Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (12 page)

1.
The story of Bob Jones’ angelic encounter is used by permission. Bob Jones and Paul Keith Davis White Dove Ministries
www.bobjones.org
.

2.
The article by Peter Tan is used by permission. Eagle Vision Website
http://www.eaglevision.com.my/txttestimony.htm
.

3.
The story of John G. Lake is referenced from;
John G. Lake—His Life, His Sermons, His Boldness of Faith;
pages 132-133. Copyright 1994 Kenneth Copeland Publications Fort Worth, TX 76192-0001;
www.kcm.org
.

4.
Editorial, “The 462
^nd
Saint, The True Signifigance of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina” by Reverend Father Nicholas Mary, C.SS.R.

5.
An overview of the life of Maria Esperanza can be found at
http://www.spiritdaily.org/Prophecy-seers/Esperanza/Esperanza_story.htm
.

6. The article of Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj’s vision is used by permission. Jesus Ministries
http://www.jesusministries.org/tibetan_2.html
.

7.
At the Master’s Feet
by Sadhu Sundar Singh is public domain. Translated from the Urdu by Rev. Arthur and Mrs. Parker Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh, 1922.

8.
Corrie Ten Boom,
Clippings From My Notebook
, Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House Company.

Of course, we understand that even when a person receives a mantle, that does not guarantee a person will be a success. Much has to do with work ethic and his or her level of devotion to the Lord. For instance, you could be a very gifted athlete with great natural ability. However, that natural talent and gifting by itself is not enough to make it to the very top. An athlete must train hard and put in the effort necessary to win. I’ve seen several guys who never lifted a barbell in their life and never worked out in a gym, yet they still had outstanding muscular development due to great genetics inherited through their family line. As blessed by the Lord as they are, they could still never measure up to someone who
competes in a top caliber bodybuilding competition. Those guys who compete professionally in that realm have great genetics
plus
an incredible work ethic that places them on an entirely different level.

Having come from a competitive sports background, I can relate when it comes to training and preparation. All through high school and college I competed in track and field as a middle distance runner and enjoyed modest success. While in college I had a desire to study martial arts, so I joined a Tae Kwon Do school that was taught by a Korean Master Instructor.

After college I continued to train in Tae Kwon Do and, with a lot of hard work, I became fairly good at it. Soon I began competing in tournaments all over my home state of Texas and other states as well. In order to better prepare myself for competition, I would cross-train with other martial artists who practiced different styles. Often I would spar with those who trained in Karate, Judo, Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu, and Aikido. Although my primary discipline was Tae Kwon Do, I would still compete in other tournaments to better develop my overall skills. Once I even competed in the Karate World Championships in the Men’s Black Belt Division.

Even today, as a minister, I will cross train with any Christian who can share more insight about the Lord and help me walk closer with Him. To me, it doesn’t matter if you are Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, or whatever. No single person or denomination
has all the truth. We can all learn from each other because we all make up the Body of Christ.

Having learned from other martial artists outside of my particular group proved to be very useful. One of my best sparring partners was well skilled in Karate and he was very good with his hands. Training with him increased my punching skills as well. Little did I know that the day would come when I would have to put these skills to use in a life-threatening situation.

It happened back in 1992, late one night when I was leaving a weekly prayer meeting in Lubbock, Texas. It was about 11 P.M. and I was escorting one of the lady church members to her car when an armed man approached us in the church parking lot and said, “Get in the car! We’re going to go for a little ride!” Well, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that this ride would be a one-way trip with no survivors. The young lady I was escorting totally froze up in fear and couldn’t speak a single word! However, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and with authority I said, “We’re not going anywhere with you!” He said, “Get in the car now, or I’m going to blow you away!” When he said that, someone about 50 feet away in the distance walked by on the sidewalk and it was enough to distract him for a split second. Instantly with my right hand I reached low to block his gun while with my left hand I summoned all my strength and struck him with full force right in the center of the nose. The force of the impact immediately broke his nose and sent him flying backward up against the side of the wall of the church building. Although staggering and bloody from his broken nose, he still put up a pretty good fight
because he was wired on drugs and seemed to possess demonic strength. Nevertheless, with the Lord’s help, that scoundrel went down and he went down hard.

By this time, the young lady who had frozen up in fear was able to call for help. When the men of the church caught word of it, they rushed outside, but by then it was all over.

Of course, please understand that I am a man of peace, but in a life-threatening situation you must protect yourself and others. It’s been many years now since I have completely laid down martial arts in order to follow the Lord in the spiritual art of Christ-like development. Even my collection of trophies and medals I threw away to signify my desire to go on in the things of God. The Lord melted out of me any desire to engage in any form of competition. Now I desire to do as Paul said and, “
Honor one another above yourselves”
(Rom. 12:10 NIV). I’m now looking forward to the day that Isaiah prophesied of saying:

Since that night, the only fight I have ever been in has been the
fight of faith
(see 1 Tim. 6:12). I don’t even fight the devil. Jesus already defeated the devil at Calvary through His death, burial, and resurrection; therefore, I refuse to fight a defeated foe. Each day I put the Word of God into my heart so that my faith is strong enough to overwhelm all doubt and unbelief.

Putting Scriptures that are fresh and living into my heart through study and meditation enables me to walk with confidence in God, knowing that I am prepared to walk in victory throughout each day. The apostle Paul told Timothy to:

We should take this business of being spiritually prepared for life seriously so that we will not be ashamed on our Day of Judgment. Some people will be embarrassed before God on the day they give account for the way they lived their lives. Don’t wait until you get to Heaven before diving into the things of God. When you get to Heaven, your eternal rank will be set. Prepare now so that you can rejoice on that day. Don’t squander away your precious time.

When I used to compete in martial arts tournaments, it was normal for my master instructor to put me through two-hour workouts. Sometimes on Saturdays the training sessions would last four to six hours. We would do thousands of pushups on our knuckles (on a concrete floor) and practice sparring techniques continually. It was necessary to do this because in many top-level tournaments it was not uncommon to see individuals carried off on stretchers because they got K.O.’d (Knocked Out). We trained hard so that we could perform well when we competed. We wanted our martial arts school to be represented well and we greatly desired to honor our instructor by doing our best when we competed.

I thank God I never lost any teeth or got knocked out, but I did get my bell rung pretty good a few times. Once I got my nose broken in a tournament through a spinning back-kick by a very talented Korean fighter. In another tournament I received a jolting roundhouse kick to the head that caused a hairline fracture in my jaw. After that kick, I couldn’t chew or eat for a week because of the pain. Once in a sparring session I received a devastating punch from a Karate Black Belt right into my diaphragm. I never lost consciousness, but I couldn’t get up off the floor for several minutes. There were lots of bruises and hurts, but at the same time I was receiving pain, I was certainly dishing some out as well.

My old Korean master instructor said I had one of the fastest skipping side-kicks he had ever seen. Above average speed coupled with all the years of running track through high school and college gave me great endurance and stamina. When a lot of the guys began to tire in competition, I would still feel fine. I would begin to pull ahead on points and score the most after several rounds when the competition would begin to fatigue. It was then that I would start using the skipping side-kick. After a while, my instructor told me to stop using it because I was breaking too many people’s ribs just by that one kicking technique.

Well, I share these things as a natural example because we need to be prepared for the spiritual challenges we face in life. Many believers are content just to cruise through life and maybe read their Bible for about five minutes once every week. Well, five minutes is better than nothing at all, but a person is not going to progress very far moving at a snail’s pace. There
should be a fervency concerning spending time with God through prayer and the study of the Word. The more a person gives to this, the more he or she will be transformed into the image of Christ. When faced with distracting issues in the early Church, the twelve apostles responded by saying:

A Christian who receives a mantle must be devoted to the Lord in prayer and spend time studying the Word. Some Christians have already received mantles but time will tell whether or not they make the most of them. One particular case concerning this comes to my mind.

While ministering in a revival service in Hacienda Heights, California, I preached a faith-building message and then proceeded to minister to those in the meeting who desired prayer. One young lady in her early twenties came up and stood before me to receive prayer and prophetic ministry. As I began to pray for her, I sensed in my spirit a ministry calling upon her life. Operating through the gift of prophecy, I told her I believed that God had a calling upon her life into the ministry. She looked at me and smiled and said she was currently attending a local Bible college in order to prepare for the ministry. As I continued to pray, the Lord had me stop and ask her what her name was. She told me that Francine was her name. At that point the Spirit of the Lord moved upon me strongly and I said, “Just as your name is Francine, the same Holy Spirit that was upon Saint Francis of
Assisi is upon you. And you will write as he did and your writings will bless many!”

When I said that her eyes got as big as saucers and she said, “I’ll be right back.” She quickly returned after having gone to the other side of the church to retrieve something from her mother who was in the service. In her hand was a two-page poem that she had just written two nights earlier in which she had poured out her heart to God. She had only shared this writing with her mother and was planning on making a book out of her writings when she had enough material. Several days after the meeting, I received in the mail a copy of the spiritual poem which she had written. It was very much anointed and a blessing to read. The question now is will she fulfill her calling and walk in the mantle that the Lord has so graciously bestowed upon her? Remember, once the mantle comes, then it is time to go to work. Rejoice when you receive your mantle, but don’t stop there. Step through every door that God opens for you and make the most of every opportunity.

We are living in a time when Heaven and earth are merging together. Expect help from the other side as Heaven draws near. The gifted mystic saint John Wright Follette wrote;

That heavenly invasion is here and mantles are being given to the Church to walk in end-time authority and power in Christ.

Recently I was ministering at a conference when a wonderful experience took place. I was on the front row during the time of praise and worship for the night service. I was scheduled to speak that night following the praise and worship. During the singing to the Lord I got so caught up in the spirit that I went into a vision. It was a moment of total spiritual ecstasy. In this vision I saw the Lord walk into the church building and come and stand by my side on the front row. He smiled at me, making me feel very comfortable in His presence. As He came into the building, He also had someone else with Him. It was Joan of Arc.

If you are not familiar with Joan of Arc, then let me share with you that she was a young woman that God used to save France from being taken over by the English during the 100 Year War. She was born in France in 1412 and at the age of twelve she began having visitations by angels and redeemed saints who encouraged her to do the will of God and help deliver France. These experiences took place through visions in which Joan was given supernatural guidance that always proved accurate. She accepted her calling and did help France overthrow the English in astonishing victories that she led against impossible odds. However, she was eventually taken captive by
the English. A mock trial was ordered to try her on charges of witchcraft and heresy. There was not a shred of real evidence against her, but because the trial was politically motivated, Joan was falsely accused and condemned. She was burned at the stake at the age of nineteen. Twenty-four years later, Pope Callixtus III reopened her case and with irrefutable evidence proved that Joan was completely innocent of all charges.
²