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E-Newsletter Archive
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LOCAL AREA LIST
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The Church of
Liberty Newsletter - What is God up to?
How is the Body
of Christ in Liberty really doing? Could we do better?
April 24, 2006
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in this issue
-- Do you
believe there is a war between Good and Evil?
-- Giant
Concert at Smithville Lake
-- How much
fear of the Lord do you have?
Dear Brethren,
We'll be having a
meeting again this Thursday (4/27) at 8:30am here at
BuiltToLastHome.com (1134 W. 152 Hwy, two blocks East of Perkins).
Please ask the Lord if He would like you to come. It's just a time to
compare notes, share concerns and seek His will for Liberty.
Below are some
other things that may be of interest to you. Thanks for your time, I
know it's valuable.
If you find this
email intrusive, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the
link at the bottom of this email.
Doug Perry, President
BuiltToLastHome.com
Do you believe
there is a war between Good and Evil?
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I would think that
it should be pretty universally acknowledged across the leadership of
the churches in Liberty that there IS a war between Good and Evil
going on. The difference of opinion comes in how that might manifest
in our daily lives. Some say the battle is won and the enemy is
defeated and we should never spend any time focusing on satan - and
yet, they can't quite seem to break free from the grip of sin.
Some say the
battle is in the spiritual realms and doesn't affect us in the
"natural". That there are no such things as demons and/or
people can't be possessed or oppressed by them - especially
Christians. That the days of casting out demons ended with the book
of Acts and that that stuff isn't real and/or isn't for today. And
yet we have exponentially increasing rates of mental illness,
depression, ADD, ADHD, psychotic episodes of all kinds and rampant
physical, mental and emotional illnesses and addictions in the Church.
My Southern
Baptist roots go back for generations. In fact, my dad was vice
president of the Missouri Baptist Convention at one point. So I fully
understand that folks of various denominations might not want to
acknowledge that demons are real and that the book of Acts is for
today. It's just that in the last year and a half, God has had me on
this crazy ride and I've seen healings and demonic deliverances and
miracles all the time.
In my little
furniture store it's just a pretty regular thing to see people
completely delivered of addictions of all kinds, cured of
schizophrenia, released of old roots of bitterness and anger and
fear, and more. We've seen oppressive weights they've been carrying
for years lifted off in an instant. We've seen people find Jesus,
people come in with their "cup" nearly empty and leave with
it full. It's just not particularly unusual to come in shopping for
furniture and find three or four people on their knees praying in the
showroom! Praise God, we're the weirdest furniture store anywhere!
People are praying for New Testament Churches - well, I prayed for a
New Testament Business, and that's what I got!
I say all of this
simply for this purpose - I believe a city-wide revival is coming to
Liberty. I believe satan desperately doesn't want that to happen. I
believe there is a local increase in demonic activity and it's
manifesting more all the time. I also believe we have a shortage of
people in Liberty that are properly equipped to handle real demonic oppressions.
I've prayed a lot
about saying this and I don't do this lightly. I don't see how it can
hurt anything - if you already think my brain has been twisted into a
pretzel, this is hardly going to make it worse. And just in case I'm
right and you run up against something you can't handle, know that we
have specialists here that can help. (If you ARE a specialist or know
of one nearby, please let us know so we can connect and refer people.)
At any given time
we have between two and ten people at the furniture store that can
handle pretty much anything that comes in the door. We don't even
call a meeting - folks just show up when there is a need! If you have
an adult (or a child) that is suddenly hearing voices, acting out,
seeing monsters, trying to hurt themselves, or otherwise doing freaky
things - before you medicate and/or institutionalize them, maybe you
could give us a call.
What could it
hurt? Just in case there really is evil out there and it really is
affecting God's people, you might want to at least consider the
possibility that maybe God is big enough to heal them right on the
spot. If you have someone in need of healing (or free food, or
clothes, or a hug) you're welcome to send them by. We're not
recruiting people to be "members" of a furniture store -
how dopey does that sound?! We're just serving as the Lord leads and
expecting miracles.
If you want
testimonials, call or email and I'll put you in touch with local
people who have been instantly transformed or healed by the hand of
God. Our Lord is really big and He is alive and well and doing stuff
all over the world. It would be nice if we gave Him a little more credit.
Email Doug - or call
Giant Concert
at Smithville Lake
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In case you
haven't heard about this, it should be a great opportunity for all
the local congregations to come together in worship and praise -
particularly the youth.
Below is the
weblink to the One Way Festival to be held July 20-23. It is a four
day concert at Smithville Lake with camping, three stages and 50
bands - including Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Bethany Dillon and
bunches of other national names.
When Ericka was
asked why she was putting on this unique concert, she said,
"Because revival is coming to the Heartland!" This is just
one of MANY efforts underway that are conspicuously focussed on the
Northland and timed for this summer.
We heard reports
from several churches of many salvations and rededications during the
Passover season. Next on the calendar is Pentecost at the beginning
of June. What God has in store is anybody's guess - but it's for sure
going to be an interesting ride!
Weblink to One Way Festival
How much fear
of the Lord do you have?
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We have tended to
talk about the love and kindness of God, but big chunks of the Body
of Christ have been leaving out the severity and justice of God.
Jesus is a Lamb AND a Lion. Both co-exist in a way we can't fully
understand. But if fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom - and
we don't seem to evidence much true fear of the Lord - then we might
want to wonder how much wisdom we have!
I have found that
Deuteronomy 28 is really good to help people understand the promise
of obedience AND the scary curse of disobedience! Isaiah is another
one that paints a good picture of a big giant, awesome, yet personal, God.
But the one that
really scares me is Hosea. I started looking carefully at it and
realized that judgement came on Israel for all those specific sins -
and we're doing ALL of them!! And many times worse! If God never
changes and something irritated Him before, then it still irritates
Him now. We are called to daily obedience, not just saying a little
prayer and then doing whatever we want because we're sure we're safe
now. If we love Him, then we will OBEY Him!
So, how are we
doing as a country? As a town? Individually?
Read Hosea and see
if we're doing any of that stuff that got them into trouble.
If so, we might
want to tell Him we're sorry. Just a thought.
TheChurchOfLiberty.com
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email: help@thechurchofliberty.com
phone:
web: http://www.TheChurchOfLiberty.com
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