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Pastor's Corner
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EXCITING TIMES
Dr. Steve Hooper  Times are hard for many people right now. There are wars, suicide bombers, and natural disasters. Society is falling apart all over the earth. Fear is rampant, and it seems as though it would be a good time to hide somewhere and wait for Armageddon.
If you have not been born again then you do have reason to fear. But if you are part of the family of God you should be rejoicing. The signs that you see are not signs of the approaching end, but rather are the signs of the beginning of the greatest day the church has ever known.
In order to better understand the time in which we the church find ourselves, we need to look in an unlikely spot in the scriptures. Let’s take a rather different look at the story of Samson and Delilah.
Samson was a mighty man endowed by God with supernatural strength. Because he had wreaked havoc upon the Philistines, the enemies of God, they wanted to steal his power. They plotted to make Samson just like them, without supernatural power. They knew that if he became like them they could then defeat him.
Samson had an eye for the ladies, so the Philistines conspired with Delilah, whom Samson loved, to find out the source of his power. Samson lusted for her and laid his head in her lap and eventually revealed to her that his strength was in his seven locks of hair. God had instructed that his hair should not be cut because the anointing of God was in the fact that he had been obedient to let his hair grow. While he was asleep, Delilah cut his hair, and when he awoke he didn’t even know that the Lord had departed from him. However, when he tried shaking himself free, he found that he was just like other men.
The Philistines then easily overpowered Samson. They put out his eyes and bound him with brass fetters. They then put him at hard labor, strapped to a grinding wheel, going round and round all day, every day.
The Philistines had a party in the temple and they brought Samson to perform for them. Unfortunately, they did not realize that while he had been in captivity his hair had been growing. After he had performed, Samson called on the Lord for one last anointing of power. God answered his prayer and when his strength returned he pushed down the pillars of the temple. The temple collapsed and the enemy that died in that one event numbered more than he had killed in the entirety of his life.
Believe it or not, this is a picture of the revival of the end time church. The enemy has sought to steal the power of the church. He has enticed the church to lay its head down in the lap of the world, to lust after the things of this earth. When the church went to sleep the enemy stole the power with which God had anointed it. Until recently, the church didn’t even know that the power was gone.
Just like Samson, the church has been working really hard, going around in circles as blinded by the enemy and relying on nothing beyond human power, when all the while the church’s hair has been growing. Now we find ourselves in the final hour, the time when the church has put its hands on the pillars of the temple and asked God for the anointing of power one more time. We are seeking His power to pull down the works of man so that millions can come into the Kingdom.
We are living in the time of the most powerful revival of all time. A time, when like Samson, the final act will be the greatest accomplishment since the church began. It is a revival of the miraculous power of the church. Christians all over the world are crying out to God for one last opportunity to show forth this awesome power.
The church can’t accomplish what God called it to do without His miracle working power. We so boldly quote the ‘Great Commission’ that is found in Mark 16: 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And what a wonderful instruction Jesus gave to the church, to win the world to Him. But the ‘Great Commission’ did stop there, Jesus continues…
Mark 16:17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
Wow! That sounds like instruction in supernatural power, right from the mouth of Jesus Himself. The church cannot just arbitrarily disregard the last two verses of this wonderful commission just because they don’t understand. People are afraid of what they don’t understand.
My Dad was the pastor of a conservative denominational church. I oft times joke that if the people in my Dad’s church raised their hands during a service, there better have been a holdup in progress. I will never forget the first time that I went to a church service where the power of the Holy Spirit was operating. I didn’t think I was scared of anything until that service. I was afraid and intrigued at the same time. But I knew that those people had something that I positively had to have. I was hungry for that power.
That has been many years ago and I am still as hungry as I ever was. I have grown to realize that the power comes with His presence. I have the privilege to minister to millions of people all over the world and have seen God perform countless miracles. Yet we are scarcely scratching the surface of what He wants His church to do.
I see a hunger in God’s people, a hunger that cries out for more of His presence and more of His power. The church is His body, which means that we are the physical presence of Jesus on the earth. Jesus boldly proclaimed in John 14:16 that if we would believe, that we would be empowered to do mighty works, He said we would even do greater works than He did! Sound impossible? It isn’t, because Jesus said it!
Now is the time to take advantage of the Spirit of revival that is in our land. You don’t have to live a powerless life. You can be a part of the greatest revival of all time. All you have to do is believe, and then ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit and power. God is real, His power is real and all things are possible to him who believes! So, jump into the deep water of this last day move of God. The world is waiting to see the power flow from you!
Dr. Hooper is the Senior Pastor of the Restoration Family of Churches. He ministers to the world proclaiming the g o o d n e w s of revival.
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