. Later he dialed the number that he had punched in and it said ‘not a working number’. Amazing how God can move electricity and cellular signals to His purpose. A miracle of provision. He then got me on the phone while he was in the ER trying to call his Dad, another supernatural use of cellular technology. The report back now is that he is healing way faster than the doctors expected. Another miracle of provision. What a mighty God we serve.
My point?
In the middle of unexplained difficulties God is doing miracles and demonstrating that He is on the move in ways that can only be attributed to Him. How can one happen and the other not line up? Same God. Same people praying. Same level of faith. Hard question.
What we know is that the Word is true. If God said it I will rely on it regardless of the facts of my circumstance. If the facts do not line up with what He says is true, I will continue to press into Him, press into the Word, press into praise and worship until the truth manifests itself. My lack of understanding does not diminish the truth. I will keep pushing until I get through the crowd and touch the edge of His garment because there is healing in His wings.
That is the truth.
So, do you have problems that persist in some areas of your life? A daughter who is away from the Lord and it has been years of hard, painful prayer effort with no visible result. A financial provision that just starts to come in and then disappears into the mist … over and over again. An illness that has been prayed for yet remains. Fill in the blank with your own story. Life can be hard and sometimes we do not have answers. We certainly do not need pat answers. However, pushing into God, trusting Him, regardless of the facts of our situation, is not a pat answer. It is called faith.
It is called trust.
Faith is the evidence of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen. Not seeing it yet does not diminish the truth so don’t let a lack of sight discourage you or cause you to stop.
He is faithful so keep pushing in.
Thank God with us for these reports that we did not have long to wait for …
REPORTS: • A man was praying about what to do in a ministry situation in a town where he needed to expand the volunteer base but did not know anyone or any churches. While eating breakfast he heard the thought “go to the Marietta Diner for breakfast at 7AM”. He thought that was odd since breakfast was free and he was eating. Then he heard it again so he left and went to the diner and while there met a group of guys having a Bible study. It opened the door to multiple relationships and opportunities. Thank You Father You still guide us today. • A woman was struggling at work so she prayed specifically that God would give her a good day. She was shocked at how different the atmosphere and attitudes were after she prayed. Thank You God for making her way straight. • A man who was having fear and stress listened to our Fear and Its Impact on Healing CD’s began to understand taking thoughts captive and the fear is leaving as he unlearns bad habits and poor ways of thinking. God, we need You to transform us and You do. • A woman who is part of the WT prayed for a friend and the friend reported back ‘I feel better than I have in four years’. Also, as a result asked for prayer for a daughter who was hurting so much she could not go to therapy. After they prayed the daughter was well enough to begin the therapy. God you are amazing. • A family that was restored via prayer years ago returned to say thanks and to bring a friend in need of prayer. Father, may Your reputation grow and the name of Jesus expand by the testimony of Your works. • A man asked for prayer for a granddaughter who was still in the womb. The Doctors had found that the Esophagus was attached to the lung and not the stomach and they would need to do an emergency operation the day she was born. We prayed via the box and also in small groups for the situation. The Grandfather told his son “I believe God is going to put the Esophagus back into proper position and that is what we are praying. The report came back that now the Esophagus is in proper position so it must have been a miss-diagnosis. Thank you Father for confounding the wise. • A woman was having trouble breathing and is fighting Lupus and Diabetes. She went into the hospital but by the time the Doctors came everything was normal so she was sent home. We bless you Healing Lord. • A story came in from a man who burned his fingers on a rack in the oven. He had been coming to the “W” for a bit so he prayed and the pain left and there were no blisters either. Father, You are gracious to Your children. • A woman who had gone through two back surgeries was using a walker and weighed 90 pounds. She was addicted to opiate medications and was fighting severe suicidal thoughts multiple times a day. Through prayer she has been free of all pain and depression and suicidal thoughts since July last year and now works as a waitress. How amazing the God we serve. • A woman was at Mars Hill for the White Bucket Sunday (if you have money put some in, if you need money take some out). She was out of work for ten days and needed money for rent. She humbled herself and went up and grabbed a handful of money from the bucket. It was exactly what she would have made if she had worked the ten days and she paid her rent. Your name is provision. • A woman was down to 93 pounds and could not keep food down. She was prayed for at the “W” and now she eats normally and the food stays down. Yes and amen. • A woman had swelling in her leg and it was hot to the touch and painful. She is a nursing student so she had some idea it was not good. She called the Doctor who had her go to emergency immediately. She sent texts asking for prayer on the way. By the time the Doctors came to examine her and do the tests the leg had gone back to normal and there was no pain or swelling. They sent her home. Her daughter was with her and gave testimony that it was indeed swollen and red and not good and everyone praised God for the result. Oh yeah. • A man was called to pray for a Pastor’s wife who was having seizures. She had been dealing with them on and off for twelve years. He cast out a Deaf and Dumb Spirit and she felt a change for the better but said she felt like something was holding her hair. They prayed again and she was immediately freed. God, You are indeed greater than he who is in the world. • A woman prayed via the “box” for her small group that the relationships would be healed. Within a week God moved in peoples hearts and the relationships were healed. Father, You love unity in Your church. • A man who had been unemployed was told by the Holy Spirit “go back to work” so he called his old employer and out of hundreds of applicants he was re-hired. Provision is Your name. • A young man was having car trouble and then his car fully died. He was praying and asking God for direction when a family friend called and offered him a 2008 Honda for free. We bless you Lord for above and beyond what we could ask or think. • A member of the WT had a sales person offer to take less on a transaction to help the company out. Father, You move in people’s hearts to bless Your children. • An intercessor was called to pray for a 93 year old woman who had a stroke. The daughter was not sure of her mother’s salvation so they prayed that God would confirm it or give her a chance to share with her mother. An unusual situation rose where the daughter was alone with her mother and her mother woke up. She then acknowledged that she indeed knew Jesus and was at peace. Two days later she passed away. Thank You Father for answered prayers and Shalom. • A young boy was in a group of men who were not Christians at a hospital where a man who had been in a motorcycle accident was being cared for. The boy, who is ten, asked if he could pray for the man. They said yes and he prayed like he had seen us pray at the “W”. A few days later the man came out of his coma state and the people acknowledged that it was right after the boy prayed. Father, give us child like faith when we pray and bring complete healing to this biker to glorify the name of Your Son. • A man came to the “W” with a broken toe. He fully intended to seek prayer for healing but in the course of praying for other people the pain disappeared and he forgot. Thank You God for healing, sometimes even before we ask.
Here are some additional things to be aware of as WT members;
OPPORTUNITIES: · Please continue to pray for the staff and workers at Mars Hill. · Please pray for the team that is in the process of identifying and bringing in a new Teaching Pastor/Shepherd to work alongside Rob. They need wisdom and the mind of Christ to see with spiritual eyes the person who is needed. · Please continue to pray for Ted and Claudia and the OMWB as they speak and minister; o For the release of our book “Stark Raving Obedience”. www.starkravingobedience.com or http://www.prayershop.org/SearchResults.asp?Search=Stark+Raving o July 17th and 18th we will be teaching the Healing Prayer Series @ Bethel Family Missionary Church in Reed City, MI and the OMWB will be leading the worship. o July 26th the OMWB will be leading worship at the Gun Lake Chapel South of Grand Rapids o August 1st OMWB will be playing at a fund raiser/block party for United In Christ Ministries in the Black Hills area of Grand Rapids. o August 21-22 we will be having a regional Church Prayer Leaders Network conference in Grand Rapids. This conference will be in support of the publication of our book Stark Raving Obedience. Ted, Claudia, Isaiah and others will be speaking and leading breakout sessions. Location will be at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville. o There is a tentative date, as of today, for August 16th for Ted to teach the AM Services at Dexter United Methodist Church in Dexter, MI. o August 28-29 Hearing and Healing Prayer Conf. DUM (this too is a tentative date) o We are also planning on additional conferences in Dallas (CPLN Regional Oct. 9-10), Nashville, and the Chicago area. · The June team leaders for the Sunday Wrestling Team activities will continue to be Steve and Ruth Zwierzinski and Joe Martino. They will be “on the ground” before and during the services to assist with any questions or prayer needs that might come up.
You are appreciated and prayed for often.
Ted and Claudia Kallman Wrestling Coaches
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - G.K. Chesterton.
"Both the Scriptures and the history of the church teach that if the Holy Spirit is working, the whole man will be involved and there will be much cost to the Christian. The more the Holy Spirit works, the more Christians will be used in battle, and the more they are used, the more there will be personal cost and tiredness. It is quite the opposite of what we might first think. People often cry out for the work of the Holy Spirit and yet forget that when the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God, weariness and tears and battles."
Ted Kallman 616-634-2918 www.prayerleader.com/content/view/1007/5/ CPLN Conference Registration This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ted Kallman 616-634-2918 www.prayerleader.com/content/view/1007/5/ CPLN Conference Registration This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
