Wednesday, 18 August 2010 01:59
Journal from Santo Domingo Part 2
The retreat was to start at 11:00 AM, however many folks were delayed in travel because of an accident on the highway leading to Santo Domingo. The meetings were held at the Balneario Ficus Water Park, which is owned and operated by one of the families of the church in Santo Domingo, pastored by Roberto Rios. This was a really nice place for our meetings. The meeting
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Balneario Ficus Water Park, location of leaders' retreat. Sto Domingo, Ecuador
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room was an open-air facility and proved to be a great place for the retreat because of the weather conditions. The weather was overcast the entire time with some rainfall. Because of this, the air was cool and there were not many visitors to the park during our meeting.
The meeting finally got underway around 12:30PM with some great worship. Everyone tied up in the traffic mess was safe and came in just fine. During the retreat Pat wanted to have a different pastor or leader from Ecuador open a session with prayer or close with prayer. As the host pastor, Roberto Rios opened the meetings with prayer and welcomed everyone to Santo Domingo. Fernando Ubilla was the Master of Ceremonies (and Comedy I might add!) throughout the weekend.
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| Worship at Leaders' Retreat |
After an introduction of the team from USA and Ecuador, we broke for lunch. After lunch, the first session began with Pat speaking on being a servant leader. As long as I minister, I will always need to be reminded that Jesus has called us to serve and not be served. I think this session really set the tone for the entire weekend meetings. We then prayed for the Lord to guide our lives in such a way as to live as a servant leader, just as Jesus did.
Dr. Frank spoke in the second session about being spiritually healthy and developing good habits to maintain a strong walk. The part that got to me was when he shared how the Lord showed him to memorize scripture and that he has committed himself to that ever since. Pat and I looked at each other and knew we were both under heavy conviction to learn more of the Word.
After a short break, we separated the men and the women into separate groups to facilitate discussion on how to have healthy families, even though we are in the ministry. I remember that during the ladies session, they all started shouting some time into their meeting. I found out from Becky that a lady, diagnosed with a brain aneurism, was touched powerfully by the Lord. So much so, that there was a noise in their camp for several minutes! They began singing and shouting and then praying some more! I inadvertently led the men’s session as Pat, suddenly, was not feeling well. We talked about balance between family life and ministry; raising children; authority; order in the home and church and hearing God’s direction. It was a great discussion. The men were hanging out after and talking about the meeting with each other. Then we broke for dinner.
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They asked me to practice a couple worship songs
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After dinner and some worship, Becky and I spoke on Unity and Agreement. We used some material from our Marriage Mystery Bible Study. We spoke on the power of agreement and how it can invoke the blessings of God into our lives, our marriage and our church. As I was speaking on the blessings of God, I had a young man sitting in front of me come up for a demonstration. I was talking about Deuteronomy 28 and through our obedience to the Word, the blessings of God will come upon us and overtake us. As I was saying this, The Holy Spirit came all over me and I realized that this was about this young man. I began to prophesy over him that, as he is obedient to the Word of God – and comes into agreement with what the Lord has said – the blessings of God would come upon him and overtake him. Then, I came behind him and wrapped my right arm over his neck and across his chest and held on to him. The Lord showed me that this was to encourage him that the only thing in his past is the blessings of God coming after him, for his past is broken off of him! This man began to weep and could no longer stand. He sat with his face in his hands almost the rest of our session. Pastor Pat had a testimony time the next day and he came forward and said that he had a rough childhood that always haunted him and told him he could not be in the ministry. His father left him as a very young boy. He said that when I held him, he felt the love of God wash all over him and the torment of his past being broken off of him! He said that he finally felt free. What a great God we serve!
After our teaching session, we had a time of ministry for everyone. Many marriages were touched as well as individuals. The whole team prayed for anyone needing ministry. I prayed for the young man that the Lord would fill him with His love. The Lord really touched this guy and you could see it on his face afterward. We also had some encouraging prophetic words to some as the Lord lead.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Monday, 02 August 2010 14:06
Journal from Santo Domingo, Ecuador
Thursday June 24, 2010
This trip’s team consists of Pat McGuffin, Dr. Frank Breyere, Becky and myself. We left Orlando airport on schedule for the first leg of our trip to Miami on time. We landed in Miami and had a three-and-a-half layover before leaving for Guayaquil. Our flight left on time at 7:15PM. Having a long layover in Miami is much better than having to run from on concourse to the other as they usually leave you just enough time to board the connecting flight. This time we came in through gate E10 and were leaving through gate E8.
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| Pastor Chuck Blystone |
I had to catch up some work and make some business calls, so it worked out very well. The flight to Guayaquil was very easy. Upon arriving at 10:30PM, Ecuadorian time-an hour ahead of us, we stood in line to customs for one hour. There were about 600 people going through, and as we progressed through the line, the crowd just kept growing larger by the minute!
We got through customs without any issues (I think because Ray Watson was not on the trip!) and were greeted by many H.O.T. team members. We were greeted by Fernando and Gardenia Ubilla; Dr Freddy and Edith Beltran; Dr Byron and Leonore Lopez; Marcel and Byron Alfredo Lopez; Miguel and Judy Saez; Jackie Ormaza and Francisco Yoong. After hugging everyone they took us to the embassy, where Maggie had prepared a meal for us! We had a great time catching up and everyone wanted to meet Becky for the first time. Our friend Jackie introduced her to everyone.
I think we finally got to bed at around 2:30AM.
Friday June 25th –Santo Domingo - Joshua Church
After having breakfast, we had to repack for our trip to Santo Domingo, a 5-hour ride north of Guayaquil. Everyone travelling with us met at Fernando’s and Gardenia’s home. Fernando asked us to have lunch as Gardenia prepared a meal for us while we waited for the rest of the team to arrive. This time was great as it allowed us more opportunities to catch up and get to know each other. All the women wanted to get to know Becky especially.
We arrived in Santo Domingo around 7PM and checked into our hotel. We had about 20 minutes to get to Joshua Church, where Pat was to preach. After introducing the team, he spoke on answering the great commission and laying hands on the sick, casting out devils and saving the lost. He gave an altar call for anyone needing ministry. We saw many touched by the Lord. I had an interesting experience in the ministry time. We only had enough translators for three of us, so I asked the Lord what to do. Fernandito (Fernando’s son) came over to me and asked if he could help. So he and I trained each other and started praying for people. We had a great experience and saw many people get touched by the Lord. I asked him later how he felt about it and he said that he wanted to be as good a translator as his sister. He is off to a great start and is beginning earlier!
Saturday June 26th The H.O.T. Leaders Retreat – Santo Domingo Balneario Ficus
After breakfast, we visited a children’s feeding program, sponsored by Heart of Titus and ministered by Pastor Roberto Rios. They call the area ‘The Island’
and have developed a school for the children to teach them scholastic lessons as well as teach them about Jesus. While we were there, we saw that they were working on building a water tower to catch all of the rainwater, for consumption purposes. In addition, Dr. Frank shared his testimony about being raised in an orphanage and still being able to become a medical doctor after having lived through a difficult childhood. He encouraged them to trust God, ask Jesus into their hearts and believe that, through Jesus, anything is possible! As we were leaving, they brought a small child to us to pray for. This little girl’s brother carries her around the school every day they are there.
Editor's note: We will continue we the next part of Chuck's journal later this week.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Friday, 25 June 2010 16:26
Pat and Team Arrive in Ecuador (We hope!)
Pat McGuffin, Chuck and Becky Blystone and Dr. Frank Bruyere left yesterday for Guayaquil, Ecuador, where they were scheduled to arrive late last night. We haven't heard from them so assume all is ok.
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| Pat McGuffin with Pastor Francisco Loor, our host in Guayaquil |
This morning they were scheduled to start the 5 hour drive to Santo Domingo. Please pray that they have a safe trip with good fellowship along the way.
Published in
Mission Field
Friday, 04 June 2010 00:57
Being Pregnant With the Word of God
In Luke 1:26-38 the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and announces to her that she has found favor with God and that she will become pregnant with the Son of God. Mary does not understand how this could be as she was virgin and asks the angel to explain how this could happen. Gabriel tells her that The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you and that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. He also said that with God, nothing is impossible! Her response was, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
We, at salvation, are all impregnated with the Word of God - Jesus - by The Holy Spirit. As the baby Jesus began to take over Mary's body and told her when to lay down; when to sit down; when and what to eat; how to walk (when you are pregnant with the Word, you begin to walk funny - at least those who are not pregnant think so!), He was preparing her for her future - to give birth to the Word of God!
"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."
Let the power of the Highest overshadow your life and let the life of Jesus - the Word - take over every area of your life! Remember this - in the Kingdom of God only the virgins can conceive the Word! Listen to what He says and you will give birth to His Word coming true in your life! You were born for The Purpose to be born out of you! Be blessed!
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Thursday, 03 June 2010 04:11
The Fear of the Lord - Part 4
In this last installment, Pastor Chuck shares his own testimony of marriage restoration.
I am a testimony of what can happen when a praying wife asks the Lord to change her idiot husband and make him into the man of God that he is supposed to be! I say this: if I can change – any man – or woman - can change and be restored back to their mate!
The reason that I changed was because a man that I held deep respect for literally, got in my face and confronted me and was not afraid to “hurt my feelings or make me feel uncomfortable.” He had every intention of doing all of that and more, because he cared for me enough to step into my mess and deal with me. He told me once that he did it because he saw something in
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| Pastor Chuck & Becky Blystone |
me that maybe even I did not see. He said that he knew that was what it would take and believed that I was worth the risk! He also did it, knowing the time that it would take out of his and his wife’s life to see us restored. They counted the cost and spend much time with us, seeing us through the mess and into healing and restoration! We owe them much for what they have given us! We met with them regularly, at least once a week, for over two years in their home!
When we do not impose ourselves into the lives of those the Lord has entrusted to us to deal with their messes, we are really telling them that we do not think that they are worth the trouble that it will take to walk them out of where they are. How sad that is for the church, when Jesus did the exact opposite! I believe that it is time for leadership to lead. We can lead by pulling them out of where they are.
I thank God for that man almost every day of my life for he was bold and not afraid to stand up to me and demand that I listen to him. He insisted that I spend time with him – and that it was mandatory! He gave me no choice! He would not let me choose otherwise and the result of that insistence has been growing in my life, in my wife’s life and in our marriage for the past 30 years!
Somehow this has been lost in the church and we have bought the lie that we cannot impose or make demands on someone as to their walk with the Lord. I can tell you that my life would not be the same had he decided to not get involved to the place where it took up many evenings with him and his wife pouring into us and teaching us the real Gospel – the marriage relationship. He demanded of me that I obey him in his counsel and he gave me a promise – that the Lord would restore us and make us into His image.
"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel. Mal. 2:16
What happened was my wife, who had no hope of ever being happy, was healed in her heart. I had to make changes in my life and over the two years that we counseled with them – yeah, two years – nothing wonderful ever comes easy or quickly – the Lord began to make changes in me that became tangible enough for my wife to see it in me. It was difficult because I was under a microscope and the other three were constantly telling me how to live – and I let them! I thank God for this man and woman of God and their friendship. We still keep in touch and see each other at least once a year. It is like we never stayed apart.
That is what awaits a couple in trouble, if we can just decide to stick it out long enough with them and not let them chicken out when it begins to get difficult. The enemy’s voice gets loud in those times, I can tell you by experience! But the Word must be louder coming from our mouths to encourage them to live the right way and not buy the lie of the enemy. The message that we must send to those we minister to is that we are not leaving them until they are delivered, healed and restored!
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matt. 5:9
I have had the privilege of mentoring some young men over the years and I have found a common thread of experience among all of them. They all have told me that they have had many older men, fathers in the faith, make the promise to stick it out with them. But their unfortunate experience has been otherwise. They were all dropped along the way and forgotten. Suddenly, they were not available to meet, or worse yet, not even reachable to talk to! I think that this is deplorable. Pastors and Elders must keep their word – even if it means to our hurt.
It is not convenient to mentor a young man, let alone two or more at one time. Yet, how could I say no, after what was given to me? How could I turn them away when I have been blessed with a true father in the faith who stuck it out with both of us? I must do the same and maybe more.
In conclusion, the message of the Gospel is compelling in the changing of a person’s life. It is more compelling to those in leadership over that person to oversee that change and to make sure that they grow in grace and the favor of the Lord. Sometimes that will require tough love and correction, just like with our children. But the tough love will cause them to fear the Lord, respect and honor authority and generally grow in a father-son or mother-daughter relationship as a result.
I guarantee that there were many times that I did want to hear, much less adhere to what I was been instructed. Pride was certainly an issue that had to be dealt with. I thought many times that I was being picked on and that they were just looking for things in my life to complain about. Deep down, I knew that was not really the truth because I knew that they really loved me and cared about me as much as my wife and family. I knew because they constantly told me and it gave them a license to speak deep into my soul.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. Eph.5:21-22
Likewise, we must teach them the significance of the Mystery surrounding the marriage and Christ and His body. We must emphasize the honoring of the covenant and teach that God hates divorce, and as such, teach them to stay together, no matter what. If we can lay hands on the sick and see them recover, we can lay hands on these marriages and see them recover as well.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Friday, 21 May 2010 03:55
The Fear of the Lord - Part 3
This is the 3rd of a 4 part series by Pastor Chuck Blystone on the Fear of the Lord. Today Chuck applies this principle to our marriage relationships.
The Marriage Relationship
On the third day there was a marriage in Cana at Galilee. …And this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee. John 2:1-11
I believe that it is no coincidence that Jesus began His miracles with new wine at the marriage in Cana. I believe that the marriage is the wine skin for the new wine of the Kingdom of God that is coming – the Gospel. Souls will be won more by righteous marriages than by evangelistic crusades, for the marriage represents the model of Christ and His Church on the earth.
In light of this, I am also of the conviction that the Body of Christ, in general counseling and marriage counseling should always land on the side of marriage, no matter what. Let me explain.
I believe that we should always have hope for the marriage, no matter what the circumstances. I see it like this: when we pray for the sick, we always believe the Lord for the healing, even up to the time of death, if the Lord decides to take the person home. During the illness as we pray, we do not discuss funeral arrangements with the family and how to bury the person when they are still alive! Yet, we find ourselves listening to someone who has given up on the marriage and begin to agree with them that it is over. They are making funeral arrangements for their marriage before it is dead! We are too quick to kill the marriage and agree on divorce.
I am convinced that the curse associated with divorce falls on the church that allows divorce too easily. I do not think that we should make the divorce option easy. It should be the last resort and only their decision and not our counsel. I believe that church leadership should not participate in divorce in any manner: we should not discuss the option at any time but teach the Word where trusting the Lord is concerned and believe the Lord for the miracle of a restored relationship. We are to be reconcilers to God to all peoples, as the scripture points out in II Corinthians 5.
What did Moses command you? Moses allowed you to write a bill of divorcement to put away your wife. But he said this because of the hardness of your hearts. It was not like that in the beginning. …For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Mark 10:3-9
Jesus never said that it is all right to divorce because of infidelity, yet the church has adopted this as doctrine. Jesus said that Moses gave the writ of divorcement for the hardening of their hearts. But He never acknowledged that it was a righteous act. He actually said that “It was not like that in the beginning…” Why would Jesus promote divorce in any way? The marriage is the pattern on the earth for Christ and the Church and He has come as the Bride Groom. In the same manner, we should not promote divorce in any way. I believe the Church’s counsel should be: “we are going to believe God and stand with you for the healing and the restoration of your marriage. Unless you can agree with that, then perhaps you should seek counsel elsewhere.”
In my experience as a marriage counselor, I have been asked by other church leadership over the years for referrals to divorce attorneys. I obviously refused to refer. I think we are asking the wrong questions when we sit with members of the Body regarding their failed marriages. Yes, there are always extenuating circumstances, but we cannot get involved in trying to make someone’s briar patch to look like a rose garden. It will ultimately become their responsibility to clear out the briars and replant something that will come to full bloom.
We must insist on repentance when it is necessary and faith to believe that the Lord can change that hard heart in both persons involved. This is the time when Pastors and Elders must stay away from the discussion of divorce at all costs and offer no other solution to the dilemma other than believing God for a miracle.
We pray for signs and wonders to come but refuse to teach about the Bride and the Bridegroom and the Mystery and how that affects their marriage. We should ask why the Lord brought them together in the first place and the purpose of their union in the Body of Christ. People must be taught about the power of covenant and keeping their word. We need to teach that it is important to keep their word. Unfortunately, we live in throw-away society. Since we have started with abortion, it is easier to abort the marriage as well.
I also do not believe that divorce is the unpardonable sin either. There is grace that abounds for anyone who has found themselves in the wounded state of having been divorced. However, there is still a need for repentance of the part they played in the destruction of the relationship. There is also healing, deliverance and restoration that comes with the repentance, for the Lord still loves them.
If a member of the body finds their way to us in that state, we minister healing and deliverance to them and believe the Lord for another opportunity to get it right and have a blessed marriage in the future. But, we should strive to keep the ones in our midst together, no matter what issues they are facing, believing the Lord to heal and restore their union. Oftentimes I think that, since counseling someone to believe for a miracle in their marriage relationship is difficult, even for the counselor, we can tend to soften our stand and be tempted to take the easy way out by not standing strong enough long enough!
In the next and final installment, read about how the intimate involvement of a member of the church's leadership helped to save and restore Pastor Chuck's marriage during his early years in Christ.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Friday, 21 May 2010 03:50
The Fear of the Lord - Part 2
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what will be the end of those that do not obey the Gospel of God? I Peter 4:17
It is time for the fire of the Lord to come to His house.
It is time to teach that he who brings sin into the body subjects the whole body to suffer the consequences. We must be held accountable for our actions.
At the same time, when I see the passages in the scripture of how the apostles dealt with sin, they were bold in their declarations of what the Lord expected. There was no hesitation in their actions, giving no thought to the person’s feelings about being confronted. Getting rid of the sin in the Body seemed to be the priority and confronting the sin openly was the only option. The instructions of Jesus in Matthew 18 regarding a brother causing offense or being offended supports an open process in bringing righteousness and justice eventually before the whole body.
There seems to be a common thread to the practice of sin in the Body of Christ. There seems to be no fear of the Lord nor does there appear to be any reverence for His Word and His precepts. All want the blessings of the Lord and what He promises in His Word, but I have seen a pattern that shows that they want the blessings their way and rebel against anyone in authority who tries to bring instruction and/or correction. I have also seen where we as leadership and overseers are not willing to confront overt sin the way the apostles did for reasons of making people uncomfortable. I think that Joshua intended to make Achan uncomfortable!
If my people, which are called by MY Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14
If the church is to wake up from their slumber in sin, the only way is for the Pastors and Elders to confront the sin and not allow the silliness and foolishness of it to continue. There is a difference between babes in Christ making mistakes in learning how to walk and those who should be mature, knowing right from wrong and looking for ways to get away with and justify how they live.
…why have you lied to the Holy Ghost?…and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.…and many signs and wonders were done by the apostles. Acts 5:1-12 (parts)
This scripture has always gripped my heart when I read it. When I began to comprehend the scope of how deep this message dives into the lives of the people of the Body of Christ, I tremble in the Presence of God. The Holy Spirit did not and still does not tolerate lying to Him in such a way as to misrepresent how He has provided for His people. I believe that if Anannias and Sapphira would have come clean with what they wanted to give with respect to how much they sold the land for, it would have been okay, because it was the truth.
The truth is all that the Lord is about in representing Himself on the earth. He never lies and He wants our lives to reflect the same to the world. He is looking for true witnesses. That is why we cannot allow sin to taint our testimony in any way.
The Lord has given me a picture of how sin can affect the body. Most people in the church do not realize or will not recognize that someone is watching how they live for Jesus and are making their evaluations of Christianity, based upon what they see in the life of that one they have been watching. First as an Elder in the church, and now as a pastor, I came to realize very quickly that my life was in a fish bowl.
This leaves me with a major decision as to how I want my life to be portrayed: can I be free to do things that many others in the church can do such as go to an ‘R’ rated movie? I cannot if I want to be sure that when someone watches me, they catch me living my life to please the Lord instead of pleasing myself. It also gets deeper in that I must be careful how I conduct myself with my family in public – as a true witness. I must practice what I preach, so to speak. But the deeper thing for me in this is how the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit has become a treasure to me. Now, I try to live my life so as to stay close to Him; and everyone else gets ministered to as well.
The sad commentary on this is that many in the church believe that, we as pastors should be expected to live that way, but they do not have to. Unfortunately, they have someone watching them as well. We all do and we should be His witnesses so that all can come to the knowledge of the truth.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Friday, 21 May 2010 03:41
The Fear of the Lord - Part 1
It is my conviction that there are two areas of ministry that lack discipline in the body of Christ. We, as leaders, have either gotten lazy and do not want to
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| Pastor Chuck Blystone (bio) |
follow through with the proper instruction and necessary correction; we do not care whether the members of the body are given the Word in such a way as to live victoriously; or both.
The two areas that have been troubling my heart as of late are immediate correction and discipline and the marriage relationship.
They continued steadfastly (to wait on) in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles…. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2: 42-43, 47.
There is an obvious pattern in the scripture, which ties the fear of the Lord to signs and wonders. When the apostles confronted sin and dealt with it openly, the fear of the Lord came upon the people. Then, the Word says that many signs and wonders were done by the apostles.
When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Acts 5:5
It is also of interest that accompanying signs and wonders was the drawing of souls into the kingdom. So, the fear of the Lord ushers in the signs and wonders, which attracts the lost to the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is my conviction that we cannot allow sin to continue in the body if we want to see the Lord move in signs and wonders, attracting the lost to the kingdom. What I mean by not allowing sin is not tolerating it. We cannot make or force or control people’s actions as to whether they will be obedient to the Word or not. We can, however, conduct ourselves in such a way as to promote right living by rewarding it and punishing wrong living by taking away privileges.
I think that we can deal with sin in a manner that shows compassion and love for the members of the body, but does so in such a way as to not allow any wiggle room for their unrighteousness to prevail. We must be careful to instruct them in righteousness only. There is a blessing in obedience that can only come from heeding diligently to the Word of God.
And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? The Lord shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Joshua 7:25
In Joshua 7: 1-25, Achan (his name means trouble) decided to take some of the spoil from a previous battle when there were explicit instructions to leave everything and take nothing. The scripture says that he hid it in his tent and that, until Joshua determined the source of trouble, the children of Israel could not win any battles that they fought!
When Joshua prayed to the Lord, the Lord told him that there was an accursed thing in their midst and that they were all unclean. The Lord also said that He would not be with them anymore until they cleansed themselves and removed the accursed thing from their midst. He said that they could not stand against their enemies when there was an accursed thing in their midst.
The Lord said that He would take the tribes; and then He would take the families; and then He would take the households; and then He would take man by man. When the man is found with the accursed thing, he was to be burned with fire; he and all that he had. This was done because he transgressed the covenant of the Lord and brought about folly (meaning disgrace and senselessness) to the house of Israel.
The scripture continues to point out here that Joshua obeyed the Lord and caused the family of the Zarhites to pass before him. Then he asked for the household of Zabdi, and Zabdi was taken and then Achan was taken before Joshua. Joshua confronted him in front of the entire nation and said, “…give glory to the Lord and make confession unto Him and do not hide it from me.” When Achan confessed, Joshua sent messengers to his tent to uncover the stolen spoil and they brought it back and laid it before the entire nation. The entire nation took his family, his possessions, his animals and everything that he had and they stoned them and then burned them with fire.
Three things are apparent to me in this portion of scripture: (1) when there is sin tolerated in the body, the Lord looks at the entire body as having sin; (2) we cannot stand before our enemies when we tolerate sin in the body; (3) the Lord removes His Presence from us when there is a tolerance for sin. My definition of tolerating sin is not confronting the sin as the apostles did in the scripture, when we know that the willful practice of sin does, indeed, exist.
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the Lord saying, For He is good and His mercy endures forever. II Chronicles 7:3
I am not naïve enough to think that we can have a sinless church, but I do believe that the church can be taught to walk in the fear of the Lord in such a way as to be careful how they live. We can teach an expectation of righteousness and have an atmosphere of no tolerance for overt practice of sin. This, I believe, can cultivate a place where miracles can break out and souls will be saved because sin is dealt with immediately.
Let me also say here that I genuinely love the Body of Christ and, out of this love, comes my passion to see repentance, deliverance, restoration and salvation. But my love and passion for the Body of Christ motivates me to want to see the members walking to their full potential and not listening to any lies of the enemy.
In the next installment, Pastor Chuck will talk about the use of discipline in the church to maintain holiness and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Published in
Chuck's Blog
Wednesday, 05 May 2010 11:47
Ecuador Report - April 2010, Part 2
Sunday evening April 25 Preaching at Bautista Primavera – Pastor Emidgio Mariduena
Fernando drove us from the embassy to the church. We arrived a few minutes late as the pastor was in the middle of encouraging the people. He welcomed us warmly and had Fernando introduce us. Ray began with a word of encouragement from Isaiah 61:7 and encouraged the people that the Lord would restore His blessings to the people and that there is a double portion for them.
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| Ray (left) & Chuck (center) ministering at CEAD, Guayaquil, Ecuador |
I spoke on John 11 and “Lazarus Come Forth!” The Lord wants us to be freed from our past and He wants the church to be the ministers of freedom – ‘Loose him and let him go.’ He wants the grave clothes to come off so that our hands and feet are free to worship Him, serve Him and do the work of the ministry; so that our feet are free to spread the Gospel and so that our steps are ordered by Him. He wants our face free so that our ears can hear His voice, our mouth can sing His praise and speak His Word and our eyes can see the vision He has for us. He wants the stench of sin and death to be removed from us so that we can spend time with Him and have His aroma on us. The Lord moved on the people. There were over 100 people in attendance and most of them came forward for prayer.
The Lord did miracles tonight like only He can! There was a word of knowledge given that the Lord was healing left leg ailments and conditions. Several people responded and He healed them all of pain and symptoms. I
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| Man healed of arthrosis removing brace from leg, Guayaquil, Ec. |
prayed for a man that was suffering from arthrosis in his legs – deterioration of the bones and joints. The Lord healed this man. He began to bend his leg in ways that he was not able to before and removed the brace. He walked out of the church without it! People with back pain and nerve damage healed! The pastor’s wife was healed of spine problems. The doctors said there was no cure. But the Great Physician healed her – no pain! The Lord touched everyone that came for prayer. He is Great and He does miracles so great!
After the service the pastor invited us to dinner right down the street. So Ray and I had a chance to talk with him for about an hour. He is 75 years old and has never been to the doctor. He said that he loved his life and the fact that he was called to be a pastor. He said that he will pastor until the Lord takes him home. He said that he was not afraid to die, but just not ready yet, because he has more to do!
Monday April 26 Administration at CEAD Main Offices 11:00AM
After a great breakfast, Ray and I were taken to the new CEAD offices in downtown Guayaquil. We were going to minister to the administration staff that usually consisted of about 20 people if could get them all together. This did not include any pastors. Ray and I both shared on having a purpose. I spoke out of Psalm 133 and Hebrews 9 and talked about unity and covenant. I taught that we have been chosen by God and it was His idea to make a covenant with us and that His Word will come to pass. I discussed the aspect of leaving a will and how the benefit to the beneficiaries can only come after the death making the promise. I shared about the covenant meal in Psalm 23:6 and also mentioned David and Jonathan’s covenant in II Samuel. Covenant is so powerful; it can reach to the next generation as it did with Mephibosheth. David searched for him to honor the promise made to Jonathan, Mephibosheth’s father.
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Team ministering together: L-R: Dr. Byron Lopez, Marcel Lopez, Chuck Blystone, person getting healed, Pastor of church, Fernando Ubilla. |
We then asked for those who wanted prayer for any reason. We ministered to all and the Lord touched the hearts of everyone. I remember it being a special sweet time of ministry. Many were crying as we prayed, the Lord confirming the Word with His presence. I met a man and wife there that I had ministered to for the first time in 2007. He said that I had given him a word that the Lord would open his wife’s womb and give him a child. He said that he saw me last year to confirm the word. I had remembered him then. He also said that I told him the Lord would give him a warrior son and his wife was holding the baby. She looked like she did not want me to pray for them anymore! The Lord is always faithful to perform His Word!
April 26 Evening Main Sanctuary CEAD
Ray and I were both to speak tonight but the schedule was changed as Pastor Loor was finally in town after being away for three weeks. We were contacted in the afternoon that they had added back two services to accommodate us. Since Ray was in charge, I let him make the decision as to what we would do. He decided to bow out and let me speak at the new 6:00PM service. I spoke on Psalm 105:19-24 and the spiritual battle that Joseph went through to get to his purpose. I paralleled it to the Christian walk and how we must go through many test because of the Word of God inside us. I encouraged the people to pass the test and stop blaming the devil for everything.
We had an altar call for whatever needs were there. If they needed a healing; if they needed deliverance; if they needed encouraged or if they needed filled with the Holy Spirit. There were about 300 people there and about 150 came to the altar. I prayed for many for healings and the Lord touched them: backs, necks, stomach problems, intestinal problems, deliverances, etc. I prayed for one woman who was healed of macular degeneration. The Lord restored her sight!
What a wonderful night of ministry! It is truly humbling to see the Lord touch people when I pray. I guess it is because I know who I am and what He has to deal with all the time.
Saints, be encouraged! If the Lord can work through me, you have a wonderful future ahead of you if you desire to be in ministry in any way. I would like to thank the Lord for His faithfulness to His Word and to me for allowing me the opportunity to be an open vessel. I would also like to thank my wife for being in agreement with me to go and minister. I cannot wait for the next time that we travel together again. That is the best! I would also like to thank Tony and H.O.T for allowing us to be a part of this great ministry and for Pastor Sam Hinn for blessing my trip as well!
Until next time – God bless you and your house!
Pastor Chuck Blystone
Enterprise, FL
Published in
Mission Field
Saturday, 17 April 2010 16:41
Return, Revelation and Rewards - Part 2: REVELATION
This is Part 2 of 3 installments of Ray Watson's journal from his last trip to Ecuador in May 2009.
Revelation began before our group ever left Orlando. I took this trip with 4 other local guys, Pat McGuffin our trip leader, Chuck Blystone, Tim Frazier and Lee Welton. I really believe God brought the five of us together on this trip as a divine appointment for us as a group as well as individuals. We had never ministered together before but it was evident throughout the trip God had a plan and it was good.
About a week before we left, we were meeting at Pat’s house for prayer and overall trip coordination. It was during this meeting God changed my focus of this trip and I made a commitment to really open myself up to what God had in store. He had already planted a theme in me, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God …” Matt 6:33. While at this meeting I shared a scripture from Isa. 9:11-14 “The Lord has said to me in the strongest terms: “Do not think like everyone else does. Do not be afraid that some plan conceived behind closed doors will be the end of you. Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear him, you need fear nothing else. He will keep you safe.” I brought it as a word of encouragement for Tim and Lee but Chuck felt it was directed more to me than them and I needed to address areas of fear in my life so God could accomplish in me what he wanted. I realized then God was ready to complete some things in me if I was willing to be obedient to him.
On Thursday morning after we arrived we were scheduled to go and minister to the staff of the local Christian TV station, ENLACE TV. This has always been a great time of ministry on past trips and I felt this would be the case today. The staff here seems to open up and receive like thirsty vessels allowing God to pour out his blessings on them.
Each of us gave a short greeting and word of encouragement followed by a short teaching by Pat McGuffin, our team leader. After this Pat allowed Lee to share part of his personal testimony of how God delivered him from drugs and restored him from his attempted suicide. What a powerful time. You could see the barriers each staff member had placed around themselves come down and immediately come to the place where God could touch them.
We divided our team and began to pray for the needs of each person. God was good. Freedoms, healing and restoration came forth as the Holy Spirit filled the room and fulfilled his promise that if we seek him first, everything else will come. I was blessed to have Tim minister with me and Pastor Miguel during this prayer time. I was so encouraged to see Tim take in all God was doing and when it was his turn to pray, he was ready and full of faith that God had equipped and empowered him with for this moment.
Tonight I was scheduled with Lee to preach at 7:45 pm at the CEAD Church in Duran outside of Guayaquil. Due to some transportation issues, we did not arrive to minister at this open air facility until 9:00 pm. I continue to be amazed how these people will be patient and wait an extended time to hear what God has put on the heart of someone they don’t even know.
After we arrived, I met Pastor Jaime Fienco. He was very gracious and gave us 30 minutes to speak to them about what God had place on our hearts. We would have gotten more time to minister but he informed us he had to go and meet with a family in his church whose young daughter was murdered that evening. I asked Lee to bring a short greeting and then shared for a few minutes on my theme of “Seeking the Lord “. We prayed blessings on the pastor and headed back to the embassy for some much needed rest and preparation for our trip to Vinces the next day.
Friday, May 1st proved to be a great day. Our agenda for this morning was to be open so we might get an opportunity to go to the Indian Market or site seeing but God had other plans. Instead we got the honor of spending 5 hours with our host pastor Francisco Loor and hearing his heart.
He too, is very concerned with the things going on with the government and the threats that seem to be coming against the local churches. As part of the government plan to bring churches under a national foundation, it has been proposed to provide financial aid to some of the most poor pastors and churches. This is a clever way to bring these pastors and churches more dependent on the government rather than looking for the blessing God wants to bring them. Many of these pastors are struggling financially, spiritually and relationally. In the natural it will be very easy for these pastors to accept this “charity”, but clearly the long term goal is control. We must continue to lift up the pastors who are often times in the trenches with no help and very limited resources. After listening to our friend and host for more than an hour, we were able to pray over him, speak over him and bless him. As we finished, the Lord gave me a scripture in Prov 16:1-3 for him. It says “We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the right answer. People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines the motives. Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.”
In the afternoon, Pastor Loor took us on a trip about 45 minutes from the embassy to visit another one of his visions. It was the beginning construction of 10 villas at a resort area where he wants to bring his leaders and spouses to for training and marriage conference weekends. This could be a great opportunity for Heart of Titus to come and share, to bringing spiritual healing, fresh anointing and renewal of marriage bliss to these leaders. The whole team embraced the concept and is looking forward to our return here.
NEXT INSTALLMENT: PART 3 - REWARDS!
Published in
Mission Field
