A believer's authority resists disease

testimony from Andrew Wommack's Blog site. 

Since I have been looking at the way people pray over their children, I find that the prayer of authority is very powerful. See this father's example. This is how I prayed over our first daughter when doctors said she had scoliosis, a heart murmur, and possibly asthma. I refused to receive those reports. She has none of those problems.

Although Holly was completely surprised by Steve's news, the two conceived their fourth child almost immediately.

Several months into the pregnancy, when the time came for Holly to have her second ultrasound, the doctor delivered some devastating news. After careful measurement and calculation, the doctor said that there were several factors that clearly indicated that the baby would be born with Down syndrome. The doctor went on to show the Trover's in detail what led her to the diagnosis. Before leaving the room, the doctor went as far as to talk about possible termination of the pregnancy through abortion.

Termination of the pregnancy was not an option for Steve and Holly.

The enemy had come to steal from Steve and Holly, but they stood their ground. Drawing on the revelation they had received from Andrew's teaching in their church small group, and knowing that it was God who spoke to them about having another child, they refused to believe that this was God's plan for their baby. In the face of this negative report of a medical reality in the natural, Steve, standing on faith in God's word, took his authority and rejected the diagnosis. "I cancel this diagnosis in the name of Jesus. We don't believe these things that were spoken over our child and we don't accept it..." Steve rebuked.

Several months later, the Trover's returned to the doctor's office for another ultrasound. The couple entered the examining room determined to see different results. After a long time passed, the doctor finally spoke and said that if this had been the first time that she had seen this baby, she would have told the Trover's that their baby was perfect in every way. However, in disbelief, the doctor continued to take measurements. Finally, exasperated, the doctor threw up her hands; she couldn't offer any explanation for the transformation she saw in the Trover's baby.

Baby NathanielWhen the time came, Holly was induced and gave birth to a perfect baby boy. Perfect may sound like an exaggeration, but in the medical world, newborn babies are rated by their APGAR score. The score is calculated through a series of five tests, and scores range from zero to ten, ten being the best. The Trover's baby, Nathaniel, scored a perfect ten!

Rev. Sharpton, Who Needs "Training"?

  Response to "Retraining law officers"

A RETIRED STATE POLICE SGT WRITES:   An open letter to President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Mayor Bill deBlasio and Rev. Al Sharpton in regards to "Retraining Law Officers": 

Dear Sirs,

                   

Contrary to what you gentlemen might believe, my "training" to become a Law Enforcement Officer started long before the police academy. It started long before I even thought of becoming a police officer. 

                  

You see, gentlemen, my "training" started shortly after I was born and it started right in my own home.  

          

My parents, my family, my relatives, my siblings, my friends' parents, my neighbors, my church, my school, my teachers, my athletic coaches all played a part in my "training." 

                  

From a very early age I was "training" to be respectful, compassionate, understanding, strong, determined, courageous, faithful and, above all, responsible for my own actions. 

                 

What I learned in the academy is that every recruit/cadet had about the same "training" that I had. We all arrived with the same morals and the same goals. We all wanted to Protect & Serve. What didn't matter was skin color, gender, ethnicity or religion. 

                  

Throughout the academy, the previously mentioned attributes were discussed at length, but "training" also included how to deal with people who did not have the same level of "training" that we had come to understand as normal behavior. 

                  

Unfortunately our society has created a gap in "training" for the less fortunate and the self-entitled. Politicians have promised CHANGE time and again only to keep dumping mounds of cash on the situation and never addressing the real issue. 

                  

The less fortunate do not need handouts - they need jobs. They need to feel a sense of purpose and self-satisfaction from accomplishments. They lack of self worth becomes an excuse for accepting criminal behavior as a way of life. If I can't earn what I want, I might as well take what I can get. If I'm not accepted by society, maybe I can be accepted by a gang. 

         

Teach a man to fish.

                   

Welfare was not intended to raise 4-5 generations. It was meant to assist those who've fallen on hard times. With the lack of jobs and no promise of a future, crime becomes an acceptable behavior. 

                  

Police officers are the Thin Blue Line between a civilized society and total anarchy. The police did not create this problem. The police did not make the laws. The police did not create criminals. 

                  

You four gentlemen have made numerous statements blaming the police and their "training." We need to think about your words in recent speeches and statements. 

                  

Fewer than 1% of all police officers are involved in any misconduct (and this does not mean criminal misconduct), yet you gentlemen have made more than your share of statements inferring that the police are the MAIN PROBLEM. 

                 

When you four gentlemen make statements that ALL police need "RETRAINING," you do exactly what you accuse the police of doing. 

Mr. President and Mr. deBlasio, there are SOME politicians who are corrupt. Does this mean that YOU are corrupt?  Mr. Holder, SOME lawyers are criminals and drug addicts.  Does this mean YOU are a drug dealer or abuser? Rev. Sharpton, some men hide behind God to molest children - are YOU a pedophile? 

                  

Yet all four of you have lumped ALL policemen and policewomen as racists in need of "training."  What's even worse is that you four have done this after two recent events and before ALL THE FACTS were known. 

Both instances, while tragic, had zero evidence of any racist behavior on the part of law enforcement.  Yet all four of you believe ALL police need "training." 

                  

The four of you have failed at your mission.  It started by making inflammatory remarks against police prior to hearing the evidence.  It continued by all four of you failing to denounce criminal behavior at so-called "peaceful protest." 

                 

And you have failed by not standing behind the law of the land when you decided that two grand juries were wrong - the same laws that helped you all get the positions you hold today. 

                  

The four of you might need some "training." You might need to be reminded that your jobs are to bring us all together on the RIGHT side of the law. 

                  

This will only be accomplished when gentlemen such as you stop blaming the police and start teaching men to fish rather than giving them a fish. 

AUTHOR: Retired New Jersey State Police Sgt. Kenneth Gross

He deliberately set the puppy on fire

A dog has an amazing capacity to forgive our species. I have read stories of dogs so severely abused that the veterinarian had to turn away in tears. A Florida veterinarian tells the story of one such female pup whose master thought it would be a kick to pour gasoline on her and set her ablaze. Neighbors rescued her and brought her to the local animal hospital where this suffering, charred lump of burned canine flesh somehow survived the night.  Looking into her disfigured face, eyes popping out like golf balls because her lids had been burned off, the veterinarian actually shed tears.

Perhaps she should just put the suffering animal to sleep. Yet, when she saw how the female pup nudged against her leg and could not stop painfully wagging the stumpy tail, the vet understood that this horribly abused canine was actually expressing joy in human affection. Joy, as the pup came to be called, wanted to live. The vet decided to do what she could to save her.

Joy had every right to mistrust humankind, but she also had a heart of love to give. She was willing to trust members of the same species who had caused her so much suffering. The pooch underwent months of skin grafts and endured delicate ophthalmic surgery to rebuild her eyelids.

Eventually, a loving family adopted the disfigured dog. Joy recovered to run and play in the yard, sleep near her master's bed, and beg for scraps at the table, enjoying her doggie life. She has to wear a sweater to protect her scarred and hairless skin from sunburn, but she is otherwise a happy dog.

Someone has said that to live is to have scars, both emotional or physical. However those scars should not define us. They do not define Joy. She loves and enjoys the affection of her family. If a “dumb” animal can forgive such horrific abuse, then we who love the Lord can surely learn to do the same.

“Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” Mat. 6:12.

Every Man Has Both a King and Fool inside him

   
My Daughters, Speak To The King, Not The Fool

Every man has both a king and a fool inside him.
A wise minister once said, "The woman who continually reminds her husband of all his foolish choices may one day find him looking through the wedding photos and saying, 'She's right, I do make foolish decisions.' "
While on the run from Saul, David sent ten young men to ask assistance from Nabal, a landowner whose property David had protected by camping with his men nearby. Nabal's disrespectful response infuriated David. (I Sam. 25:10-11). He fumed, "I'll kill this rat and everyone in his house and fields!"
This same David, who would not raise his hand against his worst enemy King Saul, the "Lord's anointed," reacted as a hotheaded fool, with murder in his heart against Nabal.
The man's wife, Abigail, loaded gifts of food and wine and hurried to meet David's men on the road. She bowed low to David and appealed: "I know you are God's appointed king over Israel, and God will bless you, seeing He has stopped your from this bloodshed."
Wise woman.
She spoke not to the fool, but to the king.
David, on the run being pursued like a criminal, relented at once.
Instead, he acted as a king.
When he heard Nabal died ten days after a drunken feast, David gave Abigail a call and said,"Hi Beautiful, how having about dinner with me tonight?"
She soon became Mrs. David.
Wise women follow Abigail's example. They speak to the king in their men instead of the fool.

Wise men soon leave foolish impulses behind. 

   
Inspired by Mike Murdock

Young and Dumb

Part 4 
Former Satan's Disciple street gang member Johnny White continues his story of life behind bars and his advice to his new cell mate:

"The sad thing is Smoke, even faced with the truth and looking at the rest of my life in prison, I still came to the joint a hundred percent Devil's Click. I was the young and dumb, thinking of the gang bangers as my family. Eventually, I saw how they forgot me. That's good cause I saw the truth."
  "You ain't about to tell me God came to you and showed you the truth," said Smoke sarcastically.
  "I didn't have a vision or a dream. In fact it came from an old celli, Pistol Pete, who was still deeply involved with his mob. He ran down the lies. Showed me what they were. Pointed out that my real family has stuck by my side all the years. He helped me see that even though they didn't know how to show love through words, their actions showed it even after all I had done to ruin my life.
  "Old Pete helped me get back on the right track with the Word of God. He gave me a Bible and pointed to a good starting place. This was the beginning of a new life filled with the true love that only God can give."
   Smoke held up a hand. "Hold on. You're saying this guy was still deeply involved in his gang? I don't believe it Mr. Ellis. He wasn't living no truth."
   "I kept asking myself the same thing. If he knew the gang was a pack of lies, how come he was telling me about the truth in God's word?  But I also thought, here's a man who's risking his life to tell me these things. So listened. He said his Bible was better off in my hands because he was old and dumb, but that I had a chance not to become what he was.
   "His words lit a fire in me. I read those first two verses he showed me and knew I had choices to make that still mattered. It was the beginning of being truly loved, Smoke. Well, that's it.  I'm done for now."
   Smoke's skeptical eyes had become curious. "Wait, that's it? You ain't even to to tell me what those two Bible verses are?"
   Ellis opened a box and handed the youth a worn Bible.
   "What's this?"
   "That ragged book is the same Bible old Pistol Pete gave to me. The one that changed my life on the inside where it matters."
   "You're really giving this to me? I don't know what to say."
   "Don't say anything. Just read. Start here at John 3:16: For God so loved you that he gave his one and only Son sot that you can have everlasting life instead of eternal misery. The second verse is Psalm 34:19. Many are the afflictions of a righteous man, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
   Smoke asked, "What's that mean?"
   "It means we can have lots of trouble, but the Lord comes to our rescue."
   Smoke glanced up and said,"Chow time. Soy burgers tonight. Let's go."

EIGHT YEARS LATER:

   "Ellis, you got mail," the guard announced.
    Ellis answered, "I thought I had another new celli again. Wonder who wrote me?" He opened the letter and read:

  Dear Mr. Ellis, You may not remember me.You used to call me Smoke, or Shorty. We was cellis for about four months. You told me the truth about gang life and helped me see those lies I had been trying to live. You gave me a Bible and pointed out two verses that started me thinking.
  I want you to know I've been out of prison for three years, married my daughter's mom, and we just had our second child. We named him Ellis.
   Life has been a little rocky at times, but full of love. I walked away from the Alley Boys and gave my life to God. I am now a youth minister. When I'm on the streets, I pass out the words you shared with me about God's love being so far beyond human love.
   I have also sent back the ragged Bible you gave me. Maybe another celli will need it some day. And you will have it to show him the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
 
  Ellis folded the letter and smiled. He knew he had made the choice that mattered. It mattered in his inner life. It mattered in Smoke's life and in his family's also.  About that time, the guard arrived.
  "You got a new Celli now Ellis. He's young and dumb. Maybe you can give him a few pointers."
Ellis placed the ragged Bible on his box.

Snitching Will Get You Killed, by J.W. former Satan's Disciple

Part Three: Satan's Disciple, Johnny White continues his story:

Snitching will get you Killed.

   "You know the saying, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? Live by it and you'll avoid a lot of  the garbage. Plus these people got plenty of guys talking, so they don't you and they already know what's goin' on."

   After the cardboard-tasting meatball supper, Smoke complained, "That chow sure was nasty."

   Ellis answered, "It gets worse. Sometimes I can put a little something together from the commissary. You'll like it a lot better. Now, have you wrote your Mom, and didn't you say you had a BabyMa?"

  Smoke shrugged. "I ain't had no envelopes or paper to write. Yeah, I gots me a babyMa. We got a little girl who just turned three. She's my everything. Name is Kyla."

   "Here's paper and envelopes. Write your moms and let them know you're okay. Tell your mother you're sorry you messed up. She didn't raise you to be in this place. Send a letter to your daughter and her mother. That baby girl needs to be your main focus. Try to be a part of her life. She needs to know her dad cares. Your love will mean a lot to her. Now listen up. The love between you and her isn't marked by how many letters you get, but from how many you write to her.  While you're writing, I'll throw a meal together. I hope you like spicy."

Three months later:

"Ellis, you always trying to get me to read a book. Talkin'  about sharing stuff that will benefit me. Talkin' that Bible stuff. Why don't you ever talk 'bout your own bangin' days? I know you was in the Devil's Click. You was in some crazy stuff back then. But you ain't spoke of it for the three months I been your celli."

   "Well Shorty, Jesus says we are accountable for every word we speak. I haven't spoken on my bangin' days for this reason. Now I've been watchin' you. I see you close to the Truth. If so, I'll make it my business."

   "Why you always talkin' about truth? You ain't talkin' all that Bible stuff is you?"

   Ellis looked Smoke straight in the eye with a powerful surge of conviction, not condemnation or accusation, but simple assurance that what he was about to say was in fact pure Truth. "Yes, I'm talkin' Bible, but I'm also talkin' truth about the street life which is the path  you're on and the same path I followed.  All that Bible stuff is what brought me to realize my past was not what I thought. You ready to hear what I have to say?"

   "Ellis, Alley Boys is the only family I got. I'm not ready to give that up."

   "So you're sayin' your mother, daughter, and her mother aren't your family? If I recall, your moms and your baby girl are the only ones who wrote you, sent money, visited with you, or accepted your phone calls. You ain't heard zero from an Alley Boy. What have  they done for you. They're the reason you in this place. The ones who are in here, what have they done for you? They use you for your commissary or try to keep you involved with all their garbage. I know where your mind is at Smoke. I was there once. The Devil's Click was my everything. It was an addiction. There was a time when I would have given my life for my gang. There was a time when I took a life for them. No more. Like me, you need a push into Truth, so I'm gonna  push."

   "Ellis, you 'bout to smack me with your Bible stuff."

   "I won't be harsh. Hopefully, you will see from my experience what's really true when it comes to gang bangin'. First I gotta ask you a couple of questions. You told me you believe there's a God. Do you also believe that our Father God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross, so that our sins can be forgiven? So that we will not perish but have everlasting life?"

  "Yeah. I guess so."

   "Do you believe the path you have been running is a true form of happiness?"

   Smoke looked uncertain. "I don't know."

   "Alright let's see. I grew up in a house with a drunk and abusive father. Mainly he whopped on my mother. That was a rough start to life, specially since I was the oldest and took a lot of abuse trying to protect Mom.

   "By the time I was twelve, I had been locked up twice. Petty crimes. I was already an alcoholic too. I was a drunk kid looking and searching for acceptance, for a family that I longed for and didn't have. I had brothers and sisters, but with all the craziness, the alcohol abuse, the beatings, my family lost touch with how to love each other."

   "Hold on now, Ellis. You sayin' your mom didn't love you?"

   "She loved me, Smoke. She just didn't know how to show it in a way that could assure me. I kept lookin' for love and a sense of family who love me back. My dad spoke of his homies and brothers from his gang bangin' days,  and I  got the feelin' that his boys really loved one another and looked out for each other. So I set out tryin' to find my own homies.

   "I didn't have to look far. At twelve years old and lost, I guess I stood out because the Devil's Click found me and welcomed me in. They promised family, love, money, girls, parties. I was in, hook, line, and sinker. What great salesmen they were. I bought it all. I was a young fool who became a greater fool over and over for many years."

   Smoke arched his brows. "How's that?"

   "Oh there were parties. Drugs. Girls. Money. The so-called love and sense of family I craved seemed to be there. It just wasn't the real thing. Not sincere. It was all a lie. The excitement was addictive. Bangin' was like a drug. I couldn't get my fill. My honmies snitched on me many times, but I always let myself be suckered back in by the same lies and end up right back on the same streets.

   "I was a homie bringing in new blood to join in the sellin' of drugs or to do our dirty work. Everything about me was Devil's Click stuff. I sacrificed everything including the lives of others all for the name of the lying Devil's gang."

   "So you sayin' you done bagged some people?" Smoke asked, eyes a little wide.

  
"Listen, I'm not proud of what I done, and I will answer to God for my wrongs. But let's stay on point, which is the bold-face lies I accepted that led me to make the bad choices.

The same lies I'm trying to get you to acknowledge right now, so you'll see where you're at in life is not going to bring you the love and happiness you want.

   "A gang banger robs, steals, cheats, sells drugs, does drugs that ruin lives. We shoot guns into houses and cars, not knowing or caring who might be inside them. We kill, and what do we do all this for?"

   Smoke said, "Man that's simple Ellis. We do all that for respect!"

   Ellis settled back. "Maybe you aren't  ready to face the truth yet, Smoke. Let me give you the definition of respect. Better yet, pull that dictionary out and look it up."

   "Okay, I got it. Respect: high regard; honor; esteem; feel or show honor or esteem for others."

   "Right. Smoke how do you earn respect by doing those things that illegal, criminal, and destructive? Ruining your life and the life of others, stealing their  property, damaging their homes, cars, and more? Gang bangers do this crap  just trying to make a name for themselves, thinking that name will bring them respect, love and family. Well it doesn't! You know what my bangin' name 'Drop' got me? My full nickname was Body-Drop, which got me life in prison without parole. My so-called homies snitched on me and did absolutely nothing but use me and in the end, forget me. No letters. No money. No nothing. I did their dirty work like they wanted. In the end, I was nothing to them but a commodity."

   "Stop it Ellis."

   "No hold on. Let me finish."

Part Four to follow in next blog.

Former Satan's Disciple, Part Two

Former Satan's Disciple Johnny White, serving a 50-year sentence for the drive-by shooting death of a young Rockford, Il woman, continues part two of his story, Out With The Old . . 

"Let's get this cell in order. It's isn't my cell or your cell.This is our cell. We both will be makin' sure it's kept clean. We'll swap days on cleaning the floor and walls. When we use the sink or toilet, we wipe it off with that bottle of disinfect. We can't be livin' in no nasty cell.
"Now we only get one shower a week.So for the rest of  the days, we have to bird bath out of the sink.I ain't going to be smelling you around here and you will not be smelling me either. Like they say, cleanliness is next to godliness.You get sheets and a blanket from the C/Os."
  Smoke looked a little disgusted as he glanced at his bedding.        "If that's what you call them. These sheets are covered in all kinds of stains."
   "Well Shorty. That's what the prison system calls a short budget. It's hard to come across the new stuff. But I'm sure I can find something for you next week.These will have to do for now. You got family out there who will send you some money for clothes, cosmetics, your TV, a fan? Anything else you need?"
   Smoke shrugged, "I'm hoping my Moms will lookout for me, or my Baby-mamma," (the popular street term for unwed girlfriends who have illegitimate babies; the plural "Moms" probably refers to other girlfriends).
   "For now, I got some old sweatpants you can use. You can watch my TV whenever you want.There's only a few shows I tend to keep up with. I try to stay in the books. We can't count on these people to
educate us. We have to do that ourselves. Getting a GED is a good start in this place. Read all the books you can.
"So how much time you got, Smoke?"
   With a look of disgust, Smoke answered, "They gave me a ten piece of fifty percent for some lousy drugs."
   "Five years if you stay out of trouble may seem like a long time, Smoke. You're surrounded by guys with a lot of years that add up to life. Also, keep in mind they will have no problem putting their hands on you or taking your life."
   Smoke swaggered, "I'm Alley Boy, Ellis. Ain't no one fixin' to mess with me!"
   "Oh yeah? Don't think your guys will always protect you. You'll learn the truth and hopefully you won't ignore it. Now they're about to run chow in a few, so let's get ready. It's meatballs tonight. So called."
   "Ellis, you'll point  out my boys right?So I'll know where to sit?"
   "Nah. I'm not going to do that. Not my business. In fact, here's some advice. Don't get into anyone's business. Snitching around here will get you killed. You want to go home to your family, right? Do your time, and only your time.