Andrew Wommack's Blog, page 22

Changing Hearts at Home and Abroad

“And he [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Mark 16:15, brackets mine

Every year, Charis Bible College Colorado sends hundreds of second-year students around the world to preach the Gospel. And every year they return with testimonies of healings, salvations, and miracles. Perhaps the greatest testimonies are those of the students’ changed hearts and minds. Charis students who leave Colorado somewhat timid return emboldened. Those who leave quoting theory come home with revelation. And many who are seeking God for that “next step” return with vision.

This year has been no different.

Tim Mayes, a Charis Colorado student who went to Costa Rica, returned in awe of the way God changed his heart during his team’s trip. “Costa Rica was not my first choice,” Tim says. “I don’t even think it was my last choice, but I am fully aware that it was the correct choice for me.” During Tim’s trip, the Lord challenged him to do something with the wisdom and knowledge he had received from Charis. Tim describes what he heard the Holy Spirit say to him: “You have been given all of this. What are you going to do with it?” But then a short time later, Tim tells how the staff leader, Steve Bartlett, “pointed his footlong index finger [at me] and asked, ‘What are you going to do for the next twenty years that will count for eternity?’ This gets your attention, starts a person to thinking. Long story short, I’m headed back to Costa Rica this summer to work in the remote villages. Hallelujah!”

Another member of the team, Rosemary Goddard, shares her story:

“Some years ago…God spoke to me and told me I would be teaching and preaching…[and] would travel and ‘go places that no man would go.’ Not really understanding [that] phrase, I said, ‘Okay, Lord!’ In the city of Limón [Costa Rica], some of us were scheduled to go up to what we called ‘the church on the hill.’ The church was in an area where we had to walk up the hill to get to it. It would [mean] climbing muddy, rocky roads, so it was not possible for the bus to reach it…. Our leader, Pastor Douglas, told us that no teachers or pastors would come to this church and others like it because they did not want to walk. It is too hot. There is no air conditioning in the church. The roads are too muddy. It is rainy sometimes, and they do not get enough money for doing it. I rejoiced when God reminded me of His words many years ago. This was my first church for ‘going places no man [would] go,’ and for me, it [will] not [be] my last.”

Student Jon Rand says, “Each individual going on a [Charis] mission[s] trip comes back, I am confident, with different impressions of the experience they had.” He describes his own experience like this:

“Our team traveled deep into the rainforest to an indigenous tribal village of the Bribri people. Here, life is simple but hard. … Our group joined a Saturday, midafternoon church service. The congregation gathered under a black plastic tarp…. Seating was crude wooden benches and old, rusted, schoolroom chairs. … Through an interpreter, one [Charis] team member addressed the native Bribri people about simply asking God for what they’re believing in and then expecting it to happen. Near the end of the service, a local pastor shared that they [were] believing for a new church facility. I took them aside after the service to inquire what that would cost. As I headed down the path toward our waiting bus, God spoke to me about helping to build that church—providing them the funds. Upon returning, we have been busy putting together a plan—a way to channel the funds, monitor the project, and simply make it happen. God is quickly opening doors. That church building will soon become a reality! Praise His name!”

If you would like to help take the Gospel of Christ to the nations through the missions trips taken by Charis students, go to our
website: iamworldoutreach.com.

Please share a comment below if the testimonies from this Charis missions trip ministered to you.

(Note: Testimonies have been edited for length and clarity.)

- Roxanne Troup

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How Much Is Enough? Part Two

In part one, I shared my childhood experiences of getting caught up in religious traditions. For someone like me who grew up in church, those traditions—or sacred cows as Andrew calls them—became inevitable. Through wrong teaching and a “creative” big brother, I lived in fear of such things as being struck by lightning or facing the guillotine if my sins caught me in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I did eventually grow up—and grow out of those fears. Unfortunately, the religious traditions, or sacred cows, just took on new forms.

With those childhood fears behind me, I spent many adult years shedding “cleansing” tears at the altar of a church where emotions reigned. The thought that I had to get right and stay right was always present, particularly on those Sundays when I didn’t feel as much emotion as I “should.”

When my husband and I finally moved on, God led us to sit under some amazing Word-based teaching. We took copious notes, read our Bibles more than ever, and grew and grew. We learned to speak words of faith and to believe God for big things!

In our quest for God’s promises, we were hard workers. We had our confession routine down pat. We read chapter after chapter in our Bibles. We paid our tithes and gave offerings of money, jewelry, and time. All this was in a quest to move God to meet our needs.

Although much of what we were doing was good, we were missing a key point in all our doings. Andrew explains it like this: “We start tying God’s goodness and [the] demonstration of his power to our goodness. And the moment you do that, you negate the power of God, the goodness of God.” What he is referring to is found in Mark 7:13, where Jesus says the religious people were “making the word of God of no effect through [their] tradition” (New King James Version, brackets mine).

Works had become our new tradition, and we didn’t even realize it. We were starting to hear about the goodness of God, but only seeing it in parts—no matter how hard we worked.

In Monday’s post, I asked the question: What would be enough? And once again, Andrew has the perfect answer: “When you are trusting in your effort, you can never do enough. There could always be something more.”

Wow! That was certainly us. We could never seem to do enough.

God’s grace is transformative! And we are amazed at how our lives have changed since we discovered that God’s blessing is not wrapped up in what we do. None of what we do moves God.

So, what does move Him? Well, the truth is, He isn’t moved. All that He is ever going to do has already been done through Jesus! Jesus’ words“It is finished!” (John 19:30, NKJV) mean just that: It is finished! Ephesians 1:3 says that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (NKJV). “Has blessed” is past tense, which means it has already been done.

After years of spinning my wheels, I’ve finally let go of traditions and am truly discovering the goodness of God. It’s the good teaching of the Word that has turned my life around. There have been no lightning strikes or guillotine threats, only freedom and completeness in Him because He already did it all. Jesus is the One who did enough!

Andrew’s Encounter Grace Packagecontains a number of teachings that will help you let go of your own traditions and open your heart up to God’s goodness. We’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment for us!

- Jill M. Smith

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How Much Is Enough? Part One

“If we really understood the goodness of God without any religious baggage that held us back, I guarantee you, all of your problems would be over.”

Andrew Wommack

We called them pew races. My brother and I stood on a back pew, he said, “Go!” and we were off. The goal was to climb over each pew, reach the front of the church, and climb back. Our family lived across the street from our church, a building that was always unlocked. The purpose was for people to pray and seek solace any time of the day or night. It was a beautiful concept, provided kids weren’t playing inside at the time.

Regardless of our free rein of the sanctuary, there was one strict rule my brother taught me: never step behind the altar. The huge table was draped in a different-colored cloth based on the Christian season, and only the priest was qualified to walk behind this most holy object.

So, what would happen to a kid who walked behind the altar? Well, my brother told me that God would strike me down…with lightning. Really? Pew races were okay, but walking on the wrong side of a table would be my undoing? No matter how absurd this sounded, I still believed it.

That’s how religion is. It sets up rules and traditions, urges its followers to live by them, and then uses God as the punisher of the rulebreakers.

In Andrew’s teaching this week, Killing Sacred Cows, he refers to Mark 7:13:“Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition” ( New King James Version). He says, “It’s our religious traditions that make the statement…that God is a good God not have its full effect [in our lives].” He says this series is “about countering these religious concepts that void [and] negate the power of God.”

During my pew-racing days, I also attended events at another church. I “got saved” every night at a kids’ crusade. I also tried to read through my King James Bible and felt guilty over my failure to even finish Genesis. After watching a series of ‘70s-era end-times movies, I began to fear the guillotine. Lightning strikes, the guillotine—would these be my fate if I messed up? The idea that I must “get right, stay right—or else” was drilled into me. And whatever I did, it would never be enough.

But what would be enough? Andrew’s current television series will help answer this question.

If you haven’t been watching Gospel Truth this month, I encourage you to go back and watch the Killing Sacred Cows series from the beginning. In it, Andrew touches on many of his powerful teachings, such as Living in the Balance of Grace & Faith and The True Nature of God, and he’ll continue the series through the end of May. And check out our blog this Thursday for the conclusion of this story.

In the comments section below, feel free to share your own memories of how God’s grace set you free from religious traditions.

- Jill M. Smith

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Reflection of the Real Me

“What can I do for you, ma’am?”

There was that word again. Ma’am. I’d been hearing it a lot lately. Yes, ma’am. Good morning, ma’am. You’re welcome, ma’am. Although the people saying it are simply being polite, it’s serving as a subtle reminder that I’m not twenty anymore—as if I needed reminding.

Thank goodness, the image I’m seeing in the mirror is not a reflection of the real me. That’s because the real me is a spirit and cannot be seen in a physical mirror. After all, God is a Spirit (John 4:24), and since He created me in His image and after His own kind, I am a spirit too.

I find out what my spirit looks like by gazing into the spiritual mirror, God’s Word. It’s in God’s mirror that I see my spiritual reflection, which looks exactly like God—righteous, holy, pure, without deficit, and full of raising-from-the-dead power.

The problem is, I’m not just a spirit. I have a soul (made up of my mind, will, and emotions) and a body. Unlike my spirit, which is as complete as God’s spirit, my soul and body are in process and always need improvement.

Although I currently have to live in a corrupted body, I’ll one day trade it in for an updated, glorified model. Thank You, Jesus! But I can do something about the state of my mind—part of my soul—right now. In fact, I am commanded to do so in Romans 12:2:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind [by thinking like God thinks], that ye may prove [manifest] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Brackets mine

In his book Spirit, Soul & Body, Andrew says,

“It’s your mind, your thoughts, your attitudes that determine whether you experience victory and the life of God [that’s] in your spirit or the defeat and death of the fallen natural realm. Renewing your mind to the Word facilitates your transformation.” (pp. 20-21, brackets mine)

In other words, there’s only one reason that we don’t experience God’s kind of life right here, right now:

Because we don’t think like God thinks.

That’s it.

I’ve had a chronic health issue for several years. Though I have been standing on God’s Word for my healing, I haven’t yet seen the manifestation. Sitting in class one day at Charis, I heard the Holy Spirit speak this to my heart:

Daddy says He’s healed you, and you don’t have to be sick.

I thought, How awesome is that?! I don’t have to be sick!

But wait a minute. If I don’t have to be sick, then why am I
experiencing sickness?

The answer is pretty simple: Regarding my health, I’m not thinking like
God thinks.

Thankfully, I don’t have to wait until I get to heaven to experience healing, victory, and the life of God. As I spend time gazing into God’s mirror and letting His thoughts dominate mine, I can experience heaven on earth!

Understanding spirit, soul, and body is critically important to every believer and unlocks the treasure chest of God’s grace. Through Andrew’s Spirit, Soul & Body teaching, you’ll learn to see yourself the way God sees you, what happened when you were born again, and much more. This foundational teaching comes in a variety of formats, and the book is now available in eight languages! Learn about all these products, including the audiobook, read by Jamie Wommack. Check them out today.

If this has blessed you, please comment below.

The Power of Motherhood

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I always hated that question—for many reasons. But mostly because every time it was asked of me, no one wanted to hear my answer:

“I want to be a mom.”

“No. What do you really want to be?”

As a young person, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t really want to be a mom. What was so wrong with motherhood? What was wrong with wanting to be present in the lives of the children I helped bring into the world? True, it was the eighties, but seriously, if society was going to teach girls that they could be anything they wanted to be but then restrict their choices to something nontraditional, well, it sounded pretty hypocritical.

End rant.

I know that the adults in my life who asked that question meant well, but their concept of “empowering girls” had an opposite effect on this girl. I did not feel empowered to pursue my calling—even in the church. I walked away from those conversations with the mistaken idea that only “groundbreaking” endeavors were worth pursuing. So, I struggled through my teen years looking for another “good use” of the skills God had given me.

It took me a long time to see motherhood—and the building of a godly legacy—in the same light that God saw it. Yet I think mothering is an innate desire within nearly every woman. It was in Hannah from the Bible.

The book of Samuel gives us the story of Israel’s first prophet. Samuel was born during a time of apostasy, when “the word of the Lord was rare” (1 Sam. 3:1, New King James Version). He served Israel as both prophet and priest, directing the nation to revival. He was also Israel’s last judge. But Samuel wasn’t born of a noble family. He wasn’t born into leadership, into the priesthood. Samuel was born of “a certain man” and a barren woman (1 Sam. 1:1-2, NKJV).

Every year, Samuel’s mother would accompany her husband to Shiloh to worship God and offer sacrifices. And every year, she pleaded with the Lord for a child. She asked Him to give her a son. She then promised that she would give him to the Lord “all the days of his life” (1 Sam. 1:11, NKJV).

All the days of his life? What kind of woman could make such a promise? What kind of woman could guarantee her child would belong to the Lord even after he was grown?

The kind who understands the power of motherhood.

Andy Stanley once said, “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise.” I love that. The world may never hear of me. It rarely hears of women like Morrow Graham, Nancy Edison, or Alberta Williams King. (Just read their last names and you’ll know who they are.) Yet look at the impact these women have had through their children—just in our lifetime! Billy Graham said, “Of all the people I have ever known, she [my mother] had the greatest influence on me.” Thomas Edison said, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me: and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.”

Again, the world may never hear of me. And that’s all right. But what kind of legacy am I leaving behind? Who am I raising? What will their influence be? That is the power of motherhood. That is my calling.

This Mother’s Day, remember the gift of motherhood. Think of who may have influenced you and then think of those you are influencing. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below.

Open the Door to Faith

The Apostle Paul called Timothy“my beloved and faithful son in the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:17, New King James Version). As a spiritual father, Paul trained and encouraged Timothy in his faith. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul honored the faith that was handed down to Timothy by the mothers in his life. Paul told him, “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day when I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did.... [5] I’m reminded of how sincere your faith is. That faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I’m convinced that it also lives in you” (2 Tim. 1:3 and 5, God’s Word Translation).

The greatest gift we can receive from a mother, after the gift of life, is the gift of faith. In my own life, the faith of my grandmother was like a letter from Christ to me, written by the Spirit of the living God (2 Cor. 3:3).

I grew up in an atheistic home. Consequently, my family and I only went to church for memorial services and weddings. My Sunday mornings were not very spiritual. Instead of church, I would stay in bed, reading comic books and eating toast with strawberry jam. I enjoyed the leisurely pace on Sundays, but when I would watch other girls wearing pretty Sunday dresses on their way to church, I felt like I was missing something. But at the time, I didn’t know God had a plan for my life.

I spent many summers at my grandma’s house, and her kitchen became my first church. It was there that I heard the Gospel for the first time. I would hear her sing praises to God while her pet parrot would chime in on a different key. I remember the time when a friend asked my grandma to pray for her daughter who was dying in the hospital. My grandmother spent all night praying in tongues. A couple of days later, we received the news that the young lady had recovered. Her faith helped me to see that God was alive and that He loved people. My grandmother’s life was the seed God used for my salvation.

Faith is generational. It is comforting to know that we all can participate in the chain of generational faith. Whether or not we grew up with an example of faith to follow, we can choose to be the first link in our family’s chain, living our lives in such a way that we can hand down a sincere and rich faith. Mothers are gifts, but they are not perfect. When we focus on the influence our faith can have on the next generation, we are free to honor our mothers with pure hearts—despite their imperfections.

Take time this Mother’s Day to celebrate the mothers in your life! Ask God to give you fresh eyes to see them. Love them, forgive them, and bless them. Determine in your heart today that you will be the next generation that opens the door to faith.

A Mother’s Love

“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ [27] and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’”

John 19:26-27, New International Version

Jesus, the Savior of the world, was about to accomplish the greatest miracle of all time. Everything in His life and everything prophesied in Scripture had prepared Him for these dark, gruesome hours. Yet for someone known as the Word made flesh (John 1:14), He Himself had very few final words. Dehydrated and dying—weakened from bleeding out on the cross—Jesus used His remaining strength to ensure that a very special someone was taken care of when He left this earth: His mother.

When we think about Jesus as the Son of God, we often overlook that He was also the son of a woman. Just like us, Jesus had to be incubated in a womb. He had to have diapers changed and lunches made. Who sewed up the robes that He tore while climbing trees? Who lovingly refused to serve Him dinner until He washed the sawdust from His hands? Jesus had a mother. And just as He demonstrated how we are to love God and people, He also demonstrated how we are to love the women who raised us.

When I left home to go to Charis Bible College, I thought the process of being raised by my mother was finished. One year and several bad financial decisions later, I learned I was sorely wrong. At twenty-three years old, I had to swallow my pride and go live with my parents, who by that time had also moved to Colorado for Charis.

As a Charis student in my second year, I learned a great deal about the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). However, nothing taught me humility like having to resubmit myself to my parents. Ironically, nothing taught me God’s grace like their love.

“Jeff, breakfast is ready,” my mom would say to wake me up in the best way possible. Every morning before I rushed off to school, she would get up extra early to make me bacon and eggs. When I returned home after a long day of work, I would find a thoughtfully made dinner waiting for me in the oven.

Why would she go the extra mile for me? Was it not my mistakes that led me back to my parents’ house? Shouldn’t I suffer the full consequences of
my stupidity?

While I struggled with thoughts of failure and doubt, my mother reminded me of my value through doing my laundry, making my bunk bed (yes, a bunk bed), and keeping the fridge stocked with all the goodies that only I enjoyed. Before long, I started to realize that it was through the small, mundane things that I had taken for granted that she silently said, No matter what, you will always be my son.

I believe God uses mothers to show us one of the many facets of His infinite love. How often have we taken this love for granted? Jesus recognized the significance of His mother while dying for the sins of the entire world. This indicates that no matter how busy we are, we should find the time to call our mothers, send them a card—show them our gratitude for everything
they’ve done.

We here at Andrew Wommack Ministries wish all mothers a very happy Mother’s Day!

Praise in the Gates

“The words of Lemuel king of Massa, which his mother taught him.”

Proverbs 31:1 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

Another cigarette is calling Jim’s name. Is she asleep yet? Driving from Phoenix, Arizona, Jim is taking his Grandmother Salome back home to Illinois. While making this long, three-day road trip, he has desperately tried to hide his addiction. Jim glances over at his grandmother to see her shawl pulled up over her shoulders. Her breathing is slow and steady—another sign she has fallen asleep. A sigh of relief breaks loose from Jim as he rolls the window down, and smoke soon billows out of the car.

This goes on for the whole three days. Every time Grandmother Salome falls asleep, Jim rolls down the window to smoke. Because of his staunch, traditional Christian upbringing, Jim is afraid that if he gets caught, he will be read the riot act: “That’s not what we do, Jim! You better stop that!”

By the end of three days, Jim and Grandmother Salome finally arrive at her house in Illinois. As Jim drops his grandmother off, Salome looks at him with a thoughtful expression. “You know, Jim,” she says, “you don’t smoke very much. I bet you could quit.” It’s out in the open now! But the nagging, judgmental attitude Jim expects to see never comes. Only words of kindness and encouragement are offered.

Jim, my dad, never forgot the kindness of his Grandmother Salome, who has since passed on. I don’t know if she ever knew it, but her seed of faith enabled my dad to eventually quit smoking for good.

In the same way that my great-grandmother’s faith impacted my dad’s future, my mom’s faith has impacted mine. Mothers wield a unique power to shape the future with their words, and it’s because of my mom’s life—her knowledge of the Bible, her own personal relationship with God, and her willingness to take the time to teach me what she knows—that I love
Jesus today.

And as a mother who knows how to wield her words, she’s in good company.

King Lemuel’s mom was another such lady. I can only imagine what she was like! What she taught her son is now the pinnacle of Christian femininity across the globe. One aspect she described of a virtuous woman and mother was that of having “the law of kindness” on her tongue (Prov. 31:26).

So, for all the mothers out there, take it from me and take it from my dad—your words of kindness go deeper than you know.

Happy Mother’s Day!

“Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in
the gates.”

Proverbs 31:31

Called to Mother

As a first grader, I perceived how important our kitchen table was. It was where we ate all our meals, did homework, and played board games. It was also where my mother waited for me each weekday with an afterschool snack. Although she had four other kids arriving home, dinner to prepare, and homework to oversee, she found time to sit with me.

My mother poured out her excellence and stirred it thoroughly into every aspect of our lives. It was at a neighbor’s house that I had my first taste of Pop Tarts and Twinkies, and I knew even then that nothing that came wrapped in cellophane compared to my mom’s pies, brownies, and cakes. Our food was always homemade, and the kitchen table was the heart of my mother’s ministry.

Motherhood has been my mom’s vocation, not just her role. She has always had “loaves-and-fishes” faith (Matt. 14:13-21). Resources have always seemed to multiply in her hands. When we were kids, I remember her saving money out of the food budget all year to buy us summer passes to the swimming pool. Over and over she believed God would make things happen for us that had been ruled out or that seemed impossible.

Having a faith that God supplies is something my mom learned from her mother and then passed on to me. Although my parents lived on one income, my mother believed we’d always have what we needed when we needed it. I was in middle school when a friend from an affluent family came over to eat dinner at my house. The next day at school, she made fun of my family for having a picnic table as our dining table. I had never thought of it as outdoor furniture. It perfectly fit us, and there was always room for more if we
had guests.

When a woman’s motherhood is a vocation and not just a role, she does it all through her life. As an empty nester, my mom went to college. She then worked for almost twenty years in foster care as a case manager. She bought her foster kids Christmas presents and was often the only one who was with them at their high school graduations. My mother would never say she was successful or important, but she has completely invested herself in loving and supporting children and our family. And to me, that’s a success!

With my own son, I also stepped into the calling of motherhood. In middle school, my son was switched from a Christian school to a secular academy. Although most of the kids were financially well off, they did not go home to a parent. My son came to our restaurant after school, which is where I waited for him every day. We did his homework together at a large round table. Within six months, he was bringing four or five of his friends with him daily, and I fed them before they did homework. Even if my son stayed after school, several of the boys showed up without him because they felt so comfortable there. I knew it was because of the mothering heart in me.

Seeing motherhood as a calling doesn’t mean you can always be at home with your children, but it does mean that you give the best to those you mother. On this Mother’s Day remember to thank those who have mothered you.

Eyes on Brazil

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”

2 Chronicles 16:9a

Charis Bible College students made God’s eyes rest on Brazil. During a recent missions trip to that country, Adrian, Kim, and Shoshana prayed for a lady who was using a walking stick. After prayer, they got her to stand and do movements she couldn’t do before. She walked, tapped her toes, and started taking bigger steps, bending her knees and lifting her foot. She even danced with Shoshana! When hot dogs were served, she rushed over to get one, and it appeared like she had forgotten that she ever had a problem walking. The nearly-too-good-to-be-true news made a mark in Brazil through these
Charis students.

Sang, another Charis student, prayed for a man and lifted his arms up in the air. As soon as she lifted them up, he started crying. He was so powerfully touched by the Lord. Before the day was out, the man had also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Judy, another member of the Charis missions team, shared a personal testimony about adultery and God’s great forgiveness. After sharing, Judy prayed with a young lady, but she didn’t understand English. So, this lady asked for someone to translate for her. The translator revealed that this young lady had been going through exactly what Judy had shared during her story. She said Judy’s testimony really spoke to her. The woman appeared to love the Lord, but she had been tempted by sin. Judy was led to share this personal testimony, and she believes it will help this young lady to stay strong and stand against the Enemy’s temptation.

Please consider supporting Charis Bible College World Outreach. You are empowering future missionaries to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Also, if you feel called to world missions yourself, check out the Third-Year Missions School at Charis! Let God know that His eyes can rest on
you today.