Faith Producers International Podcast

AND IT CAME TO PASS-THE SEASONS IN OUR LIVES   Happy New Year, everyone. Here we are in 2024, and we have no idea how we got here. It seems just like yesterday when much of the church was all concerned about Y2K and the end of things. The hotels were all sold out in and around Jerusalem, expecting Jesus to break through the Eastern gate. The secular world was concerned about the computer crash because of the change in the century date. Satellites were going to fall out of the sky. Elevators wouldn't work in the giant towers, and the stock market would crash because of the Computer failures. And yet here we are 24 years later, listening to the same rhetoric of doom and gloom and damnation, destruction, death, failure, and hopelessness. Brother, that sounds like good news. Not! The good news is that all of these have been seasons in your life to prepare you for the days ahead that God has promised and will fulfill. If you think the Holy Spirit will fail in doing what he has been commissioned from the Father, th

THE ALTERNATE WORLD WHERE YOUR SPIRIT DWELLS?   Forty-five years ago, I brought my young family to a small farming community 60 miles north of Seattle to pastor a fledgling church. Our town is in a valley nourished for centuries by river water overflowing and depositing an excellent rich soil. 95% of our industry is farming. We grow a wide variety of vegetables, including fruit trees and various grains. However, we are known Worldwide for our tulips.  For centuries, the nation of the Netherlands dominated and controlled the tulip industry. At one point in their history, at the height of a "tulip bubble," one bulb sold for the price of a house. With worldwide migration, some tulip growers found their way to our small valley. For the last three decades, we have been competitors to the Netherlands, sometimes passing their output of tulips. Every year in the month of Easter, 250,000 people drive our little country roads, taking pictures of tulips and buying sacks of bulbs to take home. The point of this trip down

SANTA CLAUSE VS SANTA JESUS- WILL THE REAL SANTA PLEASE STAND   HOW DO WE TELL THE REAL SANTA? ( Santa= righteous and holy) Both Santas are jolly. Both Santas love children. Both Santas give good gifts. Both Santas can fly. Both Santas have an expected return. Both Santas have people looking for their appearing. Both Santas have a massive group of servants. And both Santas love you unconditionally. Whoops- hold it a minute. If I remember right, Santa Claus will love you and give you gifts if you're nice. However, if you are naughty, heaven help you. And here's where Santa "Jesus" comes in. With the real Santa Jesus Christ, love is not conditional. Romans 8 declares that there is nothing that will cause Jesus to stop loving you. Plus- you received his love even before you loved him. Santa Claus never gave his life to redeem you from death. Jesus did! Santa Claus never rose from the dead to give you the gift of eternal life. Jesus did! Santa Claus never went to your heavenly Father to prepare a place for you to

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED   When you look back on your personal life and our national life, you recognize a number of nights that we could call "our night before" when everything changed. There's an old familiar statement we often make when we say, "It's always darkest before the dawn." What we mean by that is that before a miracle happens or our situation changes, we have plenty of opportunity to be in despair and fear. Each of us has memories of our turning points, soon good, some real good, and also some not so good—the night before you board the plane for your planned vacation to the Bahamas. Or the night before, you have to face the judge in the courthouse. These are the nights that you remember because it's in these times that your character and strengths are strengthened and formed. Look at Paul and Silas, as related in the Book of Acts, in jail at midnight. It was their night before God's miracle happened, and they were set free supernaturally. Take a snapshot of Peter as he's in c

JESUS CAME TO THE WHOLE WORLD AND FOUND ONE OUTCAST WOMAN   We just sailed through another Christmas season, celebrating the coming of the savior of the world as a baby in the manger. But there is a reason why the Bible does not record the adolescent years of Jesus, except for one episode, when he was 12 in the temple. We jump from that description of that young 12-year-old and the priest he interchanged with to a 30-year-old man walking up to John the Baptist to start his destiny God sent him to fulfill. As interesting as it may be to know the daily schedule of a five-year-old Jesus, the Holy Spirit excluded that on purpose so that we would focus on the main reason that God came in the flesh in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. John 3:16 tells us that God's only begotten son came to redeem the world and everything God created.  We spend the next three years watching Jesus through the eyes of the four gospels, healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding the hungry. Jesus came to the whole world and found one

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED   When you look back on your personal life and our national life, you recognize a number of nights that we could call "our night before" when everything changed. There's an old familiar statement we often make when we say, "It's always darkest before the dawn." What we mean by that is that before a miracle happens or our situation changes, we have plenty of opportunity to be in despair and fear. Each of us has memories of our turning points, soon good, some real good, and also some not so good—the night before you board the plane for your planned vacation to the Bahamas. Or the night before, you have to face the judge in the courthouse. These are the nights that you remember because it's in these times that your character and strengths are strengthened and formed. Look at Paul and Silas, as related in the Book of Acts, in jail at midnight. It was their night before God's miracle happened, and they were set free supernaturally. Take a snapshot of Peter as he's in c

THE DOUBLE STANDARD-DID CHRIST COME IN THE FLESH?   Fifty years after Christ's ascension, the apostle John set pen to paper and gave us the first, second, and third John in the Scriptures. This is the same disciple who leaned on Jesus's breast during the Last Supper. This is the one they could not kill, so they put him on the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the revelation of Jesus Christ. In first, John the fourth chapter, he's dealing with a crisis that is happening in the Christian church. In a short five decades after Jesus ascended, 50% of the church did not believe that God actually came in the flesh. The teachings and revelation that the apostle Paul had 50 years previous to this had been taken over by perversive teachers that entered into the bloodstream of the church. We often use this passage of scripture in our modern situation, challenging an evil spirit or a person who may be under the influence and bondage of an evil spirit. We ask them if they can confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It's

THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM SOLVER   What was the original sin that separated humanity from fellowship with their creator? Was it, not the fact that Adam and Eve stepped away from the rules of life that God had set for them? The key to harmony and peace in the heavenly kingdom and in the world that Adam lived in was obedience to the rules of life. Those rules of life were very clear. Obey what I say, and you will have success. Disobey what I say, and you will find trouble. As quoted in the book of Genesis, the serpent in the garden came into their life of tranquility and peace and beguiled them. The word beguiled means to bring confusion to the point of changing your opinions and understanding. What happened was that Adam and Eve became their own counselor and, in a real sense, their own God. From that point on, it was "game on." Who among us needs God? We can be our own problem solvers. So here we are after all of these centuries that have passed, and we have come up with a new brilliant idea called artificial inte

WISDOM GIVES LIFE   It's the first day of a new week, and we look forward to the challenging yet adventurous days ahead of us. Because life is not always guaranteed to work out the way you thought it would, we trust the Lord to guide us through the pitfalls and the snares that it may offer. To do that, we prepare ourselves by studying and meditating upon the word of God for wisdom. Godly wisdom comes only from the spiritual realm in which God lives and from the spirit of wisdom herself. To receive godly wisdom, we have been given the ability by God himself to have Faith and belief. The Scriptures tell us that he has given every person the measure of Faith. God's Faith is planted in the spirit of every created human so they can believe in the Lord Jesus and find their way home to the Father. We have been given clear instructions on receiving the spirit of wisdom and the gift of life. The apostle Paul told his spiritual son Timothy to study the word of God, and it would prove him to be a faithful servant. Jesus

THE KEY TO ETERNAL JOY   We used to sing a song in the church: "It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, and the half has never yet been told." And another song was:  "Joy bells, ringing in my heart, Joy bells, ringing in my heart, Take the savior here below with you everywhere you go, You will have the joy-bells ringing in your heart," Joy and a life of peace have always been the theme of the Christian message, as well as the lifestyle of a believer in Jesus Christ. That's one of the reasons we sing about it and teach it from the word of God. So, what is the key to eternal joy? How do I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, maintain a lifestyle that is void of depression, fear, and downright unbelief? The Scriptures tell us that in the presence of the Lord, there is fullness of joy and that his right hand pleasures forever more. ( Ps 16:11) It's my experience that you can't dwell in depression and be in faith at the same time. The scriptures tell us bitter and sweet water can't flow from the same well. I also know

WE CAN WALK ON WATER IF WE KNOW WHO IS CALLING US TO COME   Among the many questions that I have been asking as a pastor is the one concerning the will of God for their personal life. "Pastor, do you think it would be God's will that I move to Cincinnati?" "Pastor, should I Mary Jane? Is that the woman that God has given me?" The desire to know that God favors what you do makes all the difference in the outcome. When Peter stepped out of the boat, he was in and started walking on the water. It was the result of one thing and one thing only. He knew it was Jesus who had called him to come. The storm was thick enough that he couldn't make out his features, but he recognized his voice, and when he did, he made history. So the key to that miracle story is knowing Jesus so that you trust and rely on him when he says come to me. To know someone requires a certain amount of intensive personal relationship with that person.  Doing that comes from a desire or an appetite to understand and learn what they know and expe

RESTORATION-HOW FAR DOES IT GO?    I'm sure you've heard the gospel song pleading with God, asking if he could just make it in. Listening to it, we get the picture of someone diving through the gate of heaven, catching their coat tail as it closes. A person with that in their thinking lives a life of high anxiety, hoping and wishing that somehow God would have mercy on them and let them into his heaven. Much of the protestant church, in its early formation, taught that you would not know you were saved until the end of time when you either went to heaven or hell. It was the influential evangelist in the early 1800s by the name of Charles Finney who brought out the mourner's bench. He invited people to come forward and kneel at that bench, and when they got up, they would know they were saved. He was persecuted and ran out of town and, In some cases, lied about and accused by the old guard who didn't believe you could know you were saved. When that revelation of restitution and restoration came to the church,

A LIVING PICTURE OF JESUS CHRIST OUR RISEN LORD AND SAVIOR   So you want to see Jesus in the full manifestation of his glory? Then let's take a look at him through the eyes of John the revelator after the resurrection and Christ ascension to the father. After all, the last book in the Bible, the vision that John witnessed on the isle of Patmos, is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. There's a great majority of the body of Christ that believe that the book of revelation is all about the antichrist, Gog and Magog ,and the final days of history. I've always thought it was a curious question why John, the revelator would send this message and vision to the churches of Asia. What would be so expedient about the churches hearing this message of something that was going to happen thousands of years in the future?. Also, the reading of this book, and this revelation was promised to bring them hope and encouragement, and a blessing from the Lord. I think it would be  something like calling the fire department with

WHO ARE YOU COMPLETING ON THIS JOURNEY OF FAITH?   Have you ever considered the cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews chapters 11 and 12 as personal in your walk of faith? In Hebrews 11, we have been given a list of men and women in the old covenant who walk by faith and hope in the future of God's promises. They lived in hope without receiving the fullness of what was promised them. In the first verse of chapter 12 of Hebrews, they are called witnesses or martyrs that surround us like a cloud. Then, the Scriptures tell us that we have a responsibility now that we live in the new covenant to fulfill their journey because of Christ's cross and resurrection. This idea of fulfilling the life and ministry of someone who has already stepped over into eternity is a powerful thought. The writer of Hebrews is first concerned about the shift from the old covenant to the new covenant. The old covenant saints could not be fulfilled because the cross and resurrection had not happened yet. However, they walked by faith

THE CHRISTMAS CACTUS   Hallelujah, we made it through Thanksgiving. Now, the next big hurdle to jump is the Christmas season. Everyone you know faces this season differently. Some great planners purchase gifts long before the season comes and stash them away for that big day.  My grandmother was like that. She had a couch in her front room with a compartment underneath, and all of us kids knew that was where the presents were for Christmas. And that was in the middle of summer. On the other hand, some wait until the last few days and then frantically rush around trying to figure out what Uncle John wants for Christmas. Well, some of that is in our DNA. We may be stuck with who we are because of our genes, etc. That's an opinion, not a fact. I stood next to a grand piano yesterday, looking at the Christmas cactus. The original was taken from a very old cactus. My mother had her grand piano passed on to my sister. You could call this the Esther cactus because it only blooms once a year at Christmas. The story o

THE PROPHETIC DREAM-HOW DOES IT WORK?   If your spiritual antennas are up, you will have noticed the rise of the mystic ministry in the nations of the world. For some believers, this would be brand new because of the need for teaching or revelation in the body of Christ at large. However, according to the definition of the word, the shocking reality to many who sit in church and listen to weekly sermons about God and the Holy Ghost is that they are mystics themselves. The dictionary tells us that a mystic is: "A person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity or absorption into the deity. Or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect." Sitting in our comfortable church seats on Sunday morning and listening to the teaching of Jesus and our heavenly father, we are listening to mystical revelation beyond the intellect. The apostle Paul told us that the natural man cannot comprehend the things of the spiritual world. Why is that? To understand the myste

UPON THIS ROCK, WE BUILD   While listening to the recounting of our Thanksgiving memorial as a nation, these few thoughts dropped in my spirit that I want to share today about the founding of this great nation we live in. As our forefathers came to this land, several major miracles made the difference between success and failure. First, we are the only nation founded as a Christian nation based upon the laws of God and the Bible from its inception. We are the only nation where rulership is from the bottom up, not the top down. This is what our Bill of Rights and Constitution means: the people have a voice regarding who is in charge and who will lead us. Another central foundation stone in this nation is property rights, with a legal paper proving to the officials that we own this land we live on. Another unique thing was that each person could get involved in a free market, trading and making a profit for themselves. All these things were not true in the other nations the people came from. Yet God provided us

THE POWER AND PURPOSE OF A THANKFUL HEART   Have you ever considered the incredible wonder of the world's great orchestras when they gather fifty musicians and make music together? We call it music because it is coordinated, balanced, in tune, and on time. The second thing we notice is that they all focus on one person in front of them. We call the conductor.  As long as those fifty individuals exercise their talents on various instruments and follow the conductor, the crowd will cheer and go home, amazed at the genius of the conductor. When the natural man refers to staying in tune with the balance of the earth without realizing it, they are referring to a biblical foundational truth. Just like that great orchestra needs a conductor, everything that functions in the world we touch and see has a conductor that keeps it on time, in balance, and tune. That conductor is Jesus Christ.  The scriptures tell us that Jesus holds everything together by the word of his power. One of the most potent things that hindered

WHAT DOES GOD DO WITH YOUR PRAYERS?   There is $1 million waiting for you in the bank downtown with your name on it. To receive it, you must get off the couch, call a cab, and claim your fortune. If you received that notice from the bank, would you see if it was real? If, for no other reason, most of us will go for curiosity's sake alone. Yet we have had an invitation from the Bank of Heaven to invest our prayers for a far greater and more valuable reward than just $1 million. Jesus cried out loudly as he stood in the city's center and told the people that if they came to him, he would supply them with living water, and they would never thirst again; someone in a hot, dry country that would sound like a $1 million offer. However, as he made that declaration, many people walked by without even taking notice, too busy to have their lives changed forever. The whole human race has been invited to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. You and I, the believers, have been commissioned to pray to the Father in h

WHY DOES THE TRUTH SET US FREE?   In John 8:32, the Passion Bible says, "For if you embrace the truth, it will release true freedom into your lives." Over the past decades, philosophers and freethinkers have wondered about truth. Gathering in groups, they debate with the logic of their empty understanding, trying to find their concept of it. After the intellectuals exhaust themselves, they conclude that you have your truth, and I have mine. Let's leave it at that. Hence the confusion we live in today. And the darkness that has overcome this generation adds to the next one to come. You and I, as believers, understand when we speak of truth, we're not speaking of philosophy or the current theories of this age. We are talking of a person, Jesus Christ.  The only reason this nation that we call home has proven to be the greatest that history has ever recorded is that it Is connected to The prayer that was spoken over this land when the first pilgrims put their feet on the sands at Plymouth Rock, declaring that th