A Place To Meet Jesus

“Your Investment In Relationships”

When I was a younger man I was taught by successful entrepreneurs that I needed to obtain as many friends and relationships as I could. This resulted in my going to as many trade show conferences that I possibly could, to collect business cards of people that I would randomly talk to. Then I would try to remain in contact with anybody I could find that would help me build my pyramid to success.

What I did not realize was that many of those relationships were draining from me the very force of success that God Himself was putting inside of me. It was like God was giving me money and I was putting it in my pockets, but my pockets had holes in them that were draining everything out of me. As a result I was always broke ~ not just monetarily but also spiritually.

It was at this time that the prophet Paul Cain came to me through a very incredible series of events. His secretary called me one day and said that Paul Cain wanted to meet me at his hotel. The next morning I went to the hotel and the front desk told me he had just checked out an hour before. They said he had left no message for me (or anyone else) about where he was going.

Two days later his secretary again called me and said Paul Cain was back at the same hotel and wanted to reschedule a meeting with me. But this time could I come by the hotel at 10 AM the next morning. When I got there the front desk notified me that Paul Cain had checked out a half hour earlier. And just like before, he left no word as to where he was going.

When I drove back to my house I was really curious about what was going on. Paul was supposed to speak at our church the next day, Sunday, and he never showed up for that event. I knew something had occurred but since I didn’t understand what was going on I just left it up to the Lord. Monday morning the secretary called me for the third time.

“I need to explain to you what has been going on,” she said. “Paul Cain had two heart attacks when he was at the hotel and they happened to him just an hour before your appointment with him. Paul is in the hospital in the Bay Area and felt that you might as well come and see him there because he must give a message to you.”

As you might imagine now I was really curious. What on earth was going on? This was one of my first times to meet Paul Cain in person so I immediately drove to the hospital. I found him lying in the bed with hospital wires and cords connected to his body! Though his condition looked pretty serious at that moment, he spoke to me about something that has affected my life ever since.

“Richard,” he said, “the Lord has taken me in a vision over California and I saw that all of the highways were deconstructed and the connections were cut off. God is deconstructing your personal highway and relationships and He is cutting off all your previous connections because He is going to reconnect you. But the Lord gave me a warning and said these connections will be made at 5000 feet, which means they are going to be very perilous and dangerous for you and the person you connect with. So you must be careful about every connection.”

I know this was an unusual way for God to speak to me about the friendships that He was going to give me, but it has made me realize how valuable each connection is and not to be taken lightly. As I have begun to meet new friends and form new relationships at this higher and more dangerous plane, I have realized how the fruits of the Spirit ~ love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance ~ are attributes that are so important for the continuation and the care of each connection.

Not only am I to be friendly, kind, gentle, and loving with these people, but also I am to become an intercessor and pray for them that their success is blessed with the presence of God. Yes, I can’t connect with everyone I meet. It’s impossible to do such things. But I can connect with those that the Lord has chosen for me, and these I want to affect in the kindest, most gentle, most loving way that is humanly possible.

God is making my relationships my most valuable asset, and of course the diamond in the center of all of this is Jesus Christ Himself. When I wake up in the morning the first connection I want to make is with Jesus, and when He wants me to pass out spiritual gifts to the people He is connecting me with.

Right after I had finished writing the above sentence, one of my daughters came in and told me she had an emergency in the kitchen and that she needed eggs from the local grocery store. I hopped into the car and when I got to the local market I discovered there was only one carton left in the egg section. I grabbed it and headed to the cashier. I found there was a long line and time was ticking. I finally arrived at the cashier while holding the carton in my hand.

Suddenly the man behind me said, “Wait a minute!” He ran to the back of the store, got a reusable bag, brought it to me as I continued to stand line, held the bag open, and gently placed my item in the bag. I thanked him for his kindness and then completed the purchase. After I turned and left I didn’t notice I had forgotten my debit card on the counter of the register. The same gentleman picked it up and hurried out to give it to me.

I suddenly realized that the very thing I had been writing about in this blog was happening to me from this perfect stranger. He was so elegant and so kind in his actions. As I drove away from the local grocery store I wondered, “Had I met someone who was just like Christ?”

“The Divine Wonderful Miracle Of Today”

I am finding it hard to literally describe how wonderful this year has been ~ as I search through my mind for words in the English language that would truly do justice to the wonder of God’s daily operations in my family’s adventurous-driven life. My answer to this great conundrum ends up being: it is as wonderful as today. Let me today explain.

Those of you who have know me for years have seen that I’ve always been driven for success, pushing the envelope as hard as I could ~ even taking extreme risks that I thought were necessary. In the last few weeks I have been questioned by many of my old friends who have known me since my younger years. They asked me what had happened to all of my great visions and dreams. I asked the Lord what I should say to them and the Lord told me, “Tell them to look you up in the New York Times.”

What the Lord was telling me was so important as to how I was to view myself. For Jesus said, “If I honour Myself, My honour is nothing: it is My Father that honoureth Me.” So I asked the Lord, “Why did You have me tell them to look up my name in the New York Times?” The Lord told me, “Because they are New Yorkers and that’s where the answer to their question will be answered.”

All my life I’ve sought the praises of men, so I would always I listen to what my elders told me. When I was a teenager leaving high school, they told me come up with a plan for my life. My ministerial leaders told me to make up a five-year plan and follow my plan. Everyone said, “Plan, plan, plan!” Now that I have turned 61, I am entering into the crowning-jewel years of my life. This is the time when the best actions I could ever accomplish will occur. And it is finally at this maturity in my relationship with God that I’ve learned it’s time for me to put aside all of my efforts and to rest in the perfect will of God.

Everything that He promised me He would do is happening now. But none of it is by my own human and intellectual efforts. Instead of planning, I am resting in the words of Jesus. Yes, there is no five-year or 10-year plan ~ or even a two-year plan. Instead, there is the simple childlike activity of listening daily to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and obeying every single action that He tells me to do each day.

The worry about tomorrow is gone. In the place of fretting is the expectation of what God promised me in His prophetic word. It is all going to come to pass exactly as He promised me. And this year I have seen Him fulfill His promises in my life on a day-to-day basis. The Lord promised my family a beautiful European vacation, and God fulfilled exactly His word.

God exceeded all of our expectations on our trip and paid every single expense, so that I came back with not one penny owed to anybody! Then the Lord fulfilled other promises that were so impossible, and they have already come to pass. As I look back at the first six months of this year, so much has been accomplished that it’s almost like a breath of wind had blown these miracles into my life.

Some of you might have seen the stress that I am facing, but that is not a true view of the picture. Because by God narrowing my vision down to one day at a time, it has been joy, upon joy, upon joy! In the opening sentence in the famous classical book “A Tale Of Two Cities” the author says, “It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.” Wow! How this classical phrase describes today. If you look at the news and the world around us, you will get the perspective that this is the worst of times.

But if you look at a Christian, and their joy at seeing God’s miracles working every day in their personal life as He fulfills every single thing He promised, then you suddenly see this is the best of times and that time is “today.”

It is so essential that each one of us take this second perspective, and first remember what the Lord promised you in His words to you privately. Then each morning as you wake up to greet the day, lay there in bed praying in the Holy Spirit until you hear His voice speak from your tummy and tell you what He wants you to that day. This is God’s voice.

That is why the apostle Paul, in the book of Hebrews, wrote these words: “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” What this simply means is, whatever God speaks to you to do today do not resist it, do not brush it off. Instead, become obedient to exactly what He says for you to do.

Yesterday I was driving with my old friend Rabbi Shimon, who lives in Israel. We drove by a hospital and the rabbi said, “What’s that there? Who’s in there?” When I heard his words I knew it was what the Lord had spoken to me when I was waking this morning. The Lord had said, “Anything the rabbi asks you to do, do it.” I looked up at the hospital and realized it was where my old friend Mike Gopaul was staying.

I asked the rabbi if we could go and see Mike. The rabbi is not in very good health and was not able to walk up the stairs to Mike Gopaul’s room. So I went into the hospital, borrowed a wheelchair, and rolled the rabbi up to Mike Gopaul’s room. Suddenly the anointing of God came upon me and I begin to prophesy good health to the rabbi and to Mike Gopaul. Through faith I know that I will soon see Mike Gopaul completely healthy, in church at A Place To Meet Jesus.

Miracles like this will happen every single day if we will just listen to the still small voice of God. This has been the best year of my life, but I can’t wait for the rest of it to unfold before me. That’s because every promise God made to me prophetically is coming to pass. And the same will happen to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Confess And Declare The Victory God Has Given You In The Thoughts And Intent Of Your Heart

Last week in our Sunday morning service, we all experienced a move of God’s Spirit as He was making everyone completely debt free. I realize that we’re not yet there physically, so you might not understand what I am saying. This was not a positive thinking money-management idea. It was a miraculous move of God! God does the impossible, and brings money to you to pay off your debts, through means that are completely unimaginable.

In the message I explained how Sandy and I managed our money and completely brought ourselves to a debt-free status. Then to my surprise, numerous hospital bills suddenly plunged us more into debt than we had ever been before. This literally shocked me and at first I was extremely discouraged.

But then God explained that He needed to show me this situation because I was the leader of the household of faith and people must know that when God makes us debt-free by His power ~ we are free forever. The apostle Paul explains the situation in Romans the eighth chapter. He told us that if we live after the flesh we will fail because the flesh brings death. But if we live by the Spirit we will have life eternal.

Look, I am just like you. I like things that I can see and touch because it gives my flesh a sense of control. Yet the ways of the Spirit seem to be elusive and hard to understand, and sometimes appear to be just a breath of wind. This makes our flesh feel uncomfortable. To our own reasoning and understanding it seems to be a violation of all natural laws. That is why faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Everything I am telling you about becoming debt-free flies right in the face of the accountant that looks at your balance ledger and tells you what it’s going to take for you to get everything paid off, and how long it’s going to take with your limited income. It is very similar to what the doctor tells you about how long it’s going to take for your body to naturally recover from a devastating sickness. (Or even worse, you have a sickness that is unto death and the doctor says you cannot recover and will die.)

We are surrounded in our church by literally hundreds of people who’ve had miraculous healings occur in their physical bodies. That which was going to kill them ended up being destroyed by the Spirit of God! For His purpose and your testimony is why so many of you have been healed. God has not only extended your life, but has made you look 20 years younger!

The Lord has spoken to me and told me that it is time for you to confess the miracle of God upon your personal finances. Yes, God loves you personally and is bringing you to a debt-free status. But it even goes further than that! He is going to increase your wealth and position of holdings to the point where you will have extra money, property, and land to lend to other people.You will be the lender and no longer the borrower.

It is so important for you to confess this. Not through the words that I am speaking, but use the King James Version of the Bible and find Scriptures that agree with your financial position. Then speak what God is going to do, and the wealth that He is placing in you and your family’s hands. Jesus did this when He faced the devil.

The Lord confessed, “It is written…”Jesus was quoting the word of God as it applied to His personal position, right there against the devil in the wilderness. So it is that you must confess the word of God as it speaks concerning your position in San Francisco, and what God has personally promised to you in this great city.

I cannot do this for you, as it must come out of your heart. Your thoughts and intents must come out of your mouth, and you must confess them! This last week the Lord spoke to me about our Christian academy, “A Renaissance School,” that we must confess we are going to have 200 students enrolled this year, and that we need to prepare for 500 students coming very soon. It is time for every employee of the school to confess God’s intentions upon His school. Right now is the time! The Lord renamed the school to perform His will upon it.

The Wonder Of God’s Ways

The prophet Isaiah speaks about the excellence and sophistication of God’s ways when he says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.” And most likely my most important personal intellectual revelation concerning the ways of God is: not one ounce of my personal intellect and reasoning power can replicate or understand the wonder of God’s ways. At my best I can merely observe them.

In 1992 our church had extensively planned a crusade in the country of Liberia, Africa. But to our chagrin we suddenly discovered that the expensive event and rental of the outdoor coliseum was in the middle of West Africa’s monsoon rainy season. The missionaries and local church pastors advised me to cancel the event, even though the $120,000 worth of plane tickets had already been purchased.

I went to the prayer room and cried out before God and He told me what I should do. The Lord spoke to me very simply and said, “Keep the event on the planned date because I the Lord will stop the rain.” This was the first time in my ministry that God told me He would do something that was literally and physically impossible.

I remember the biblical story of King David when he faced Goliath the giant. Before that, David had two experiences with the LORD that showed him the ways of God, when he fought a lion and a bear. In each instance God had given him victory over his foe. And in each experience David had learned the way of the Lord and was willing to trust God in faith because he knew God’s way of answering his prayer in battle.

This is exactly what I felt when I went to Liberia with my church. I realized that we were in the middle of the torrential monsoon season. Every day it rained so hard that the streets of Monrovia had literally turned into rivers and people were sailing boats down the street. Yet the people of our church had so much faith that they passed out posters that said: “God will stop the rain.”

Finally the day of the crusade came and it rained all day long. It was unbelievably wet. I’ll never forget when Sandy and I were sitting in our hotel room, which was across the street from the huge stadium. At 4 PM my wife said, “Honey, maybe we should just wait until God stops the rain before we cross the street to the stadium.” I smiled at her and replied, “Babe, if I’m going down, I’m sinking like the Titanic ~ in front of everybody.” So huddling together we crossed the street to the huge stadium where it was still pouring down rain, I walked up onto the platform and began to pray with an African pastor, Brother Ja.

The meeting was to start at 7 PM and here it was, 6 o’clock, and it was still raining. But five minutes after six Doug Lanza came running through the stadium yelling, “Get Pastor Richard! He’s got to see what’s happening!” I hurried off the stage and joined Doug. As we looked up at the sky above the stadium, we saw a huge hole opening in the clouds. In 30 minutes the stadium was dry (remember, this is torrid Africa) and we started the service! For four days in a row, at 6 PM every night, God repeatedly stopped the rain over the stadium!

Through this experience I begin to learn the ways of God and how God desires us to have faith. I am now 60 years old and in a few hours I am going to turn 61. During the last six months I have gone through one of the hardest tests of faith I’ve ever experienced in my life. But once again I am learning the elegant and coveted ways of God.

After a wonderful week of prayer with intercessors in Santa Maria, I met with the prophet Paul Cain and he questioned me about the trial I was facing. I knew that his question was a test, whether I would waiver concerning what the word of God had told me. When I answered him, “I’m going to trust the word of God no matter what consequences I face,” I felt a huge personal release in the Spirit.

Now, a few hours before my 61^st birthday, the Lord has told me to read Isaiah 61: ” The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This is the greatest day to be alive because I feel His anointing is upon me to bring good news to San Francisco! After all, it is the way of our God.

Pastor Richard Gazowsky

“The Excitement of God’s Renewal”

One of the events in the Bible that always fascinated me as a kid was the story of the three Hebrew children who were cast into a Babylonian fiery furnace that was seven times hotter than it had ever been. I always thought about what had to be going through their minds. The king of the nation had made an offer to them that if they would just bow to his idol they wouldn’t have to die. Their response really amazes me, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” How clear they made it to the king! It was as though I could hear the excitement in their voices about going into the furnace. When they were cast into the furnace, all of the cords binding them were burnt off and they were free. Even better than that, there was a fourth man in the fire that looked like the Son of God. Can you believe it? They met Jesus!

The spiritual reality displayed in the story is that difficulties sometimes are the things that free us from that which is keeping us bound. At the same time, it renews us in a way that nothing else ever could do.

Recently, I have been going through a heavy trial both upon my shoulders and my heart, and I have been praying deeply to have this thing removed. Yet, an amazing thing has been occurring; instead of my expected results I find that I am being freed from other things that were binding my life. Wow! This is just amazing! The fiery trial that I was facing was actually God’s renewal of my entire personal life. What a blessing a trying fiery furnace can be!

Let me clarify something; I am not advocating that anyone should undergo trials or difficulties, but am rather trying to make it clear to those of you in the midst of a trial that it may be God’s renewal, and you are really being “born again”. The Scripture says “…all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.” The key word that pulls it all together is “together”. You have to take the bad with the good and realize their ultimate purpose.

“Al-a-carte or Would You Like a Set Meal?”

This spring my family went to the French city of Lyon. We did not know at the time that this was the gastronomical paradise of France. Many times my wife Sandy had heard on the food network that dishes were called “Lyonnaise” cuisine but she did not know that the reference was to this wonderful city in the center of France. The old section of the city is literally filled with hundreds of restaurants specializing in specific French cuisine. We also discovered that there was a restaurant in this wonderful city that is actually depicted in the Disney movie, “Ratatouille”.

When the five members of my family sat down in the elegant, world-class restaurant, the two sections of their menu pleasantly surprised me. One section was al-a-carte from which you could order individual items, and the other section was a “set menu”. The set menu was refreshingly helpful because it had set prices for complete meals making it very easy for us to purchase a family brunch knowing the price of the entire meal with no surprise costs. To our family’s wonderful amazement the set menu was so detailed that it included little extras in the meal that we would not have known to order. Misty, for example, ordered an onion soup that was made with fish that had been roasted and ground into savory dumplings and then put into a fine sauce. The onions were added to it and fresh large croutons were given to her to place in the soup at the right moment; it made an incredibly wonderful experience for Misty! Rocki enjoyed potatoes cooked in four different and original ways, and she still remembers it as a thoroughly unique experience. The most wonderful thing that our family enjoyed was that the set menu was complete, including even desert and beverages. The chef provided every delicious detail in the set meal price.

This week the Lord has shared with me that miracles occur in the supernatural like a “set menu”. God gives a simple word that promises He will do something specific for you. When He told Moses to place his rod in the Red Sea, it was like a “set dinner” for Israel. All the details for the parting the Red Sea were taken care of, including the removal of the Egyptian army.

Many of you have heard the story about how my daughter Rocki Starr was given as a download from the Holy Spirit the skills for writing a complete symphony score. The gift that God gave Rocki was so complete that it included even nuances that I, as a skilled musician, did not know. I remember hearing the Budapest Symphony Orchestra play her score with the violas and trombones doing complex harmonies that satisfied even the most discerning critic from the first chair of viola section who wrote, “Daring music, Rocki”. When I saw this note that the viola player had sent to Rocki, I realized that the Holy Spirit had taught her how to score parts for a symphony orchestra in just ten days. This complete package was like the complete “set meal” in the French restaurant; God had provided every single minute detail.

God told Moses that His name was, “I am that I am.” The meaning of this carries a very simple message: God is everything that you need at the moment you need it. I mentioned to you last week that the Lord told me He would teach me how to be kind, but now He has enlarged this revelation to say, “I will show you how to be like Me and serve every need that your fellow man has.” Wow, how awesome it is that God could make us servants to everyone and help answer every single problem by plugging them into the power of God! It’s an awesome thought!

Anne Lanza gave me another beautiful thought for this week; “Pastor Richard, going to church on Sunday morning is beginning to feel like a trip to Disneyland!”

As the prophet, Timothy Snodgrass, said… there is so much fun and “goof” ahead for all of us!

“To Walk with God”

It’s amazing that only two people in the book of Genesis were spoken of as having “Walked with God”. Not until I realized how important my personal relationship with God was did I begin to realize how important this characteristic was in the lives of these two men.

To walk with someone is both to be in sync and to be able to keep pace with that person, which in itself is a tremendous feat when you are talking about the God of the universe. A large percentage of mankind doesn’t even know what it’s like to be in the presence of God, let alone walk with God. But to have this privilege is one of the strongest desires a great man can ever possess.

Most men will have this desire in great times of need. For example, a president about ready to lose a war may cry out to God for salvation, but since leadership is often so involved with self- importance the president may not have spent time walking with God, and so he calls on a mature man of God.

The reason I describe such a scenario to you is because most important people when they are really distressed realize that only God can save them. The amazing aspect of this realization is that God is willing to walk with anyone whether they are poor and destitute, rich and famous or great and powerful. It does not matter to God; He’s willing to spend time with anyone who desires His presence.

Now I come to the heart of this blog: God is willing to spend time with any one of us, but are we desirous of spending time with Him?

Over the last few years my relationship with God has become extremely close, but many of the things that drove me to this relationship were physical. For example, having congestive heart failure and the spending 14 days in Kaiser Hospital, realizing that any day could be my last. When you go through an experience like that, you begin to understand where your priorities are, and I understood my greatest priority was seeking the presence of the Lord every single day.

I began to seek God on a consistent daily basis like never before and to my amazement I found that God is such a wonderful, enjoyable, and pleasurable friend and that every day He has new adventures for me to experience and fun things to laugh about and to accomplish. Also at the same time the success that comes with this personal relationship in God blesses me with many physical things, and if I’m not careful these physical blessings can become a distraction from my personal relationship in walking with God.

I am constantly on daily alert to make sure that God is with me in every moment, every meeting, every free second; this is my highest priority in life. A casual observer might say this kind of relationship with the Lord is impossible, but that is not true; it’s actually the way I believe all of us are supposed to live. Jesus said these words, “I can do nothing unless I see the Father do it.” When I first read this verse of Scripture I thought it was just something that only Jesus himself would do because of His high relationship with the Father. As I grow closer to God I begin to realize that as a leader in the church, I should be doing the same thing, and therefore do nothing unless I see the Father do it.

Now I am coming to the realization that every single one of us would be wise to have the same intimate relationship with the Father that Jesus had, not doing one thing unless you see the Father doing it. This is walking with God.

Those that Endure to the End

The Tour de France, which is currently in it’s 9th of 21 stages, began this year on July 4th. The race was started over 100 years ago and is based upon the single concept of this Scripture, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” This very powerful concept which Jesus taught is displayed so eloquently in the Tour de France, which goes on for 21 days, and just over 2,000 miles through the hills and roads of Europe.
The race involves almost 200 professional bicycle riders who race towards ownership of wearing the yellow jersey at the end of the 21 stages in the race. Only one rider can win this extreme endurance test. What amazes me about the Lord’s statement concerning endurance is that He says those who endure are the people who are going to be saved; endurance is a big portion of our race. By endurance, I believe the Lord is referring to your faith: that it does not waver, and you are consistent in your belief that God will save you. This faith is tested in extreme ways which I never expected. In all of this, you must be consistent and as solid as a rock in believing what God originally told you to do. Stay there, even if it looks like the ground underneath you is going to collapse in an earthquake. You must stand solid and say, “What God has called me to do, I am going to do!” In my case, this means being a pastor in San Francisco and staying until God brings the revival He promised to our city.
Endurance brings you to the edge of every one of your emotions; at this same edge, you must decide if you are going to waver or stay steady. A week ago, I went with some friends to see the newest Terminator movie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Three times during the film, the message was made to the main character, “Stay steady, straight on course, do not waver.” To me, this message was very simple and was meant for our church in San Francisco. We are to stay on course, no matter how confusing everything is around us. The timeline of expected events may change, but God never changes. The things He called you to do have never changed; they are the same exact things you’re supposed to do now! Stay steady on course. Remember, it’s a race of endurance, and with endurance everything around you can change, but you must stay steady.
Oh how important the message of endurance is to all of us. Paul said, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” He was saying the promises of the Gospel will only benefit us if they are mixed with faith. 24/7 Faith. That means that you and I must wake up in faith, talk in faith, sneeze in faith, laugh in Faith and even go to sleep in faith.
In this year’s Tour de France, my favorite racer is Tejay van Garderen. By the seventh day of the race he had remained steadily in third place, 13 seconds behind the leader. Remember, this race is for 21 days and in the sixth stage of the race, the current leader broke his collarbone and was taken out of the race. Sometimes in the race of life, an unexpected accident can stop you from even competing in the race, but you need to be steady and unwavering (even if they take your bike away) that you’re going to stay in the race. Tejay’s racing team BMC explained how they protect him in the race from crashes. Two bikers will follow him and weave back-and-forth saying, “Before you run into TJ you are going to run into us! We will crash before you are allowed to hurt TJ.” Wow! I could see the dedication of those who were called to protect the main racer, and how we must protect all whom God has called to the vision.
This week brothers Timothy Snodgrass and Gershom Sikaala both have made extreme gestures to protect your pastor and keep him in the race. It is this kind of love that will help us to truly endure to the end.
Pastor Richard Gazowsky

“Time To Demonstrate Power”

When you enter into the world of successful entrepreneurs, the one thing that every investor wants to see is a demonstration of your idea or invention’s power. What can you do for people, how can it affect the marketplace, and most of all how can it make prosperity?

When a person comes to this place, many in the business world call it the “tipping point.” This is especially true in the kingdom of God. There is a point where you must demonstrate God’s power. This is the point where the kingdom of God is established in your life, your family’s life, your community’s life, and your country’s life. The reason I used so many references was that when God operates He affects everything that you touch ~ from the smallest thing to the largest. Everything is influenced by a true genuine demonstration of God’s power.

We as a church and as a people have come to that point in time where God is willing and ready to demonstrate His divine power in our lives. This occasion is very rare. With Israel it happened once in 40 years. With us I don’t know how long a window will be open to walk through. I just know that the window has opened and this is the time that God is going to demonstrate His living power before us.

It is important that each one of you enters into the Holy Spirit-constructed bubble of peace and just listen to His divine voice. This is the peace that passes all understanding and it is important that you remain under the Holy Spirit’s protective cover so that you may receive all of the blessings that God’s miraculous power is bringing to you. The enemy is so clever that he will try to refer you to your past mistakes and warn you that the blessing is not real, it’s too big, or it’s just too wonderful to be true. Believe Jesus! It is true! It is happening! The blessing belongs to you!

To be perfectly honest, this blessing that Jesus is ready to bestow on you is the rock and foundation that your entire family’s history is going to be built upon. Believe me when I say this is the true foundation of your future life. I now understand that my future life is built entirely upon faith, which is the “substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things that are not seen.”

This is the foundation that Moses built the nation of Israel upon, the foundation that Christ build the church upon, and the only foundation that is going to last in your life and mine. So let me say it again, today, at this time, is a demonstration of God’s miraculous power. Receive it, as it is going to build your foundation for your great future!

“The Secret To Having An Adventure”

It’s amazing how a word from God can turn an otherwise boring day into an incredible adventure. Take this actual historical event. Moses, a sheepherder, had been working at the same job for 40 years. One day he sees a burning bush and says, “Wow! I think I’ll step aside and see why this bush is burning.” Wow! He didn’t know it, but at that exact moment God was about to light up an adventure that would not only drastically change the life of Moses, but would dramatically alter the lives of 3 million slaves and the history of the world.

Of course this is one of the most extreme examples of having one day turn into a lifelong adventure recorded for time immemorial. But it’s not the only time it can occur. It can happen to every one of you ~ today, right now at this time, especiallythis time! The secret to receiving the great adventure is to first know how to hear His voice:

“And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” This is actually one of the most precious skills you can ever possess in your lifetime.

Now here I must be very honest with you. For a large part of my adult life I could not distinguish between my excitement and desire for wanting adventure ~ from the still small voice of God that speaks in my heart. To make matters worse, I was at a position of leadership where I was able to accomplish many things because of my desire for adventure. There was just one simple piece missing in my grand adventurous puzzle. That was, God is the Alpha and Omega, and the beginning and the end of the adventure.

He must start it, provide every intermediate step along the way, and finish it. It’s wonderful how simple it sounds. But it took me a lifetime to discover this secret. Oh, but now things are different! Because I now realize how God’s adventures work, I can enjoy the complete process of following His every step. And this is where the real fun begins! Learning to listen to His simple instructions, learning to follow the prophetic task no matter how significant or insignificant it might seem to be. Before you know it, the little seeds of faith you plant today will become a forest of trees that are full of adventure!

Over a year ago the Lord spoke to me when I walked into a Starbucks café. He said simply, “Ask the barista if there is something you can pray for.” Little did I know, this little act would become a great adventure of miracles, signs, and wonders. You just don’t know what exciting adventure lies in store for you as you continue to learn to hear the voice of God!