Jump Into the Field
ofFaith
“Lord, increase our faith!” | That was the cry of Jesus’ first 12 disciples…and it’s been the heart cry of untold millions of believers ever since. And why shouldn’t it be? Again and again in the New Testament we see people receive miracles from God… according to their faith. We hear Jesus say, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed… nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20). We read the words of the apostle John who wrote, “…this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). | The Bible makes it absolutely clear: Faith can overcome anything in this world order. There is literally no limit to what faith can do.
by Kenneth Copeland
You can’t just casually scatter the seed of the Word on the top of the ground where the devil can steal it from you, either. You must plant it deeply and securely in your spirit.
Why then aren’t more Christians enjoying the limitless blessings that faith can produce in their lives?
Primarily because we’ve limited ourselves to this natural realm. We’ve spent most of our time looking at the things we can see with our physical eyes, and believing what our natural senses tell us. We haven’t cultivated the vast field of faith that’s available to us.
You might say, we’ve fenced ourselves in by unbelief.
Jump the
Fence!
Some years ago, the Lord dealt strongly with me about breaking through that fence. As I was praying one day, He reminded me of my grandfather and the 640-acre plot of land in the panhandle of Texas that he farmed when I was a little boy. Time and again I’d seen my grandfather climb on his tractor and plow one row after another on that land. He’d come up one way as far as he could go until he reached the fence at the edge of his farm; then he’d swing that old tractor around and start another row.
An excellent farmer, my grandfather knew how to make those 640 acres produce to maximum capacity. But, even so, there was a limit to what those acres would yield. If he wanted to go beyond that limit, he’d have to buy the land on the other side of that fence. He’d have to farm some new territory.
As I fellowshiped with the Lord that day, in my spirit I could see my grandfather going up and down those rows, turning every time he reached the fence. Then suddenly the Spirit of the Lord hollered in my spirit and said, Jump the fence! Get over into the ground of faith where the possibilities are unlimited! That ground will produce a crop as big as you’ve got the guts to plow!
Bless the Lord, I’ve been jumping fences ever since!
I’m not planning to stop either because I’ve discovered for myself that living by faith is exciting. There’s no end to what faith can do. Even more importantly, God Himself is pleased by faith, so the more I grow in faith, the happier He is.
Of course, people aren’t always as happy about faith as God is. Some of them have warned me not to go overboard with this faith business. “You’d better stay balanced,” they say.
They think balance means mixing equal parts of faith and unbelief. But Jesus never said anything about that
kind of balance. He never rebuked anybody by saying, “Oh ye of too big faith!” No, it was little faith that bothered Him. He’s always been pleased with great faith.
Become a Faith Farmer
“But, Brother Copeland,” you might say, “there’s one problem. I don’t have any faith.”
Yes, you do. When you were born again you received the same faith Jesus has. It’s the same faith Paul had, the same faith Peter had and the same faith John had. They got theirs from Jesus just like you did. He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Ephesians 2:8 confirms that. It says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” When we were saved, God gave each of us a measure of His own faith. We didn’t do anything to earn or deserve it. He gave it to us freely as a gift. We do, however, have the responsibility to develop it.
Amarillo, TX | June 10 & 11
Join Pastors Scott and Missy Johnson of BelieversWay Church, Amarillo, as they welcome
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts 500 S. Buchanan, Amarillo, TX 79105
Saturday June 10, 7 p.m.
Kenneth Copeland
Sunday June 11, 10 a.m.
Gloria Copeland
Praise and Worship with the BWC
Host Hotel | Homewood Suites by Hilton 8800 I-40 West, Amarillo, TX 79124 | www.homewoodsuites.com
For reservations, call (866) 866-9555; ask for the BelieversWay room rate $99/night studio suite or one bedroom
Praise Team
God Himself is pleased by faith, so the more I grow in faith, the happier He is.
I know, you’re probably thinking, Then I have a lot of developing to do, because my faith is really small.
That’s OK. Don’t worry about that. Nobody starts out with great faith. We all begin with just enough to get born again. That’s why we must set ourselves to become faith growers.
Some people grow cotton for a living. Some people grow wheat for a living. As believers, we grow faith! We start out with the seed of the Word. We plant it, cultivate it, guard it against the pests and elements that try to destroy it. If we’ll do those things our faith will grow greater all the time.
Faith Gets the Job Done
Jesus left no doubt about that. In Luke 17, when the disciples asked Him to increase their faith, He said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (verse 6).
In other words, if you have just a little bit of faith, use it like a seed. Plant it in a situation with the words of your mouth. Then keep believing and that faith will grow and work in that ground until it becomes great enough to get the job done.
That’s not a message Jesus preached just once. He preached it again and again. It’s so vital that in Mark 4, where He taught it in the greatest depth through the parable of the sower, He said that if we don’t understand that message we won’t be able to understand anything about the way the kingdom of God works on the earth. Then He added: “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?
or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it” (verses 30-32).
If you do not know as your
What’s more, Jesus didn’t just say that faith, once sown, grows up and becomes greater; He demonstrated it. When He cursed the fruitless fig tree by saying, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever” (Mark 11:14), He planted His faith by speaking words to that tree.
Savior & Lord,
Jesus
simply pray the following prayer in faith, and Jesus will be your Lord! Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” and “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9). You said my salvation would be the result of Your Holy Spirit giving me new birth by coming to live in me (John 3:5-6, 15-16; Romans 8:9-11) and that if I would ask, You would fill me with Your Spirit and give me the ability to speak with other tongues (Luke 11:13; Acts 2:4).
I take You at Your Word. I confess that Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. Thank You for coming into my heart, for giving me Your Holy Spirit as You have promised, and for being Lord over my life. Amen.
If you have just prayed this prayer, please contact us and let us know of your decision. We have a free Salvation Package we would like to send you to help you begin your new life in Jesus! Simply write and ask for offer #50801, call 1-877-480-3388.
To the natural eye, it looked like nothing happened right away. But Jesus’ faith went to work immediately in the roots of that tree and it kept working until the whole tree withered—leaves and all. When He and His disciples passed by that tree 24 hours later, it had dried up from the roots. It took a day to finish the job but, in the end, faith got it done!
Don’t Just Scatter the Seed…Plant
It
“Yeah, but that was Jesus,” somebody might say. “Nobody else can operate in that kind of faith.”
On the contrary, Jesus commanded us all to operate in it. He said, “Have faith in God.” (Or as some translations put it, Have the God kind of faith.) “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:22-23).
Salvation Prayer
According to Jesus, if you’re a whosoever (and that covers just about everybody) you can and should have the mountain-moving faith of God.
How do you grow that kind of faith?
You start by planting God’s Word in your heart because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
You can’t just casually scatter the seed of the Word on the top of the ground where the devil can steal it from you, either. You must plant it deeply and securely in your spirit. The best way to do that is by obeying the instructions in Proverbs 4:20-24: “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”
It’s Not Always Easy
If you truly want to obey those instructions, you must decide—once and for all—to make God’s Word the final authority in your life. You must determine that regardless of what happens in your life, you will live by the Word.
I’ll never forget the day Gloria and I did that. It was back in 1967 when we first started out in the ministry. We were attending some of Brother Kenneth Hagin’s meetings and we heard him talk about the commitment he’d made years before to honor God’s Word as the ultimate authority in his life. He had determined early in his ministry that he would make whatever adjustments necessary to make his lifestyle fit the Word.
Gloria and I went home that day and said, “That’s what we’re going to do, too.” So we sat down at our little table, took Communion and said to the Lord, “From now on, we’ll believe whatever Your Word says. We’ll do whatever it says to do.” And we’ve done that ever since.
It hasn’t always been easy. There have been times when I’ve been hurting…or mad…or disappointed about something and Gloria would remind me that the Word says in those situations we should praise the Lord. There have been times when I felt sick and somebody would remind me that the Word says that by Jesus’ stripes we were healed.
I knew the Bible said those things but I didn’t feel like acting on it right then. I felt like saying, “Hey, get out of my face with that! Stop telling me what I should do!” But then I’d remember the commitment
we made back in 1967 and I’d make my flesh get in line.
The decision I made back then would take over and I’d say to myself, “Look here, flesh, I’m going to do what the Word of God says to do whether you like it or not. I am going to praise God. And I’m not allowing that ‘I’m sick,’ ‘I’m tired,’ ‘I’m broke,’ ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do’ junk to come out of my mouth again.”
Once you make that kind of quality decision, the door is open for you to go on to greater things. You’ll be in position to put your flesh where it belongs, under the authority of the Word. You’ll be ready to bust through the natural limitations that have kept you from enjoying the abundant blessings of God.
So go ahead, jump the fence and start planting the seed of God’s Word in the soil of your heart! Grow the biggest crop of faith you’ve ever seen.
Your heavenly Father is sure to be well pleased. V ictory
God releases His faith by speaking words. And so should you.
In this revealing series, Kenneth Copeland shares how the Holy Spirit paints an image of the Word in the heart of the believer through revelation knowledge. Because of the reality of the Word in his heart, the believer can then release that faith by speaking God’s Word into any situation.
by G eor G e P earsons
Don’t Look Now, DaD ,
But You’re Being Watched!
G“Grandpa passed away.” | These were the words my father spoke to me over the telephone that warm spring Sunday in 1972. I was an 18-year-old art student in Boston now having to return home for a funeral service— one that I was dreading.
I shared with my dad what I had observed of him at Grandpa’s funeral, and the profound effect it had on my life and ministry. I shared how it transformed the way I could reach out to people in tough situations.
I loved my Italian grandfather. He, my grandmother, my mother and aunt made their way from “the old country” to America in 1921. They settled in a predominantly Italian town on Cape Cod called Sagamore. Grandpa worked his way up from building stone walls to owning a very successful restaurant and inn. He acquired 13 acres of prime land and became respected among his peers. In my eyes he could do anything, fix anything— he was the man who hung the moon.
As a child, I wanted to be with him all the time. I tried to act like him, walk like him, even talk like him. He was my hero.
I was devastated when my hero died.
The family patriarch was gone. An era had come to an end. It was a lonely drive as my sister and I headed south from Boston to the Cape.
My mom and dad lived next door to my grandparents. As we arrived home I looked across the field from our house toward the Sagamore Inn—the home where my grandfather lived and worked. It was the house where he and I played together. A wave of memories overcame me. How can I face this funeral?
You must understand that I wasn’t born again until that summer, so I had a lot of questions. Grief worked its way down
into my heart. I was angry and frustrated. I was determined not to go to the viewing of the body or to the funeral.
The next day we headed to the funeral home for the “all-day, all-evening” viewing. It was the time when friends came to pay their respects and support the family.
When we first arrived, I refused to go in. I didn’t think I could handle it. I just walked around the parking lot thinking about Grandpa. The more I thought, the more I missed him, and the more distressed I became.
I finally walked up to the funeral home door and looked inside. People were everywhere. The place was jampacked. Friends and family were awkwardly trying to say the right thing. I could see my grandmother crying, and Mother doing her best to console. But my roving eyes eventually locked on one person. I stood there watching, observing my father’s every move.
Reaching Out to Others
Dad was manning his post by the entrance to the viewing room. He was smiling, greeting people, shaking hands and hugging necks. He was the warm host, the “pastor” over this trying event. He seemed to put everyone at ease—including me.
Somehow, he was able to climb up over his own hurt and reach out beyond himself. He had become a pillar of strength and stability, something I had never noticed in him before.
His example gave me the courage to go inside.
I kept watching. Soon, I was doing the same. Greeting, hugging, comforting— even laughing. Acting just like my father.
Little did he know he was preparing me for the future—to raise a family, to pastor a congregation. And to one day face the inevitable.
That “one day” finally came.
“Dad passed away.”
These were the words my sister spoke to me over the telephone the week of Sept. 11, 2001. My wife, Terri, and I were en route home from Moscow on Sept. 11
when, instead of flying into New York we were diverted to Dublin, Ireland.
My father had gone into the hospital that week. Just before we boarded the plane to leave Dublin, I called to check on Dad. He had gone on to heaven only a few hours before.
I loved and admired my dad. We had so much in common. We shared a “Far Side” sense of humor. Both of us were artists. We were alike in so many ways. On trips back to New England for Christmas or summer vacation, Dad and I would go for our “traditional drive.” First to the post office, then to pick up a newspaper. Finally, we would park by the ocean and catch up on the latest or reminisce about the past.
But those days were over. At least until we are reunit-
In Can You Hear Me Now? Pastor George Pearsons shares how couples and families can forget past communication failures and make a deliberate, conscious decision to learn to talk, listen and respond to each other in love.
Order today and learn how to create a safe environment for your family— one built on loving communication and respect.
Successful families don’t just happen. They develop through healthy communication and love.
ed in heaven. Once again, an era had come to a close. Things would never be quite the same. My family was now looking to me for the strength and stability my father once provided. And this time around, I was ready.
Taking My Place
When we arrived at the church for the service, I purposely stationed myself at the front door. Remembering what Dad did at Grandpa’s funeral, I smiled and greeted his friends as they entered the church. I shook hands, hugged necks and endeavored to make everyone welcome—just as Dad had done.
The greatest honor came as people would look into my eyes and say, “You’re just like your father.” It was the ultimate compliment.
That evening, I was able to do for my dad what he did for Grandpa almost 30 years before. I became a pillar of strength for family and friends to lean on. And I learned how to do that just by watching my dad.
During one of our last “traditional drives,” I shared with my dad what I had observed of him at Grandpa’s funeral, and the profound effect it had on my life and ministry. I shared how it transformed the way I could reach out to people in tough situations. I so remember his surprised response.
“George,” he said, apparently stunned, “I don’t even remember how I acted that day. And on top of that, I didn’t know you were watching.”
He didn’t know I was watching.
Fathers often don’t realize what powerful role models they are—that their children watch their every move. They observe them and study their mannerisms. They note how their fathers handle themselves in the good and tough times. They learn by their example.
Dads, make a commitment today to let everything you do reflect the heart of God. Speaking kind words, reaching out to others and displaying joy in your home are just a few of the life lessons our children learn through observation.
Don’t look now, Dad, but you’re being watched. Your children’s eyes are upon you. Just make sure that what you are doing is worth their watching.
“Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]” (Ephesians 5:1, The Amplified Bible). Victory
Get Totally Immersed at Kenneth Copeland Ministries
”I believe one of the most important things God has called us to do is to meet together. As you join in the corporate anointing at these meetings, the intense exposure to the Word of God will renew your mind so you will become prosperous-minded, healed and well.“
—Kenneth Copeland
George Pearsons is the senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church, located on the grounds of Kenneth Copeland Ministries. For information or ministry materials write to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, TX 76192-0001.
jesse Duplantis jerry Savelle
Creflo A. Dollar Keith Moore (West Coast)
Gloria Copeland Kenneth Copeland
Bill Winston (Great Lakes)
West C oast | July 3-8
Believers’ Convention
Anaheim Convention Center | 00 W. Katella Ave. Anaheim, CA 9202
s outh W est | July 31-August 5
Believers’ Convention
Fort Worth Convention Center | 1201 Houston St. Fort Worth, TX 7102
Young Adults in grades 7-12—join Jeremy Pearsons for 14forty services.
G reat L akes | August 21-26
Believers’ Convention
u.S. Cellular Arena | 400 W. Kilbourn Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53203
G o L d C oast | October 5-7
Victory Campaign
Gold Coast Convention & exhibition Centre
Gold Coast Highway, Broadbeach Queensland, Australia
Perth | October 10-11
Victory Campaign
Victory Life Centre | 1 neil St. Osborne Park, WA 917 Australia
Washin G ton , d.C. Victory Campaign | November 9-11
Hylton Memorial Chapel | 1440 Potomac Mills Road Woodbridge, VA 22192
Unable to attend? j oin us via a live video or audio broadcast at getimmersed.org ! Join Gloria Copeland for Healing School Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Join Kenneth and Gloria at these meetings:
June 10-11
BelieversWay Church
Globe-news Center for the Performing Arts 500 S. Buchanan Amarillo, TX 79105 (0) 43-724 www.believersway.com
June 16
Annual Word of Faith International Christian Center Conference Word of Faith International Christian Center 20000 W. nine Mile Road
Southfield, MI 4075-5597 (24) 353-347 www.wordoffaith-icc.org
September 1-3
Thunder Over Texas jerry Savelle Ministries International Historic Granbury Town Square 100 e. Pearl St., Granbury, TX 704 (17) 297-3155 www.thunderovertexas.com
September 10
2006 Annual Word of Faith Conference Living Word Christian Center 730 W. Madison, Forest Park, IL 0130 (70) 97-5000 | www.livingwd.org
September 17-22
Days of Refreshing eagle Mountain International Church Kenneth Copeland Ministries Headquarters 14355 Morris-Dido Road, newark, TX 7071 (not a mailing address) | (00) 00-7395
October 25-30
Prayer Mountain in the Ozarks Billye Brim Ministries P.O. Box 40, Branson, MO 515 (417) 33-477 | www.billyebrim.org
November 3-5
Living Word Christian Center 9301 75th Ave. n., Brooklyn Park, Mn 5542 (73) 315-7003 | www.lwcc.org Terri Copeland Pearsons will be in Australia May 26-June 5 (hosted by KCM Australia)
Believers' Conventions will also feature: Superkid Academy | For kids, ages 6-12! join us for Superkid Academy with Dana and Linda johnson and special appearances by Commander Kellie! It’s like a full week of Superkid Camp for FRee! And don’t miss Saturday…where you can be a part of our very own Healing School. See you there, cadets! Victory Campaigns will feature: Speakers: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland Praise and worship by the KCM band
Admission is FR ee Meetings are subject to change without notice. For updated information, please log on to getimmersed.org or call the KCM office nearest you.
Partners and Friends within the United States call (800) 600-7395. Partners and Friends within Canada call (877) 480-3388.
Commander Kellie
Dana and Linda johnson
What’s holding You Back?
is nothing wrong with watching a good sporting event or movie on television. But what’s causing you to
The more you know about a subject— particularly what God is directing you to do—the more He has to work with.
In my life, for example, I’ve always known that I was called to ministry. But there was another part of me
that wanted to know more about business. Sure, I had money. But when I stepped back and took a look at my financial situation I realized that I was existing off of cash flow. I knew nothing about investing.
I had a desire to own real estate, but it wasn’t until my wife, Marty, and I prayed, started learning about real estate and decided to step out in faith, that God came along with the answers. We acted in faith, stepped out and started making something happen.
Many of us are waiting on God to do something, but He’s actually waiting on us. He’s saying, I’ll put some super with your natural and we’ll get it done. It’s not all up to us to make things happen in our lives, but it is up to us to take the necessary steps. God’s not going to do it for us.
Take Off the Limits
If you’re not putting something in yourself for God to work with, then He’s limited in what He can do. You have to give Him something to work with. We need the knowledge within that gives God more to work with. The
It’s
Life can pass right by while you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do. But when we hear the Word and do it, that’s when we set ourselves on course for success. If you don’t become a person of action—action that’s based on the Word—you’ll never accomplish very much in life.
The best way to keep moving, stay on track and keep your priorities in order, is to write a plan for your life. It doesn’t have to be a big complicated essay. Make a petition, a commitment before God of what you are believing for. It’s just you talking to God. There is a lot of power in writing out your plan and keeping it before you. Get your family involved by having them sign the petition as a way of saying, “This is where we’re going.” You’d be surprised at what can come out of that kind of agreement. There is power in setting those things before you. Pray with your family and ask yourself where you want to be in the next one, five or 10 years. Then set yourselves in agreement to accomplish that goal.
not all up to us to make things happen in our lives, but it is up to us to take the necessary steps.
God’s not going to do it for us.
more you know about a subject—particularly what God is directing you to do—the more He has to work with.
To some degree, we all have been guilty of hearing the Word but not paying heed to it. We simply do not become doers of that Word.
James 1:22-25 from The Message has a warning about this type of behavior:
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
The King James Version says, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
Write out those things so you can come back a year from now and see if you’ve achieved it. Just remember, plans are always subject to change as the Lord changes direction or you get revelation.
Just as you are writing your plan, it’s important to recognize what might keep you from meeting those goals and decide how to keep that from happening. Address those risks and your weaknesses. When you do, you take them out of the devil’s hand and you have a plan to avoid doing the things that keep you from reaching your goals. If you don’t meet your goals, ask yourself, and the Lord, why, and fix those things.
If you don’t know where God wants you to be or what He wants you to do, spend some time in prayer. Don’t get stuck in a 9-to-5-mentality. God’s clock doesn’t stop after eight hours. He’s got a 24-hour clock and we need to be deciding what we’re going to do with that other time we have. V ictory
John Copeland is CEO of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and the son of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife, Marty, and their three children.
A Year of Firsts for KCM Europ E
SSo far, 2006 has not only been a Year of Fulfillment for the KCM Europe office, but also a year of fabulous firsts. This past February, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland were the key speak ers at the Sixth International Catholic Charismatic Praise and Worship Conference in Bari, Italy.
“We’ve never held any meetings in Italy before,” shared Martin Hawkins, director of KCM Europe. “And, it was the first knowledge, that we’ve been invited to speak at a major Catholic conference.”
Teaching alongside eminent Catholic preachers, both Kenneth and Gloria were warmly received. Saturday, the whole congregation responded to Gloria’s prayer for healing, and the conference ended Sunday following Kenneth’s powerfully anointed message exalting Jesus and proclaiming that we are neither Jew nor Greek, Catholic nor Protestant, but all one in Christ Jesus.
prepare for this special meeting, KCM Europe translated six of its more popular books Italian. They included the life-changing, From Faith to Faith, as well as the minibooks, Freedom From Fear, Covenant of Blood, You Are Healed, Go With the Flow and Welcome to the Family.
Our KCM Europe Partner base is definitely growing—especially in Germany and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and France. This growth has prompted yet another first for 2006.
KCM Europe had been sending out an eight-page edition of the Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine in German every other month for the past three years. Starting in February, KCM Europe took the next step and increased that to an issue each month. “We currently mail our German version of BVOV to approximately 1600 addresses,” Hawkins said. “And, we believe that number will grow.”
Also this year, the staff at KCM Europe is eagerly awaiting the transition to a new computer system scheduled to go live in the fall. “We realize this new system will not only help us minister more effectively to our
“We currently mail our German version of BVOV to approximately 1600 addresses,” Hawkins said. “And, we believe that number will grow.”
Partners and Friends,” Hawkins shared, “we believe it will help our office go to the next level.”
Prison Ministry Expands in 2006
The hiring of a new staff member this year has expanded the prison ministry team which has greatly accelerated the growth of KCM Europe’s prison ministry outreach.
Since 1995, KCM Europe has ministered to more than 2,794 inmates, and the number of inmates on KCM Europe’s mailing list has again exceeded 500 after experiencing a slight dip in 2005.
In addition, KCM Europe has seen a 20 percent increase in its bulk mail because the Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine is being placed in prison chapels for the inmates to pick up, study and then contact us. Even more exciting, are the testimonies that are pouring into the office.
The Word is getting into the prisons via television, too!
“We have had 16 confirmed salvations recently and three of those were a direct result of the inmates seeing the BVOV broadcast on GOD TV in prison,” said Andrew Prescott, who is overseeing the prison ministry for KCM Europe.
The Lord is also increasing KCM Europe’s contact with Partners and Friends who are either employed in the prison system or already involved in prison ministry. This is resulting in great growth.
“We are constantly looking for opportunities to get into more prisons,” said Prescott. “We’re targeting prisons in the UK, of course, but there are significant prison populations in Italy and some parts of North Africa, too.”
One woman who is working in Pakistan on a missions’ visa has been targeting her prison ministry in a women’s facility in Karachi. She was overwhelmed by the response to her visits, and asked God, “What should I teach these women? What is their word for today?” God’s answer came by way of Kenneth and Gloria’s Pursuit of His Presence daily devotional. She described the book as “a flowing blessing” to her and the inmates. She taught Word-based truths from that book for more than a year, and the women really embraced the message. In fact, they grabbed hold of the blessing of tithing and giving and sent a check to KCM Europe this past January that
equaled about $350 in American currency. That, too, was a first for KCM Europe!
“The power of partnership is being born out through the prison ministry here,” shared Prescott. “We are seeing our Partners get involved in prison ministry in Germany, Spain, Northern Ireland and England, requesting products and information to share in the prisons where they are ministering.
“Just today, I received a call from the manager of a mother and baby unit within a new women’s prison in England, requesting KCM products to help these women grow in their faith. This contact came as a result of a KCM Partner who is a prison officer at that particular facility.”
Our Partners are touching the world behind bars and offering freedom in Jesus. It is an exciting trend, and KCM Europe is seeing much fruit from its Partners’ efforts and prayers.
A Tangible Extension of KCM KCM is all about touching lives— from the top of the world to the bottom and all the way around. As ambassadors of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, KCM and Eagle Mountain International Church, Pastors George and Terri Copeland Pearsons traveled overseas to minister from March 19 through 26. It was a great opportunity to get up close and personal with our Partners in Europe. They spoke to crowds in Ballymena, Northern Ireland; Bridgend, Wales; and Manchester, England. The people were very grateful.
To prepare for this special meeting, KCM Europe translated six of its more popular books into Italian.
“They are always well received when they are here,” shared Hawkins. “People love them. It’s another way of offering our Partners and Friends the ability to touch Kenneth Copeland Ministries.” V ictory
by K enneth C opeland
Road
ExcEllEncE to
RRecently, God has been raising up ever-growing numbers of people who are hungry. Hungry to know their Lord in a deeper way. Hungry to be all He planned for them to be. Hungry to serve Him— in pulpits, on mission fields, in homes, in office buildings, and anywhere else He might choose to send them.
They are people who simply aren’t content to find the path of least resistance and coast their way into heaven. No. They’re determined to run the race...to run, as the Apostle Paul said, to obtain the prize. Spiritually speaking, they are on the road to excellence.
Are you among them?
If so, I’d like to share four simple words that, I believe, will enable you to run the race like a winner.
Put the Word first.
Whether your goal is to be an excellent evangelist or a first-rate engineer in the service of the Lord, it is the wisdom that comes from the Word of God that will get you there. That’s what Solomon was trying to tell us when he wrote Proverbs 4:5-9:
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:
Whether your goal is to be an excellent evangelist or a first-rate engineer in the service of the Lord, it is the wisdom that comes from the Word of God that will get you there.
love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Jesus said it this way: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
If you’re truly going to put the Word first, you’re going to have to do more than casually read the
Scriptures a few minutes a day. You’re going to have to feed on them night and day. You’re going to have to get rid of all that other rubbish that you’ve been feeding into your consciousness by reprogramming your mind with the Word of God.
“Oh, Brother Copeland,” you may say, “that’s unreasonable!” Yes, it is. But consider this. A music major in college practices for hours every day. Olympic skaters spend six to eight hours a day training for their routines. They do it because they’re unreasonably committed to their goals.
The same is true for you. If you’re going to achieve the kind of spiritual excellence you’re hungry for, you’re going to have to be unreasonably committed to the Word of God, especially during the beginning years of training!
You need to permeate your mind with the Word by listening to tapes of the New Testament and good, solid, Bible-based sermons.
That may well mean that you’ll have to carry around a tape or CD player everywhere you go. It may mean that you’ll have your razor in one hand and your CD player in the other, or a tape player in one hand and a fork in the other. You may have a tape or CD player in the car, in your lunchbox and on the nightstand. You might even use a CD player for an alarm clock!
Do whatever it takes to totally saturate yourself with the Word of God.
I know it won’t be easy, but if you’ve made a quality decision to amount to something in the ministry of Jesus Christ and you are determined to take the Great Commission seriously, then you must be diligent. Satan is going to oppose you, and you must be prepared to do battle.
I would speak to you no differently if I were your commanding officer about to send you into combat against the best-trained elite troops of a savage enemy. If you ever find yourself untrained, untaught and suddenly thrust into battle against Satan’s storm troopers, you’ll understand the gravity of the situation.
You are God’s frontline assault force. You have an enemy who is doing his dead level best to destroy you. You will be fired upon. In this crucial, all-out, no-holdsbarred offensive, Satan has dispatched hell’s choicest personnel to bring you down. He’s going to do everything he can to make sure you fail.
So, fully arm yourself with the Word of God. Be prepared to win and you will!
I praise God for you and for all the other excellent
soldiers He has handpicked to serve Him in these last climactic days. And I urge you to put yourself in training. Use every available moment to read, study, listen to and meditate on the Word of God.
Be unreasonably committed! Put the Word first and there will surely be glorious victories ahead. V ictory
Question and Answer Q
How do I cultivate the faith of God that is within me?
A. As a born-again believer, you have residing within your spirit the faith of God and the potential to produce the same results that jesus produced in His earthly ministry (john 14:12).
Your relationship with God is the most important aspect of your faith walk. Although you cannot see God, He will reveal Himself to you through His Word, by the Holy Spirit.
Faith is simply trusting God to keep His Word. Fellowship is quality time spent alone with God getting to know Him. Your fellowship with Him will develop trust. It will enhance your faith as you give Him the opportunity to reveal Himself to you. Fellowship with God, who is invisible, gives birth to faith that can change things in the visible, physical realm.
Meditation and confession of the Word of God (joshua 1:8) also promotes the development of your faith. When you speak the Word to yourself, you are meditating the Word. What you meditate regulates what you believe. Meditation and confession will cause you to believe God’s Word enough to act on it in faith.
Faith is also developed through praying in the spirit ( jude 20). Praying in other tongues is a spiritual exercise that keeps your spirit active. You will be built up on your most holy faith!
GoodNewsGazette
The Power of Faith
A year ago, my husband, Sam (age 84), had excruciating pain in his left arm, shoulder and hand.
I give God all the
credit.
An MRI revealed that prostate cancer cells had migrated to his shoulder and neck area. A year of prayer, medical help, alternative medicine and wonderful resource materials from KCM has resulted in no more pain!
Sam’s PSA dropped from 21 to 5, and last week it went down to 3.5. The medical community claims the credit, but the miracle is that Sam says, “I give God all the credit.” And this is coming from a very skeptical, logical mechanicalengineering professor, who found the power of faith.
Kenneth, your teaching has been in our household since 1967, and we’ve been Partners since then. We praise God for you, your family and your ministry.
M.C. | Indiana
I’m no longer in default for million! $13
“He shall give his angels charge over thee , to keep thee in all thy ways.”
(P salm 91:11)
Love Saved My Life!
I really need to tell you guys how much I love you! You saved my life–I was going to kill myself tonight, but then your letters and four books arrived and now I want to live a life filled with God's love!
S.H. | Florida
Repentance Unlocks God’s Provision
In October 2005, I received an eviction notice and owed $1600 was laid off in June and had also been in the hospital ill. God provided back rent and alleviated all financial pressure. I received a new, low-mileage in full, including insurance; my teeth cleaned and repaired, paid in for two years; perfume I wanted; and I was healed of high blood pressure—no medication! Your instructions on repentance and overflow were key.
Thank you for your help and love as a covenant Partner.
P.H. | Oklahoma
Delivered From Judgment!
Since 2002, it seemed like everything was out of control. I was facing a lawsuit that left me in a $13 million default judgment, my husband left me and I became homeless with two children. The Lord blessed me with wonderful parents who took us into their home and gave us food, shelter and an address. Then I partnered with KCM and have been recovering from all the hurt. The Understanding the Covenant of Partnership study guide is wonderful, and I’ve also been listening to the tapes. Then I received a miracle— Oct. 21, 2005, I was dismissed from the lawsuit! I’m no longer in default for $13 million! I’ve been shouting “Praise Jesus!” nonstop! I can’t put into words how full my heart is.
Thank you, KCM, for having faith for me when I felt like it was beyond what I could ask or think. Only by God’s hands are all things possible.
D.F. | Michigan
Debt Free in 2006
I have known for some time the Lord wanted me debt free, and my only debt was a mortgage. On a piece of paper, I wrote the amount I needed and placed it on my refrigerator. Every time I saw it, I thanked Him that I was debt free. I arrived at work January 3, 2006, to see an envelope on my desk addressed to me from my boss of 30 years. He gave me a $100,000 bonus! I am so grateful to the Lord for answered prayer, and grateful my boss was the channel through whom I received this blessing.
E.C. | Texas
Having Done All, Stand
In November 2001, my husband suddenly slumped from a fever. We rushed him to the hospital and were told he was in a coma. For three days he remained comatose. As his heart began to fail, his blood vessels were rupturing and his liver couldn’t function, so they put him on medical support. The doctors offered no hope—he was almost dead.
I remembered Gloria saying, when the devil strikes is not the time to fear, so I refused to fear—instead I began to praise God. I settled in my heart that God was with us. My friends and I refused to accept the evil report. We prayed in the spirit and spoke the Word over him for days. I recorded healing scriptures on a tape and put them in his ears.
My husband was bedridden for almost a year. In 2002, his feet had become gangrenous and the doctors wanted to amputate. We refused and stood on the Word. Then one day, the decayed part of his feet fell off! The next two years we conbecame sound and his normal. Although he whole and we are
yourselves to God.
Psalm 91 Comes to Pass
your Partner in the I have been lisCovenant Partner tape driving to work. I when I get in the car scriptures out loud. witnessed Psalm 91 come was driving a client cars in front of me applied my brakes front of me. The bumped straight into my back with an extremely powerful impact. When I got out to talk to the driver, I noticed there wasn’t even a scratch on my bumper! The impact was such that I was expecting to see the entire boot (trunk) of my car folded in.
Indeed, I have already begun to experience an overflow of blessings in my life just as you prophesied.
Speak to That Fire and Rebuke It
July 18, 2005, someone set fire to a huge field of pine trees across the road from us. The weather had been hot, so everything was dry and rapidly ignited. Huge clouds of black smoke were billowing toward us as firemen were trying in vain to extinguish the fire.
Fear gripped my heart, but I remembered a testimony from the BVOV magazine about a lady whose property was also threatened by fire—she took authority in the Name of Jesus and rebuked it. It burned all around her but didn’t touch anything that was hers. The Lord then spoke to my heart about Jesus standing in the boat and speaking to the storm. He said to me, Speak to that fire, child, and rebuke it. You have My authority.
I immediately rebuked the fire and commanded it to move away from my property. I prayed Psalm 91 and I also pled a blood line around my property. After I prayed, I saw the winds shift. Everything around us was burned, but no life or property was lost. God honors His Word!
L.B. | Portugal
Build Yourself Up
Praying in the Holy Spirit
We were on our way to church December 12, 2004, when we were involved in a head-on collision about 10 miles out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was praying in tongues for about two miles prior to the crash. My wife, Yvette, her sister and three other children were my passengers. Praise and glory to Jesus! No one had any life-threatening or permanent injuries. A highway policeman looked at my wrecked vehicle and said no one should have come out of it alive. All the praise goes to Jesus! A daily message from Gloria suggested I pray in tongues that morning for one hour. I did for 40 minutes before I was interrupted. Thank God for Partners like Ken and Gloria!
Stirling and Yvette Ranville | Canada
A.P. | United Kingdom
Doing Things
“
There must be some mistake,” David Carmichael said to an angry customer on the other end of the phone.
“That’s double what an oil change and shocks should cost. Let me check on it.”
As David pulled into the parking lot of the international truck dealership in southern Indiana where he’d worked for almost four years, he sensed something in his spirit. He knew the inflated invoice hadn’t been an oversight.
Since the boss’ wife had recently taken more of an interest in the dealership, many things were changing—and not for the better.
“I think we overcharged someone about $500 today,” David said as he breezed past the woman. “He was pretty
mad. I’ll take care of it and credit the guy.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” she said, glaring at him. “There was no mistake. I marked everything up 100 percent. That’s the way we’re going to bill from now on.”
David was stunned.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
Ephesians 3:20
“As general manager, don’t you think you should’ve discussed that with me?” he asked. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Since your name is not on the front of this business, it doesn’t really matter if you think it’s a good idea. It’s not open for discussion.”
David knew he was in the middle of something more than a power struggle—it was a spiritual battle. He also knew his integrity would be compromised if he continued to work there, but he needed the job. With a wife and four children at home, he wasn’t sure how they’d make it if he quit.
by Michelle Medlock Adams
Later that week, David got another surprise. The boss’ wife told him to fire an employee who had been diagnosed with a serious illness because she no longer wanted to pay for the insurance.
That was it.
After praying with his wife, Nicole, he gave his twoweek notice.
With only $1,000 in the bank things suddenly looked bleak for David and Nicole Carmichael. But as bornagain believers, they knew what to do.
“We had seed to sow!” David said. “And we knew where to send it.”
The Carmichaels had followed the ministry teachings of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland since 1996, so they knew not to be moved by their current circumstances.
“That very week we were listening to the Southwest Believers’ Convention on the Internet, so we were ready,” Nicole said. “Kenneth talked about sowing significant seed. It was our last thousand dollars, so that was very significant to us.”
The Carmichael family gathered in the living room of their small home and prayed over the $1,000 check they had made out to KCM. On the notation line, Nicole wrote: “Seed for David’s own business.”
“I knew we were sowing into good ground,” she shared. “We felt so close to Kenneth and Gloria even though we’d never met them.”
That Friday, an executive at FedEx called David and told him his company would be taking its $100,000 contract elsewhere due to unreasonable markups.
“Is there anything I can do?” David asked.
“Yes,” the man said, “open your own shop.”
This was just after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. No one was opening new businesses, David thought. In fact, businesses were closing left and right.
“I’m going to pray about that over the weekend,” he told the man.
The Birthing of a Business | By Sunday, David had received his answer from God. After church, the Carmichael family went searching for a building for David’s business. With a $50,000 home equity loan and a lot of prayer, David purchased a building and began acquiring equipment to start Carmichael Truck & Automotive Service, Inc. Not long after, David had his first major client—FedEx.
With that contract, David was off to a great start.
“It was marvelous,” David recalled. “We weren’t even open yet and customers were stopping by. It was just me and one other mechanic, and we were booked up by the time we opened the doors November 1.”
After only three months, David had repair contracts
“We had seed to sow!” David said. “And we knew where to send it.”
with several other large companies, including a local school system. In fact, he had to hire another mechanic to keep up with the business.
By the end of the first year, the company had made $460,000.
Nicole looked at the books and smiled.
“We knew we were rich in our hearts,” she said. “Our total prosperity just hadn’t manifest yet.”
Seed for the Sower | Continuing to feed on teaching tapes from KCM, the Carmichaels saw more success. The company billed more than $1 million its second year and was continuing to prosper.
“I had a Kenneth tape playing in every truck we had,” David said. “We were keeping ourselves stirred up.”
God had placed big dreams on the inside of David and Nicole—to expand the business and to move into a larger home. When their fifth child arrived in June 2003, their 1200-square-foot home was no longer big enough.
Nicole decided to follow Gloria Copeland’s example and started compiling a list for the house of her dreams. She stood on Ephesians 3:20 and Proverbs 14:1.
“The list became quite lengthy and specific,” Nicole said. “I didn’t want to settle for less than God’s best for us because I knew God didn’t want us to.”
Big needs require big seeds, and David and Nicole knew it was time to put more seed into the ground. They were already tithing to their local church, but they wanted to do more.
“I need you to write a $10,000 check to Kenneth Copeland Ministries today,” David told his secretary.
David’s secretary gasped.
David just smiled, then confirmed his words.
“It has to be significant seed,” he explained. “It has to be a sacrifice to get to that next level.”
His secretary just shook her head, wrote the check and handed it to him.
David made a copy of the check, and then attached the copy to the wall next to his desk as a reminder of his significant seed.
Finding Their Wealthy Place | Later, David and Nicole began listening to Kenneth’s tape series Your Wealthy Place in God.
“I would wake up every day and think, Maybe today we’ll find our wealthy place,” Nicole said.
With her dream list in hand, Nicole began the search for a new home.
“Hey, have you seen the castle online?” asked Nicole’s sister-in-law. “You have to check it out.”
Nicole hung up the telephone and immediately went online to find the castle. When she clicked on it, the words
TWhat do these men have in common?
This month as we celebrate Father’s Day in America, men around the globe have risen to the call and discovered the strength of the Partnership Connection. They’ve joined Kenneth Copeland Ministries with faithful support and unyielding prayer. Together, we’re reaching the world with the uncompromised message of the gospel. And it shows.
Partnership.
To become a Partner or learn more about partnership:
check the circle on the response form in the center of this magazine, call (800) 600-7395, or visit kcm.org.
As these men stand with us, they know we’re also standing with them. We’re praying daily for them, and believing with them for restored relationships, financial success, wise parenting and abundant health.
e ach day, our anointings and ministries are joined together— empowering one another. united, we’re changing the world!
Make The Partnership Connection with Kenneth Copeland Ministries today and receive the Partnership Package with complete information about partnership, complimentary gifts and more. Or, if you’d like more information about getting connected just let us know.
It’s time for your breakthrough!
below the picture read, “Welcome to Camelot.”
Nicole’s heart skipped a beat.
It was lovely. She had to see it in person.
Jotting down the address, she loaded the kids into their SUV and drove across town to see the castle. As she pulled into the driveway, the faint December sun reflected off the copper accents of the roofline. The fourstory house seemed to shout, “I’m your wealthy place!”
The castle was perfectly positioned on six acres and hidden away in a private, rural setting only three minutes from the highway. It had an elaborate fountain in front, and lovely landscaping. Mentally, Nicole was checking things off her “dream house list.” This house seemed to have it all.
Everything is orderly—just like David likes it, Nicole thought, as she snapped pictures of the house with her camera phone. She left, and drove straight to David’s business.
Barely shifting into park, Nicole flagged down David as he walked to his truck.
“I have something to show you,” she called excitedly. “I think I found our house.”
“Really?” he said, reaching into his vehicle. “Because I think I found our house.”
Nicole bit her lip, nervous he would think the castle was too much—too elaborate.
She scrolled through the pictures of the castle, sharing about the perfect setting, the copper accents, the fountain—everything.
David was silent, but smiled as he handed Nicole a printout of the house he’d found on the Internet.
It was Camelot!
A Heavenly Harvest | The first time the Carmichaels stepped inside the castle, they knew it was the home God had hidden away just for them. During the offers and counteroffers, Nicole stayed in the Word, away from anyone that might not share in their dream.
On April 15, 2005, the Carmichaels moved into their wealthy place—“The Carmichaels’ Camelot.”
Determined to never stop giving, the Carmichaels continue to sow into KCM because they are believing God for much more in 2006, including more growth in their business, and in their family. The latter is already in the works. Nicole is due to deliver their sixth child in September.
Every day as David drives home from work and sees the sun reflecting off the top of his copper-tinged castle, he can’t help but smile. It’s as if the glory has settled over their home—their wealthy place. V ictory
Partners! Send us your testimonies. We want to hear the great things God is doing in your lives and rejoice with you!
Even Moore Wisdom
Join guest host Keith Moore for a second week as he shares practical ways to increase in the wisdom of God.
Kenneth Copeland
The Greatness in the Power of the Name of Jesus
Discover how the power in Jesus’ Name is energized by faith!
Kenneth Copeland
The Complex Combinations of the Names of God
See how
Faith and Government
David Barton joins Kenneth Copeland for the first of two insightful weeks discussing the part faith plays in governmental affairs.
Changing the Nation
Kenneth Copeland and David Barton continue their discussion, revealing how believers play a powerful part in changing their nation!
God Is Moving In
This week, special guest Billye Brim teams up with Gloria Copeland as they begin a series on how to pray the move of God in.
Glory…It’s Coming!
John Copeland Keith Moore
Billye Brim
david Barton
by K eith M oore
Will You Be a
Wealth Distributor?
WWhen the Lord began to speak to Phyllis and me about relocating to Branson, Mo., from Tulsa, Okla., I was surprised.
We were well established in Tulsa. Our ministry was thriving. We had our offices, our airplane and hangar. We had our house. Phyllis had just completed her dream kitchen remodel. We had so many great people in our lives—partners, friends and fellow ministers.
We were enjoying a great harvest on much of the seed we had sown and had stood in faith to receive. And we were continuing to sow and believing the Lord for a lot more—especially new ministry facilities.
Reaping!
Laying hold! Receiving! It’s all about distribution of the riches of God!
We had lived by faith for years, hearing and obeying the Lord’s direction. Now I was asking Him, Go to Branson. Why? Then He began to deal with me about starting a church. I thought, Am I a pastor? I struggled with the whole idea for a while. All I could think about was what I would be leaving in Tulsa, and how we would have to start over once we were in Branson.
One morning while I was questioning the move, the Lord spoke to me. He said, Keith, do you believe I can do better for you than this? I said “Yes, Sir.” Then I stopped questioning and we moved to Branson. And He has done better for us! Every bit of the “stuff” in our lives has increased—ministry, airplanes, hangars, house, clothes—and the church facility was just waiting for us! And, the best of His “better” is the love we now share with all the great people He has added to our life through the church.
God’s Word is good. He is utterly dependable. He is
There are numerous accounts in the Bible of God’s people being wealth distributors.
completely trustworthy, and what He says He will do for you, He will do.
Lord of the Harvest | When we arrived in Branson, the Lord showed us that every kind of seed Phyllis and I had sown in faith throughout the years had come up in a great harvest. But for us, our reaping was not in Tulsa. We would reap in Branson.
The Lord of the Harvest knows everything about our harvest. He knows where we should plant our seed. That’s the part of the process where our faith first gets involved—hearing and obeying in the sowing.
Then He takes over. He knows how long our seed must grow before it’s ripe. According to Mark 4:26-27, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.”
So, in faith we simply rest, trusting that He knows where it will spring up and when it will be ripe.
The Lord also knows when it’s time to reap. The Spirit will stir us up to discern the time when the harvest is ripe, the time to put the sickle in. As we stay in tune with Him, He will show us the place of our harvest. Then when we act on His instructions, we reap the harvest.
Laying Up and Laying Hold | It’s in obeying that the harvest comes in. What are you saying? What are you laying hold of with your faith?
The Lord showed me we lay hold of what we lay up. Jesus taught His disciples this principle in Matthew 6:20-21: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” When we sow every kind of seed from our heart in obedience to the Lord, we are laying up treasures in heaven—eternal, inexhaustible seed treasure, destined to produce the harvest.
Paul gave the principle in his first letter to Timothy: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Paul said to lay up so that you may lay hold. Why do we need to lay hold? So we can distribute (verse 18). We lay up so we can lay hold so we can do the good work of distributing—of communicating the riches of the living God.
When the riches (harvest on your seed sown—whatever
it may be) start flowing in, remember where it came from! There is absolutely no room for a high-minded, haughty attitude when it comes to receiving the wealth the Lord gives us. When we reap our harvest, when we lay hold of what we’ve laid up, Paul says we must keep our focus on the Lord. He gives us everything to enjoy and His ultimate plan is the joy we will have in becoming His wealth distributors.
Has God Got an Opportunity for You! | How many messages have we heard from Luke 18 about the rich young ruler and his lost opportunity? The Bible says he came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He and Jesus talked for a while, then Jesus offered him an opportunity to get in on true inheritance.
In verse 22, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (New King James Version). Jesus was offering him a “kingdom distributorship.” The man had passed some tests—keeping the commandments since he was a boy. But when Jesus told him to distribute all his riches to the poor, it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. That answer didn’t fit with his idea of what inheriting eternal life was all about.
So many people relegate everything pertaining to eternal life to benefiting us only “after we die.” But the truth is we can lay hold of eternal life right here and now! Peter gave Jesus the opening to explain God’s plan for sowing or laying up or distributing for the sake of the kingdom of God. He piped up and said to Jesus, “Lo, we have left all, and followed thee” (verse 28).
In verse 29, Jesus explains God’s “compensation plan” for a kingdom distributorship, “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.”
Little did the rich young ruler know what he really gave up by not sowing it all! He hung his head, apparently
The Lord of the Harvest knows everything about our harvest. He knows where we should plant our seed. That’s the part of the process where our faith first gets involved— hearing
and obeying in the sowing.
saying, “No thanks,” to Jesus’ offer for the opportunity to experience the real purpose of all his riches—the opportunity of a lifetime to be a kingdom wealth distributor!
Being a Wealth Distributor | Reaping! Laying hold!
Receiving! It’s all about distribution of the riches of God!
There are numerous accounts in the Bible of God’s people being wealth distributors.
Joshua 19:9 tells us when the tribe of Judah staked their claim on their inheritance in the Promised Land, they had laid hold of so much it was too much! They stepped up and shared their wealthy place when they carved out a portion of it for their brother tribe Simeon.
The first act of the newborn Church was to distribute.
Acts 4:32 and 35 tell us about their action, “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and
Wisdom From Above
distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.”
Distribution!
In Romans 12:13, Paul encourages the believers about “distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” How do we measure up to that standard today? Much of the Church world, first of all, doesn’t even believe in prosperity, and among those who do believe in sowing and reaping, many haven’t developed faith for the reaping part.
The Church’s failure to get hold of this principle has kept us from being distributors of God’s wealth. We’re still concentrating on getting our own needs met when we could be used of God to meet others’ needs.
Every one of us has a desire in our heart to give. We want to give to every good work. As born-again children of the living God, it’s our nature. Right now, God is bringing overflowing harvest to us to distribute to this world. And I tell you, there’s got to be a generation that excels in reaping in order to distribute what He has provided. I say, “It’s me! It’s us! We are that generation!”
Much of the lack and failure in people’s lives is the result of a lack of wisdom and understanding. Wisdom is always available to us, but getting it is not automatic. It must be pursued. In this new series by Keith Moore, you’ll learn how to receive and increase in the riches of The Wisdom of God.
Let’s settle this once and for all, right now. Let’s be those who excel at reaping—harvesters of the end time.
God has blessed us. God wants to supply all our needs. He wants to free us from debt. His desire is that we be His wealth distributors. He has provided the surefire plan to accomplish it all. All we have to do is sow and reap—He provides the harvest. All we have to do is lay up and lay hold—He turns it into heaven-generated treasure. All we have to do is give and receive—He provides the good, pressed-down, shaken-together, running-over measure to our laps. And, when we reap our harvest, when we lay hold of our harvest, when we receive all the wonderful riches God has in store for us, we will turn right back around to Him and say:
“Father, I’m ready. Tell me. Where do You want me to distribute the wealth of Your kingdom?”
V ictory
Keith Moore is founder and president of Moore Life Ministries and Faith Life Church in Branson, Mo. For more information or ministry materials write to Moore Life Ministries, P.O. Box 1010, Branson, MO 65615, call (417) 334-9233 or visit www.moorelife.org
M.I.A. From American History
AAmerica is called “one nation under God.” But today God is rarely mentioned in our history books which have become a lifeless retelling of a vital subject.
Looking at history God’s way is exciting and informative. In fact, He commends its study. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God,” He says in Isaiah 46:9. And in Hebrews 10:32, God declares, “Call to remembrance the former days.” The Apostle Paul explains why: “All these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
We learn from history, and what we learn affects our behavior. American leaders understood this well. For example, Thomas jefferson noted, “History, by apprizing [students] of the past, will enable them to judge of (sic) the future.”
Similarly, leaders such as john Hancock and john Adams receive credit as being the source of our independence. Yet Adams himself declared that the Rev. Dr. jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were two of the individuals “most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential” in the “awakening and revival of American principles and feelings” that led to American independence.
We no longer know much about the indispensable role of pastor s and Christian leaders in the founding of our civil government. And under the economic view of American history, Americans now believe that early colonists came to America seeking land and gold rather than for evangelization. Most now accept that the colonies were founded for trade, fishing and other economic enterprises, even though more than half were founded by ministers for religious purposes.
Benjamin Franklin said: “History will… afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion from its usefulness to the public; the advantage of a religious character among private persons; the mischiefs of superstition; and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern.”
When accurately presented, history demonstrates the need for Christianity because of both the societal and individual benefits it produces. An uncensored, unrevised history causes a recognition of the hand of God.
However, God is no longer visible in American history today. His absence is construed as a mandate for secularism. Texts forcefully assert that the American founding fathers produced the first intentionally secular government in history, even though the Declaration of Independence acknowledges God in four separate clauses.
Having come to believe that economics is what created and made America great, it is not surprising that 45 percent of evangelical Christians say economic issues are more important than moral issues when it comes to voting
Much of our wholesome, God-centered American history is no longer known. The reintroduction of a truthful and complete telling of it is long overdue.
Daniel Webster was right: “History is God’s providence in human affairs.” It is time for Americans once again to become aware of the remarkable hand of God throughout our history. It’s time for Christians to demand that our textbooks contain the truth so that God is no longer missing in action from American history. V ictory
David Barton, nationally known author and public speaker, is the founder and president of WallBuilders, a pro-family organization which seeks to educate grassroots society to rebuild America’s constitutional, moral and religious foundations. For more information go to www.wallbuilders.com, call (817) 441-6044 or write to WallBuilders, P.O. Box 397, Aledo, TX 76008-0397.
by D avi D b arton
July 31-August 5
West Coast Believers’ Convention Anaheim Convention Center
800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92802
Southwest Believers’ Convention Fort Worth Convention Center
1201 Houston St., Fort Worth, TX 76102
Great Lakes Believers’ Convention
U.S. Cellular Arena
400 W. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203
Be a voice of victory...Bring a friend!
One Word From God Can Change Your Life Forever!
When attending the Southwest Believers’ Convention, young people can put their focus on God at 14forty with Jeremy Pearsons! Each day we’ll feature awesome worship, great speakers like Ron Luce and Blaine Bartel, thousands of dollars in giveaways, a Friday night concert with Tree63 and Go Deep, and much, much more. Don’t miss it!
Visit 14forty.com for updates.
Be a KCM volunteer!
To find out more, join us at the following locations prior to the convention:
West Coast Believers’ Convention: Sunday, July 2 at 3 p.m. at the Anaheim Marriott.
Southwest Believers’ Convention: Sunday, July 30 at 3 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza.
Great Lakes Believers’ Convention: Information to come.
Praise and worship led by Len Mink and the KCM band.
Dana and Linda Johnson
Join us for Superkid Academy with Dana and Linda Johnson and special appearances by Commander Kellie! It’s like a full week of Superkid Camp for FREE! And don’t miss Saturday…where you can be a part of our very own Healing School. See you there, cadets, for a weeklong vacation party with God! Calling all kids! ages 6-12 grades 7-12
Jesse Duplantis
Jerry Savelle
Creflo A. Dollar Keith Moore (West Coast)
Gloria Copeland Kenneth Copeland
Bill Winston (Great Lakes)
It’s Time to Raise Our Sights
Have you ever been challenged to think bigger? To dream larger?
To expect more than you’re in the habit of expecting? When you respond to such a challenge, you call it “raising your sights.”
God is in the habit of issuing challenges like that. And knowing how to respond to them is a major key to walking in all the victory and blessing Jesus died to bring us. Look back, for example, to Abraham and you’ll find God telling him to raise his sights. We find it in Genesis 13: “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered” (verses 14-16).
“Lift up your eyes,” Abram was told. In other words, “Raise your sights! You’re thinking too small.”
by G loria C opeland
Sights
You see, God wanted to do great things for and through Abram. Abram was just looking for a plot of land to pasture his flocks, but God wanted to give him all the land stretching out beyond the four points of the compass. Abraham wanted a single heir, but God wanted to make his descendants as innumerable as the dust of the earth.
Small thinking and small expectations can limit God’s ability to work on your behalf. That’s why He often asks His people to raise their sights right before He does something remarkable. Such was the case with the children of Israel. They, too, were told to lift up their eyes just as God was preparing to deliver them from bondage in Egypt.
Several years ago, Kenneth said by the Spirit of the Lord: “We are preparing for our exodus.” And there are a number of significant parallels between what the children of Israel experienced as they prepared to come out of Egypt and what we are experiencing now. They experienced a glorious departure as they headed for a land of promise. We’re about to do the same.
Since we’re about to inherit the wonderful promises that precede that departure, we should look to a man who successfully inherited the promises made to him. We need to expect bigger things from God as He prepares us to go. As Abraham did—it’s time to look up.
Expanding Your Vision
We’re going to have to expand our vision if we’re going to see God do the wonders among us He intends to do.
Looking up and getting ready for your exodus will impact every area of your life. Just as God had to move Abraham from thinking of only one son to thinking in terms of whole nations, God wants us to lift our eyes beyond being concerned only for our immediate needs and wants and only for those things that seem possible. He wants us to expect mighty things and to bring whole nations into His kingdom.
God wanted Abraham to start thinking about multiplied nations of sons. Likewise, we’re going to have to expand our vision if we’re going to see God do the wonders among us He intends to do. We must begin to think in terms of bringing multitudes to Jesus in a massive end-time harvest of souls. Those multitudes will respond to the Word of God preached with signs and wonders.
In what other ways should we begin to think bigger? What should we start to expect?
I think the best way to find answers to those questions
“Lift up your eyes,” Abram was told. In other words, “Raise your sights!
You’re thinking too small.”
would be to look at some other aspects of Abraham’s life, character and covenant. After all, according to Galatians 3:29, we are Abraham’s seed and his heirs according to the promise.
Blessing in Obedience
If we’re going to raise our sights in line with Abraham’s covenant, a good place to start is Genesis 12:1-3. There we read: “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’” (New King James Version).
There are enough wonderful promises packed into these three verses to last a lifetime. However, the first thing I want to point out to you is revealed in The Amplified Bible’s translation of that first verse. There, God’s command is translated: “Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country...” (Genesis 12:1).
I like that. Most people tend to associate obeying God with drudgery and pain. But the truth is, obedience is always to our advantage. We need to change our expectation accordingly. When, in answer to the call of God, you leave behind your old lifestyle, your old habits, and your old patterns of thinking—you experience great advantage.
Of course God didn’t stop there. As The Amplified Bible renders it, He went on to say: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]” (Genesis 12:2).
We must begin to expect “abundant increase of favors.” Coming into the covenant of Abraham that God made and brought to pass through Jesus Christ is our inheritance. The blood of Jesus opened the door for us. We should also expect our names along with the names of our churches, ministries and outreaches to become “famous and distinguished.” Before our exodus, the world is going to know who we are and what we are about, because God is in us.
What will we be known for? “Dispensing good to others.” Before our departure, we are going to be blessed in order to be a blessing. This should be our earnest expectation.
As you continue to read that passage, the blessings just keep on flowing from God’s mouth. In verse three we find: “And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]” (Genesis 12:3, The Amplified Bible).
Before we go, people in the world are going to start getting the picture that they can bless themselves by blessing God’s people. We’re going to influence others for Jesus as people are drawn to the glory of God being manifest in our lives.
Now, if you’re some old meanie, nobody is going to be drawn to you. If you’re consistently sad and depressed, people are going to stay away from you. They’re not going to want to fellowship with you. But if you’re full of the love of God—if you’re kind and patient rather than prideful—people are going to gravitate to that glory.
A long time ago Ken and I learned a secret for impacting the lives of unbelievers. We discovered that the way to influence people who are outside the covenant is to treat them just like they believe everything we believe. When we meet someone, we just talk about the things of God as if they know exactly what we’re talking about. We’ll talk about being healed, and answered prayer, and that miracle we saw last week. We’ll talk about that nugget from the Word of God we just discovered as if we were talking to a person who has studied the Bible all his life.
Invariably these people are drawn to God.
It is time to start expecting to be a powerful influence on the world around us.
Passing on the Faith
In Genesis 18:19, God says of Abraham: “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (New King James Version).
Here is the heart of the reason Abraham was the one man God chose—he was a man who would teach his children faith. God knew that it would take more than one generation to bring His wonderful promises to pass. In actuality, it would take hundreds, even thousands of years. It was two thousand years before “the seed” in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed—Jesus—would arrive.
What God needed was a man who would teach his children covenant faithfulness and to “lift up their eyes” in expectation of big things.
Just as it was important for Abraham to teach his children and grandchildren about faith, it’s vital for us to do the same. We are living in a time in which God is looking for people of vision. People who will raise their sights and believe God for the big things He wants to do in our generation.
If we are to see God’s promises come into manifestation to the highest degree, we must follow the example of the father of our faith. We must continue the practice that set Abraham apart from all other men—his willingness to teach his children to raise their sights.
Our children need to hear the Word of God from us. It’s not a responsibility we can push off on Sunday school teachers. In an age of new diseases and plagues, we must teach them to expect to walk in such a high level of health and healing that the world comes begging to know what they know.
We must teach them to expect to walk in peace (nothing missing, nothing broken) no matter what kind of bad news the papers shout. And we must teach them to expect to experience such a high level of abundance that they can help finance the end-time harvest and bring the nations to Jesus.
Time to Look Up
All the signs today point to a single truth. Our exodus is approaching.
We’re not going out of here a defeated, broken, beaten-down Church that no one has ever heard about. We’ll be departing as the Church who has claimed her inheritance as sons and daughters of Abraham. And our children are going with us because we will have taught them well.
Before Abraham could see God’s promise come into manifestation, he had to “lift
up his eyes.” He had to expand his vision and believe God for bigger things. The same is true for us now. It’s time to grow bold enough to take God at His Word. It’s time to walk in the fullness of our inheritance.
Of course, we must always remember the high purpose for that inheritance. As with Abraham, the purpose of the promise is to become a nation more numerous than the stars of the sky (Genesis 15:5). As we leave, we’re going to take with us the greatest harvest of souls the earth has ever seen.
In speaking about the end times and the signs that would usher them in, Jesus said something very interesting. He said: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28, New King James Version).
In other words, “Raise your sights! It’s almost time for your exodus!” V ictory
God’s system—the kingdom of God—is the only system that includes complete soundness for every area of your life. It brings His presence into manifestation in your life in many ways, including divine health, prosperity, joy, peace and loving relationships.
But operating in God’s system is not automatic. You have to learn the principles of the kingdom, then apply them in your life. In Gloria Copeland’s powerful series, The Kingdom of God—Days of Heaven on Earth, you’ll discover the principles that establish the kingdom of God in your life.
Order today—get out of the world’s system and move on over into God’s system.
The Kingdom of God—Days of Heaven on Earth 5-CD series
CDN$15 #B060604
Establish Yourself in God’s System
Excellence in Life
There’s no shortage of people who desire to achieve excellence in ministry. But how many truly have it in all they do? In this powerful package, you’ll receive two teaching materials that will help you achieve the kind of life you know God has called you to live:
Six Steps to Excellence in Ministry —In this 6-CD series designed for anyone in ministry, Kenneth Copeland shows how to turn that inner desire for excellence into practical actions that get results.
Honor: Walking in Honesty, Truth and Integrity—In this book, Kenneth Copeland summons this generation to a higher level of living as he provides a scriptural look at what honor really is, and shows how a life of honor will help you succeed.
Excellence in Life Package
Six Steps to Excellence in Ministry 6-CD series
Honor: Walking in Honesty, Truth and Integrity 8½” x 5¼” | paperback | 182 pages To order
To place an order by mail, please use the enclosed response form.
Be empowered to be the believer God has called you to be. Live a life of excellence today!