Forget Being Neutral

No one had to convince Ted and me that Satan is real. We came out of his realm into peace with God through Christ when we were 20. Immediately we were attacked by the father of lies who was lurking, waiting to render us inoperative. His goal: (always) fruitlessness. You can take that to the bank. Together Ted and I entered into Warfare Course 101. By the time my partner left for Heaven we had received Doctoral degrees in fighting the mastor of psychology himself. Since Ted left the imposter has attacked me every which way but loose and he fights dirty. Our Abba, however, has his angels polish my armor to a shiney sheen regularly because it gets very blood-caked some days.

The closer Thanksgiving came, the more I was longing for reinforcements on my battle field and they came! Around our dining table were fewer members of Ted’s and my beloved family but we set places for both Ted and Doug. Five of our six grandchildren were here and the sixth one wanted to be. Lauren, Granddaughter #2 read Joshua 4:1-7 (regarding the twelve stones), her dad, Jeff, prayed, then each grandchild was specifically prayed for by an adult. For several days we have gathered around each other and the throne, stronger in our committment than ever to help one another fight the good fight with intelligent combat, to stand fast in the faith and be strong in the Lord in the midst of the battle in this dark and evil world. The Bible states that all human beings are victims of dark, invisible forces, but only believers can be VICTORS over them.

In Luke 11 Jesus was casting out demons. This ministry was continually questioned by those who chose to approach the scriptures intellectually, for they did not like this business of delving into another realm that they could not explain. Who DOES, for Pete’s sake? The sensationalists, maybe, but sensationalism comes at too high a cost for me. Anyway, the whole scenario in Luke 11 is the finest of “reads” because Jesus Himself wrote it! Look at verses 20-23. “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God then the Kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” Who is the “strong man”? Satan. What is the “house”? The world. Who are the “possessions”? The human race. Three great principals emerge: 1) Humanity, alone against Satan, is powerless and hopeless. 2) Only the “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ can break the grip of the “bad news” of the devil. 3) There is no neutrality in spiritual warfare. You either stand with Christ--or against Him.

Now the house is quiet for all have scattered to their own places. Before leaving, ready hands tended to accumulated needed repairs: The all-night light on Ted’s headstone is set for another six months; my dishwasher is repaired; food leftovers have been devoured or tossed; the wood supply for the office stove is replenished; the sprinkler system is shut down for the winter; the toilet bowl thingamajiggie is working again in one of the guest bathrooms; the beds all have fresh linens, ready for whoever comes for a night or two of encouragement and rest, the floors are vacuumed and scrubbed and we are all recharged by the deep spiritual partnership that binds my family together by the shed blood of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the old hymn, "Oh, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing"

HE breaks the power of canceled sin; He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me.

Love,

Jo

Put on Your Armor

When Ted and I first went into ministry and were launching many missionaries into unreached places, their reports of Satan's horrible devices to thwart God's work were too bizarre to absorb into our insulated American minds. No more. Thank you for respecting my request not to probe for details regarding my blog of last weekend. Those who did respond were relieved that I wrote it, for they too are fighting principalities and powers in high places, fully aware that Satan has indeed been allowed by God to loose his minions to attack even the elect. His favorite tool: guilt, shame and blame. I am reading Matthew 24:4-6b as I write: "...but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ...All these are the beginning of birth pains."

My sisters who are mothers: We remember well what we endured before the birth pains began. Our bellies were swollen to near explosion, our backs were in constant pain from carrying so much weight on our fronts, we could not stand, sit, lie or walk in comfort...and we cried out: "Please God, no matter how much it hurts, LET THIS BABY COME!" That's where we are today. We "Pre-Tribs" are waiting to be delivered from the rest of the prophecy of Matthew 4. Many of us are not waiting without taking action, for "the night comes when no man can work". (John 9:4) What we know as believers is that a screaming, angry child is about to be born. ...and his equally angry twin is coming with him. Maybe they are on earth now, or are just beginning the slide down their mother's birth canal, but they're coming: the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet."Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful". I Corinthians 4:2. Our nation was birthed by people who rejected the false prophets who put them back under the Law and murdered their fellow believers who wrapped themselves in the blanket of the New Covenant. These Pilgrims worked hard, fought hard, depended upon the God that had rescued them from the tyranny that had come upon the Church of England. Hard-won affluence resulted, but then, because of the fallenness of man, greed followed and their descendants enslaved hundreds of thousands of innocent people in order to increase their riches. That score has never been settled. ...yet. After greed runs its course, and it is, our country is caving in on itself as poverty sets in. God is judging this nation. (An FYI: "Replacement theology" declares this: The church has supplanted God's promise to Abraham: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE." GENESIS 12:2,3. Our Awesome God will not stand for His decrees to be chucked aside by our nation's leader.)
I have no degree in Psychology, but that does not seem to be an issue with couples(some Christians, some not) who call, ready to separate or divorce from not being able to achieve "oneness" with their marriage partner. I have run out of patience and boldly ask: "Did you have sex before you were married? Yes? Are you willing to face your sin head-on, confess it to one another, then to God, ask forgiveness and receive His cleansing by the shed blood of Christ? No? You see that question as irrelevant to your not having oneness in your marriage? ...then call another counsellor!"

My dear teenagers who gather on Thursday to study the Word will have no excuse if they choose not to "flee sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (I Corinthians 6:18-20). 

We will spend Thanksgiving with the couples and children who are left in my family. We will grieve that our Pappa and brother/son/uncle/dad are not at our table, but rejoice that they are free from all the inevitable consequences of our sin that face this nation. Let me remind you once more: SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE NOT ALARMED! Hide His Word in your heart, but PLEASE DON'T HIDE FROM THE REALITIES THAT ARE CLOSING IN ALL AROUND YOU. PUT ON YOUR ARMOR AND FIGHT!

Jo

Study to Show Yourself Approved

Ted used to say: “Satan is no pimple squeezer; he goes for the jugular!” I would so prefer to tell you a bedtime story in this blog, but my Father will not allow it. Do not query me, for I will tell you nothing further than you are about to read.

It will not be news to most of you that Satan and his minions are real. The armor we have been issued by our awesome God is quite adequate and He is serious about our donning it. Every day. This has been a week of rediscovery that the war we are fighting is “not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12. A batallion of scripture-saturated Christians was gathered by God this week to do battle and learn that 1) the focus of Satan’s plan is to freeze Christians in guilt, shame and blame so they will be blocked from bearing fruit that remains; 2) Satan does not want any believer to be freed from fear; 3) Satan wants Christians to believe that Satan has no power over them whatsoever. Don’t you believe it! You bet he does. This battallion of seasoned warriors heard the battle cry and came together when summoned to free a beautiful saint from demonic forces WITH NAMES that screamed, threatened, moaned, groaned, shouted and would not let go. We were not afraid for we all know that “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” We are all exhausted, but because of the privilege of watching the power of God and His Word and prayer in action, we are exhilarated. We were reminded of three Absolute phrases that Satan hates: The Word of God; the Blood of Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ. Think now. Why wouldn’t just the word “Jesus” send him into spasms? Why would “The Word of God” send him into a rage? Why would the “Blood of Christ” cause him to scream?

Reinforced in our understanding of Satan’s strategy is this: If the evil one and his minions can keep an adult stuck in childhood fear from mind and bodily assaults by adults (even Christian adults) he renders them fruitless because they cannot believe that they are unconditionally loved by God and are worth, to Him, every drop of His Son’s blood. LOVE FREES; FEAR BINDS. These childhood experiences must be admitted, faced full-on with scripture and prayer, sometimes requiring a team of doctrinally sound believers who come against demonic forces hidden for decades in the bodies and minds of unsuspecting, normal-appearing believers. Fear-bound Christians will not bear fruit that remains, but will often be busy in ministries. The closer we come to the sounding of the Trumpet, the more Satan is tightening his grip on believers. At one point, I asked one who would not let go if he was holding on because he did not want any more people to come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. He screamed in a gutteral voice: “NO. I DON’T WANT ANY MORE PEOPLE TO BELIEVE...” and then he shut up because he would not utter the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES.

In this God-ordained batallion this week were Bible teachers, pastors, church staff, a seminary professor and homemakers, all part of institutions known for solid, non-charismatic doctrine. He even sent reinforcements from a nearby city who thought they were coming for an overnight, restful time on our mountain. None of us will hang out our shingle as exorists; we will not join Benny Hinn, TNN or any sensationalists who market something so sacred that we are in awe of our God (In fact, we broke several times to sing “Our God is an awesome God”), we will not write any books on how to smoke out demons from their hiding places. We would all just like to rest and “...study to show ourselves approved by God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth!”

I mean it. Do not question me. I don’t even understand what we have all just experienced. I know this. Any “boxes” we may have placed around our Mighty God have had the slats kicked out of their sides.

Love, Jo

I Will Fear No Evil

This week has been too wacko to even attempt to reduce it to one transferable truth. Another translation for the word “wacko” is “confusing”. You know who is behind “confusion”. It is never our Lord. ...so until I get a dozen or so matters sorted out so I can think right, I will give you the scripture that is holding me together: ...good old Psalm 23:3b-4

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil, for You are with me

Your rod (which bops the predator on the head) and Your staff

(which hooks around my ankle and pulls us back from the abyss that backons me to just give up and fall in)

THEY COMFORT ME.

WHAT comforts me? His ROD and His STAFF

HE GUIDES ME IN PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE

IT’S HIS NAME AT STAKE; NOT OURS.

Love, Jo

October 2011

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011

THE TOUCH OF HIS HAND

Ted and I started holding hands when we were seventeen and we never stopped until Jesus tenderly removed his hands from mine and folded them into His own. I miss everything about my darling, but oh, how I miss his strong hands holding mine. While in Round Top, Texas, last week, thinking my beloved friends/hosts, Euphanel and Nick were sound asleep, I began to cry and soon the tears turned into wracking sobs that I could not stop. Quietly, my bedroom door opened and there came Euphie and Nick and gathered me into their warm, comforting arms. I shall never forget that. Never.

Loving hands. How we need them. I came from a farm family whose hands became harsh from brutal weather and the hard work of tending livestock and fowl, lifting heavy bales of hay, killing, butchering and packing every ounce of meat we ate, managing heavy machinery, milking cows, harnessing horses, planting and gathering grains and food for canning and freezing. Wash day began Monday at 4 A.M. when Mother lifted heavy tubs of well water to the stove top to heat to a scalding temperature. She washed and rinsed filthy clothes and linens until they were gleaming and ready for her clothes lines. Those hands never stopped working, making our home a spotless refuge from the beastial Kansas weather that pounded us with wind, rain and snow nearly year ‘round. Early each weekday morning, Mother sent me down the road to the one room school, lunchpail in hand, tightly packed with wonderful homemade stuff. ... no baloney sandwiches from her pantry.

Ted and I welcomed my mother and dad to California to live when they were 70 years old. They made the transition from farm to city life with a hoop and a holler. Their farm land had stretched from horizon to horizon, but never once did they complain about living in two cities with us. Both came to know our Christ in their mid 70’s when they saw Him in the lives of precious believers. For fifteen years we took them to see the wonders of this marvelous state, usually camping along the way. After the farm life of Kansas, sleeping in a tent felt like the Ritz Carlton to them. My Ted treated my parents like royalty and how they loved him. Now they are all with Jesus: Ted, our son Doug, nephew Greg, Greg’s mother, my brother, my grandparents, countless others and the One with the nailscars in His Hands.

The Spirit of God continues to run these words through my being: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands.” I Thessalonians 4:11. My life is so very easy compared to my parents’. ...but I will not quit working. The Harvest is white and the laborers are few.



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011

A (SUPER) NATURAL BIRTH

They were new in Christ and held back nothing from Him. Needing to have a break from their individual professions as an interior designer and Certified Public Accountant, Euphanel and Nick Goad purchased some acreage that included a barn, a house and a pond (“tank”, as the Texans call them) ‘way west of Houston, with the full intent of doing absolutely nothing when they could break away from the heat and noise of the city. They came to the church Ted pastored, liked what they heard, and stuck around until a couple of years later when Ted and I were ushered into the “church without walls”. ...for the rest of our lives. We could not continiue the work to which He was calling us any other way. God infused us with a passion that would never fade for people like we had once been: without living hope in this world or the world to come.

Ted and I began to escape from the city on the weekends and join Nick and Euphanel at the farm. Before long, single young people began to tag along and we had ourselves a situation: thirty kids sleeping on the floor and in the barn. One night a “blue norther” swept in and the shivering “barn kids” became “house kids” and that did it for Nick. “JoAnn, if you and Ted are going to bring these kids up here I can’t handle their not having beds to sleep in!”

Nick and Euphanel’s early-on promise to give God everything they were and had was remembered by God. He does that. He remembers, then feeds His power, provision and might into the baby He births as a result of that promise we make to Him.

An old house, and I mean “OLD” house was restored, complete with kitchen, living room and beds for thirty or so; then a little cottage appeared, then came the INN HOUSE. Euphie designed it to the scale of Noah’s Ark. We are talking BIG...and knock your socks off BEAUTIFUL! Then came barns, one of which they turned into their private home which reaches out, grabs and enfolds me into its arms when I come “home”; a two story exquisite home with Euphanel’s amazing, creative, unique touches in every magnificent room. The original farmhouse has had its rooms re and REarranged but wonderful porches with swings and rockers still beckon one to “come and set a spell!”

There is really no adequate way to describe Round Top Retreat. This is not a “camp” or remotely related to a “camp”. Without Nick and Euphanel, it might indeed be just that. ...but this is a HOME. THEIR “home”, and they share it with all who come.

God delights in plucking us out of our dinky little plans for our little lives and births (through pain, of course) something so extraordinary that we cannot fathom or report on what He has done or what He is doing. That “report” will be revealed at the Seven Year Feast with Jesus. Until then we just THINK we know what He is doing.

This past week. My dear young friend, Michele, and I particupated with Carole Lewis, her staff and women from Canada, South Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, California, Florida, Texas and states I can’t remember in FirstPLACE4LIFE (Not your basic weight loss ordeal. Look it up on the web.) We have laughed, sung, bonded at the soul level, and shared in the fellowship of His stunning LOVE. I have stayed with Euphie and Nick in their home; Michele has had a private room in THE INN HOUSE, has participated in every exercise, and the whole schmear! “... the best time of my life!”

Everyone from First Place is gone and another group is coming in from Austin today.

Michele and I will fly out of Austin for home, tomorrow, ready to go around the next bend in the river with the Lord.

THIS IS MY STORY; THIS IS MY SONG
PRAISING MY SAVIOUR ALL THE DAY LONG
THIS IS MY STORY; THIS IS MY SONG
PRAISING MY SAVIOUR, ALL THE DAY LONG


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2011

12STONESLEGACY.COM

Someone said it to me again yesterday: “What a legacy Ted left!” He did, indeed. Ted Stone was a quiet, but determined soldier for the Kingdom of Christ, considering only a few things worth fighting for: the unvarnished Gospel; the inerrancy of scripture; discipleship at a level that requires sacrifice; and his family.

At the top of our website: 12stoneslegacy.com you will see a circle of “Stones”. Our computer wizard, Heidi, gathered those stones on a California beach, and took the picture of them that you observe. (I suggest that you read what she has written on our website that explains her choice of visuals for our logo.) After Ted went Home, Heidi placed the stones in a clear, round bowl with a candle and gave the bowl to me where it rests on a glass coffee table in my living room. Those Stones represent our three children, their spouses and six grandchildren, Oldest son Doug’s “stone” remains in the circle even though he is safe now in the arms of Jesus. Doug’s soul was fought for by Satan all of his life, but the evil one didn’t win, and the war continues for the souls of his children and all the others in the circle.

It’s a dubious honor to be hated by Satan but you are, if you have “taken up your cross to follow Jesus”. ...and you will spend the rest of your days on this earth in a war. You have been given by God powerful weapons: Let’s look at the team of DEfensive weapons: the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God coupled with prayer. All other weapons of your warfare (the belt of Truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation) are OFfensive weapons. You must don them all, piece by piece (Ephesians 6:10-19). Daily. If you don’t, you will be tripped up by the world, the flesh (yours) and the devil.

I awaken every morning, say “Good morning, my Abba”, then look at Ted’s picture on the wall beside our bed, move to the living room and face my fears which the evil one has planted in my mind somewhere between midnight and dawn after my conscious mind goes to sleep. I pray around the bowl for each of the next two generations because the evil one does not want this “legacy” to continue. Tucked in and around the stones in the bowl is a card with this scripture that my Abba gave me a few years ago: Isaiah 59:21: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My Spirit who is in you and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouth of your children or from the mouth of their descendants from this time on and forever.” I claim it every morning, ask God to give me faith to believe it, and immerse my mind in scripture before the first phone call sidetracks me into thinking about someone else other than Jesus. After the double losses our family has endured, we are all vulnerable. Our enemy, the devil, is especially fond of vulnerability.

Martin Luther’s emancipation hymn comes to mind:

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD ; a bulwark never failing.
Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great; and armed with cruel hate,
On earth IS NOT HIS EQUAL.

Would you be so kind as to pray that my remaining children and grandchildren will long for the Truth from His Word with determination, resist the devil and FLEE from him? Jesus, in His powerful, loving prayer before he entered the olive grove with his disciples and cried these words to the Father: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you PROTECT THEM FROM THE EVIL ONE!” Can you hear my maternal heart crying out to my Abba with that prayer? Names of my “Stones” in the Circle for Prayer: Robin and Luke, Lance and Madison; Jeff, Carla and Lainey and Lauren; Deanna, Brent and Lexi.

Last week, my drive back and forth to Granite Bay to be with Jeff, Carla and Lainey was (thankfully) uneventful, and ever so encouraging. On Thursday of this week I will fly with Michele, my friend, to Round Top, Texas, where we will participate in a FirstPlace4Health retreat with my friend, Carole Lewis, and women from all across America. My partners, Euphanel and Nick Goad are on my Family Life Resources Board and I am on their Round Top Retreat Board, so we will tend to some business that week as well. Michele and I will return on October 15.
Remember: “On earth (Satan) is not His equal” ...but Jesus IS...”Equal to God the Father”.
Jo