Prophetic Warning in a Dream 08June2018

Sometimes God warns us about things we would not expect.  Other times, He doesn't warn us about things that we really wish He would have.  When God warns us, that is awesome!  When He doesn't, it is because He expects us to operate in wisdom and with care.  Last night, God warned me about something in a dream and I discuss it here...

Jesus' Sheep Hear & Obey His Voice (John 10)

In order to help people to understand that they can receive messages from God, John 10 is often taught.  We are His sheep, and we can hear His voice.  Though true, receiving prophetic words from Jesus is not the main context.  John 10 is primarily about the Sheep of Jesus not listening to other voices, following Jesus and obeying Him.  True Sheep Hear and Obey His Voice.  The following eight minute video includes some of Pastor Steve McKinney's thoughts on this subject.

An Exciting mini-Season of Working with My Parents!

My parents are with me here in the Philippines for a few weeks.  This last Sunday, even though I preached at the Church I Pastor here, Gateway Mission Assembly in Metro Manila, the Holy Spirit used my Dad & Mom mightily in the prayer time before and after the message.  It was powerful and beautiful!

This coming Sunday night after ministering again at Gateway, we will board a flight to Tacloban, a city in Central Philippines where we will together minister at the Assemblies of God District Council, a gathering of the Pastors of that great fellowship from the area, followed by a Youth Rally, also for the District.  My Dad and Mom will teach during the day sessions and I will preach the night meetings.

It has been quite some time since we have been able to minister together like this and I am super excited to see what God is going to accomplish!

Would you pray with us for these meetings in Tacloban that God will touch the Pastors, leaders, youth and all who will attend in a very special way?

Then on April 10, they will be off to ministry in Romania and beyond!  79 and 80 years old and still going full time, not retired!  Amazing!  They will minister in 11 countries this year, pretty much about the number of countries that they usually minster in every year (between 8 & 12).  And it was just a year ago that we weren't sure if Dad was going to survive the serious case of lymphoma he had, but he is completely free and clear.  God isn't through with him yet!

I Want the Father to be Proud of Me

I was writing a prayer to the Father as I sometimes do when I need to go deep in communication and understand my own thoughts which swirl so fast. 

One of the lines that I wrote hit me so hard that I started to cry... right there on the airplane in plain sight of my Japanese co-passenger...

I said, “Father, I want you to be proud of me!”

As I composed myself, my thoughts went to Job.

Job 1:8 ESV

[8] And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"

God was proud of Job!

Job 2:3 ESV

[3] And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason."

A second time, God revealed how proud of Job He was! Particularly after Job had survived severe loss which God had allowed and Job still trusted in Him!

Job’s response to loss was this:

Job 1:21 ESV

[21] And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

God was touched, moved, proud!

I want my God to be proud of me much in the same way I want my earthly Dad to be proud of me and as much as my three sons want me to be proud of them. It is a deep desire.. an innate need! I have often been surprised at how much my sons long for this. It is hard wired into who they are..

We usually try to gain the respect & admiration of our Father through achievement. Accomplishment. And I do believe that when we achieve much for God, according to His will, He is proud.

But from what I read in Job and in many other scriptures, I have come to believe that what makes God the most proud is how we live righteously and how we respond to trials and tragedy.

If I want to make my Father proud, I will trust Him, serve Him, love Him and praise Him no matter what happens to me!

Christmas Party Outreach in Antipolo - Would You Help Us?

The Church which I pastor in Metro Manila, Philippines, Gateway Mission Assembly www.gatewaymissionassembly.org , has been reaching out to one specific community, a few miles away in Antipolo for a few years now.  This December 2, 2017, we will hold our second Christmas Party Outreach.  It is primarily our Youth who are leading this effort.  They go to this community regularly and we even provide transportation every week to our main Sunday Church service by renting a vehicle called a Jeepney.  Here is a picture of a typical Jeepney:

Every Sunday, around 25 precious people from this community attend Gateway Mission Assembly.  This is the result of continued interaction, but by far, the most impactful thing we did was last years Christmas Outreach Party.  We believe that this years Outreach Party will be another big success!

It is my dream and goal that what we are doing will become a Church.  Our first Church Plant!

Our Church is running at a less than break even level.  Every week, we receive miracles from God in order to continue operating and so we do not have funds from our general account for this outreach.  Even the weekly transportation is covered by private donation.  What we are doing is collecting coins all year long after every Sunday service in order to get the money together to conduct this Party.  In addition to that, our Youth do other fund raising activities such as selling baked goods, t-shirts and contacting anyone that they know who might help.

It's going to be great!  There will be singing, performances, food, gifts and most importantly, the presentation of the gospel!

As of right now, we are in need of about $1,200 more in order to do it the way we really want to.

Would you be willing to help us out?  If so, please contact me at pastorstevemckinney@gmail.com and I'll let you know the best way to get funds to us depending on your location.

Thanks so much for your kind consideration!  God bless you!

The following video was produced by our youth after last years Christmas Outreach.

Populate the Best Neighborhoods in Heaven

Today I turned 49 years old.  I am impressed with two thoughts as I celebrate life so far and anticipate the rest of my days.  The first is based on Psalm 90:12 which encourages us to plan our lives and to spend our lives well.  Here it is in two versions to give more depth to the message.

Psalm 90:12 (NLT)
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

The second thought coming to me is to not a scripture but a popular saying which I find to be good advice.  "Live each day like it may be my last."  James 4:13-15 reminds us not to boast about "tomorrow" because we don't know if we will even have a tomorrow.

And so on the one side of the coin, God tells me to plan out my life.  In order to do this, I stay aware of my calling and of the things I believe God has directed me to accomplish.  I use a calendar, I use task lists, I focus on vision, destiny & on dreaming God's dreams.  I try to not be distracted, knocked off course, spin my wheels or waste time.

On the other side of that same coin, God prompts me to not get so caught up in planning that I don't accomplish my mission for Him for this very day.

This is a great balance to maintain.  To plan on having productive years well into my 90's but to also make sure that if I die tomorrow, that I have lived a productive life!

In this week leading up to my birthday, I have found myself evaluating life insurance, calculating how much I have spent in my lifetime so far on ministry versus on myself (including family) and more.  Why?  Because it is important to me that I spend more on God's Kingdom in my lifetime than what I spend on myself.  However, at the same time, it is also important that in my lifetime, I do care well for my family and leave a good inheritance for my wife and kids.  Is it possible to do both?  Is it possible to give at least 51% of a lifetime of cash-flow away into God's Kingdom and still to provide well for my family?  Yes!  But it's not easy.  It requires God's guidance and empowerment.  And it also requires that the Lord makes good on His promise that if we will sow into His Kingdom, that He will multiply and provide. And by the way, He definitely does that!

My Dad is even further along into this process, being older and having fought against a severe case of lymphoma recently.  God healed him but he did conduct a deep diagnosis of his life.  He shared with me that part of the reason that he wants to leave a good inheritance to his kids is that he trusts that those assets will be used to continue and multiply into the Kingdom of God.  Think about it.  If you left a chunk of cash, some life insurance and maybe some properties to your child instead of giving it to missions, the risk is that they will squander it and not multiply it and sow it and you have now missed your heavenly reward for what you could have received by sowing it into ministry.  But if you instead, sow it into your ministry hearted child and that money ends up becoming 5 times or 25 times or 500 times more sown into God's Kingdom, then you will have even more heavenly rewards than you would have otherwise received.  Multiplication of heavenly rewards is possible and is awesome!

I am trusting my family that once I am gone, if I ever die (I might be one of the raptured), should they receive life insurance and assets from me, that they remain focused on God's mission and that they continue in the legacy of giving more to God than what we spend on ourselves  :-)  I hope you kids read this!  If I did not love and if I didn't believe in my kids, if I didn't believe that they would be Kingdom people, I would not leave them an inheritance.  I would give it all into missions.  I'm really not kidding.  I'm not interested in leaving assets to anyone that will be selfish with them.

Why am I sharing my heart like this in a way that may be uncomfortable for some to read?  It is because of a dream I had this morning.  The Lord showed me a neighborhood in heaven.  It was a neighborhood that was very close to the center of heaven.  Very close to God's throne.  I was aware that the people in this neighborhood were those who had given more to God than what they had spent on themselves in time, energy and resources.  This was a neighborhood in glory that was full of those who planned for eternity and spent their lives wisely.  This was a neighborhood in heaven filled with people who were very productive for Jesus... they lived each day like it would be their last.  They worked and gave to a sacrificial point.  The widow Jesus spoke of who gave her little which was her all, lived in this neighborhood.  The rich people who gave much but in reality it was little compared to what they had, did not live here.  (see Luke 24).

After seeing this dream, of course I was even more motivated to make sure I get to that neighborhood!  But more importantly than this, God spoke to me at the end of the dream.  He said, "Steve, populate this neighborhood.  Teach people to sacrifice.  Teach people to live for me and not for themselves."  Then the dream ended.

Populate this neighborhood.  How many people can I encourage to make it to the best neighborhoods of heaven?  How many people can I guide into a lifestyle here on earth that will yield them the most crowns and rewards in heaven?  I don't know...  But I am committed to do my best to get as many people not only to heaven, but into the best neighborhoods in heaven.

The challenge is to balance the spending of our lives so that we will plan and number our days while at the same time, living each day aggressively as if it is going to be our last.

Let us rise up to God's call!  His call to trust Him, to sacrifice, to live unselfishly and generously, to work in His harvest field!

I hope to see you in the best neighborhoods of heaven!

God Said, "Don't Yield to Me!"

I was in our church mid-week service last Wednesday night with just a few of our normal attendees since we are smack in-between Christmas and New Years and many are out of town and such.  Not even any of our other Pastors who often attend were able to come and so I was the only senior leader there though some of our youth leaders were.

There was a singer, a guy on a guitar and another guy on a beat box and just 3 of us in the chairs.  The same number on the altar as in the congregation!  Earlier, we could have decided to cancel the service knowing that few would attend, but we didn't.  We decided to be consistent even with small numbers.  I am sure glad that we did, because I had a life impacting encounter with God!

Half way into the 3rd worship song, I stopped singing and was instead, speaking phrases of my own to God.  I was telling Him several things including "I Yield to You!"   Suddenly, the voice of God rang in my ears as if it was audible, though I knew nobody else could hear it.  He said, "Don't Yield to Me!  I don't want You to Yield to Me.  I want you to Fully Surrender to Me!"  At that instant, I envisioned a Yield Road Sign being replaced with a Stop Road Sign.

I don't know when it was that the word Yield became part of my prayer jargon.  It has been for countless years.  I probably heard other Christians say it and I picked up on it and started saying it myself.  I have probably said that to God several thousand times and I still do think that in many cases, that would continue be good terminology.  But for me, right now, facing the decisions and issues that I'm facing, God has been clear:  I am not to view my decision making processes as times to yield.  I am to stop fully and fully surrender.

There is a difference, though it on the subtle side and I never thought it very important until now.  It’s interesting how God speaks to us using illustrations that are comparable to other things we are experiencing at the time.  I have been teaching my wife Amy to drive and I just got word from her that she passed her driving tests and received her first Drivers License just this week!  One of the big lessons I have been teaching her is how to Yield, especially in the area where she is practice driving, where she has to enter traffic circles with possible cars coming around and there is only one lane.  The point is that when no other cars are coming, you can proceed driving without stopping.  The Yield in that case means you don’t have to Stop.  You keep going unless there is a reason to Stop.  But if another car is coming, they have the right of way and you must Stop and Yield to them.

Additionally in places where there are Stop signs, Amy had to learn that it isn't a stop until the wheels have fully stopped turning.  As with most people, this was hard for her to put into practice.  She was doing what we call "rolling stops."  That is when you sort of almost stop but the car is still rolling slightly and then when no cars are coming, you accelerate.  She was actually Yielding, rather than fully Stopping.  That is actually an offense that will land you a ticket with the Police in many countries.  What she had to do to overcome that compulsion was to fully stop, count 2 seconds and then go.  Now, she always fully stops.  But she had to initiate a discipline to do it.

One of the hardest things about doing a full stop is that we notice around us that hardly anybody else is doing it.  Even the Police cars, at least that I have seen, rarely do a full stop.  They are often rolling right through them.  It's hard to do something that many others disregard and don’t think is important!  But that is just the point!  Sometimes God asks us to do something that He doesn't seem to be insisting that other people do!  But for us, it is a personal command whether for a life-time or for a season.

Most of the time, Christians yield rather than stop.  The main reason is because in many decisions of life, you aren't necessarily going to hear from God directly.  As long as we follow His Word, we are free to just keep going and simply be ready to Yield if He shows up to change our course.  

The problem is that we get so used to that, that when we come upon a Stop sign decision; one that we really need to fully Stop for and wait on the Lord for, we often roll through them and make terrible choices.  Sometimes the root causes can be busyness or laziness.

What is even worse, is that our own ideas and desires can start to enter the mix.  We want what we want, when we want it and rather than Stopping which is a full surrender to the perfect will of God, so we just roll on through, telling ourselves that it’s ok and we pursue our own desire while making good spiritual sounding excuses for just Yielding.

So for me in this season, I will not be Yielding to God.  I will be making full Stops.  Making sure that I fully surrender to His perfect plan.  Making sure that I have inquired of Him on every important decision and have received His direction before proceeding.  Maybe He is speaking the same thing to you?

Now am I going to be seeking the Lord’s Will at the restaurant as I check the menu regarding what to eat?  That’s not what I’m talking about!  However, it is true that there are times that I’m about to order something that isn’t healthy for my blood sugar and I do hear the prompting of the Lord telling me not to order the starchy item.  My point is, there is a balance in all of this.

This is a time that God moves on many hearts in the Church to go into the New Year with fasting and prayer.  I will be asking members of the Church I pastor to join me in fasting at whatever level of fasting they are individually willing to do.  This is a good way to make a Full Stop.  I would recommend at a minimum, a three day, a one week, a ten day or even a full month.  And instead of just fasting food, I recommend fasting from other things as well including things like TV, Movies, Multi-media and more.  One lady I know fasted from wearing make-up for 40 days and it changed her life!  For some people, giving up Diet Coke for a month would be a great part of their fast!